Jaune nursed a warm tin cup of herbal tea in his palms. He absently studied the craftsmanship of the old cup in his hands as he swirled the concoction. The cup itself was old and battered, clearly heavily used. It was the lowest quality cup he had ever sipped from in his entire life. Yet, he had never felt such contentment.

Here he was, sipping away at an herbal tea tasting of soil. His back pressed up against the faunus torso of Pyrrha as both laid before a campfire with two strangers. He gazed down at the liquid in his cup, a smile on his face. He could have never imagined his life ending up like this.

"Ha! See, Ren? I do make good tea! Why can't you just be a good boy and drink it without complaining like he is?"

Jaune tore his gaze away from his cup to see Nora smugly staring at Ren. The wolf faunus looked away from her as he wrinkled his nose.

"I refuse. Once was enough. Your tea is too bitter for me to enjoy. I don't know why you insist on using those herbs for your tea when there are better options."

Jaune spoke up, "It's quite good. I admit, the taste itself is a little strong but that isn't exactly a bad thing."

Pyrrha wordlessly reached her hand out towards him. He handed over the tin cup. As the tin cup was raised to her lips, she swiftly pulled the cup away from herself as she broke into a coughing fit. She recovered after a few moments, a look of confusion on her face.

"So bitter… how can you drink this?"

Jaune grinned as he pulled the tin cup away from her hands, "You see dear Pyrrha, I merely raise the cup to my lips and sip. It really is quite simple."

He did exactly that as she rolled her eyes in response.

The harpy laughed, "I like these two, Ren! We should go adventuring together."

Ren shook his head, "We don't know them well enough or even what type of jobs they like to take on. You and I might be able to delve ruins, but I don't believe these two can without difficulty," his hand motioned towards the faunus half of Pyrrha.

Jaune looked back down into his cup, his eyes occasionally straying towards the crevice in the hillside, "You're right. Neither of us have done any underground exploration. We've mostly stuck to the mountains near the border with Vale on our outings."

Ren hummed, "Dangerous. You put yourselves at risk of being skewered by an overzealous patrol from that fortress out that way. Pay must be good considering how well equipped you two are."

Pyrrha's voice was steady as she further sold their covers as adventurers, "I told him not to splurge our funds on purchasing me such extravagant armor. Yet, this stubborn fool refused! He wasted our favor with a merchant within that garrisoned castle on the Valean border to have some smith forge me a set of plate armor. We should have used our connection to get more well paying collection jobs instead."

Nora suddenly fixed her gaze on Jaune, a seemingly wistful expression on her face, "Awe, that's very sweet of him. You two must have a very strong relationship for him to go so far."

Jaune lightly tapped Pyrrha's side, "I trust her with my life. I can't think of anyone else I would rather have with me out here as my partner. As long as I live, she can have my sword."

Pyrrha stammered out a response as Jaune sipped from his tin cup, "A-ah yeah! His s-s-sword. We have a very close bond. Partners in arms… ha ha."

Nora's eyes widened slightly before she giggled, "Ren, can you go grab us some of our ale? I think it would do us all some good to drink something. The last thing we need to do is let ourselves get too dehydrated. Why, I think Pyrrha here is as thirsty as I am."

Ren grunted in agreement, "You need to be cautious about dehydration, especially if you two haven't traveled much out of this region. The further south east you go towards the Wastes, the more harsh the sun."

Nora turned her head to stare at him in silence.

Ren paused, "Nora?"

She looked away from him, "Please just get us the ale."

Jaune slowly rose to his feet, "You don't have to worry about providing us with anything else to drink. I'll grab our mead from our supplies. We have some jerked meat to exchange with you two if you have anything of interest."

Nora stared at Pyrrha for a few moments before speaking to Jaune.

"Oh? Ren, go grab my super-duper special trail mix. I'll entertain Pyrrha here while I wait to sample Jaune's meat. I hope we both will be… satisfied by this exchange," the harpy faunus smiled brightly.

Pyrrha was staring into the flames of the campfire, her gaze unfocused, "Please get me a bottle of mead. I really, really, need it. On second thought, make it two. I feel drained…"


Both males returned to the campfire after a few minutes. Jaune took his seat against Pyrrha's side as he handed two bottles of mead to her. Her hands shook as she took both bottles from his hands. She refused to meet his gaze as he turned his attention back towards the two faunus they shared the campfire with.

Nora winked at Pyrrha as she took a tan sack from Ren and presented the contents to Jaune, "My super premium secret trail mix recipe. Now available for the low price of your jerked meat. Have a free sample, while I try yours."

Ren sighed, "Nora, you sound like one of the merchants of the Squirrel Tribe trying to sucker someone into a bad deal. We have no intention of scamming you. I can vouch for Nora's recipe being tasteful this time. She has spent a lot of time perfecting this trail mix of hers."

Jaune shrugged, "Just an exchange of samples, she gets a few pieces of jerky and I can try another one of her recipes. As far as I'm concerned, the tea was tasty enough for me to be willing to give this a try."

He opened his own bag to give her a stick of jerky. She tilted her tan bag into his open hands, a mix of dried fruits and nuts spilling into his hands. He pushed the handful of food into one of his palms before reaching over with his free hand to eat some of the mix.

"Wow, this is delicious. How did you get it to taste both sweet and salty all at once? I've never tasted something quite this balanced before."

He turned towards Pyrrha to let her sample some of the mix, only to see she was chugging down an entire bottle of their mead, "Hey, slow down a little. We only have so many bottles with us. We at least need our bottles to last long enough for us to reach a village."

Pyrrha hesitantly lowered the bottle of mead, her face slightly flushed, "F-fine. I'm completely fine, ha ha. I just needed to clear my head, that's all. Let me try some of the trail mix."

Jaune frowned, "Drinking that much mead in a short amount of time tends to have the opposite effect. I know you can handle more cups than most, but I still worry. We should both try to keep a clear head out in the wilds."

Nora waved a partially bitten piece of jerky in the air from her clawed hand, "He's right. You never know… A big bad bird may just swoop down at night and take you," she took another bite.

In a flash, Pyrrha raised the bottle of mead to her lips again, as Jaune shook his head, "I doubt there are any birds big enough to carry me or Pyrrha off into the sky. If there are, we've been entirely too lucky during our adventures. I'm more worried about a wolf taking me in the night."

Nora suddenly choked; Ren began to tap his hand against her back. She brushed his hand away after a few taps.

She leaned forward, "Now that is not something I considered."

Ren looked confused, "What are you talking about? We always take all necessary precautions to ensure wildlife doesn't attempt to get into our tent. We've already considered such risks and have actively made plans to combat them."

Jaune's attention slipped from the two faunus as he watched Pyrrha finish the entirety of the first bottle of mead,

"Pyrrha…"

He reached out and took the second bottle of mead next to her. She reached for the bottle in his grasp. He pulled the bottle further away.

Her shoulders slumped, "Why must you betray me? Just one more bottle."

"No, not after you drank the first bottle so fast. Give it a few minutes at least."

The last thing he needed was for her to not be clear headed in case they needed to flee. A hangover would also make a morning excursion far more strenuous. Why his companion suddenly had an urge to drink herself into a stupor, he knew not.

"Hey! You asked about how I balanced out the salt and sweetness of my mix right? If you trade me some more jerky, you'll see a hint in some of the other pieces of my mix," Nora reclaimed his attention.

He handed her more jerky in return for more handfuls of trail mix. He gave some to Pyrrha as she sulked. As he chewed more of the mix, he deduced some of the flavoring.

"Is there… honey mixed into this? No wonder you were able to better balance out the flavor."

She nodded, "Yep! Honey is pretty easy for me to collect. It really helps with preserving my mix. You might have also noticed those tiny dried red fruit balls. That's a very special fruit that grows in the trees of my home village. Not many outsiders have had the opportunity to try dragon berry."

Jaune searched around his palm, plucking one of the alleged dragon berries into his mouth. There was a burst of pleasant sweetness from the dried fruit.

"It's delightful. I can confidently say, I've never tasted a berry as sweet as dragon berry before. What's the origin behind the name?"

Nora tapped her chin, "Well, my tribe has passed down a ton of stories over generations. It's been a while since I've participated in story nights back at home. From what I recall, legends say that dragon berries received their name directly from the Mother Goddess. Allegedly, she found the fruits growing within the canopy of our home so delightful that she named them after her own tribe. How can you ever refuse a dragon? My tribe bowed to her wisdom and the name stuck."

He slowly plopped another dragon berry into his mouth. He didn't know how to feel about stories of the gods. The heretical Mother Goddess and the Father God had numerous stories and legends. Tales that he wasn't even sure were real. Especially the biased tales told to him about the heretical Mother Goddess by the clergy within his home. If he didn't hear Pyrrha out about her worship of the Mother Goddess all those years ago, he was sure his views would be much more in-line with his lineage.

"Thank you for sharing what you recall. I admit, I envy the fact you have likely sampled this fruit while it was ripe. If the berry is this sweet, dried. It must be a completely different experience fresh," he ate more of the trail mix.

"It's worth trying them fresh at least once. My tribe is usually fine with allowing in outsiders. There is not much trouble for others to cause us when they can't fly. Start trouble up in our great redwoods and you will just get tossed off. Simple. I think it's only fair you two get to share a story now. How did you two meet? Ren said centaur are super-duper rare outside of Mistral earlier."

Jaune confidently began to weave together a mix of truth and fiction, "In truth, we have mostly stuck close to the border with Vale because we are not entirely accustomed to these lands yet. Pyrrha mentioned I had a connection to a merchant that visits the garrisoned fortress separating us from Vale. It's because I have noble blood in my veins, yet my father lost our titles. My former name still meant something to some individuals we once did business with. Enough for Pyrrha and I to get by as long as we avoided staying in any location for too long."

His tale continued, "Pyrrha's origin is not unique, at least not among the noble houses within Vale. It's not uncommon for a small herd of centaur to be brought along by dignitaries of the Kingdom of Mistral. Should one such dignitary be impressed by your hospitality, there is a chance they will leave behind a centaur. You see, centaurs are seen as prized war machines by the Mistrali. The nobility of Vale have to reluctantly accept this gift for diplomatic reasons."

He unconsciously began to rub his hand against Pyrrha's side, "I was a lonely child in my household. Pyrrha was not valued by anyone but me. We found comfort in bonding with one another. When my father lost everything, Pyrrha and I struck out on our own."

Nora seemed to buy into his tale of partial truths, "You two must not have had an easy time. Living among those savage humans in Vale, I wouldn't wish it on anyone. My turn to tell a story again! I'll tell you how Ren and I met two years ago."

Ren muttered, "Oh boy, here we go…"

A fire seemed to be lit in Nora's eyes, "Here I was! Alone in the wilderness, lost and confused. Flying in the completely wrong direction! I didn't know what to do, I just wanted to go home. It was raining…"

Ren shook his head, "It rained the day after, not the day of."

She lightly tapped him with her winged arm, "It was raining! I was cold, my feathers were drenched. I had almost lost all hope! Then out of the corner of my eye I saw a boy fishing at a lake."

Ren sounded exasperated, "Nora, why would I be fishing in the rain?"

She ignored him, "I flew to him with one last burst of energy, hoping I would find salvation! The Mother Goddess answered my prayers. He took me to his campsite and cooked me a nice giant fish and even told me which village I was closest to so I could regain my sense of direction. I thanked him profusely and asked him if there was any way I could repay him. Yet, he asked for no reward!"

She stood up, her talons digging into the dirt, "I couldn't let that pass! He was my savior! The harpy clan of Valkyrie don't let good deeds go unrewarded. I begged him to return with me to my tribe, to have a feast in his name. He accepted."

Ren looked forlornly at the sky, "I'm still not sure if I made a mistake."

She turned towards him, one of her winged arms slapping him, "Ren, quiet! Where was I? Ah, yes. I convinced Ren to return with me to my village. We feasted for two days and two nights. Ren was just about to leave our village after the celebration. I felt sad seeing him prepare to leave by himself. I knew I had to do something!"

Her taloned hand curled closed as she pumped her fist and confidently shouted, "And so I adopted him!"

Ren rubbed his face with both of his hands as he sighed, "Abducted, she abducted me. She picked me up and brought me back up into the trees."

"Adopted!" She pumped her clawed fist again.

Ren continued the story, "After a while, I convinced her that adventuring would be fun. First adventure we went on, we found some old gold coins. Nora's been hunting treasures by my side ever since."

Jaune had no idea how to feel about their shared story. As he tried to process exactly what he heard, Pyrrha broke her silence, her gaze filled with worry.

"By the Mother Goddess, please tell me you were just messing with me earlier."

Now Jaune was entirely confused. What was Pyrrha referring to? Had he missed something?

Nora stretched her plumaged arms to full span as she smiled at Pyrrha, "Who knows~?"

Pyrrha's gaze lingered on Nora before she turned to Jaune, "We're going to head off to bed now. We need to be up early in the morning to continue our journey."

Jaune blinked, "Wait, we are? I can stay up for a little longer."

Pyrrha rose from her resting position, one of her hands reaching out to grab at his shoulder as she made direct eye contact with him, "Who said we should keep clear heads, again? We need to sleep."

Jaune hesitated, his gaze lingering again to the crevice in the hillside, "But…"

She tugged his arm, her voice brokering no further argument, "Bed. Now."

He slumped his shoulders in defeat. She was right, they did need to go to sleep. Yet, something lingered in the back of his mind.

Pyrrha pulled his arm again, "Are you going to come or not?"

Nora hummed as she lightly flapped her arms, "I'm sure he will, right Jaune?"

Pyrrha shoved him in front of herself, nudging him to keep walking towards their tent. He looked back one last time. Nora gave him a small wave while Ren poked at the campfire. Jaune's eyes focused back on the crevice.

Something had to be in there… Something had to be in there… Something had to be in there…

He felt Pyrrha squeeze his shoulders; it was enough to drive him forward to the tent.


He cautiously stirred, slowly pulling himself away from the side of Pyrrha. Her faint breathing was enough to know that she had fallen asleep in their tent. He couldn't sleep. Every time he closed his eyes, he saw that crevice in the hillside.

Jaune slowly moved towards their supplies. He grabbed his sheathed sword, a small candle, and a tiny metal lantern to house the candle from their pack. He just wanted a single peek into the hillside and then he would return to the tent.

He stumbled out of the dark tent, stopping to ensure Pyrrha did not wake up. Assured she was still sleeping, he looked towards where the campfire was. To his surprise, Ren was still sitting there, poking at the faint flames of the dimming fire. Jaune approached him.

Ren glanced at him, his golden eyes illuminated by the dying flames of the fire, "Jaune. Did you hear something? I have been the only one moving about the campsite. There is no need for you to pull your sword."

Jaune leaned in-front of the flames of the campfire to set the wick of his candle aflame before looking towards the crevice, "Regardless, I need to see that hole for myself. My curiosity is getting the better of me, I know it. It just feels like something I must do."

Ren watched him place the candle inside the small metal lantern box, "What will you do if your flame dies while you're in there? You can't see in the dark. You said you have never dared to explore an underground area before. This is foolish. Your companion will panic if you don't resurface. Nora and I will be blamed."

A wave of irritation filled Jaune, "Then come with me. I'm not resting until I take a look. My head is screaming at me to investigate."

Ren looked over towards the crevice, "I've relied on my instincts to get by throughout my travels. I trust my gut when it feels like something is wrong. If you really think there might be a threat to us within that hole, I'll spare a few minutes to investigate with you."

Jaune gave him a strained smile, "Thank you, I would appreciate someone at my back. Will you be fine? Have you even slept yet?"

Ren shrugged, "Should be. I have a difficult time falling asleep, it's always been like that for me. Nora has tried to help me with some remedies, yet we haven't found a working mixture yet. By the way, we'll need a way to mark that we entered the cave in case one of the girls comes looking for us. Leaving my tin cup at the entrance to the hillside should be good enough. Nora can spot shiny materials from absurdly long distances."

The two headed over toward the hole in the hillside. Ren left his cup on a rock right next to the entrance of the hole. Jaune moved towards the hole to illuminate the inside of the entrance with some of the candlelight.

He spoke, "I can't see much. It looks like there might be a small circular cavern just off the entrance."

Ren poked his head in, "You're right, a little way in there is a circular room. It looks like there is another crack lower to the ground. Looks large enough to potentially crawl into. I don't see any wildlife in the entrance way. That was my greatest concern."

"It's still not enough for me to be satisfied. I'm going in," Jaune passed by Ren, heading into the entrance way.

The inside walls of the cavern entrance looked a little damp, but nothing else of real note seemed to be within the circular area. With not much else to hold his attention, Jaune headed to the second hole at the back of the room. Jaune poked his lantern into the lower crack between the floor and wall of the back wall of the cavern entrance. Ren was right, the crack did seem to have enough space to crawl through.

He heard Ren approach him, "I don't think it's a good idea to go further than this. We would have been in danger if there was wildlife within the entrance. There is no reason to seek out anything deeper. It's just asking for trouble."

Jaune ignored his concern, "No, I need to be sure. I can feel it, something is back here. If you don't want to follow me, that's fine. I don't blame you."

He pushed the lantern a little bit more into the hole before getting down on his hands and knees. It looked like the inside of the crawl space was as damp as the walls around the entrance way. He crawled a little way into the hole, noting he had at least enough room to keep the top of his head and back from touching the dark mossy ceiling of the crawlspace.

He heard shuffling behind him before he felt a hand touch the back of his leg, "You're a stubborn idiot. This is needlessly reckless. We should have waited until the morning at least."

Jaune crawled further in, "I'd rather not have Pyrrha sitting there worrying about me while I'm exploring some cave. It's easier to just get it done at night, especially since we need to move early in the morning to get to a village."

Ren shuffled behind him in the crevice, "You don't want your partner to worry, so you go behind her back? I may not be as familiar with your companion as you are, but I'm familiar enough with my own to know that if we are caught, I'll never hear the end of it."

Jaune kept moving, ensuring he gently moved the lantern forward, "My life has been full of risks these last few days. Why not take on another? Pyrrha should stay asleep, probably. She doesn't really stir much at night. I tend to use her as a pillow too."

Ren released a sigh of relief behind him, "Thank the Mother Goddess for small mercies then. Nora is a very heavy sleeper. It takes me a lot of effort to wake her up when we need to depart. I can only hope both of them remain blissfully unaware."

They crawled further through the crawlspace of rock and moss before eventually reaching another chamber. Jaune was the first to get back up onto his feet. When he spun his lantern around their surroundings, he saw mossy walls and a floor filled with animal bones. He took a few more steps forward before he noticed something very different. At the very end of the chamber, there was a grey stone archway.

He wordlessly moved towards the archway, his blood boiling. His head hurt as he looked upon the thousands of tiny scrawled letters on the stone door of the archway. He didn't recognize the language of the black script painted onto the stone door of the archway.

Ren squeezed his shoulder hard, "We need to turn back. Now."

Jaune was transfixed on the doorway, "No, can't you see! I knew there was something here. I can feel it. How do we open this?"

Ren seized both of his shoulders, spinning him around to face him with direct eye contact, "Listen to me. We are going to turn right back around. I have experience with ruins. What is before us is a door of the ancients. You don't ever mess around with the doors the ancients marked with script. They are taboo to the extreme. Legends say the ancient ones locked things away from the world behind those doors for very good reasons."

Jaune's ears were ringing as his body demanded him to turn back towards the door. He pulled himself away from Ren, moving closer to the archway. When he was within reaching distance, the thousands of lines of black script began to glow a faint orange.

Ren took a deep breath behind him before rapidly muttering, "Oh Mother Goddess, please protect me and my foolish companion. Mother Goddess, please ensure our safety. Please…"

The orange glow of the script intensified. A sudden flash of understanding filled Jaune's mind, causing him to draw his sword. He ran his left palm against the side of the blade before placing his bleeding hand against the stone doorway. The door began to shake.

Ren's voice was filled with panic as he increased the intensity of his chanting, "Mother Goddess please deliver us to safety! Please protect your wayward children…"

The ancient stone door slowly cracked open. Rather than a room being behind the door, there was a swirl of some type of murky grey liquid filling the entirety of the entrance of the door. The liquid moved in place, not falling out of the doorway.

Ren's nails dug into Jaune's shoulder, "Please don't do this. Whatever that stuff in the doorway is, it can't be good. The ancients sealed these things away for a reason. We can still turn around…"

Jaune shook his head, his gaze transfixed on the beautiful swirls of grey liquid, his thoughts empty, "This is right. My blood is singing to me. It beckons… It awaits…"

Jaune shoved Ren aside before stepping into the floating grey liquid. The world around him warped.


Jaune fell to his knees as the trance that had overtaken him, vanished. He desperately swung his lantern around to get a better view of his new location. He was no longer in a cave, no longer beside Ren. He shuddered as he realized exactly what situation he got himself into.

There was no grey liquid portal at his back, just pure grey stone wall. In front of him, was a large wooden door. Left with little choice, he grabbed his sword with a shaky hand and strode forward.

'Pyrrha is going to kill me…' he pushed the wooden door open.

He stilled as the doorway opened to reveal what appeared to be the inside of some old cathedral. Most of the interior was composed of some type of midnight black stone. The dark stone reflected red and orange flames from braziers hanging throughout the prayer room. Bright red banners adorned with the symbol of an orange sun hung throughout the room.

Within the center of the prayer room was an altar. A black sword hovered above the dark altar. An orange cylindrical barrier covered the sword from the top of the altar to the ceiling. Just behind the altar was an archway composed of the same grey liquid as the doorway he entered to arrive.

Four knights were kneeling on a single knee, their swords driven into the stone floor in each cardinal direction of the altar. The metal plate the knights wore seemed to be composed of the same midnight black material throughout the prayer room. All four knights had red tabards with the symbol of the orange sun.

Jaune cautiously approached, his sword arm shaking. None of the knights stirred, frozen in their positions before the dark sword. He inched closer to the knight directly in-front of the altar.

"Hello?" Jaune spoke as he reached out to touch the shoulder of the knight.

At his touch, the knight turned to dust alongside his sword driven into the stone. Jaune flinched back as the orange barrier around the dark sword grew fainter. Ren's words of caution echoed throughout his mind.

'These things were sealed away for a reason.'

He hastily moved off to the side in order to head towards the grey shimmering archway. Just as he was about to move into the archway, he heard the pleading voice of a young girl behind him.

"Help me… Help me…"

He hesitated, turning to look back behind himself. There was no one behind him but the three remaining frozen knights. Jaune glanced around the room to see if he missed anyone.

"Help me… Help me…"

As the voice called out to him once more, he noticed a circular orange gem bound into the cross guard of the black sword. Each time the voice spoke, the gem flashed.

Jaune swallowed as he debated internally on what to do next. Something had driven him here. Between his nightmares and the mania that drove him to enter a cave in the middle of the night, he was concerned about whether his actions were still his own.

'Why do I feel the need to free that sword?'

His head felt as if it was being split in half as he looked between the grey shimmering archway and the dark sword locked behind the barrier. It was hard for him to focus under the strain of his intense headache.

He slowly shuffled towards the knight behind the altar, touching his shoulder. As the knight turned to dust, the barrier around the sword further weakened.

"Help me…"

He paused, rubbing his temples, 'Am I really going to do this? I don't even know what this thing is.'

His legs felt heavy as he moved towards the third knight. He swore he felt an invisible hand push against his back as he pressed his own hand against the knight to the left of the altar. The orange light around the floating sword further dimmed.

He forced himself to move towards the last knight. The invisible pressure against his back intensified. He knew something was physically pushing him forwards towards the last of the dark armored knights.

He hesitated as he reached his hand out, pausing right before he went to touch the final knight. His hand floated just a few inches away from the back of the final knight when he finally noticed the entity. A shimmering outline of someone half his height grabbed his arm and slowly pushed it towards the kneeling knight. He allowed his hand to contact the knight, embracing the madness that drove him towards the secrets of the ancients.

As the final knight disappeared, the orange barrier sealing away the dark sword went with it. The entity at his side urged him towards the sword. Jaune nervously laughed as the stress of the situation pushed him over the edge.

"Embrace me…"

He stumbled forward towards the altar, both of his hands reaching out to firmly grasp the pommel of the dark blade. As both of his hands contacted the sword, the shimmering entity at his side became fully visible.

A pale small girl stood at his side, a smug smirk on her face. Her eyes burned an unnatural orange. Black scaled horns rested upon her head, while large black wings extended out of her back. She wore black plate armor adorned with the sigil of an orange sun.

"You have my gratitude for freeing me, blood of Autumn. I am the final cinder of the Great Dragon of Summer. Help me restore my true form, in return I shall grant you this world! You may now bask in my presence! I shall allow you to call me Cinder!" Her childish voice was filled with confidence.

Jaune pulled the sword closer to himself, as he stared at the little girl at his side. He looked between her and the sword.

He let out a breath of relief as he mumbled to himself.

"Great. Here I was thinking I just unleashed some great evil into the world or something, like an idiot. At least it's just some sassy little girl, I can deal with that. There's no way she can be worse than Lavender and Cerise. They must be throwing a fit at home now that I'm not there."

The armored brat poked his side, "Stop ignoring me, worm!"

Jaune sighed as he moved towards the shimmering grey portal, "Yeah, yeah. My apologies, this lowly peon will help you in your great quest. Please forgive me, for I have incurred great exhaustion of the mind in my journey to unseal you."

Cinder crossed her arms, "Hmm. I will, just this once. Do not make disregarding me a habit or it will be your demise!"

Jaune didn't turn back as he entered the shimmering portal.

By the gods, he was so exhausted.


AN: You can thank the power of AI image generation for this chapter. You might notice a few of my works have new cover pages. Yes, Nora did spend most of the chapter teasing Pyrrha. I'm not sorry.