Chapter 7 – Lessons at All Levels

A/N: Okay, reason this came out so fast, the previous chapter was getting too long so I split it more or less in half! Hope you enjoy this latest offering so drop me a line and let me know if there's anything else you'd like to see in this story.

XXX

"Okay, honest answer," though Pyrrha had disappeared to the showers almost as soon as they'd returned Ruby still glanced around RNNRs' shared room and kept her voice low, "was that, what happened back there I mean, was that normal?" I'm starting to see what Jaune was talking about them being on the same wavelength; Ren and Nora shared a glance and held a conversation before to her slight surprise the smaller of the two took the lead,

"Kind of, yes and no," the bombardier offered, looking somewhat sheepish, "Pyr-Pyr's always been the best of us but she's a dancer, not a tank like me or Jaune-Jaune. She shouldn't have taken so many hits."

"I thought she was reckless, especially against that alpha," Ruby agreed, her position at the back of the formation letting her oversee the battle while picking off stragglers, "did anyone get what her Aura finished on?" Ren nodded, pulling out his scroll,

"I always keep mine recording, it helps during practise, see where we slipped up against the bots or another team. Sorry it's a bit slow on playback though, it's a basic model."

"No problem Ren, good idea as well;" wish I'd thought of it – still, no point worrying about it now – shoot the 'wolves you can see; putting future plans on the back burner Ruby clustered around the scroll eagerly alongside Nora, silver eyes peeled on the combined Aura tracks of the five Hunters as Ren started the playback,

"Okay, we touched down… here," he narrated, glancing at his watch to check the times tallied, "investigating that Nevermore report slowed down us down at the start, enough that we were late actually making a start by about seven minutes. Luckily it wasn't really a flock, just a couple of stragglers; good shooting to drive them off Ruby," the nod from the stoic warrior made his new leader smile, "that's an option we didn't really have before, at least in urban areas."

"I meant to ask about that," Ruby chipped in, turning to his partner, "Nora, could Magnhild fire airbursts? That would've cleared them out a lot quicker than me and Pyrrha could have." Unfortunately, the shorter; and isn't that something when it's me talking?; girl shook her head,

"No, well, yes she could but the fuse timings are impossible; at close range the round would be as likely to blow us up as the Grimm and at long range if I'm a second . That only really works at long range, not when they're swarming around us like they were then."

"Shame, still we got there in the end, not much going on around the Breach as it's been pretty clear the past few days. Do you think Marine let us go a bit loose, especially before we got out there?" Ren shook his head after a moments' thought of the fourth year who had overseen this first mission,

"Possibly but I don't know if that was deliberate or because she was more ranged…"

"She was also keeping her distance, there guesses from who," Nora added, tone and expression darkening in a way that made Ruby feel nervous – chirpy and cheerful she might be but no-one sane in Beacon ever wanted to see the Valkyrie angry, "a lot of people have been doing that both here and in the city. You've seen it haven't you Rennie, the extra step between her and everyone else now?"

"It's not just Pyrrha being distant you mean? Yes, and I believe I know why," the ninja agreed, albeit reluctantly before facing his new leader, "I am sorry to bring this up Ruby but I, we," he amended, indicating Nora, "believe this is due to… what happened at the final."

"I, I guessed as much," Ruby was trying to put a brave face over the memories of sundered limbs and shattered wires but judging by the looks she was getting wasn't doing that good a job, "she didn't know, no-one did; heck Penny didn't even tell me. It was, it was just an accident".

The word felt small, almost a betrayal of the destroyed android the small reaper had considered a friend but, really, what else could she say? Out of all JNPR Ruby had had the least to do personally with Pyrrha but the Mistralian girl had always come across as perfectly polite, reasonable and ultimately a good person, a complete juxtaposition to someone who'd left an opponent in ruins on the national stage. The trio fell into gloom for a long moment before someone else seized the reins and broke them free of the cloying sadness,

"We'll have to ask her later, when she's back to being her normal shy self," Nora breezed, hiding her own fear for her friend for the sake of the others, "still, Rennie's right in that Marine was ranged; seriously who goes toe-to-toe with Grimm with just a bayonet?"

"It's her father's rifle, family tradition; she told me when we were loading up," Ren supplied, having been set next to the third-year for the bumpy ride, "anyway, apart from that we cleared the Nevermore and then pressed on into the city proper – I think that's where you really see it, especially compared to before."

"Yep," Nora nodded grimly, elaborating for Ruby's benefit, "Pyr never used to like going into Vale because of her fans, this time did you see how some people looked at her?"

"Like she was…;" about to tear them a new one?; "…scary?"

"Like she was a killer," Ren monotone showed he was using his Semblance to speak uncomfortable truths, "sometimes I consider it a mercy Pyrrha's distracted and the CCT is still intermittent. Her fan sites were bad before, I dread to think what they're like now."

"People just love to see a hero fall," Nora scowled, her laugh uncharacteristically bitter, "I can't see her sponsors rushing back to support her either, she's spoilt goods now."

"Sod them," Ren's eyes were hard as rose quartz as Tranquillity released its grip on his mind, "and sod her fans as well. Easy to speak when there's a wall or a continent between you and the Grimm."

"Never a truer word spoken," Ruby grimaced before nudging them back on track by glancing at the scroll again, "so, after we land and Marine re-briefs us on the task we head off, though next time we're in the forge Nora just tell me 'project', I'll know what it means."

"Aye-aye tireless leader; now, going off this scroll-Aura meter doohickie I think we were just outside the Breach at about half-ten, maybe just after. That's when the first wave hit us…"

"Good eyes on that Nora, your first shot was good too, splintered that the first wave of Creeps before they got too neeeaahhhh!"

"Ahh, Ru-Ru says the sweetest things about me! Can we keep her Rennie, pretty please?"

"Much as I'd like to we can't get too attached; she's going to get her own team back at some stage."

"Awww…."

"Uck-urgh, 'elp, R'n'elp!"

"Ahaha Ru-Ru stop, that tickles."

"Loosen your hold a little Nora, she's starting to turn blue."

"Well that's silly, red and blue always clash," as the steel grip released her Ruby barely heard the elder girls' lecture, "stick to red and black, it suits you better." Heaving down sweet oxygen the young reaper just about managed a nod before channelling her inner Yang and trying to carry on as if nothing had happened,

"Right, so, after they were gotten rid of we got into the outskirts properly, we were about what, half a mile outside the Breach itself, still within eyeshot of the residential district before the real contact. Our task was to, uh, scout Grimm numbers and check if the recent forays were wearing them down or if they were replenishing," belatedly remembering their actual mission Ruby quickly fished a small notepad from one of her pouches, sharpening the pencil lead with a flick of Crescent Rose before scribbling down notes; urgh, post-mission reports. If I'd known how boring the non-Grimm fighting bits were going to be I'd have begged the professors to make Weiss our leader; "did either of you notice anything about that, any sign of a Grimm pool because I didn't."

"You think one's already sunk in?" There was more than a trace of trepidation in Ren's voice at the thought, "I didn't see anything but we didn't really get close enough to see Beacon – that was where the most negativity was during the retreat."

"That's probably true," Ruby stated grimly, beckoning them slightly closer as she lowered her voice, "if there is one it's going to be there, especially as the Wyvern was spawning Grimm while it was alive."

"A leviathan?" Even Nora's chipper tone broke at that revelation, "It didn't look big enough." It did up close; shuddering at memories of that terrible night Ruby quickly pressed on, a touch of humour having her raise an eyebrow towards her new teammate,

"Size isn't everything, both of us should know that Nora," the two shared a giggle before the young Rose sobered up, "but Professor Port confirmed it, Wyverns are leviathans that both spawn and attract other Grimm. Even though it's dead;" thanks to Jaune – ah, no don't get lost in thought!; "any tar it shed prior might be enough to seed a new pool, especially with the negativity Ren mentioned."

"Which is why we've been pushing for a quick strike back, burn it out before it sinks in too deep on Vales' doorstep," Ren surmised, pausing only for a steadying breath before pointing at his scroll again, "and this is where things do get interesting. We were out for about an hour and a half, perhaps three-quarters at a push before you gave the call to pull back Ruby but we weren't under constant contact, not like the first team out there were. Perhaps that means there's not as many Grimm as there were but I didn't notice if what we were up against was new-spawned or not, did either of you see anything?"

"Nope, nothing that means anything," Nora piped up, somehow both excited and trepidatious about the idea of a nightmare spawner emerging within her former home, "we all know a load of Grimm attacked us, and I mean a ton, so it's probably too early to see how old they all are. We'll have to smash through a load more before someone smart and boring can figure it out."

"Very true, though I think Profe-doctor Oobleck is still out for a few days after that first foray; nothing serious," having attended the meetings to discuss the results of the first few pushes out of the Breach Ruby had heard the exhaustion in the verdette man's voice as he recounted his teams' tussle with a surprise attack from a group of small Deathstalkers, "just a precaution as his Aura took some knocks. Good news is the plan seems to be working – Vale's secure now and the Grimm air forces have thinned enough that Bullheads have been able to start answering call-ins – so we are chipping away at them, though it's still a long way until we're back in Beacon."

"Longer for some than others," Tranquillity again let Ren stab the Goliath in the room, "though our mission was a success, at the end we were lucky. See here," his finger traced the scroll and both Ruby and Nora watched on as they saw their Aura levels flicker as the time dragged on, though one over all of them declined more steadily before sharply dropping, "that was the last pack before you pulled us out Ruby, and I agree it was the right call."

"Shame Pyrrha didn't," even the memory of the look the champion had thrown at her when she'd said they were heading back still made the reaper quail until Nora patted her firmly on the back,

"You were right tireless leader, and Marine; is that actually her name or a nickname – hmm, can't remember – backed you up on it. We'd bashed a lot of Grimm, I was down to my back-up, back-up grenades and Magnhild gets cranky if she's not topped up."

"Tell me about it, Crescent Rose is exactly the same," silver eyes flashed with mirth before becoming more pensive again, "be honest, was Pyrrha on point a mistake?"

"You were thinking of using me up front? Don't look so shocked," Ren chuckled as the smaller girl regarded him agog, "everyone thinks that until they realise my Semblance takes more than just Aura, I have to concentrate as well. I can scout for brief periods, especially if it's confirmed there's a lot of Grimm around, but continually for that long would leave me exhausted mentally if not in Aura. In truth, Jaune usually led from the front."

"Because he's got armour and the most Aura?"

"Well, mostly," Ren agreed, looking slightly uncomfortable as he bit the bullet, "but he was always big into his 'playing-the-hero' idea, especially at first when he was really overconfident. I know Pyrrha was knocking that out of him during their sparring but sometimes I wondered if he'd ever actually fought Grimm before he got here."

"Yeah, I mean fearless leader really was fearless but a lot of the time he got in over his head," Nora added before smiling, "but he got better in the end, and cooler; remember Forever Fall? One swipe," her hand cut through the air before she flopped to the ground, "took an Ursa's head clean off, though I still say he should have let it maul Cardin a bit first."

"Nora, that's not nice."

"A little scarring never hurt anyone."

"It would have hurt CRDL," Ren admonished, though Ruby suspected he was hiding a smile, "but anyway, back on topic Jaune was a good front man for those reasons as well. He wasn't a good fighter on his own, and eventually he admitted it, but he was likely the best anvil of our entire year and he was only getting better at it; none of us can really play that role."

"I mean I could try…"

"Wouldn't work," both JNPR members looked to their new leader as Ruby shook her head, "you said it yourself Nora you need space for your explosions, not to mention swinging Magnhild must take a lot out of you. It's also not defensive; Ren's right that none of us should be standing toe-to-toe with anything bigger than a Beowolf, we can't take the hits like Jaune could, not even Pyrrha. Look, you can see her Aura dipping with that alpha, especially as her Semblance doesn't affect them."

"She uses it to dodge mostly against Grimm but she can't make them miss her like she could other combatants. The main issue was how she was fighting," Ren pointed out, his expression falling in time with his friends' Aura, "as Nora said she's a dancer which is why she worked so well with Jaune – he held them in place so she could cripple them. You could expect her to be not as good on her own but even so she took a lot more punishment than I've seen before – you said she was training before we went out?"

"I don't think she did much today but she's not taking any breaks is she?" Ren and Nora didn't even have to nod for Ruby to know that, "She's going to wreck herself."

"But if she stops it might all catch up and break her anyway," Nora drew up her knees fretfully, "she's been running since that night, not had a chance to slow down and take in what happened – how do we get her to slow down?"

"I don't know that we do," Ruby's confliction was obvious as she looked between her new teammates, "you're both right, no matter what we do it could hurt her and, and I don't know how we help!" Her frustration boiled over, hands trembling as she clenched her fists; what did this have to happen? The White Fang, that Cinder woman, what was worth this – aren't we all trying to survive the Grimm?;

"I don't think anyone does, and worst of all Pyr-Pyr isn't the only one," Nora admitted, casting her look through the curtain walls of Ocean View, "most of it's low-level, the odd fist-fight or flipped table…"

"And a sight I will never be able to unsee."

"Oh," a smile plucked at Ruby's lips as Ren shuddered, "something juicy Rennie?" He shuddered again,

"One, please don't call me Rennie; two, never use the word 'juicy' with that connotation ever again. I don't mind people celebrating being alive with each other but I do mind them forgetting to close the curtains when they do; it put me right off my smoothie."

"Something good came of it then."

"My drinks are awesome Nora, none of you have any taste," Ren declared archly, his long-time friend sticking her tongue out as Ruby snickered before sobering up,

"I'll see if I can ask one of the professors, maybe Peach if I can find her, if they've got any advice – until then you two please keep your eyes on her, try and ask her to slow down before this gets worse. I don't want to but if it doesn't get any better, if I honestly think she'll be a danger to herself or the rest of the team I will pull us out of the front line," Ruby was grateful neither of her new team protested this, "I had enough troublesome teammates in RWBY, I'm not letting JNPR go down that road. And you will be JNPR again," her smile cut off Nora's query, the ginger girl falling gratefully silent as her new leader boosted her confidence, "soon as Jaune rings I'll ask for an update – hopefully he'll be back soon and that'll take a load off all our minds. Anyway, I'll take the shower last," slipping off her bunk she headed to the exit, "I've got something to start before then. Oh, one last thing though you two…"

"What's that?"

"…if you ever want to celebrate being alive just make sure the door stays shut."

XXX

Glad to make it back to his temporary abode just as the sun was shrinking over the horizon Jaune made to let himself in before pausing, cocking an ear; is that…? No, couldn't be surely but it sure sounds like it; slowly nosing the front door open the muffled jingle was instantly recognised and the squire had to hold back a snigger, though before he could speak a low rumble echoed from the lounge,

"Jaune, is that you?" I really shouldn't but I'm going to – time to put those years of living with the girls to use;

"No," he shouted in a passable impression of Glynda Goodwitch, "Qrow Branwen, show yourself!"

At the duo of shocked yelps (and a small bark that tailed off as Zwei skidded into the kitchen and cocked his head in confusion) Jaune couldn't help but laugh,

"The, the safety of Patch is assured with such bold Huntsmen guarding her shores," he called through mockingly, answered a heartbeat later by a series of curses about…; oh no, that's too far!; "and my parents are happily married thank you very much!"

You pull that kind of stunt again and they'll be outliving you," Qrow growled, clattering into the kitchen with one hand clamped over his heart and a murderous expression, "my life just flashed before my eyes you son of a 'wolf!"

"Guess it's true what they say," Jaune chuckled, putting the bag he'd brought back onto the kitchen table, "hell hath no fury like a Goodwitch scorned. You didn't stand her up one night did you?"

"No!"

"You wouldn't dare?"

"I wouldn't dare ask," Qrow countered, twitching at the thought, "consider yourself lucky you've never seen Glynda angry;" like I'm going to tomorrow morning – Brothers watch over my broken little crow body; "did you bring tea?"

"What did your last… no, don't answer that," it was Jaune's turn to cringe under bad memories as Qrow's eyebrows rose suggestively, "anyway, food; I got these from a place called the Flour Pot," the Hunter heard paper crinkle as he reached for some plates, letting Jaune place a trio of pastries down,

"Been there before, decent place but a bit pricy; what else you got in there, and what did you say about where you came from? Anyone ask?"

"Nothing much, no-one really asked," Jaune replied, reading the underlying worry as it was his neck on the line, "got a few looks but nothing more, just said I was visiting."

"You and Tai will have to put your heads together, say you're his nephew or something, you look alike enough," Qrow offered before nodding at the bag again, "what else did you pick up?"

"A few bits for me, clothes and the like – I didn't bring much with me so this should cover me for now, though I did pick up something else. If you get those in I'll be with you in a second, need to get these shoes off…"

XXX

Hearing more than seeing the door click open Yang glanced, no more, at the duo shambling in, deliberately not looking at her Beacon compatriot to avoid remembering both her earlier embarrassment and subsequent breakdown. Still, aside from a long hug from her father no-one had reacted her swollen cheeks or red eyes when she finally slouched downstairs, and at least her hair was halfway decent now; though not enough to put him back in my good books again – seriously, is he the one guy on Remnant who hasn't used the CCTN for its intended guy-purpose?;

"Evening all, sorry if I'm late."

"You're not, and thanks; I'll square up with you tomorrow, need to go to the bank and get… what are you wearing?" Reflexively Yang followed her father's appalled gaze and simultaneously snorted and shuddered; okay she might have been head-over-high-heels for the guy but surely P-Money would have burnt that abomination by now?

"These?" One fluffy blue bunny-foot rose, "My slippers."

"Really?" Taiyang looked from the offending footwear to the teenager wearing them without a care in the world; neither of my two would be caught dead in something like that, not even Ruby; "You actually wear those, at Beacon?"

"You wouldn't?"

"Not for all the Dust in Atlas."

"Your loss; before you trust a man walk a mile in his slippers, old Ansel saying."

"Really?"

"Yep; if he's a good man he'll have good slippers, if he's a bad man he'll be a mile away and you'll have his slippers. And anyway, good or bad no grown man has grounds to lecture others when he's halfway through an episode of Booper Beetles."

"It was Yang's choice…"

"It was not," said girl shot back irritably from where she was sprawled on the settee, "It was the first thing on and I can't be bothered to change it."

She could tell she wasn't believed, at least not by Jaune, but considering the thin ice he was on she trusted him not to open his mouth,

"You sure?" Right, keep forgetting, said mouth has a death-wish; "I mean you and Sparky are two of a kind."

"One more word and you're going to have a lot in common with Mangle," she promised darkly, Jaune raising his hands at her menacing glower,

"Easy, I didn't mean anything by it Yang – anyway, I got some tea and don't say you're not hungry," just before she could shoot him down he fished a small bag from his pocket with a theatrical flourish, "no sweets until after dinner and I'd hate to see these buttercreams go to waste."

It was blatant bribery but damn if it wasn't effective; much as Yang didn't like most sugary treats there was always an exception,

"Buttercreams?" One she'd inherited from her father, "Where'd you get those and, uh, got any more?"

"Why, afraid your daughter won't share?"

"No, when it comes to buttercreams I know she won't," his apologetic smile undermined Yangs' disgruntled snort as even she couldn't deny it wasn't true – Ruby might be lucky enough to sneak one at a pinch but anyone else was right off the list. Fortunately Jaunes' other pocket had him covered,

"Fair enough, I got some extra so let's see if the Beetles can boop old Dripp the Spout again. Here you are Yang, you want curried fish, grilled lamb or vegetarian?"

"Lamb," that was a no-brainer and despite her earlier words she couldn't help but sit up straighter as Jaune juggled plates with her uncle, though his generosity didn't stop her claiming a petty revenge as he made to sit down on the opposite end of the settee,

"Oh come on," he complained, looking down at the legs that had just shot out to sprawl over his would-be seat, "I got you dinner and sweets, what more do you want?"

"It's not for me, it's for Zwei," she informed him, the corgi perking up at his name, "he gets lonely on the floor. Come on, could you say not to that face?"

"I can when I've been walking all afternoon, budge up. Yang," as she looked away he injected a touch of steel into his tone, "I mean it, I really want to sit down."

"And I want to stretch my legs Vomit Boy – gonna tell me no?"

Even as she looked back to the television Jaune had the impression she was hoping he would – though prickliness was better than the unresponsive lump she'd been previously, more than once she'd claimed she could beat him one-handed and he really didn't want to test that. However just because she was stronger than him didn't mean he was out of tricks – growing up in a household of girls had taught him all the underhanded tricks to get a leg-up on the fairer sex; speaking of which; checking her attention was still mostly on the television he skilfully balanced both plates on one hand and reached slowly down with his other hand…

"Ow!" Yang jolted more from surprise than pain, Taiyang already on his feet as she jerked her legs up reflexively and Jaune took advantage, sitting at the end of the settee she'd just vacated and shielding his ribs with his closest arm as she realised what he'd done and lashed out, "You dick, that bloody hurt!"

"What, I've already done one lot of your hair today," Jaune smarmed through the battering, "might as well do the rest before you start needing a weed-whacker to get down your shins."

"Oh I am going to hurt you," she growled, sitting up with murder in her eyes at the insult just in time to have a plate thrust towards her,

"Knock that on the floor and you'll be fighting Zwei for your tea," Jaune's warning lowered her clenched fist, "you can beat me up later, right now we're all starving and desperate to know if the Beetles can get out of this jam. Violence later, food first – make sense?"

Yang said nothing, merely glaring at both him and her now-mollified father and uncle; fat lot of good you two were – I'm being insulted and assaulted here!; biting down on her dinner ill-temperedly as she mentally willed Jaune to disappear. On one level she was aware she was being unfair; one first-class clanger aside, he really had been a help; but to the rest of her he was just the easiest outlet for her frustration and as far as she was concerned that was better out than in, especially when he was being annoying. Just out of principle and in vengeance for her plucked hair she forced her feet under his back, flexing them occasionally to make sure he couldn't sit back comfortably (she refused to admit the position also kept them warm – it was hard as hell to put socks on one-handed) but he didn't complain, instead engrossed in the colourful cartoon jingling in front of them until she swallowed the last of the pastry and thrust her plate towards him,

"Deal's a deal," he didn't seem to hear her until she toed him in the back, "buttercreams, hand them over."

"What the magic word?"

"Or else."

"…Technically that's two words," she leant forwards, just a touch, and that was enough to remind him exactly who was boss between them, "but I suppose they work."

"Course they do", she smiled venomously as the small paper bag was duly deposited on her plate, "you'd not turn a pretty girl down would you Jaune – you don't get offers from many."

"Yang," even as Jaune winced the eldest blonde in the room looked over, "that's enough." She matched eyes with her father for a second before backing off with a shrug,

"Fine, he's more Uncle Qrows' type anyway," said uncle gagged as Yang savoured both triumph and a sweet buttercream, nudging Jaune with her foot again, "and look on the bright side VB, at least someone loves you."

"Yang I mean it…"

"No, no," Jaune raised a weary hand to forestall Taiyangs' warning, "she's not… well actually I hope she's wrong – Qrow?"

"Wrong, wrong, a hundred and ten percent wrong!"

"Yeah, you prefer riding crops and glasses," the sight of the Branwen paling sent a wave of inspiration crashing over Jaune and he quaffed from it without hesitation, "soon as she gives him a chance they'll be setting a date to get Good-hitched."

Yang nearly choked on one of her sweets, her father doubled over with a rasping laugh while Qrow…

"No," like a man facing his own execution the Hunter's horrified gaze tracked between the three of them, "no, no, no you stop that right now – there's not enough alcohol on Remnant to cope with another blonde trying to be funny!"

"Sorry," the knight shrugged, "kind of a rule, blondes do puns so I'm just maintaining the status-Qrow," the Branwen shuddered and slumped, expression suggesting he was seriously considering sweet unconsciousness via plate-based cranial trauma as Jaune held his left hand up, looking across the settee when he didn't feel anything, "oh come on, you have no idea Xiao Long it took me to come up with that one, don't leave me Yanging."

Qrow might have whimpered and Taiyang certainly snorted, thumping the armrest of his seat at the rapid-fire puns Jaune had spent a long part of his walk to Patch dreaming up on the off-chance some of her normal humour might pepper Yang back up. Well her face is red, though that might be due to near-death by confectionary; he mused quietly as she managed to swallow the errant treat and look across at him agog, though her shock soon solidified into sour disgruntlement as she looked from his raised palm to him,

"I'll Yang you from that door jamb by your underwear if you don't stop," she declared, gesturing violently with her sole hand to get her point across, "I do the puns around here, got it?"

"You haven't been doing many of them recently, though you're right, I do get it," his sudden shift into sympathy undercut her rising anger, "it's been a few weeks recently, and it's Saturday."

"Saturday?"

"Saturday?" Yang's question was echoed by her father, Tai looking across to his guest perplexed, "What's so special about Saturday?"

"You didn't have Leader weekends?" Seeing a pair of shaking heads Jaune carried on, making sure Yang couldn't see his face, "every other Saturday afternoon they do classes for team leaders. Ruby and I went to most of them so it got us out our team rooms for at least a few hours and, well, with the young, innocent cat away the three older mice will, ah," it took every ounce of control he possessed to keep his expression apologetically earnest as he looked back at his sofa-mate, "is 'play' the right word here?"

Yang's brow furrowed for a second, then the confusion quickly dawned into mingled horror and embarrassment as he guessed what he was driving at,

"Wha, I, we… no!"

"Yang I've seen the, ah, let's be polite and call it 'literature' holding your bunkbeds up. There's nothing wrong with being curious at our ages, in fact it's healthy."

"That's Blakes'," she shrieked, red face nothing to do with her Semblance, "we weren't doing… who the hell said…?"

"I'd like to say the same people who started the TFI Friday rumours for JNPR but I'm pretty sure you had something to do with that;" erk!; it wasn't completely true (mostly because she hadn't thought of it first) but she certainly hadn't been above throwing oil on the fire when she had the chance, something Jaune seemed to read from her suddenly-chagrined expression, "so, assuming I'm not right…"

"You're not, and Drunkle Qrow stop laughing!"

"…we'll leave it there, fair?" Yang almost nodded out of reflex before catching herself, leaning across at him menacingly with her fist clenched,

"No, no fair, definitely not fair," she snarled, crimson slowly receding from her cheeks as she quashed this source of embarrassment, "you apologise, right here and right now or I beat you to paste so fine the worms will need straws!"

"Wow, violent much; okay, okay," his cowering arms forestalled her standing up, "sorry for the misunderstanding, though just one thing?"

"What?"

"When RWBY's back and you get it on with Blake and the Snow Angel, would that be a Schnee-some or a Yang-bang; you know, for future reference?"

He was just quick enough; as Taiyang's face fell into his hands and Qrow doubled over clutching his gut Jaune leapt up to his feet to dodge Yangs, the settee arm creaking in protest at her two-footed kick as she scrambled upright after the fleeing knight, fire tickling her fringe as she bellowed in fury,

"Get back here!"

"I choose life!"

"Coward," she spat, their voices fading as they hurtled into the kitchen, "hold still and taking a beating."

"Nope, freedoooommm!"

"I, I, ohhohoho Brothers," Qrow stumbled upright, his tenuous control shattered into guffaws as a feminine yelp and very loud expletive was met with a fading,

"Bunny slippers for the win!" as Yangs' pursuit into the garden was curtailed by her lack of footwear. Taiyang merely groaned into his palms, his mood not helped at a heavy pressure on his shoulder as Qrow collapsed there, trying to reign in his helpless howling,

"Y, you know," he gasped as in the distance a door was slammed harshly, "I honestly thought he'd be a spare pair of hands but I'm sorry to be leaving. Schnee-some," he dissolved into giggles again, "oh I am so using that one on Winny next chance I get!"

Tai merely groaned again, not removing his face from his hands both to avoid facing his former in-law and to hide the fact he was a hairsbreadth from hysteria himself.

XXX

That was fun; growing up in household with two Xaio Longs had made dodging pillows second nature for the young Rose, Rens' affronted face tempting a giggle from her as she sat down; though was Nora blushing – I hope so, those two really are made for each other. Still, no teasing them right now as we've got a lot on, Pyrrha's the biggest issue but I can't do anything about it, not at the minute, I still don't know enough about her, what happened that night or how she's coping with what happened with Jaune. Nora and Ren… well, we all knew she had a thing for him so her knocking him flat like that was really out of sorts but just asking about it probably won't get me anywhere, not right now. I'm just glad she doesn't seem to mind me being leader, not like Weiss did at first – no, not now, put that topic down for a minute, we need to take a breath. Settling herself at the table she'd picked and nodding at another team sharing a card game she did just that, forcing all else from her mind as she drew on the lessons she and Jaune had shared during their leadership classes.

In truth it was surprising how those particular classes, including the ones run on a weekend – seriously, what kind of monster even did that – had stuck in her mind, though perhaps that was because she'd simply never expected to attend them. Getting into Beacon alone had been a shock, being named as team leader by the headmaster himself had almost driven her into an early grave, both on the spot and then after trying to coerce reluctant teammates into the fold, least of all her own partner. The lessons on leadership, ones her teammates had watched her depart for sympathetically (Yang), dispassionately (Blake) or jealously (Weiss), had however been surprisingly helpful – rather than the more in-depth history class she and Jaune had been dreading, it had mostly focussed on the background work that needed to be done to organise and prepare for Hunt, the legality of their work and what a Hunter contract actually meant for all parties involved.

However, more importantly for now those lessons also touched on the dangers blade and shot couldn't slay; despite growing up around Hunters she'd gone pale at the stark statistics portrayed by their teachers, and she hadn't been the only one either. One in three before thirty, and of those over half not lost to the Grimm; the solemnity in Professor Ports' voice (the classes were delivered by all Beacons' professors and seeing the rotund veteran without his usual bonhomie was almost as jarring as the statistics he was presenting) only highlighted the damning future facing many of their classmates. Much as she and her sister had complained about his slovenly manner at least Uncle Qrow was mostly functional – some of the pictures that had flashed up on the scroll-board of empty eyes, trembling hands and scars where no Grimm could easily (or non-fatally) hit easily knocked the boisterousness from even Jaune, who had quickly knuckled under in the face of the responsibility the headmaster had foisted on him.

If only this had happened next year; it wasn't the first time Ruby had mentally moaned that lament – as had been explained when Cardin, oddly enough, had questioned why they weren't being graded in leading their squads in the battlefield, the vast majority of Beacons' first year studies aimed at getting everyone up to an acceptable level of fitness and technique. Not everyone who had Aura could be expected to slaughter nightmares on their first day; her own father had confided that he'd started out, in his words, rubbish at school simply because Patch hadn't had many Grimm for him to hunt, so Beacon had arranged first years excursions to have only minor external missions, ones that should, on paper, allow the students to trial their skills without being put in life-threatening danger.

Due to this schedule, first year leadership studies were based more on Huntsman law, requisition protocols and paperwork rather than seeing signs of stress and arranging appropriate treatment for their teammates. At the time it had made sense; as first years they didn't know their teams well enough to judge when a kind word or night on the town wouldn't be enough and extra interventions was needed; now it the aftermath it seemed like a severe oversight, especially given the fractures even she could see running through one of her team like the veins of a Grimm…

Silver eyes closed with a sigh as forced the thought away; though she was far from unaware, nor even unsympathetic to Pyrrha's current plight despite the pain of Penny's loss, one of the first lessons they were taught by Ozpin himself (leadership courses were one of the few the headmaster taught, or had taught personally, though not very frequently) was that a team leader had to take a step back to see the whole picture. It was one of things Ruby had and still struggled with, always wanting to be on the front lines to make sure her friends stayed safe, but with practice and Jaune continually reciting situations and scenarios where not taking a moment to breathe could (or worse, had) been the difference between success or annihilation she'd made some progress. And his mother helped as well, the whole 'running 'wolf' thing actually does make sense – Sal Arc for professor; the thought of the no-nonsense blonde at the head of the class, not to mention imagining the look of terror on her son's face at the sight, made the young Rose giggle before she took a breath, forcing all other things from her mind with an effort to focus on a task that, though not mindless, she had found helped take some of the stress off herself.

Yangs' wound, Pyrrhas' crumbling at the seams, her fathers' worry, Jaunes' absence – all that could wait for a moment as she took out her paper and pen. Hard decisions, she knew, would be coming so she took her peace when she could, readying herself to face them with a clear head and clean conscience, something taking this shot at one of her running 'wolves would help her with while also, more importantly, hopefully aiding someone now far away through no fault of their own.

Team RWBY might have been benched but she was still their leader and their friend; come Grimm, hell or high water, that wasn't ever going to change.

Dear Weiss,

Sorry I haven't written in a while, been a bit busy – I know, I should be better organised but I can't find a new diary in the View for love nor money…

XXX

The door got halfway open before Qrow was forced to pause and stifle his grin again, the flash of gold crouched at the table like a hunting cat once more stirring the memories of earlier; I shouldn't, well, yes I should laugh but because it's my niece I shouldn't laugh as much;

"Hey Firecracker," he greeted, taking Yangs' abrupt hum as an answer as he followed her gaze, " wow, what did the door ever do to you?"

"Nothing – the bastard on the other side of it though," she half-shouted, fist clenched around the mug she'd been nursing since she'd fortified the limit of her pursuit of the errant Hunter, "he has to crawl back here sometime!"

"I don't know; if that face was waiting for me I'd probably kip under the stars," as said face regarded him with a huffy pout Qrow couldn't help but chuckle, just a little, before turning a bit more serious, "and I know your dad says you shouldn't go to bad angry but that's no reason to stay up all night plotting revenge."

"Isn't it – sounds like a good one to me," Yang argued, sipping her now-cold tea and wishing it was something stronger, "are you leaving?"

"Wish I wasn't but, duty calls."

"Yeah but you usually pretend to be deaf," the blonde smirked at her uncles' affronted look before her expression turned more pleading, "couldn't you just throw him in on your way out. I'll clean up the bloodstains and everything, promise!"

"Not a chance, heard that one way too often," Qrow countered, visions of a grinning imp gleefully pointing the finger at him after Tai walked in on a collaborative attempt at cookie-making gone horribly wrong; seriously how did the dough get stuck on the ceiling, the oven wasn't even on!; "and anyway even if I wanted to I couldn't."

"Why not – VB's great at running, probably all the armour he wears, but hiding he sticks out like an Ursa a beauty pageant."

"Because your dad hoiked him through the lounge window a while ago; hold it," fortunately Qrow was one of only two people in the world who could get away with putting his hand on Yang's forehead as she shot to her feet, "no murder-frenzy."

"Yes murder-frenzy," Yang growled, glowered up at him from beneath her fringe and his palm, "you heard what he said, how can you say he doesn't deserve a righteous beating?"

"Because I also heard what he said about, uhm what'd he call it, TFI – knew it," the lessening pressure said as much as her suddenly humbled expression, "look me in the eye and say you had nothing to do with that Firecracker? Look," she tried but couldn't do it, a reluctant but real smile peeping over her lips as she took a half-step back, "knew it, and be honest you think there's ever been a team through Beacon that didn't have those sorts of rumours?"

"I guess not," her tone was somewhat mollified but Qrow had the impression Jaune wasn't quite off the hook yet, "but if he opens that big mouth of him one more time it's whaaahh!"

Qrow read her intent and was unable to stop it, forced to watch Yangs' attempted to punch fist into palm fail with naught but a jolt of pain up her right arm. His reacted on instinct, disregarding his usual caution regarding his Semblance to sweep her into a hug; the girl froze, then melted into a shaking mess, her one hand grabbing the back of his cloak as she tried to keep her composure. For a long, long moment the two stood united, two broken people holding each other upright as Remnant stood frozen around them until finally Yangs' breathing evened, the claws her fingers had become softened once more and Qrow at last breathed easier as they slowly disentangled,

"It," she managed, trying not to sniffle, "it's not the same, I'm never going to be the same am I?" There was only one answer and it tasted like ash on Qrows' tongue,

"No," his voice was hollow, his countenance wracked as his niece fought to keep herself from imploding, "no Fi… Yang, you're not."

"Why me?" In that instant she wasn't Yang the Firecracker, the hard-partying self-confident teenager; she was Yang, the little girl so lost in trying to find her absent mother or gain a reaction from her broken father she was rendered blind to danger, "What the hell did I do?"

"Nothing," if he did nothing else Qrow knew he had to quash this now, "you did nothing but save your partners' life."

"Huh, fat lot of…"

"It did the world of good," the force in his voice stunned her mute, "someone's alive who should be dead, that is a fact, one no-one can change. You went up against someone trained Hunters and Atlas Specialists have fallen against to save that Belladonna girl and you did it; not me, not anyone else, you Yang. There was a cost," he was forced to admit it and Yang looked away, eyes and arm both burning, "there always is, believe me I know."

There was silence for a moment, the small kitchen quiet as Qrow slowly stepped back, eyes on his niece as Yang wiped her eyes and tried to put her thoughts in order,

"So, she managed eventually, "so what do I do now?"

"Well I can tell you what not to do; don't take after your fun uncle," Qrow admitted, the broken human being usually subsumed beneath a carefree exterior and a lake of alcohol surfacing slightly and making Yang recoil in horror, "yeah, what I do, don't do that."

She nodded dumbly, shaking nothing to do with the nights' chill as she tried to see forward, something Qrow was just about able to help with,

"One day at a time Firecracker, you don't win a marathon all in one go. Small steps will get you there and you can start tomorrow," despite himself he smirked slightly, Yang likewise cocking an ear as he leant forwards a touch, "a little bird told me there's a knight-kid not a thousand miles from here who's going to have to sleep at some point…"

"Oh yes," Yang breathed in anticipation before shoving him in the shoulder, the Hunter squawking in protest as he kept his balance, "encouraging your niece to be mean to a guest, shame on you Drunkle Qrow."

"Shame? Hah, lost that year ago along with my pride, dignity and most of my sobriety," he shot back, Yang sniggering before they both sobered up and mutually embraced again, this time in understanding rather than grief. It was a sweet but sombre moment, the two family members more alike than even before as they broke apart and Qrow moved towards the door,

"You're going back to Beacon, or Vale?"

"Kinda have to kid, really wish I didn't and not just Gly's going to have at least one of my balls for dragging Jaune here," he admitted, one hand on the frame as looked back at her haggardly, "ask him for the full story. Anything you'd like me to say to the Squirt if I see her?"

Ruby; the thought of her little sister alone against the Grimm was ice in her soul but, as Qrow had said, things weren't going to be the same again – that Ruby could now hunt when she couldn't was a new truth in her life no matter how bitter,

"Just…" she wanted to say a million things but which was right, what should she do – she didn't know, not even her fighting instinct able to guide her, "…just, say, she better stay safe, safer than I did at least."

She wanted to make a joke there, honestly she did but couldn't – she felt exhausted, as though she'd aged a hundred years and Qrow seemed to respect that, the nod he gave laced with respect as moved out the door, closing it behind him after a last,

"You did good Firecracker, never forget that." She believed that, really she did but it was hard to feel it when all she saw in the mirror was mutilated scars and a ruined future; hard to keep going when you feel busted. Still, no point hanging around here; still weary she dumped her cup into the sink and headed towards bed, hoping sleep would come quickly. The stairs creaked softly over under her tread, cold under her feet as she swiftly banished the treacherous thought that perhaps Jaune was onto something with his slippers…

…Speak of the leviathan, there he was.

Evidently he'd just finished in the bathroom, freezing in place on his way back to his; Ruby's – if you do anything nasty in there I will murder you VB; room. For a long moment the tableau remained stationary until Yang's eyes narrowed and she took a very fast and purposeful step upwards, Jaune reacting with an unmanly 'eep' as he scooted across the landing and into the room, slamming the door quietly but with finality as a flimsy defence against her potential wrath. Fair enough; much as she wanted to batter him to grease now wasn't the time or place; though that doesn't mean you're safe – now if I remember rightly, where did I leave that little piece of wood…?

Petty maybe, childish certainly but as she awoke to the sound of fists on wood and impotent yelling to be let out Yang allowed herself a smug, satisfied smile as she rolled back over – and to think there was a time she'd moaned about the bedroom doors opening outwards and being so easy to jam shut…

A/N: Hopefully a bit more levity in this chapter, though it's quite hard to strike the balance between reaction to such a life-changing event and humour in trying to look on the bright side, though next chapter will be an experiment I've been looking forwards to for a while! Hope you enjoy this offering and I'll get it on paper as soon as I can.

Oh, and before anyone points out that Ruby simply could have written a Scroll message to Weiss because the CCT network isn't broken in this version of events but a letter, both receiving and writing one, means so much more than just a message and that is a hill I will die on. I've been away from a home from long periods of time and writing letters home was an excellent method of both keeping my mind clear and making sure people at home knew I was getting on okay; everyone I sent a letter back to kept each letter, so no-one can tell me there's no place for pen and paper in this new electronic world.

Also, just in case anyone notices Booper Beetles was a cartoon mentioned in another RWBY fanfiction that to my shame I can't remember – I know it was to do with Blake meeting Raven (in her bird form) early and being trained by her but its name eludes me – if anyone recalls it, please let me know.

Until next time, see you later.