The Random Hand of Fate

by TheMightyTeaRex

"Destiny is not set in stone. It only takes one grain of rice to tip a scale, one pebble falling into the sea to start a tidal wave; Every action, no matter how small has an effect on the future. So, tell me... do you believe in destiny?" Real-world SI. First-time fanfic. Rated M for violence, gore, swearing, smut (later on) and alcohol. Warhammer 40K characters in Remnant.

26. The Plan Changes

Took me forever thanks in part to hunting for a part time job, going on a two-week cross-country vacation an also getting involved in not one but two Discord RPs, but I finally got it out. Unfortunately, I have no idea if this increase in time is gonna be a regular occurrence or otherwise, so be forewarned.

Anyways, on with the circus.

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Chapter 26: The Plan Changes

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The plan never goes according to plan. That's just how the die rolls, man." —Robert Martinez

---

The first thing he felt was not the hot concrete pavement that sweltered his legs from within his cargo pants. Nor was it the whisper of a summer breeze carrying the smells of bread, the wharf and the tiniest hint of charred wood and Dust—a smell not unlike gunpowder in all honesty. It wasn't the reverberations of feet meeting concrete around him as something was going on.

No, the first thing Jacob felt as he was suddenly yanked from unconsciousness was the feeling of being shaken like a ragdoll.

Whoever it was, they had grabbed the collar of his jacket on both sides and had hoisted him halfway upright when they started. They had enough strength that he felt like he would open his eyes to find a T. rex playing with him like a child plays with their food. His head throbbed as his neck limply waved back and forth with the rough motion, the threat of whiplash growing each second.

"...Wake up! Wake up, damn you! Wake up!"

There was a smack and his left cheek suddenly stung like Hell itself had prodded it. His brain started firing on all cylinders as the pain jumpstarted his awakening. "Ooow," he cried groggily as he cupped his stinging cheek with his hand.

"Maybe mouth-to-mouth will wake him up!"

"Nora, he's awake." Ren's voice.

"Oh."

As the sting faded Jacob tried to crack open an eye, only to meet the Sun directly. He squeezed them closed without a second thought as a new throb manifested in his forehead. He groaned again.

"Guys, he's awake," Nora cried loudly. The throb increased and Jacob clutched his head with a shaky hand.

The sound of high heels running grew louder out of his right ear.

"Oh my gods, Jacob!"

Pyrrha's voice.

He slowly pried his eyes open, the sun tearing into his pupils angrily. His reflexive blinking got slower and slower as his eyes started acclimating to the sun again. That didn't last long, however, as a shadow obscured Remnant's sun from his eyes.

Red hair tickled his cheek as Pyrrha kneeled down beside him. "Oh gods," she said, "are you alright?"

Jacob groaned again. "I've felt better. Getting slapped sure didn't help." Nora chuckled from the side.

"We heard the explosion from the theater," Jaune said as he came up beside Pyrrha, taking to a knee and staring down at Jacob. "There was fire and smoke and we thought you were—"

"Hurt or worse," Jacob finished for Jaune. "Well, needless to say," he said with a groan, "Hurt is certainly what I'm feeling right now." Jacob started to right himself, his back aching in response. It was like fire in his spine as he went from laying to sitting, all the while Jaune's hand gingerly pushing against his back to aid him.

Jacob looked around at where he was. He wasn't laying in a smoldering crater like he had initially expected to be, but rather he was on asphalt in the middle of the road. Cop cars sat around him in angled positions, their lights blazing but only one seemed to let it's siren wail off towards the far end of the street. There were some ambulances too, even what seemed to be a very advanced-looking fire truck was winding their hose back up, a blaze that Jacob hadn't been conscious for now reduced to smoke. He turned his head left and was met with the ruined restaurant splayed out before him, the whole front destroyed as if Ronan the Accuser had decided to take his anger out on a wall.

That, or a World Eater had started venting about his Primarch.

"What hurts the most," Pyrrha asked as she grabbed hold of his arm. The soft hum he had felt earlier that day began to resonate in his arm, only for Pyrrha to start looking even paler than usual. She listed to the side for a second before Jaune and Nora yanked her hands off of Jacob's arm. The hum faded.

"Gods, Pyrrha," yelled Nora, "Don't do that! Or we'll have to send both of you to the hospital!"

"I'm sorry," she said as she rubbed her brow, "I thought my Aura had replenished enough for me to help."

Jacob grimaced at the notion. He remembered a lecture from Glynda months earlier in battle practice, her words echoing in his memory.

"Huntsman can both heal actual physical wounds or can revitalize a damaged Aura of another Huntsman," she had said, "But attempting to do both has led to more than a fair number of fatalities; it is too taxing on your own soul to do both in immediate succession, even within minutes of each other, or you could end your own life in attempting to save theirs..."

"Oh for Christ's sake ," Jacob said, "I'd rather not be your cause of death, okay?"

A sharp jab of pain in his ribcage stopped whatever he was going to say next. He hissed sharply as the pain echoed up into his throat and down into his gut, forcing him to clutch it in reflex. He felt another hand touch his other shoulder, the hum of an Aura echoing again. Jacob turned to see Ren there, his body enwrapped in the pink glow of his Aura as he picked up the slack.

Jacob took a deep breath as he felt Ren's Aura seep into his bones. It was at this point that Jacob noticed something was different with Ren's Aura. With Pyrrha's Aura, the buzzing hum of her Aura fired off mental images of warm summer evenings, apples, laughter around a campfire, even a weird one of bittersweet celebration in there, as if victory came at a great cost. It was all too fitting for the wannabe martyr Maiden.

With Ren, however, it was different. Images of bamboo flutes and lotus blossoms dancing in a river, hot tea on a quiet morning in the spring; these were the images that his Aura felt like.

A few seconds passed as the ache passed. Lacerations on his arms and legs began to either seal up outright or if too big began to scab over instead.

Ren gasped and fell backwards as the last of the wounds finished healing. "On a side note," he said through winded breaths, "thank you for not having any bones that were too broken."

Jacob blinked. "I broke something?"

Ren nodded. "a small fracture on your left rib, third from the bottom. Not too severe and the rib is still lined up to heal correctly, but I wouldn't put it under too much stress for the next few days."

Jacob nodded as he noted that today was a day for firsts: first victory in the ring, First kill with Cadia, first time getting suicide-bombed by somebody—hopefully this would the only time he would say that—and the first broken bone he had ever received.

Jaune held out his hand as he stood back up. Jacob took his hand and began to rise, only for the feeling of a dagger jabbing into his side to knock him back to his knee with a pained cry.

"Woah, woah, woah," Jaune said as he dashed to Jacob's side and grabbed hold of his shoulder. "Easy there, big guy. You broke a bone, you didn't pinch a nerve; take it slow."

With Jaune's hand still grasping his own he slowly hoisted himself back on his feet with a groan. He finally got a proper second to observe the scene around him. Cops and paramedics darted to and fro around the area, the latter carting civilians away and the former locking away what few White Fang were conscious and still uninjured.

Jacob's stomach dropped as a paramedic rolled a gurney past them, its occupant shrouded in in blood-stained white tarp, a single arm hanging limply from the side.

Out of the corner of his vision he saw Nora hug closer into Ren as the macabre image passed them.

"Where's Titus," he asked quietly as he looked around, seeing none of the Imperials in the immediate vicinity. "Hell, where are any of them?"

"They were being debriefed by the police around the corner," Pyrrha said, joining them on her feet as she continued to hold her forehead.

"I'll venture a wild guess and say that one of them is to thank for my current location."

Ren nodded again. "Vulkan was tending to you when we arrived."

I need to buy that Salamander something when I get the chance, Jacob thought, or even better, make something in his honor.

"Right. You guys stay here, I''ll be right back."

Jacob moved to walk off in the direction Pyrrha had pointed in, only to feel a strong hand grip his shoulder.

"Wait," said Jaune, a tone of worry in his voice. Jacob looked back to see Jaune staring at him in concern and confusion.

"Uhh, what's up?"

"Nobody's told us anything since we got here; Vulkan, the paramedics, the police, nobody. What happened? Why did… that happen?"

Jacob grimaced as he stopped and turned to JNPR. All of them stared back with worried looks. Pyrrha's was one of outreaching worry, as if she wanted to hug him but restrained herself and had opted to hug herself. Nora looked sassy, her fists on her hips, the confused look on her face betraying her impatience for answers. Both boys stood almost monolithic, their arms crossed as they watched him.

"I can't believe they wouldn't tell you, but at the same time I'm not surprised they did." Jacob sighed and looked downwards at the ground, as if ashamed. "Titus and I were meeting with Vulkan and the rest of their older friends for… uhh… for…"

Jacob hesitated as he formulated a true-but-false statement that could cover his tracks. Pyrrha seemed unaware of her uncle's true origins right now and he certainly didn't want to bring that down on any of their heads, let alone Pyrrha's.

"….for setting up some additional training," he said after a minute of hesitating. He masked it in embarrassed worry, as if what he was saying was potentially offensive to Pyrrha in particular. "I knew that Professor Cain was well practiced in chainswordsmanship and your uncle was giving him a baseline on what I need to improve on."

A tense silence held over the din of sirens and emergency workers as JNPR processed his excuse.

"While I think that would be a good thing for you to look into," Pyrrha said, "that still doesn't answer our question: what happened?"

"The White Fang happened," sounded off a voice thick with a Scottish accent. Jacob wheeled on the spot and was met with the sight of Logan Grimnar approaching them. The Great Wolf was clearly exhausted, sweat pouring off his brow, his ice blue shirt—emblazoned with The Wolf That Stalks Between The Stars—wrinkled, bloodied and sporting a few visible tears. A sizeable gash in his shoulder blazed blood red, fresh but no longer bleeding.

"The White Fang!? You can't be serious," Nora cried out, grabbing her hair as if to tear it out.

"What were they after?" Jaune asked, scratching the side of his head.

Logan only glanced at Jacob.

Jacob nodded in agreement. "I think that my killing of the kid at the docks might have put me on their shit list," he said as he mentally buried the kid's image faster than ever before. "They're hunting me, just like… well, an animal."

JNPR looked between themselves in shock. "You think… they want to kill you," Pyrrha asked.

"They could have just been… well… doing their terrorist stuff and you just happened to be here," Jaune offered.

Jacob shook his head. "I wish. A server working here wrote a note down on my receipt telling me otherwise."

"What if it was a ruse," offered Ren, "just that she was a White Fang member who managed to single you out."

"That's a pretty convoluted idea, Ren, even for the White Fang."

"Mr. Muller killed a young boy in their ranks, even if it was ultimately in self-defense," the Great Wolf said as he patted Jacob on the shoulder. "Considering who else is working with them, I am not surprised that they would be worked up into a frenzy to partake in such a thing."

"…You mean Eliphas the Inheritor," Nora said, a disquieting and unusual hesitance to her comment.

Logan said nothing for a second, the gears visibly grinding in his mind. "Yeah," he finally said in a huff, "This does have Eliphas' signature written all over it."

They stood in silence again, the lot of them deep in thought if the looks on their faces were any indicator. Jacob watched their contemplation as realization smacked him square across the jaw. This had escalated quickly from simple robberies to Al Quaeda and ISIS-type tactics, complete with suicide bombers. The White Fang were becoming far more dangerous than had been in canon—or very well had been all along and he had simply awoken the sleeping giant.

He glanced at Pyrrha and she glanced back. Worry filled those emerald eyes of hers, tinged with relief and a great sense of bother, no doubt for their current surroundings.

She's in even more danger than before,he thought to himself, and she barely even knows the half of it.

"All right, all right, let's get this figured out," came a voice from behind Jacob. He turned and was met with the sight of Huntsmen and Huntresses passing under the police tape that now lined the area. Eight in total, all of them dressed in garb that looked like a mish-mash of RNJR's Volume 4 outfits and clothing out of Mass Effect. "Spread out and see if we can pick up a trail of some kind," said the one in front, a tall, ebony girl—well, girl wasn't the right word, woman was honestly more apt with her voice and build. The Huntsmen dispersed across the scene, studying the area as if they were expecting something that was glowing brightly to point them towards their target.

"Who the hell are these guys," Jacob asked no one in particular.

"Uh, Jacob," Jaune said as he walked up beside Jacob, "Those are the seniors. You've seen them plenty of times."

Jacob looked back at him, his brow up as if to ask what the Hell he was saying. About that time, something clicked in his head. Volume 1 mostly relied on black silhouettes for students who were not characters, and the same had been applicable to Jacob's vision during that time; Hell, most of the time the shadows disappeared for only a few seconds as someone else addressed him directly, like a nightmare. The first week or two of that had not been pleasant.

I must have seen them in passing, Jacob realized, but where I saw silhouettes, they saw the original people. Now it's Volume 2 and the Silhouette People are gone.

"Hey," the Beacon senior said as she walked over to them, "You're some of the freshmen, right? you guys shouldn't be here."

Jacob sighed as he began to anticipate a metaphorical dick-measuring contest between the two parties, and Jacob had a nagging feeling that he would be the one to instigate it. He shifted on his feet and the splintered rib retorted back at the movement with enough pain to make him wince. "Yeah, well," he began through a hiss, "Considering that by all accounts I was the one they were probably after, I'm sticking around until we get a bearing on everything."

She stared at him for a hot second before replying, "What makes you think that?"

Jacob grimaced as he hesitated to answer. "Clearly you didn't watch the news about the White Fang's earlier attack at the docks," he finally muttered.

Her eyes widened in revelation. She said nothing but simply nodded before looking over his shoulder at the rest of them.

Logan walked up to both of them, aligning himself astride Jacob's left side. "I'll make certain they get back to Beacon safely," he replied. "As cruel a situation as it is, your fieldwork time doesn't need us getting in the way."

The woman seemed to recognize him as a small smile crossed her visage. "Oh, Mr. Grimnar, I didn't see you there." She looked around, as if expecting someone else to appear. "I didn't expect a member of Team VLAT to be here—well, not counting Professor Ultramar or Mr. He'Stan, I mean."

Logan chuckled in bemusement, a sound that to Jacob sounded like it belonged coming out of a wolf's muzzle with its underlying growl. "Carry on, Huntsmen."

She nodded before turning her gaze back to Jacob. She seemed to size him up, a bemused smirk crossing her features. "Better late than never, rookie." She winked and turned to her team, motioning to them to move out.

They stood in silence for a few seconds as the seniors began their work.

"Hey," Nora said, "I think she kinda likes you."

"Up to debate, Nora," Jacob said with a sigh, "But that's not important. What I said earlier... well, being said, here's what especially confuses me. If they were after me in the first place, why did they only just attack now? Hell, even more prevalent, how did they know we were meeting up?"

The Great Wolf scratched his chin. "Beats me," he said with a huff. "Perhaps they've been spying on us? Lord knows that some Faunus have the ears to pick up conversations a good distance away."

Jacob returned the gesture in contemplation. "Perhaps. Even then, who could it be? They'd have to be staff or students or someone working somewhere we've met up."

"The Vytal Festival could be perfect cover for them," Jaune suggested, "With all the new faces in town, White Fang members could just pose as tourists."

"They could have bugged one of our Scrolls as well," Jacob offered, putting his spy-film trivia to use. "Hijacked the feed and use it to listen in on our plans."

"Bah, what does it matter at this point," Nora said, grabbing Jacob by the shoulders. "The point is that the White Fang are after you—"

"That's still up to debate," Ren interjected.

"—and you're in danger."

Jacob rolled his eyes. "I appreciate your concern, Nora," he began, "But I generally think that this will be the last we see of them for a few weeks."

She shot him a confused eyebrow.

Just then another covered gurney rolled past them.

One carrying someone with a familiar but scarred monkey tail.

Jacob broke loose with a simple shrug. "Wait, wait, hold up," he said as he followed the paramedics tending to her. They stopped as he managed to catch up with them.

He had seen her tail, but even her face was covered by a tarp.

Jacob pulled it back off of her.

Even with Volume 2 animation, his stomach curdled at the sight.

"Jesus Christ," he muttered under his breath as he dropped back, letting it float back down over her.

"She was caught in the blast by the look of things," said one paramedic.

"…Is she gonna…"

The other paramedic gave him a look as unsure as the sun was bright.

Jacob swallowed hard and nodded. They took off without a second thought, loading her into an ambulance and speeding off before the doors to the back were even closed. He clenched clammy hands as the ambulance rounded a corner and disappeared, its wail fading into the white noise of the city.

He turned his head to see JNPR, shocked and horrified. Innocent eyes had seen what he had seen, and it only added to his guilt.

Logan grimaced and nodded. I know this far better than you will ever know, it seemed to say.

Police sirens started up with a sudden blast, making everyone jump. A pair of police cars zoomed off in another direction, a radio blaring codes out their window.

Jacob only needed to point with his thumb in the direction of the thundering cop cars to make his point.

"That's why, Nora."

---

The clatter of metal, the "oomph" of a punched stomach.

A girl grunting as the sound of a shotgun echoes throughout the room.

An effeminate scream from a masculine throat.

Thrush went flying, end over end over end, screaming the whole way. He slammed headfirst into the wall of the auditorium arena, crumpling to the floor as his Aura crackled and sputtered.

Stay down, birdy-boy, she mentally cooed at the boy from CRDL, strutting over to him with the sexiest walk she could muster after such an extensive ass-kicking.

Thush began to get up, chided on by threats of having to do all of CRDL's homework at Cardin's behest. He looked up and met her eyes.

She frowned and blinked. The sudden terror in his eyes told her that she had gone red again. He cowered with his head beneath his hands, as if expecting to be struck.

"I forfeit, I forfeit," he cried, "Just please don't do that angry eyes thing again!"

Yang sighed. "Oh come on Thrush," she said with an eyeroll, "quit being such a wimp. My punches don't hurt that much."

He only groaned as she massaged her knuckles and unloaded Ember Celica. The shotgun shells of Dust clattered to the floor unceremoniously before she scooped them up and reattached them to her belt.

She turned and saw her teammates walking up to her from the bleachers. Ruby was beaming brightly, though she still clutched her stomach a bit from Jacob's final attack earlier. Weiss and Blake both held smiles of their own, pleased with watching another member of CRDL on the floor in pain for every dickish move, every childish prank they had pulled in the last few months.

"Now all that's left is Cardin himself and Team RWBY will have officially beaten Team CRDL, Huntsman-to-Huntsman," Ruby said happily. Yang couldn't help but return her baby sister's smile, the adrenal rush aiding her in the task as sweat poured out of every pore on her body. Thrush was small and agile in comparison to most others in their class, making the fight with him an interesting one. But being small didn't help when she did finally make contact; then all it made easier was the process of making a human fly without a plane.

"Whooo! Go Yang," came the excited cry of Velvet from the bleachers behind Yang. They turned to see CFVY watching them, all of them applauding her in varying ways. Coco and Yatsu gave them basic applauses as Fox golf-clapped, with Velvet cheering fervently.

A few others around the auditorium clapped as well. Yang giggled and decided to showboat a bit, leaning forwards and blowing a kiss into the crowd.

"Oh God, Yang," she heard Weiss say behind her.

Suddenly there was a massive thud from the direction of the main door into the auditorium.

"There's been an attack!"

Yang blinked once, twice as she processed what she heard. "What?"

"In the city! There's been an attack! A big one!"

The good mood in the room seemed to fade as concern and fear assumed dominance. Mutters of confusion reached her ears, Huntsmen and Huntresses reacting in the usual ways teenagers would.

Yang turned to the doorway. Redd Firubio—one of CPPR's members, a tall dark-skinned, round-faced boy with a red-and-black mohawk and a brown leather jacket—was huffing and puffing as he stumbled in, his face flushed in exhaustion.

"What do you mean," Yang heard Coco reply, the authority in her voice assuming control of the room. "What attack?! Grimm in the city? Mass criminals, what, what, man!?"

"It's the White Fang! They just blew up a place out on the Wharf!"

The dull murmur grew as concern grew into surprise and horror.

Blake stepped up beside Yang, her hands covering her mouth in shock. "What!? The Fang would never do something like that!"

"Tell that to the Harbor and Hearth out on 5th Street," he replied.

Yang felt the fire in her from the fight suddenly start to twist and churn in her heart, unsure of whether to grow in anger or shrink in terror. Her hands felt cold despite the sweat in her palms.

Wasn't that where Professor Ultramar and Mrs. Ultramar took Jacob for lunch?

She turned back to her team. Ruby had her mouth dropped open in horror, silver eyes wide in shock. Weiss was mimicking the look, only her hands covered her mouth. Blake held a panicked look of her own, though she stared off into the distance towards the door.

Behind her, the crowd was getting louder as Redd continued adding details. Something about a dozen of them, a couple older Huntsmen being there too, all details Yang didn't particularly care about.

Her biggest concern was if Jacob was there or not.

"Where there any Beacon students there," she asked as she stormed up to Redd, grabbing his collar and yanking him in close. Panic and anger swirled in her veins, trying to assume dominance of one another.

"I-I don't know," he said, holding up his hands in surrender, "Cops were saying that they pulled a couple of people our age out, and I saw Professor Ultramar there with a couple other adults—"

He didn't get to finish his sentence as a blur of red rose petals zoomed past them.

"Jacob was there," Ruby cried out to the rest of her team, "Come on!"

She didn't wait as she took off running, the trail of vortex-lifted rose petals following in her wake.

"Ruby, wait!" Weiss cried out, tailing after Ruby at a full out sprint.

Yang stood and looked up at the crowd as their gasps and murmurs grew louder around her. By now most of the class was deep in discussion, teams bunching up with one another as gossip began to twist and churn around them. Yang didn't listen long as she took off after her teammates, noticing out of the corner of her eye that Blake didn't even seem to budge.

She slammed through the front door of the auditorium and into the late afternoon sun. The heat was as awful as usual for this late in the season, despite the scattered remains of this morning's cloud cover. Ruby was already halfway across the courtyard and still gaining speed, the rose petals still falling from her form as her Semblance clocked in. Weiss couldn't even try to keep up if she wanted to, opting to jog at a brisk pace despite the fact that she was sporting heels. Yang broke out into a full sprint, screaming after Ruby. "Ruby, wait for us!"

They crossed the edge of the campus and were in the city before Ruby began to slow down. The rose petals began to drop in frequency as Ruby dropped out of her Semblance, though she still kept ahead of them as she broke into a full-on sprint. Yang couldn't keep up with her for long; if one thing was for certain, Ruby was far more agile and seemed practically built to maintain her speed.

It wasn't until they were half way through the Commercial District when Ruby finally stopped, hardly winded by the massive run. Yang, despite having her Aura-enhanced durability, was panting heavily as she came to a stop, her body sweating so much from exhaustion and heat she was certain that she would have collapsed much earlier.

The sound of a body hitting concrete behind her and the distinct groan she heard informed her that Weiss was already a step ahead of her.

"Oh my god," Yang heard Ruby cry out as she looked further down the street. Yang righted herself and managed to see what Ruby was reacting to.

The first thing Yang noticed was a very forlorn-looking JNPR and several members of Team VLAT; Nora and Ren hugging close together, a ragged and unkempt Mr. and Mrs. Ultramar, Jacob walking along limply with an arm around Pyrrha, Jaune walking along and rubbing his shoulder awkwardly—

Yang did a double-take before her eyes focused in on Jacob and her stomach hitched in shock. His shirt was tattered and his cargo pants seemed to be missing a pocket or two; amazingly, his open jean jacket seemed to only be a bit scorched at the absolute most, and even then, it was hardly enough to say the jacket was damaged at all. he looked singed and as exhausted as she felt, a ragged look to his face that said "I really need a drink of something." Cadia and Titan still remained hooked into his belt loosely, Cadia's chainsword form still active but fortunately deactivated—the hidden-away trigger was her first clue.

Yang felt the words leave her mouth just as she heard Ruby say the same thing. "Jacob!" Both broke out into a last-ditch sprint, closing the distance to the ragtag group. Yang stopped a few feet out, but Ruby didn't, flying into Jacob with a big, concerned hug just as Pyrrha dropped the arm she had brought up over her shoulders. The agonized groan that left Jacob told Yang more than enough.

"Jesus H. Christ, Ruby," he wheezed with the shadow of a laugh in his voice, "I leave for three hours and you act like I've been gone for a decade."

"Oh my god, are you okay?! What happened at the restaurant, were they just there or—"

"Ruby," Ren said, "I don't think he can answer you if you're hugging him hard enough to agitate his rib."

Yang did a double take. "Wait, what?"

Ruby let go of Jacob as he shrugged. "After 20 years of life, I finally broke a bone," he said with a pained chuckle. "Granted, it's a hairline fracture, but I still count it, sorta." He poked a spot along his side, just below his pec. The sharp hiss he made gave credence to his statement. "Fuck me, how does a tiny break like that hurt as much as it does?"

Ruby looked back at Yang, her worried look still begging questions. Yang decided to step up, flashing a smile that concealed her own concern. "20 and you've never broken a bone up 'til now. Jokes are there, but they might get me in trouble."

A weak but genuine chuckle seemed to rumble around the group. Sirens echoed across the city, the pattern of police sirens.

A second later Weiss walked up to the group, red in the face, panting in exhaustion. "Ruby... you dolt... can you not... sprint when I'm in heels?"

Yang smirked at that. "Here," she said, "let's not sit around in the sun. We can ask questions when we get back to campus." She walked up to Jacob's opposite side and wrapped one of his arms over her shoulder.

"Yang, please," Jacob said, "I can walk on my—GAAH! Sonuvabitch," he roared as he tried to take his arm back, doubling over. Yang caught him before he could drop any further, lowering herself down to help catch him. "Okay, maybe not," he said as he returned to his legs.

"Easy there, Macho Man," she said as she lifted his arm back over her shoulders, "This isn't an action movie; you aren't just walking that off."

The sentence seemed to rattle about in his head, his eyes darting as he processed it. With a grimace he seemed to ease into her hold, a tremendous sigh escaping him. "Let's see if Nurse Claiborne has a brace or something; Hell, some painkillers would be awesome right now."

Another chuckle around the group, but perhaps a bit weaker. Yang couldn't help but notice the police sirens were growing distant, but the ambulance sirens were growing closer. Then again, the largest hospital in Vale was a mile south of where they were at that moment.

The mood suddenly seemed to crash. "Come on, let's get you back to Beacon."

The walk back with JNPR, VLAT and Jacob was quiet, minus the sirens, of course. "Rey" came up beside the two of them, talking on occasion to Jacob in an attempt to liven his spirits.

One comment, though, made Yang's blood run cold.

"Hey, it was you or her, don't beat yourself up about it. I mean, Cadia got a... well, a... pretty clean tear."

Yang didn't need much more than a second to know what she was implying. She shifted as they walked, bringing him in closer, enough that their sides were touching. "Yeah," Yang said with a short pause, "what she said."

After a few minutes they reached the edge of the campus. The houses and stores suddenly gave way at the edge of the street, and Beacon again was laid out before them. By now, Ruby and Weiss were up with Yang and Jacob, the four of them making their way down the short and wide tile path leading to the courtyard.

"Now," Jacob said as he walked along, a tired shuffle to his gait, "I'm beginning to wonder where the flying fuck Blake is."

"She was right behind us when we left," Ruby asked hesitantly, "right?"

Yang had no answer for her. She never saw Blake start running, but then again Yang hadn't been looking behind her when Ruby took off running.

"I'm sure she... uh, had to confirm it or something," Titus offered. "Maybe she went off with Ms. Scarlatina to discuss it alone."

"I wouldn't say that, myself."

Everyone stopped at the sudden ring of a voice no one present had. Jacob barked in pain as he and Yang both jumped as Sun flipped in from the treeline, wearing a disappointed and forlorn frown.

"Jesus Tapdancing Fuck," Jacob swore, "scaring a person fighting a broken bone probably isn't a good fucking idea, Wukong. Anyway, what the hell do you mean?"

Sun only pointed back behind him. Both Jacob and Yang leaned over to see what he was pointing at.

Twenty yards away, Blake was leaning into the trunk of one of the trees lining the pathway. Her gaze was downcast and she seemed to be hunched in on herself. He looked up with her big, amber eyes, meeting Yang's in particular. She seemed to perk up before she noticed Jacob hanging off her partner. The cat Faunus straightened herself and jogged to them.

"Oh my god," she said in surprise mired with worry, "are you alright?"

"Well," Jacob said, "other than a broken rib, Ren's fixed me up better than most doctors I've had; so... sorta, I guess. Then again, first ever broken bone so—Jesus—emphasis on the guess."

They had shifted in the middle of his sentence, and clearly his rib hadn't liked that too much. Yang winced in unison with him, muttering a flat sorry in response.

Blake seemed quiet for a few seconds, her body tight in on itself as she surveyed him. "...Was it really the—"

"—White Fang," finished Jacob before he nodded with a deep breath on his lips. "I'm sorry, Blake. They gave us no choice."

She nodded in understanding, her arms wrapped around her torso.

Yang tried to urge him to keep on heading towards the nurse. Jacob seemed to hesitate before saying, "come on, I'll fill you in on the way."

Blake was silent for a minute as they continued walking, Sun beginning to chat up JNPR behind them. A moment of levity arose as Nora busted out laughing at something Sun said to her, sending her laugh across the courtyard with the force of a thunderclap. Yang chuckled just as Jacob let loose a chuckle of his own.

"How many were sent after you," Blake asked quietly.

Jacob seemed to process it for a bit, looking unsure as to what he would say. "I think that there were probably no more than twenty, more likely fifteen. Lightly armed, no armor—fortunately for us—and they generally seemed disorganized."

Blake seemed to process that. "It was improvised rather than planned out. When we—" she stopped to glance around out of fear, as if she would be heard by the whole campus. She began shrinking back as she saw CFVY and Neptune closing the distance from the auditorium, only to visibly relax when Velvet gave her a sad nod.

The outstretched hand and nod from Neptune was enough for Yang to piece that bit together; Neptune must have filled them in on Blake. Yang glowered at the tanned Huntsman for letting his lips loosen, but no word was exchanged between them.

"You were saying," Jacob said as the group finished their assembly.

"...when we would perform raids on Dust convoys we planned for every contingent and possibility; Adam took care of every detail, even when it was supposed to be a mission I was leading. An attack like this seems to disorganized for him."

Jacob made a pained sound that screamed hesitance. "Yeah, about that," he said as the group passed into the courtyard's outer part, "By chance would Adam be Adam Taurus? Spiky red hair, black trench coat, red katana, edgy enough to cut an atom down the middle just by glaring at it?"

Yang's brow rose as Blake paled, the Faunus girl's eyes growing wide. "H-how did you—no, wait... was he...?"

Jacob sighed through his nose and nodded. "He fled just before the bomb went off. I don't know if he attacked anyone, but I'm pretty certain that was him."

Blake's eyes went even wider. Yang felt a grimace across her face. "Look, we'll deal with them later," she said, "for now let's focus on fixing up your damn rib."

She punctuated the "rib" in her sentence by shifting his arm. Raising it up. A sharp hiss out through his teeth sounded her success.

"Jesus Christ, Yang," Jacob grumbled, "I didn't take you for a sadomasochist."

Yang only rolled her eyes in response. From behind them a continued murmur of conversation arose from the rest of them, Delia cheering and clearly talking about the fight in some PG way that even had Ruby laughing and smiling.

"In any case," Jacob commented as they passed the great fountain at the center of the courtyard, "I have to wonder what happens now. Has anyone heard from the professors?"

"Zip and nada out of them," Coco said as she quickened her pace to catch up with the three. "Velvet and I saw Oobleck zoom towards the Tower earlier, but that was about an hour ago."

"Port?"

She shook her head.

"Peach?"

"Haven't seen her all day."

Yang furrowed her brow as she turned and asked, "Coach Bluegrass?"

"Been at the track all day but he disappeared an hour ago," Coco replied.

"That guy's got a bark like a drill sergeant I know," Jacob mumbled. "Glad he's not a teacher for a full-on class, otherwise I'd imagine him asking me to miracle my ass up a log obstacle."

"I hear that," Yang replied, remembering the vein that regularly bulged from his left temple. "What about Glynda?"

"Saw her walk off to the Tower when Redd started talking," Coco said. "She's still up there last I heard."

They continued onwards, the questions dying down as they closed in on the hospital wing. Jacob filled in what holes were there to begin with and did what he could to describe what happened. It was evident he didn't want to talk about it judging by the pauses he took to think out another way to phrase something, and Yang couldn't blame him.

"Hey, you basically got attacked and then blown up," she said as they rounded the corner of yet another hallway, "You have no reason to give us every detail if you're, well, not up to it just yet."

"Considering the fact that Cadia got the kill this time," he grunted, "and I'm not a gibbering wreck, I think I'm good for the moment to give you the whole debrief... before Ozzie wants to hear it."

Yang grimaced at that. "Well... look on the bright side."

Jacob raised a brow at her.

"You stopped a dangerous person from potentially harming more people."

He seemed to rattle Yang's words around just as they stepped through the doors into Nurse Claiborne's domain. A few Hunstmen laid about, sporting casts from broken hands or other extreme wounds that even their Auras struggled against. Even one of her old pals from Sigil, Tito Orro, was sitting around with a thick cast over his foot.

"Hey Tito," she said aloud as she passed her old fisticuffs partner, getting a wave and a smile in return. "One of these days we gotta get the old gang back together, meet some of the new crew."

"If what I hear about RWBY and JNPR's true, it's gonna be a blast," he said with a laugh. "Careful with your boyfriend there, Firecracker."

Yang laughed as they continued past him, desperately wanting to suppress the blush she could feel under her cheeks.

Jacob looked back at her. "Old friend from Sigil?"

"Yep."

Jacob was silent. "Were you two a... thing?"

"Sparring partners," she replied as she stifled a chuckle.

Jacob returned the smile in earnest. "I never did get a chance to hear about your old friends from Signal. Might be interesting to meet the other periphery of our little merry band of sorta-fits."

Yang laughed at that last word. "Sorta-fits? What the hell kind of term is that," she asked incredulously.

"Well, you know, we've got the fit-ins of CFVY, I'm kinda the misfit here, so we're kinda the middle ground. Sorta-fits."

Yang shook her head as she chuckled. "That's the stupidest made up word I've head in a while, and Ruby came up with 'smad' earlier this afternoon."

"It works as a word," Ruby cried out from the back of the group, earning a laugh from both Jacob and Yang.

The doors to the backroom gently swung open and a rolling table passed through, the large frame of Nurse Claiborne following behind it. "Oh my stars," she said in her thick accent, "What happened?"

Yang felt a shift in the weight on her shoulder. Jacob moved to straighten himself, only for a sharp hiss and the feeling of his arm tensing up to tell her that he had stopped. "Let's just say an encounter with the White Fang happened," Yang said with a sigh. "Ren overcharged his Aura to heal most of it, but one of his ribs is broken."

"A decent fracture too if the pain is any indicator," Jacob commented, "that, or I am an absolute puss."

"Considering the crater that they showed on the news," Claiborne replied, walking up to the the pair and starting to take Jacob's arm, "I'm amazed that's the only broken bone you got. Here," she said as she walked him over to a gurney and sat him down, "Sit here and let me get a brace."

As she walked away, Jacob cried out, "I'd like to put in a request for a painkiller or two." Yang sat down across from him as the rest of the group closed in and bunched up around the two, VLAT and JNPR up front with the rest of RWBY at Yang's side and CFVY beside VLAT.

Yang looked around at the assemblage. Everyone seemed to be in some manner of distress, from Nora's thinly-veiled façade of smiles miring her concern to the miniature supernova of panic that was Blake sitting next to Yang. The adults, however, were the exception; most of them—outside of Vulkan and Titus—seemed to conceal their emotions behind a mask of analytical stoicism, one that Yang was having an incredibly tough time cracking open.

Though, as she studied them, she couldn't help but notice that there was a... mass of sorts to their gazes, like they were even older than they already were and the managed to conceal it from most. It kinda creeped her out, in a way.

"All things considered," Jacob finally said, grabbing Yang's attention, "I'm just glad they didn't manage to gut me anyhow. I would have preferred, though, to have met them somewhere where innocents wouldn't have gotten caught in the crossfire."

"You don't always have that option," Titus said with melancholy, "And when a situation like that comes to be, your best bet it to focus on civilian lives."

Jacob nodded, almost dismissively, to Yang's concern. "That's a no-brainer, Titus," he said as he shifted back, "but my point still stands. Hell, if I had gotten lucky, I may have decapitated the Fang's leadership before it can do anything more."

"No. You wouldn't have."

Yang's attention snapped to Blake, now looking up after seemingly being lost in her head for a good solid minute. Everyone was watching her, some confused and others surprised.

"Blake," Pyrrha asked hesitantly, "what do you mean?"

"I mean that... if he had tried, he wouldn't beat Adam."

Yang's brow furrowed. "He can't be that tough," she said, leaning back and crossing her arms.

Blake only shook her head in response. "I know Adam too well," she said quietly. "He's too strong for most of us to fight; Pyrrha might stand a chance by nature of her skill, and I know how he fights, so maybe I could. The rest of you... I can't really say."

Yang's brow furrowed. "How do you figure?"

"I... I used to train with him."

Yang heard a tiny scoff come from Jacob. "Among other things," he seemed to say under his breath.

What's that supposed to mean?

"When he's at his calmest, there are no holes in his form, no maneuver that can catch him off guard. In the throes of battle, though, if he gets aggressive..."

"He'd kill any of us without hesitation," Jacob commented.

No reply from Blake.

The room suddenly felt a whole lot colder. It was enough to make Yang's anger balance the temperature, the faintest glow around her visible. "That's enough," she called out firmly. "I don't know anything about this Adam guy, but he's not getting near anyone and he's not killing any of us, okay? He went running off into the shadows like a rat when you were winning. He's afraid of you, so he isn't that dangerous."

Jacob grimaced. "It's the cornered dog that bites the hardest," he said gesturing to Titan, now gleaming in the sun that came through the massive windows of the hospital wing. "And even then, he didn't seem to be panicking. More like he knew what was up next and was simply getting clear like any smart person would."

There was silence for a few seconds as they let it all sink in.

"Regardless," Mr. Grimnar replied, "The police are out in force now, combing the streets to find any stragglers. I'm sure they'll find and restrain him with ease."

The grimace remained. "I wouldn't count on it," Jacob replied just as Nurse Claiborne rounded the corner, a black torso brace in hand.

"Now, normally a broken rib is going to take 6 weeks at minimum to heal for a non-Huntsman," the lone nurse of Beacon said as she lifted Jacob's arms up and yanked his shirt off, "but with an Aura boost that should reduce to perhaps two weeks."

Jacob blinked at her as if he had heard that he could walk on water. "Two weeks? That's all?"

"Of course," she replied, "with your Aura as warmed up as it is, no doubt about it your natural rate of healing is beyond substantial at this point. You have Ms. Nikos to thank for that, ultimately."

Yang couldn't help but mirror the smirk that he grew. "Considering that Ren is the reason I'm not coming to you cut up like a sirloin," Jacob replied with a small hiss as she wrapped his torso, "I owe JNPR a lot."

Nora leaned in over Claiborne's shoulder. "Make it a breakfast out at the Pancake Palace on 32nd Street and we'll call it even."

Yang was the first to laugh as another laugh made its way around the group, this time with at least some manner of effort in it. Even Jacob chuckled a bit as Claiborne wrapped his bare chest in the brace.

...Hey, he's lost a lot of that civie fat, she noticed as she looked him over. He's starting to really look like a Huntsman too. Now if he could just trim his chest hair down so he doesn't look like a wildman...

Yang blinked as she realized what she had thought. A second laugh left her throat at the absurdity just as the other laugh started to drop off, leaving her as the last one to leave the laugh. She looked around at the group to find the concern drowned out in a good laugh.

Well, all except for Blake, who still seemed lost in thought.

Yang's smile dropped. For a brief second, she hesitated on what to do before a part of her mind told her what she should try. She reached out for Blake's shoulder.

Blake shuffled a bit, as if denying Yang's hand a shoulder to comfort. Yang stopped, her hand dropping back to her side. She sighed heavily and brought her hands back up behind her head, leaning backwards into the gurney-bed behind her.

God, today's been fucking crazy.

---

"How's everything else?"

"Vulkan, I'm fine."

"Fine, my ass."

"Gabriel—"

"He got blown up point-blank at 15% Aura! I'm amazed that he left with only a broken rib."

"Thanks for the vote of confidence there, Gabe. Really helps my mood."

"Will you both keep it down?! If the kids wake up, then this whole thing is for naught!"

Jacob sighed as he adjusted himself. "I'm more concerned if Jaune or Ren are light-sleepers... or worse, Blake."

"It's been an equally long day for them," Vulkan replied, his hand hovering delicately over Ruby's head, looking like he was trying to suppress an urge to pet her like a puppy. She let out the tiniest buzz through her nose, accompanied by a tiny exhale that made her cute as a button as she laid in the bed across from Jacob.

"Difference is that I got blown up by a suicidal asshat," Jacob said as he shifted again. Sharp pain screamed up to his shoulder blade, forcing him to grip the offending part of him gently. The only sound out of him was a small, sharp hiss.

"Ms. Rose was nearly bisected by your chainsword," Gabriel replied, leaning back into a nearby pillar along the wall. "That must have been terrifying, even for someone as stalwart as her. There's a reason chainswords are considered by the Imperium to also be weapons of terror as much as they are weapons of justice."

"You mean weapons of vengeance," Jacob commented as he tried to get off his bed slowly. Beside him slept Yang, snoring like a freight train over the body of the gurney-bed that he was supposed to be resting on; but, in truth, he hadn't been able to sleep.

Gabriel's expression was one of acceptance as he raised an open palm to Jacob and said, "Yeah, that too."

Jacob slowly brought his feet to the floor to avoid waking the guys, all of them dressed for sleep in pajamas and nightgowns and now spread out in their school-issued sleeping bags—a necessity for overnight missions and trips, according to Glynda—and fast asleep. Jacob, by contrast, was still in his sweat-soaked and damaged t-shirt and cargo pants and coudln't sleep worth a damn. After a half-hour of trying, he finally righted himself and began talking with the Imperials, whom had been staying nearby as a deterrent to any potential intrusions, be they White Fang or the worse option—reporters.

As Jacob stood up, a twinge screamed out again, though this time he was able to grin and bear it long enough to get back to his feet.

"That's probably not good for that rib," Vulkan said.

"No," Jacob replied, "but back on Terra I was enough of a couch potato that I don't wanna fall back into that routine. Rib or not, I'm getting back on my feet."

Gabriel and Vulkan glanced at one another before looking back at Jacob, their eyes sharp and focused like those of eagles.

This almost feels like I'm under the Inquisition's gaze, Jacob thought to himself with a sigh. "Let's go outside to talk; I don't want to wake the guys up."

He began walking out towards the door, the sound of the two Space Marines' footsteps echoing his own. There was a sound like someone tapping on someone else and a grunt like a wolf from behind him. A groan soon followed, heralding Logan Grimnar's entry into this.

Now it's getting to be an interrogation, Jacob lamented as the group reached the doors, where Titus, Mira and the Lysanders—God is that a weird concept to imagine, the family of Darnath Lysander—were standing guard. "Captains," Jacob groaned, "We were just gonna talk outside."

Titus nodded sagely. "You wouldn't mind if we joined you, right?"

Jacob grimaced at the silly question. "No way I could stop you if I said no anyhow, Titus. Kind of a silly question."

Mira smirked as they all exited through the swinging doors and out into the hallway. A door on the side of the hallway led into one of Beacon's gardens, though not the one by the lake where Ruby and Jaune had met. Jacob pushed into the door, though the retort from his side chastised him for the action. He hissed again.

"I really wish someone would invent Excedrin," Jacob grumbled as he pushed the door open, receiving a blast of cool air to his face as he walked out. The sun had set 2 hours ago and already the temperature had dropped substantially—maybe a side effect of the coastal winds, maybe natural Remnant fuckery he couldn't explain, he didn't know—making the night a pleasant one for a small walk.

He walked along in silence for a minute or two, listening as the crickets continued their universal nightly song. Even in the dimness of the night—granted, as dim as Volume 2 animation could get—the bright colors of birds of paradise, canna lilies and other more tropical blooms stuck out amidst the green smothered in the navy blue of night. A small pond with a waterfall stood out near the back, everything behind it concealed by trees and ferns. A pair of marble benches stood across from one another halfway down the length of the garden.

His hand brushed a bird of paradise, the bloom young and fresh if its equal height to his naval was a good estimate. He smiled and said, "My dad would have loved seeing this many birds of paradise."

"Your father had a thing for gardening," Mira asked behind him.

Jacob turned to her, still wearing a ghost of that smile. "Uh, no, not really, per say, that was my little brother and mother who were more the gardeners. But, my family and I would take trips out to the state of California every summer at the end of the school year, usually to visit this theme park resort called Disneyland for a few days. But between one or two days of twelve hours of non-stop rides and entertainment with a break to nap and swim in the afternoon, some days we wouldn't go into the parks at all. Sometimes we would just wander the property, take a leisurely day before they would kill their feet the next day or two after. And one of our favorite places was the park's first hotel and its surrounding gardens; all kinds of tropical stuff that wouldn't survive back home, being so high and dry as we were. One of my dad's favorite plants that he wanted in the backyard at our house was this, a bird of paradise, since the parks grew tons of them and they were always so colorful and just... cheerful."

He shuffled as his thoughts drifted back to those simpler days. "Just before... well, just before I left there, Dad had been talking about buying one that had been brought in at a local greenhouse, and I had thought it was a good idea. I mean, we were making the backyard usable, so why not add some color... but I guess I might not ever see that bird of paradise. Never see it grow big and out of place in our backyard under the maple tree, never see how well it holds out in a cold snap like we always get in winter. Just... never see our little bloom of paradise."

The Imperials were silent for a while as they watched him, several of them looking at him in a sympathetic way that unnerved him. "Huh," he heard Delia mutter from the edge of the group, watching him with a stoic face and curious gaze.

He shook his head, wanting to banish the nostalgia to a better time and place for use. "Ah," he muttered, "I'm wasting our time being nostalgically melancholy. We should focus on the stuff that matters."

Mira seemed to look disappointed in the same way a mother would be. That stung worse than the grabs his rib kept giving him.

"As much as you sound like you need a bit of time to meditate on things," Gabriel said, stepping forwards with a regretful look in his eyes, "you are right. Now, with RWBY, JNPR and CFVY out-cold, now would be as good a time as any to talk."

Jacob felt the chuckle of irony leave his throat without his permission. "God, I feel like all we ever do right now is talk," he said as he began to pace. "I mean, it's good, but at the same time actions speak louder than words."

There was a loud blast of a laugh from Logan at that. "Spoken like a Space Wolf," he said with mirth.

"And yet now we need to consider what happens from here on in," Vulkan replied, walking up to Jacob and gently grabbing him by the shoulder. "The White Fang had the time and resources to perform a suicide attack in a major metropolitan area, all the while maintaining their concealment and being led into this by their direct leader... well, this branch's leader."

Jacob grimaced. "Adam Taurus is a real damn psychopath," he said, slipping out from beneath Vulkan's grip, "but he's both a smart one and an angry one. On the one hand, he's spiteful enough to stab Blake in the waist during the attack on Beacon on top of slicing Yang's arm off. On the other hand, he's charismatic or overbearing enough to get an entire splinter cell of the White Fang to work with the human criminal underground."

"And charismatic enough to galvanize them into full-blown terrorist attacks," Darnath added.

"Right, right, they went full on Muslim jihadist on us."

"Jihadist? What's that?"

Jacob swallowed hard at Delia's question. "Uh, well," he began, "let's just say that religious wars are still a thing in the 3rd Millennium. Hell, religion in general is—was, whatever—still dealing with extremists on all sides... all of them happy to ruin everyone else's day."

The Space Marines in the group made a collective 'ohhh' of understanding. "Like the flagellants and priests of the Imperial Cult," Titus suggested.

"Or the Sisters Repentia of the Chambers Militant, or even the Imperium in general in the 41st Millennium." Jacob countered. "Uh, no offense meant, of course. But yes, same principle."

"No, no, we get it," Luce replied, "trust us when we say that we've had a long time to think about the Imperium at large while living here. I couldn't go back even if I wanted to."

Jacob blinked at that. "Really?"

She nodded stoutly, as if reinforcing her convictions. Jacob stared at her for a good few seconds as he assessed the idea of the devout lady from The Carrion Throne now having the inkling of a cynical view of the faith that had kept her empire ticking for ten millennia.

'Huh,' was the only word out of his mouth.

There was a chuckle from the group, deeper in tone thanks to the dirth of younger voices.

A ghost of a smile etched across Jacob's lips. "But," he continued, continuing his pacing, "back on the subject, this is not what was supposed to happen. I mean, really, it wasn't." He began wringing his hands together as his habitual nervousness crept in. "We have heard no word from Ozpin, Glynda or even Ironwood, have we?"

Gabriel shifted uncomfortably. "James is currently ordering more security from Atlas and supposedly is taking more precautions in screening Faunus coming into the city."

Jacob cringed. "I can see that making things worse, even if it is the most logical choice. Now the Faunus are gonna hide their traits or avoid it all together, or, hell, maybe swell the Fang even more so. Anything else?"

Logan cleared his throat. "Grimm are popping up far more frequently in the northern parts of Forever Fall according to the news, and they're suggesting it may be because of the spike in concern across the city."

Jacob cringed again. "Great, it's essentially my fault that we may have to deal with even more Grimm when and if The Breach happens. Aren't I the best?"

"Don't beat yourself up about it," Vulkan said in a harsh but concerned voice. "You had no clue that they would pull a stunt like that, what happens from here is not your fault."

"No, no, no, but it is my fault, Vulkan," Jacob rounded on the spot, his hands held wide in exasperation. "They're galvanized to extremes because I committed manslaughter in self-defense and Ozpin let me off without a trial by a jury of peers. No trial, they have no justice—rightly believed, I will say in their favor, I should have gone before a trial even if I wouldn't have wanted to—so they start to take things into their own hands, and I couldn't even make something along the lines of a fucking apology to that boy's family as a means of recompense/damage control!"

Jacob dragged his hand down his face as he let the air settle from his tirade. He plopped down on one of the benches, his elbows digging into his knees as he cradled his head angrily. Not seconds later, Mira walked closer to him. "The people of Remnant are less critical of Huntsmen than you want them to be," she summarized. "I admire your desire for justice, but Huntsman trainees will sometimes have accidents while on missions, and sometimes they may have to cross a line that few others are willing to cross. But they still have those moments because Huntsmen must be prepared to make the impossible choice. That's why there is no system like you expect. Trust me, there was an... accident during one of a mission Glynda and I were on."

Jacob glanced in her direction, only to find her a foot or two away. "What happened," he asked quietly.

Mira grimaced. "Well," she began, "it was our first mission as Huntsmen, obviously. We were dispatched as part of a protection force to a group of settlers trying to form a town on the edge of Forever Fall, in range of Vytal. Everything was quiet the first few days, no different from my first tours as a Guardswoman, ironically. But five days in, we're beset by a Beowolf pack, and a big one at that. We pick them off pretty easily since they were almost all juveniles. We clear them out with relative ease, Glynda getting the ones that I missed and I got the ones far enough out for me to have earned marksmanship accolades back on Cadia. But I misjudged their numbers: I counted only 41 of them in all. There were 42."

Jacob didn't need much more to imagine what happened next.

"A boy about Ms. Rose's age was caught off guard and the last Beowolf attacked him. I went in to shoot the beast and... well, my explosive shot hit its mark dead center in its chest. But the boy... the boy was being held right at that spot. We had to evacuate him by Bullhead and they took him to a hospital, third degree burns across his entire face and torso. He survived, at first, but... but the wound was too much. He died with his parents at his side a few days later."

Jacob sat in cold, haunted silence. Mira hugged herself tightly, only for Titus to walk up and hold her arm, as if begging her to stop on her own behalf.

"I would presume what happened to me happened to you?"

Mira sighed loudly. "I had little to no reaction at first. My Guardsman training came rocketing back to me without me even summoning it. 'civilian casualties regrettable but unavoidable, focus on the mission, continue on,' so on and so forth. We left a day later after the expedition had finished setting up. Cruelest thing was that it would later be found that the settlers couldn't get a stable source of food and retreated back to Vale when one of them starved to death waiting for a supply Bullhead to reach them. Regardless, I returned to Vale with Glynda, and the whole ride back we started talking about things. She was concerned about how silent I was, how reserved I was. It hadn't even occurred to me how much my training stifled my reaction until she said that. Then the gates just slowly, ever so gently started cracking. When we finally touched down at Beacon I was a barely-concealed wreck, just all of it slowly building. It was unfortunate then that Ozpin was there to personally meet us. To be honest, I unconsciously expected to either receive a lashing or a summary execution for what happened."

Jacob shifted as he listened to her. "Well," he asked hesitantly, "what happened? I mean, besides the obvious."

Mira chuckled. "I expected to finally break. I would be a disgrace of a Huntsman, a disgrace to Cadia and a disgrace to The Emperor, all in front of the man who was training me to go beyond what a Guardsman can do. And I did; I broke down in front of him, crying pathetically in front of the Headmaster of Beacon."

She looked back at him, both of their sets of dark brown eyes meeting. "And you know what he did? He knelt down and hugged me, with Glynda joining him not two seconds later."

Jacob nodded in thought, imagining the scene being set out before him.

"He told me that there was nothing that would have made that situation any better, and I refused to listen at first. 'If only I had been more diligent,' I said to him, if only I had been faster, more precise, had taken the right Dust cartridge, so on so forth, but he just told me that I had done everything I could. That it was a lesson and a reality as a Huntsman."

Jacob listened, though honestly only part of it stuck with him. His mind still ran through the situation, pointing out his faults and how things had changed thus far: Tiny stuff, mostly, but there was a reason that he believed in the butterfly effect. "I know what you're getting at, ma'am. I really do, it's something that I've been told for a good long while; do the best I can and what happens from there, happens. But I still have responsibility in regards to this; They never were this fervent before, they never tried anything like this, and then a bit over a month after I commit manslaughter on a Faunus kid in their ranks, now they're suddenly willing to blow themselves up to kill a target in broad daylight."

Vulkan walked to his other side, sandwiching Jacob between the Guardswoman and the Salamander. "Don't forget who else is working with them. Considering how much you know about us, then you know that Eliphas is a Word Bearer. And even now it is well-recorded in The Imperium how impressive they were at oration."

Jacob grimaced. "Lorgar's gift to the 17th; frenzied piety mixed with the social skills to draw others in like flies drawn to honey."

"Exactly; if anything, I feel that without Eliphas, they may have garnered more hatred to be sure, but they wouldn't be this... this driven to do such things."

"Well, forgive me for breaking up this pity-party—no disrespect intended, Mr. Muller," Gabriel piped up, "but all things considered, this has Eliphas written all over it. Quite literally, amongst some of them."

Jacob looked up at the Chapter Master of the Blood Ravens, now standing across from them with his arms crossed and his face stolid as he watched them. "What do you mean, sir?"

Gabriel hesitated at first to say anything, but with a sigh starting his sentence off, he said, "The police were going through and picking up the bodies of the dead and the wounded and they asked Titus and I if we could identify attackers and civilians to recreate what went down. As we went through we found several of the White Fang members who had survived and plenty who are were dead... but there was something off about a lot of them."

"Do tell, Gabriel."

Everyone spun in place around at the sounding out of their newcomer's voice.

Ozpin, Cain, Ironwood and Glynda stood in the doorframe leading back into the hallway, each one sporting a mug or two in their hands. Cain looked exhausted, the commissar's eyes laden with dark bags underneath, though the disheveled look of Glynda's hair had Jacob wondering who was the more drained of the two. Ozpin looked the same as ever, albeit a grim demeanor seemed to blanket him. Ironwood, by contrast, was very evidently downtrodden, a tired sadness tinged with anger and frustration; at least, that's what Jacob picked up from the upturn of his brows and the beginnings of a grimace on his face.

"Ozpin," Jacob called out, returning to his feet with a burst of newfound urgency. But the massive twinge in his side stopped him from returning to his full height. The involuntary grunt from him also didn't look particularly good in his own eyes, least to say what they thought.

"Easy there, soldier," Ironwood said, stepping forwards, "You've had a long day. Honestly, you should be resting."

"I couldn't sleep soundly," Jacob replied, "though having Yang laying all cozy next to me was definitely enticing."

Glynda walked over to the trio, walking right up to Jacob. She wore a worried look that would be right at home on a mother's face, making Jacob tense up a bit.

Mira stepped forwards and opened her arms wide. "Hey, Glynda."

Glynda stepped into the hug. "Glad to see you're okay, Mira. Anything broken?"

"Just my pride," the Cadian sighed. "They got the jump on us in record time for most combatants."

Glynda sighed before replying, "I just hope that those civilians at the hospital recover soon. Too many innocent people died for my taste."

"Here's to hoping that the police capture at least one of them."

Glynda nodded. She turned to Jacob, her worried look softened but did not entirely disappear. "How are you feeling, Jacob," she asked calmly.

"Uh, well, besides the pain," he commented, poking the offending rib tenderly, "Nothing else to really report. Ren covered most of the damage with his Aura and the rib doesn't seem to have broken too severely."

Glynda hummed in thought. "I'm not particularly well-versed in medical stuff, but do you mind if I have a look? Just as a frame of reference."

Jacob nodded and lifted his arm. "Sorry if I'm whiffy," he mentioned off-hand as she bent over to look at his side. She reached out and felt the rib, a ginger touch that hardly even hurt that much, even as she ran her fingers along the rib. All the while, the tiniest thrum echoed inside him, the same general feel of Ren and Pyrrha's... Aura link of sorts.

This time, though, the unconscious images were strangely mixed amidst one another: violet silk blankets, discipline and passions running wild against one another, warm nights, candles, soft skin meeting callous hands. But then others would show up in contrast: Heels echoing on concrete walls, long nights beneath lamplight, the smell of ink and paper as she writes out reports and files away debriefings. so on and so forth they seemed to run together in a conflicting but harmonious cacophony.

Jacob found himself staring at the professor, watching her every move. She's a bottle of emotions wanting to let loose, he assumed. At least she has a good grasp of it.

"...but considering the circumstances," he heard Ironwood say, the general now speaking to the Astartes, "I'd say that we should call an informal meeting in regards to this crisis."

"As much as I hate having to declare these, I agree," Ozpin replied.

The sharp grab Jacob spotted Glynda standing back up out of the corner of his eye. "Well, it feels like that break wasn't too severe, at least by now. How long did Claiborne say she figured it would take to heal that?"

"She said about two weeks," Jacob replied, "but I sincerely doubt that."

"I would actually say that's about right," she replied, her clenched hand on her chin in a quandering pose.

Jacob was even more baffled. "But, it takes months to even a full year for a broken rib to normally fix itself. How the flying Hell is that possible?"

"In truth, with how underdeveloped your Aura is, it would probably take a few months. But, Lie's Aura healing boosted yours for a bit, to such a degree that it's cut your recovery rate down by two whole thirds, maybe even a bit more."

Jacob studied her, unsure of how to take the news. "Will that last for the whole duration?"

"Well, if it did," she said with a bit of sass to her tone, "it would only take a week or less; Basically, he gave you a small boost."

Jacob nodded. "I reiterate my comment from before: I owe him big-time in that case."

"Glynda, please," Ozpin said as he walked up to them, "Mr. Muller hasn't exactly been an Aura user long enough for him to get the general idea. It's no surprise to me that he's as confused as he is."

"Fair enough." She backed off and let Ozpin walk up to them.

Ozpin sighed. "Mr. Muller, I apologize that you would have to yet again take a life. As I understand from Ciaphas' debrief, you managed to debilitate several of them in combat and you did everything in your power to stop that attack."

Second verse, same as the first. "It doesn't help that I think they were after me," Jacob said with a mutter.

Ozpin looked down at him, not with harsh eyes but with understanding eyes that spoke to a wisdom that Jacob knew was somehow beyond his physical years. "Perhaps, but it is now of public concern as well, and they will answer for these crimes against the people of Vale."

"Atlas as well," Ironwood piped up. Everyone turned to look at him as he said, "two of the people injured in the fighting were Atlesian citizens. That makes this an international incident, and unfortunately both the Atlesian and Vale Councils are requesting that action should be taken as soon as possible."

Jacob nodded grimly. "What happens now? It's almost mid-August and the Vytal Festival is less than five weeks away; They're likely to strike again, for whatever reasons they have, and I doubt they'll be as disorganized as they were this time." Jacob began pacing again, worry setting again. "Their attempt to get me was a last-minute scramble, the bomb made of junk and makeshift Dust mixtures."

Ironwood nodded. "Correct. We've already gotten analysis from the site and the Dust they used was a very volatile mix we traced back to the theft at the docks. A CR-24 magazine's volume of Dust did that much damage."

They would sacrifice Dust for The Breach to try to kill me? That's... concerning. "I was worried about why they would steal as much Dust as they did, but such a small amount—wait, that is a small amount, right?"

"That same amount of Fire, Earth or Magma Dust would have created an explosion only a third that size."

Jacob stared at the general. It was Mira who replied. "How the hell did they—"

"Our analysis indicated that it was the prototype Plasma Dust in those shipments. They must have primed it to overload to get the maximum detonation strength without realizing just how destructive it was."

A Plasma Dust bomb... to phrase it in tabletop terms, she wanted the bomb to roll a 1 and she forced it to roll a 1. "Who knows how much more of that they have," he gravely muttered, imagining one of the train carts for The Breach loaded to the brim with Plasma Dust.

If that thing detonated...

He moved just slightly again, only for the painful twinge to reverberate down his side. Another tiny grunt in his throat. "In other news," he said, "the rest of us have been discussing our encounter from the other night and we have reason to believe—or at least I have reason to believe—that Eliphas the Inheritor may be working with the Fang."

Ozpin watched him closely. "Are you sure about that?"

Vulkan stepped up beside Jacob. "They were galvanized enough to make a suicide run in broad daylight against us just to try killing him."

"Eliphas," Ironwood mumbled, rolling that word around in his mouth. "I though Gabriel killed him."

Gabriel growled. "Turns out he's more stubborn than any of us would have imagined. He was the one who blasted Mr. Muller those few nights ago, and I can confirm it's him by nature of his voice: I'd recognize that charismatic rasp of his anywhere."

Ironwood turned to Ozpin. "Why didn't you let me know that they encountered Eliphas?"

"A minor tangent in the long run. He is alone and they have yet to encounter anyone else from the Eightfold Path."

Jacob felt his stomach clench up. Ozpin was keeping more secrets. "With all due respect," Jacob began, "I think we should consider, as I mentioned before, the Vytal Festival. Security's gonna need to be pumped up dramatically if we're gonna keep the White Fang and the Grimm at bay."

"Exactly," Ironwood said, "which is why I have petitioned the Atlesian Council to allow me to call upon a small draft of Atlesian Huntsmen and citizens to increase security, as well as bring in more of our prototype Knight-200s."

Glynda sighed as she held her brow. "James, we can't just turn all of Vale into a military parade! That will incite even more worry and panic!"

"And if we don't do something," Irowood replied, "we risk another attack on the city and more civilian casualties! That will most certainly bring the Grimm to our doorstep!"

"I have to agree with Glynda on this one," Mira replied, taking her spot next to her former teammate. "We risk becoming a target for greater Grimm hordes if we incite fear in the people."

"They will either be afraid of the potential of the armed forces being put to use or afraid of the Grimm threat," countered Darnath. "Either way the people are going to be afraid these next few weeks and no doubt leading into the Vytal Festival. I have to agree with Ironwood on this one."

"Same," said Rey, "Besides, the best offense is a good defense; if Salem and the White Fang are looking for a fight, then the increased security may force them to rethink their plans or attack prematurely, then we squash them and send them running for the hills."

"It's too risky," Logan replied, "there is a chance that they are baiting us into making everyone anxious, and then they'll break upon us like a hurricane on a beach."

Soon, a full-blown argument had broken out—well, more of a passionate debate than a malicious argument, save for between Glynda and Ironwood—with Vulkan, Jacob, Opzin and Titus watching on in various states of ire.

"I hate when this kind of thing happens," Titus muttered angrily. "I agree with Ironwood, but I can't say that Mira and Glynda aren't also right."

"This Inquisition is awful at its job sometimes," Vulkan replied with his own mutter.

"If they keep this up, they may wake up some of the others inside," Jacob hissed.

The argument kept up for a minute or two before finally someone stepped in.

Clack!

Ozpin's cane came down with a sharp sound, enough to grab the attention of them all. It was enough to return quiet to the garden, leaving only the trickle of the mini-waterfall and the soft kiss of coastal winds.

"Please, everyone," Ozpin said, a calm force behind his words, "Now is not the time to bicker amongst ourselves. Something is brewing and the whole of Vale is in more danger than is has ever been in since The Great War." He paused for a second, pushing his glasses back up. "But that is no excuse for not keeping the peace; The Vytal Festival can and will quell these fears in the people, just as it has always done."

Jacob watched him closely. "What're you thinking, Oz?"

Ozpin was silent for a second. "I propose that either we maintain the course as he have, staying stalwart as we always have in the face of the Grimm," he began, only to raise a hand as Ironwood moved to interject. "But, all the while, we begin pooling our resources into finding the who, the how and the why; The 'who' in regards to 'who wants these things to happen' is a question easily answered by us, but there is also 'who is working with her?' Is it just the White Fang, is it also the entirety of the criminal underground, perhaps Eliphas alone, or is he and the entire Eighfold Path bearing down on Vale?"

Jacob and Vulkan shared a look, the grim visage of an Eight-Pointed Star lurking in the back of Jacob's mind.

"How are they procuring the necessary means and numbers to act as they have; at this point it is doubtless that the White Fang has been behind the string of Dust robberies, but how are they doing it with such efficiency? How do they have the numbers now to be able to spend manpower to incite terror attacks? How are they recruiting in that case? How does Salem plan to use the White Fang to her advantage? Muscle? Brains? A scapegoat to fuel the tension?"

Jacob felt his neck prickle unconsciously. He felt a sudden urge to look behind him.

He turned and saw a flash of yellow eyes and raven hair.

His stomach lurched. I really hope that was Blake being snoopy.

"And why, of course, is another key question; Salem we understand why, but what about the White Fang and the Eightfold Path? Why would they be so willing to work on her behalf if they even are knowingly doing so? If they don't, then why is she playing puppet-master with them? Why blow their cover when it is clear that the worst of their plans is no doubt yet to come? Why attack in broad daylight or with something so dramatic and grandiose as a suicide bomber?"

Ozpin looked around, meeting all of their eyes with his own. Even Jacob met Ozpin's gaze with his own, both spinning the gears in their heads at full speed, granted over different matters.

"I feel like there is a second option you aren't telling us, Oz."

He sighed. "The other option would be to perform some schedule shifting; the Vytal Dance is the Wednesday after next, but I can understand some concern that it may be mired by the concern across the city. I could instead push it to the week before the Festival Tournament begins, but the rest of the student body may not be so open to the idea."

Jacob grimaced. "You're thinking it would be a good distraction for them before we go off on the semester missions," he deduced aloud.

Ozpin nodded in reply. "A night of pageantry, community and perhaps a bit of romance may be just what the doctor ordered in the wake of this crisis."

As much as Jacob felt that the extra time could be useful for preparing for the Breach, he couldn't deny the teams the Dance for much longer.

Hell, if he failed in his ultimate task... at least Pyrrha deserved a good dance before she died.

"I disagree," he said, holding back the urge to clench his fist at the previous thought. "Well, here's the thing; these kids have been looking forwards to the dance for some time. I'd be remiss if our clandestine operations ruined their night, more or less, but there is a slight compromise we could do on our part. Only move it a week later, so that way we have more time to both prepare additional security and make certain that everyone can enjoy their night. How's that for a compromise?"

The smile he received from Ozpin felt genuine enough to unconsciously return.

Ironwood was silent for a long while. "I suppose that I can step up security only slightly more so, rather than my initial plans. But I will have the security increased, that I will not back down on."

Glynda sighed. "I suppose a slight increase won't be overtly disconcerting, though I will confess that I don't like having to postpone it so much. Regardless, I do see how sound of a plan it is. Deal?"

She outstretched her hand to Ironwood, who stared at it for a second before reply, "Deal," and grabbing her hand with his mechanical hand. The two shook their hands weakly but sincerely before backing off.

Ozpin stood a little bit taller. "Excellent," he said, "I believe that is all major orders of business for this impromptu meeting of the Inquisition. In the morning I will announce that the Dance is to be postponed for one additonal week for security measures. However, I will need to consult with all of you in the coming days on a few other matters. But for now, we are adjourned."

There was a murmur of confirmation from everyone.

"Now, I believe we should all turn in for the night; it's already past 10:30 and while it is a weekend... well, some of us really should be resting and recovering from a broken rib."

"Hahaha," Jacob sardonically laughed. "In all honesty, I should be asking you where do I fit in this matter?"

"For now, nowhere," Ozpin replied. "Your wounded and right now, RWBY, JNPR and CFVY need you far more than the Inquisition does right now. No disrespect, of course."

Jacob sighed. "I owe those kids a lot," he said wistfully as Ironwood and Gabriel both walked past them, headed for the door.

"Without them, you would have been Ursa food," Ozpin replied. "And without you, well, Ms. Belladonna may have been seriously hurt by the White Fang."

"Considering her past with them," Jacob said, "I honestly don't know whether or not they would have hurt her."

"Those who are branded traitors by the people they served with are often hunted down the most fervently. War another is considered such a little thing, but when the conflict comes from someone you know closely, now there is the true seed of hatred."

Insert quote about The Fallen or the boys on the Eisenstein here, Jacob thought to himself.

"Forgive me, Jacob, but it is getting late. You should probably get some rest before you work that bone into a worse break."

"Fair enough. Night, Oz."

Jacob heard no reply as he turned to the door and began walking, following close behind the now-leaving Cain. For some odd reason, that silence was almost more terrifying than him saying anything.

Why the hell does he give me the creeps sometimes?

As he waked through the doorway back into the hallway, He felt a gloved hand on his shoulder. He spun his head about and made eye contact with Cain, the scruffy 5 o' clock on the commissar's face a bit distracting.

"Hey," Cain said with earnest, "I saw some of your fighting back at the restaurant. Do you have a second?"

Jacob nodded hesitantly. "Uh, sure, sir. What do you need?"

"It's not actually what I need, but what I want to offer you. While that rib isn't going to be up for combat for at least a week, some basic training I think may benefit you."

Jacob watched Cain closely. Behind the Commissar, the rest of the Remnantine Inquisition filed out slowly, probably heading for their beds to retire for the night. "Are you... offering to tutor me in chainswordsmanship?"

Cain smiled with a humored air. "I suppose it would be nice to train one-on-one for a change. And besides that, it gets me an opportunity to grease the old gears, so to speak."

Jacob couldn't help but return the smile. "When would you want to start, sir?"

Cain hummed in thought. "Tuesday evening, 7:00 sharp. I hope Ms. Nikos won't mind you skipping a night with them to train with me."

"I don't think she'll mind at all," Jacob replied, offering a hand to shake. Cain took it without hesitation, a firm grip to accent his handshake. "I'll... well, probably see you before then, but I'll see you then."

"Right. Sleep well, Mr. Muller," Cain replied as he turned and walked back out towards the courtyard.

"You too, sir," Jacob replied, biting his tongue to stop him from saying 'Commissar' instead. He turned and began to walk back into the hospital wing, a smile on his lips as h thought to himself, Ciaphas Cain, Hero of the Imperium, is gonna tutor me in chainswordsmanship. Pinch me, I must be dreaming.

Tink!

Jacob stopped as he felt something tap against his left foot. The tiny sound of something solid on the tile floor reached his ears. He stopped dead in his tracks, his head looking down at what he might have kicked.

Even in the dim light of the guide lamps fitted into the hallways, Jacob could easily see it. It was a piece of jewelry, specifically, a stark-black crystal, thin and long like a spike. If the lighting were more realistic, it probably would gleam maliciously back at him in the moonlight. Jacob moved to pick it up, biting through the wince that spawned from his rib's painful protest. He bent over and scooped it up with ease, bringing it up close.

Outside of what he could see of it at ground level, the only thing of additional note was the tiny gold string at the top, as if it had been attached to a necklace or perhaps an earring.

Whose is this, Jacob wondered to himself, studying it in an attempt to remember where'd he possibly seen it before. Weiss has earrings, but nothing like these, at least I think. Ruby doesn't do jewelry, and neither does Yang. It fits Blake's look, but she doesn't have anything either. This isn't Pyrrha's or Nora's, and I don't think Velvet has jewelry either. That only leaves Coco, but she has little stud earrings. Maybe it's a necklace, or its...

Something clicked in his head.

An ankle chain. This was on an ankle chain.

He turned and looked down the hallway, expecting to see amber eyes and raven hair staring back at him from the end. The lack of anything there scared him even more.

He pocketed the gem and hurriedly passed through the doors to the hospital wing, holding the doors and closing them slowly to keep anyone from waking up. With the doors closed, he tip-toed to the bed, maneuvering past the young Huntsmen and Huntresses sleeping around him. His heart stopped for a second when he saw Weiss stir out of fear that he had been caught. His fear vanished as she settled back into sleep beside Ruby.

A sigh through his nostrils escaped unconsciously as he slowly alighted the gurney-bed, careful so as to not disturb Yang. She was sleeping on her left side, slightly half-hazard in her positioning, her arms strung out over where Jacob was supposed to be while her right leg was kicked out slightly.

Glad to see I'm not the only one who rolls around in in bed, he thought to himself, his mind already beginning to drift into sleep. He moved her arm ever so slightly, giving him enough space to squeeze under it, all the while she slept as is mimicking the dead.

With his body now on the bed, staring up into the ceiling, he felt sleep slowly start claiming him. He glanced around, seeing the peaceful looks on most of them—Jaune seemed to be struggling a bit with sleeping on the floor, or perhaps was fighting a nightmare—as they continued to sleep.

His gaze finally landed on Pyrrha, who was sleeping soundly on her side, a peaceful smile indicative of a dream on her face.

Jacob grimaced sleepily. Sleep tight, Pyr. It's gonna be a hell of an uphill battle from here.

Sleep closed in as he looked around, simply occupying his mind as he drifted off to sleep. All the while he could feel Yang shifting, snuggling in to him.

The feeling of physical contact with his shoulder crossed his mind before he told it to shut up and let him sleep peacefully. But as he chewed his brain out for trying to think of something so base and crass, his eyes crossed over Blake. Right now, she was sleeping up against the wall a few feet away, looking like she had fallen asleep sitting up and had fallen onto her right side.

The last thing to cross his mind as he finally drifted into slumber was this:

Wasn't she sleeping down at the base of the gurney earlier...?

---

Well, that was uneventful. I mean, most of it was talking and walking around. It's almost like I took a page from Volume 5...

Next chapter we take a chance to see things from the Imperial point of view, Blake begins to lose sleep over the Fang, Jacob gets a crash course in Chainswordsmanship 101 from Cain, and Cinder's crew get new... reinforcements.

As always, I appreciate any reviews, critiques, follows and favorites to this story. They are a sign that I should keep this up and they are always helpful for understanding where I may be going wrong in structure and flow of the story, as well as whether or not things are making any lick of sense.

And as always, I will see you all in the next Chapter. Bye~!