Happy early Halloween!


Jaune and Pyrrha had stayed on the rooftop for a good while going over basic fighting forms and not much more, mostly because it was getting late by then and school uniforms weren't exactly made for fighting. Still the two of them had a great time and were discussing a good schedule for the next session as they walked back to their room.

"Nights would probably be best to do these sessions," Pyrrha said with a nod, "no one would be around, homework will be all taken care of, and there's nothing to get you sleepy like a good workout."

"I take it that's something you've done a lot of?" Jaune asked wearily, since Pyrrha did end up shoving him to the ground when he got the stance wrong. Still he did get it down eventually.

"More than you'd think."

"Well, who am I to disagree with that. Bed certainly sounds good right now."

"After dinner of course."

"That too." The pair had just gotten to the corner to where their room was when then heard a shout.

"OPEN THE FUCKING DOOR!" Pyrrha and Jaune stopped and looked at each other. They nodded and set their faces as they rushed around the corner to confront… Taiyang angrily staring and pounding on his dorm room. "Seriously, this shit isn't funny!" Pyrrha and Jaune blinked at the upperclassman before straightening up and walking over to him.

"Is everything ok Taiyang?" Pyrrha asked, which caused Taiyang to look at them in surprise before groaning and running a hand down his face.

"Just what I need, for you two to see my misery," he muttered to himself.

"Your… misery?" Jaune asked looking at the door. "Did you lock yourself out?"

"Worse."

"Worse?" Pyrrha asked.

"Much worse."

"Oh Tai," Raven called out from inside the room in a deep voice, "You look absolutely wonderful with all those ribbons in your hair~!" Pyrrha and Jaune stared at the door wide eyed while Taiyang tried to look anywhere but at them. "Just what I'd expect from my perfect girl."

"Perfect-" Pyrrha started.

"-Girl?" Jaune finished.

"Well, I do like looking pretty," Summer called from the room, also in a deep voice, "these ribbons ensure that I am able to kiss all the boys! But it doesn't matter, I only have eyes for you Qrow, my Waifu for Laifu~!"

"What…?" Pyrrha asked looking at Taiyang.

"They just… won't let it go," Taiyang said simply wringing his hands in the air. Pounding footsteps rapidly approached behind Jaune and Pyrrha and they had to jump to the sides of the hall to keep from getting bulldozed by Qrow. "Any luck?"

"No, the sons of bitches barricaded the window from the inside!" Qrow replied with a groan, "And they got the sock puppets out too."

"Goddammit, I hate those things!"

"Keep it down!" Nora shouted opening JNPR's door and coming out in her pajamas, "It's late and some of us need to sleep! Oh, hey Jaune, Pyrrha, what's up?"

"This," Jaune answered.

"I can't hold back anymore!" Raven shouted getting everyone's attention, "you better prepare yourself for some hardcore tongue smooching, my husbando!"

Nora blinked once and silently went back into her room.

"So feisty, and I haven't even gotten my special lipstick on!" Summer answered and started laughing. "What the fuck are we even doing Rae?"

"Shipping."

"OPEN THE DAMN DOOR!" Taiyang shouted and started banging on the door again. Nora came back out with Ren, both of them carrying chairs which they set down and sat on.

"Never Tai!" Summer shouted back, "Just accept your feelings!"

"Pyrrha, are you ok?" Jaune asked having just now noticed that Pyrrha had sunk to the floor, lying on her side and holding her mouth to keep from laughing too loud.

"Yeah, laugh it up Nikos," Qrow said glaring at Pyrrha and joined Taiyang in pounding on the door.

"Oh I plan to," Nora said crossing her legs and grinning widely, "I wish we had some popcorn."

"That would complete the aesthetic," Ren nodded and waved at Jaune, "It's good to see you Jaune. Everything ok?"

"Er, yeah," Jaune said and looked down at the still laughing Pyrrha, "well mostly anyway. I guess we'll need to have a team talk later huh?"

"If you want."

"Really, as long as you're ok we can't really think of anything," Nora added with a shrug, "But if you have any popcorn it would help."

"I don't have any," Jaune said gently tapping Pyrrha with his foot, which did nothing but make her wiggle and laugh more.

"Candy bar?"

"I don't have any food Nora."

"Lame."

"Hey, maybe you could try unscrewing the hinges?" Jaune asked looking at the older boys. "I think we have a screwdriver somewhere."

"Oh yeah, smart idea Jaune," Qrow said sarcastically and rolled his eyes at Jaune, "if we hadn't already tried that before. You think this is the first time they've done this? The only way we're getting in is when they let us in."

"Wait, Jaune!?" Jaune blinked at Summer calling his name and looked at the door as a small commotion happened inside.

"She's going to open the door! Get ready!" Qrow said and lowered his stance, Taiyang doing the same just as the door opened outward. Qrow and Taiyang quickly ran inside, the blonde getting stepped on when Summer Blinked on top of him and used him to jump out into the hallway.

"Summer you bitch!" Raven cried just as Summer shut the door.

"Nora, chair!" Summer said and stepped out of the way so Nora could jam the door with her chair. Summer sighed in relief and turned to Jaune. "Hey Jaune, how are you?"

"Um, fine all things considered," Jaune answered and jumped at the sound of a fight inside STRQ's dorm.

"Ignore that. So, I can't help but notice you're with your team again. You done being an idiot about that?"

"Yeah, I guess. I'm sure I'll be dumb about something else soon that I'll need help with."

"As long as you get the help you need Jaune."

"Yeah yeah, I learned that lesson." Everyone turned to watch Pyrrha as she pushed herself to her feet breathing out the last of her laughs and wiped the tears from her eyes.

"I'm… I'm sorry. That was too funny." Pyrrha opened her eyes and immediately narrowed them and tried her best to hold back laughter when she saw Summer smiling widely and holding up a sock puppet. It looked like Taiyang, blonde hair and all (ribbons included), and tilted its puppet head at her.

"What's so funny Pyrrha?" Summer asked in her 'Taiyang voice' through the puppet, "all I'm doing is confessing my love for Qrow. I love to smooch his face you know." Pyrrha couldn't take it and started cracking up again, leaning against the nearby wall to support her as she laughed. Summer hid the puppet behind her and smiled at Jaune. "I love her. So easy to entertain."

"She's even more fun to live with," Nora said as she moved next to Pyrrha and poked her side, smiling at how Pyrrha shook and slid down the wall at the touch.

"I'm sure."

"Actually, since you brought it up, there is actually something I wanted your help with Summer. I've been meaning to ask for a while but… we'll, we've been busy."

"Sure, I'll help if I can. Excuse me?" Summer looked down at Nora who was crawling on the floor and reaching for the puppet on her right hand. Nora looked up at her and Summer said, "If you wanted the puppet, you just have to ask."

"…Please?" Summer rolled her eyes slightly, took the puppet off, and put it in Nora's outstretched hand.

"Be careful with him and I want him back." Nora nodded, slipped the puppet on her hand, and crawled over to torture Pyrrha. "So what's up?"

"Well, I'm sure you know that I'm not… quite the best at certain things."

"We all know that Jaune, get to the point."

"Wow, right for the jugular," Nora commented while planting kisses on Pyrrha's face with the puppet, very deliberately ignoring her pleas to stop.

"Right… alright then. I was hoping you could give me some pointers. You know, on being a leader? Just enough to figure out what I'm doing wrong."

"That's… not exactly something you can teach Jaune," Summer said rubbing the back of her neck, "and like I said… actually that could work out. Are you busy tomorrow Jaune?"

"Huh? I mean, there's classes and…" Jaune looked over at Pyrrha, who had managed to recover from her laughing fit and pushed Nora away long enough to nod at Jaune before Ren walked over and started tickling her with a cattail. "I guess I can make time. Why?"

"I need to go on a quick trip tomorrow and I found it's better with company. What do you say Jaune, want to come along?" Summer leaned forward a little with sly smile. "We can discuss those pointers along the way."

"Um… sure! Just tell me when we're going… and where?"

"I'll figure out the 'where' tomorrow, and we'll go after classes tomorrow. Change into your combat gear and make sure you bring your sword. You never know after all."

"O-ok," Jaune nodded and watched Summer walk over to Nora and hold her hand out, the latter huffing and handing back the sock puppet. "So… should the others be ready too or…?"

"No need, it'll just be the two of us," Summer answered and moved the chair away from her dorm door. "Thanks for agreeing Jaune, it'll be fun tomorrow." Summer gave one last smile to JNPR and opened the door.

"There she is!" Taiyang yelled from inside.

"Get her! Hog tie her!" Qrow added and ran to grab Summer.

"Whee!" Summer cheered as she was dragged inside and the door slammed behind her.

"Well, that was interesting," Ren said standing up and grabbing his chair to move back into the room.

"Yeah, they certainly are good at keeping us entertained," Jaune agreed and rubbed his arm, "but… just the two of us? I wonder why?"

"I think she just wants to make sure you understand what she wants to say," Pyrrha offered as she stood up, "face to face talks usually are good for that."

"Yeah, that makes sense." Jaune chuckled to himself. 'I really should learn to control those thoughts.'

"Right, so don't worry," Nora said carrying her chair back into the room, "It's not like she's taking you on a date or anything." Pyrrha and Jaune's eyes widened and their minds cracked at the thought. When Ren glanced outside at his teammates standing stock still outside he shook his head and sighed.

"Nora…"

"What?"


Classes the next day went by unbearably slow for Jaune the next day, but when they were done you would have sworn he had left a hurricane in his wake as he ran back his dorm room. Pyrrha, Nora, and Ren were there not too long after and found him fussing over his clothing.

"I mean, what do you think?" he asked gesturing at himself. "Too casual? Not casual enough? I'm not really sure."

"It's not a date," Ren said.

"I'm not saying it is!"

"She just said 'combat clothes'," Nora said walking over to Jaune and tugging on Jaune's hoodie, "and besides, your combat clothes are very casual anyway."

"But-"

"Jaune, just relax," Pyrrha said gesturing her hands down, "you asked for this. So just go with the flow; it is Summer after all."

"Right, you're right. I'm just nervous I guess." There was a knocking on the door, immediately causing Jaune to panic and rush to the bathroom yelling, "No, my hair is a mess!"

"It looks the same as it always does," Nora said and looked at Pyrrha and Ren, who were giving her looks. "What?"

"Please stop making things worse Nora," Pyrrha said and walked to the door and opened it, not noticing Nora give a questioning look at Ren. "Hi Summer, how are you?"

"Fine," Summer said toying with her cloak, "is Jaune not ready yet?"

"He'll be ready in a moment. You want to come in?"

"Nah, I'll just wait out here for him." Summer moved her cloak enough to check her weapons and pack. "Yep, all ready to go."

"Um, so am I," Jaune said peeking out of the bathroom door, which got everyone's attention.

"You got your weapon?" Jaune walked out of the bathroom to his bed and held up Crocea Mors for Summer to see. "Good, let's get going. I want to be on the next airship that's leaving."

"A-alright, coming!" Jaune said quickly and strapped Crocea Mors to his belt and followed Summer.

"Um, why don't I escort you to the docks!" Pyrrha said running to join with Jaune. "I mean, so-"

"Ok," Summer interrupted to Pyrrha's shock, "who knows, you might even help me decide on where to go." Pyrrha and Jaune looked at each other and followed after Summer with Nora calling "Have fun!" After them. They had gotten as far as the main thoroughfare to the docks when Summer's scroll beeped. She pulled it out and sighed as she read the text.

"Damn, I forgot about the Dust," Summer muttered and bit her thumb, "I don't have time to go shopping for it though. The schedule is too tight."

"Um… we can reschedule if you want," Jaune said trying his hardest to hide his relief. Summer shook her head and dialed a number on her scroll.

"I have an idea. Come on," she said waving Jaune and Pyrrha to follow her. She held her scroll to her ear and waited a moment for it to dial. When it picked up she said, "Hi, it's Summer Rose. I know it's not the best time considering what happened but… really? That's nice of you.

"My team needs some Dust and I was hoping to place an order." Summer stopped and looked back at Jaune and Pyrrha, a confused look on her face. "What do you mean you're on your way? Well, I'm at the Beacon airship docks, but I don't- hello?" Summer looked at her scroll and closed it. "He hung up on me."

"Who did?" Pyrrha asked.

"The guy my team usually gets our Dust from. He's a good guy, but he's been going through some hard times and-"

"Do you guys hear music?" Jaune asked looking around confused. Summer and Pyrrha listened as well and indeed heard a faint music that was rapidly getting louder, along with squealing tires. The trio looked back the way they came and saw a large truck labeled 'From Dust till Dawn' round the corner of a building and drive down the pathway towards them. "Oh crap!" Jaune shouted and dove onto the grass, Pyrrha doing the same on the other side. Summer simply tilted her head to the side as the truck made a sharp turn and braked hard, coming to a stop a few feet away from her.

"Well that's interesting," Summer said as the music shut off and the side of the truck opened up to reveal Shopkeep who waved at Summer once it was open. "Oh hey, you move fast! Is this the uh… delivery service you were talking about?" He nodded and held a hand out to Summer. "Right, my order. Um…"

"I'm sorry, what!?" Jaune said pushing himself to his feet and gesturing to the truck. Summer looked at him and Pyrrha as they walked back onto the walkway along with Shopkeep, who glanced at Summer with a raised eyebrow.

"Right, I suppose I should introduce them. That's Jaune Arc and Pyrrha Nikos," Summer said gesturing to both in turn, each waving at their name, "They are first years and part of Team JNPR. Coco and I have kind of taken them under our wing." Shopkeep nodded and waved at the first years as Summer gestured at him. "And this is Old Man Shopkeep." Summer stopped to look at him before shrugging and shaking her head, "he won't tell us his real name. Aside from that he's a nice guy and more often than not has exactly what you need."

"Nice to meet you," Pyrrha said and Jaune nodded.

"Anyway, I'll have the STRQ standard please. I'm going out of town for the day so just have one of the others pick it up when it's ready." Summer took out a Lien card and handed it to Shopkeep, who took it with a nod and looked at Pyrrha and Jaune.

"Eh huh?" Shopkeep asked.

"…I'm sorry?" Jaune asked.

"He asked if you wanted anything while you're here," Summer said. When Jaune and Pyrrha looked at her she shrugged and added, "You get used to it."

"Oh, um, I'm ok. I don't use Dust to fight," Jaune said waving his hand a little.

"Eh huh." Shopkeep said, which Summer translated as, "He has more than just Dust. He has magazines, candy, comic books."

"Do you have the latest X-Ray and Vav?" Jaune asked zooming right up to the window. Shopkeep nodded and ducked under for a moment before revealing a comic. The two quickly exchanged Lien and comic and Jaune jumped a little in joy. "Yes, something to read on the trip!" Shopkeep then looked at Pyrrha and smiled.

"Um… I guess I'll take some .30 caliber flame rounds if you have them," Pyrrha said and watched as Shopkeep pulled a box of rounds and held them out. She patted her skirt for a moment befoe cringing and saying, "Oh… um, I don't really have money on me now…"

"Put it on my team's tab then," Summer said grabbing the box and holding it out to Pyrrha.

"Oh, I can't take those if-"

"Pyrrha, don't complain." Summer shoved the rounds into Pyrrha's hands and turned back to Shopkeep. "That just about does it. Thanks again for this." Shopkeep nodded and gave Summer a thumbs up. "By the way, how is your shop doing?"

"Eh," he replied waving his hand in a 'maybe' gesture.

"That bad huh? Well, I'm sure you'll let us know when you're open for business again. Thanks again for going out of your way for me."

"Eh huh," Shopkeep replied and shut the shutter.

"Oh don't make me blush, we're not your best customers," Summer said rubbing the back of her neck as the truck started. "We might want to get out of the way." Summer, Pyrrha and Jaune quickly got onto the grass as the music started again and the truck drove away from them.

Right off the cliffs.

"I love that guy," Summer said smiling while Jaune and Pyrrha naturally stared in horror at the cliff. They looked at Summer as she started walking to the airship docks and said, "Come on, they won't hold for us forever."

"HE JUST DROVE OFF THE CLIFF!" Jaune screamed pointing at the cliffs.

"Huh? What about it?"

"He could be dead!"

"Nah, he's alright. I've seen him do some crazy things in the past, that's pretty mild."

"But still, he could be hurt!" Pyrrha said looking back at the academy, "we should tell a teacher or-" she stopped when Summer put a hand on her shoulder and the other on Jaune's.

"I'll just tell you both this right now: you'll see a lot of weird things in this job, and after a while, you just stop asking questions." The utter seriousness in Summer's voice stopped any protest from them and they silently followed her to one of the docked airships and the pilot who was staring over the edge.

"What the hell was that!?" she asked looking at Summer.

"That was Old Man Shopkeep," she answered.

"The 'From Dust Till Dawn' guy?" Summer nodded and the pilot sighed. "Figures, this fucking city. So where are you going?"

"Business district." The pilot nodded and walked into the airship with Summer right behind her. "Thanks for the walk Pyrrha!"

"Is it too late to back out?" Jaune asked worriedly and looked at Pyrrha.

"That's up to you Jaune," Pyrrha said. After a second Jaune sighed and walked onto the airship as well. The doors closed soon after, Summer and Jaune waving at Pyrrha, and it took off toward the city. Pyrrha sighed and looked down at the box of rounds in her hand. "I think I'll just lie down for the day."

Suddenly a set of hands slammed down on Pyrrha's shoulders from behind, causing her to jump and stiffen in fear.

"Pyrrha, good buddy," Raven said from behind Pyrrha, "I need a favor from you."

Pyrrha could only whimper in fear.


Jaune wasn't sure exactly where in Vale he and Summer would end up going. When the ship landed and they started walking through the streets he couldn't help but ask.

"Are we going to a café?" he asked.

"No, maybe some other day," Summer replied.

"Well, how about a movie theater?"

"Nothing good is playing. Besides how am I supposed to help you out if we're watching a movie?"

"Right, that was stupid. So where are we going?"

"Train station," she answered which stopped Jaune in his tracks.

"What?" Indeed that is where they ended up. Jaune naturally was curious as to why the train station was their first stop, which only increased when he saw Summer buy one way train tickets. "Um… what!?"

"One way tickets are cheaper," Summer explained handing a ticket to Jaune. She led him through the station, past train after train, and explained further, "And honestly I only need those considering the people I know."

"The… people you know…?" 'Oh no, what does that mean? Criminals? Organ traffickers!? She seemed like such a nice girl!' Summer looked back at him and her face fell at the look of fear he had.

"Raven."

"…Oh right, the portal thing." Jaune hit himself in the head with a fist and asked, "that doesn't have like… a distance limit or something, right?"

"No, the only limit is a strong emotional bond with someone. Once she has that she can make a portal to them no matter where they are in the world. It's really handy… and also problematic."

"Really?"

"Yeah. Oh, here's our train." Summer pointed at a train and quickly boarded it with Jaune. They showed their tickets to an attendant who waved them in and they sat down at a booth with a table a ways inside one of the cars, taking a moment to stash their weapons in the overhead compartment. "So like I was saying, she needs to have a bond with someone for it to work. Right now, that's only me, Tai, and Qrow."

"She doesn't make friends easy, huh?"

"Blame the way she was raised. Anyway the problem comes with positioning; if we're all together and need to be somewhere where one of us was just at, and the portal just closed..."

"Ah, I get it."

"Yeah, it's a real pain in the ass." Summer lowered her hood and rested her head in her hand as she looked out the window. "It's nice to have, but we can't really rely on it. Like a lot of things in this world."

"Right." The pair sat in silence, looking both outside and around the train until the train's whistle blew. The train jerked as it started to pull out and Jaune quietly put his new comic on the table before asking, "So where are we going?"

"Órga."

"…Where?"

"Oh, sorry," Summer shook her head and looked at Jaune. "Órga is a coastal down to the south of Vale. Its back is to the ocean, in between two mountains, it's a nice little place. It's got a nice beach too, so it's a good vacation spot. Quite a ways away though, which is why we're on the train."

"Ok. And we have to go there?"

"Well, we could have gone to Patch, but… I wanted to go to Órga. It felt more appropriate."

"I'll just trust you on that," Jaune shrugged and shielded his eyes as the train left the station and let the sun hit his eyes. He shifted in his seat a little and asked, "So about those pointers?"

"I suppose that is why we're doing this, among others." Summer pressed her fingers to her forehead and hummed in thought for a moment. Jaune decided to crack open his comic while Summer was lost in thought. He made it to page 5 before Summer snapped her fingers getting his attention back.

"How about this Jaune, I ask you a question and you have to answer it. You get three chances to answer, after which I'll just tell you the answer. Deal?"

"Ok, but why?"

"I want to test your reasoning and deduction, both necessary for a leader. What do you say?"

Jaune shrugged and set his comic down. "Sure, it'll make the ride go by faster I guess. What's the question?"

Summer leaned forward with a small smile. "What's the one place that we know the least about?"

"The… least?" Jaune asked scratching his head, which Summer answered with a nod. "Can you clarify?"

"There's one place that the population of Remnant, Human and Faunus, no next to nothing about. What is that place?"

"Wouldn't it be the continent north of Saunus? The… Grimmlands, I think?"

"Good guess, but wrong." Jaune rolled his eyes as Summer continued, "Grimmlands is just a nickname for the continent you know. While it is true that now we don't know much about it, we do know some things. It used to be inhabited and even as recently as 10 years ago all the kingdoms were trying to establish colonies there. They never got further than the coast though, and even then The Creatures of Grimm fought back hard against all of them. Makes you wonder what they're so protective of, huh?"

"I… didn't know about that. The colony thing I mean."

"Nobody likes to remember the failures. So yeah, it's not the least known about place. Got another guess?"

"Can I think about it a little?"

"Sure, take your time answering. I guarantee that you'll hate yourself when you know the answer; it practically stares you in the face."

"Right. Well, I'll let you know when I'm ready for another guess," Jaune said and went back to reading his comic.


An hour into the trip both Jaune and Summer had read the comic and Jaune quickly found out he was no match for Summer in Amity Arena. After five rounds of that she showed him mercy and left to get some lunch and came back with a couple of trays of food. Jaune had tried to refuse it, but his stomach had other ideas so he took it and started eating. Naturally small talk started, which led into the current conversation topic of STRQ's shenanigans from last year.

"No way, he didn't!" Jaune said leaning forward wide eyed.

"Sure as hell he did!" Summer said giggling to herself, "Even now I'm so happy that day happened. Qrow is just amazing sometimes."

"And he didn't know!? How?"

"He and Raven grew up outside the kingdoms, so he never saw a uniform before! Raven had enough common sense to figure it out, but when I got dressed and walked out I saw him holding the skirt up like this," Summer stretched her arms out fully mock holding a skirt, "just looking befuddled! 'Why do uniforms have to be so complicated?' he said. Even socially inept me knew an opportunity when I saw it."

"But the uniforms are unisex and customizable? Seriously?"

"And Tai, bless his heart, hopped right on that train with me. He said it was a kilt and started spinning this tale about how manly it was to wear that. I'm so disappointed that Qrow didn't fall for the line about it being more manly to wear it without underwear. That would have been a sight."

"And he bought the rest of it?"

"Hook, line, and sinker. He put on a girl's uniform and wore it for the whole day. Our first class was with Professor Port, and it was just the best thing ever! Qrow walks into class all confident and poor Port just stops dead. It's the only time I've ever seen him speechless."

"Wow, I wish I had seen that." Really, just the image of Port being speechless would have been worth it.

"I do too. Port later told me that he had never, in his whole career as a teacher, seen something like that. Personally I don't believe him, but his reaction supports it. He didn't know what to do when Qrow sat down, so he just left the classroom to laugh! We could hear those guffaws from the classroom, and Qrow didn't catch on that it was because of him."

"But he eventually did, right?"

"Yeah he did, but it took Ozpin for it to finally click. There was an assembly later that day and Ozpin was doing his usual speech, you know how those go." Jaune nodded and Summer continued, "My team was in the front row and I was trying not to burst out laughing because of Qrow, along with a bunch of other students. Then Ozpin just stops his speech and looks at Qrow, not batting an eye, and asked 'why are you wearing a skirt Mr. Branwen? It'll be hard to work on your landing strategy like that.' Qrow looks all confused, then it clicks and he glares hot death at me. I couldn't take it, I just died laughing with Tai. Oz was at least nice enough to let Qrow go get changed."

"He must have been mad. I know I would have been."

"He was for a while, but he got over it. After that he was popular with all the girls; he has better legs than most of them after all. Now it's just another STRQ in-joke."

"Man, I wish there was a picture or something."

"Velvet took a picture and she'll sell you one if you ask. The password is 'kilt'. Your food is getting cold."

"Oh crap," Jaune said and quickly took a bite out of the roll. "I hope to have a bunch of in-jokes with my team like yours, like that 'three for three' thing. Anything other than 'Vomit Boy'."

"You're just starting. You'll have plenty in time. As for 'three for three', that's another story entirely. I'll tell you that one later." Jaune nodded and happened to look out the window at a passing village and the station the train would have stopped at.

"We're just going by there?" he asked leaning closer to the window. He noticed that more than a few buildings there were in terrible condition when he did.

"There's no point. That village has been Forsaken for some time now," Summer answered sadly.

"Um… what?"

"First time hearing that term too huh? Well, the name says it all: Forsaken." Summer leaned to watched the village disappear behind the train before continuing. "There are places all over Remnant like that village: desolated so thoroughly by The Creatures of Grimm that they… changed. Have you ever been somewhere where you can just feel the emotion in the air, all the sadness and anger that had tainted it?"

Jaune quickly thought to once such place, the dorm bathroom after some particularly bad dinners, and shook his head. "No, at least not in the way you mean."

"Well trust me, it's not fun. If you ever find yourself somewhere like that you really need to be careful. Grimm are attracted to the Forsaken places and if you're really unlucky you'll come across one that's the stomping ground of some really bad Grimm."

"Um… examples?"

"Like the Nuckelavee, that's a nasty one. Then there's older Ursa Major and Alpha Beowolf nests, bad in their own rights. I even read that things like Jabberwocks like to nest in bigger areas."

"…What kind of stupid name is that?"

"Don't let the name fool you, every Grimm is dangerous." Jaune nodded at that and looked outside again. He looked up at the Shattered Moon in the sky and quietly admired it for a moment.

'Wait, maybe that's the answer?' Jaune thought and pointed at the sky. "Space," he said aloud.

"Hm?"

"The answer. Is it space?" Jaune said again pointing at the moon. Summer followed his finger and smiled at the moon before looking back.

"Closer, but not quite."

Jaune rolled his eyes and asked, "Why not? We can't even go up there because Dust doesn't work that high up!" Summer blinked in surprise at Jaune and started clapping quietly. Jaune sighed and asked, "What's with the polite applause?"

"I'm just surprised that you remembered that Jaune," Summer said and smiled, "You didn't seem the type." It was Jaune's turn to blink in surprise and he rubbed his nose in an effort to hide his blush. "It is true that Dust doesn't work outside of Remnant's atmosphere, but that doesn't mean we don't know anything about what's beyond it. Atlas and, if you can believe it, Vacuo are home to the best telescopes on the planet and they're constantly learning new things.

"For example, the Shattered Moon wasn't always shattered. Something happened to make it that way; the folly of man maybe. And then there's Ares, our closest neighboring planet: it's only slightly smaller than Remnant, but probably enough to make the atmosphere completely uninhabitable even if we could get there."

"I'm just learning all kinds of things today," Jaune said and sighed loudly looking down at his food. "I have no idea what it is."

"Like I said, you'll kick yourself when you figure it out." Summer checked her watch and nodded at the time. "We'll be there soon, so how about another story?"


The train soon pulled into the station at Órga and Summer and Jaune got off into the bright sunshine and humidity. "Kinda regretting the hoodie," Jaune said tugging on his collar as he followed Summer through the town. He gawked at the houses and shops they passed by, more than once stopping to inspect some of the local delicacies. And then there were the locals, specifically the children.

"It's the rose lady!" they called once they noticed Summer. She smiled as they encircled her and laughed as a couple of them got under her cloak. "Why don't you have any flowers?"

"It's not the right day for that. I'm happy that you all remember me in any case. It's been a while hasn't it?"

"Who's the guy rose lady?" a boy asked walking up to Jaune.

"He's a friend of mine. I asked him to come along." Summer knelt down and mock whispered, "he may look a little stupid, but he's a good guy beneath it all. And yeah, he is a little thick." Jaune sputtered a little while the children nodded and smiled at him.

"Can you play with us?" a girl asked with a smile.

"I'm sorry, but we have to go," Summer replied standing up, "I have to meet with someone. It's important." The children moaned sadly until Summer put a hand on one of their heads. "Next time I come I'll play with all of you. And maybe I'll even have some homemade treats." That boosted the children's mood and they all let Summer and Jaune move on with parting waves.

"You come here often?" Jaune asked pointing back at the kids.

"No, but I may have made quite the impression the last time I was here. That tends to happen when you go anywhere with Coco and Velvet."

'I can see that,' Jaune agreed with a nod. "And 'rose lady'?"

"I had a bouquet of roses the last time I came," Summer said and looked back at Jaune sadly. "It was important."

"O-ok," Jaune nodded and continued following Summer. After a couple of seconds he asked, "And who are we meeting? I would have brought something if I had known."

"It's…" Summer started to say and stopped. Jaune walked up next to her and was taken aback when he saw she was close to crying. She looked at him and shook her head. "It's not that simple Jaune. You'll… you'll see when we get to him." Summer wiped at her eyes and started walking again, "Now please, no more questions until we get there." Jaune didn't say anything, instead followed after Summer deep in his own thoughts.

Buildings gave way to trees, pavement into dirt, and eventually both into sand. Jaune let out a small "Wow," as he looked around the beach, golden sand contrasting well with the blue waters. It wasn't just him admiring the beach, since there were plenty of other beach goers along the waves. He averted his eyes away from some of the swimsuits and focused on Summer as she walked to the edge of the water, stopping next to her. She lowered her hood and stared sadly at the ocean, blinking a couple of times as tears started streaming down her face.

"Are… are you ok?" Jaune asked putting a hand on Summer's shoulder.

"Yeah. It's just hard every time I come out here," Summer answered and took a deep breath. "I told you once that it's hard to give advice without being completely honest about myself. So… I'm going to drop some pretty heavy stuff on you so I can help you."

"As long as you're sure," Jaune nodded and looked out at the ocean. He blinked and sighed in annoyance before saying, "And you're right, I do feel kind of stupid. The answer's 'the ocean' isn't it?"

"Yes it is," Summer nodded and clasped her hands behind her back. "We use the ocean for transport all the time, but we don't actually know all that much about it. How damning is it that we know more about what's outside of our planet than the one thing that covers most of it?"

"Well, it kind of is, but we know some things." Jaune gestured at the waves, "It's… big, and… there's a lot of Grimm out there."

"The Grimm are the problem. Did you know that the Kingdom of Atlas has tried three times in the past to send a submarine down to map the ocean floor? One manned and two unmanned, and all three were destroyed by Grimm when they got below 1,000 meters. All hands were lost on the first one too. We don't know what's down there: Grimm bigger than Leviathans or Sea Feilongs, maybe even something worse. But I have my own theory."

Summer moved her arms in front of her, clasping her left with her right, and asked, "Do you love your parents Jaune?"

"Well, of course I do. I mean, they may not be happy with me since I… um…"

"Snuck into Beacon Academy with forged papers?"

"Well yeah, but…" Jaune's eyes widened and he looked at Summer smiling wryly at him

"Nailed it. Don't worry, your secrets safe with us. Raven and Qrow are in the same camp after all."

"Um, thanks. But yeah, I love my folks."

"You should call them, tell them that. Life is too short to spend on petty things like that, especially since you never know when you'll lose them." Jaune watched as Summer crouched down and started drawing in the wet sand. "My life… has been dominated by loss for as long as I can remember. There are happy moments yes, but they always seem to be overshadowed by loss.

"I've never met my mother. She was camera shy so I don't have a picture of her, and I don't even know her name. All I know about her is what my Dad told me: I got my looks from her, she was a Huntress, and she was on the same academy team as my Dad. When they graduated they just… drifted together and settled in some podunk town on the Vale-Vacuo border. They fell in love, got married, and had me. I was only a month old when she went on a hunt and never came back."

"I-I'm sorry," Jaune said sitting down next to Summer, "That must have been hard."

"It was, for me and for Dad. He raised me all by himself with some help from the others in the village. He was one of the local Huntsman and… he was the best dad I could have asked for." Summer sniffed as tears started welling up again and wiped at her eyes before going back to drawing. "He was always supportive, scolded me in just the right ways, and when I told him I wanted to be a Huntress like my mother he didn't waste any time in coming up with a good training schedule to help me. He taught me everything I would need to know and more, and when I unlocked my Semblance he was right there to help me figure it out." She sniffed again and looked out at the ocean. "I miss him so much."

"He sounds great. You don't have to say anymore if you don't want to."

"It'll be alright. It helps to talk about this." Summer took a breath and looked down at the drawing of a rose she drew in the sand that got washed away by the waves. "When I was eight, Grimm attacked the village. They were… ferocious and there were a lot of them. I was the only one who survived. I… saw Dad die right in front of me." Summer couldn't hold the sobs back at the old memory and started breaking down. Jaune quietly pulled her into a hug, which Summer was quietly thankful for. She cried for a few minutes with Jaune quietly giving her support and patting her on the back until she gently pushed away from him. "Have you… ever hated something Jaune?"

"That's a difficult question," Jaune said scratching his head, "I hate certain foods, being looked down on, not being able to help my friends…"

"Not what I meant. I'm talking about a hate that just grabs hold of your heart and refuses to let you go, no matter how hard you try to get away from it."

"No, I haven't."

"And I hope that you never do. It's a horrible feeling to be caught in that kind of deep hatred. It changes you." Summer shifted on her feet to sit down before continuing, "On my good days it just felt like I was constantly being weighed down, slow and sluggish even when I wasn't. On bad days, it felt like I was drowning and the surface was constantly out of reach. On the worst days… I enjoyed that feeling. Even now I can feel it still there, just waiting for the right fuel to ignite."

Summer grasped at her chest over her heart and grit her teeth. "I hate the Creatures of Grimm. Those monsters that took away my dad, my friends, my village, everything I ever cared about for no reason other than that's just what they do. I'd love nothing more than to see them all eradicated from the world!" Summer took a deep breath and lowered her hand. "I nearly ruined my life, not to mention my teammates, because I was so consumed by that hatred." Summer then stood up and smiled despite the tears as she looked own at Jaune. "That's why I'm so thankful to have people like you in my life Jaune."

"M-me?" Jaune sputtered.

"I don't consider myself a good person Jaune, especially a year ago, but despite that there were people who stood by me through it all. Taiyang, Qrow, Raven, Coco and her team, and Ozpin most of all. Thanks to them I managed to heal from that, to move on and not be consumed by that hatred."

"Ozpin?"

"He saved me from the Grimm when I was eight, even helped me bury my dad the way he wanted to. I found out later that he broke a lot of protocol when he did so, all to help a girl who lost her father find some measure of peace. I got housed at Signal after that and Ozpin always made sure I was doing ok; checking on me through the staff, the occasional birthday present when he found out when it was, all the way up to now. He's not a perfect man, but he is a good one. It's nice knowing that someone is there to help bear all that weight, not just Ozpin but all of my friends. And now I consider you among them."

"Well, thanks for trusting in me," Jaune said nodding and looking out at the ocean. "How did your dad want to be buried?"

"At sea," Summer said and reached into her pouch and pulled out a bottle. Jaune tilted his head when he saw a roll of paper inside of it. "It's something that my Mom believed, which was passed to Dad, and then to me." Summer lifted her free hand and wiggled it a little as it glowed with Aura. "Souls are a weird thing, no one really knows what they're made of. Mom believed that souls move easier through water than anything else, and that the Grimm are so protective of the ocean for that very reason. If you go down far enough, you might be able to meet the souls of those who've passed."

"And it's easier to get there the way your dad was buried? That's kind of complicated isn't it?"

"I suppose… but at the very least it helps me rest easy. I like to think that Mom and Dad found each other and that they're happy." Summer took a breath and walked up to the waves and set the bottle in them. Jaune stood up and watched the bottle drift into the ocean with Summer. "I try to write a letter to Dad every month, just to let him know I'm doing ok and how my life is going. I told him about you and your team too. I think he would have liked you."

"I'm glad you have that faith in me."

"Of course I do, you should have faith in yourself." Jaune blinked and looked at Summer. "Being a leader is difficult Jaune, and there's no perfect or right way to do it. You're not like me, I'm not like Coco, and none of us are like Cardin." The pair chuckled a little at that. "Just do your best, and trust in your team to help you out."

"And if I make mistakes?"

"Learn from them and try harder."

"Of course, the stock answer," Jaune nodded and smiled. "But you're right. I think I've spent too much time worrying about stuff instead of leading. I have a lot of work to do to improve myself."

"We all do Jaune, it's a constant process." Summer put a hand on Jaune's shoulder. "Just keep at it and you'll see results in no time." Jaune nodded and Summer took her hand off of his shoulder and looked back to the ocean, the bottle now a speck on the horizon.

"Thanks for taking me out here," Jaune said and looked at Summer, "Really."

"No problem," she replied and looked back at him with a smile. Jaune blushed at the sight and looked away with a small chuckle, scratching his cheek. And then his stomach growled loudly. Jaune's eyes widened before his face fell flat while Summer laughed. "Still hungry Jaune?"

"Maybe a little," he replied pinching his fingers together, "train food isn't very filling." Summer laughed again and walked past Jaune tapping his shoulder.

"Follow me. There's a seaside shack not far from here, it's got some great paella. It'll be on me."

"Uh, ok," Jaune said and jogged after Summer, "but what's paella?"

"You'll see."


"Man, this stuff is great!" Jaune complimented as he scarfed down the seafood dish, barely remembering to swallow before talking. He looked up at Summer, who had finished her own bowl and was watching him in amusement, and held up his nearly empty bowl and asked, "Would it be ok if I got more?"

"Sure, it's only my Lien," Summer said with a roll of her eyes and placed a Lien card down. "For real though, I'm just happy to spread the joy of food." Jaune nodded, scarfed the remaining food down, and stood up taking the Lien card over to the counter. Summer chuckled at him and looked out at the ocean, the sunset reflecting amazingly off the water while several beach goers were packing up their belongings for the day. "And here I am without a camera. Oh well, at least the memory will stay with me." Summer glanced over for a second as Jaune sat down and immediately dug into his paella just as Summer's watch started beeping. She checked her watch and winced when she saw the time.

"Yikes, that late already? We should probably be getting back soon." She looked back at Jaune, who was looking pathetically between her and his bowl, and she shook her head. "Not right this minute Jaune. Still I should let Raven know we're just about ready, ok?" Jaune nodded and returned to his food while Summer took her scroll out and dialed Raven. She held it up to her ear and listened to it dialing for a moment before she answered.

"H-hello, who is it?" Raven said.

"It's Summer. Did you not check who it was?"

"I'm kind of in the middle of something right now. What is it?"

"Well we're done here, so whenever you're ready you can take us back."

"Now!? Can it wait a few minutes?"

Summer looked at Jaune stuffing his face and nodded to herself, "Yeah, I can wait a few minutes."

"Good, it'll only be five." The call ended and Summer put away her scroll and go back to watching Jaune eat. Soon Jaune was done eating and Summer dragged him onto the beach, giving him a quick explanation of the call. After a minute of quietly waiting a red and black portal opened next to Summer and she looked at Jaune.

"After you Jaune," she said gesturing as such. Jaune swallowed and stepped up to the portal, inspecting the portal closely.

"It is safe, right?" he asked looking back at Summer.

"Don't make me kick you in Jaune," Summer replied kicking one of her feet into the sand. Jaune nodded and, after a deep breath, faced the portal and jumped into it. He came out the other side with a yelp and barely kept his footing in the dark room.

"Ok, that was really cool," he said aloud and looked back at a small 'woosh' as Summer walked out, her white cloak sticking out a little better in the dark.

"You don't have to jump into it Jaune," she said as the portal closed behind her and looked around the darkness. "Who killed the lights?"

And then the lights came on.

"SURPRISE!"

Jaune and Summer jumped into each other's arms screaming as a flash blinded them temporarily. When they were done it was replaced with laughter from the remainder of STRQ, JNPR, and Team CFVY.

"Oh that's a great shot!" Velvet said holding up her camera for Coco to see.

"What the hell!?" Summer said getting away from Jaune and pointed at the crowd, "Are you trying to give me a-" Summer trailed off when she saw a cake on a table in the middle of the room, white frosting and red letters spelling out 'Happy Birthday Summer'. "Huh?"

"Happy early birthday Sum," Qrow said walking up and throwing an arm around Summer's shoulder, "you only have yourself to blame."

"And thank you," Raven added pointing at Jaune, "for giving us an opening for this."

"I… didn't know?" Jaune replied.

"No, but we took advantage." A party blower sounded and Summer looked at Nora wearing a party hat and dancing.

"Why didn't you tell us it was your birthday?" Nora asked zooming up to Summer, "We didn't even have time to get you a present!"

"That's because my birthday's July 20th!" Summer said pushing Qrow and Nora away a little and looked at her team, "Why the early celebration?"

"Again, you can only blame yourself," Qrow said shaking his head, "you didn't say anything about your birthday last hear, so we're having both now."

"That doesn't make any-"

"There's a better reason too," Taiyang interrupted and pulled a slip of paper from his back pocket, "one you'll definitely agree that's worth celebrating."

"And that would be?" Summer said and had the slip of paper shoved in her face, which she quickly read. "To the members of Team STRQ, I would like to congratulate you on your hard work, blah blah blah. Um, completed all remedial credits for your second year. Once again congratulations, signed Professor Ozpin." Summer stared at the note for a moment before her eyes widened and she looked at Taiyang's grinning face and Raven and Qrow's pleased smirks. "We're free."

"We're free," Taiyang agreed with a nod.

"WE'RE FREE!" Summer shouted and leapt at Taiyang, wrapping her arms around his neck and throwing him off balance. He tried to keep his balance by waving his arms but failed and crashed to the ground with Summer, Velvet descending on them snapping away with her camera.

Jaune, who had been staring in surprise as these events unfolded, was knocked out of his stupor by Ren tapping him on the shoulder and holding out a slice of cake on a paper plate out to him. "Thanks," he said taking the plate and smiling at Ren, who returned it with a nod and walked away to keep Nora under control.

"So," Pyrrha said from behind, which cause Jaune to jump a little, "How was your trip with Summer?"

"It… it was good," Jaune said nodding slightly looking down at the cake in his hands, "we just kind of talked a lot and… well, I learned quite a bit. How was your day?"

"Raven ambushed me… again… and pretty much forced me to help but this together." Pyrrha and Jaune looked as Yatsuhashi picked Summer off the ground and set her on her feet, which she used to immediately Blink toward Fox and tackle hug him to the ground with a yell. "And you know what, it was worth it. I just wish she would stop scaring me every time she needs me for something."

A pair of hands slammed down on Pyrrha's shoulder from behind her, causing her to scream and draw the attention from everyone else in the room. Raven started laughing and pulled Pyrrha into a hug from behind and putting her head next to Pyrrha's.

"You want me to stop scaring you Pyrrha, then stop making it fun to scare you," Raven said jokingly and patted Pyrrha's cheek twice before pulling away and walking to lean on Qrow to watch Summer attack Team CFVY with hugs one at a time.

"So…" Nora started saying and pointed at Jaune with cake stabbed fork, "what did you guys talk about?"

"That's… it's kind of personal actually. I don't think it's my place to say." Jaune looked back at Summer and smiled at how wide she was smiling despite Coco having her in a head lock. "Maybe you'll find out next month, who knows?"

"Ugh, I hate waiting!" Nora whined and took a bite of cake.

"It'll be worth it. What kind of cake is this anyway?"


A bottle floated on the waves of the ocean before sinking down into the dark depths, the contents known only to the girl who wrote it.

Dear Dad,

It's good to write to you again. I'm sorry I haven't for a while, things have been kind of busy for me. Remedial lessons are such pain to deal with. Aside from that, the legend of Team STRQ is still building and growing strong. Tai is still the same as when I last wrote; not flirting nearly as much anymore, thank goodness, but that means he getting better at thinking of better ones. Dork. At least he's stopping with the dad jokes for now.

Raven and Qrow are just about the same, though Rae pulled a really stupid stunt a couple days ago. Someone nearly got hurt really bad, but it kind of worked out for the best. I still gave her an earful though. Qrow is the same dour individual he's always been and somehow got a new flask after I tossed the old one out at Glynda's request. Where does he get these things? It's probably something only I have to to deal with.

I've decided to bring Jaune Arc along when I deliver this letter to you. I wrote about him before; Team JNPR's leader, blonde mophead, kind of dense. He's getting a lot better though, especially recently, so I'm glad I decided to keep at it with him. I can't wait to see where he and his team can go. Oh and I'm doing well with Coco's team as well. I think I'm starting to get a good handle on reading Coco and getting what she's thinking.

And then there's my work with Professor Ozpin. I never realized how many secrets there were in the world, especially with what I learned at the start of the year. I think I found your killer, a Creature of Grimm old enough to have been around since the Great War that Oz calls the 'Death General.' I have a lot of work to do if I want to kill it. It took everything in me to simply run from it, let alone fight, and it was too close even then. It's not alone either, there are three others and one of them was the one that destroyed Qrow and Raven's tribe. Despite how strong they all seem to be, I still want to face them down. I still have a promise to keep to Rae; hold it down so she can kill it, and I intend to keep it.

I miss you so much. It gets really hard some days, but I'm still pushing on like I promised you. Like always, I hope you found mom and are happy with her. I hope you read these letters I send and are proud of what I've done. Sometimes I wonder about if I'll ever see you when my times comes, but my life has only just started. After how the year has gone, I have a good feeling that it'll only get better despite the bumps.

Your baby girl forever, Summer Rose.


Deep in one of the many woods in the Kingdom of Vale, there was a camp buzzing with activity. Some of them wore the standard issue masks of the foot soldiers, most didn't in the safety of the camp, but all of them wore the white and black uniforms of the White Fang. All except for one, who was slowly making her way through the camp clad in her red ceremonial robes while Faunus in her way quickly darted out of it. While she didn't smile on the outside, she did on the inside and tried to keep her cat tail from swaying a little too much as she approached the camp leader's tent.

She ducked under the flaps of the tent and glanced around the room before locking onto the red headed Bull Faunus that was sitting at a low table with his mask on it in the center of the room, his back to her while he ran a whetstone over his crimson sword. "Brother Adam?" she asked out loud.

Adam paused in sharpening his sword and picked up his mask and put it on his face before standing up and looking back at her, the 'herald of Kuroshara' that had situated herself into the camp. "What is it?" he asked.

"Kuroshara wants to talk to you. She said it was important." Adam took a breath and shook his head before waving the herald to go on. She nodded and closed her eyes and then doubled over in pain, barely keeping on her feet as her fingernails dug into her hooded head. She let out a few low cries before stopping, her arms falling down limply, and stood up straight. Adam looked at her as she opened her eyes and looked at him, her lilac eyes now bright red and the white a deep black. "Hello Adam, it's nice to see you again."

'That echo, it's definitely her.' "What do you want?" Adam asked motioning a little with his sword.

"Not even a friendly hello for me?" the herald asked, mocking and playful before smiling, "Ah, but that is partially why I like you Adam. You get straight to the point, unlike people like Sienna Khan."

"Stop buttering me up, get to the point already." 'I hate talking with her, she does this every time.'

"Fine. I have information that will greatly benefit your efforts here in Vale. The Schnee Dust Company is sending a freighter to Vale to shore up its… dwindling Dust supplies. It's due to arrive sometime in the next two weeks, I unfortunately don't know the exact date." The herald moved closer to Adam and leaned forward to better get a look at his mask. "I think we can both agree that we can use that Dust better than Vale, hm?"

"But we won't actually be the ones stealing it, right?"

"No, our associate Roman Torchwick will be the one handling that. We'll just be providing the manpower." The herald stood up and rubbed her chin, "And thank you for the reminder Adam, I do need to inform him of this."

"Fine, I'll handle it," Adam said turning away from the herald and picking up his scabbard. He sheathed his sword and glanced back at the herald staring at him. "Why are you still here?"

"You're still hurting."

"What are you talking about?"

"Don't hide it from me Adam. Even without that mask I can see how much pain you're in." The herald walked over to Adam, who had stiffened up at her words, and she placed a hand softly on his chest. "You're still not over Blake Belladonna, are you?"

"DON'T!" Adam screamed, glaring at the herald under his mask and his hands clenched tight before stopping and taking a breath. "Don't you dare talk about her."

"Oh Adam, don't assume I don't know your pain," the herald chided and put her other hand on Adam's chest. "She was a black cat, which means she was under my protection. I cared about her far more than you did, but unlike you I moved on." Adam grit his teeth as the herald pushed off him and took a step back. "Tell me Adam, how much did it hurt when Blake killed herself?"

"Stop."

"How did it feel standing there on that train when she blew her brains out, knowing that you couldn't have stopped it?"

"Stop it!"

"How does it feel knowing that she did it because of you?" Adam couldn't take it after that, quickly drawing his sword and swinging it at the herald and stopping just an inch away from the herald's neck. They stood like that for a few seconds, barely moving aside from breathing, until the herald smiled toothily and grabbed the blade. "Really, you would take a swing at one of my heralds?"

It happened faster than Adam could blink as the herald pushed the blade away and took a step toward him, hooking her right leg around his and pushing just right to send Adam right to the ground. He slammed into the ground, lost his grip on his sword, and rolled onto his back just in time to find the tip of his sword pointed at his neck. Adam took gasped and took a couple of deep breaths as he stared at the herald's eyes, more disappointed than anything.

"That, Adam… is another reason why I like you," she said with a smile and moved the blade away from Adam. "You're not a slave to tradition, and if it gets in the way of your goals you toss them aside. That'll get you very far Adam, as long as you remember some of those traditions are there for a reason. My heralds are always under my protection, and harming them means crossing me. And I can hurt you far worse than the bullet that killed Belladonna ever could." The herald inspected the sword, grabbed the blade, and held it out to Adam handle first. "As long as you remember that, and do as your told, you'll get everything you ever wanted and more. Understand?"

Adam slowly nodded and grabbed his sword from the herald and pushing himself up to his feet. He sheathed his sword and said, "I think five squads should be enough for your job. I'll get them together and send them out immediately. Is there anything else?"

"If something does come up, you'll know. Until next time we meet Adam." The herald nodded and doubled over in pain again, coughing harshly as she looked up with her eyes back to normal. "Oh, ecstasy!" she whispered and walked slowly out of the tent, her hands pawing at her face as she giggled.

'Everything I want?' Adam thought and looked at the map of Remnant that was pinned to the side of the tent, 'you can get me most of it, but not everything.' He adjusted his mask slightly and turned to leave his tent, already knowing who he should send to Vale.