Glad you all have stuck with me this far. Here's to a long and successful story. Also, shout out to the people who leave reviews, you guys are the motivation keeping this crazy train going.

"In short, the Vytal Festival is a gathering of the kingdoms every two years at a different kingdom." Glynda pointed to the map on the screen. "This is to promote goodwill and unity, the kingdoms come together to compete, and share culture."

'So, basically, it's like the Olympics...'

She stopped and looked around at the bored faces of the students before letting out a sigh. "However I can see that most of you seem to be focusing on only one aspect of the festival...the tournament."

"Yeah!" one of the students cheered, which was followed by whistles and laughter.

"Very well, instead of explaining things, perhaps a demonstration would be more appropriate. Can I have two volunteers for a combat demonstration?"

Jaune stole a look at Weiss who was busy filing her nails, before getting a confident look on his face. 'Gee, I just WONDER what's going on in his head...'

"I'll volunteer!" he happily said raising his hand and standing up.

"Jaune..." I whispered. "Trust me on this...sit down."

"Oh come on Aero, I'll be fine."

"Very well Mr. Arc, please come to the front. Now, is anyone else willing to be his opponent?"

Right on cue, Cardin wore a smug grin and raised his hand. "Sure, I don't mind being the opponent of our little Jauney boy." Upon hearing this, Jaune audibly gulped. Well, can't say I didn't try to warn you.

"Alright, the two of you should make your way up to the stage." Glynda stated, pushing a few buttons on her clipboard. "Now, when you're fighting, your performance will represent Vale. You will be watched by countless people from different kingdoms so I hope none of you have stage fright." There were a few chuckles from the crowd. As Jaune and Cardin reached the stage, the screen behind them lit up, with their names and pictures on it with a green bar behind them. "These bars here represent the total sum of aura the two combatants have. On my signal, the battle will commence."

"GO JAAAAAAAAUNE!" Nora cheered, cupping her hands as a megaphone startling the whole class. "Knock him into next week!"

Jaune turned to her giving a small wave when... "You may begin." Cardin rushed forward, checking the distracted Jaune with his shoulder.

"Guh!" I watched as he tumbled backward several feet before coming to a stop.

"BOOOOO!" Nora called from the stand, cupping her hands like a megaphone. "He wasn't looking!"

Cardin chuckled, standing there with his weapon resting on the ground as if he had all the time in the world. "Ugh...lucky shot!" Jaune quickly scrambled to his feet and charged in yelling and bringing his sword down. Cardin raised his weapon, easily catching the attack. With their weapons locked, he took a step forward, headbutting Jaune and then following it up with a body blow.

"Oh no you-kuh!"

Jaune had raised his sword to guard against the mace, but it blew right through his guard, inflicting damage anyway. "Come on!" Nora yelled. "You got this!" Jaune either didn't hear or chose to ignore her as he pushed forward, growing more frustrated, madly swinging his sword left and right which only seemed to amuse Cardin.

Nora took a break from cheering to sit next to me. "Come on Aero, I shouldn't be the only one cheering him on."

"It doesn't really make a difference, no matter what, Jaune's gonna lose."

"Oh...is this one of your psychic predictions?"

"Yep."

"Even still, Jaune's our teammate so we gotta cheer for him as loud as we can." she stood up, pulling me to my feet before flashing a goofy grin "And that goes DOUBLE for our team leader. So let er rip, let's hear those words of encouragement!"

She might have a point. I looked down at Jaune panting heavily, covered in bruises, with a frustrated look on his face. Even if I know the outcome, just sitting back and watching my teammate get pummeled without a single word of support...that's not the kind of person I want to be. Taking a deep breath, I shouted as loud as I could.

"HEEEEEEEEY!" Jaune flinched in surprise at the sudden racket, both he and Cardin froze before turning to me in the bleachers. "What are you doing Jaune, relax already! Take it slow and control the flow of battle remember?! Stop fighting to impress someone, you're better than that!" Jaune paused for a moment before his frustrated expression softened. Taking a deep breath, he nodded, turning back around to face Cardin.

"Mr. Cairn." Glynda said, adjusting her glasses and, glancing at me with irritation. "Would you and Ms. Valkyrie please refrain from disturbing the combatants any further?"

"Sorry." The two of us sat back down while the match continued.

"You know..." Nora said scrunching her face into a pout. "That wasn't exactly the words of encouragement I was expecting..."

"Haha, maybe, but I told him what he needed to hear, not what he wanted to hear." I pointed to the stage as Glynda signaled for the fight to continue. "Watch this next part." Nora fell quiet as the battle started, this time Jaune didn't rush in like before. Holding his shield in front of him, and his sword behind it poised to strike, he slowly advanced forward.

"What's the matter?" Cardin taunted with a wide grin. "Fear slowing you down?" Jaune's expression flared, and it looked like he was going to say something. However remained quiet, carefully advancing as to leave less of a gap. "In that case, why don't I put you out of your misery?!" Cardin charged forward, bringing his mace downward towards him. Jaune lowered his posture, parrying with his shield, putting his entire upper body into the parry, deflecting his enemy's weapon. "Wha?!" Cardin looked visibly shocked, not having time to react as Jaune took advantage of his deflected weapon to slash upwards at his shoulders. Right after striking, Jaune immediately stepped slightly out of range, taking a defensive posture with his shield once more.

Nora squeed, bouncing up and down in her seat. "Jaune totally got this!"

"Nah, he's still gonna lose."

"Wha!?"

Cardin brought a heavy attack towards our teammate in a feint before sweeping at his legs. Jaune raised his guard, only for the mace to pass right under it and knock him off of his feet. Attempting to end the fight early, Cardin brought the mace crashing down towards Jaune's head. Jaune barely avoided it, scrambling to his feet and taking a shaky defensive stance again.

Jaune's gotten a bit better at fighting in these last two weeks. Not enough to beat Cardin, but at the very least it's enough to make him take Jaune seriously, so that's a start. What I'm worried about however is the lack of Pyrrha. It'd be a little weird asking her to train me and Jaune when we're not on the same team as her. Especially since she's still dealing with her own team issues at the moment. Right now Jaune and I need to become stronger. At least enough so my team can reach the semi-finals of the tournament for my grand plan. I have the real Aero's combat journal, so I'm not TOO worried about myself, but Jaune needs a real instructor. Because when two amateurs spar, the best they can hope for is to become slightly better amateurs...

"Ooph..." Jaune staggered backward working to regain his footing as Cardin menacingly advanced with a sneer, his mace slung across his shoulder.

"Time to end this little joke!" Cardin snarled, bringing in his weapon from the side at Jaune's abdomen. Jaune managed to intercept the weapon with his sword. However, the force of it nearly made his knees buckle. With a battle cry, Jaune raised his sword up from a guard stance to slash at his enemy. Briefly taken by surprise at the unusual act, Cardin stepped back, Jaune's sword managing to slash him once more.

'Wow, not bad...'

Surprise flashed across Cardin's face before it was, immediately replaced by anger. With a roar, his mace sent Jaune's sword completely flying out of his hands this time, causing an explosion that sent Jaune into the air before he crumpled onto the ground. Not missing a beat, Cardin stood over him, anger on his face, the mace raised for the finishing blow, when a bright like flashed onto the two of them.

"Enough." Glynda strolled back onto the stage still looking at her clipboard. "You see class, in a tournament-style battle, the amount of aura reserved in the combatants is displayed on the monitors like so. When one's aura gauge falls into the red, it indicates they are no longer fit for battle." She turned back to the two of them. "You both did well for the demonstration. However, Cardin, I needn't remind you each kingdom will be watching you all as the face of Beacon. So I would expect you to have a good attitude about it, am I clear?"

Cardin for his part merely rolled his eyes. "Yeah sure, as clear as can be."

BRIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIII

"Alright, class dismissed."

Jaune gave a heavy sigh as the rest of the students shuffled out of the classroom. He looked up as I held a hand out to him. "Not bad Jaune, you did pretty well out there." Jaune took my hand, getting up to his feet before dusting himself off.

"Not well enough to win though..."

"Meh, you shouldn't take this loss too hard. Honestly, I don't think I would've done much better against Cardin myself."

Jaune smiled for a moment before his eyes narrowed suspiciously. "Wait a minute, did you warn me not to go up there because you knew that Cardin was gonna challenge me?"

"Well that depends, would you be mad if I did?"

"I guess not..."

"Then yes, I did know about that."

"Hurry up you two!" Nora yelled waving at us from the doorway of the class. "If we take too long they'll run out of strawberry milk and you'll have to get the regular kind."

Dropping my backpack, I immediately broke out into a sprint. "I'll go reserve our spots in line, can you put my stuff away?"

Thankfully, I managed to get to the front of the line in time to get the prized strawberry flavor...after a bit of pushing and shoving that is...

"Jaune." Ren said between bites of his food. "I'm a little concerned at how obsessed Cardin seems to be with you..."

"Ren's kinda got a point." I said stuffing a few fries into my mouth. "Last time he trapped you in a locker and launched you out of Beacon. I mean, it was funny but...maybe a LITTLE too far. This time, he went out of his way to try and humiliate you in front of the class. And since that failed, you can be certain he's cooking up something for you later." It's a little annoying Cardin is messing with Jaune, but this IS what happened in the original timeline. And certainly not worth disturbing the sequence of events. I've already changed enough of the future as it is...

"Guys really, I'm fine." Jaune lightly laughed, taking his seat next to us at the table. "It's not like I landed too far from the school. Besides, it's not like he only picks on me."

I sighed, shaking my head. "You shouldn't let that background character pick on you so easily."

He wrinkled his brows in confusion. "Background character?"

"Jaune, let me tell you how bullies work, you see-"

"Oww, that hurts!" The four of us looked up from our conversation to see Cardin pulling on Velvet's bunny ears. Cardin and his team laughed as the brown-haired faunus lightly struggled to get her ears free.

"Please stop..." she said weakly.

Ah shit, seems we've finally gotten to this part in the timeline. I didn't like this when it happened in the show, but it's much worse seeing it in person. Seeing Velvet whimpering while Cardin and his lackeys laughed and called her a freak was enough to make my blood boil. I could ignore a few annoying jokes aimed at Jaune. Hell, I could ignore a few annoying jokes aimed at ME. But this...THIS is too far. I want to go help her, I should go help her but...

'Come on, keep it together Nathan...' I could feel my nails silently digging into the palms of my hands under the table. 'This is an event that is supposed to happen, you can't interfere! Otherwise, events will start to change more and more.' I tried to turn a blind eye and get back to my food, but I could still hear her faint whimpering. "Goddamn it..."

If I sat back and watched these schmucks pick on her right in front of me, I couldn't call myself a man anymore. Against my better judgment, I stood up and stormed over to Cardin's table. "Hey!" I yelled reaching out and grabbing his ear before yanking it and pulling his head backward.

"OW OW OW!" he let out a light cry of surprise and released Velvet's ears.

"Doesn't feel so nice to have your ears pulled does it?"

Unfortunately, Cardin didn't cower and start apologizing like the fantasy in my head. 'Of course he wouldn't, what the hell's the matter with me?' Cardin glared at me, smacking away my hand and rising to his full height, almost an entire head larger than me. 'I hadn't realized he was that much taller...' Maybe I should've stayed in my seat.

Cardin's friends immediately stopped laughing, the cafeteria suddenly became quiet as everyone looked towards the disturbance.

"What do you think you're doing?" Cardin asked, grabbing the front of my shirt with a vicious sneer.

'Well, I've come this far, and can't back down now...' Straightening my back and feigning confidence, I glared back at him. "What do you think YOU'RE doing? Last I checked, that girl was just trying to eat her food!"

"What, are you her boyfriend or something?" he scoffed.

"Well...no, I'm not."

"Then buzz off!" Cardin released my shirt, giving a heavy push causing me to stagger and almost fall.

'Okay Nathan, just go sit back down in your seat, you did what you could, don't say something stupid you'll regret.' "NO! You buzz off!" 'Goddamn it mouth!'

"No?" Cardin looked surprised for a second before putting on a malicious grin. "Then you can take her place." Why don't I ever listen to that nagging little voice in my head? Cardin walked forward and cracked his knuckles causing me to involuntarily take a step back. All of the sudden, I felt a hand from behind on my shoulder.

"That...would not be wise." said a familiar voice. I turned around and saw the rest of my teammates standing behind me prepared to back me up. All of the sudden, I'm liking my odds a lot more. However, the rest of Cardin's team stood up as well. The eight of us faced each other with tension in the air. Everyone in the cafeteria was looking at us now, most of them wearing excited expressions. The next action would very likely be the spark to start a sudden 4 vs 4. The silence was absolutely deafening until...

"Tch." Cardin clicked his tongue in irritation. "Don't bother guys, he's not even worth all of this." The three of them stood there for a little while longer, still skeptical about letting us go before finally listening. As his teammates turned away, I let out a sigh of relief. Cardin turned a pair of glowering eyes to me. "But you..." he said pointing a finger my way before leaving. "I'd watch my back if I were you."

'Well that's just great...no good deed goes unpunished it seems.' Most of the other students turned away with disappointed faces, clearly hoping a fight had broken out. Not all of the students were disappointed however, Pyrrha sat with the rest of team JSPR, practically beaming a smile at me. I felt a soft tugging on the back of my shirt, and a voice that seemed like a whisper.

"Um..." Turning around I saw Velvet with a nervous expression. Holding her hands together with her ears down, she barely managed to make eye contact. "Thank you... all of you. For helping me out back there I mean."

"Aw don't worry about it." Nora said playfully punching Velvet on the shoulder causing her to flinch and let out an adorable squeak.

"Er, sorry about Nora." I said putting a hand on her shoulder to calm down the bunny girl. "She's a bit...rough, but she means well."

Despite what happened before, the faunus managed to keep a straight face. "It's fine, I've rather gotten used to things like this happening."

"You SHOULDN'T just get used to this, it only encourages people like Cardin. Don't you have a team to help you with these problems?"

Velvet looked down with a guilty expression, lightly biting her lip before responding "I do but..."

"You don't want to drag them into this?" I finished. Velvet was silent, meekly nodding. "I get what you're saying, you don't think this is worth troubling them over, and you'd rather just endure it. But would your team agree with you? Tell them about what happened, they'd really want to know." As I looked around, there were still quite a bit of eyes on us from my little outburst with Cardin. "Anyway, we should probably get back to lunch."

"Oh...yes...good idea." Velvet lingered for a moment eyeing me thoughtfully giving a thankful bow of her head and leaving. As I sat back down Nora slid next to me on the bench and elbowed me.

"Look at you Mr. Smooth." she giggled. "Helping out a damsel in distress like that."

"It isn't like that, it just...really bugged me, felt like I had to do something." If I stood around and let myself be intimidated by Cardin and his goons, then I wouldn't forget that. It would make me feel like all my effort up to until now was pointless. Why bother working hard and overcoming your fears if you can't act when it's needed? "In any case, thanks for having my back. I doubt I'd look very heroic while getting my ass kicked by four angry guys."

"Hey don't worry." Jaune said sitting back into his chair. "Like you said, we're your team, so we've got your back. Now come on, let's finish up eating so we can go watch team RWBY's card game."

"I cast grudge of the living!" Yang announced holding her card high in the air. "You're going down Blake!"

Blake for her part simply shrugged. "I'm fine with that."

"With every victory against a living enemy, their negative emotions allow me to launch an additional attack at the cost of a card per extra battle! After beating you, I'll use these attacks on Atlas!"

"Not so fast sis." Ruby chuckled, flipping over a card. "I activate my trap! Atlesian Intervention!" Yang gasped, her eyes going wide. "Your card's target is transferred to me instead. And since my soldiers aren't living, you don't get your attack bonus!"

"You fiend! I can't believe I once called you my sister!" Yang laid her head and the table and pounded it with her fist. "Sweet oblivion here I come..."

Weiss looked at the dramatic scene in front of her with a perplexed look. Before turning to me and my team. "Did you understand any of that?"

"A little I guess..." I used to play Yu-gi-oh card games when I was a kid. You know, BEFORE they added a shit ton of rules that basically took away most of the fun. "I mean I got the concept of attacking the walls directly and traps. Not that much though. Anyway, how are things with Ruby? You two getting along now?"

"Things are...better. I...thank you for your help back then." Weiss paused. "Must be nice to see the future like that."

"Oh! Oh!" Ruby interrupted. "Could you tell me about my future? I've heard Weiss and your team talk about it before. I have like a million questions! I'm sure everyone does!"

"Sorry Ruby, I'm not doing that." Telling so many people about future events is still kinda dangerous. I know that no matter what minor events happen, Salem will still try and attack Beacon like she did before. But if I pile on too many minor events, it might become a major event that attracts attention.

"Yeah come on." Yang said chiming in. "It'll fun, please?"

"Well..." 'Don't give me those puppy dog eyes.' "Fine. I'll tell the future of ONE of you, but only one. The person to win the next match gets a psychic reading."

"Come on Weiss." Ruby said scooting closer to her. "You should totally play!"

"There's no way I'm playing such a childish game like that."

Ren watched the two of them argue back and forth while Nora had already fallen asleep and was drooling on his shoulder. "Shouldn't we be taking this time to study Aero? We are in a library after all."

"Meh, it's fine. All work and no play isn't good for you right?"

"Anyone could play this childish game of yours!" Weiss argued. "Why I'm certain even as a novice I'd crush you!"

"FINE!"

"DOUBLE FINE!"

"What the?" When I had turned back, I saw team RWBY holding cards again. This time Weiss was playing as well, with a scowl on her face directed at Ruby. The card battle between the four of them lasted a long time. At first it was everyone for themselves, but Weiss, new to the game was easily overwhelmed. To counter this, she teamed up with Blake in order to even the odds against Ruby and Yang. This caused a long stalemate with none of the three sides getting a decisive victory. Eventually, Ruby allied with Yang and crushed the "Black and White Alliance" before they turned on each other after it fell.

"Alright! Victory!" Yang laughed pumping a fist into the air. "Let's see what you got Mr. Psychic."

"Oh..." Ruby groaned with her head face down on the table. "I was so close..."

"Alright Yang, give me your hand." I said reaching out.

"My hand?"

"Yeah uh, I mean, I need to hold your hand in order to connect with your winds of fate...or something like that."

"Wait a minute..." Weiss said suspiciously. "You didn't need to hold MY hand when you-"

"So! Shall we begin?" I interrupted, earning a scowl from the heiress. Yang nodded, extending her arm to mine without a complaint.

"What should I ask?" she thoughtfully tapped her finger against her chin. "Okay..."Yang's expression became a bit more serious. "Let's say I was looking for a certain someone..." the blonde said slowly, leaning towards me. "What would be your advice?" she asked.

Ruby stopped what she was doing, turning towards her sister with a complicated look. "Yang..."

"Oh boy..." Yang's talking about her mom, isn't she? Asking a tough question like this right off the bat. I sighed, unsure of how to respond.

"Do you...not know the answer to that Aero?"

"No, I...I can answer you. But...you're probably not gonna like what you hear."

The girl simply nodded. "I understand."

"My advice. My sincere advice would be...to stop looking. It sounds like a copout, I know. But I'm serious. The person you've been seeking definitely won't give you what you're looking for. And they don't want to be found right now."

Yang went silent, her brows furrowing before she covered her face with a hand. "Hah...I guess you are the real deal..." Ruby walked over to her, putting a hand on her sister's shoulder to console her. The others, however, moved on to a different topic.

"Oh hey! Who's gonna win the Vytal Festival Tournament?! Do you know the answer to that?!"

"Do you?!"

"Sorry, but I said ONE psychic reading. Besides, would you really want to know the answer? If I were to tell you you'd lose, I'm guessing you wouldn't feel very motivated to participate in the tournament, right?"

"I guess..." everyone else shared a collective sigh. "Let's just play another round, Jaune, you wanna join in?"

"Of course! I brought my 'Heroes of Olde" deck!"

Speaking of the tournament, I should begin preparations for the attack on Vale, but first...there was someone I needed to see...

'This is it...'

Ever since I had come to this world I had faced many trials and challenges, but NONE would compare to what I would have to face today. In front of me stood a weathered blue door. One I wasn't very keen on entering. "Come on old boy, you can do this." Taking a deep breath, I mustered my courage and raised my hand, giving three firm knocks on the door. I could hear movement on the other side, with each step it slowly became louder and louder. A beady eye looked through the peephole for only a second before the door was viciously thrown open.

"AEEEEEEEROOOOOOOOOO!"

'Shit!' I recoiled at the cry, trying to pull back, but by then, my fate was already sealed. My vision immediately went black as I felt my face tugged into something warm and soft. I heard a girlish squeal and was held like that for a while before the light finally returned, accompanied by the smiling face of a woman with denim colored hair.

"You're back! You're finally back! Oh shame on you." she lightly chided. "Keeping your mother waiting for so long. I missed you, my sweet baby!"

'I knew this was a bad idea...' "Uh yeah, sorry about that, I've been pretty busy lately."

"And I want you to tell me all about it! Come on! Get inside already." The woman wasted no time dragging me inside and sitting me down at a table. "Just a moment, I'll put on some leftovers to heat up while we talk. In the meantime here's some juice."

'Good grief, she's just like Aero's journal described her.' Iris Cairn. Aside from notes and observations on how to use his spear, Aero's journal also contained much of his personal life. As I watched her bustle around the kitchen, I couldn't help but get a warm feeling. The house was small but cozy, and this...this was mine. She treated me as if I truly belonged here.

"I want to hear everything!" Iris said, excitedly sitting next to me. "How are you doing? Have you made any friends? Are you eating properly? What about-"

"Please! Just...one at a time?"

"Oh, sorry." She sat there for a moment, thinking.

"Looks like I'm gonna be here a while, might as well get comfy. Oh, grape juice, my favorite.'

"Is there a girl you've got a crush on?"

"SPPPTHH?!" *cough* *cough* I clutched my mouth sputtering, as Iris quickly brought out a handkerchief to wipe my dripping nose. After waiting a while to make sure I was alright, she looked at me with expectant eyes. 'This woman is trying to kill me...'

"So?"

"Well, I..."

"Yeeeees?" She continued, the smile on her face getting bigger.

Would Aero tell his mother about his crushes? He might actually talk about this stuff. I don't want to risk being wrong...guess I should just to be safe. "I...might have a girl I like...maybe?"

"What's she like?"

"Well...she's...nice." I answered vaguely, nervously rubbing the back of my head, hoping she'd move on to a different subject.

"Go on."

"She's...always got this bright and sunny disposition. She's fun, adventurous, and she's also got a really nice ra..."

"Ra?" Iris repeated confused.

"Ra...nge of skills." 'Shit, I almost said too much there...' "She's a good woman."

The mom smiled, leaning back in her chair with her eyes closed. "Aero." She opened her eyes giving a tender gaze. "You have no idea how happy I am to hear that things are going so well." Iris sighed, setting down her cup. "But...I want you to promise me that you'll be careful. If anything were to happen to you, I couldn't possibly bear it..."

"I..." Could I do it? Could I look this woman in the eye and promise her that everything would be alright? That she didn't need to worry? I hadn't realized just how much was at stake here...that it's not just my life on the line. If I can't be a huntsman, if I'm not good enough, not only will I die, but I'll also be taking her son from her.

"I...promise. I'll be fine..."

At my words, Iris looked visibly comforted, the small creases under her eyes softening before wrapping me up in a hug. "Thank you." She said giving me a relieved smile. "Of course. I'm probably just being the worrywart as usual. The Aero I know isn't so worried about things like this."

"I-I should be getting back to Beacon." 'This was a mistake...' "Heh, I mean, you know how busy huntsman are in their training." 'I never should have come here...I need to be somewhere else. Anywhere else.'

Iris stood up, still wrapping me in a hug. "My big boy's out to save the world." she chuckled, giving me a light squeeze. "Alright, I'll let you go now. Come visit me again or I'll go and embarrass you in front of your friends." The woman said with a playful wink.

As I trudged through the living room, the house had somehow changed. The small cozy house had become unfamiliar...unwelcoming. I don't belong here, I'm not Aero, and I can't bring him back. The only thing I can do, is pretend he still exists...

"From dust till dawn..." I stood outside the dust shop feeling a bit better after leaving the house. "Clever." Aero had about 3368 lien in his bank account. I'm wasn't really sure how much that is worth so I decided to get more just to be certain I'd have enough.

"Okay so...how much lien can I withdraw at once per se?"

"The maximum amount that you are allowed to withdraw is 55000 lien. However, we'll need your signature for a disclosure agreement. Each month the debt is not paid, the amount will slowly rise. Are these terms acceptable to you?"

After checking prices around a restaurant, One dollar seems to be around 11 lien? Maybe?

The dust building itself wasn't very big, a light gray one-story building with a small terrace on the roof with a few potted plants. One of the big glass windows was shattered but had been replaced by a clear tarp. As I entered the shop, the door taped a bell above it making a light ringing sound. "Is this a bad time?" The store was filled with long tubes filled with colorful dust in them, vials of all sorts with different bits of dust in them lay stacked on shelves arranged by color. If I didn't know any better, I'd think I had entered a candy shop.

"Ungh." A familiar old man looked up as I entered. He stopped wiping down the counter and waved to me, giving one of his classic grunts. Great...why does it feel like this guy is everywhere...

"Okay, so..." Walking to the counter, I peered down at the different types of crystals of different shapes and sizes. "Is there some sort of brochure or guide that goes with this process?"

The old man raised a brow at me and shook his head. 'Figures. I guess it makes sense that the only people who come here and the ones who actually know about dust.' "Are there any dust containers with labels on them?" This time the old man nodded and jerked his thumb to the back.

"Thanks." I gave a small wave and headed towards the back.

Okay, now is the absolute best time to stock up on dust. Roman and the White Fang have begun their plan to steal all of the dust in Vale. It won't be long before the price of dust will start to skyrocket due to the shortage. When that happens, I'll be able to sell the dust back for a much higher price. Maybe even more than ten times its original value. I'm gonna need as much money as possible. When Salem's forces attack, no one is going to be able to fight properly. Between trying to protect thousands of citizens as well as evacuate them, it's going to be utter chaos. Once I get enough lien, I can call ahead and rent as many airships as I need on the day of the attack. Crossing this off the list will definitely help...

I stopped as I saw yet another familiar figure. Weiss stood with her back to me examining some dust vials while muttering quietly to herself.

"Hello?"

"Wha?!" Weiss nearly dropped the vials in her hands before catching the dust and carefully setting them back on the shelf. She angrily whirled around. "Don't sneak up on me like that. Who do you think you a..." she stopped upon seeing me, and scowled. "Oh...it's just you."

"JUST me? You're gonna break my heart, Princess."

"Hmph. First off, I told you to stop calling me that." she said jabbing a finger at me. "Second, what are you doing here? I'm trying to restock on some of my ice dust."

"Same as you, just came here to buy some dust." Wait a minute now that she's here... "Hey Weiss."

"What?" Weiss asked impatiently, crossing her arms.

"You're the dust expert right? Which dust has the most powerful explosion?"

"Most powerful explosion?" Weiss thoughtfully tapped her cheek. "That would be...steam dust." she said slowly. "It's not very destructive by itself but...if you're looking for explosive force alone, it can't be beaten."

"Steam dust?"

"Yeah, steam dust. Water and fire. What, do you live under a rock or something? Why do you ask anyway?"

"Hmm...come here for a sec."

"Hey! Don't ignore me!"

I quickly walked through the shop leading us to the front, before gesturing to the display glass in front of the old man. "Of all the dust here, which is the most popular kind of dust?"

Weiss rolled her eyes, but pointed to a bright yellow crystal in the center. "Lightning dust. It's by far the most commonly used. Showing up in vehicles, houses, military, and just about anywhere else as a power source."

"It's used that much?!" I think I'm starting to get why the dust shortage was such a big problem in the show. If such a big power source went missing, it would be crippling to a kingdom. Not just lightning, but every other type of dust missing would likely cause other issues. "How much lightning dust could I get with this?" I asked, putting all of the money on the counter.

The old man hummed, thumbing through the bills before typing 58368 and dividing it by 825.

"Seventy." he muttered.

'If lightning dust is 825 lien each and steam is 495 then if I wanted 15 steam dust crystals, how much lightning could I get? Damn it, this is just like those hypothetical math problems they ask you in school!'

After a few calculations with the old man at the register, I had my answer. "I'll take 60 lightning dust crystals and 15 steam." Sorry for using your money Aero, but it's for a good cause. That'll leave him with a little over a thousand lien. "Alright, for now just load them up in my backpack." The old man didn't respond, instead just giving me a confused look. Weiss, for her part just stared at me slack-jawed. 'Why is she looking at me like that, do I have something on my face?'

"You...you DOLT!" Weiss shouted, throwing her arms in the air.

"What?"

"Dust is incredibly volatile! You can't just throw it into any old backpack! Do you want to die?!"

"Oh."

"OH?!" Weiss marched right up to me and grabbed me by the wrist, immediately tugging me out of the shop. "I swear, you're even worse than Ruby!"

"H-hey! What are you doing?"

"You're coming with me to get a proper dust briefcase! As a representative of the Schnee company, I refuse to just sit by and allow you to get yourself killed because of our product."

Despite any protests I voiced, Weiss ignored me and pulled me along. Thankfully, no one I knew was around to see me being yanked around town by a girl, and it wasn't long before a designer store came into view.

"Welcome to Insights Designer." A woman with blonde hair greeted me and Weiss with a business smile as we came through the door. "My name is Linda, let me know how I can make your experience as good as our high-quality wares."

"Yes, thank you." Weiss said smiling politely, still holding onto my arm. "We would like to purchase a briefcase designed for holding dust."

"Wonderful." Linda said, lightly clapping her hands. "And what sort of grade material are you two looking for?"

"The cheap kind..."

"The GOOD kind." Weiss corrected, shooting me a sideways glare.

"Excellent. We at Insights Designer host a wide variety of not just briefcases, but other top-quality goods too. If the two of will wait right here, I think I can help you with what you need." She said with her fake cheer. "Excuse me for a while, I'll try not to take too long."

"Ugh..."

"Oh hush." Weiss lightly chastised, sitting us down on a bench before finally releasing her grip. "Do you have something against me or something?"

"Huh?" 'Why'd she think that?' "No of course not. Did I mention that I hate designer clothing stores? It's cold, everything costs too much, there's always that weird new clothes smell and the employees are pretentious."

"Well, yeah...I suppose I understand that last part..."

"But, I've had my share of good memories in stores like these too when I was younger."

"When you were younger?"

"Wanna hear about it?"

"Well." Weiss said gesturing around the empty shop. "Doesn't look like I've got much else to do."

"My mom used to take me to stores like these all the time. I mean, it's not like I was happy about it back then either. But it was either go in, or sit alone in the car while my mom picked out tacky outfits."

Weiss leaned against her hand, seeming a bit more interested. "Were they really that bad?"

"Haha, yeah. I mean, she was always worried about what would keep me warm, or how long they'd last, but she didn't really know what passed as cool for kids. I used to drive my mom up the wall, hiding in the clothing racks all the time. Pretending that they were each my little secret fort and giggling while she had to look for me."

"That sounds childish."

"Well duh. I was a kid after all, kids do dumb fun stuff. I mean doesn't every kid?"

"No..." Weiss said, quietly looking down. "Not every kid..."

"Huh? What are you-" Oh...shit. Sensitive subject...

"I'm sorry for the wait." Linda interrupted, returning with four different briefcases, and completely missing the current mood. "The first option is the Marce Jobs brand, this one is perfect for organizing-"

"Great, I'll take it."

"Various types..." the woman stopped in surprise. "Oh...well, good." Wanting to leave as soon as possible, I pulled out the amount required, ignoring my bleeding heart as I spent a tenth of my lien on a glorified leather case. "Thanks for shopping at Designer Insights. I know you'll be back again soon!"

The trip back to From dust till dawn was...uncomfortable, Weiss didn't say much until after I'd gotten my dust. Seemingly in a bad mood after recalling her past as a child "Alright Aero." she said quietly. "I should get back to team RWBY."

"Hold on a second." 'I don't want to end our meeting on a bitter note.' Weiss blinked in surprise at the sudden action. "Just...wait a little bit okay?" I know Weiss hasn't exactly had the best childhood. If she doesn't want to talk about it, it's not my place to say anything. Especially since I've got my own experiences I'd rather no one knew. "Old man, I wanna buy that dark blue one in the corner." After handing me the crystal I turned back to Weiss. "You came here to get some ice dust but hadn't yet gotten around to it right?"

Weiss paused, looking at the crystal in her hands and then back to me. "I could have bought that myself, I didn't need you to do it for me."

"I know. This is me showing how grateful I am for helping me out. It's just my little way of saying: Thanks for making sure "I didn't blow up."

"Oh...well, thank you. I appreciate it."

"Here, catch."

"Catch? Catch wha-huh?!" she fumbled for a moment with the dust crystal tossed at her before securing it tightly. "H-hey! Didn't I just tell you how dangerous these things are?!"

"Ah...shoot...guess I could have been a bit more careful huh?"

For a moment Weiss just stared at me with an utterly stupefied look on her face. I think I made her mad again. The silence lasted until...

"Pfft." a.. rare smile appeared on her face. "You...you are utterly impossible." Weiss chuckled, shaking her head hopelessly. "Thank you for your gift, but..." The heiress walked right in front of me and gave a stern look. "Be. More. Care. Ful." she said, jabbing her finger at me for every syllable. "My family has a reputation to keep. If you blow up a dust shop, and the explosion doesn't kill you, I will. Got it?"

"G-got it..." 'Jeez, Weiss can be scary sometimes."

"Good." Weiss said with a huff. "Now come on, you and I are going to be late for the next period if we don't hurry."