Disclaimer: RWBY Characters, places and terminologies with the exception of the Original Characters, belongs to Rooster Teeth Productions.


"Where's Dana? She's late again!" Nori asked Starlock as he mopped the floor of the establishment before they opened.

"She's probably still sleeping or goofing off at the Market District again." The rooster Faunus replied and took a sip of cranberry juice. "She's lucky we're closed for the day. After that party from last night, I'm surprised the building is still standing."

"Yeah, but Natto and I told everyone to come anyway, just to clean this place. I don't want Chief Belladonna's people coming here to see this mess." He said with a grumpy tone. "What about you? You're just sitting there. Grab something and help me. What am I, a maid!?"

"I'm the owner, you know. I can't waste my energy on such trivial tasks that don't require any of my artistic knowledge."

"You're the owner only on paper! All of us, well, most of us are obligated to help this place one way or another."

"Well, excuuuuuuuse me! What do you expect me to do then?" Tiny Nori handed Starlock a bucket and a brush. "What is this?"

"Clean the restrooms at least." The panda Faunus said bluntly, something that made the well-dressed Faunus scoff.

"This is insulting, you can't make me do that!"

"That's true, I can't." Nori took Starlock's glass of juice and drank it. "Natto can do that."

"This is preposterous!"

"It's either that or helping Sheldon in the kitchen?"

"Are you serious? The kitchen is filthy. It looks like bandits raided it!"

"Make your choice, or we won't let you get on stage ever again."

"I-I… oh, fine, give me that dirty bucket." The rooster Faunus complained while begrudging swearing behind his teeth.

"Don't forget to put this on if you don't want to ruin your suit." Nori handed a pin apron to the "talented" rooster Faunus. He took it and went directly into the restrooms with an angry expression. The bartender kept cleaning the rest of the place.

Sher's Wood wasn't looking that great, but yesterday the place got the biggest number of guests in a single night than in the last five years in total. They couldn't ask for more of exceptional business.

Nori started to imagine the kind of publicity they could receive if the New White Fang would hang out here more often. Who knows, maybe even the humans might get interested in the pub too.

"More people meant more business, but that would mean more staff would be needed." Nori thought that Dana and himself being the waiters was enough to keep the place afloat. He couldn't ask the girls from the band to help them either since their music was the primary source of entertainment.

Natto was always busy with paperwork. Sheldon was getting pretty slow for his age, and Starlock couldn't do anything useful at all. They needed more people for the place, or so Tiny Nori thought.

Moments later, the panda Faunus heard someone coming through the front door. "Dana, is that you? You know what happens when you're late for…huh?" Before he could say anything else, Nori saw that Dana was not alone, she was accompanied by a young man with glasses and a camo fatigues who was standing behind her. "Tod?" He said with surprise.

"Hey, Nori. It's been a while." Diamo greeted while waving modestly.

"Sorry for being late, we had to attend to some stuff before coming here." Dana tried to excuse herself.

"When did you get to Mistral?"

"Last night. It wasn't exactly a simple task." Diamo said while he pushed his glasses back.

"It's a surprise. What brought you back? We thought you were still up in Atlas." Nori questioned the reserved sniper.

"Just some... complications."

"What kind of complications?"

"It's nothing grave, you know." Dana tried to deviate the conversation to avoid any unnecessary information. "You know that people from Atlas are kinda losing their minds right now, my poor little brother couldn't bear it, so he decided to come here and stay in Mistral for a while." The waitress' claims didn't sound all that convincing, but Nori didn't mind. It wasn't hard to believe that Atlas would be a riot after what happened in Vale.

"So you're going to stay, huh? I guess it's nice to have you back."

"By the way, the reason Tod is with me now is that he wanted to say hi before going out looking for a job."

"A job? Why not work with us? You know that Natto is the one in charge of hiring. He could give you one right away." As the panda Faunus crossed his arms while thinking, they saw the manager walking downstairs. "Speak of the devil."

"N-Nori, did Dana finally c-come to work?" Natto asked.

"Yep, and she's not alone. Look who the fox dragged in." The tanuki Faunus focused his eyes at the twins. He was surprised to see a face he hasn't seen in a very long time.

"T-Tod?"

"Hello."

"It's n-nice s-seeing you ag-g-gain."

"The feeling is mutual. I noticed that your stuttering isn't as bad as before."

"Why t-thank you, I've been p-p-practicing lately. What b-brought you here?"

"Tod just wants to say hi. He's on his way to look for a job." Dana said, basically begging.

"You know we might need some help right now, especially during night-shifts." Nori suggested, influencing Natto's decision.

"Y-Yeah. But I think we c-can only offer n-night-shifts. I can't p-pay you as much as other p-places since we are u-undergoing some ch-changes." The manager explained. "Other than t-that, it'll be n-nice to have you b-back."

"I really appreciate both of you for welcoming me again. Sadly, I'll have to find something different in the meantime." Diamo said politely.

"E-Even if you d-don't want to w-work here, you c-could still help us with an e-e-event. It'll be a one-and-d-d-done job."

"What kind of event?" Diamo asked.

"A gala, we need more people for just one night. We can pay you more than the usual hours since it's a lot of work." Nori commented in detail about the job. Diamo started to consider the offer.

"Well, I guess I could use the extra Lien. It'll take me a while to get a job. I accept your offer."

"That's g-great to hear. Let's get t-to my o-office so I can p-put you on the l-list." Natto told the sniper in glasses to follow him to his office to sign some papers. It was clear that working as a waiter won't earn him enough to cover the expenses for one night. Diamo thought about looking for another job during the mornings regardless.

"Well, it's nice of having him here again, don't you think?" Dana commented to Nori.

"It really is. At least I don't have to worry that he'll slack off."

"Hey! I don't slack off! I…meditate to recenter my Aura... yeah... that's why."

"Sure, it is." Nori rolled his eyes. "Since you are here, I need you to go do some errands. We're a little low on ingredients."

"Do I have to? I just arrived…" Dana groaned.

"It's either that or helping Sheldon clean the kitchen."

"Ehhh… no thanks. I'm off then…" She said as Nori gave her a list. The list had the names and pictures of the supplies they need for the place. Without saying anything else, Dana left the pub. Nori went back to mopping the floor.

Starlock, distressed, wet, and dirty walked out of the restroom with his suit all ruined. Nori started scratching his head. He couldn't comprehend how the rooster Faunus managed to do that.

"Uhhh… Should I ask what happened?" Nori asked the flamboyant Faunus.

"Don't, please…Now, if you'll excuse me, I need a bubble bath." Starlock frowned as he walked away.


"So, this is the address, right?" Jack asked Lucy as they arrived at a house wedged right between the Arts District and Haven Academy.

"That's what Quinn said when he told me about this place. Now, you remember what to say, right?"

"Yeah, but I'm not a good actor, though." The cowboy said while adjusting his hat.

"Act as we usually do. Just do couple stuff." Lucy said while grabbing her boyfriend's left arm.

"Couple stuff? I mean I'm brave and all, but here?"

"I meant like holding hands and stuff, you fool." The redhead said, almost condescendingly.

"Oh… okay." Jack sighed. "Let's get this over with." The couple started knocking on the door. They waited for someone to open. "No one's home." The cowboy commented.

"The owner probably just didn't get the message, let's come back later." As they turned their backs to the house and walked away, they heard footsteps coming from inside the house. The door opened, showing a man in his early 50's, thick glasses and ridiculous hair.

"Yeah? What do you want?" He asked the couple, clearly annoyed.

"Sorry to bother you, but we came to see the house." Jack told the owner in a calm tone.

"Oh, so you are the ones that I've been told about. I didn't expect you to come so early."

"We just want to see the house, if it's not much trouble for you." Lucy said impatiently.

"I guess you can, but let me tell you that it isn't pretty all that pretty from the inside." He said with much disdain on the inside. He let the couple inside the house. For a one-story home, it didn't look like it had the best hygienic conditions. The wooden floor needed some polish, and the paint was falling from the walls. It made the couple a little worried. The place looked big enough for everyone, but it would still need some work.

"What happened here?" Jack asked the owner about the house's condition.

"A trio of punks that rented this place and trashed it before leaving!"

"That sounds troublesome…" Lucy commented as she kicked some empty cans that were thrown on the floor.

"It is! Those pigs caused me a lot of trouble for quite some time! I had enough when they couldn't pay the rent on time but moving out without even telling me was the last drop!" The man kept ranting on to the point that the couple was getting annoyed.

"Well, at least they're gone. We assure you that we won't cause you any issues." Jack said as he took off his hat, trying to come off as humble and trustworthy.

"I hope so…" the owner ranted until his scroll started to ring non-stop. "I will be back. I need to take this. Feel free to look around. If you still want it, that is." He said before stepping out of the house, leaving Jack and Lucy alone. The mood wasn't as romantic as they hoped it would be. Standing in a disheveled place like this left someone with feelings of disgust rather than hope or love. Thankfully, none of the guys were around to see it. Ace would have said something stupid, Quinn would have complained, and Diamo would be anyone's guess.

"Lovely, isn't it?" Lucy said sarcastically.

"Look on the bright side. Beats your father's cramped house."

"I wouldn't be so sure of that." The redheaded girl started walking around and inspected the interior. Kitchen, living room, bedrooms, bathrooms. No matter where they looked, it was a mess from top to bottom. It took them a couple of minutes to see the house. Their expectations weren't exactly fulfilled.

"I would hardly call this place adequate." Jack said with disappointment.

"No kidding… I'll tell Quinn to find a better place, or else he's getting a whupping by me."

"Convincing…" The cowboy sighed as he looked at the city through the window. The space between the buildings and the place made him uneasy.

"Something wrong?" Lucy asked her boyfriend. He looked troubled for some reason.

"Not much, just living in the middle of a populated area makes me feel uneasy." He said, unable to separate his eyes from the window.

"Feeling homesick?"

"Maybe…? I never liked being in big cities. Neither Vale nor Atlas felt cozy to me." Jack said while pacing around the horrific building. He could hear his footsteps make the wooden floor creak underneath him. "Huh?" He exclaimed when something odd caught his attention.

"You heard that, too, right?" Lucy asked while looking at the floor.

"Yeah, I wonder what it could be." Jack kneeled to touch one of the planks on the floor. He knocked on it to check if it wasn't hollow or something. Much to his surprise, he could feel a small breeze coming through the gaps. "Mhhh, this is... peculiar." He said with interest.

"Is that what I think?"

"You can bet it is." Jack pulled out a small pellet from his pocket. He dropped it between the gaps to see how long it would take them to reach the bottom. As he counted the seconds, the pellet made small echoes underneath the floor. It made the couple very suspicious. "There's something below us."

"Should we ask the owner if he knows about this?"

"Probably, but we must ask him to confirm it first. I have a feeling that the previous tenants did a lot more than just trash this place." Jack stood up and moved some of the cans and bags to block the gaps. "I guess we could rent this place first before inspecting what's in there."

"Right. We could get Saber here to inspect, just in case." Lucy pointed out a viable strategy while checking if the landlord was done talking through the window. He ended the call right before she looked and only saw him walk inside. He opened the door to see how the couple was doing.

"So, what do you think?" He asked.

"I have a question."

"Go ahead, Miss."

"Does this house have a basement?" Lucy's question made the landlord raise an eyebrow.

"Basement, what made you think that?"

"Curiosity. We want to make a game room for our guests." The redheaded girl tried to come up with an excuse for the confused man.

"Don't be ridiculous. Mistral's water levels aren't good for underground structures. We're just too close to a lake. Besides, some laws and sanctions forbid me from even attempting to make one." He said with annoyance. If anything he said was true, he probably doesn't even have a clue what's below them.

"Thank you for your answer. I've run the offer over with my 'fiancé,' and we've decided we're renting this place."

"Are you sure? This place is filthy. It might fall apart any second." The landlord said with surprise.

"We're going to clean it for you. You don't have to worry about paying for any cleaning services or things like that." Jack said to the old man in hopes of reassuring him.

"Well, if that's what you want. I recommend you start cleaning as soon as you can. I just can't deal with the looks of this goddamn dump. Stupid shitty junkyard…" He began swearing like there no tomorrow. At least Quinn had some manners when it came to his language, for the most part.

"You don't have to worry about us. We'll leave this house so clean enough that an Atlesian commander will lick it." The cowboy's words made the landlord feel queasy.

"That's good, but I don't want people licking the floors!"

"He wasn't literal." Lucy said while facepalming herself.

"Whatever. Just leave this place clean tomorrow, and I'll let you rent it. No questions asked!" The angry landlord pulled a pair of keys from his pocket and extended them towards the couple. "Don't lose them, and I don't have any spares." Lucy and Jack picked up the keys and said farewell to the man before he left the house.

After meeting the 'charming' man, none of them understood what his deal was. He probably just had another bad day, they thought. The couple sighed as they tried to look around a little longer before going somewhere else.

"That solves the housing issue, but I still need to look for a job." Jack said while taking off his hat and scratching his head.

"I can help you out. My dad knows some people around the area that might hire you."

"I appreciate the help, but I'm fine looking for one on my own, Lucy." The cowboy said modestly, although that didn't save him from his girlfriend's wrath. And by wrath, it meant pinching his cheeks till they turned red as usual. "Oww!" He screamed in agony at how much force she pinched him with. It didn't help that her Semblance made him feel pain multiplied by ten.

"Don't act so macho around me, cowboy. We don't have much time to look for one without raising suspicion. Take my suggestion, or I'll give you the 'Lucy Treatment'." The redheaded girl said with a somewhat menacing tone. Jack had nothing but cold sweat from hearing her. He knew fully well how much a 'Lucy Treatment' could hurt, and so did many others, who've opposed Lucy Carmine.

"Oww… Alright, I guess it wouldn't hurt asking."

"I knew you would listen." Lucy said before pecking Jack on the cheek. Despite her somewhat abrasive nature, the cowboy wasn't bothered about it. He chuckled at the moment.

"Before looking for a job, would you like to hang out? I saw this small festival around the Market District earlier. I want to win some prizes in the booths."

"Sure. I guess we could use some downtime before tomorrow's cleaning. Besides, never hurts to get in more target practice." The cowboy said without compliance.


"Man, I forgot how much stuff happens around here." Sage commented as he and Scarlet were trying to enjoy the small festival.

"Although I wish it wasn't so empty 'cause of what happened." Scarlet commented while eating his cotton candy.

"You could say that we saved ourselves from that. Well, I wished we were there when Haven was attacked." The tattooed teenager said regretfully.

"You don't have to worry, at least nothing bad happened." The pretty teenager tried to reassure his teammate by giving him a pat on the back.

"Thanks man." Sage said with a smile.

"No worries, let me get you something to drink." Scarlet started to reach into his back pocket to look for his wallet. However, he felt as if something was wrong. "What? Where's my wallet?" He said desperately as he turned his pockets inside out.

As he was looking for it, someone above them whistled loudly. They turned their heads to see who was calling them. This person was a Faunus girl with a fox tail. She was sitting on top of one of the booths.

"Hey, guys…" She said cheerfully while playing with a very familiar looking wallet.

"Oh, not you again." Sage facepalmed. "Would you give him his wallet back? We just want to enjoy the day after yesterday's long trip."

"You know the rules. I'll give it back if you can catch me!" She stood up and started running away from them. She jumped over more booths on her way. She was fast, it was impossible for the Huntsmen in training to match her agility without their weapons for added mobility. And after what happened at Haven, using their Semblances would have been a bad idea in general. Not to mention, it would technically be cheating.

"Should we go after her?" Scarlet asked.

"Maybe, but I guess that won't be necessary." Sage crossed his arms and smirked. Neither of them moved from their place and just watched her get away.

The Faunus kept running away, jumping over rooftops and traversing the area in style. She looked behind her to see if they were chasing her. Unsurprising for her, they were too slow.

"Well, that was just way too easy." She said with a disappointed sigh. "What is this? I'm so bored I feel like I'm playing on single-player."

"Would you prefer two-player?" Another voice came from behind her. A guy with blond hair, an open white shirt, and a monkey tail was hanging upside down from a rope. "Long time no see, Dana." He said jovially.

"Sun! When did you come back?" Dana asked with surprise on her eyes.

"Two days ago, I arrived alongside that huge mob from Menagerie."

"Hooooo, so you're now part of the New White Fang? What, was being a 'Junior Detective' not low enough?" Dana said mockingly to the monkey Faunus.

"I'll take it as a compliment, but no, I'm not part of them. Taking charge of my own team is more than enough to deal with." He let go of the rope he was hanging from and landed dramatically looking right into Dana's eyes.

"Speaking of the gang, I would really appreciate if you gave Scarlet his wallet back. If it isn't much trouble."

"Nah-uh! You know the rules of our little 'cops vs. robbers' game. I take half of his money if none of you can catch me."

"Well, we are 2 against 3 in my favor. It will be a piece of cake." Sun said confidently.

"Don't forget who taught you how to move around Mistral." Dana smirked as she swiftly descended from the roof. She landed on a tent that stopped her fall.

"Man, it's good to be back home." He said while following the Faunus thief the same way she did moments ago. The real game had just begun.

As Dana tried to look for paths and routes to get Sun off her tail, she saw another laundry rope. She grabbed it and swung on it like a monkey on a vine. Sun tried to do the same, but he ran out of luck. The rope he grabbed onto let lose and jolted, springing him into a set of laundry lines, which wrapped him up like a snake. It was impossible for him to move. His arms and legs had become useless.

"What's the matter? I thought this was your specialty." Dana mocked Sun while hanging from her rope.

"So the game's over, huh? It seems that I was away from home for way too long." Sun chuckled while trying to loosen himself.

"I assume that Vale doesn't have the same type of architecture as this place. You know, I'll take pity on you and give back the wallet. Here. Not a Lien was taken." She put the wallet into Sun's pocket. "Consider this your... welcoming gift." She climbed down the rope, leaving Sun suspended in midair.

"Hey, wait! Aren't you going to help me!?" He yelled at the thief as she was walking away.

"Sorry, but I have to do some errands at work. I'll come back to you when I'm done." She said mischievously as she walked down the street. It wasn't a flattering position for the leader of a Huntsman team, but he couldn't complain. He felt that life was at least returning back to normal after months of away from home.

"Well, at least I have a nice view." Sun tried to be optimistic by admiring the city from the high altitude. He could see a small festival was taking place in the Market District. "Life is good." He thought, trying to let all the troubles of the past rest, just for the day.