Chapter IV

Dreams Asleep

Have you ever had one of those mornings in which there is so much peace and quiet, even the birds much rather stay in bed than sing? Yeah, this wasn't one of those mornings…

"BBBBLLAAARGHH!" was the only sound the locals were waking up to as Jaune vomited by a tree after his first night of drinking. His hands placed on the tree and his head leaning down, the poor boy had tears in his eyes, he was missing a boot and was covered in mud and puke, it really wasn't a pretty sight.

"How do you do it, Qro…BBBLLARGGH!" Jaune tried to say to himself but his body wasn't being kind to him.

Dominique arrived with an old wooden bucket full of water and a broken plastic cup. "Wow. Haha. You took it all out of your system already?" Dominique said with a bit of a smile as he poured water for his apprentice.

"I'm pretty sure that´s my kidney right there" Jaune responded, his head still hanging and with a defeated expression in his face. With weakness, he stood up and reached for the cup of water with his shaking hands.

Dominique crossed his arms and with an expression of disbelief he continued "Ah, come on kid, we just had a couple of beers!"

Jaune nearly choked with the water after hearing that comment and after coughing a bit he replied with anger, "I TOLD YOU I´VE NEVER HAD IT BEFORE!".

Still with his arms crossed, Dominique closed his eyes and said "That´s no excuse. You kids these days are just too soft". He then put on a big smile and with his hands proudly on his hips he continued taunting his student "You lack the strength, the might! Of my generation! Just look at me! I can withstand the harshest and meanest things life can throws at…AH!". Dominique said; however, his glorious speech was cut short by Jaune who without him noticing had stood up and whistled with his fingers in his mouth right next to Don´s ear. "Why do you have to be so mean?!" Don whimpered as he crouched with teary eyes and held his pained hangover head.

Jaune drank as much water as he could and poured the rest of the bucket on himself to wash away the vomit and mud a little. Tossing the bucket aside he started walking away much to Don´s confusion.

"Hey! Where are you going?" Dominique said as his apprentice walked away.

"To the Inn. Maybe our stuff is still there, I don't know! Is better than sitting here all day! OUCH!" Jaune replied right as he stepped on a rock with his bare foot.

Jaune and Don headed back to the Inn, it was just a few blocks away but they didn't recognize anything in broad day light, they didn't even remember how they got that far away from the Inn in the first place. On their way, Don started noticing the state of the town, it clearly had seen better days. The buildings were made of wood and stones, but they seemed fairly old, many of them were damaged, broken wood parts, doors about to fall off, stores with broken signs, some buildings even had holes on their walls. The street wasn't much better. Dirt roads mostly mudded, dirty water puddles and garbage on every corner. But what caught Don´s attention the most were the expression of the town folk, many had a constant expression of anger, even more had sad eyes, an aura of defeat and apathy could be felt just by seeing their faces. Even the kids lacked their innocent smiles, instead most of them looked just as apathic as their parents. Don noticed a small faunus girl with a bunny doll in hand, her dog ears moved with curiosity as she saw Don waving at her with a kind smile, to his joy the girl started waving back with a shy smile but this gesture turned awkward to him when her mother quickly took her back inside their house. Jaune didn't pay attention to any of this, he was mostly worried about getting to the Inn as soon as possible, hopeful that his sword was still there waiting for him.

As they made it the Inn, the huntsmen encountered the aftermath of their…heroic battle. Broken tables and chairs were scattered around the restaurant. A candelabra had one of its chains broken and was swinging back and forward. Broken glass was spread on the bar and the distinct odor of dried beer impregnated the place.

"Oh, NO! YOU TWO, GET OUT OF MY INN!" Maggie yelled as soon as she spotted the huntsmen entering her local. "I do NOT need more of your dumb ideas! Get out!" She continued, as she angrily waved a broom at the men.

"I…Im so sorry! We just wanted to see if we left our stuff here!" Jaune nervously tried to explain to the angry innkeeper as she waved her broom on his face.

"Ha! Well, tough luck, buddy. Jessie´s gang took it all, and MY cash! The only thing left is that tooth pick your grandpa threw at the ceiling!" Maggie said with a sarcastic tone as she pointed to Dominique´s spear stuck on the bar´s ceiling.

"My Baby!" Dominique said, hopping with happiness as he ran to the bar and started stacking chairs to reach his spear. "Don't worry! I'll save you!".

Jaune grabbed his head in sadness and said to himself, "Ahh, so they did take everything! That sword was a family heirloom!".

Maggie, still angry, smacked Jaune in the head with her broom and continued scolding him "Oh cry me a river! Poor little fancy lad lost his toy. Meanwhile I have to deal with your mess! You own me, boy! For the damage and you didn't even pay your bill last night!".

Jaune´s face showed a lot of shame as he said to the innkeeper, "I'm so, so sorry ma´am, you have no idea how much I am. But we don't have any money, they took it all, even our supplies, everything. Please believe me, If there was a way I could make it up to you, I would".

Maggie let out a sigh, she saw that the boy was truly ashamed of what he did, and considering he was also in a bad situation, she tried to calm down. "You really are a screw up aren´t you? Ok, if you are really sorry, I'll tell you what. I´m short on staff around here. You want to pay your debt? From now on, you and geezer prince charming over there work for me".

Jaune was caught off guard by this offer and was reluctant to accept, they couldn't stay in this town too long. He had to meet Ruby to go back to Vale. But on the other hand, they didn't have any supplies either. Penniless, weaponless, foodless, everywhere he saw it, they were stuck in this town until they could get back on their feet. "I…fine, we´ll do it" Jaune said as he went to shake the hand of his new boss.

"We have a deal then. Go take a shower on the back, you reek of vomit and I won't have you serving food like that. I'll go get you some clean clothes" Maggie said with her broom on her shoulder.

"Thank you, ma´am! You won't regret it!" Jaune said right as Don managed to unstuck his spear from the ceiling, loudly falling down on top of the stack of chairs he was using as a ladder.

"I'm ok!

Maggie face palmed at the sight of the old man on her floor. "Man, you two suck at this hero thing!".

After a merciful shower, Jaune and Don were dressed with waiter uniforms and began their new job at Magdalene´s Inn. Their first task of course was to clean up the mess they caused after their latest attempt for a heroic deed. The restaurant wasn't as visited as they thought it would be, which was great for them as they could get the hang of their job, and after Don spilled a hot bowl of oat meal on a costumer and Jaune got bitten by a kid, everyone could agree they needed that time to learn.

Lunch time came and still, not many costumers arrived at the restaurant. For what they had seen, it seemed like dinner time was the busiest hour. Jaune tried to quickly serve the guests as to improve his service. Meanwhile, Don was still noticing something off with the town folk. The few costumers that arrived had that same expression of defeat and apathy he noticed earlier. They came in, ordered, didn't even say hello and left, all with an empty look in their eyes. Don couldn't stop thinking about it and decided to ask the cook, a big, hairy, muscular boar faunus with tusks in his mouth named Cronan.

"Hey, buddy? How is it going?" Don said putting his hands on Cronan´s shoulders acting familiar with the cook even though they just met a few hours ago.

Cronan reacted annoyed, he was a serious and scary man and there was nothing he hated more than being bothered while cooking…or in general for that matter. "Get your hands off me or Ill grill them, old man" Cronan said with his deep voice as he cut a chicken with a meat cleaver.

Don did as told but he didn't get any less friendly, leaning on the counter next to the grill and trying to start a conversation with Cronan. "Chicken, ah! That´s good, that´s good…. Are you…going to put Paprika in it?"

Cronan´s answer was merely strongly chopping the chicken with his cleaver. The more pissed he got the harder he chopped.

"Yeah… So anyways. Can I ask you a question?"

"Get lost". Cronan replied, another hard chop shacked the table.

"Listen, I've seen that people around here lack a certain…spark. Is there something going on? Some villain to defeat? A vicious monster to slay?!".

"Don't know. Don't care" Cronan answered as he ripped apart the chicken.

Don persisted "You see, that's the thing. They all have that look of not caring about…well anything. It´s odd".

Cronan put the chicken on a tray and started peeling some potatoes as he answered "Why should they? We live in a town in the middle of nowhere. Forgotten by the world and constantly getting harassed by bandits and Grimm. You get used to it".

Don was surprised by the answer, standing up he got a bit closer to the cook. "Come on! You can't live life like that! Your town is in the beautiful country side! What´s not to love about it? Come on, why don't you give me a big smile!" Don said as he grabbed Cronan´s face and tried to put a smile on his face. Cronan put his potato and peeler away, with his eyes wide opened he grabbed Don by the wrists and put his hands on the hot grill. "AAAAAAAAHHHHHH!".

"What were you thinking?!" Jaune said to his master as he used his semblance to heal his burned hands.

"I just wanted to make a friend!" Don responded; his eyes glossy like a child who just got yelled at. He then tried to explain himself to his student. "There is something wrong with this town, kid. Can't you see it? I was just trying to understand what is it".

Jaune didn't understand at first, but after Don pointed out the faces of the town folk, he started to see the same signs Don was talking about. He now saw the gloomy aura, the general sense of sadness that surrounded the area. He didn't have much time to think about it when a short old lady approached them.

"Excuse me, young man. What exactly are you doing?" The old lady said, her back hunched and with a cane in hand, she kept pointing at Jaune´s glowing hands.

Jaune got a bit surprised, his treatment of Don´s wounds was done so he backed off and addressed the old lady. "Oh, I…It´s my semblance, I can heal people with it".

The old lady grabbed Jaune´s hand with her two hands, she was clearly excited "Oh, joy! Miracle hands! If it´s not much trouble, could you heal an old woman?". The old lady asked.

Jaune accepted, he wasn't about to refuse to aid an innocent elderly woman. He asked what she wanted him to heal, but to his surprise, the woman sat on a stool and took her shoe off. "You see, I've had this gross rash in my foot for a couple of months now and…", The old woman started saying as Jaune and Don covered their mouths in disgust. Thankfully, Maggie rushed to their rescue and interrupted her.

"Ruth! What are you doing?! People eat here!" Maggie said to the old woman who explained that Jaune offered himself to cure her using his semblance. Rubbing her bridge, Maggie ordered Jaune to take the old lady Ruth outside the restaurant if he was going to help her.

Jaune and Ruth sat on a bench outside the Inn. The old lady was joyful, she hadn't felt such relieve in moths. Meanwhile, Jaune was facing away trying his best to avoid seeing the rash again. In doing so, Jaune remembered his conversation with Don and started to look around the town itself to see if the same pattern continued, and to his surprise, it did. He kept seeing the same faces of sadness all around. In his curiosity, trying to do small talk but also in his search for answers, he asked the old lady, "So. Why didn't you get this treated earlier?"

Ruth, who had a big pleasured smile, responded "Well, we really don't have much of a medical facility, sweetie. Our nursery has been having troubles ever since the local doctor left months ago to work at Argus".

"The doctor just left out of nowhere?"

Ruth nodded, her smile changed into a sorrow look "It hasn't been a good couple of years, and lately things just get worst and worst. Every now and then a new gang of bandits claims this town as their territory, and the Grimm certainly aren't helping. Those who can, just leave the town, searching for a future. The rest of us, well…".

Jaune started to understand what was happening. He continued seeing the town people, many of them were just sitting around doing nothing. The town had many businesses but no one was in them, the few that had people in were mostly sleeping on the counters, and more curiously, many of the stores had signs putting the place on sale and for the looks of it, they had been like that for a while.

Their first day of work ended late at night. As they had imagined, dinner time was the busiest at the Inn. Tiered Jaune and Don decided to make a made shift camp on a hill using nothing but some trash they found lying around. As they set up the campfire they started talking.

"You saw it, right? Tell me I'm not crazy" Don said as he put some pieces of timber in the floor for Jaune to turn on the campfire.

"Well, you are. But you are also right. The people have been leaving the town in mass, and the few that are left…It´s like they just gave up on it". Jaune said, the fire finally igniting, he then sat down and started trying on an old shoe he found amongst the trash. "The old lady told me that gangs have been fighting over the town"

"Huh, not surprising. Remember what Maggie told us? Huntsmen haven't been visiting the town in a while, and being this far away from the main kingdom…" Don said as he used a stick to move the embers.

"No one can do anything". Jaune said, the shoe fitting perfectly on his foot. "Those who tried probably ended up dead, and after a while…No one cared anymore".

"You know what I see, kid? I see is a town in need of help, my boy." Don said as he sat down on a log, pointing his burning stick at Jaune.

"Yeah? and how do you pretend to do that? I don't know if you noticed but we are not exactly in the best shape to help anyone right now", Jaune said with a bit of a sarcastic tone, still frustrated at the loss of his sword he looked at the side murmuring "Not like we would be able to do anything anyways".

"Then let's start there! Come on, kid. Having a day job doesn't mean you can forget about your training. Stand up!" Dominique said as he stood up ready for some training.

Jaune however, wasn't exactly in the best mood. Mad at himself and exhausted. His eyes kept closing on their own and he started yawning "It was a long day. I really don't feel like it. Maybe tomorrow if we have time." He said as he walked inside the tent they made out of a garbage bag.

Don was annoyed at this comment. Not feeling like it? If they had time!? What sort of attitude was that? They were going to spend all day working again, and he wasn't about to spend the rest of his days serving omelets. That wasn't his true calling and neither was his apprentice´s. Dominique grabbed an old notebook that was amongst the garbage and pulled out a pen from his pocket. He then started to write down until late at night.

As morning approached, Jaune was woken up by a kind whisper in his ear "Jaune...Jaaauune…JAUNE!" Don yelled in his apprentice´s ear who jumped out of the garbage bag he was using as a blanked. "Rise and shine! Squire!" Dominique said to a drowsy Jaune.

Jaune rubbed his face asking "What…What time is it? Is still dark!".

"It´s 04:00 am, lad. Time for our morning exercise!" Dominique said proudly with a hand on his hips and the other showing his notebook.

"You said it yourself. We can only train if we have time and there is no time like now! so I decided to put you on a morning regimen before work, now get up!".

Jaune woke up reluctantly, he almost fell asleep again while doing stretches. Don made him do some jumping jacks to warm up and get the blood flowing, But Jaune´s enthusiasm just kept lowering more and more.

"Now, let's begin with some hand to hand combat, shall we?" Don said as he got his fists ready.

Jaune kept rubbing his face, he was a bit confused as to why hand to hand combat but too drowsy to think further.

"Well is not like you have a sword right now, do you?" Don pointed out much to Jaune´s annoyance.

"Don't remind me" He said in frustration.

"Well, then you have to fight with what you have. Come on! Fists up!" Don instructed, hopping left and right ready for battle.

Jaune took his stance, fists up but his eyes were still shutting on their own. That was until he was met with a punch to the face. "Wake up, already!", Don said enthusiastically, but right after that he started looking at his apprentice top to bottom.

Jaune snapped out of it and took his stance again. Don then stopped and started correcting Jaune´s stance. His feet were misplaced, his fists were in a weird position, it was clear the kid had never been in a fist fight before. Seeing this, Don instructed him to throw a punch and much to his disappointment, Jaune threw the weakest weirdly moving punch he had ever seen. Shaking his head, Don realized that Jaune wasn't ready for a sparing match so instead he decided to start with the basics and teach him how to properly throw a punch. He asked him to mimic his movements and repeat the same motion over and over and over again as for him to start developing muscle memory. Luckily, Jaune had always been a fast learner, he quickly got the hang of it and Don started to teach him some sequences. Starting slowly but gradually increasing speed.

"Again! Right, Left, Uppercut! Too slow! Again! Keep it up! Do not lose control! Focus! Again!" Don kept instructing. They continued for the next two hours, taking short breaks for Jaune to catch up his breath. Before finishing, Don decided to give another try to the sparing match.

"Gloves off, kid. Now do the sequence, but analyze the fight and act accordingly" Don instructed as his guard was up. Jaune took his gloves off and after putting his guard up he launched his attack. Right punch, left punch, uppercut. Don blocked the punches and evaded the uppercut; he liked the strength of the punches he managed to deliver. "Atta boy, again!" he said. Jaune kept repeating the sequence, essentially going with the motions, he was developing the muscle memory Don wanted but this came with a drawback. As Jaune launched his next attack, he was surprised when Don blocked his right punch with his right arm and quickly followed with a punch with his left, knocking Jaune to the ground.

"I told you to analyze the fight, kid. I'm not teaching you a sequence so that you fight like a robot. Muscle memory is important, but don't become predictable!" Don said firmly as he went to help his student stand up. However, to his surprise, Jaune refused his help, deciding to stand up on his own. Jaune seemed upset, but what caught Don´s attention the most was when he spat out blood to the ground.

"I guess, we are done for the day. Come on, it´s about time we head to work. Don't think you are off the hook though. We are running to the Inn" Don said in a serious tone, as he turned off the campfire with dirt.

On their morning jog, Don was still troubled by the looks the town folk gave them, but Jaune once again didn't pay attention to it, much to Don´s annoyance. Jaune kept sulking, his mind was still lost in his troubled thoughts. He felt like every mistake he had ever done had led to this situation, stuck in a ghost town, living in the trash. The lost of his sword was particularly upsetting to him, after all, it wasn't just a family heirloom, he had used what he could find of Pyrrha´s armor to upgrade it. In a sense, that sword was a token of Pyrrha´s feelings. When he wielded it, Jaune felt as if she was still lending him her strength, her support. And now it was gone. Lost to his own stupidity and failure. Maybe it was for the best; a fool like him didn't deserve that strength. A fool like him deserved to be there, in the middle of nowhere, forgotten.

As they approached the Inn, Jaune´s attention was caught by the sound of coughing. It was the little faunus girl with her mother. Jaune stopped, curious at the sight of the mother sitting on a chair in their porch tending to her daughter as she kept coughing. The mother had bags on her eyes as if she had been awake all night, probably taking care of the little girl. When the girl noticed Jaune standing there, she once again waved with a shy smile, but this was cut short by her cough. The mother stared at Jaune with vigilant eyes. The moment ended when Don who had run ahead noticed Jaune standing back and called his name. Jaune resumed his jog, leaving behind the little faunus girl, bunny doll in hand and a constant cough.

It's been 4 days since Jaune and Don started working at Magdalene´s Inn and as usual, the place was slow in activity. Don had been continuing Jaune´s training early in the mornings. His hand to hand combat skills started to improve, but Don still noticed Jaune´s lack of enthusiasm. The kid had grown even more bitter, even more sarcastic, he kept complaining about their current situation but most notably, Don started to see him getting more injured during their training sessions.

Magdalene, was a firm boss. Work might be slow during the day but that didn't mean she allowed slackers. Since breakfast time was done and Cronan was getting everything ready for lunch, Maggie put Jaune and Don on repair duty, fixing a broken window in the first floor left there by some drunk the night before.

"Carefull there, kid, I don't want you to smash the glass and leave blood all over my window" Maggie said, as she stood outside the Inn. Don and Jaune were on ladders outside putting the crystal in place. A man saw the job and approached Maggie.

"Morning, Maggie. That´s a fine work. Who are the handymen?" the man said as he looked up protecting his eyes from the sun.

"My new employees, David. You'll know that if you came visit more often" Maggie responded sarcastically crossing her arms.

The man chuckled a bit "Sorry, sorry. I've been sick. You know, I could use a hand repairing the roof of my house. The rains are coming and it wouldn't hurt to wake up dry for a change. You mind if I borrow them?"

Jaune and Don overheard the conversation as they came down of the ladders.

"I don't know. They own me a lot of money and I much rather keep them were I can see them" Maggi said but the man tried to insist.

"Hello, good sir, what seems to be the problem?" Don said, his head up with his characteristic chivalrous tone.

"I would like to offer you a repair job" the man said, but he was quickly interrupted by a protective Maggie.

"And I said, no, I'm sorry. I need them both here".

Don started rubbing his beard, a clear sign that he was getting an idea, he took a quick glance at Jaune and approached Maggie. "Ma´am, could I have a word with you, please?" He said as he grabbed Maggie's hand and walked her away from the area. They talked for a bit, Maggie at first was on the fence but the more Don talked with excitement the more she seemed to be getting convinced. They returned after a few minutes with big smiles on their faces.

"Ok, David, here is the deal. You can rent the kid for the day" Maggie said putting her hand on Jaune´s shoulder.

"Rent me?!" Jaune answered in surprise.

"That´s right. You still work for me, but from now on Ill be renting you for any job people need. Payment goes to your debt of course. Just make sure to come back at sunset. I need you for dinner time" Maggie explained.

Don put his hand on Jaune´s other shoulder and continued "And I couldn't leave Madam Magdalene alone, so Ill stay at the restaurant. But! Here is my condition. I demand to take you to your work place myself!"

Jaune had a concerned face as he asked "Why?"

Don jumped with excitement and pointed at Jaune´s face, "Because whatever job you have to do. Ill turn it into training, my boy! I intend on making every job as physically demanding as possible! I told you before, didn't I? You are not off the hook!"

Maggie smiled as she addressed the man, "So we have a deal?"

The man shacked Maggie´s hand to seal the deal, while Jaune fell in the harsh realization that he had absolutely no saying in his own life.

The man took Jaune and Don to his house, an old shack at a fair distance of the Inn. Just as with the rest of the town´s buildings, this house had seen better days, but that wasn't a concern at the moment. What Don wanted to focus on was how to creatively turn this task into suited training for his student. His first instinct was to teach him balance and increase his physical strength by making him carry all the materials on his own to the roof, but here was the twist, Jaune need to learn how to fluidly move, so Don forbade the use of a ladder. Jaune had to climb the house on his own while carrying equipment and materials. It wasn't practical, but that didn't matter, what mattered was the training of his body and since the costumer was just happy of getting the job done, there was nothing stopping Don from giving this instruction.

Of course, Jaune struggled, but he had a job to do and at the very least, this would keep his mind busy.

Morning came once more and Jaune was again waken up abruptly. His body extremely sore but the loud voice of his master made his head hurt even more.

Today´s training session was unusual. After their warm up, Don handed one over a long pipe to Jaune.

"Ok, class. On this beautiful morning I´ll take you out of your comfort zone…again" Don said as he swung around his spear. "You, my friend, have the honor of learning first hand, the Cervantes spear combat style! Trademarked!"

Jaune was curious but mostly unamused, he learned to have low expectations of his master whenever he started talking with overconfidence.

Don was getting annoyed at Jaune´s attitude, but this didn't discourage him. He started teaching him the basic stances and movements of spear combat.

Jaune struggled a lot with this weapon, he was more used to the sword and shield style, he had never tried to implement other weapons in his training, further he had ventured was the two-handed mode on his sword and even then, he mainly used it as he would a bat. The spear was more complex to him, it required him to move his entire body and it was hard for him to not get his arms entangled as he tried to mimic Don´s movements. It didn't help that Don´s style was fairly unorthodox. He used the weapon as if it was a Bo staff, with agility and speed, not just focusing on blocks and thrusts. His style was pretty much a dance, a nonsensical one is what Jaune described it as, he didn't find it coherent let alone practical. But as usual, Jaune tried to compare these technics to Pyrrha´s own fighting style and by remembering it, he realized there were similarities. Pyrrha´s fighting style was also fast and agile. Just like a fine dance, she used her weapons with grace and precision and her accuracy at throwing her javelin was unmatched, Jaune knew it firsthand. However, Pyrrha´s spear was much lighter which allowed her to perform the fast strikes and movements Don was trying to teach him. But the pipe he was using and Don´s own spear were larger and heavier. Jaune just couldn't figure it out, and the more he failed at getting the hang of it, the more frustrated he turned.

Trying to do a spin, Jaune ended up hitting his own shoulder hard, it was painful enough to bring him to his knees. Don rushed to his aid, worried for the safety of his student.

"Easy there, lad. Are you ok? Let me see" Don said as he tried to take Jaune´s hand away from the wound to take a look but the pain just made Jaune even angrier and once more he refused Don´s help, slapping his hand away and standing up on his own, much to Don´s shock.

"The sun came up, let´s just get ready for work…" Jaune said as he walked away from his teacher, still holding his pained shoulder. Don watching him with nothing but concern in his heart.

Back in the Inn, Maggie had a new job for Jaune, it seemed like the neighbor of their previous client saw Jaune repairing his roof and wanted to hire him to paint her house. The task wasn't as heavy as the roof repair but Don kept his word and turned it into training. Don was still worried about Jaune, he still seemed in pain for his earlier injury and he was getting more and more bruises. He decided to make the painting job a leg excises by instructing him to jump in order to reach the highest parts of the house without using a ladder. He still told him to take it easy though, he was concerned for the boy´s health.

Rental job ended in the evening and Jaune was getting ready to get back to the Inn for his night shift when he was stopped by his customer, a young woman who gave him a box of homemade cookies saying it was his tip.

Jaune got nervous, he started waving his hands not wanting to accept the cookies "I…It´s ok, ma´am, I really shouldn't be accepting tips".

The woman just gave him a warm smile, she grabbed one of his hands and placed the box on it "Please, take them. It´s my way of saying thank you. It´s been a while since I last saw my house so beautiful. You have no idea how much I appreciate it".

Jaune was a bit shocked at the response but he couldn't say no to that sweet smile. He accepted the cookies thanking the woman for her kindness and even ate one of them, telling the kind woman how delicious they were

Jaune headed back to the Inn. As he walked, he kept thinking about the woman´s comment. It truly was very important for her to see her old house come to live once more. In such an abandoned place like this town, it is the little things that give you hope, it is those small signs of improvement that tells you that things can and will be better.

Jaune was about to enter the Inn when his attention was caught by a flair in the mud. He picked it up and it turned out to be a wanted poster with a bounty on it. The picture on it was that of a woman with black hair on a pony tail, she had brown eyes but what caught Jaune´s attention the most was her eye patch. The wanted criminal instantly reminded him of Cinder, she had that same sick, plain cruel look on her face, smiling as if the pain she just caused gave nothing but the purest pleasure. He took poster inside and approached the bar, in it, Maggie and Don were sharing a beer while Cronan was cleaning a mug.

"Well, if it isn't our hero for hire. How was your day, sweetie? Maggie said as she drank from her mug.

Jaune greeted them, but quickly showed the poster "Good. Look, I need to ask. I found this outside. You happen to know anything about her?

Everyone took a look at the poster, Don decided to grab it and detail it. Meanwhile, Cronan and Maggie were surprised at the mere sight of the poster. Quickly, Cronan took the poster off of Don´s hands and burned it on a candle "We don't bring this inside the Inn".

Don and Jaune exchanged a confused look, which was followed by Maggie who tried to lay down the local rules to them. "We stopped hanging wanted posters a while ago. It´s…safer, for everyone".

"Who is she?" Jaune demanded to know.

Maggie wasn't sure if she should keep talking but Cronan was a man who went straight to the point. "Jessie the Viper Fang".

Maggie let out a sigh. "She is the leader of the latest gang to rule our town. Her gang claimed our town as their territory 7 months ago. They come from the mountains every now and then to take everything they can. You already met them actually, they are the same guys you fought when you arrived".

Don was outraged, he slammed his mug on the bar before talking. "7 months and they still get away with it?!".

Maggie tried to calm him down, but Cronan responded sharply "They aren't the first nor the last ones. I already told you, old man. Eventually, you get used to it. That´s how it is around here. Deal with it". Cronan left, headed to kitchen to begging making dinner.

"Costumers are about to arrive. Why don't you go get ready?" Maggie said, trying her best to lighten up the mood. But Don couldn't hide his anger and Jaune his worry. Was this going to be their life as well?

For Jaune, just listing to Cronan´s comments convinced him of something he had in his mind for a long, long time. It really didn't matter how hard you try or how good of a person you were. This world was owned by people like her. People like Cinder. And there really wasn't anything you can do about it. Just take the hit…Give up and deal with it…

Late at night, Dominique kept playing with the embers, trying to distract himself while Jaune just sat there, staring at the flames. Don took a quick glance at him and noticed something that horrified him. Jaune´s eyes had the same emptiness the town folk had. Going with the motions, accepting an apathic life in which he was just content with breathing another day. Don sat closer to Jaune and tried to talk to him.

"So, kid. I've been meaning to ask you. Can you use your Semblance on yourself?" Don asked to a distracted Jaune who didn't even pay attention to the question. Don snapped his fingers to get his attention and Jaune immediately apologized.

"Your Semblance. Can you do that boosting thing on yourself?" Don said, still playing with the embers moving them with a stick. He seemed genuinely curious but his tone sounded as if there was more than he was letting on to.

"Oh, right. I…to be honest, I'm not sure. I think I can, but mostly I've been using it in other people" Jaune claimed as he took a look at his own hands.

Don kept going "I see. Well, is no surprise. They do say that a Semblance is a reflection of your personality. It´s curious really, you can learn a lot about a person not just by seeing their Semblance, but also how they use it. For example, your Semblance shows that in your heart, you value other people´s life more than anything. That is a remarkable trait, my boy. But unfortunately, Jaune, the way you use your Semblance also tells me…some bad things about you" Don said as he suddenly burned Jaune´s arm with his stick.

"AHH! WHAT IS WRONG WITH YOU?!" Jaune yelled, grabbing his arm in pain.

Angrily, Dominique continued. "That´s what I ask YOU! For the past few days you have been having this spoiled brat attitude and I'm sick of it! Every day is another whine, about your sword, about how hard things are, but that´s not even what has me worried, kid! You haven't been activating your Aura, have you!? You think I didn't see the blood, the bruises, the limping? You still have that stupid idea in your head that you should die a hero, and now you also want to punish yourself for all that has happened as if it was your fault!".

"It WAS my fault!" Jaune said, "Not just this, everything! Everything I have done to this day has been nothing but failure, after failure, after FAILURE!"

Don slammed his stick into the fire, "You want to know why you don't boost your own aura? Is because while you value the life of others, you don't value yours at all! Kid, your friends saw something in you, otherwise they would have never let you go on this world ending nonsense! I also see that flame in you but none of that matters if you don't see it yourself! You made it into Beacon, you saved Argus, you saved Atlas! I already asked you before and I'll do it again. Do you see a flame in you?!"

"I don't!" Jaune said as soon as Don finished talking. The camp remained in complete silence, not even the crickets dared to break it. Only the sound of the wood burning could be listened for the few seconds that felt like hours.

Jaune stoop up, still holding his arm and looking down at Dominique, "I don't. I don't even know what you are talking about. Made it into Beacon? I cheated my way there. Faked my entrance papers like a true hero. Argus? I didn't do anything, I planned to steal a military ship and failed at that too. My friends, they are the ones that save the people, they are the ones that fight the good fight, they are the true heroes. Me?! Pyrrha died because of me! I was supposed to guard her and failed, then she had to go fight an enemy she could not beat on her own, because of me! And I COULDN'T EVEN TRY TO HELP HER! A flame? Yeah, that's right, a flame that mindlessly burns and destroy everything while others are trying to put out a fire. A failure, that´s who I am. IM DONE!".

Dominique stood up, he looked at Jaune straight in the eyes, his face was expressionless, but the sharpness of his voice and the intensity of his stare cut Jaune deeper than any blade.

"Then I won't waste my time on a failure anymore".

With those words, Don left the campfire. As he walked away to his tent, Jaune started to breath heavily and tears ran from his wide opened eyes.

"You´ll do better if you ask yourself. What took you this far?". Don said as he entered his tent.

After hearing those words, Jaune couldn't endure the echo of his own failure. He sat back down, holding his head as he cried in despair.

Author´s comments:

Thank you everyone for ready. As always, I appreciate any feedback, both good and bad.

It´s been a while since I got time to write, but to compensate, Chapter 5 will be out this same week as well. Hope you enjoy and have a great week.