More than one way to protect you

by Z-ro

It were the huntsmen who told him, his spirit was willing, just not able. What else is a thirteen year old kid supposed to do? Jaune did not know what a patrolman was, but it was his only chance to be someone that could protect people. Picture by Perfilles-Studio.

2. Chapter 2 Investigations

When Jaune first thought of having his own place. He always thought of all the freedom he could have to read comics, eat ice cream in the morning. The lack of his sisters! He never quite made the connection between how his choice of career would impact his home life. The bang on the door at one o'clock in the morning brought him back to reality. Jaune quickly put on his pants and jersey before he opened the creaky wooden door. "Yes?"

Jaune recognized the oily-haired man well enough. He was one of the regulars at Glen's pub. Jaune didn't even wait for a response, he walked out the door and followed. "Who is it this time Fern?"

"It's a few guys actually." He shrugged in way of apology. "They had a bet that went south. We kicked them out of the bar but now there is a crowd watching them fight it out on the street."

Jaune rolled his eyes. Thankfully, The Houses was one of the smaller settlements. Central was the biggest hub for the residents of Anvil. The rowdiest problems always happened here. Which explained why Andrew and Koben had been so happy to pass it off to him. Jaune yawned while he thought about his time here. He had been a patrolman for nearly two years. While this was nothing new and he should have gotten used to it now, it didn't stop from him being annoyed every time.

Jaune gave the circle of people an annoyed glare. There was another resounding cheer as one of the men took a hard hit and nearly went down. The crowd pushed him back to the center; eager to cheer both of the fighters on.

Jaune saw to see a fully awake and perky Linda jump down from a roof where the other huntsmen watched amused at the low-level fight. She stood next to him as the crowd cheered again after hearing a vicious grunt.

"How's it going there sleepy head?" Her faunus dog ears tilted cutely. Jaune ignored the Huntsman. She was doing it on purpose.

"Good morning tripod. You're up late." He smirked at her childish response. She stuck her tongue out at him. "How long have they been fighting?"

Linda laughed and patted him on the back. "They have been sniping each other all night. It got heated about fifteen minutes ago. No sign of cooling down. It could have easily been avoided if you came in to sing like you normally did." She frowned at him.

Jaune shook his head. "I didn't know you would be coming back today or I would have come out tonight." Jaune pushed her shoulder suddenly annoyed. "And don't blame them on me. All night?"

Linda sighed a yes and grinned as one of them went down to the ground. "That looked like it hurt." She said as she stood on her toes to look over the crowd.

Jaune nodded. "I'll do the paperwork in the morning. But it looks like I'm going to have to lock these two up for the night. Lovely way to start the day."

"I'll make you some coffee." Linda cheered as she skipped away.

Jaune ignored the fact she was going to break into his office. Again. Jaune pushed himself through to see someone new and one of the farm workers exchange blows. "This is your only warning. Break it up."

The farmhand spotted the patrolman and slowed his fist before he was hit hard in the stomach. The new guy glared at the young patrolman. It was a good indication of what he thought of Jaune's ultimatum. Jaune would have to agree with him. If anything, the years only added to his scrawny frame; filling him out to be nearly six feet tall but nothing else to show for it. Jaune decided he waited long enough. Before the drunk noticed, Jaune kicked his legs out from under him and hit a fist hard to the drunks' side. The man collapsed in a heap. "Are you two going to keep fighting?" Both drunks shook their heads no.

Jaune smiled before he placed handcuffs on both men. The patrolman turned to the crowd. "It's over guys, go to sleep. The gods know that would make me happy."

A few of the men laughed as they split either to go back inside or go home. Jaune helped both men up and pushed them towards his office. The Houses was always the weird settlement of the ones that populated Anvil. It had the main hall for protection from grim and the residential houses to the east. Jaune's office was between the bar and the main hall. He was sure Andrew chose that one on purpose.

Jaune spotted his office's light on and opened the door. The building was a small one. Three cells filled one side of the building, each with their own toilet and sink. A desk and office space on the other. The back door lead to a small room where he set up a cot to rest on nights like this one. But he felt Linda wanted to chat. Hence the coffee.

Linda smiled at him as she raised a glass. "It's decaf."

Jaune exhaled. Thank goodness for small favors.

"Alright boys. Just sleep it off. I'll be in the other room if you need anything." The new guy groaned from the pain on his side. But the farmhand just laid down and was soon asleep.

Jaune closed the door behind him as he was handed a cup. "Thanks Linda. How have you been? It's been a few weeks."

Linda gave him a wide smile. Her red hair had grown over the years. It used to be shoulder length before she allowed it to wrap in two large curls at the base of her neck. Her normally tanned skin had lightened thanks to the long winter months. "My trip to Vale was fun! I spoke to a few huntsmen who wanted me to get certified to maybe join up with their teams."

Jaune gave a mmmm around his cup of coffee. "Good to hear. I guess it's overdue for you to spread your wings." Jaune felt a laugh bubble from his chest as she frowned. "Or not? So you thinking you want to stick around for a bit longer?"

Linda was one of those rare cases of a huntsman who never received formal training. Over the course of several months, he pieced together that she was a Vacuo survivor from a grim invasion of some town she didn't remember. She was too small to know where she came from. Gordon found her and raised her since she was a child to be a huntsman. But that left a few problems when she wanted to move around Vale on her own.

"You bet! I want to stick with Dad for a bit longer before I go meet the world on my own. I'll miss Anvil." She teased him with batting eyelashes. He coughed to clear his throat at the very un-Linda look.

Jaune swallowed the hitch in his voice when she stretched her arms over her head. He turned away from the twenty-year-old. "We'll miss you too. Don't know what I'm going to do without my sparring partner."

"You'll manage. Any thoughts about you exploring the world?"

Jaune shook his head. "Nothing really. I was going to go visit my sister in Vale at one point but there's never time."

"You do know they managed just fine before you joined. You're young, go have fun."

Jaune smiled before he could stop himself. "The last time I had fun, you nearly had us on an involuntary flight to Vale, Tripod."

Linda scrunched her nose at the name. "You're never going to let that go are you?"

Jaune finished his cup and moved to set it in the sink. "Not when you make faces like that. Ok, time for you to get out. I need sleep before I let those guys go."

Linda stood and hugged the fifteen-year-old. But she did not let go immediately. "Ok but only since you asked nicely."

Jaune blushed but nodded into her shoulder. "Thanks. I'll see you later today."

Linda giggled. "I'll make sure of it."

The doors locked and both inmates were sound asleep. Jaune just shook his head. It wasn't that he didn't want to take a break. A vacation even. But there just never seemed to be time. Between work and helping his father with one project or another. Not to mention the patrols that required him to move from one settlement to the next day, there was just no time.

"Maybe I should ask Andrew. Some time off wouldn't be so bad of an idea. Got to find some way to spend some money."

-o-

Jaune set his pen down and started to close the folder. "You both cooled down enough to go home?"

Jaune heard several grunts and moans. Clearly the hangover they both had made them groggy. "If I catch either of you fighting again you will be in here for a few days. You get me?"

Both nodded. Jaune opened one door and let the farmhand leave. He waited ten minutes before he opened the second gate and escorted the other man out of the building. Their names and positions were in the report and he filed them away in case they ever got back into a cell. Jaune packed up his equipment and knew he would have to visit the mayor's office and Ranch owner before he made it to his dad's smithy.

Still, in the back of his mind, he wondered what he would even do on a vacation. He closed the doors and locked up the building before making a leisurely walk through the snow. The last vacation he had was with his family when all ten of them lived under the same roof. It was to a beach in Vacuo. Which Juane realized now how expensive and extravagant it had been at the time.

Maybe he could go visit his sisters in Vale? He has never seen the city before. There were a few other places. But vacation during the winter months was a stupid idea. With that decided he'd let the idea alone.

Jaune rolled his eyes at the rhythmic knock at his door. Only one person pounds to the tune of the emergency help code. Jaune opened the door before he walked back to the coffee pot. "Good morning Linda."

Linda popped in with a hair band around her dark red hair. Her long usually floppy canine ears were perked up at full attention. She happily pranced over to the sink and grabbed her cup she used less than seven hours ago. "Good morning Jaune! Ready to get knocked around again?"

Jaune smirked. "Not unless you suddenly became three times faster while you were away."

The pair finished their drinks and walked out the back door. Jaune wished the coffee would keep him warm as they walked out the door. At least there is no wind.

The cold winter air seemed to collect around them in puffs as the pair walked around the back of the house. Jaune stretched, knowing his body was still stiff from the cot he used last night. He was not looking forward to the bout.

Linda walked to the fence. Almost reverently, she set the sword down. She stared at it for a moment before she turned. Jaune met her as she bounced to the center. Her fists raised and the happy smile still on her face.

Jaune spared a glance at her sword and sheath before he refocused on her. When his father first started to rope him in to help forge a weapon, Jaune had no idea it was a thank you to Linda and her team for thinking of finding him. His father was not confident most hunters would have done the same.

Jaune focused on the girl in front of him as she bounced on her feet. The twenty-year-old tightened her fist before she bounced a step and a half forward and thrust a jab. Jaune pushed it to the side. He followed with a cross hook to the face. She barely felt it. Jaune ignored the feeling of his impotent attack having long gotten used to it. He snapped a kick to the rear leg and pushed her shoulder. Linda felt herself lose balance and nearly fall to the floor.

Linda gave Jaune an annoyed huff. She started to re-center herself and carefully move forward. Jaune burst forward and pushed her shoulder before he rolled along her missed punch. He grabbed her arm and dropped to a knee and grabbed her hip, he ignored the indignant "Eep!", to use her waist as a fulcrum to flip her over and she landed with a heavy "Oof." Linda snarled as she shook off the morning frost and got back up.

Jaune gave a patient smile at the serious glare. "You know that was coming Linda. Adapt."

The patrolman started to copy her cadence and bounced on his feet to match hers. Jaune wouldn't have believed it at first. But after hearing how long it took the huntsman to get to central in the last major crisis, he had to admit it. The patrolmen were far faster than most huntsmen.

Andrew's insistence that he start sparing with huntsmen proved that point time and again. Koben once mentioned in passing that some places, patrolmen were required to handle huntsmen as well as civilians. Anvil was one of the outliers where that was not the case. But that only made it more important that Jaune learns. The plateau was a very small community where most people knew each other if not personally, then by family name. But that did not discount what happens outside of their plateau.

Jaune stepped around a punch, then kick. He cartwheeled and used his powerful legs to kick Linda in the chin. Again, there was no damage from the attack. Linda's aura would prevent it. But that wasn't what he was intended. Linda body was lifted several inches into the air. Jaune reached one hand at her ankle while still upside down and pulled. Linda growled as she started to fall again. She would have caught herself if Jaune didn't use his foot to kick her into the ground. Linda landed flat on her back and lost her breath.

The patrolman tried not to laugh. He really did. Apparently, she heard it since she instantly was on her feet and started a barrage of punches and kicks. He let his shoulders roll and shift as he dodged every attack. He glanced at her feet before he reached out again and grabbed her by the belt and leaned back to twist his torso. Linda felt her body fly up and over him as he twirled her into the ground again.

Linda stayed on the ground for a moment before her scroll beeped at her. "That was faster than normal." She scowled and covered her face with her hand.

Jaune let himself catch a breath before he noted, "The ground is harder now that everything is frozen. That aura of yours is just working overtime to absorb the impact. Looks like we're done for now. I don't want to actually hurt you."

Linda flinched. The last time she ignored the alert, she had a nasty gash on her head and Gordon gave an hour-long lecture. "I got it."

She got up to get her gear and snapped it back to her hip. Still not ready to let the fight go, she added, "At least you didn't get handsy this time. A girl has to keep some dignity."

Jaune glared at her, "I do not get handsy!"

-o-

Jaune exhaled the cold air that entered his lungs. The first run of the morning was always the most refreshing. He tended to not do it as much now that he was semi-permanently placed at The Houses. Jaune could hear a few grim to his left and adjusted his run accordingly. Beowolves; likely a pack of six by the sound. They were scratching at the bark. He jumped on a tree trunk and used it to change his course through the forest. The empty field up ahead was usually clear of grim this time of day and he could push it if he saw nothing.

He cleared the trees with a wave of snow falling behind him. His feet slid a moment while he adjusted to the different feel of snow and ice that covered the grassland. The frost rose into a fog. His legs cut through it all leaving trails in the air. Seeing nothing nearby, he pushed his speed a little further.

Jaune slowed down as he entered his family's grounds five minutes later. He walked in and was greeted by his mother. "Good morning Jaune. Which sister threatened you to come to visit?" He didn't tell her they both had… nearly a month ago.

Jaune flushed out an apology. "Sorry mom. I haven't had the chance to visit like I should."

Allison Arc laughed before she hugged and kissed her son on the cheek. "Do you want some breakfast?"

Jaune shook his head no, "Sorry I just wanted to check on dad before I moved on."

His mother waved him off. But not before adding, "Do try to not be a stranger Jaune. We all miss you."

Jaune felt embarrassed as he walked out the door. The loud tings of metal on metal gave the fifteen-year-old a good idea what his father was doing. Maybe that would mean that he wouldn't try and teach him the sword and shield again. He was not sure when it started to happen but after asking one too many questions about his father's time with the sword and shield he modeled when he was injured, his father had decided to teach him the basics.

His father, Nathaniel Arc seemed to just want to pass on the family fighting style. While Jaune was happy his father took an interest in training him. It was hard for him to get excited in a field of study he would never use. As a patrolman, he would only ever use hand to hand. He would never be able to become a huntsman thanks to his lack of ability with aura and the only time he really handled dust was over a year ago when he blew up an alley to save himself from a very big boarbatusk grim.

"Good morning Dad!" Jaune called before he entered the smithy.

Nathaniel looked up and waved at his son. "Good morning Jaune. What brings you in?"

"One guess?"

"What did Linda do now?"

Jaune laughed. "Nothing so much herself. I think it's time I learned to fight against an armed huntsman."

Nathaniel looked up and nodded. "Andrew had said something about that. I'll forge up a good unsharpened blade for her. I am assuming it's for her." Nathaniel raised an eyebrow at his son.

"Don't give me that look. She seems attached to the hip to me for some reason." Jaune groaned. "The last two weeks, while she was gone, have been the quietest I had since she started visiting."

Nathaniel moved to pick up some ingots and placed them in the stone jar. "You are the closest to her age. I really think she is just lonely. Your sisters can sympathize." The father gave his son the look. The look that said there should be more visits in the near future.

Jaune laughed nervously. "Sorry. I'll be sure to look for Newt and Amber when I'm home next time. I should get going soon to meet up with Andrew and Koben for the rounds."

"I wouldn't worry too much about Linda. She just wants someone who isn't over the age of thirty to talk to."

Jaune scratched his head. "I understand." Jaune saw his father look over his shoulder from the furnace. "I do! She is a great friend. But outside of punching each other, we have nothing in common. I am just wondering what am I supposed to do with her."

Nathaniel laughed.

"What?"

"Don't worry about it. Just -erm, don't let Gordon hear you say that. I don't know how he would take it."

-o-

Jaune sprinted across the woods. The snow was thankfully enough light to illuminate his path this early in the morning. The sun was not even close to rising. Jaune felt a sound and then a sudden call, "I'm on your left!" Jaune jumped over several roots and nodded to Andrew. "You just got the message too?"

"Yeah, guards woke me up when they saw the light signal. How did The Port get robbed?"

"I'm more curious what would get robbed. We don't get that many valuables sent here." The Port, while it was part of Anvil was outside of the Patrolmen's jurisdiction. It was owned and run by the kingdom of Vale. It was rare for the patrolmen to be called in for an investigation. The two spent the last twenty minutes of the run in silence.

When they arrived at The Port, Koben was waiting for them. He waved them in. "Avery is on a warpath. It wasn't just what was stolen. It's who had their property stolen."

Jaune stayed silent as they were led into the tower the port used as their communication tower. On the highest level they found Avery, the man that ran The Port for Vale, staring at a map. "Welcome gentlemen."

There was a round of greetings as the three patrolmen walked up to the table he stared at. A map of Vale sat on the table. It was a geographic map that was marked with x's to long lines that created possible paths.

"What happened Avery?"

The older man scowled before he looked over to Koben. "We had 3 shipments of backup equipment for a few generators taken. They were purchased by Anvil to replace the old ones in Central. At approximately three hundred hours, a scheduled late night shipment of dust was to be delivered. The ship arrived on schedule. The Schnee crewmen were preparing to unload their cargo before the port lost power. The airfield went dark. By the time we forced the manual back up several… pirates, for lack of a better term, had gained control of our flight field. They commandeered a second ship and loaded the generators into the stolen ship's bay. The total length of time for the theft was just under five minutes."

Koben whistled before he looked at the map. "These were the possible paths for the ships?"

Avery nodded. "Yes. The Schnee dust freighter they used to get into the port was on time. There was no delay between its departure and its arrival. The ship they stole was a Vale cargo ship. Both ships exited eastbound."

"No sightings since then." Jaune sighed while tracing the maps.

"That is correct. The ships could not take too high of an altitude so they would be forced to follow the mountain ranges. But that's as far as we can predict at the moment. Other than that we have another annoyance. Atlas and Vale will both send investigators. Even as Vale aviation security, I do not like the idea of any more strangers running around my port."

Koben scratched his head. "You think there are still people here."

Andrew hmm'ed to himself. "They would have to be Port personnel that knew how the backup systems worked and planted here a while ago."

Avery nodded while he set down a list of staff. "I agree. The problem is the last time I hired anyone into this branch was over three years ago."

"Any chance it was just someone who infiltrated it?" Asked Andrew while he picked up the list of names. There was at least eighty there.

"It's a possibility, but they would have to have known our procedures, equipment and log in codes to be able to pull this kind of robbery."

"And those are something only employees have."

"Maybe someone was bribed." Koben suggested. "We'll take it from here. How much time do we have before the investigators will arrive?"

"Atlas will take at a minimum four days. Vale will argue for a bit amongst themselves but may send one in three days."

Andrew shook his head at the bureaucracy. "That is way too long to respond to something like this. If we don't find anything within the day we may have lost them. We'll start now. You will see us conduct a few interviews. Would you like to be present?"

Avery shook his head. "I don't have the time. If you think you have something, come get me." Avery dismissed himself and walked out the door to let the patrolmen do their work.

Koben was looking at the map. "This is a clean robbery."

"No fighting either, it was just in and out."

"We won't be able to find much on the dust freighter on our side will me?"

"Not likely Jaune. If Atlas is sending their own team we will be lucky to get to finish our own investigation. Let's try and get this done as quickly as possible. Koben, go interview the staff that worked tonight. Avery had kept them all here. Jaune, go to the airfield. Have them walk you through what they saw. I'll try and see if I can narrow down the search for these ships. I'll call you by scroll if we got anything."

Jaune nodded as he walked out the door. "I'll do the same." he patted his rarely used scroll. Ever since the wall breach incident. Anvil's mayor, with a partnership with Vale, had set up a satellite CCT booster in Anvil itself. And they had issued all three patrolmen with their own scroll. Jaune still laughed that it seemed faster to use the light signal over the scroll. Just because the patrolmen had scrolls didn't mean the settlement guards or huntsmen had one.

Jaune walked down the metal stairs while he looked at the airfield. The snow moved in flurries as turbines took to the air when another airship lifted off. "I guess the world has to keep turning." Another freighter was slowing its approach and waited in the air for a clearance to land.

At the base he greeted a security guard at the door. "I need two people who were present during the robbery to guide me through a few parts of it."

The man nodded and guided him to a rest area for the staff. He called out for volunteers. Jaune was happy to see three volunteered but only took the man who looked like he had some muscle from heavy lifting and one that still wore their air traffic vest.

"Thank you for volunteering. My name is Jaune Arc with Anvil Patrol. I just wanted to get some input and have you both fill in the blanks for me. Is that alright?"

Both men nodded. "I'm Theodore. I work at supply shipments at the ground level."

"My name is Olsen. I work air traffic on the ground level." As he gestured to his vest.

"Where were you when the lights first went out?"

The questions were slow at first. Jaune wanted to get a good picture of what they were doing first before the lights went out. "There was a list of things stolen. The list is a random assortment of equipment. They seemed to know what they were looking for and didn't."

Jaune looked at Theodore. "How so?"

"They picked crates right away but they had to look for them first. They were always running with lights flashing onto the crates before they grabbed one and moved it to the ship. As soon as the lights came back on they stopped."

"They ran out of time. If you saw something that shouldn't be labeled on a shipment crate could you point it out to me?"

"I would be embarrassed if I didn't."

"Let's go then. Oslen? While we do this, can you tell me more about the airships that arrived and were stolen?"

The rest of the pre-dawn hours led Jaune through a good idea of what the pirates did. It took most of the morning but his guide Theodore found something. Jaune stared at the crate. "Can we get permission to open this? Get two guards as witnesses as well if we get the permission."

Theodore nodded, "I'll be right back."

Jaune could feel the unease of the air traffic controller. "Oslen, How long have you been here?"

Oslen was on the younger side of men he had spotted here. "Just under six years. It's a good job if you don't mind the hours."

Jaune laughed. "Do you get a vacation?"

Oslen nodded. "My wife and kids dragged me to some resort last year."

Jaune sighed. "Been thinking of asking for vacation time myself. Don't know if I'll ever get the time to go. You know?"

Oslen smiled as he leaned against the crate. "Yeah. Like the whole place will fall apart if you're gone. It's not that bad. I always felt refreshed when I come back from one."

"Friend of mine keeps insisting I go take one."

"Maybe you should. Patrolmen don't even get days off from what I understand."

Jaune laughed at the idea of a day off. "Place is too busy for a day off. It's why I am reluctant to bring it up."

"Mr. Patrolman!" Jaune looked up and waved at two guards and Theodore.

Jaune straightened up and fixed his blue patrolman jersey. "Good morning gentlemen."

"Hello Patrolman. We were given permission to proceed with your request to open.'

'Before I do, have either of you seen these symbols before?"

Jaune pointed to the two little upside down triangles. They were identical green outlines. Both guards shook their heads.

Jaune looked at the crate and sighed. "I saw one of these earlier but didn't know it was out of place. But it wasn't on a Vale crate. It was on one from Vacuo." Jaune pointed to one across the storage building near the entrance.

"Let's just open it."

Theodore got a knife and opened the plastic shipping wrap and proceeded to open the cargo unit. Inside were several canisters of dust and weapons wrapped in plastic and straw.

"Well isn't this wonderful. Those look like hunter weapons not military." Jaune opened his scroll and called Koben. It rung for a few moments before the older man greeted him.

"You got anything Jaune?"

"Yeah. You can say that." Jaune turned his scroll so Koben could see the symbol before he showed them the open box with weapons. The double upside down triangle was just an outline and barely noticeable. But it was on several other crates hidden away from the normal shipping labels. "I had all the marked boxes rounded up. None of the other boxes are open."

Koben raised an eyebrow.

"Get Avery and bring everyone down. We're in hangar four." Jaune closed the scroll. "Thank you for your help gentlemen."

Jaune felt his scroll vibrate and opened before he saw who was calling.

A pretty face looked at him with a smile. "Where are you? I thought you would have been awake at your office by now."

Jaune looked at the clock on his scroll it was just past eight in the morning. "Busy Linda. You know these are only for official purposes. Give Gordon back his scroll. I'll talk to you later."

Click

Jaune put it away and blatantly ignored the several other vibrating alerts that came from his pocket. The guards looked on with a mixture of curiosity and amusement.

Avery arrived with Andrew and Koben. "We found and rounded up all the crates that had these."

Andrew groaned. "That's a bite mark. It's a label for a Mistrali arms dealer named White Wolf."

"I haven't opened up the other crates."

Avery looked at the huntsmen weapons. "Go ahead. Check them all."

It took half an hour to open and count the number of weapons and dust canisters. Avery looked at each shipping label. "Should have been food, batteries, general supplies in this one and passing through Anvil. This is a list of things that should not have been flown in. They normally would have gone through a land route. Air shipping is too expensive for this for most places that would need this."

Andrew exhaled before he added. "We could probably rule out an inside job."

Jaune looked up from the unfamiliar weapon his gloved hands were holding. "Why's that?"

"This stuff is still here. And that bite mark is known for smuggling through public channels. If they hit the port that means they targeted our port because they knew already how to circumnavigate your security. Something must have happened on their side if they had to manually fly in and take it rather than let them be shipped normally. The fact that we found these crates at all is another reason. They have to have come in just to try and cut their losses. These would have been found out soon enough when we tried to deliver them and the guys in town found them themselves."

"Besides, if someone was an inside man, they would have sorted and moved them all to a central location. It's not that hard to shuffle around a few labels." Andrew added while he put on gloves to join Jaune to handle the evidence.

Jaune fumbled with the double-barreled rifle. It had so many moving parts. It was way heavier than any of the other weapons he's seen. "I've never seen any of our huntsmen have anything like this."

Koben was holding another one. It changed in his hands into several different weapons while he tried to get a handle on it. "This is a bit much."

"I'll call Alex and see if he has anyone who may be familiar with these." Andrew immediately pulled out his scroll.

"Excuse me, patrolmen. I need to contact the ships that left our port. While I don't believe any of them could be carrying crates with these markers. I want to make sure."

-o-

Alex looked away from the scroll. "Anyone familiar with a weapons expert?"

Several huntsman looked up from their own past times while off work. "I know a bit about most weapons. What's going on?" Gordon stood up and walked over. He could feel Linda's curiosity follow him.

"The patrol is trying to identify a few weapons they have not run across."

Gordon waved the scroll over. "This is Green team leader, what kind of weapons are we looking at."

Andrew moved the scroll to the open crate. Gordon blew a whistle. "That's… not something I'm familiar with. Some of those look like they were customized to hell and back.' Gordon paused but offered, 'Or a prototype. As in developer new. You will need to get an expert from one of the major cities to come down to look at those."

Andrew sighed. "I wish we had the time. We are on a timetable. We are going to have foreign investigators soon. I want to try and wrap this up as soon as possible."

Gordon hummed to himself. "Call Signal. They have a local weapon designer and smith there. He teaches kids to make their own equipment. If anyone can answer those over the CCT. It would be them. Good luck patrolmen."

"Thank you."

The scroll went blank. "Thanks Gordon."

"Any time Alex." Gordon turned to his adopted daughter. "But it looks like we are training on our own kiddo. Jaune sounds like he will be busy for the next few days."

Linda slumped in her seat before sighed out an "OK."

-o-

Andrew closed the scroll for a moment before he smiled to himself. "Here Jaune. Call into the communications lobby and request a connection to Signal Academy in Patch. They have a weapon designer that may be able to help us over the scroll."

Jaune caught the scroll and opened it up and started dialing by reflex. "Why me?"

"You need broaden your horizons."

Jaune bit back his comment as a woman answered the call. Koben looked at Andrew unsure why he volunteered the kid. Andrew smiled as he gave a gesture to wait a moment.

"Patrolman from Anvil requesting a connection to Signal Academy."

"Please stand by." The screen went blank for a moment before a man sat behind a desk.

"This is Signal Academy Enrollment office. How may I help you?"

"My name is Jaune Arc, Patrolman of Anvil requesting a consultation over scroll with the resident weapon designer."

The man looked at Jaune for a moment. He raised an eyebrow before he shook his head, "Sure kid."

Jaune just shook his head at the reaction. "Are they all that... rude?"

Andrew just shrugged but Koben noticed what Andrew did. Seven minutes passed where Jaune was tempted to hang up and call again before another man with thick black hair and a scraggly beard sighed at the screen. "Professor Branwen speaking." He looked at Jaune. "And you're not one of my students. Who are you?"

Jaune suddenly heard a few laughs behind him. He resisted the urge to turn away from the screen. "My name is Jaune Arc, Patrolman of Anvil. I am currently conducting an investigation and requested to speak to the resident weapons designer. I assume that would be you."

Qrow nodded. "My apologies…The guy on the other line said you were a… never mind. I am Qrow Branwen, the weapon designer at Signal. What do you got?"

Jaune turned the camera to the crate. But not before he glared at his partners who tried not to laugh out loud at the predicament. "This is only one of several crates we recovered but the huntsmen on site are not familiar with any of these."

"Those aren't just huntsmen weapons. Some of those look like they are modified Atlas gear. Can you lift one up and rotate it for me?"

Jaune did just that. The one he lifted was a short barreled rifle that had a large metallic under-carriage that housed its other form. "Is that clear?" Jaune asked, unsure if the man on the line could see.

"Yeah. Hit the switch by the trigger and pull the handle. It should change."

Jaune did just that as it unfolded into a sword with a jagged edge to it. Professor Branwen stared at the blade silently before he commented, "That part doesn't come standard. What else do you got in there?"

Jaune set the sword down and one after another set down a few pieces of equipment that the weapon designer Qrow identified for him. Andrew and Koben started making notes and tagging the weapons. Jaune was seeing the pattern after a while. "None of these or their parts are local to Vale. Any idea why?"

Qrow turn his head as he heard some noise before he looked back at Jaune. "I got someone who may have a thought on that. Hey Ruby! Put that down and get over here!" Jaune saw the scroll move before it was placed further back. A girl a few years younger than Jaune moved her head slowly out from behind the professor. "This here is Ruby Rose. She is a weapons nut. If I don't know it, she usually does. Ruby, this is… Jaune?" Jaune nodded. "Right, Jaune a Patrolman. He is investigating some weapons for a case he is working on."

Ms. Rose slowly moved out from around her teacher. Her face came really close to the camera as she gushed. "Oooh, that's so cool."

Jaune smiled at the reaction. Before he asked his question, he lifted up a weapon the professor could not identify what class of weapon like the others. "Miss Rose. I have one weapon that we were not able to identify its parts. I was hoping you may know some of its origins."

Ruby looked at the scope on the weapon. "Don't know about the stock, but several of those parts are made in Mistral. The barrel looks like it's a Vacuo Military design that went out of style ten years ago. I've never seen one outside of pictures. The metal used on those are illegal to have on huntsmen weapons in Vale."

Jaune raised an eyebrow. "Why is that?"

Ruby stuttered at his question, "Oh! Ah, u-um the metal can't channel aura." She paused while tried to remember why. Her eyes brightened as she started to fire off, "Since hunters are the only ones allowed to own modular weapons, they kept them separated from normal people. There were quite a few deaths where weapons were given as an emergency shipment to defend a settlement south of Patch on the mainland. The Huntsmen did not know that their emergency replacement weapons could not channel aura… So many huntsmen died and the grim nearly overran the settlements' defenses because of the oversight. My father said he lost a few friends during that." Behind her, he could see Qrow lower his head.

"Thank you, Miss Rose. Was there anything else you can say about the weapon?"

Ms. Rose looked at it for a moment. Jaune noted her eyes flit over the weapon several times before they widened. "The canister for the ammunition is custom made. There are no manufacturer markings on it. It looks like it's a modified canister for shipping dust. Not an actual magazine."

Jaune smiled. "Thank you very much, Ms. Rose. You have been a great help to our investigation." Jaune looked up to see Qrow give the girl a fond pat on the head.

"She loves this kind of stuff. It's why I keep her around. Thank's Ruby. You can go play with your sniper rifle."

Ruby puffed cute inflated cheeks at the condescending tone before she turned back to Jaune. "It was nice to meet you, Mr. Cool Jaune!" Her face instantly flushed down to her neck before she disappeared out of frame. There was a sudden metallic thud as she screamed out, "I'm ok!"

Qrow shook his head. "Sorry about that, she is a shy one until you get her talking."

Jaune smiled. "It's fine. At least we have an idea as to why no parts were from Vale. Thank you for for your help with identifying them. One more question if you don't mind." Qrow waved his hand for Jaune to continue. "Who would be in the market for something like this?"

Qrow scratched his beard. "That's what concerns me. Every weapon you showed me is a burst based weapon designed for little to no kick back. None of them rely on aura either. My guess is that it is for people who want to fight aura users, huntsmen in particular, but do not have usable aura themselves."

-o-

Jaune closed the line. He counted to three before he turned to his partners. "I assume I'm the same age as the students at that school?" Andrew started to laugh while Koben smiled.

"I thought it was funny," Koben offered his opinion.

"You need to find some friends your age Jaune. Clearly, you have no sense of humor."

Jaune bit his lip before he mentioned Tripod. But she was hardly his age. Jaune honestly did not remember the last time he talked to anyone his own age. And while he was aware people his age went to school. He honestly forgot there could have been some confusion when he called the academy. Ultimately Jaune ignored them in favor of the dust canister. He briefly looked over to Andrew and Koben daring them to continue.

Koben released a long-held amused sigh. "Joking aside, I'm not sure what we can do now that would allow us to chase after some criminals. We have no jurisdiction outside of Anvil and the surrounding land." A 'pop' followed almost immediately after Koben's groan.

Jaune looked at the metal casing's edge. It was just a normal dust canister that was cut in half with grooves cut into the metal body to be screwed into place with a washer on top. "Here,"

Andrew picked up the casing. "The canister was made to hold dust. But the modification is new. This was cut recently."

"That may mean they were being assembled in Vale but the parts were ordered from all over the world to keep no one from noticing?" Guessed Jaune.

"Doesn't bring us closer to finding those who broke into the port."

Jaune looked around where they were conducting the investigation. A lot of people noticed the three of them were going through crates with several guards. It was quite the spectacle. "And a lot of people noticed what we were doing." Abruptly interrupting his own thoughts, "Let's speak to Avery. We can't do anymore out here."

Jaune spared a glance at his partners. They both looked to have the same idea as all three turned to the crates.

It did not take long for to Avery invite them all into his office in the high communications tower. Andrew led the explanation of what they found. Koben added, "If whoever took the crates wants these ones too, they would need to come back. It would be our only chance to catch them."

Avery nodded. "It wouldn't hurt to try. It would only take a few guards to protect a few proxy crates."

"Every second counts with this too, if we wait too long they may just cut their losses." Koben looked at the lists of crates that were stolen and where they came from.

Avery looked out the window to his field below. "It would be placing my men in danger as well. You can not guarantee that no one will get hurt."

"I was thinking we will need some huntsmen for the rest of this investigation if we went through with the plan," Koben confessed. "If we were going to do a stakeout, we would want the guards to be huntsmen just in case."

Andrew smiled at the thought. "Tell them I've ok'ed the budget. I'll spend my own pocket money if the mayor can not approve payment."

The two looked at Avery. The man closed his eyes and thought about it. "I'll announce we recovered several boxes of evidence and it is being retained under security until Vale officers arrive for their own investigation. That will be as much time as I can give you. If nothing shows up by then, you will have to hand over everything you found."

"Yes sir." The group replied at once. Avery nodded before he called up several men he trusted to set up the evidence.

-o-

Koben knocked on the door to the huntsmen's house. The rest station was a large building that was designed to house a number of huntsmen teams that were stationed in Central or were just passing through. Koben hoped a few of the teams would be free for the coming days. When the door opened a man named Justin answered. "Good morning Justin. Can you round up any team leaders that are in the building and have them meet me in the dining room? I got a job for anyone that's free."

Justin nodded and walked off as he started giving names and calls around the house. In the end, it was only Gordon's team that answered the request. Jaune stood next to Koben while the group called out the order for the watch. The teams would start a watch immediately until the Vale inspector arrives. If the thieves did not try anything by the time Vale police arrived, it would be out of their hands.

Jaune parted from Gordon, his partner for the next eight hours. Avery did not want any chances. He ordered his personal guard to protect the real crates as well as the proxy. The huntsmen and patrolmen would stay at a distance to respond if there was an attack. Jaune took the proxy during the day hours which let Gordon stand on a sub-level below the main hangar with two guards to protect the real weapons.

The patrolman did his best to keep himself alert. The guards came in regular intervals with two patrols pathing by the empty crates. Jaune kept himself a good distance away. His perch was near the top of the hangar's support beams. It was not too far away that he could not get to the proxy boxes in an emergency attack. Jaune sent an update on his scroll while he waited for the time to pass. He was thankful for Gordon when he repossessed his scroll from Linda.

Hours ticked by while Jaune got used to the cadence of the port. He heard the background noise of the soldiers as they walked by. The port hummed both from activity and the vibrations of so many airship engines thrusting pressure on the floor even while at rest. The screech of metal from the catwalks above him reminded him how large each hangar was. Each was designed to protect the airships from grim and were made to clear even the largest frigates.

Several hours allowed Jaune to feel the port as easily as he felt the forests and settlements. Jaune watched the proxy and thought about his first shift with a frown. It was unlikely that there would be a turnaround so fast after the theft that morning. Less likely during daylight. Jaune did not allow himself to slack exactly. But he would admit there was a moment or two where he allowed his mind to wander.

The guards were on their second replacement rotation when he received the message that Riley was coming up to replace him. Jaune wanted to cheer at the news. He stood up and stretched. The guardsmen looked as bored as he did. At least he could go to sleep soon. The Port had given the huntsmen and patrolmen room for the next few nights. Jaune wondered how Andrew sent out the message to the settlements for their temporary replacements. Usually the militia would have a volunteer be their point of contact but Jaune was never the one that communicated to them. Deputies were rarely ever needed with three patrolmen in Anvil.

Ten in the evening finally rolled around. Jaune waved at Riley who knelt next to him. "Rest well Jaune. I'll see you tomorrow if those Vale idiots still want to slack off and not get here."

Jaune smiled at him. "I'd rather we solve this before they get here, to be honest."

Riley shook his head, but the smile on his face showed how amused he was at the rivalry. "I am sure you would. I just don't like how they treat the settlements. Never have."

Jaune grimaced. "There is a reason they let patrolmen effectively police the settlements. They want nothing to do with us until something is stolen. Manpower and money are usually the bigger problems."

"That doesn't stop them from pretending they care only to deny us basic utilities that would save lives. Look how long it took us to get a scroll booster in Anvil. Andrew and Koben had been petitioning one for years. It took the threat of a settlement being wiped out for them to even consider it. And that took a year before they agreed. If they cared what goes on out here outside of a shipment theft, they have a funny way of showing it."

Riley patted the teen's shoulder before Jaune stood and stretched. He waved a farewell as he walked to the living quarters for the compound. The residential area was more of a barracks with identifiable rooms. Jaune found his number and walked into his room and found a mat with his name on it. He smiled at the card with his name and a small plate that had a cold sandwich and chips.

Jaune moaned with his mouth full. This is so worth it. He thought happily while he at the sandwich. He opened his scroll reviewed the reminders for tomorrow. He would do the same shift tomorrow, but when he woke up he was instructed to do the east side of Anvil for his patrol before reporting back. Jaune swallowed the last of his drink to wash down the admittedly dry sandwich.

Jaune thought back to the weapon stash. It was better to get an early sleep now in case something happens tonight while he slept. With that, he hit the lights in the room and tried fitfully to fall asleep. Above him, the world hummed onward.

-o-

The morning sun woke Jaune up through the window. He sighed at that fact. He had hoped that something would have happened during the night. Then he could at least respond. While Andrew and Koben would never admit to it if he asked. Jaune was sure they made him have the daytime shift because it was the safest.

The morning passed by in a blur of cold air. He stopped by his home before he made his rounds for the day. There was so little time, he had to hurry his breakfast at home and it sat heavily in his stomach on the run. His half of the patrol went quickly mostly in part because he was not doing his morning training. When he arrived back at the port Gordon was waiting for him.

"Good morning Gordon. Anything yet?"

Gordon shook his head. "No. But I was thinking if you wanted to do a swap for this one?"

Jaune nodded. "Sure, it can't be any more boring than up top."

The huntsman laughed and patted him on the shoulder before he started walking to the hangar above ground.

Jaune turned and walked towards the tower to go to the lower levels.

The hangar Avery had chosen as the secured point was a defensive facility used when the base had to be used as a military outpost for Vale. It was built and used exclusively for the use of Vale Military Personnel. Since Vale had decided this was an issue they wanted to control, Avery was given permission to open up the hangar for the crates.

Jaune stopped and spoke to a guard. The patrolman flashed his badge the port issued him before they unlocked the door and allowed him inside. The first thing Jaune noticed was that the hangar was not cleared out like the one above them. The guards that monitored the crates were not even in front of the correct crates. Instead, they were nearby.

The patrolman felt a beep at his pocket and pulled up his scroll.

Left stairs up two floors and on the left.

Jaune looked and saw the stairwell before he started to make his hike up to the catwalk level. It took him a moment but he found Koben sitting patiently looking at the ground below them.

"Good afternoon Koben."

"Hello Jaune. The guards will change shift again in half an hour. Everything fine outside?"

'On my half yeah.'

Koben looked at his scroll and sent Jaune a message.

The guards don't know what crates are the real ones. Keep it that way.

Jaune read and closed the scroll. He nodded at Koben before the older man stood with a groan and walked down the catwalk. Jaune for his part simply sat down and let his legs swing off the edge while he watched the entire hangar.

Hours rolled by while Jaune started to walk around the catwalk. The hangar was one of the ones below the deck of the plateau. The mouth of the hangar opened into the air and the flats below. Several men below him walked to the defensive guns. That was a shock for him when he went below deck the first time Avery gave him the tour. The port had several cliff-mounted turrets as well as the ones above ground covered by large canopies. They were designed to take out large flying grim that may have attacked ships coming into harbor.

Jaune had never heard of the guns being used, but he could imagine it being the same way fleeing escorts had incidentally dragged grim to the walls in their escape to any of the settlements.

The patrolman did not actually know which hanger this was, but there were several hangars that opened from the side of the plateau. Jaune walked to the edge of the catwalk. He could see the tips of several turrets. It was unfortunate that the theft happened so quickly. No one was able to fire a single shot when they arrived, and they left from the opposite direction, electing to fly over the plateau instead of attempt to break past those guns.

The hours continued to roll by. Jaune heard nothing from the scroll from Gordon. Jaune did not think it was possible for it to be more boring down here with the actual cargo but it was. The boredom was exhausting when he thought of how many days they may have to wait for Vale to come back. The teen stifled a yawn that threatened to break out when the new rotation swapped. Jaune's ear twitched as the group walked below him. The cadence seemed wrong.

Jaune walked across the catwalk back to his original perch. There it was again. Jaune listened and counted. The teen shook his head. The footsteps were right. A set of three people. The group walked below him again while he leaned forward. The railing on the catwalk creaked in protest. That's what it was. Jaune lowered his eyes back to the group. The guards walked over one of the drainage crates that allowed rainwater to run off the hangar deck. Jaune counted four creaks. He quickly pulled out his scroll and sent a message to Gordon. He closed it with a soft click and looked back to the group.

The patrolman rolled over the ledge and used a hand to grab the bridge of the catwalk before he let himself fall the thirty feet below him. He landed with a soft grunt. Jaune sighed when the guards did not notice the noise. The patrolmen caught up to the group and called out to them as they started to walk across another drainage grate.

"Stop." The group turned and recognized the jersey. "Who are you?" He waved his hand at the guard who was about to speak. "Guards move to the sides of the wall."

Jaune heard the creaks on the floor. The patrolman rummaged through his mind how to stall. "Guards, slowly walk towards me please." The group did as they were instructed still unsure if they should have taken the patrolmen's thoughts of an intruder seriously.

Jaune's patience finally paid off as a single soft creak announced the person as the metal on the floor flexed. He kicked off the ground hard to close the ground and swung to where should be someone's stomach. The punched missed.

Squeak.

Jaune pivoted his foot and kicked low and punched high before he brought his hand down. Finally. Jaune thought as he grabbed what felt like leather. He tugged the invisible material hard and threw it against the wall of crates. The invisibility shattered like glass.

Jaune realized in an instant that it was a girl. A very short girl. Black hair and green eyes smiled at him before she kicked off the wall with a silent breath of air and grabbed his arm to throw him. Jaune caught the arm but could not stop the already off balanced momentum that threw him over the diminutive girls' shoulders. Jaune kicked out his legs to dampen the throw and caught himself in a deep crouch before he kicked out his legs to sweep her. The girl rolled with the kick and cartwheeled out of his range.

"I have to say," The grip that let his forearm go was vice-like. His arm ached from just the second of contact. He shook his wrist as he gave her a cautious glare. "Invisibility is a new one for me. I really almost dismissed it."

The girl had a calm smile and shrugged. Jaune matched it.

"So I have to ask. Which was it? Did you show up now because it was easier to come during the day? Or you thought I was the better mark to walk past?"

The girl smiled easily before she raised her hand to her chest with a light double tap as she showed two fingers.

Jaune laughed in spite of himself. "Well, that's disappointing." Jaune ran forward. The girl bound forward to meet him. From then on, the two only exchanged silent gasps of breaths as they started to fight. Jaunes' fighting style was based on avoidance. It was the only way to counter an aura user. One touch from an aura enhanced blow could kill him if Jaune was careless enough. The girl also seemed to have fought to avoid contact. The only time they physically touched was for an unexpected move that was countered by grip or roll. Jaune learned from the first exchange he could not afford to block or parry. That did not stop him from using the girl as a platform to counter-attack with his own momentum.

The patrolman used one of the crates to get into the air before he dropped an ax kick down upon the girl. The intruder made an attempt to avoid it before Jaune grabbed a corner of a cargo crate and pushed just enough to adjust to aim where she dodged. The kick landed and the girl had a rough puff of air from her mouth but she barely moved. She reached to grab his leg to punish the kick but gasped in pain as Jaune gripped her hair with one hand to mercilessly pull it back. She eyes teared slightly before she turned to him. Jaune gave her a rough smile before he used his free hand to cup the back of her neck and cheek. He let himself begin to fall backward from the lack of support before he threw himself backward. Her neck and head were yanked over him and into the metal grating on the ground. Jaune groaned out in pain as he landed awkwardly on his shoulder before he body rolled correctly underneath him. The girl laid still for a moment stunned before she slapped the ground and got up. Her eyes seemed to changed color for a moment while she wiped the blood from her split lip.

Jaune raised both fists and bounced on his feet before he thrust forward like Linda had done to him so many times. The sudden change in the attack was enough for him to glance a blow off the short girl's cheek. She shrugged off the punch and grabbed Jaune's extended wrist. She was ready to twist and break it. Jaune felt his arm contort and he spun his body with it before he grabbed her forearm and pulled her to him. It was more a testament to how light she was rather than his own strength when the unexpected move took her off her feet. She had already recovered and flipped her body over his. Jaune re-gripped her forearm before she finished the maneuver and let himself fall to the ground and pulling her one more time hard onto the concrete.

The patrolman didn't expect to hear the sound of shattered glass again. The girl gave a voiceless gasp. He looked to see the girl had changed. Both eyes with two different colors that glared at him before she rolled away and stood up. The once black hair was parted nearly down the middle, split between brown and pink. She huffed at him before a parasol materialized in her hand. Jaune took the moment to stand up as well. He was suddenly knocked back. His face contorted in pain. He did not even see her move to kick him. Jaune heard the sound of a metal sword becoming unsheathed and rolled away in time to hear the stab of the weapon embed itself into the concrete.

Whatever advantage Jaune thought he might have had on her ended quickly as he was forced to dodge and defend from her quick blows with the rapier and punches and kicks when he tried to close the distance to make it harder for her to use that weapon.

Finally. Jaune thought to himself. He moved in for one more attack and let himself get punished for it to give Gordon an opening. Jaune felt pain ripple across his shoulder when she gripped him on the shoulder to raise her rapier. The teen kicked the woman hard against the armpit and jumped back. The force nearly pushed her off her feet. Her sword hand was raised above her with no defense for Gordon who dove in with his pike.

The girl spun and pivoted to swing her sword at Gordon's back. The huntsman's aura flared. The ping that followed from the ineffective attack made her click her tongue to the roof of her mouth. She spun the sword back into her sheath before she opened the umbrella and stood still.

Jaune shouted, "She uses illusions."

Gordon ran after her and swung his pike low on the ground upward at the woman. The pike shattered her into glass. Jaune and Gordon quickly looked around before Jaune turned at the sound of a light smack.

It was just enough time to register that she had blown the pair a kiss. Her free hand was resting on a create. A half second later she opened her parasol and the girl along with the crate disappeared in a flash.

Jaune sighed while he felt the fatigue from the fight take hold of him. "That was one of the real crates."

Gordon frowned. "Yes, it was."

Jaune refused to take in a deep breath. "You think she is gone?"

Gordon nodded. "I would think so. The others are coming too. Why?"

Jaune wheezed out a long exhale and coughed. "Because she hurt me way more than I was willing to show." Jaune spat out some blood and let himself sink to the floor to catch his breath. His chest wheezed.

Alex and Andrew found the two shortly after. Moments later Koben was followed by the other volunteer huntsmen.

"You ok Jaune?" Jaune looked up to see Andrew kneel in front of him.

"I think I am going to have to get looked at. Sorry, we let her get one of the crates."

"It's fine. Get any information from the fight?"

Jaune closed his eyes to focus on the encounter. "A couple of things and all bad. She must have been here a while. I don't want to say she got careless. It was just luck that I noticed at all. I have no idea how long she had been here but I think she had just found the correct crates recently or she would have made a move before I did." Jaune inhaled a wheeze before he cleared his throat. "She was short, different color eyes, brown hair on the left side and pink on the right. She was around Linda's age going, either way, a year or so. She could potentially look like anyone. When I first got her out of her invisibility she looked completely different from what Gordon saw."

"You sure the last face you fought was her real one?"

Jaune looked over to the man as he gave an independent description of the encounter to Alex. Jaune refocused on Andrew and Koben. "She didn't take me seriously until I broke the second illusion on her body. That was when she started to try and kill me."

"We'll have to report this to Vale," Andrew said while he rubbed his temple.

Jaune looked at his partners before he closed his eyes and slowly stood up. "You'll like this even less. She fought very differently from any aura user I've seen."

Andrew helped the teen stand. "How so?"

Jaune looked at Andrew unsure how he felt about it….

-o-

The crate screeched metal against tiles. The girl looked up in time to see several guns pointed at her before they all lowered.

"That's only one crate girl." Scuro's prosthetic arm had three small barrels lined in a row aimed at her head. It retracted back into his robotic hand. His dark brown hair was short and his gruff voice spoke around one of a case of cigars that were gifted to him when he was lent the help to take advantage of this mess.

The girl glared at the man before she opened her mouth in a silent yell while moving her hands. She gave him a rude gesture before she crossed her arms back and forth below her waist in an 'x' then moved a hand thumb-pointed-up over her shoulder.

Scuro frowned and took a moment to tease out what she meant. "You were there for hours, why did you have to get out of there quick?"

The girl huffed before she pointed at her eyeball and clasped her hands together then she pointed at the crates. Her foot tapped impatiently at him. "You saw a trap... In Vale secured land, Huh. I am surprised they would authorize it so quickly. But when Torchwick offered your services I had not thought a few Valian soldiers would give you any problems."

The girl stuck her tongue out at him and cross her arms in an 'x'.

"They had huntsmen?"

The girl nodded then added with two fingers before she moved one downward. "What was the other half?"

The girl puffed out a frustrated breath and licked her split lip. She instantly pointed at her self.

-o-

"The girl fought like she was a huntsman that had patrolmen training." Jaune walked with Andrew and Koben out of the hangar.

The three patrolmen paused just outside while they processed that. Patrolmen were never picky when they chose someone to join their ranks. It was actually the opposite. Most people would leave before they completed the training. It was that brutal for anyone without aura. And anyone with aura wouldn't bother. There were more lucrative jobs if their aura was unlocked.

Koben started to walk again and the group followed. "Anything good came out of all this?"

"I didn't die?" Jaune muttered.

Koben and Andrew laughed at the concern in his voice. "Jaune, don't make it sound like an actual question."

-o-

While Jaune moaned the night away in an ice bath to recover, Avery was subject to a less than hospitable conversation to Vale. The security breach and the loss of one of the crates escalated the issue and orders were given to have Valian officers on site to secure the weapon cache and escort it back to Vale immediately.

"For a proper investigation…." Koben scowled.

Jaune walked behind him gingerly the following afternoon. His body was sore and he still had trouble breathing. It would still be a day or so before he could move without too much pain. It would be another week before he should be up and running. When the doctor told him he should not try and stress his body, he only muttered that he was taking that vacation after all. But there was still a job to do before Andrew signed off on his vacation time. They would all be interviewed by the head investigator. No one was thrilled to be under the interrogation of an outsider.

"Here they come." Koben sighed in his deep annoyed tone. The transporter must have been running on all engines to get the ship to Anvil in under twelve hours. Frigates can take days. Jaune looked at the foreign ship. The ship was a smaller and sleeker than the frigates' Vale uses as escort ships. It slowed to a low hum as it landed on the port bay. The door opened to reveal several vale police officers along with a few huntsmen.

Jaune tilted his head. One of those was not like the others. Jaune broke ranks and started to walk to the group. He was called after by his fellow patrolmen but then he realized they never saw the man's face before. "Professor Branwen?"

Qrow smiled at the patrolman. "Good afternoon Jaune. It's good to see you up and about after reading the briefing." The man looked behind Jaune. "Hello Patrolmen. My name is Qrow Branwen lead investigator. I was drafted from Signal to take over the investigation due to the nature of the items in question. So let's find a good spot to talk. I have a few questions to ask before I transport the weapon cache."

The three patrolmen relaxed when they realized that Qrow was not going to try and make a crusade over the theft or strong-arm control over Anvil nor The Port. He was only there to get information and take the weapons off their hands as quickly and safely as possible. The conversation quickly turned into a longer affair than they had expected. Details Jaune was barely able to recall were poked and prodded when it was his turn. Thankfully the man was patient and understanding. The hours rolled by as everyone shared their input along with several huntsmen who had been hired to help with the stakeout.

Jaune was the first to stand and stretch. "I guess that's it then." He murmured with a frown.

"It is." Qrow agreed. "Let's dismiss for the night. I'll do one more inspection of the shipment before I escort them back to Vale in the morning."

Qrow hit his clock to end the session. "Thank you very much for your help and your own initiative in this matter. Vale does not realize how time sensitive things like this can be if they have any hope for answers. Good evening gentlemen. I have to look to make sure my men have settled in for the night." The inspector left quietly. Jaune was told earlier that Qrow had taken over several buildings to house his officers as they would stay one night.

Alex waved his men up. "As always, it's a pleasure to work with you all."

Andrew laughed. "I already have the payment sent to your account this morning."

"Never doubted it Andrew. If you need anything else, let us know." Alex started walking out but not before Gordon said over his shoulder, "Eh, Jaune? Linda will be looking for you in the morning."

Jaune let his shoulder slump. "I guess that means I should get some shut-eye myself." It was already dark and it was a good thirty minute run during the daytime to his house.

"We could always ask Avery if it is alright to let you room here at the port. It's not like the barracks are always full."

Jaune shook his head. "I prefer my own bed. Besides I don't like the idea of Linda breaking in to find me." Gordon was already out the door or he would have nodded, painfully aware of the girls' lack of respect for personal space.

"You be careful then. I'll see you all in the morning."

Jaune was out the door and not fully paying attention when he heard his name called. He turned to see someone wave at him with a package. "Um, can I help you sir?"

The man slowed to a walk, "I'm glad I caught you Mr. Arc. A package came in with the ship two days ago but it was caught up in the inspections."

Jaune grinned. He knew exactly what it was. "Thanks! I actually forgotten about it!"

The man started to walk back as Jaune opened the package. It nearly took half a year to save the box tops but he got his hoodie. The teen did not care about the looks he would receive for wearing a cartoon character on his chest. He took off his blue patrolman jersey and pocketed it in his back pocket with half of it still hung out of the back. With the biggest child like grin he had in ages, he slipped the hoodie on. Just a little too large. But it was so warm!

Jaune smiled at the four guardsmen at the gate when they saw the cartoon rabbit on his chest. He didn't care who saw it, he was still a badass patrolman. And if he wanted to wear a cartoon rabbit hoodie, no one was going to stop him. Jaune picked up speed outside the gates. The cold winter air didn't bother him at all as he sped across the snow lit night.

-o-

Linda stared at Jaune's chest. Specifically Pumpkin Pete smiling face. "Jaune?"

Jaune tightened the hoodie drawstring around his face and smiled at her as he slid the jersey over it. The cloth was a little too thick to see the rabbit's face but you could see an outline if you look hard enough. "Why do you have a cartoon rabbit on your chest?"

"You mean the hero of children's breakfasts everywhere?" Jaune said with a wide grin.

Linda covered her face and laughed into her hand. "Jaune, you're like, fifteen."

"Almost sixteen, but sure."

"Why do you have a Pumpkin Pete's logo on your sweater?"

"Hoodie, and its because I've eyed this little guy since I was ten. I could only really try and save up for it when I moved out."

Linda snorted as she recalled all the boxes of cereal she saw him build up over the year. "I always thought you had a crush on the girl on the box, or you were just a slob about cereal. But you were just collecting box tops."

Jaune laughed as he raised his jersey to show off the hoodie. "The girl what? Hey! don't laugh. This is an important landmark in my life as an independent adult. I totally don't have to eat any more of that cereal."

"Nowhere in that did I hear that you would actually stop."

"Of course not," Jaune actually looked affronted at the prospect. "I love Pumpkin Pete's."

"And that's where I'll call it the morning. Have fun at the port Jaune."

Jaune waved as he locked up the house. "Later Tripod!"

Jaune took four steps to get up to speed and he ran at a steady pace towards the port. Apparently, Gordon had spoken with Linda since all she did when she visited was talk with him. Jaune was thankful. He still felt sore and it hurt to breathe if he panted. After a long jump over some fallen trees and sliding on uneven footing across ice and snow, Jaune remembered the doctor had ordered him to not be too active for a few weeks.

In hindsight, I probably should have asked him to be more specific. Jaune jumped up a tree and hopped over several branches and across a bank of snow that was plowed for the normal traffic between the Grainery and the Port. That meant he was close.

When Jaune slowed at the port entrance, he spotted Qrow with Avery on the main street while Avery was talking. Jaune excused himself from the guards as he walked in and approached the pair.

"Good morning Sir's."

Qrow looked at the teen and nodded a hello. Avery smiled and waved the young man over. "Good morning Jaune. We were going over how quick the theft took place."

"From the reports and testimonies, I got a good idea what happened. You might be interested to know that the girl you saw was likely not part of the original group."

Jaune looked over to the professor. "How can you be sure?"

Qrow looked at a folder he had in hand and closed it. "The woman was likely their clean up crew. No one of that stature matched the list of people who had robbed the port the first time, and the bigger clue is your girl was mute. We can attest everyone who robbed the place all spoke at one time. You sure she couldn't speak?"

"Yeah. Whenever we exchanged blows or if she was surprised. She always breathed, but she never vocalized."

"While you can try and practice not speaking, it's an unconscious action to use your vocal cords when you grunt or exert yourself. From your description. She did not seem to have them."

Andrew arrived eventually along with Koben. The group exchanged good mornings in the cold air while Qrow walked around the port's upper layers.

The group caught up with Qrow after he looked satisfied with the inspection. "The ship is fully fueled and ready to go. The escort ships just arrived an hour ago and they are getting antsy. It looks like this is it. Thank you for your work Patrolmen. Avery hopefully next time we meet it will be under more amicable circumstances."

Avery waved and said his goodbyes before he resumed his work. Jaune smiled as he watched the older man go. He had always been the all business type.

The patrolman stood on the deck as the four airships took off and moved slowly out of the hangar and out to the open skies. The gentle thrum shook Jaune's body from the ships slow liftoff. When they had cleared enough space where he could hear his own voice he nearly whined out. "This was all we could do huh?"

Koben slapped him on the back. "Hey, we did a good job. You found the weapon cache, and we got the opportunity to attempt to apprehend the culprits. We confirmed no one in the port was apart of the theft. And there is now a big lead for the Vale investigation about this weapon ring."

"But the girl got away."

Andrew laughed as he watched the ships go higher into the air. "Jaune. When you leave Anvil I'll be surprised if you can apprehend any good criminal more than one out of ten times."

Jaune looked up at the man and grumbled. "That sounds harsh."

"It is, but you took it wrong the wrong way. How many times do you think a crime happens before we can even get the chance to identify the thief? Then arrest him. Sure if you can find them in the act, it may be a fifty-fifty chance to get them. But what about all the times where they were ten steps ahead? We are always trying to catch up to them."

"You will only hear about the successes. But you ask any detective, inspector or patrolman, and they will all tell you how long it took to get that arrest. You did good Jaune. Don't question that."

They heard the first boom and turned to the ships. An engine of one of the escort ships lost power and the vessel itself began a slow descent to the ground. A second boom and Jaune saw the trail of light that blasted from below them on the edge of the plateau. "The turrets!"

"Koben, Jaune get below and get to those guns. I'll go see Avery about getting a support ship after those guns are secured."

The group split and Jaune could hear another round and a third explosion. Jaune entered the turret hangar in time to see the fourth ship go down. He spared a parting thought to Qrow.

-o-

The ship shook and Qrow felt his stomach drop at the sudden lurch as they lost altitude. "What happened?"

"Shots were fired from the turrets behind us. They took out one of our engines. Switch to emergency back up!" The captain ordered.

Qrow saw another volley hit one of their escorts. "Send a message to the other ships to turn. Those shots are aiming for the engines." It was too late for those commands as the air vibrated with pressure and heat as two other engines followed.

"Dropping to controlled decent. Prepare for incoming."

Qrow looked to the skies when the Captain made that call. Two airships much larger than theirs cleared the mountain range and descended on them. He recognized one as a Schnee cargo ship. "I'll go secure the cache. Prepare for a fight."

-o-

All the turrets were run by a single control center on the Vale secured side of the port. Jaune saw a few people laying on the ground but only a few of them moaned. He ran past them as another shot was fired. He prayed none of the people he passed by were critically injured. His first priority was to secure the turrets.

The heavy metal door was open carelessly, four men slumped around it unconscious. Inside the control room, he spotted the girl. She smiled at him with a wave as she opened her umbrella.

"Oh no you don't." Jaune took five steps at full speed and nearly cloths-lined her. He grabbed the parasol and twisted the open metal bar as she bent over to dodge the attack. The pink and brown accessory snapped out of her hand. The girl attempted to kick his already bruised ribs but was interrupted by Koben. His fist grazed her nose as she pulled back.

She rolled away in a cartwheel and scrunched her nose at the burn that sat at the end of it. She huffed. Her close shattered away from the military uniform she wore to her own clothes of white lace and brown and pale pink leather.

Jaune gave the parasol a once over. It looked perfectly normal. "Don't suppose you could surrender and save us a lot of trouble?"

She rolled her eyes at him. In one fluid motion she pointed at him before raising a single finger then crossed it. Then she raised a hand over the back of her hand and pantomimed a hanging.

Koben raised an eyebrow at the exchange. But Jaune laughed as he closed the parasol and moved it behind his back. "I wouldn't blame them. But I just want to arrest you."

The girl smiled and raised a delicate eyebrow suggestively.

"Haha. You know what I mean."

The girl agreed with a hearty nod. She glanced out of the hangar entrance and saw several new ships start to approach the wreckage. She exhaled a silent sigh and hit a button on the console behind her. The room lost power and there was a snap of electricity behind Jaune and Koben effectively disabling the turrets.

Jaune gave her a scowl. "Was that really necessary?"

The girl ignored the question and charged at him. Jaune quickly moved the parasol behind him and kicked upwards to ward her off. She grabbed his leg and hopped over it like a gymnastic beam. Koben joined in and gripped the girl by the ankle to stop her momentum and pulled. With the arc in full swing, he threw her body against the wreaked console.

The girl gave an 'oof' from her lungs at the impact before she rolled and got up. She looked at them both before she turned her attention to Koben. The man for his part ran to her with palms open. His hands slapped against her kick and lifted himself off the aura enhanced attack. He swung both legs to her face. The girl backpedaled several steps from the blow.

Jaune followed after him. He was behind the girl and swung his arm under hers and with her body off balance swung her over his body against the wall. She nearly bounced off the impact before Koben jumped into the air and again off the ceiling. He hammered a knee against her shoulder where her body collapsed to the ground. Both patrolmen backed up as she swung both legs out. A half second passed before the metal desk next to her crumpled from the kick as she gracefully spun to her feet.

The woman wiped a bead of sweat off her forehead. She stared at the two with a measured look before she decided to start her offensive. She attacked Koben with a series of kicks he dodged. Jaune swept her anchored leg only for her body to shatter to glass. Jaune looked at the parasol in time to see the girl was about to grab it.

She scowled as she had to thrust her hand out to knock away the projectile computer monitor Koben threw at her. The precious second was enough for Jaune to catch up and grab the umbrella at the same moment the girl did.

Jaune grinned through gritted teeth. "Sorry, that's mine now. I found it."

The girl smirked before the two took turns to kick or sidestep each other. Neither were willing to let the pink and brown parasol go. When she moved to break his arm that held her parasol, Jaune was quick enough to let go but his freehand held firm. She twisted her parasol quickly but stopped when she felt it begin to flex.

Jaune filed that information away for later.

Koben stepped behind the girl and kicked the back of her knees. Her stance broke and she nearly tipped over before she growled and clicked a switch on the umbrella. The sword hidden inside came loose. In a single smooth sching sound of the blade being released, she stabbed it behind her back at Koben in a blind attack.

The older patrolman dodged as best he could but gasped in pain. The blade bit into the side of his ribs. The girl pulled out the blade as he began to fall to sheathe it but her armed was yanked back unexpectedly. Koben pulled on the sword bloodying his hand in the process. As he fell he hooked his foot around her neck and pulled his knee to his chest to bring the girls head along for the impact. The girl gave a silent moan as her head met the concrete leaving a small dent. Her body flashed a layer of light.

Jaune threw the parasol to the other side of the room and pulled his handcuffs. He saw it enough times in Linda to know that the girl was running out of aura. Koben kicked her hand loose of the sword and backed away to give Jaune room. The man lifted his hand that covered the wound and grimaced. The cut was only a few inches deep but it kept him from doing anymore without causing it to bleed more. "Make it quick Jaune!"

Jaune slid to the girl as she kicked where he once stood. He twisted his waist and brought a foot hard to her face. Her cheek turned red from the hit but she quickly rolled to her feet and kicked the cuffs from his hands.

The patrolman raised a fist to her abdomen and the following woosh from her mouth confirmed what he already saw. She was finally out of juice. Jaune raised his arm to deliver the downward knock out punch to her face.

From the bent over position, the girl grabbed his extended arm and twisted her body and wrapped her legs around Jaune's neck and twisted so her knees were along his shoulders. She smirked at him as she grabbed his hair with a clenched fist and pulled. Jaune felt his head pulled back as her feet kicked his back when she flipped the both of them into the air. Jaune flew into the ceiling and landed in a flop on the floor. The impact exacerbated his already bruised body and he groaned. It took him precious seconds to clear his head as his vision blurred.

Jaune looked to see the girl had gotten to her umbrella and had sheathed the sword. The patrolman struggled to get to his feet when he heard a noise. The pair both looked outside. The sound of several airship engines lifted from the wreckage of the crashed Valian military ships.

The girl looked back at him and gave him a victorious smirk.

-o-

Qrow dodged the attack. He kept himself in the bay with the weapons. He only wished there was more room to fight. His men were ill-equipped to fight huntsmen. The three against one was at best, a stalemate. But he knew he should have been killed ages ago. They were stalling.

The roar of an engine alerted him something had gone wrong. They would never have tried to take off. The horns blared. It was the signal to evacuate. That meant that they had complete control of the ship. "Withdraw. Get off the ship before it gets too high to jump." Qrow yelled before he raised his scythe and spun to release several cuts of aura to give the group cover.

Qrow stared at the man across from him. The pirate waved them off the ship not the least bit interested in pursuing the fleeing Valian forces. Qrow was the last one to jump off the ship. It had already risen well above the tree line which forced him to adjust his landing. He landed in time to see all four Valian ships rise and follow the two tug ships.

The man shook his head and uselessly hit his fist against the tree trunk. "Ain't that a kick in the pants…"

-o-

Jaune turned from the rising airships to the girl. "It wasn't about the weapons was it?" They had all missed a key clue. The Schnee ship was a stolen ship. But they never scuttled it. They kept it. "You needed more ships."

The girl laughed silently as the ships took off uncontested tethered by the two ships that arrived after the crash. She looked at her parasol and slid and snapped closed a button. Several explosion resounded in the hangars above them. The girl smiled at him before she raised a hand with a snap of a finger and then rubbing to fingers together.

Jaune laughed and shook his head. "I guess we can't anticipate what you didn't plan." He nearly fell back over on his rear but asked even if he didn't expect an answer, "Think it will ever work again?"

The girl shook her head. She glanced over to Koben who watched the conversation but could do little more try not to bleed out. He gave her a look that said he couldn't follow the chat at all. The girl exhaled disappointedly. She grinned at Jaune and pointed at him before she put her hands into open palms and shook them. She did a voiceless giggle as her finger made a circle then raised two fingers up again.

"I'd rather not. I liked talking better."

The girl gave the teen an almost fond smile. She lost it when Jaune struggled to stand. Her body froze for a second before Jaune felt her foot connect to his chest. He crumpled against the wall and slid down. He looked up to see the girl hover over him.

Jaune couldn't see her eyes with the sunlight that filtered into the hangar behind her. But he could feel the cold snap of metal against one of his wrist. "Wha-" he said unintelligibly. He looked to see himself handcuffed to desk. "What are you doing?"

The girl did not let him finish as she leaned down and moved closer to his face. Jaune gasped for a second as he felt her breath close to his mouth. He noticed her off colors eyes suddenly match in the lightest blue he had ever seen…

"OWW!"

The girl bit his lip until it bled. She pulled away slightly to look at the teen before she licked his bleeding lip that matched her split one from their previous fight. She tapped his cheek lightly with her hand as her eyes reverted to brown and pink.

The girl sauntered toward the open hangar. She knew it was time to go. Jaune called after her, "You had all the time in the world in the hangar, why didn't you just kill me? None of us would have been the wiser."

She turned back and gave him a smile. She crossed arms back and forth and moved a fist to her heart. She shrugged at him before she added as an afterthought... Her hands moved with a pointed finger at him then made a fist that landed on the top of her open palm of her hand and gestured with her thumb to her self.

The girl opened her parasol and inspected it. She looked to the metal door that sealed them off from the rest of the world. All three of them could hear the noise as people finally realized the fight was over in the control room. She looked and drank in the young man's confused look one last time.

Jaune saw her mouthed out to him with that same fond smile.

Goodbye,

Then she was gone.

Koben groaned from his spot on the floor. In an exhausted confused voice muttered. "What?"

Jaune stayed silent, not sure what just happened. It did not take long for the crew to enter the control room when the room went silent. Jaune waved the crewmen in. "Report to Avery, the saboteur got away. It was the girl we encountered earlier."

Jaune sighed as he searched his pocket for his key. He saw a few crewmen hover around Koben. One had a first aid kit with them.

"How are you Koben?" Jaune struggled to get up and grimaced at the pain that ran across his entire back. He staggered over to Koben who just waved as an actual medic arrived and cut open his shirt.

"Dandy." He wince as they cleaned and stitched the wound.

"He'll be fine. He was lucky that the wound was shallow and long rather than short and entering between his ribs. We'll send him to the hospital in Central when we are done where and we can secure a shuttle."

Jaune nodded. "I'll go see about that. It sounded like there aren't too many of those. Any word on the ships that went down?"

The man shook his head. "My team and another were called in from Central. We were ferried here quickly but the rest of my team took the shuttle to the crash site. We won't know much until they come back."

Jaune nodded as he trudged his way out the door. The sting on his lip made him think about the girl. Jaune shook his head and went upstairs to meet with Andrew and Avery.

-o-

Jaune felt the wrap around his torso was tighter than he wanted. It didn't let him bend and his breathing was hard enough without it. Jaune listened to the reports as they came in from the Port and Valian crew members. It took nearly seven hours to figure out what happened and how it happened to satisfy a inquiry that was bound to happen.

Qrow sat on a bench while he rubbed his hand through his hair. They had communicated with dispatch hours ago in Vale about the theft and the damages. "The girl knew what she was doing. Disgustingly so. She targeted The Ports' specific ship engines to make sure they had no pursuers and the turret shots they used on the Valian ships were good shots that made the ships lose altitude and control. As soon as they could, they used their ships to tugboat the stolen ones once they were able to switch to back up power and emergency engines."

Andrew sat next to his hospital bed. "And like with the last robbery, it was quick and precise. No one was injured beyond the actual crash landing. Your soldiers could have defended an airborne raid. But as soon as the ships crashed, they were a disorganized mess."

Qrow narrowed his eyes. "We deeply underestimated the kind of people we were working against and we paid for it."

"What is to be done now?" Jaune asked. He had never seen anything like this.

Qrow gave the teen an unconcerned shrug. "With the crates now gone, and ships stolen a new investigation will piggyback off what we already know. Vale is going to be working on this one for a while. You may hear from me from time to time. Just to refresh my self on today's incident and your last one with the girl. Any insights at the moment you wanted to share before my ship takes off?" Qrow looked over to Jaune and teased, "Other than the girl giving you the worlds most erotic lip sore?"

The three patrolmen shook their heads. Jaune kept his lips closed. That burned his lower lip.

-o-

Scuro smiled on the deck of his new ship. He called for all ships to make landing and he was answered with a round of cheers. Several ships in their new armada landed. The small settlement was built by them and they had already plans for these ships that required modifications.

The girl smiled behind him but did not spare the effort to really communicate with him since they had escaped. Scuro turned around to her, "I owe Roman several favors now. I trust we can keep this between ourselves about our extracurricular activities? No need to stir a hornet's nest with our employer unless we need to. She got her stupid weapons back and we got our ships."

The man turned and barked orders to his crewmen and they split apart when they landed. Scuro walked off the ship and the girl followed. "I'll let you all know if they have another flub up like this. Thank you kid. Let Roman know I am good for anything whenever he needs it."

The girl blinked at him for a moment before she agreed with a nod and pulled out her scroll. Before she sent the message she looked over to Scuro. He seemed to revel in the victory. She waved at him to get his attention.

"Yes girlie?"

She waved her hand in front of her chest in a circle then let it move outward to her side.

Scuro smiled exasperated. "I think it would be easier to give you a pen and paper. But I think that was everything. You are free to go unless you want to stick around."

She smiled and shook her head before her parasol opened and she disappeared.

The girl teleported above a well-worn couch and sank into it with a non-vocal sigh.

"It went well then?" The girl sat up lazily and nodded. She started to yawn. Now that she was safe she allowed the fatigue to catch up.

Roman walked out of the living room with a newspaper in one hand and a cup of coffee in the other. He wore dress pants and button up shirt with a high collar. The girl stared at the blue shirt and gave him a thumbs up.

Her mentor snorted. "Didn't think you liked the color." He tilted his head at her usual three colors of brown, white and pink. "Well Neo. When you are rested up, I would love to hear all about it."

That got the girl to stand up straight right off the couch. She looked at him horrified before she grabbed her parasol and disappeared.

Roman shook his head with a laugh. "I really hope that doesn't come to bite me in the ass later." Before he took his sip of morning coffee.

-o-

Jaune sighed as the ships finally left the port. He waited a good half hour to make sure there were no more explosions. When he was satisfied he bid Avery a good day from the top of the communications tower before he walked out the gates. He did not feel like running unless he needed to. It allowed him one thing he never really did as he grew up. The simple ability to see the forest as it was and not the threat it is.

The patrolman's body was sore and again like the last major crisis, he was banned from any patrolmen activities for a week. Jaune did not bother to the crazy week will be the last one for a while.

Jaune was not eager to let Linda know. But she did show restraint the last few mornings. Maybe it would not be that bad.

The patrolman opened his scroll. He was seriously thinking of calling Gordon to invite Linda over to chat for a bit. Jaune flipped to the contact list. Gordon was only one of three entries. His parents did not even own a scroll. Gordon's was only in there because Linda demanded it.

Eventually, Jaune decided against it for now. He would rather just enjoy the slow walk while he can. The blonde sighed when he eventually made it home. The slower pace took longer than he remembered. Normal escorts could take hours from different locations on Anvil but that was usually with cargo. The pace he started it nearly took an hour.

Once inside he relaxed on the couch and was about to put his foot on the coffee table when he saw something propped up on it against an book. Jaune lowered his eyes. It was an instant picture of him on his walk. A pair of lips with the telltale split on the lower lip imprinted over his entire face. Below in lipstick were the words:

The name's Neo. See you around Jaune.

Jaune reflexively licked his own bite mark before he walked outside and looked around. If he ever saw her again, would he be able to apprehend her as he was now? He looked around one more time. The settlement was busy this late into the afternoon. Jaune felt he should be more concerned she knew where he lived but didn't. It never felt personal when they fought. Jaune thought back to their conversation. Her hands moved in several gestures that Jaune seemed to just understand. You understand me. That was what she said. The patrolman shook his head as he refocused. One last look around the area would be fruitless. She would have been long gone by now.

Jaune went inside to get a jacket. He had to speak with his dad. The cold air kept him alert and the sores reminded him he should not be exerting himself like he was. But those thoughts were quickly forgotten when he made it to his parents house. The familiar tink from the smithy sounded away.

Jaune walked into the smithy and stood just inside the door. His father hammered away on a metal bar several more times before he released the clamp and dipped the weapon in the oil. Nathaniel looked up to see his son. "Hey son. Didn't expect to see you today."

Jaune walked in and watched his father pull out the metal. It was a curved blade this time. It had several folds already woven into the metal. He finally began to shape it again with a few swings of his hammer. When his father started he could not rightly stop. So Jaune shouted over the swings. "I had a rough day today and almost forgot to ask about Linda's practice sword."

"It's done and on the shelf over there. It didn't take too long since I wanted to keep it blunted. It should have the right balance for her though. She swung it a few time yesterday when it was just the sword and tang."

Jaune lifted the sword. It was a little long for him. Even at six feet, Linda towered over him by a few inches. Days ago, he would have been satisfied defending himself against a weapon. Jaune set the blade down, thoughtful. "I ran into someone a few times this week who could have easily killed me and my partners if we allowed her to draw her weapon…"

Nathaniel gave the hammer one last swing before he lifted the blade again to inspect it. "I assume you are all ok since you are here?"

"Yeah, we're fine. Koben was stabbed but the medic said it was superficial. Andrew just said he's being a baby." That made his father laugh. "Dad, is there a way for me to compete against an armed aura user?"

"If you three couldn't take on this person as is, then they would have to been really good Jaune. I've seen you spar. You are actually capable to fight most people who are huntsmen if you needed to regardless if they had a weapon or not. You just don't notice since you spar with the same people all the time."

"I get that Dad. But Neo just toyed with us. If I had trained with a weapon, do you think it would have made a difference?"

Nathaniel let the weapon sit in the oil while he really looked at his son. "Sometimes, having a weapon escalates the fight Jaune. By being unarmed, most people don't suddenly pull their own weapons on patrolmen."

Jaune scratched his head. "I get that. I really do."

The father pulled the weapon back out of the oil and moved to the furnace where he set the curved blade in and let it sit for a while. "Jaune." Nathaniel took a moment to organize his thoughts. "If you had been trained with a weapon. You may have made a difference." He interrupted his son before the boy could say another word. "If you had trained it would be about the same as what you learned already. You would never be able to take a hit head on. You would have to be confident you can be faster or aware enough to withdraw if you find you are overwhelmed."

Jaune looked at his father. "I would like to try."

Nathaniel looked at his son and seemed to agree with what he saw. The man closed his eyes and repressed the unidentifiable emotion in his chest. "Linda will come get her sword in her own time, but you should come back in a week. I need to make some modifications to Crocea Mors for you."

Jaune gave the man a grateful smile. "Thank you."

The old man patted his son on the back. "Don't thank me yet. How's your left arm?"

Jaune was confused at the question, "It's fine, why?"

This father gave him a cryptic smile before he shoo'ed his son out the door.

Nathaniel watched his son go with a smile. "Really that boy…" While his current project relaxed after the last quench, he went to the back room where the shield half of Crocea Mors laid in fractured pieces. "Now how am I going to make you work the way I want. Jaune will never survive an impact with a shield against huntsmen. But there is also his future to consider…" The man hummed while he thought of his weeks plans fly out the window. "I may have to go to Vale for pieces on this one."

A/N: Decided to make this a collection of one-shots. We'll see how long this series actually goes. I don't know why but I was feeling good about how Neo turned out. I didn't even plan to put any cameo's in this chapter, but they all just kinda filled in on their own.

Edit: quick edit update, All-seeing Hunter pointed out some mistakes. Thank you for that.