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.

4. Chapter 4 The Edge of Vale

The Vale Kingdom was a unique experimental government in Remnant's history. While there was never one king, the council operated as if they were several monarchs. Each position on the council was hereditary. Every councilman had a voice in the capital of Vale as well as control of their own district of land beyond the capital's walls. It allowed the group to operate the country with impunity for key situations that were vital for Vale to survive.

The only exception to this control, of course, were the academies. Early learning facilities like Signal Academy were out of the purview of Vale thanks to the island it rested on. It was its own separate country for all intent and purposes. It ran itself with both revenue and defenses. The other location that rested outside of Vale's sphere of influence was Beacon Academy.

The school is regarded as one of the finest academies that trained huntsmen for the defense of all countries not just Vale. It was for this reason that all academies could not be devoted to a single country. But that did not leave the Vale Kingdom without any options to exert influence over Beacon. While they could not oppose Beacon, that does not mean they would not be able to make it difficult for Beacon to function if the headmaster was not… agreeable to some compromises.

As much as Ozpin would loathe to admit it, they held a good bit of sway over Beacon for a number of years. Many of the council have started to rely largely on military power of Atlas rather than the huntsmen for support against grim. It was a cheaper and quicker solution to have several droids on stand by in settlements rather than huntsmen. Ozpin would not admit it to anyone, but he was getting on in his age as well. He had a few decades in him, but compared to the rest of the huntsmen, his age was nearly unheard of.

Ozpin gripped his cane as he walked into the conference room. Long has Vale divested itself of the grand standing of having a castle like courtroom. Instead everything conducted for the kingdom were held in rooms like these. Quiet office spaces that held no more than ten leather seats.

"Good afternoon Ozpin."

"Good afternoon Councilmen." Ozpin took his seat and set his cane next to his chair. "Thank you for seeing me before your session ends for the day."

"You have the floor headmaster."

Ozpin took out his scroll and set it on the console in front of him. "This young man is named Jaune Arc. He was recently released from Anvil's contract as a patrolman."

The group looked at their own consoles. The teen looked young but the years of service were noted by many in the room.

"This is Pearls' man." The council members turned to Anvils governor Nickel Julian. "He was adopted into the patrolmen when he was very young. He proved himself well there over the years. Pearl was reluctant to let him go."

Ozpin nodded. "I spoke to Pearl Monelle myself. I wanted a good idea of who this boy was thanks to a suggestion of two huntsmen who have worked with him in the past. You remember Professor Branwen, weapons designer of Signal Academy?"

Ozpin moved his scrolls menu and it pulled up a case where Professor Branwen had traveled to Anvil for an investigation.

"I heard it was a botched assignment." Came a dry reply. Ozpin looked to the councilman who said that. It was Patch's governor, Coral Soek. She was young for the council but her sharp eye made her a good replacement for her ailing father.

Before Ozpin could reply, Nickel answered for him. "Don't Coral. That investigation led us to a weapons manufacture ring that had been happening in Vale for years. They may have had a setback, but it led us to capturing and breaking the ring. On paper it may seem like a failure, but it was the start of a major victory."

Ozpin felt he needed to add, "And it was discovered by Jaune Arc."

The screens moved back to the young man. Barely seventeen based on the report. "You know that the police here in Vale have had a hard time working with our huntsmen for the more difficult assignments."

The group did not say a thing but a few agreed judging by the looks of their faces. "I have contracted Jaune Arc as a patrolman for Beacon Academy and he will be made available to Vale as a replacement for our huntsmen in the event you desire our intervention."

"He's young Ozpin."

The headmaster turned his head and addressed the comment with, "He's been a patrolman for nearly four years. He's survived out in the field through quite a few incidents which tested him and Anvil as a whole. It's one more than the cut off for most patrolmen."

No one made a reply to that. Each councilman had their own patrolmen in their designated settlements. The mortality rate for patrolmen dropped substantially if they survived at minimum three years. If they still continued to be patrolmen after that, they were career patrolmen until they died. Unfairly, that death usually was in the field.

"You do understand what you are proposing then Ozpin?" Coral asked.

Ozpin looked over to the councilwoman. "I fully intend to make the young man the lead responder for the capital. We have not had a patrolman in Vale thanks to Beacon Academy's presence. It has always allowed huntsmen to easily be available to handle issues as they arise. But that should not keep and frankly, responding to criminal activity is not the huntsmen's job. We were just a cheap alternative. For Vale it will still be a cheap alternative as Beacon will be paying for the service. But it can finally be done with someone who is trained to handle civilians and aura users alike."

There were a few scowls but it was Nick who added, "And it would be done by someone the police could trust." He gave the other council members a pointed look. Huntsmen had not always been welcomed into investigations. Either from the completely different experiences, or the distrust of powers normal officers could not comprehend. But that lack of harmony has spoiled too many cases in the past. "You never needed our input on your choices Ozpin. But you have my support in this one."

Ozpin gave the man a tight smile before he looked at the rest of the group. Every member knew he had made the decision without their approval. The headmaster was merely being courteous in speaking to them.

"We will inform the police force and arrange to have him work along with the Vale PD in the coming weeks if you plan on the young man to be your dedicated representative. We will happily take as much advantage as we can from the offer. Thank you Headmaster Ozpin."

The headmaster looked at each member of the council in the eye before he gave a slight nod and stood. He pivoted in place before he walked out the door.

Ozpin walked away from the meeting with most councilmen approving of the choice. When the doors closed he looked at the time. He tapped his cane to the ground once while he thought. I do hope Qrow is actually showing Jaune the area and not just a bar.

-o-

Qrow led his new charge down one of the seedier streets of Vale. "You'll like the place. If you ever need information this should be the first place you go. Junior is an information broker and is neutral to everything that goes around here in Vale. If you find anyone you know you should arrest, wait till after you both leave a good distance if you want to try. You don't want to pick a fight with him or start one at his place. You would make too many enemies for harming him and his establishment."

Jaune nodded but stayed mostly silent as Qrow had led him around most of the day from place to place. Jaune allowed himself to play the part of a kid. His cereal hoodie did most of the work for him when they walked into several more of the adult areas. Qrow did not want Jaune broadcasting himself as a patrolman just yet and posing as a kid following a signal professor lent just enough credibility to allow the two to pass by many of the places he would need to get to know to learn information he could not find on his own.

This early in the day the club had the doors wide open and two men in black suits and red ties swept the front of litter from the previous night. "Before I forget." It was the only warning Jaune had before he felt his hood get yanked up and over his head and down over his eyes. He stumbled a step and sighed from his disarrayed hair as it poked from under the hood and into his eyes.

"Right-right, you don't want people see what I look like."

"Just yet." He added for emphasis. "You will be identifiable enough by the hair. There are not that many blondes in Vale." Jaune looked around at the observation. He thought back to the last two days he had been in Vale. Civilians tended to range from blue hair to brown, black, orange, red… Huh.

Jaune pulled his hood a little bit more over his eyes. Qrow nodded in approval as they walked in.

"May I help you gentlemen?" Jaune looked over to a woman who was just coming into her twenties. Long and black straight hair framed her delicate face.

"Ms. Malachite, we are here to see Junior. It's only for introductions. There is no rush."

The woman nodded and raised her arm, "This way please." The two followed her inside the bar. It opened below them to a dance floor where speakers were being tested along with several scaffolds of lights. Jaune took a stool next to Qrow as the woman went around the bar. "Anything to drink while you wait?"

Qrow ordered a hard drink while Jaune shook his head. He simply seemed to be content to look around. The girl looked at the cartoon bunny emblazoned on his chest and teased, "No milk?"

"No thank you." Jaune said absently as his attention was on the crafted neon spiral on the theater. The girl backed away disappointed in not getting a rise out of the kid.

Qrow set his drink down. "That is Melanie Malachite. One of twin sisters who are bodyguards to Junior."

Jaune refocused. "I see. Is she normally that playful or do I look that young?"

Qrow tipped the glass up and drank most of the contents in one drink. "Probably both. With the hood up you look like a tall kid. This may take a while since we came unannounced. There are a few tidbits for you to think about. Don't bring Vale PD in with you if you come. They are not welcome and while they know about Juniors operation, they tend to just turn a blind eye. Junior benefits the huntsmen as much as anyone else. Information is exchanged either with money or with information of your own. Junior can do some inquiries for extra but he isn't a investigation team. You should only come here when it's a last resort unless you really want to make money or want to get into debt very fast."

Jaune nodded suddenly wishing he had taken the offer to order something to drink. "How will I know if its worth it?"

"Junior is reputable enough that if you just offer it he will pay honestly. His reputation is his livelihood. Just remember that there are other people here that may listen in to get something for free. Junior and his men do their best to keep it clean, but they are not omnipresent."

Qrow sighed as he looked at his empty glass. Thankfully they did not have to wait too much longer. A man with a thick groomed beard walked in from the floor above them and down the stairs. Qrow stood and Jaune followed his lead.

"Mr. Branwen. Welcome. Do you need another drink?"

"If you please Hei."

"What brings you in?" Hei popped the cork of his finest whiskey and poured Qrow another glass.

Qrow smiled at the glass and inhaled before he sipped. "This here is Jaune. He will be working in Vale for the foreseeable future. I'm taking him around to introduce him to everyone."

"Good afternoon sir."

"Jaune, a fine name. What will you be doing? If you don't mind me asking."

Jaune smiled with amusement at the probing question. He looked from underneath his hood. "Would you mind keeping this bit of information to yourself for a week?"

Junior laughed as he looked over to Qrow. "I like him already. You have your week, free of charge."

"I will be working for Beacon for investigations that require a huntsman to work alongside Vale Police."

Junior raised an eyebrow. "That doesn't seem something that needs to be kept under wraps. But it will be hard to mistake you with that bunny on your chest."

"Don't worry, it will be covered by a blue vest when I'm out in the field."

Junior slowly started to nod and smile before he tapped the counter. "I get it. Very nice. It's about time too. As promised, you have your week. Was there anything else you needed while you're here?"

Qrow was about to say no when Jaune interrupted him. "Actually. I do."

Qrow leaned back as he finished his drink. "You paying for this one right?" Jaune was not sure if Qrow was referring to the drink or the answer for his question but just nodded and rolled his eyes. He pulled out his scroll to pay as he asked, "Do you have any information on a woman named Neo."

Junior rolled the name around his tongue before he pulled up his own scroll and did a search. He shook his head. "Nothing. Sorry. At least you don't need to pay for the question." He shrugged the apology.

"Thanks. It was a long shot at best." Jaune paused while he saw that Qrow did indeed expect him to pay for the man's drink. He looked over to Junior one more time, "Think a bit of information on the person I asked about would pay for that?"

Junior smiled as he took Qrow's glass. "I'll be the judge."

Jaune sighed as he kept his scroll out just in case. "She is a woman just a bit older than the malachite girl. Likely a former patrolman who's gone rouge." Jaune stopped himself before he brought up White Wolf. He had not heard anything after the initial investigation and Qrow did not look like he would volunteer information. "She uses illusions to disguise herself. I believe her original eye color is sky blue, but she appears as a di-chromatic pink and brown. They tend to switch colors while she fights. She uses her hands to talk, but not in Unified Sign Language, its all gestures. Neo is mute."

"Where did you spot her last?"

Here Jaune looked over to Qrow, but his expression was closed. Jaune supposed it was up to his own judgment at this point. "A Vale controlled compound in Anvil. She broke through security for a theft. I can't say anything else beyond that."

"Is she wanted anywhere in particular?"

Jaune shook his head. And did he ever look. Every kingdom had nothing resembling Neo in their database. "No bounty. As far as I can tell I was the first person to report her, or live to tell the tale. I almost didn't. She nearly killed me and my partner in our last few fights."

Junior looked at the teen for a moment and exhaled through his nose. The man looked down to his scroll and cycled through his bank account. "Here, take it." Jaune saw a pop up on his scroll for two and a half thousand Lein.

Jaune nearly choked at the amount and looked up surprised. Junior huffed as he explained, "If she is as skilled as you say then they will pop up again. A finders fee if you will… for the first sighting. If you find any other interesting characters I'll buy it so long as you keep it exclusive to me."

"Done. I assume it's this much includes buying the exclusivity too?" Jaune said, stunned at the money that was flooded into his bank account. He could live off that for a month and then some.

Junior smiled as he set the glass down. "It is. Thank you for understanding. As a reminder, I am not obligated to contact you if I find information. You will need to come back and ask again." Junior gave the teen a cruel smile. "A pleasure doing business with you gentlemen. And as I promised, I'll hold your information for seven days. Good luck on your job." Junior stepped back from the bar and walked away.

"Junior?" The man stopped to turn at the two. Jaune raised his hood. It was the first time Junior saw the patrolman's blue eyes. The cold studying look ran over the older man. "If you do meet her. Tell Neo I am still looking for her." Junior paused as he took for granted the kids age, it was his mistake. The kid may be young. Too young to have even started training for the job. But those were a patrolman's eyes.

Junior turned away and headed back to his office. Behind him he could hear Qrow congratulate the young man for the good first impression. "Did he ever give a first impression." Junior muttered to himself. He put his red shades on and started to make a call to start getting his own business affairs in order. No need for the patrolman to find anything against him.

Melanie and Miltiades Malachite watched the pair go before they looked to their boss. He closed the line ten minutes later and sighed. He walked passed the twins very amused as they quietly sipped their coffee's on his desk. He spared a considering glance at the two. "Keep your noses clean for the next week until you can recognize the patrolman by sight."

The girls both gave an identical, "Ok Hei." before they left. They recognized the dismissal in his tone.

-o-

"This is where we part ways Jaune. I need to head back to Signal for the morning classes."

"Thanks for the guide Qrow. I'll be in touch if I need anything."

"Just a reminder, keep your wits about you, I volunteered you for a job later this week since I am still working. Oz wanted me to go on a quick errand but it would have to wait a few weeks while I finish off the classes. With you here, he might send you instead."

Jaune smiled slightly. "I hope so. I'm not sure how useful I am right now just walking around as a tourist."

The older man laughed as he started walking to the bullhead headed west. "See you later Jaune."

Jaune was left at the footsteps of the bullhead and at a loss of what to do now. He did not feel the urge to go back to his apartment inside Beacon. The day was still relatively early as well. Ozpin had said he had free reign over the campus and would be called if they need him for anything. That kind of freedom seemed daunting.

Jaune actually had an urge to run. All he did today was walk. He had not walked anywhere in so long. He actually could not remember the last time he walked through Anvil. Jaune looked around the campus and saw the forest behind it. Beacon did have a forest curated with grim. The blonde sighed to himself. This is what I am reduced to doing as my pass time now?

-o-

Jaune gave a contented moan as he stretched his back. He felt so much better after an hour of running through the forest. The exercise and the air cleared his head completely. He covered less ground than he expected in the unfamiliar forest but that was to be expected. The canopy did not allow for the trees to grow too closely, the area was unfamiliar and the trees here had roots that popped up in the oddest places. Jaune had to make sure he picked his steps carefully in some of the more well worn areas in case his foot caught on something.

Occasionally the patrolman would see a few grim but they were so far and few between. If Jaune was honest with himself, this was the first time he ever felt safe outside of a settlement. The place barely registered as a threat. Time seemed to roll by when he finally got the alert of the time from his scroll. Jaune took a seat on a tree branch to rest and drink his water bottle before he put away the scroll. The sweat rolled down his neck as he stood back up.

Jaune felt it was time to move onto the next section of the forest when he saw a small explosion a fair distance away. It was to his right between him and Beacon. Jaune only needed to veer slightly to go in the appropriate direction.

The patrolman slowed to a stop a fair distance away and watched the team. He could only tell they were students because there were four of them and they were only slightly older than Coco. They had been split into pairs and fought a good size group of grim. They were slow compared to the huntsmen in Anvil, but their approach to killing the grim was sound. Apparently the first explosion was to give the group room to break apart the grim into manageable groups. It seemed to work. Shortly after Jaune arrived the grim were dwindling rapidly.

A chunk of a grim flew in the air with a teen's shout. It turned out to be an arm that was cut at the meat of the shoulder. It landed heavily against a tree Jaune stood next to. The tree rattled from the blow before the black mass of grim faded into smoke. Jaune allowed himself a sigh of envy at the group. By Anvil standards it was a small grim, but the best he could do would be to distract something that heavy and it would probably hurt him in the process.

The team finally cleaned up the last of the grim with a cheer to each other. Jaune thought it was time he moved on. A single step launched him backwards before he pivoted in mid air and continued to run. The forest was large and he still had not explored it all.

In the back of his mind he still remembered he still needed to meet with the Vale Police force the next day and hopefully some friends.

-o-

After the introduction to the Police Force, Jaune felt embarrassed to say he felt more like a comic super hero than an actual patrolman. While patrolmen had duties to the surrounding settlements, Jaune only found he would walk the streets literally looking for trouble. Today Jaune was sans blue vest and hoodie to get a feel for the town and wait to see if the police would request help. He was told it would not be very often and Ozpin required nothing of him unless he was called.

"I guess that explains why the salary is so low. I'm barely doing anything." Jaune muttered to himself at a corner cafe. He sat on the outdoor deck with a iced coffee and chips. He was not sure what to make of his new life. He found he preferred the morning runs through forest out back behind Beacon than the actual work.

It was not a good sign.

Jaune's scroll made a muffled blip and he eagerly took it out. He cheered to himself when he saw it was from Coco. It took two days but he was finally able to find a time where they were free. Hence his time waiting at the cafe.

"There you are!" Coco waved. Behind her, Team Coffee went straight to the counter to order. Coco just sat down across from Jaune.

"Afternoon Wench." Jaune greeted her when it was just the two of them. She gave him a playful wink before she leaned back in her chair.

"I am so going to have to find a way to pay you back for that." She rubbed the bridge of her nose. "Those people were way too pleased thinking we were going to tie the knot."

Jaune just laughed. "Any punishment was worth it. Assuming Velvet got the message." He saw the rest of the group walk up to the table. "Hello Velvet, I hope you got a few good pictures out of that."

"Give me your scroll." Velvet had similar thoughts as she eagerly pulled out her scroll to send the pictures over. Jaune grinned as he pulled out his scroll and handed it to Velvet.

Fox relaxed in his chair next to Yatsuhashi who managed to not look so large behind the outdoor table. "Don't forget the one with the pie." He suggested helpfully.

Coco nearly reached to grab the scroll out of Velvet's grip but Yatsu rested a meaty hand on her shoulder to stop the sudden lunge. He looked over to Jaune. "It's been a few weeks since we last met. What brings you to Vale?"

Jaune finished his drink and sighed. "New job."

Fox resisted the urge to react although he did nearly flinched as he picked up his cup. Fox never did tell Coco the story about Jaune nearly getting ousted from his job. Apparently Jaune got fired anyway?

"What are you doing now?" Fox asked instead.

"I actually work for Beacon if you can believe it. Barty basically scouted me for a non existent post and Ozpin agreed."

Coco shook her head. "That sounds so weird hearing you say the doctor's first name."

"I basically work as an independent investigation unit on behalf of Beacon." Jaune smiled at the total lack of reaction. "Have you had any missions yet that were not just hunting grim?"

Velvet shook her head. "Nothing like that. I have heard of them, but most missions we have been going on are grim hunting, extermination and so on."

Jaune smiled. "Good to hear. Vale had been making Beacon do some investigation work for years now. Ozpin was not too happy about that since his huntsmen were all trained to hunt grim. You all were never meant to be crime fighters."

Yatsu hummed aloud. "That does not mean we wouldn't get those missions eventually."

Jaune nodded. "That's right. Not every settlement has a patrolman. And not every suspected grim activity is actually grim. Ozpin had been toying with the idea of sending me out for those missions exclusively but then it defeats the purpose of allowing huntsmen who were stationed in Vale to branch off."

Velvet bounced in her seat as she remembered, "Do you think I can spar with you later? I still wanted to learn how to fight like you do."

Jaune smiled, "Of course. If you are all curious we could find a good training field tomorrow if you have the time." Jaune silently begged them to agree, he needed to do something. The total lack of activity was driving him stir crazy.

Velvet gave Coco a hopeful look. The leader simply rolled her eyes. "Of course we can Velvet. You should have a fall back if you run out of ammo and this is a good option."

Jaune's unsaid question was written all over his face as he looked to Velvet for some answers. The huntswoman smiled with a slight amount of guilty blush coloring her cheeks. "Since I can use so many styles I've been designing a weapon to take advantage of my semblance but the dust needed for it destroys the copy every time I would use it. Coco's been hunting for a good fighting style I can use when I do run out."

Jaune gave an audible "Ah. You think my style may be your best solution?"

Coco nodded. "Velvet does not actually have a lot of aura. It's just enough to get her moving in dangerous situations but she needs a weapon that can take advantage of her semblance to counterbalance the weakness. But what we put together this past year isn't quite the answer we were hoping for. Really, as soon as her hypothetical weapon runs out of ammo her aura would only be strong enough to help her escape."

Jaune finally understood why they were so interested in his style. It was one made for people with no aura. Someone with little to no aura could easily adapt with the right training. "Just remember it's not made to fight grim, but I suppose if you keep a little in reserve it should do the trick when you need it. We'll see how you take to it tomorrow then."

Velvet nodded. Her cheer smile only widened when she sipped her coffee.

Jaune grinned as he turned to Coco. "So what's to do here around Vale?"

-o-

The buzz alert from his scroll roused Jaune. The early morning calls. Now this, he was familiar with. Jaune opened the scroll for a moment before he snapped it shut. It was a request to see Ozpin immediately. Jaune pulled on his hoodie and splashed his face with water. The clock as he walked out of his room said it was just past four in the morning.

The cold air helped him wake up more. By the time he made his way to the elevator to the headmaster's office Jaune was alert and ready for whatever the headmaster wanted. The elevator door opened to Ozpin's office at the top of the tower. "Good morning Ozpin."

Ozpin greeted Jaune with a cup of coffee in hand. "Morning Jaune. I have a urgent message that needs to be sent out immediately. A bullhead is waiting for you at the launch pad to take you south west before it drops you off in a town called Blue Quarry. From there you need to track down this woman." Jaune pushed his scroll forward and the image of a woman in her mid twenties looked back at him. It seemed to be a photo of an old team. She was front and center in the picture and she smiled and waved at the camera while she pushed off someone as they were about to fall on her. "She will be moving quickly on horse back from town to town. Be prepared to make a few long rounds to find her."

"What's her name?"

"Autumn. She is a member of our faculty although not a teacher. She runs the outreach program to find aura users who may be interested in attempting to join Beacon. I will message you if she makes contact with us before you do. But that far out, scrolls will be unreliable for communication."

Ozpin pressed a few keys on his console before he looked back to Jaune. "The message is in your scroll. I apologize for its cryptic nature. It would mean very little to anyone but her. Report her response and come back. Scroll communication will be nearly non-existent that far out so expect to be a while on the field before you can communicate with us again. While you work for Beacon, you may not be recognized as a patrolman that far out into the frontier. It is well known there are no patrolman in the capital. Don't challenge the authority if they cause an issue. Report back if you are being blocked."

Jaune put his scroll away. "I understand. Is she in danger?" The blonde could not imagine it was for anything else if the message was urgent enough to wake him up at this hour.

Ozpin paused to look at the patrolman but nodded. "I am sorry Jaune. It is too soon to know for sure what kind of danger it is, but we have received information that some dangerous people have had a sudden interest in her."

Jaune swallowed while he processed that information. "If I encounter problems?"

"Bring her back as quickly and safely as possible."

Jaune nodded. He was not really happy with the lack of information but he was in no position to complain. If the woman was in danger he would intervene as he was able. "Excuse me Ozpin. I have a ship to catch."

Ozpin waved a hand in dismissal before he looked at his console to resume his work.

Jaune made his way into the elevator where it dinged its decent. He bounced on his toes as he waited for the elevator to open the doors again and allow him to leave the tower. The patrolman had never been outside of the plateau that protected Anvil since he started his job as patrolman. He was looking forward to seeing how other places looked. Jaune opened his scroll and looked at the message. It gave him a momentary frown at the cryptic text.

Castle the King.

-o-

Jaune stared out the window unsure how the settlement could possibly live like that. The ship windows went from a bright orange of the morning dawn to black as it landed in Blue Quarry. When Ozpin first mentioned the settlement, Jaune thought of some kind of fortified settlement on flat lands, or like his own home town, a place resting in a strategic location. The ship lowered below the mountain line and into the Quarry. The settlement itself was being carved into the limestone walls and apparently went deeper underground. Giant machines moved above ground that drilled against the mountain side in plumes of dust on the far side of the mountain. Jaune raised his hood and pulled his shirt over his mouth as he walked off the ship and followed the directions to go below ground where the air was thankfully far cleaner than the surface.

Jaune knew it was still early morning when he arrived but after an hour below ground he would not have been able to tell. The settlement was so far underground that all the light was artificially created by dust crystals.

The first place Jaune went to was the office for the local militia to introduce himself. It became apparent that he made a mistake. The settlement had a militia but this close to the capital, they were not familiar with the ways of patrolmen. The group were instantly wary of him.

Jaune was eventually introduced to someone who knew what a patrolman was and the woman thankfully allowed him access to the town to look for clues for Autumns' last known location. Sadly enough, there were no leads.

Either the woman had not come through this town, or it had happened so long ago, she would have been forgotten. Jaune laid down his map on a table in a restaurant. The area had three major paths. The city filtered in travelers for the bull heads, but it was more for commercial use rather than tourists. Jaune finished his sandwich and stared at the map. Ozpin said she made no contact and he could not contact her through her scroll.Assuming she was fine, that means should could not have gone closer to Beacon. Jaune disregarded a path leading towards inner Vale. That left two. She has a horse. Jaune scratched hsi chin. He could feel the soot collecting on his face.

IT's little wonder she did not stay here for long. The air could not be good for either her or her horse. Jaune lowered his gaze back to the map and tapped his finger on the path that lead west towards Vacuo. The path south led to more industrial dig sites like this one. "I hope you are worried about your horses health." Jaune stood up and made his preparations to leave the town in the morning.

Jaune left at sunrise the next morning and moved down the road with purpose. It was miles long and it would eventually narrowed as he moved closer to the mountain range. Jaune passed several long caravan trains and silently gave the groups an amused smile as they instantly became alert when he ran into their line of sight and ran past them in a blur. Jaune never asked much about the caravans that ran into Central back in Anvil, but they must have taken weeks if not months to make the trip. Jaune could not imagine traveling for that long. Jaune refocused on the road ahead of him.

The foothills had several settlements that laid out in the open plains. They pock-marked the main trade route. Each one rarely needed a patrolman or local huntsmen for protection. These were rest stops for the caravans, and Jaune learned long ago such places expected the bodyguards of the merchants to be the defense against grim.

Jaune ran by such a small settlement, its tall wooden walls were made of growing trees planted along in two circles and spaced between wooden walls. Each thick tree seemed to have been growing for decades. They all stood thick as a mass of green that stood outright among the barren rolling hills. Jaune could appreciate the defenses of the settlements as he found another identical settlement. Places this small rarely needed the defense from more than a few straggler grim that would chase the caravans. Jaune was happy for the next settlement that came into his sights. It meant he did not need to run through the night or try and sleep in the open.

Jaune shuddered at the thought.

The patrolman had learned his lesson from his last stop. Jaune did not introduce himself to the militia. He simply kept his blue vest in his backpack and showed the locals an image of the woman. Jaune had to ruefully admit it. He found he was able to get more information when he did not wear the blue vest. Most people appeared to not know what it meant, but recognized that he represented someone and kept their mouths tight.

But as a messenger, Jaune could look for a recipient. The locals seemed to try to go out of their way to help the poor lost teen. Jaune wanted to growl in frustration at the fact but let it go. He was making some sort of progress. The next days run ended in another outpost settlement along the trade routes. Jaune knew he had pushed it hard to get to this village as it was late night and he skipped dinner to make it into the safety of the walls. When Jaune made it to his room, he did not bother to take off his gear and just slumped onto the bed to sleep.

The next day, Jaune felt refreshed enough to walk around the settlement. The stores and offices were made of handcrafted clay walls and wooden beams. Jaune wanted to cheer to himself. The outpost was tiny. Seven large shops made up the commercial area. The third one that ran a husbandry and animal supply recognized her. The shop owner had freely informed him that a woman with a white horse passed through just under a week ago. That at least meant he was going in the right direction. What began to worry him now was the map he owned. It did not extend much beyond the mountains.

Jaune turned off his scroll as he left the small outpost. He was warned that the next settlement was on the other side of the mountain and travelers camped out at night for the three day trip. The older man gave him a worried look as he said there were no scheduled caravans expected to come from that direction for another few weeks.

Jaune thanked him for the concern but started to prepare to leave again in the morning. Jaune was confident he could take the length in a single day, but he could no longer guarantee he would have a place to rest at night and a place to charge the scroll if he caught the woman on the way.

One glance at the map and he realized he was approaching closer to Vacuo lands than he was prepared for. If the woman had crossed the border he could not go any further. At the bend around one of the mountain paths the patrolman slowed and looked at the road. It wound across the hills before it went back down the other side of the mountain. Jaune seriously contemplated if he should cut across. When he glanced at the road and how it bend and meandered, Jaune sighed and looked up to the sky. He couldn't take any shortcuts. What if the woman was still on the mountain?

Ultimately he decided to run the whole length. He might be just placing himself in needless danger if he found a grim that some how was fast enough to chase him. He immediately looked to the sky. There were several birds in the sky but they were all going in separate directions. No sight of grim.

Jaune was thankful. If there was one kind of grim that would cause him problems, it would be an airborne one. Jaune let his mind wander as the hours rolled away. He passed two well used campsites but neither of them looked to have been used in the last few days. It was into the early evening when he finally exited the mountain path. The moon lit the way clear and it was all the signal Jaune needed to pick up his pace on the flat road.

The south side of the hills he ran down were barren of vegetation. Jaune frowned at the sign that he was so close to the Vacuo borders and their historically well known deserts. Just at the edge of the horizon he could see the jagged rock formations that made the natural boundary between the two kingdoms.

Jaune moved at full speed now that he was on flat land. The curving mountain trail slowed him more than he cared to admit. There were quite a few blind bends that would change in height abruptly at inconvenient times. He was thankful he got out of the region as night fully set in with the clouds that now covered the moon.

Jaune sped up as he saw lights of a settlement around a row of small hills. He was eager for a good break for the night and an inn sounded wonderful to his aching back and legs. As he approached the gates he saw the group start to arm. When he was within fifty meters he slowed down to a walk but did not approach further. He waved at the seven guardsmen. It looked like the settlement was more geared towards protection from people rather than grim. I guess this far out they would have plenty of warning if a grim approached the town on this flat land.

Jaune had pulled out his vest and slid it on. He could see why the guards armed themselves when a kid walks out of the forest by himself at night. At least this far out, they would definitely have a patrolman.

"Good evening. My name is Jaune Arc. I am a Patrolman of Vale."

The men did not lower their arms, "For the whole country?" Came a sarcastic reply. Jaune looked and noticed there was a huntsmen in the group. The huntsman gave him a steady look.

Jaune matched the stare for a second before he shook his head. "No, just the capital." He slowly raised his hand to his pocket and extended his scroll. "You'll need to turn it on, I kept it off in case I didn't clear the mountains and had no place to recharge."

The huntsman approached and opened the scroll. He quickly pulled up the identification number and badge. The group marginally relaxed. "Why are you out here in the middle of nowhere?"

Jaune took his scroll back and pulled up a different screen. "I was sent out as a messenger unfortunately. It was cheaper to send me than fly a ship all the way out here to look for someone. Have you seen this woman?"

Jaune looked hopefully to each man. The huntsmen recognized the picture. "Did she have a horse?"

Jaune smiled in relief. "A white one, she has been by here. How long ago sir?"

"It's Lait. And she actually came into town just yesterday. Her horse threw a shoe and it injured itself. She should be at the inn now."

Jaune looked at the group. "May I enter?"

The group suddenly realized they still had not welcomed him in. "Sorry about that patrolman, go ahead. The inn is at the center of town, you can't miss it. Our patrolman may come and see you tonight."

Jaune nodded. "I understand if he does. I'll be at whatever is there for dinner before retiring. Thank you Lait. Good evening gentlemen." Jaune bade them a goodbye and sighed as he took a leisurely walk to the center of town. The inn was a single level building across the street from the bar. The lights were on and the smell of some kind of savory meat wafted in front of his nose. That brought a happy smile. Jaune thanked the world for the promise of hot food and the restaurant would be the only one nearby. That would increase his chance that Autumn would be there right now. If she wasn't, he would have to leave a message at the inn counter. Wouldn't that be an awkward conversation? Jaune was sure a rumor would start right away about a teen who made a request to leave a message for an older woman at a hotel.

Jaune figured that if the local patrol were going to come look for him, he should stay in the most obvious place and took a seat at a table near the center of the restaurant. The wall had a few dishes written across it with the price of each. After he looked around and saw a waitress see him, he relaxed and looked around the actual bar. No Autumn tonight it seems. Jaune sighed as he resigned himself to an uncomfortable conversation later in the evening. He would need to leave a message at the inn.

Joy.

The food was good at least. Half way through his meal he saw someone walk in with a blue vest. The man looked back and forth and Jaune charitably raised his hand to wave the other patrolman down. The man was in his late forties with a streak of gray already lacing through his beard. Jaune figured that must have been from stress.

"Good evening patrolman." Jaune offered after he finished his bite and drank some water.

The older man sat down and smiled. "Greetings patrolman. Lait said you were from Vale?"

Jaune nodded. "Yeah. Before that I was in Anvil."

The man nodded before he marginally relaxed. "How's Koben?"

"Still complaining, Andrew is doing well too if you met him." Now the man relaxed. "I take it there has been trouble here?"

The man shook his head. "Not unless you brought it. I was just concerned when you said you were from Vale. My name is Brae. Welcome to Auric Hills."

Jaune was curious where he was. The place was out of range of the map he had picked up. "Care to join me? I have never talked to another patrolman other than Andrew and Koben."

The night was more pleasant than Jaune expected. The conversation with the woman at the counter of the inn… less so.

Apparently Autumn had registered under a different name. It was only thanks to the picture he had of Autumn that the clerk realized who the woman was. She raised an eyebrow at a request. "Sir aren't you a little young to chase after someone like her?"

Jaune felt the heat around his neck. "Ma'am I am a patrolman from Vale, I have just been sent as a messenger. Could you please let her know a patrolman has been sent from Ozpin to see her."

The clerk gave a long drummed out hum before she smiled. "Sure, fine. I'll let her know. Where do you want to have her see you?" She raised the lock key to his room as she handed it to him. Jaune immediately got the insinuation and felt himself wishing the earth would swallow him whole as the clerk's smile turned coy.

"The bar will be fine whenever she is available tomorrow. I'll be there all day. Just tell her to look for the patrolman jersey." Jaune took the keys and walked away doing his best not to turn back and see the woman's half judging and half expecting smile.

Jaune sighed as he entered his room. It was a furnished small square with a desk and bed but not much else. The two lamps held just enough yellow light provided by dust but no fireplace. Thankfully the room was already warm enough and Jaune simply took off his shirt and flopped onto the bed to sleep. Jaune's last thoughts were of the irony that he got exactly what he asked for, something to keep him busy after the slow week. Jaune wanted to groan into his pillow at the chat with the inn clerk. Well that's over.

Jaune willed it out of his mind and slowly let his mind drift and onto someone he did not mind thinking about. Wonder what Coco's doing. He nearly muttered aloud. Another thought occurred to him as he passed out but was lost just as quickly. Did I tell Coco that I left?

-o-

Jaune was thankful for the book the inn had sitting in his room. Jaune flipped through the book pages as he left. His plans for the day was just reading the book until Autumn met him. It was nearly lunch when he saw the door open with the woman in question appeared. A dark green hood covered her head and draped over her shoulders. Jaune closed his book when she spotted him. He raised a glass of water to her before she walked over.

"Good afternoon, My name is Jaune Arc."

The woman cautiously looked at the teen before she sat down with a chair between them. Jaune did not even seem bothered by it. If the message was this urgent it was better she be this careful. Jaune slowly pulled his scroll out of his pocket and opened the message. He set it down on the counter and slid it over to her. Her eyes darted to the scroll then back to him. He did not even move other than to continue drinking from his cup. She looked back at the scroll and gave a surprised inhale.

"Do you know what this means?" The woman's voice was deeper than he would have thought from someone so tiny.

"Not a clue. I was just hired on not even two weeks ago. It was urgent but that's all I could tell. I just came to deliver the message and asked if you had a response."

The woman reread the words and shook her head in worry. Jaune saw the almost frightened look on the woman. "Are you ok?" he asked.

Autumn looked up suddenly and snapped out of her stupor. "I- I'm fine. Thank you for coming out here to let me know Mr. Arc."

Jaune stared at her for a moment. He had thought he would have delivered the message and go back but instead, he offered, "Were you going back soon?"

Autumn nodded quietly. "Yeah. This is important. I just need to wait for Autumn's leg to heal. Maybe the day after tomorrow?"

Jaune gave her a confused look. "Autumn?"

"My horse."

Jaune sighed as he rubbed the bridge of his nose. "What is your name if you don't mind me asking."

The first bout of levity appeared as she smiled. "Did Ozpin say my name was Autumn?"

Jaune just nodded. But the woman nearly laughed and probably would have if the apparent news was not so dire. "That would be Qrow's pet name for me. My name is Amber."

Jaune shook his head. She may not have laughed but he did. He chuckled at the whole idea of asking around for her horse. But that was exactly what he had done. It was how he found her. Jaune let his laugh fade even as Amber smiled at his laughter. "Amber, do you have someone who can watch your horse?"

She looked confused but shook her head. "Why?"

"That's how I found you so quickly."

That made Amber think before she sighed. "I really love that horse. If I leave it here, would you be willing to escort me back?"

Jaune nodded. "I was going to offer regardless."

"Thank you Jaune. Let me try and talk to Mana. She's the innkeeper. Autumn needs more time to recover anyway."

Jaune stood with Amber. "I'll draw up a path for us. I'll meet you at the counter of the inn in an hour if that is fine?"

Amber sighed but nodded. "It's better we get on the road as soon as possible."

-o-

Jaune stepped by the doorway and knocked politely at the office door. He waited for the call to enter before he walked in and saw the person he was looking for. Brae waved the young man in from his desk. "Good afternoon Brae."

"What can I do for you Jaune?" The teen smiled at the colloquialism. It was usually just a greeting but he actually had a request.

"Amber and I are leaving today. The news she received was important enough that we should get back now."

Brae nodded. "If you are camping, make sure you stay clear of the south end. The huntsman will not clear that route of grim for another day or so."

Jaune gave him a grateful nod. "Thanks. Amber is worried she may have someone else come looking for her. Would you be able to keep them occupied for half a day if they come looking for her within the next week?"

Brae frowned. "I was just joking when I asked if you were to bring trouble to my town."

"It should be nothing. But I am just being cautious. Whatever the message was, it made her too concerned to wait."

Brae stood up with a relenting sigh. "I'll do my best, but there is no guarantee that I can. If someone is looking for her, there are only so many routes she can take."

"That's why I am escorting her."

"I'll do my best if someone comes by asking questions."

"Thank you Brae." Jaune bade him a farewell. "That's one thing out of the way."

Jaune walked back to the inn and grabbed his bag to make sure his wrapped sleeping sack was still bound tightly to the bottom of his bag. The map he looked at had already made him alert to several adjustments to the route they would take. We need a route that is not the way I came and one that would be difficult to follow by aircraft.

Jaune knew he was making a lot of assumptions. When he closed his bag he mentally added. Better to prepare for the worst than just assume I ran so far ahead they would be days behind.

Jaune found Amber speaking with the inn mistress. "Back."

Amber waved at him. "Mana will watch my horse for a month before I have to give her up. Thank you again for that."

"Sure thing dear." Jaune looked at Mana, it was a different woman than the one he spoke to the previous night. He thanked the stars to avoid the looks she would have given him.

"Where are we heading Jaune?"

"South. We'll hit a town in three days and be able to send a message through the CCT."

Amber nodded as she grabbed her bag. Jaune produced his key and the book he borrowed. "Thank you for the hospitality."

"Travel safely you two." Mana smiled at the two.

At the entrance, he bade the gate security men a good day before they walked a good space and just outside of the range of the hills. "Ok, let's get off the road."

"We're not going south?" Amber asked even as she obediently followed.

"If someone did follow us out this far, I rather not think what would happen without support. No chances. Brae said the south hasn't been swept of grim yet. We're going in the opposite direction. We are skating towards the western border before we swing north. We should hit a small port town in a few days where we can hopefully get a ship to Patch."

The walk for the rest of the day was spent walking through normally untread land. It was later that afternoon when Amber called for the two to stop.

"A few small grim are nearby. Give me a moment to clear them out." Jaune stepped back and scanned the hills. Amber simply pulled out her staff and walked up one of the hills. Jaune saw the grim pack of beowolves circle and charge her. Amber's staff spun in a series of lights and flames before the grim were cleared. Jaune couldn't help but whistle his appreciation. That was as fast as the huntsmen in Anvil could clear.

"Is that all of them?" Jaune scanned the hill line a few seconds longer while Amber put away her staff and walked back down the hill.

"It is. They were pretty small so they may have been hunting for a long time."

Jaune relaxed marginally. "The whole hills have a good sign of no grim settlement nearby."

"Really?" Amber paused to look at him in question.

Jaune looked equally surprised at her. "You couldn't tell?"

Amber looked around the hills. Sparse land with few wild life. "On horseback, most of the land is a blur. I rarely stop until I get into a settlement. Most villages are within a days travel on horse. How did you figure there were not that many grim in the area?"

Jaune pointed to the dissolved smoke stack of grim. "We didn't enter their territory. Most grim have hunting paths. This far away from the roads? You wouldn't expect humans to run by here. These ones seemed to have just been wandering around. If the grim could travel that freely around here there are no other grim competing for space."

Amber gave an ah of understanding before the two walked for another half an hour. Jaune and Amber stopped in the shadow of two hills well out of sight of any roads. Jaune laid down his mat and knelt next to the pit he created for a fire. "You've been quiet for a while now."

Amber looked up and blinked away the drowsiness away. "Sorry, the message from Ozpin is a lot to take in." When Jaune didn't respond she smiled again. "You really don't know what this is about, do you?"

Jaune sat back as the fire began to take. "No. I've barely been in Vale long enough to figure out what I am supposed to do there. Qrow had warned me that I may have to do something for him but I don't think this is what he was referring to."

Amber had pulled her knees to her chest and wrapped her arms around them. "Really Ozpin. What were you thinking?"

"In his defense, Barty had championed me to join Beacon as a patrolman."

Amber smiled into her folded arms. "I can't go into details, but I am a keeper. Ozpin's message is a reference to a chess move. He basically wants me to prep the item to be moved out of Beacon."

Jaune just hummed while he looked over the field. "Is that the real reason why you are out here? In case someone does go after it, they don't have the key."

Amber hummed out an affirmative before she leaned back. She felt far more comfortable knowing the kid had a general idea of exactly who he was protecting. This far out in the middle of nowhere she could take comfort that it was more secure than if they would have been in a private room in a town surrounded by even accidental eavesdroppers. Amber just kept her voice low so it would not travel. "Yeah. But it's more than that too. My abilities are not safe around people. I can use aura fine, but my other skills are dangerous. I never did learn how to use them well. I could only ever get by in a pinch."

Jaune smiled. "I have something similar in my family. We have poor aura control. It's why I never wanted my unlocked when I was offered it."

Amber gave him a smile in cameredre. "It's like when my dad wanted me to learn to play the piano. I could play some notes, but never did pick it up well enough to play anything. My other abilities are related to the item I am protecting. I figured it was safer away from the populace overall." Amber sighed now that she thought of her job. "If Ozpin is asking me to prep it to be moved, he's saying Beacon itself isn't safe."

Jaune took a moment to really understand before he looked back at her. "Beacon is not safe for anyone is what he means."

Amber nodded before she went quiet. "You can see why I was so worried when you first gave me the message. Ozpin would be desperate if he asked me to move it now."

"You think that was why he decided to hire a patrolman?"

Amber gave him an apologetic smile. "Yeah. He may think you will be needed very soon."

Jaune let his mind wander at that. The pair ate in silence and Amber bid him a good night while he tended the fire. Jaune envied how easily she fell asleep out here in the wilds. He had always been nervous whenever he had to camp out in the field below Anvil's relative safety. Koben and Andrew had taken him a few times with a huntsman to teach him how to live off the land when they were satisfied that he could run at a steady pace without stopping.

Jaune looked at the fire before he exhaled all of the stress from the escort mission and looked at the woman one more time. Weary. It was the word he would have used to describe her. She always seemed to enjoy the moment. But it was always with a hint of exhaustion. Her eyes always had a sad acceptance of something she could not control. It made him wonder what he had gotten himself into. But then Jaune figured the unknown would come regardless of how much he thought of it. It was better to do accept and adapt to it with a clear mind and a rested body. That would come with the morning.

Jaune looked at the flat clear land. A few simple alarms would alert them if anything came within range. Nevertheless, Jaune stayed up later than he should have to keep watch. The fire had long since been put out when he decided to turn in. Jaune sighed in annoyance with how cold the night was. The fire pushed off most of the cold before it was out. But the chill still bit him more than he expected. He finally allowed himself to doze to sleep once he felt his body demand to shut down.

He hated sleeping in the open. He forced himself to relax and allow himself to place a lot of trust in those trip wires to keep them safe.

-o-

Jaune awoke to the shuffle of grass. He instantly relaxed as his vision saw it was just Amber. She had stirred from her sleeping mat and sat up to yawn. Jaune exhaled as he sat up. It was early dawn. He sighed as his jacket was slightly damp from the humidity and morning dew. He would have thought it would have been warmer this far south but it looked like the shade of the hills kept the air too cold. Jaune stood up and groaned at the stiffness of his joints.

Amber bade him a good morning. Jaune noticed she was a lot quieter this morning as they both ate a light meal of sweet bread and water before they set out for the day. Jaune was thankful that the woman appeared to have been a huntsman since their pace was far faster than a civilian's but still much slower than his own. What he thought would take several days may take only two.

Just one more night of sleeping out in the open. It was the only comfort as they ran over a road as they traveled north. Jaune had them avoid the woods completely keeping to the flat orange hills that signaled how close they actually were to the Vacuo desert.

Jaune set down the wood for the fire. They had another day of travel but that didn't mean that they may have been out of range of a CCT. He powered on his scroll and tried to test the signal only to shake his head. There was no guarantee that he would get a signal in the next town. But it was also a port. That alone hopefully meant they had the support for one. It would be that or light signals to organize the ships in the bay.

Amber sat beside him with a sigh of relief. She took off her shoes and rubbed her aching feet. There were several pops as she moaned at her ankle.

Jaune smiled at the act. "How are you holding up? I know the pace must be pretty fast."

Amber stretched her legs and hummed, "My feet are killing me but I think it's more from my shoes than anything else. They were made for stirrups not for long runs."

Jaune glanced at the boots. The heel was a higher arch than most shoes he had seen for running. He gave her a sympathetic smile. "Just let me know if we need to slow or stop. We will only hurt ourselves if you get injured and we have to stop completely." She nodded as he leaned back. Jaune exhaled and realized he still had his scroll in his hand. And pictures he still had not looked at…

Jaune did not realize how many pictures Velvet sent him. There had to be at least sixty. Some were from their mission from Anvil but most were shots of a progressively blushing Coco in an airship. Toward the end, there was one picture of Coco struggling to get out of her safety harness on the bulkhead. The next picture was a hand half covering the lens with the rest of the pictures pointed at the ceiling.

"What got you so amused?"

Jaune looked up to see a curious look from Amber. Jaune flipped to a random picture and turned his scroll so she could see it. The picture was a rare one with Coco without her usual shades. Her hair was down as she sang her lines next to Jaune. Jaune in the picture was on his knee with a guitar looking at her. "That's Coco. She's a student at Beacon. I met her team last month while they were on a mission to Anvil. Her teammate gave me a bunch of pictures just before I left to find you. I never did look at them."

Amber kept the amused smile as she moved to the next picture. "What were you singing her?"

Jaune flushed as he guiltily said, "The Wench and the Stable Boy."

Amber eyes widened before she looked at the teen and laughed at his embarrassed face. "Why do you even know that song?"

"I had to stay quite a few nights at the bar in case there was a fight. The late-night patrols happened frequently enough where I just got bored. I don't drink and couldn't even if I wanted to. A few regulars realized I played the guitar and that led to me singing for a good number of nights."

"But that song?"

"There was a famous story of one of the old regulars sang it to his future wife. Hours later she said yes. That same couple was the ones that invited me out that night. So it just popped in my head when she asked me to sing her a song."

Amber laughed as she handed the scroll back to him. "Both of them must be some women."

"Coco's a good friend now, but at the time I just wanted to get some revenge for putting me on the spot during the escort. It kinda backfired when she never did learn what the song was supposed to mean that night. Hence the pictures." Jaune finished as he raised his scroll.

Amber smiled, "I take it she learned later."

Jaune powered off the scroll and tucked it into his breast pocket. "Velvet, her teammate, filled her in on the flight back to Beacon." Jaune sighed thinking about it.

"You thinking of pursuing that?"

Jaune abruptly answered, "I'm not sure if it is a good idea."

"What? Why?" Amber asked surprised.

Jaune gave the older woman considering look before he looked up and tried his best not to sound like he was bitter. "I may not be a teacher, but I am an employee of Beacon. Aside from not being sure its outside of the rules of my position, it could be an abuse of power if Ozpin has his way and decides I should lead the disciplinary committee come next semester. He's still on the fence about it. Really I think he would do it just to keep himself amused. He looked way too happy when he suggested that it was within the realm of possibility." Jaune looked at the fire and scratched his head. "I'll wait to see what he says, as embarrassing as it is, I need to bring it up with him. And soon."

Amber frowned. "That… Sorry for asking."

Jaune patted her shoulder as he stood to add another log to the fire. "Don't be. The worst that can happen is that he says I shouldn't. She is still a friend."

Amber sighed morosely. "But you think you might like more."

Jaune looked up to the night sky. It took him a moment to find the words while he thought of Coco. "I… like thinking about her. She smart, curious, single-minded when she wants to learn something. She's caring. I like her. I just can't do anything about it. At least not yet."

"If it makes you feel any better, she does look like she is leaning a little too much into you than necessary in that picture. Like she wouldn't mind if you stuck around."

Jaune shook his head. "Doesn't address the underlying problem. But thanks. It's nice to think that it could have been mutual."

Amber gave him a soft apologetic look that he did not catch. Jaune snorted as he felt like he should keep the conversation going. "Got any advice?"

Amber shook her head. "I wish. The only guy I cared about tried his best to keep it platonic. But like you and that girl, there was a time when it could have gone somewhere."

Jaune sat back and only said moments later when she did not offer any more. "The guy sounds like an idiot."

Amber just laughed. She rubbed her eyes after a moment. "Qrow is an idiot."

That made him look up. "Professor Branwen?"

Amber nodded. "Yeah. The same guy that called me Autumn. I didn't actually go to Beacon. I was found and trained up when I was sixteen. Qrow was like my mentor. He had no idea what to do with me either."

Jaune smiled as she looked back into her memories. Amber had a smile much the same way Jaune felt when thinking of Coco.

"Qrow was a few years out of Beacon himself and had no idea what to do with a teenager." Amber giggled as she pulled up her water bottle. "We traveled quite a bit together as he trained me up with aura. When he dropped me off with Ozpin I was devastated."

Jaune wondered at that. "He just dumped you there?"

Amber blushed. "I think he began to pick up that it was more than a little hero worship after I turned nineteen and started drinking with him. One day we both woke up and not as hungover as either one of us expected to be in each other's arms. I was happy. And well… Qrow panicked. He dropped me off at Beacon within the week."

Amber sighed.

"That… sounds harsh. But you said he had been willing at some point?" Jaune offered. But Jaune could kind of see it from Qrow's perspective as well as Ambers. Qrow must have realized his student's feelings were dangerous. But then again, would Branwen have panicked and pushed her away if he didn't feel something as well?

"It was just over a year later. He was starting to come around. His teammates were supportive to a degree." Amber looked up and grimaced. "I had an uncomfortable chat with his twin sister. She seemed happy enough so long as I was aggressive about it." Jaune furrowed his brow in confusion. Amber laughed. "I still don't know either. She was weird. After about four months he had really begun to come around to the idea. But then I took this job and we sorta fell apart. I haven't really spoken to him since."

Jaune gave her a sympathetic look before he surveyed their campsite. "I hope you guys figure something out. He still comes and goes in Vale. Maybe you two can finally catch up."

Amber nodded with a look that shared equal parts optimistic and withdrawn.

-o-

Jaune was thankful of Amber as she dealt with the grim. Her staff danced around her as the butt end caved a masked grims face. Three more boarbatusk squealed in anger before they charged her. The small group of oversized grim had taken residence in a destroyed village. The settlement must have fallen ages ago. Overgrowth had reclaimed much of the buildings and roads. It was only because they had been looking for a clearing to rest that they even found it.

Jaune kept a lookout while Amber killed off the last of the grim. "We're clear Jaune."

Jaune looked back in time to see the last motes of black smoke fade from the hog like grim. Jaune gave her a nod. "I am surprised that people would have tried a settlement here with no real terrain advantage."

Amber put away her weapon. "It's more common than you think. They try and trust that walls would be good enough or their protectors will be strong enough. It can work for a while. But negativity sits in an area and collects. Eventually, it just reaches a critical point where Grim will start gathering to it. The first ten years they were probably fine. As soon as enough people passed through town grim likely started gathering more often since there is no way to clear out the negativity that lingers when people gather."

Jaune thought of Anvil. It was why the settlements were so small and spread apart. It was also the reason why they had so many heavy restrictions on population control. "I can't think of any reason that it would be worth it to try to set one up here."

Amber shrugged her shoulders. "Who knows. Maybe this was just the junction point for a few different trade paths."

Jaune tilted his head and did notice that the streets were wider than he felt they should have been. Maybe she was right.

"We are close to the port." He allowed. He opened his scroll. Their trail would start leading them downhill from there all the way to the ocean. Juane mentally cheered as he received actual static for a connection. He moved around and realized the trees were not helping. "Amber give me a second. I need to get to higher ground. I think I might be able to get a signal now that we are on the other side of the mountains."

Jaune gave a whoop of satisfaction as his scroll blipped to life. He instantly regretted the good cheer. Coco had sent him several messages. "Oie, I did forget to message her." Jaune did a quick glance over the messages and sent her a message.

Sorry I missed our training session. Late night mission. Should be back in a few days. I'll tell you all about it when I get back.

Jaune then tried to make a call to Beacon's headmaster but found he could only make a message. If the message was that important… "Hey Amber!"

Amber looked up the tree where Jaune had perched on the highest branches. "What's up Jaune?"

"What's that chest move called?"

"Castling."

Jaune sent the message. Castling. Before he closed the scroll and jumped down.

"Let's get moving. We should be able to make the port by late night."

Amber stretched her calves one more time before Jaune set a jogging pace for the two. The journey down the mountain was far faster than the journey up the mountain. On this side of the mountain, the heat and salt water did not allow for much vegetation to grow. And no trees slowed the two down to the main road. Amber and Jaune both cheered when they slowed to a walk on the well-used dirt path.

Amber hid it well but the sweat on her brow and the labored exhale told Jaune she was wearing down after the pace for the last few days. Now that they had made it to the road they could slow. But there was also another reason for that as well.

It took asking two different wagons to get someone to agree, but Jaune was able to get the two of them a lift the rest of the way. Jaune's shoulders relaxed as the wagon rolled along the highway that led to the town. The dry land slowly turned to orange sand. Jaune wanted to look at a map when he got back home. During that run, they must have crossed into Vacuo at least once. Eventually, the road turned into a bridge. Jaune was so lost in thought that he would have missed it if the wagon didn't jostle and suddenly make a different sound as it ran cross stone rather than dirt.

The bridge extended a long way into the water with a city ahead of them. Jaune whistled at the port town. The map gave no real indication that it was an island. The city was made of pink buildings made from excavated and carved coral among an ocean of blue waves.

Finally, they made it to fortress Coral Blue. Jaune poked his head out and enjoyed the salt air that blasted his face and threw his hood off his head. Jaune and Amber took in the sight of the port. It was better described as a major city rather than a port town. The island was raised on high pink and yellow rock. Water collided into the side of the port town walls in a constant loud crash.

"I guess coral would be easier to pull from the ocean than cutting wood from miles away on land." Jaune observed while staring at a particularly large building that cast a shadow on the bridge. The coral stood out as a sort of accent for the building most of the tower was made of some kind of cement that matched the formed coral frame.

Amber hung her body out of the wagon to get a better view of the port. The island was reinforced with several boulders that acted as the foundation in parts to keep the city raised higher than the water. Where there were no rocks, there were metal and concrete walls that filled in parts and smoothed out the edge of the island that touched the water. Cannons jutted out like flags in all directions to target any air born grim threat.

While the two were busy looking at the spectacle, the bridge slowly ascended to the islands city level. Jaune from his point in the wagon could just barely make out the port where commercial ships harbored. The two got out of the wagon and thanked the man who took their lein. After the wagon left them behind, Amber and Jaune just stood in awe of it all.

"I guess you never been here either?" Jaune asked.

"Nope. I heard that there was a port here but I never knew it was this well developed." Jaune thought back to the overgrown mountain village. There was little wonder they got a signal out that far. This settlement was massive. It easily was as large as four of the settlements in Anvil but in such a small place. Buildings as tall as the ones in Vale stood proudly along the streets.

"Let's get some rooms for the night." Amber suggested when they finally stopped looking around. While they had gotten to the settlement earlier than they expected, it would be getting dark soon and the public transports would be closed for the night. Jaune allowed the fatigue to catch up with him. Not physical, but mental fatigue. The constant effort it took to look for threats of grim for the past few days drained him more than he would like to admit. Amber said she would take care of the grim, but Jaune still felt it was more of a habit being in the open that forced him to constantly scan and look for threats.

Jaune walked out of his room and knocked on Ambers' door. Now that he had the time to clean up and soak in a shower, he figured now would be a good time to speak with Ozpin. Amber called out, "Who's there?"

"It's me. Figured you would like to make a call."

There was a pause as Amber cautiously opened the door. Jaune gave a sheepish shrug. "Sorry. Figured now would be a good time as any to catch up."

Amber opened door wider and allowed the teen in. Jaune suddenly felt nervous as he watched her turn around and moved to her bed and sat down. She had swapped out of her riding pants and into an airy light blue dress that stopped at the knees. Jaune walked in and pulled out his scroll. He refocused on the matter at hand. The receptionist patched them to Beacon. The call barely started to connect when Ozpin answered.

"Mr. Arc. It is good to see you." He apparently was sitting at his office desk. Ozpin's face sat front and center on the screen and looked to both of them with a grateful look at Jaune.

"You too sir."

"Hiya Ozpin." The older woman added. "We are at a town called Coral Blue. We plan to try and get a ship to the capital tomorrow."

Ozpin nodded before he glanced over to Jaune. "Has Amber informed you of anything Jaune?"

Jaune gave a side glance to Amber who just smiled. "Only that she is a keeper for something in Beacon and she needs to move it. And that Beacon may no longer be safe." He gave Ozpin a hard stare at that.

"I can not disclose everything now, but the time of events left little opportunity to inform you of all of what has happened within the last few days."

Jaune nodded and understood. "Understood sir."

"Having said that, just know that Amber needs to come to Beacon to move a relic of the past. Several parties had made inquiries about Amber's location the morning I ordered you to search for her. One of my agents informed me foreigners were in Vale and had been looking for her by name and description."

Amber moaned. "That's not good Jaune. I don't technically exist."

"We'll keep you updated then. Any idea how they found out information on her?"

Ozpin shook his head. "I am afraid not. I have made some contacts for increased security in Vale and Beacon. But a few of those reinforcements will not be here for nearly two months. Just in time for the start of the new school year. We will have to make do with what we have until then."

Jaune thought about it all but asked, "Do you think there was a leak?"

Ozpin shook his head. "No. I believe the person who is behind this knew about Amber long before she was chosen as the keeper."

Ozpin looked at Amber. The woman shuddered a the thought.

Jaune scratched his head while he thought what he should do next after securing Amber back at Beacon. "Ozpin? Can you look into several alternate ways for you to move this relic out of Beacon? If they are looking for her, I feel better if we have a few ways to move it without waiting in Beacon for too long."

Ozpin recognized the merit. "I will make some inquiries now."

"Ozpin may I make a suggestion?" The headmaster looked up. Jaune frowned as he considered his next words. "Assume they know what you are doing. And plan accordingly."

Ozpin's paused at the advice but gave the teen a firm nod.

-o-

The horn of the ship rattled the air as they left the dock. The liner was a mid-size cargo ship that looked more in the line of a cruise ship than one used to transport merchandise. When Jaune pointed out they could potentially find a ship that could get them there faster, Amber mmm'ed to herself against the warm breeze. "The ship will take a day and a half to get to Vale. Why not make it comfortable?"

Jaune rolled his eyes but followed her into their cabin. The pair chose a single room with double beds for the trip. Amber insisted since she was paying for the trip. It was far more expensive for a second room. He had never actually been on a ship before and his feet seemed to shift underneath him at odd intervals. He patted his stomach and sighed. While it turned out he wasn't motion sick, he did find the uneasy footing making him lose his appetite.

The salt air on the deck the next day did little to appease his stomach as it flipped and rolled along with the ocean currents. He leaned over the railing on the second deck and looked at the ocean as they sailed by several islands. He could see several grim swim along the islands they had steered clear from. There had been an alert for the huntsmen to come to the deck an hour ago but they had not had any problems yet. Jaune balefully looked at Amber as she sat in sandals and a sundress. She was content with the warm air and the breeze that ran through her hair.

"You going to be OK there young man?" Jaune looked over his shoulder to see an older huntsman in his late forties. His hair started to gray and sunburnt cheeks smiled at the teen.

"I'll live. It was worse when I was a kid. Parents took my family across the ocean. I was pretty much unconscious the entire way."

The man laughed as he continued to walk past him to continue pacing the length of the ship. Jaune felt his ears perk when Amber said from above him, "He's right you know. You look awful."

Jaune smiled before he forcefully inhaled and exhaled. "I'll be fine. At least we are almost to the island. We can get off the ship by noon, take a short flight and be in Beacon by dusk. I'll be able to sleep this off in my own bed." Jaune sighed as if that would have been the most wonderful thing in the world at the moment. Amber smiled at him before she leaned back against the wall and watched as the island of grim sailed behind them.

The rest of the day seemed to have moved just as slow as the ship seemed to sail. Amber laughed as she could feel Jaune's apprehension and eagerness to put the sea faring vessel behind them when they finally made land. Jaune set his bag on the counter of the terminal as they both showed their scrolls. The agent scanned both of their scrolls and bade them a welcome to Vale. On the other side of the terminal, Jaune stretched as Amber tapped his shoulder. He looked to see who she was pointing to. The older man stood relaxed as he started to move towards them while waving to get their attention. Jaune followed Amber's lead.

"Yes?" Amber asked cautiously.

"Port Security. Will you both come with me for a second?"

Jaune stirred slightly at the request. "Is there something wrong?"

The man shook his head. "We just need to confirm a few things for passengers that came along the freighter. I apologize for taking up your time." Amber furrowed her brow but nodded as the man took them to a private room.

Jaune looked around the room. It was a small office with large windows. The view outside showed the sun begin to turn to dusk. Jaune felt himself losing focus as if that should have been important. The man coughed to get his attention. "I am sorry. My mind was wandering." Jaune felt his cheeks flushed.

"Thank you for the moment. Are you Amber? An employee of Beacon Academy?"

Amber nodded before she looked to Jaune. He shrugged. No one would really know who he was. "How can I help you?"

"Professor Ozpin had asked us to expect you both. There had been a change in plans and he requested you both to wait here at the terminal. He is sending someone from Beacon to pick you up. It may take some time so you are welcome to sit back and relax here. There are refreshments on the table for you both." The man gestured to the table before he excused himself.

Amber looked at the basket of fruit and sighed at the lack of lunch. She reached for the basket but gasped when it was suddenly empty. Her world spun as Jaune grabbed her and slammed them both away from the basket. Amber's teeth clacked together as they both hit the wall. "Jaune?"

"Snap out of it. It's an illusion."

Amber blinked but shook her head and tried to look around. The world had melted into an empty building that had collected dust over years of disuse. The basket moved into a gloved hand with a woman with dark hair and yellow eyes who glared at the two before she turned to someone else. Jaune followed the glare and spotted a woman with green hair and a dark tan.

The yellow eyed woman glared at them through dark hair and a scowl. She gripped her hand and the glove hissing as something squirmed in her grip. Jaune pulled Amber behind her. "We've got to get out of here."

The gloved woman raised her swords from the small of her back and they clicked into a bow. She pulled out several arrows and aimed at the two of them. Amber reached for her hip before she swore when she realized she did not have her bag nor her weapon. Their equipment was still with their bags somewhere. "Stay away from the gloved one." Jaune muttered as he pulled out his scroll.

"What?"

"She wanted to touch you with that glove. Stay awa-" Jaune dodged a hail of arrows and put away the scroll. He moved quickly and noticed that all but one arrow blurred before they disappeared. He glanced at the illusionist who was trying to stare at him. He sprinted for the girl. The world around him nearly shifted twice. It eventually peeled away when he moved faster. Her eyes tried to follow him but he recognized that look when someone lost track of his movements. Jaune ran faster and wide from the arrow the archer shot at him. If he was too fast for the illusionist to lock on to him, he needed to make short work of her.

Jaune ignored the gasp from Amber. He would have to trust that she could defend herself. He had to handle that green haired girl first or they could be fighting shadows without knowing it. Jaune spared a thankful thought to his gloves. He gripped his metal capped fists and heard the archer fire an arrow at him. He dodged it before he heard another arrow released with a thwak. Jaune raised his gloved hand and tilted his head unable to dodge it completely. The arrow grazed against his metal plated glove where it sliced across his cheek and tore open his ear lobe.

The illusionist smiled when she took out a gun that extended into a long blade. The blood from his face just screamed he had no aura. She swept low to high intent on gutting him like a fish in a single swing. Jaune proved faster. He pivoted to dodge and backhanded the woman with the metal knuckles against her ear. Her world spun as her inner ear shook from the blow. The illusionist grunted to keep herself standing as her head swam and her balance swayed. Jaune grabbed her by the hair and dropped to his knee. The patrolman pushed the illusionist head down against the concrete in a sickening thud like a melon hitting a table. Her eyes rolled in her skull.

Jaune took a split second to confirm her aura didn't break and raised another metal plated knuckle and slammed her temple with enough force her head bounced. Before he could secure another hit, a bullet from a gun nearly took his head. He flipped over the woman's prone body and grabbed her weapon. He jumped back several feet to look at the third person. He pulled his scroll again and glanced at it before he tucked it back into his pocket when he heard a growl from his newest attacker. The youngest of the three was the tallest with silver gray hair and shirt and black trousers that hung past his boots. The man swore as he sprinted to Jaune and raised a kick. Jaune did not see where the first gunshot was fired from. He threw the woman's weapon behind him and cautiously ran to meet the teenager. His eyes darted over the teen to look for the silver haired boys weapon. It saved him when the kick that he had dodged released a bullet from a hidden gun on the kicker's leg.

Jaune let himself fall flat on his back as the bullet and kick sailed over him. The teen smiled as his foot quickly turned in mid-air. Jaune rolled away as he realized the kicker was about to stomp him. Jaune kicked a steel covered toe against the back of the teens knee.

"Arg!" The silver haired teen gave yell in pain as Jaune heard a distinctive tink from the contact. The patrolman still laid on the ground but twisted his hip and his free leg swung around the still standing attacker and punted the kicker solidly in the abdomen. The teen grunted again and fell, now fully off balanced. Jaune's eyes widen as he felt full contact as the teens body caved around his foot. The kick to the leg must have hit something vital for his aura to have receded.

Jaune glanced back to Amber. She had flames wrapped around her eyes and hands but she seemed to have trouble breaking past the woman's aura. Jaune could feel the heat as the archer deflect the bolts of fire Amber threw at her. The two seemed to be at a standstill. He would ask about that ability later, but at least it gave him an idea.

"Amber get ready!" Jaune called. He rolled onto his stomach and with two great pushes from his legs he was already on his feet in a sprint towards the archer. Both the archer and the teen behind him yelped in surprise. The woman had only a moment to draw her bow. The teen Jaune had been fighting had no chance to catch up. Jaune looked at Amber and moved a thumb over his shoulder.

Amber immediately threw a fireball at the boy. He growled as he was engulfed in flames. Fire licked his clothes but he remained largely unharmed. Amber turned her focus to the green haired woman who laid prone on the ground. She was slowly starting to stand up. Amber fired another fireball at the illusionist. The sole man of the group stood in front of her and blocked the hit using his aura. "Amber! Keep moving! Don't let that girl have time to get an illusion going."

Jaune met the archer and glanced at the pure white glove. The… thing that looked like it popped out of the glove was absent. The woman growled as she twisted the bow and the two blades that made it separated. She swung one and stabbed the other at Jaune. The patrolman dodged the blows but developed a scowl that matched hers. A few of those swings were faster than he thought. He stepped forward once to push her shoulder but was rewarded with a stab that cut a bloody line across his chest when he turned his shoulders to dodge. Jaune completed a flip with his toe making one last kick to ward her off before he pushed back. Blood pumped hard in his ear and he could feel the side of his face slick with his blood from his ear. It still had not stopped bleeding with all the activity. Jaune's fists were raised and he slowly walked around with the archer turned swordswoman following him with both blades raised. The woman was a lot faster than her friends and Jaune could feel is stamina begin to sap away from the blood loss.

The woman growled as she swung both blades one after another in two shallow arcs to pin him down. Jaune dodged one and stepped in closer to her to slam the plated palm of his hand against the second blade's hilt right above her hand. The attempt shook his arm to his shoulder and back. Before he could let the painfully wrap his arm, he twisted the woman's arm with the blade to push her forward. He held firmly to the blade hilt and kicked her hard against the armpit. The sudden blow made her stumble forward but not before she was forced to let go of the hilt as he continued to twist it out of her fingers.

Behind Jaune, he could hear Amber shout out, "Finally!" Cold air lifted Amber several feet into the air. Flame flared from her eyes. She thrust her arm forward around her opponents. The concrete floor cracked and blackened with an explosion that shook the building. The man held the unconscious illusionist in his arms and he looked over to the yellow eyed woman.

The woman scowled at the patrolman. She glanced at Amber. "Mercury, give us cover!"

Jaune looked to the two other attackers. It was the kicker that raised and lowered his heel in a dust explosion that blinded Jaune and Amber. Jaune ran to where he thought Amber would be in case they tried to do anything. When the dots in front of his eyes faded he looked around to find the three had fled. But not without leaving something behind.

Jaune rubbed the sting across his chest and looked to see the blood but not much else from the wound. He let himself catch his breath and was happy to no longer hear the pounding of his own heart in his ear. "Are you OK there Amber?"

Amber nodded and exhaled. "Yeah. Sorry that took so long. Calling up that kind of energy is hard in the cities. Not enough nature."

Jaune looked around as he caught his breath. "Nature?" he asked disbelief in his voice.

"I don't know how it works either. I just know it's easier to call up energy when I'm not in a city. How did they find us? It felt like we moved too fast for them to follow us."

Jaune nodded. "We did, but they said it themselves. We were passengers on a freighter. As to if they had been searching this entire time, or knew to look for us at the right time. That's another question." Jaune lifted the woman's sword he had taken. It was a white piece of metal with several embroidered patterns across the blade. Hopefully, it was distinct enough. "If anything we have a few clues as to who they are."

"I have a good idea who they were working for Jaune. But a little more information on them would be helpful. Thank you."

Jaune was suddenly aware how bloody his clothes were and gave Amber an annoyed look as she looked largely unhurt except for the slight sweat she built up. He pressed his hand to his cheek to apply pressure to help stop the bleeding.

Amber seemed to have caught him staring, "What?"

Jaune shook his head at the unfairness of it all before he refocused on his surroundings and searched until he found the illusionist' weapon where he threw it. He picked that up carefully by the barrel until he found how to collapsed the blade. "Let's go get our luggage and get home."

When the two finally stepped out of the building they realized they were miles away from the airport. It was already dark as the sky had taken to full evening. But Jaune was thinking about what they had just encountered and what Ozpin would have to say. At least I no longer feel sick.

"How did you know it was an illusion?"

Jaune realized his focus was slipping when it took him a moment to recognize what Amber asked. He gestured to the skyline. "The sun. It was still hours away when we got off the ship. But when we went inside what we thought was the office, the sun was already setting."

Amber looked at the sky and rubbed her neck with such a carefree gesture Jaune would have wondered how she could be so calm. "We must have been under the girls' influence for hours to bring us here with no one stopping us." Jaune caught her looking at the building. While she did not show it, Jaune had a distinct impression she was more shaken from the attack than she let on. "Going back to Beacon sounds really good right now."

Jaune opened his scroll and ignored the sudden influx of messages as his scroll connected to the local network. He dialed his boss and nearly shook his head as Ozpin answered immediately. "Ozpin? Can you send a bullhead to the airport in Vale? We were attacked. I rather we are picked up by a bullhead we can trust."

After several questions about their safety, they had been informed a ship would arrive within the hour. Before he put away his scroll, Jaune pointed it to the address number of the building and took several more pictures of the entrance and walked back in for a few more. Amber impatiently waited while she looked around the empty street. The street lamps were on, but they were far and few between the many buildings that framed the road. Finally, Jaune closed the scroll with a click before he looked at the two weapons he recovered. One from the illusionist and the other from the archer. "I'll be conducting an investigation after this. And I may need Qrow's help identifying these weapons."

Amber seemed to have gotten some energy back. Her voice couldn't hide her interest. "You'll be seeing Qrow?"

"I will now. I need him to come to Beacon. I don't want to drag these weapons anywhere I don't need to."

Amber looked at the empty street and started walking. Jaune followed as he understood her sudden interest. Amber eagerly added, "Let me know when he comes in. I would love to see him again."

Jaune couldn't help but smile at the sudden change in demeanor. He grunted his agreement. Amber was much more relaxed with the promise of meeting Qrow again. Jaune let her have her moment to decompress, but he never took his eyes off his surroundings. His eyes were moving in a tireless search for threats all the way back to the airport.

-o-

Jaune wanted to just sleep but he still stood in front of Ozpin. The headmaster was curiously inspecting the weapons. "You are right. You will need to see Qrow about these. I'll send a request to see if he can come in tomorrow afternoon." Ozpin turned to Amber. "I daresay you would like to see your companion again."

Amber nodded happily. She seemed so much more relaxed now that she was in Beacon. Maybe Jaune wasn't the only one that was tense the entire trip.

"I am concerned for how they found us sir." Jaune pointed out. "They were waiting for us. And the only ones we contacted were you, and a friend of mine that is a student. I did not divulge where I was to them."

Ozpin sat back in his chair and sighed. "I had thought about it since you told me of your attack. Each possibility does not look good for us."

"How so Ozpin?" Amber shuffled her feet nervously.

"The people who targeted you had done so by one of several ways. They either intercepted the CCT communications, tracked you by your unique aura, knew about Jaune and tried to intercept, or one of a very few people I told of the matter divulged the information to your enemies."

Amber gasped slightly. She took a seat and leaned forward. Her hands clasped in front of her and Jaune couldn't see her face with her hair covering her eyes.

Jaune decided now would be a good time to chip in his two cents and added for Amber's benefit. "We can rule out tracking by aura. If they were doing that from the start, they would never have been in Vale asking for you." He gave the older woman a comforting pat on the shoulder. He tilted his head to Ozpin and added, "If they were tracking me, there were plenty of places they could have attacked us on the way here. And they would have to find some way to follow me. I have no aura and I move fast when I am on my own. Had they followed me to a town, they would have been left behind as soon as I went to a new settlement. They would not have known we were on a ship to Vale if that were the case."

Amber's shoulders relaxed slightly. When she looked up, her eyes were stressed but hopeful. "But they knew."

Jaune nodded with a reluctant. "But they knew."

"Which leaves the last two options." Amber and Jaune turned back to the headmaster. "If they had intercepted the CCT communication, they could have set up that plan to intercept you when you arrived in Vale. That means our CCT security is compromised. I would need to speak to Atlas to bring technicians to investigate. That is something I will now do regardless. The other option concerns me greatly. I had updated several of my most trusted allies regarding your whereabouts in preparation to move your relic to a new home. One of those could have given the information to Salem or her informants."

Jaune frowned. "Anyone we can narrow it down to?"

Ozpin looked at his coffee mug sadly and sighed. "Yes."

-o-

Jaune didn't even want to shower now that a bed was calling him. He knew that wasn't an option yet. Jaune took off his hoodie and threw it on the kitchen table. It would need to be washed with the blood stains that would hopefully come off with several good washings. The doctor made sure nothing was serious and pushed him out of Beacon Infimary with a bandaged ear and pain kills that would not thin his blood. The bandage couldn't get wet and it was almost enough to skip the shower and sleep.

Jaune stretched and any thoughts of a bed were killed as he smelled himself. He grunted as he turned on his terminal and set his scroll next to it. He was not happy with the information he collected with Amber's assailants. There was still too little information to set up a profile. He scrolled through the information he built while they had flown back to Beacon. Eventually, he knew he should stop. His eyes were sore and his vision doubled under drowsy eyes.

Jaune looked at his scroll and smiled at the new message that popped through. It was from Coco. He gave the message a cursory glance. She wanted to know if he was back yet. They had a mission soon and wanted to get some training in. Team CFVY only had the morning leave for training. Jaune smiled at his scroll and replied he would be available tomorrow morning.

Jaune ignored the return bleep moments later as he stripped and finally got into the shower. The hot water was like heaven to his sweat-soaked hair.

-o-

Jaune smiled at Qrow as he walked into the office. "Good morning Qrow."

The older man smiled as he raised the tip of his canteen. Jaune could smell the alcohol from across the room. He raised an eyebrow at it.

Qrow tilted his head as he took a drink. "I figured I needed it today."

"Why?" Jaune looked over to Ozpin before another ding of the elevator announced another person. Jaune waved a good morning to Amber before she walked past him and wrapped her arms around Qrow.

Qrow sighed and let himself be swayed back and forth. "Qrow! I missed you!" Amber smiled and laughed into his chest.

The older man quietly murmured something and returned the gesture."It's good to see you safe and sound Amber."

Jaune let the two have a moment while he walked around to Ozpin. "Has he already looked at the weapons?"

Ozpin nodded but it was Qrow who answered around Amber's shoulder. "I have-"

Amber reluctantly let go of the older man as the four of them took seats around Ozpin's desk. Qrow took a sip from his canteen and put it away. "And they are real antiques. The sickle is a Valian weapon that ran out of fashion nearly twenty years ago. The ones you recovered were reconditioned. I will need to discuss with a few people in Vale if anyone has seen this set before. Something like that will stick with a person. The second weapon is actually what concerns me." Qrow pointedly looked over to Ozpin.

"The dual wield weapon is an artifact from the last war. In particular, it is Mistrals' military design. It is not proof, but it does give me a good place to start in regards to our leak. I called both Jaune and Amber here to discuss our plans and how we may be able to confirm who our leak is."

Jaune looked over the weapons that were set on the desk. "You think our leak is from Mistral?"

Ozpin nodded. "It's all circumstantial at this point. If we go under the assumption it was a leak, I only spoke of Amber's movements to three people and one of them works in Mistral."

Jaune frowned. "And out of my jurisdiction for an arrest."

"And also high in the chain of command. He was- is a friend. Leonardo Lionhart. He is the headmaster of Haven Academy." Jaune hissed at the information. Ozpin continued, "No, if we do confirm that Leo is the leak, the most we could do is arm ourselves with the knowledge that we know the identity of one of our enemies." Ozpin gave Amber an apologetic look from over his glasses.

Amber sighed but nodded.

"So how do we confirm this?" Jaune asked as he crossed his arms and leaned back against the chair. Small good it would do to be a patrolman but still bound to the country.

"Jaune, I believe it is too early to inform you of this, but your past encounter will no doubt drawn their attention to you. They likely know who you are already."

Jaune nodded. "I figured that would happen. If it isn't one group it would have been another eventually." Jaune immediately thought of the group Neo worked with. He was happy nothing untoward happened yet, but he was told by quite a few people from Koben to Avery, that he would eventually draw unwanted attention. He just needed to be prepared for it.

"The person we oppose is named Salem. She is very old being that has tried to influence humans for a very long time. I can confirm that much based on Amber's description of the glove."

Amber added. "I was sure of the triangle symbol on it and it was a insect-like head that started to crawl out of the glove."

Ozpin tapped his desk with his fingers tips in a single long drum. "I am familiar with that kind of grim. Instead of attacking the body, that grim attacks the latent aura of its victim. It was likely they found a way to steal your powers with that grim."

Amber shuddered. Qrow quickly placed an arm around her. He ignored her surprised look as he stared at the weapons. "I take it you want me to take a trip to Mistral then?"

Ozpin took out his scroll and opened his last list of messages. "Yes Qrow, I would like you to observe him to see if he reaches out to Salem. If we can get our confirmation I want you to pull out."

Qrow nodded at the same time as Amber frowned. Qrow ignored her mumbled, "But I just got to see you."

Jaune hmm'ed to himself. "You are placing a lot of faith in waiting for something to happen. How about we force his hand?"

Ozpin looked at the teen amused. "What do you propose?"

Jaune tilted his head as he thought of his past few cases back in Anvil. "Well, if I wanted to get a thief to come out to the open to confirm their identity or find an accomplice, I would need to give them an incentive to react while we were observing them. Let's get Qrow in a position where he can observe while we feed the guy information. If he acts on it, we got our confirmation. If he doesn't and we follow through with the information we leaked and this Salem still reacts, we then can confirm it was not him. Oh!"

Jaune pulled out his scroll and pulled up several pictures. "This is what all three of them looked like. Well, the silver haired kid's picture is a little blurry. But it should help you spot them at a glance Qrow. If they are getting support in Mistral then they might be who this Leo-guy is talking to."

Qrow whistled. "You took these in the middle of a fight?"

Jaune gave a reproachful laugh. "Remember Neo? How much easier do you think my search for her would have been had I taken her picture?"

Qrow shook his head. "The way you described it, had you taken her picture, she probably would have killed you."

Jaune did not respond to that one. Qrow was probably right. Instead, "We have both Amber and the relic, that gives us two tries to confirm it."

Ozpin's eyes relaxed when he thought about the suggestion. "What do you think Amber?"

Amber sighed and leaned into Qrow's arm. "I agree. We should find out how they found me. I only moved around for a peace of mind. But after being safe for so long, something must have had happened. If Salem is moving, it's not just me, it will be all of us girls that will be in danger."

Jaune looked over to her, "Us girls?"

Ozpin exhaled an amused sigh at Amber's slip. She gave a sheepish shrug not the least bit sorry. "There are four girls including Amber with her kind of abilities. They can only ever be four in the world. If one of them dies, the powers they possess move on to a new host. I believe that Salem had found the means to harness those powers without endangering herself."

Jaune pinched the bridge of his nose. "I'll ask about it later. Let's focus on the issue at hand."

Ozpin scrolled through his menu until he pulled up a screen. "Qrow, with the semester closing, can you make arrangements to be in Mistral for the next week?"

"Consider it done Oz."

Jaune scratched his head and he did not like what he was about to suggest. "Do you think they would go after the relic now?" He silently hoped that would be the case.

Ozpin shook his head. "It is useless without the Maiden. If we used the information of the relic they may try and make an effort to intercept it, but there is no guarantee. Salem may have a way to measure the energy they give off as well. We would need to use the real relic, not a decoy."

Amber grunted and leaned forward. Qrow felt his arm slide off her shoulders and he used his hand to rub her back. Amber sighed in appreciation before she looked at Ozpin. "That means I need to be the bait. Can we get a few more people we can trust with this?"

Ozpin was about to answer, but Qrow beat him to it. "I have a few friends in Mistral that can help. I would rather we have people who are still unknowns." Qrow, who had been quiet and absently rubbed Amber's back, stopped. "That means I need to get Tai. What kind of information are you going to pass on to Leonardo?"

Ozpin looked to Jaune. Jaune blinked as he realized the headmaster was allowing him room to plan. "Like Amber told me a little while ago, Beacon should divest itself of anything that may threaten the school. She needs to be moved and hidden off the continent. Let Leonardo know that Amber along with a few people will be taking her through Mistral to an undisclosed location. We were attacked at a port so ask him if he can help us bypass security to get out of the town faster. I just need to find the ideal port where we can leave and still be in a defensible position if we were attacked."

Qrow and Amber shared a glance before they looked over to Ozpin who had sipped his afternoon coffee. The headmaster's baritone voice offered. "I can arrange the date and time for the arrival in a port and request Leo to expedite your screening to let you move out of town as quickly as possible."

Jaune gave Ozpin and Amber a satisfied smile. Jaune felt relieved that Ozpin liked his idea. He started to make a list of what he wanted in a travel path when he asked, "So! Who's Tai?"

-o-

Tai, as it turns out, was Qrows old partner from his academy days. His team had stayed together for a very short time after graduating. By the sounds of it, it was a very short time. Jaune thought grimly. It was not a story Qrow sounded enthusiastic to tell, and Jaune did not ask. Qrow had got the confirmation Tai was on board for the trip then promptly left to Mistral.

"Amber!" Jaune stood next to the woman as the blonde older man in khaki cargo shorts and an orange shirt walked out of the elevator. The two laughed and gave each other a long hug and hard pat on the back. "Qrow said you had some trouble. It's good to see you safe."

Amber immediately waved off the concern while the two caught up. Jaune looked over to Ozpin who simply sipped his cup. It looked like the two would talk for a while. Jaune simply moved to lean against the headmaster's desk and waited for the two to finish so they could start. "Would it be rude to interrupt them?"

"It would not. Excuse me Tai but we should get you briefed of the situation."

Tai finally took notice of Jaune and gave him a skeptical look. "With a student?"

Jaune looked up while Amber repressed a smile. Ozpin came to his defense. "This is Jaune, the patrolman for Beacon. He was the one who escorted Amber safely back to Beacon."

Tai clammed up. "Sorry. You just looked young." He quickly apologized.

"I am." Jaune said with all the patience he could muster. He moved to sit down in a chair. Jaune still did not trust himself to say anymore. It was not until these last few months that Jaune realized if there was one thing that bothered him, it was being disregarded. Nothing else seemed to anger him as quickly as blatantly being ignored and discounted. He had no clue when it started but damn did he feel it the last year or so.

The meeting was brief. It was more for Tai and Jaune to talk to each other before any kind of sting operation may start. If Jaune was honest, he felt out of sorts with the whole conversation. Tai had not spoken to him much outside of the initial confusion and instead caught up with Amber who simply blushed when he teased her about Qrow.

As more of an excuse to himself than to actually add more work to his load, he volunteered to look into the scythe weapons' history in Vale. Ozpin bid him a good day. Jaune ignored the look the headmaster gave both Jaune and Tai. Something told Jaune that the older man was annoyed with both of them.

-o-

Jaune knew he messed up when he answered his scroll with the video on. Coco stared at him. It took him half a beat to realize she could see the bandaged ear. Jaune knew he couldn't hide it now and just grimaced as Coco continued to stare at him and his muffled greeting. When he explained he couldn't go see CFVY today due to an investigation, she just grinned.

"Really? You're going into Vale? Well I am glad you invited me! I'll be at the bullheads in twenty minutes."

The screen went blank and Jaune just sighed at the scroll. It was really turning into one of those days. But as much as he had misgivings about how his day would turn out, Coco did her best to break those expectations.

Jaune could feel her eyes on him and the questions she wanted answered. Instead, Coco did her best to distract the both of them as they flew into Vale.

"You said you were going to Vale when I called you. When you asked if I wanted to come along, I thought you were thinking of catching a movie or a bite to eat." Jaune laughed at Coco as she raised her hand to shade her eyes from the sun. She had come so quickly she had forgone the usual shades and beret and walked next to him in a simple blue and gray top and soft gray capris.

"I hardly invited you. I even warned you I was working." He lifted the blue jersey he wore to signify he was in Vale as a patrolman.

Coco crossed her arms and nearly pouted as she looked at the street and a car that honked at something. "As if you had a choice that said I was not coming. Well, to be honest when I called, I only heard you and Vale and an excuse not to train." She added a wink to him for good measure.

Jaune snorted before he offered his hand to her, "Oh, did my dear wench find the rigors of mortal combat too strenuous for her delicate hands?"

Coco fanned herself with her hand and batted her eyelashes at him, "I do believe I have suffered the vapors. Would you please this wench with a brief respite and the pleasure of your company?"

It took the pair a moment before they lost character and just laughed. It was not much longer when Jaune stopped in front of an antique store. "Ok Coco. Serious face. It's bad enough I look like I am still a student at Signal." Coco dropped the smile, but Jaune could feel the teasing look as she nodded solemnly.

Jaune greeted the woman at the counter, "Good morning, I am here to speak with Thos."

"Ah, you must be Mr. Arc. Please this way. Thos should be in the back." Jaune smiled and followed. Her accent was one he had never heard before. The long cloth that wrapped around her shoulder to her waist signified she and likely her husband had traveled far to come to Vale. It must have been hard to keep their culture and not be swallowed up by Vale given how Qrow had said they had been in Vale since he was in the academy.

"Mr. Arc." Thos greeted Jaune.

The man was a short man with thin wire frame glasses. He was a deeply tanned man with wrinkles that crossed his face in a smile. "Thank you for seeing me Thos. Qrow had a prior arrangement and I had resumed where he left off. Here is the weapon we wanted you to look at."

The scythe weapon was set on the table. Already Thos shook his head. "I have not serviced this one, and I can tell it wasn't serviced in any place in Vale. The smell of the oil gives it away. It's something that is not found in Vale. It's too expensive to be imported."

Jaune bit his lip and ventured, "Is it an oil native to Mistral?"

"You know your oils Mr. Arc. Yes. It is a high class one. This one and its partner must have been through a lot of war to have been restored to this degree, see the handle? That is completely new. I have the parts myself, but like the oil they are not native to Vale. The wood is not oak or maple. It's more of a kind of hardened pine that is not from around the region. The grain is all wrong for anything else."

"Thanks for confirming that for us. Anything else you can surmise from the weapon's condition?"

Thos looked over the scythe as it moved to its gun mode. "It was likely recovered in the field in gun mode. Even after the paint job, there are still faint lines along the barrel as the metal discolored. It was restored in Mistral with top dollar. I would say it was built to be gifted in good faith. No one else who would want to use it would spend so much money to restore something this old unless they were a collector."

Jaune nodded. "And it was being used, not hanging on a wall. Thank you Thos."

"Any time Mr. Arc. If you need anything else, please feel free to stop by. And give Qrow my best regards."

Jaune smiled, and placed the weapon in his sling over backpack. "I will. Thank you."

Jaune walked out the back to see Coco chuckle at something she held in her hand. She brought it close to her face to see the details. "Find something Coco?" Jaune asked. He remembered she had wanted to collect souvenir on various missions. He didn't think she would start looking for one in Vale.

Coco stared at the small trinket as it spun in a delicate figure eight on the platform the size of her palm. "It's nice but I am not sure." Jaune looked at it and realized it was a couple as they danced on a stage.

There was a lot of detail and the base looked brand new compared to the actual dancers. After the metallic chimes of the tune slowed to a stop the dancers stopped as well. Jaune looked at the price and realized why Coco looked at the trinket in mourning. That price. Yikes.

Coco gave it back and thanked the woman. Coco sighed as she led the way out.

Jaune looked over his shoulder at the trinket and asked, "What's the song that it plays?"

The woman smiled, "A Love's Eve in Winter."

Jaune repeated the name in his head and thanked her. He quickly followed Coco and paused when she stopped and stretched. Jaune caught himself staring and shook his head and ignored the smile that formed on his face when he walked around her.

Coco was oblivious to any of Jaune's thoughts and drawn out the word, "Well… I still got time if you want to do something Jaune."

Jaune sighed with a barely repressed smile and took her by the arm. "Come on, I got a place I know that serves a good brunch."

Coco focused on his bandaged ear. "Are you finally going to tell me a bit about your last trip?"

Jaune smiled at the hopeful tone to her voice. He closed his eyes as he really thought of what he signed up for. It wasn't anything like he expected. He had known he would involve himself with criminal rings and travel far and wide to investigate crime scenes. But the things Amber did? The thing called Salem. Those other people that seemed to work with that grim if the glove was any indication. That felt like it was above what he was ready for.

But the alternative was something Jaune would never allow so long as he could help it. If he could help one more person, potentially save a life just by being here... Jaune knew he couldn't walk away. He felt an odd sense of calmness when he thought about it.

Jaune recognized it when he realized that being a patrolman was something he wanted to do for the rest of his life. When he told Barty that being a patrolman was his calling Jaune felt that certainty and peace. Somehow being here, helping Amber and Ozpin with whatever they need. It felt right and it gave him a peace of mind he felt he had no right to have. Ozpin hired him for a reason. Jaune just hoped his intuition was right. He pushed aside the questions he had for the headmaster in the interest of focusing on finding Amber's attackers and the security leak. His questions and doubts were still there. But right now they were not important. If finding the leak would help secure Beacon and Vale, and keep those who would harm Amber for her powers, he was going to do his job.

Jaune was snapped from his thoughts when he felt the weight of Coco's arm against his side.

"Some of it," Jaune answered when Coco tugged at his arm when her curiosity overrode her patience. He wondered what kind of inquisition he had willingly walked into. In his mind, he already began to edit out some of the more sensitive details. To distract her from the things she could not learn, Jaune offered, "I found a nice town that sits in the ocean you may like to visit sometime."

Coco's eyes lit up, "Oh?"

A/N:

I finally got around to editing this one. The next story stalled a little and I had to go back to this story while working on the next one. I think I got what I needed to finish the next one. We'll see if there is another long gap. Maybe December for the next story.