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.

10. Chapter 10 Kids

Jaune, for the first time in what seemed like ages, sat and just talked with Coco.

Coco told stories about her week, and Jaune described the third years he worked with during the same period. He shared some of the problems he ran into with the teams working together and Coco described what was different in her second year already compared to her first. There was no talk of death, or the case, or the looming things he would need to do once the rest of the world awoke to start their day. Coco and Jaune did not mind that they started their day at four in the morning. Because they were together.

"You're touching your scroll again." Coco chirped in a reminder.

Jaune looked at his hand and smiled. He had been reaching for it ever since the sun rose. Anvil was an hour ahead of Vale. They would be awake by now. "So I am. Ok. Fine. I'll call them."

Coco squeezed closer to him as she took his scroll. Jaune gave a nervous laugh that made him squirm in his seat when she opened his address book and clicked the scroll icon for 'family'. She raised the scroll but not before she unbound her hair and straightened up in her seat.

"Nervous?" Jaune whispered in her ear.

Coco gave a curious hmm. "I'm about to be introduced to my boyfriends parents to explain how he nearly got killed. Nervous is somewhere on the list." Jaune simply held her hand with his good one in support.

It took a few moments of ringing before a blonde girl only slightly older than Jaune answered the call. The eager raise of the girls eyes turned happy, "Good morning Jaune! Glad to see you finally called! It only took you a few months this time. Mom will be happy." The blonde girl paused and noticed the girl next to her brother. Then she raised her eyebrows which were lost into the bangs of her hair. "Are you going to announce some happy news?" She asked while she observed how close Coco sat to Jaune.

Jaune shook his head. "She did sing back to me a while ago." He answered honestly. He heard the sudden nervous laughter from his sister. Coco simply squeezed his hand twice at the inside joke. "Morning Nuit. Are mom and dad awake? I need to talk to them. It's important."

The girl nodded before the scroll screen blurred around the house. Nuit's hand disappeared before Jaune stared at his mom. She wore her old apron she had owned since he bought it for her on her birthday nearly four years ago. "Morning Jaune, and friend. Hello my name is Allison." The mother smiled at the two.

"Morning Mom, this is my girlfriend Coco. But that isn't why I am calling. Can you get dad and find a quiet spot to talk?"

His mother rested a hand on her hip and nodded before she set down the scroll. Pans were scraped against the metal grates on the stove. The apron fell in front of the camera before it disappeared from view. Jaune knew that his mother was going to the smithy.

"She didn't look surprised." Coco said quietly.

"It's not the first time we've had this kind of talk." Jaune muttered. "But they would normally know what happened already. News travels slow to Anvil from the capital. Dad is probably one of the few people outside of the huntsmen and patrolmen that owns their own scroll. And I bought him that one."

It was a concession when he accepted his job at Beacon without informing his parents right away. He was already horrible at keeping in touch inside Anvil. They only felt a little better when Jaune bought his father a scroll before he left. Granted Jaune never called them in the last few months. But the token effort was there. It just didn't ease his conscience.

"Jaune." The tall blonde man answered. "And guest." Jaune's father corrected himself. "Good morning. My name is Nathaniel."

"I'm Coco." Coco replied. Jaune rubbed his thumb across the back of her hand in support.

Jaune's father did not seem to notice anything and looked at his son. Jaune's mother sat down next to his father. It was his mother that asked, "What happened?"

Jaune raised his bad hand in a nervous wave. His father could pick out how hurt Jaune was with those bandages. There was no sense in pretending otherwise. Jaune let Coco ease into him. "You'll hear about it soon. But Vale had a grim invasion."

-o-

"I am sorry Mom. I have to go." Jaune looked at the notification on the screen. "I'll give Coco the scroll contact if you would like that."

Coco's indulgent smirk made him almost regret he made the offer. She ran her fingers over the top of his hand. "You're too good to me."

Jaune's mother cleared her throat to get their attention. She gave them a parting look that expected more calls in the future. "I would like that very much as well. Take care. Both of you." Jaune's mother ended the line.

Jaune reluctantly closed the scroll. The chat with his parents was kinder and more comforting than he expected. Coco charmed them with her questions and Jaune just took the time to look at his parents. It had been a while since he talked with them. It was so different when he could not just drop by and say hi on his way to work.

"I'm sorry Coco. I really have to go." Jaune pulled his girlfriend up from the couch and repressed the urge to sigh. A day with Coco sounded so much more appealing than what he needed to do today.

Coco had already wrapped her arms around his neck now familiar with where to rest her arms without hurting him. "Don't be. But you promised me some time now that you're done with your case. And I plan to take all of it." Jaune just enjoyed the moment before she stepped back. Jaune could not resist the smile on his face as she leaned over the table to grab the empty bag. Coco turned to wink at his lingering eyes. "See you around stableboy."

Jaune stared at the closed door for a moment and quickly turned to get some clean clothes on. Redressing his wounds would have to wait. Now that he was a little more alert, Jaune sent a message to the headmaster.

The Council had summoned him.

-o-

The headmaster seemed to have expected the call. He simply said he would be waiting outside with a car to drive them. Jaune wondered at that. A car would take an extra fifty minutes to drive around the lake and down the mountain ridge to enter the city. Plus the time for the wall check in just to enter the city. It was why Jaune usually just took a car to the port while inside Vale rather than drive or run directly to and from Beacon.

The headmaster was dressed in his sunday's best. Black pin striped suit and cane with a green ascot. "Good morning Jaune. I think we should speak before you have your meeting."

Jaune appreciated the gesture. He got into the extra long limousine and noticed there was coffee and tea ready to be made.

"I don't think I have ever asked what you preferred. So I had filled the car with both." Ozpin said genially. He gave a two fingered wave to the driver who simply started to drive forward. The glass divide went up and turned dark to give Jaune and Ozpin some privacy.

Jaune quickly started to seep some tea. "Thank you sir. Tea in the morning, coffee if it's late night if you're curious."

Ozpin sounded amused as he leaned back in his seat. "I'll make note of it. As to why we are making the Council wait, I have had a long conversation with the council after I had dismissed you for the weekend to rest. First, I apologize. I am sorry I was not there from the beginning."

Jaune tilted his head slightly. "Sir?"

"Perhaps you were too tired to realize it, but a few of the councilmen were attempting to frame the conversation in a way that you would take responsibility for the attack."

Jaune closed his eyes and tried his best to remember the debriefing. He remembered losing patience at their reframing of questions. "Sorry Sir. I honestly don't remember too much of the conversation."

Ozpin agreed with a quite hum. "Councilwoman Soek agreed and attempted to curb the conversations for a later date. The council could see you were dead on your feet. When it was clear several of the councilmen were looking for reparations. I stepped in."

Ozpin watched Jaune as the teen closed his eyes and shook slightly. His patrolman exhaled an angry puff and looked up to his boss. "What happens now?"

Ozpin was always impressed with Jaune's professionalism. "You will find out today. I was not summoned so I am unable to walk in with you. Just be aware that several people have made attempts to try and renegotiate your contract with Vale. I have corrected their misunderstanding on that stand. But as to what else they want, I am unsure. It was your case."

Jaune set his tea down and crossed his arms. "Was being the operative word. I am curious how the last twenty four hours worked out since I was not apart of the investigation afterwards. I had expected something in terms of directions or requests. I had received nothing. As far as I am aware, Winter knows more about the situation than I do."

The headmaster frowned. "That may be the case. I have spoken briefly about the incident to General Ironwood. But I would like you to speak to him directly on our next meeting."

Jaune nodded. "I still owe Atlas a report for the initial incident. I'll prepare something by the end of the day." Jaune paused for a second as he realized he needed to make visits for the huntsmen. "Maybe tomorrow."

"You have until the end of initiation if you want to put a deadline for yourself. But this would merely be a meeting to give your impressions and observations of the invasion itself."

"Thank you headmaster." Jaune looked out the window. The car had finally made its way around the length of the lake and started down the ravine towards the city. "I wanted to thank you for allowing me to do my job on this case without your interference after I had demanded so many requests for points of contact with the huntsmen."

Ozpin watched as his Patrolman lowered his head. "Jaune. As a private citizen I am as much required to follow a patrolman's requests during a state of emergency."

Jaune appreciated that the headmaster said that. "Thank you." Jaune finished his tea in one drought. "I do have a confession to make and a few requests."

Ozpin remained silent but he simply put his hand forward for Jaune to continue.

Jaune rubbed his eyes. "I was stupid and wreckless these last few weeks. I have tried my best to make sure there were double contingencies and back ups for everything I could think of. But I made a fatal mistake that I did not realize until this last week."

Ozpin frowned. He was curious what Jaune meant. He thought the patrolman did an exemplary job during the crisis.

Jaune frowned and swallowed thickly. "I was a point of failure. If I had fallen ill, got too exhausted or killed, if anything happened where I could not make it to the CCT after the assassination attempt on my life, Vale could have fallen. I knew I needed backup and help for weeks now. The case was too large. It kept getting larger. The emergency powers helped with the logistics but I could feel myself lose focus. It all came to a head after the invasion. You saw what I was like when you walked into that Council meeting."

"What can I do to help?"

Jaune felt reluctant to ask since his position was tenuous at best for Beacon. The job only became viable as Ozpin and Glynda found other roles for him to fill.

"I need a partner. Someone who is physically fast enough to keep up with me if I have to go in a pursuit at the very least. Vale is larger than any town a Patrolman was trained to work in. I have a feeling that there will be more I will have to do beyond this invasion and none of it would be related to Watt's and his companions."

Ozpin exhaled through his nose. "I will see what I can do. If I find someone, I'll let you know."

Jaune nodded and leaned back into his chair. He closed his eyes for a moment and suddenly felt tired and dizzy from it all. Under closed eyes, he muttered. "Thank you Sir."

-o-

Coral Soek rested her elbow on her arm chair and resisted the urge to rest her chin on her hand. Some councilmen who she did not wish to name, Coral sent a baleful glare to Ardus, had begun to lose patience with the patrolman's tardiness. He was requested over two hours ago.

"Councilmen." The voice on the other side of the door announced. "Presenting Jaune Arc, Patrolman of Beacon Academy."

There was an impatient shuffle when Coral stood up. With her lead, her fellow supporters stood up. An alarmed grunt resounded as other scrambled to their feet. Coral spotted Ardus' scowl deepen at the gesture as he stood up.

Coral inspected the young man who walked in the door. It seemed he had not fully recovered. A pair of blue jeans and a black shirt with the simple blue jersey worn by the patrolmen out in the frontier. He looked thinner now. The bandages he wore bulge in odd places against his tight fitting shirt and jersey.

In a way, Coral had to concede to Ardus about a few things. The patrolman was a boy in their eyes. Not even eighteen. She read what happened to him in Anvil. After the lengths he made to keep Vale safe, she did not wish him to experience that same problem here.

So much for that thought. Coral thought to herself.

"Good morning Patrolman."

Jaune's alert eyes looked back to her with a slight bow. "Councilwoman Soek."

Coral smiled slightly. "Please be seated. There is much to discuss about the future contingencies for Vale. Resume recording." She said to her aid. "This session is a preliminary overview of the incident labeled as the Patrolman Defense."

-o-

"That simply leaves the child assassin who made an attempt on your life."

Jaune cleared his throat. "I have not spoken to the prisoner since his incarceration. Medical staff at Beacon have not informed me of any emergency issues to his health. I would like to question him in regards to the attack but I can not sentence him. I ask if Vale would receive custody of the boy."

A few of the members exchanged glances, Jaune spotted a subtle shake of a councilman's head to another. Coral Soek noticed the exchanges and frowned as well. "It appears we would need to vote on it. Concerns against?"

Councilman Ardus growled in his worn old voice. "We are already have a wave of anti-faunus sentiment in the city. Some of the more stout supporters of the old ways will look for this to strengthen their base in the commerce guilds. We had just had a debate with the commerce guild about the status of unequal wages last year. Now is not the time to show ways to divide any group."

"The people would want to see justice done Ardus." Someone replied from across the table. Jaune looked over to Choro. He was the councilman that owned the northern mountain border. His pale face and gaunt eyes narrowed. "Let them have it. It would be good for someone to gain some kind of closure."

Coral rested her hands folded on the top of her desk and added, "On this I think Councilman Ardus is right. What you are proposing Choro is to apply all the crimes on the White Fang on a single person. We can not do that. If Vale does take custody of the boy, we will need to make it a transparent trial to ensure there are no doubts about the honesty and integrity of the trail." The councilwoman said that to Jaune with a frown. "At this time we are not able to afford a long trial so close to the attack Mr. Arc."

Jaune nodded. "I understand. Thank you for at least considering the option."

The councilwoman Soek nodded to her aid. "Do you have thoughts of what you will do?"

Jaune looked around the table. "My only thought is to transfer him to Menagerie to stand trial among his peers."

A few councilmen scowled but remained quiet.

"He committed his crimes in Vale." grumbled one of the councilmen.

Jaune remembered that guy being one of the people that kept asking him questions just after the invasion. Jaune did not have the patience to deal with him at the moment. Jaune opened his scroll and pulled up a list. He read aloud,

Reckless endangerment of the public.

Attempted assassination on a patrolman.

Conspiracy to assassinate a public figure.

Conspiracy to invade Vale.

Jaune still did not know his name. "Councilman. Three of those crimes end in just one way. This is not the full list either. These were the ones I had scrambled together in preparation for this meeting. There will be more." That quieted the grumbling man. "Vale itself is not in a position to provide trial. And given the severity of his crimes and the target of those crimes, I am not able to sentence him either. I don't think either group wants a patrolman to sentence 'execution' to a minor."

That statement killed any kind of discourse for the argument to send the child to Menagerie. Shortly there after the meeting was adjourned. Jaune felt relieved as the meeting ended. The sudden call was not some kind of new inquisition. Jaune wanted to cry in relief. The meeting stretched long, but he finally began to remember names.

Councilwoman Soek, the ship captain like man Councilman Phen, Council Julian all seemed to support him openly. I guess the whole council really were trying to be neutral through it all. Jaune admitted to himself. Most of the council seemed cautiously optimistic with his presence, but there were still a few hard liners who did not like a child being among them.

Jaune grimaced at the thought.

"Excuse me Mr. Arc."

Jaune turned as he made his way down the stairs to the entrance. "Yes?"

"I am just here to pass along a message. Councilman Velt would like to speak with you in private later this week."

Jaune frowned but nodded. "I can make myself available."

The man looked pleased and handed him a card. On the front was the name Velt Corp. When he flipped the card over, it had a time for Thursday late evening at Junior's. It was the request to meet him on the fourth floor that got his attention.

Jaune nodded slightly as he tucked it away. "I'll be there."

Jaune was not sure what to make of that when he made his way down the stone stairs and out of the building. He waved to his car. His mind was a jumble of thoughts on his way to the bullhead.

He didn't think one of the families would seek him out.

-o-

Jaune listened to June while he struggled to raise his arm through the jersey's arm hole now that the new bandages were in place.

"The hand will burn for another few days. But it's already healing. We'll do some more tests and therapy to make sure nothing is wrong with the hand. But there seems to be no tendon damage and none of the ligaments within the hand appear to need any attention. The gloves did their job. Thank goodness for small favors Jaune."

Jaune grimaced while his shoulders protested any kind of movement. He didn't think he could run yet either. Everything just screamed No! and he felt no energy or strength in his legs or chest.

"Everything else will heal in time. Most of the scratches dug a few millimeters into the skin, but there was no infection. The one on the back was a little deeper. Don't try and lift anything for a while. And you will only have limited range on your right shoulder. If you feel your back is wet, immediately come back here. You might have torn the wound open. Truthfully, I'm happy to see that was the worst you got." June added cheerfully.

"Thank you. How has our guest been?"

"The boy's hand will be in a cast for six weeks but nothing more than that. He has not said a word. Has not drunk anything but some water and ate only a little food."

Jaune sobered immediately and closed his eyes to recenter himself. "Thanks June. Is he awake?"

"Barely slept since he got here. I gave him a light sedative to sleep so he's at least somewhat rested today. He was just as exhausted as you were yesterday."

Jaune nodded before he knocked on the door to announce himself. "Patrolman Arc." Jaune opened the door to see the teen. It was the first time he really looked at the kid. He must have been around fourteen. Only the splotches of darker skin on his cheeks would give a hint that he was a faunus. The cell was the same one he had held Miss Belladonna, only two chairs and a mattress sat in the room. The kid had dragged his chair to the window and seemed intent on pretending he was not in a cell.

"Good morning." Jaune greeted the kid. This felt different when he compared it to the meeting with Miss Belladonna. She had already received some goodwill before he interviewed her. This boy had none of that and then a broken wrist on top of it. And Watts confessed there was worse news waiting for the boy. "My name is Jaune Arc. May I have yours?"

The teen barely acknowledged him he just glanced at Jaune and looked away out the window. "Watt's said your name is Feltch. May I call you by that name?"

The teen looked up alarmed. He pulled away. With a hitched voice he asked, "How do you know that?"

"After your attack, he had hacked into the CCT to speak with me." The teen relaxed and turned away. Feltch was determined to ignore him. "The White Fang that attacked Vale are dead."

The kid looked up. The black rings under his eyes were more apparent when he stared back at the patrolman. He glared at Jaune as if the patrolman confessed that he butchered Feltch's people.

"How many, I am afraid we will never truly know."

The kid calmed for a moment before he lowered his head. "No one survived?"

"None that we know. It is unknown if the White Fang still exists. There have been no claims for the attack."

"You're a liar." Feltch turned away and looked out the window.

"What makes you think so?" Jaune asked. He set a chair in the center of the room, well away from Feltch's perch near the window.

"The White Fang is too strong to lose to some Vale security."

Jaune let that go. Instead he asked, "Feltch, why were you chosen to kill me?"

Feltch turned to Jaune. He proudly said, "Because I'm trustworthy."

Jaune had a sick feeling. "Enough to return to the White Fang after you killed me?"

Feltch nodded. "I wanted to prove to my parents that we were right. My parents had tried to leave the White Fang. I wanted to convince them."

Jaune frowned. "They did not take you?"

Feltch looked away and sniffed. "I was the one that turned them in. I thought I was doing the right thing." Feltch pulled his knees to his chest as he balanced on his chair. His head ducked behind his arms now that he remembered he had failed in his job. They were dead. "I thought I was doing what was right."

"What was your plan after you had killed me?"

Feltch snapped out of his thoughts at the morbid question. "Why do you want to know? You should be dead." The young teen glared at Jaune. "If you were dead, my family would have stayed alive."

Jaune nearly blinked at the accusation. The young teen looked back out the window. "Did you know how the grim were to attack the city?"

Feltch ignored him and looked out the window.

Jaune took out his scroll and found the picture Winter had given him of the black heart. "Have you seen this?"

Feltch did not bother to turn and look. "What is it?"

"It spawns grim." Jaune watched the boy as he his turned around. The image on the scroll was a black mass like a dried fruit. It was split open and showed signs of turning from black to grey after Miss Polendina had cut it in half. Jaune did not find a hint that Feltch knew what it was. Nothing. The boy looked disturbed at the idea. "But it can not do it alone. It needs a catalyst."

Feltch looked away from the picture. "Adam always said we needed to make the people fear us."

"Did you know what Watts did to get them to spawn?"

Again there was silence. The boy seemed willing to talk but had nothing to answer.

Jaune closed the scroll. "If the plan was to kill the people on the train, they would not have been enough for over sixty hearts."

Feltch glared at him. "Adam said his plan was perfect. We just had to arm the train with bombs and the people would be afraid. The grim would come."

Jaune frowned but let it go. The boy likely had no real valuable information. "You will hear this eventually. Member's of the White Fang were left in the train to act as suicide bait."

It definitely was not the full truth. Grim are attracted to fear and despair. It was more likely they were sacrificed. Wounded with a grim in the room. Enough to spawn more as the victims died. It was unfortunate that the bodies were so mutilated that the huntsmen could not get an accurate body count.

Jaune hated the council's decision to run with the story of suicide White Fang rather than they were being used by Watts. Yes the White Fang wanted to kill people, but they were pawns in a larger fight. The council was not comfortable giving any light to who orchestrated it without any real answers to questions a full disclosure would bring.

So much for transparency.

Jaune swallowed the bile as he suggested, "The trains would have been sent long before you tried to kill me. If your parents were on board, Watts never intended to spare them."

Feltch glared at him and spat. "Human. Stop lying. The White Fang is strong. The only reason they are dead is because I couldn't kill you."

Jaune gave the teen a moment to sniff and look away. "Did you know there was a second shooter when you tried to kill me?"

Feltch turned to glare at him then away. "Go fuck off. I don't want to hear any of this garbage."

Jaune stood up. "Very well. Just one thing before I go then. Did Adam Taurus let any more defectors escape?"

Feltch turned and glared at him. "Traitors are killed. No one survives."

Jaune nodded as he walked to the door never fully showing his back to the young man. Jaune rested his hand on the door knob and looked up to the ceiling. "Was there more than three hundred members of the White Fang?"

Feltch glared at him. "I'm not betraying-"

"That's about how many bodies were accounted for on the trains."

"That's how many people Watt's sacrificed in an attack that failed."

Feltch looked away and pulled his knees to his chest. "Shut up." His voice quivered.

Jaune let go of the handle and turned back to the kid. "I will go now, but don't get too comfortable, you will be moved out of here soon."

"To a cell?" Feltch muttered.

Jaune shook his head. "Not until you are sent to Menagerie."

Feltch looked up startled. "I'm not getting trailed by humans?"

Jaune huffed. "Vale has enough problems as it is without adding a faunus being trialed in a public display for his execution. The city is already too sensitive to negative emotions from the White Fang attack. And while I have already sentenced someone else for this case, I can not do the same to you."

Feltch looked up at the man to say something but stopped at the steady cold look the patrolman set on him. "I am too comprised to sentence you." The boy shivered at the glare from the patrolman. The patrolman's indifference at the start of the questions had been forgotten as the boy remembered what he tried to do to the man. "You will be sent to Menagerie for the attempted assassination of a patrolman and consipircy to instigate a grim invasion in a metropolitan city. Other charges will be up to the local government."

-o-

Jaune had spent most of his afternoon in the hospital wing of Beacon. He worked through speaking with a few survivors and some of their families. Jaune was irrationally nervous to meet them. The huntsmen knew the job and they all did the best they could, but Jaune felt he failed them in some way.

"Be gentle with that one Jaune." Jaune turned and found that June had been waiting for him to reach the next door.

"It was that bad?"

"Yeah. Sedated to keep calm. You'll know who it is when you walk in."

Jaune knocked.

"Come in." The girls' voice on the other side of the door sounded exhausted.

Jaune walked in to see familiar girl just play with her fingers. The blonde hair made him realize he had worked with her two days ago. Not many people in Vale were blonde. Jaune walked in and gave a soft sympathetic look. She was awake and alert. When she looked up she recognized him right away. "Mr. Arc."

"Liat." Jaune stood there and did hit best to recover hsi shock. It was one of the students. "How are you feeling?"

"Okay. Just in a little shock. I'm medicated up. I know it hasn't hit me yet. My sister is going to have me live with her for a bit." Lait's lip quivered for a second.

Jaune offered her his hand. She grasped it and her body shook. "It's hard you know?" Her eyes were red and she exhaled to try and steady her nerves. "The grim did a number on me. I just- Sal always said I was the resilient one. I wish he was wrong."

Jaune felt numb as he realized she was the lone survivor of her team. Jaune had not been aware there had been student casualties. Liat seemed to not have noticed his shock. She seemed content to keep her eyes closed.

Jaune remembered Team SLLT was one of the older groups among the seniors. They had done many field missions before and were one of the few teams that rotated where needed during the defense. The last time he had seen them all together was when they volunteered for the death crew.

Jaune took a chair and pulled it up to her side. His voice felt numb. "I wish there was more I could do for you. But this-" Jaune offered her a card, "is the best I can do right now. If you need to talk."

"Thank you Mr. Arc. The hospital offered counselling. I think I'll take them up on that offer-" Her body shook slightly and she resisted the urge to slam her head against her bed pillow. "-when the jitters from that grim finally clear out of my system. I am not quite sure what it will feel like for everything to really hit."

Jaune squeezed her hand and let go. "I am sorry there was nothing else I could do for your team."

Liat forced a weak and tired smile. Her face was covered in a cold sweat and she looked exhausted with heavy bags under her eyes. She looked years older than a third year should. But the medicine had done a fine job at calming her. Jaune stood up and put away the chair but he returned to her side. "For what it's worth Miss Comey, Team Sleet did an amazing job out there. I was proud of all of you for shouldering the hardest assignment."

Liat teared and nodded. "Thank you Mr. Arc." Her voice broke as she tried to say that. It seemed that was all it took. She started to weep. Jaune walked up closer and offered her his arm. She leaned into his shoulder and wept. "We tried hard ya know? Sal said you would be impressed. He said we could probably take point on the next forest sweep. It's so stupid." Lait squeezed Jaune's arm and her body shook in silent sobs. It was nearly another seven minutes before she fell asleep. Jaune nodded to June who came in shortly in the middle of Liat's bout of grief.

June guided him to help lay her down and she corrected the students posture so she would sleep more comfortably.

Jaune left the room subdued. He was almost afraid of how many people like her will blame him after they recovered.

"Why wasn't I informed?" Jaune asked quietly.

June looked away. "We only confirmed the team was wiped out last night. We were holding out hope one of the other hospitals took in at least one of the other members, but the girl was sure her team was killed. I'm sorry Jaune. You were already in the door when I realized you didn't know."

Jaune nodded and blinked. He had passed by them on his way into Vale the day of the invasion. They had waved and he only registered he had not thought to greet them back until it was too late. His head was just focusing on the impending conference.

Jaune thanked the doctor for looking after her and left Beacon to move on to the hospitals in Vale. He spoke to nearly a dozen injured. These were the lucky ones. He lamented. They were injured towards the end of the defense. Anyone before then… Well, if they had to be pulled back, they were already on their deathbed. Not many that were sent it to the hospitals lived to arrive.

Jaune had his own very first taste of working with a death crew during the defense. He had not even thought about making one during the initial defense. But someone thankfully remembered. Liat's team had volunteered. They did not know exactly what to do, but they had the stamina still after several hours to help.

Sleet's job had been to clear the dead from the field. The dead would only strengthen the grim and seeing their comrades bodies would lower morale. It was something that would further feed into the grim. Liat's team was unfortunate that a grim had mutated in a group of huntsmen that died. Liat had only stalled long enough for two teams to collapse on the beast but she was the lone survivor.

Liat was resilient, regardless of the medication. After the number of dead she had to handle last night, she had to have been.

-o-

Jaune knocked on the door of a more familiar room. He honestly did not know what to say to Miss Belladonna. He felt he owed her more information than what the council released. When the door opened he did not worry about it. Instead, he gave the girl a sad look. "Good evening Miss Belladonna. May I come in?"

Blake sniffed amid red eyes and streaks of tears. She nodded. Her bow was absent and she was in the Beacon sweatpants and t-shirt she had worn for the last few days. "Mr. Arc. It is good to see you are alright."

Jaune waved off the courtesy. "Thank you Miss Belladonna. I wish I came with better news."

Blake nodded. "I heard." She gestured to the news that was currently running on the screen. She sat down uselessly on the couch in front of the video screen. "Do we know if the White Fang said anything after the attack?"

Jaune followed her and looked around the room. "No. Based on what my contact in Atlas said, they would have made a claim by now."

"They would have." Blake leaned forward and covered her face with her hands. "What am I supposed to do?"

Jaune watched her. He looked around and grabbed a chair from the table only to pull it across from her with a loud wooden scraping sound. Blake focused on him when he blocked her view of the screen. "In the short term, nothing has really changed for you. As to the White Fang, we do not have a way to confirm the identity for any of the people that were slain in the train carts. The carts themselves were too heavily destroyed to give us any information after the initial contact made by one of the defenders."

Blake looked confused, "But they should have had something on them… the masks were… they are tags. I could try…"

Jaune watched as she valiantly tried to volunteer to help and ultimately fail. "Most of the debris from the original train carts are beyond recognition now. Blake," the girl sniffed. "I would not ask anything else from you. You helped save Vale. Your warning ensured Vale survive that day. I am very grateful for your help. Make most of the time you have here. We will have a better idea of the status of the White Fang in the coming months."

Blake looked at the man and nodded. "Is there word on the other guy?" There was a fear in her voice. Both eager and afraid for the answer.

"None. He spoke briefly with me over the CCT. He matches your description. Unfortunately we have to assume they pulled back now that they had attacked. The invasion hurt the White Fang."

Blake swallowed "The way Adam and the man acted, I am not sure that they cared what happened to the White Fang. I had a lot of friends there..."

"I can't offer you any hope I'm afraid. I spoke to the man that night just prior to the attack. He had hacked our systems. The man knew where you were."

Blake jaw tensed at the news. "Will I be moved?"

Jaune rubbed his chin. He only briefly spoke with Ozpin. But they were both afraid transporting Miss Belladonna would really turn into another death like the huntsmen that help with Ambers sting.

"No." Jaune said aloud. "You will remain in Beacon. After probation I would encourage you stay for the entire education. If you had desired to leave Beacon when your time was up, we would not have stopped you. Now that someone who was instrumental in the death of the White Fang members knows you by name. You would be safer here within Beacon."

Blake nodded as she touched her ribbon. "I.. he killed them all. Didn't he?"

Jaune watched the myriad of faces the girl went through from horror to pain and grief. If he was not paying attention, he would have thought she meant Watts. Jaune felt he knew her better than that from the past few weeks. "It is unknown who led the actual train. It had to be done manually to respond to the train yards commands. We know there were at least three White Fang members that were alive by the end of the night. Plus one in custody."

Blake's eyes had run dry as he spoke. She just felt tired. "There were two trains. One conductor each."

Jaune agreed. "And a third in town that was the second shooter."

"They didn't say someone was assassinated." Blake looked at the news screen.

"I had someone back me up or I would have died." Did that ever taste odd in his mouth when he said that. He had always associated Neo as his potential reluctant killer. It was just world altering to think of her as his savior. Jaune stood up and put back the chair. Blake stood up when she realized he needed to move on.

"Thank you for your help Mr. Arc. For everything." Blake looked down. The ears on the top of her head leaned forward to match her dower expression.

Jaune knew there was not much he could do to console her. "Mourn your friends Blake. Don't forget them, but don't drown in their memory. And start looking forward. Find something you can focus on here in Beacon. This place is your sentence. But it doesn't have to be your prison."

Jaune gave her a gentle pat on the shoulder before he walked out the door.

-o-

Jaune felt like this day would never end. He had already felt exhausted before he even left to the medical wing to get rebandaged that morning. The subsequent meetings with survivors and Miss Belladonna had drained him further. But he needed to meet with these two students. It was his job and he only missed yesterday because of a grim invasion and his boss told him to catch up on some sleep.

"Miss Xiao Long, Miss Rose, it is Patrolman Arc." Jaune announced as he knocked on the private room door. There was a half a beat of silence followed by two thuds and a 'oof'.

The door opened to reveal a dark red haired girl look at him. Her nervous shuffle and the look over her shoulder made Jaune curious what she had been doing but ignored it. "Good evening Miss Rose. I have just come to check up on you and your sister. Do you have a moment?"

Ruby opened the door further to allow him in. "Yeah, I'll go get Yang."

Jaune watched her go and walked just inside the door and closed it behind him. Bags were packed at the door and readied to be moved to the dorms after initiation in two days. They would be camping in the dining hall tomorrow.

"Hello sir." Yang waved. She looked a little tired but recovered.

"Good evening Miss Xiao Long. How are you feeling?"

Yang held one arm across her chest in a long stretch. "Good but stiff. I should be asking you if you are OK." She pointed at the bandages that peaked out of his clothing along his forearms and neck.

"Ah," Jaune rubbed his neck. He actually forgot he was still wearing them. "It's been a weekend."

"That's one way to put it." Yang muttered. "Come in. Will this interview take long?"

Jaune took a seat across from Miss Xiao Long and her sister at the dining room table. "Only as long as needed. I know the medical wing has been busy, but have you stopped by to visit June?"

Yang nodded. "She called me to come see her when she thought I wouldn't show." Yang had the awareness to blush. "I was not sure if she could see me with everything that had happened. I'm kinda surprised we are still here to be honest." Yang looked to her sister with a meaningful glance. Ruby had taken to sit silently and listen. She played her finger across the table and let the two older people speak.

"And you Miss Rose?"

Ruby looked up under her dark hair and mumbled, "Wha?

Jaune did his best to give the girl a disarming smile. "Yang mentioned she was surprised to be here. Do you feel the same?"

Any energy Ruby had deflated. "Yeah. I mean, I'm only here because I had to be. I don't think I really earned the right to be here. I just was stupid and got put into a school a few years earlier than I should be. What could go wrong?" The self deprecating tone made Yang wilt.

They both knew that third years and second years were called to fight. Had there been first years on campus, they would have likely stayed to defend beacon and the second years would have been fielded with the third years. Jaune was not sure how he felt about that thought now that he realized it.

"Friday night was the first grim invasion in over a hundred years and the first real draft close to Vale in the last sixty. It took a terrorist organization all their resources and their lives to attempt and it failed. It was an all or nothing attack Miss Rose. It will be unlikely that we will see something like that again."

Ruby looked anxiously around the room unwilling to meet the Patrolman's eyes. She glanced over to him. She nearly eeped as she found her eyes locked with is. "But that's not completely true. The news cast said that the White Fang were on a suicide mission to draw grim. But if that were true, there wouldn't have been so many grim. The people that died on the train must have been…" Ruby hugged herself. Yang moved an arm around her sister's shoulder. "You can't draw grim without fear." Ruby shuddered and hugged her arms. "They must have been so afraid. The next time doesn't have to be them, it could just be people off the street…" Ruby shuddered.

Jaune resisted the urge to pat the girl on the back and looked over to the older sister. She had her eyes closed and just walked up from behind to hug Ruby. She seemed to understand it as well. "I wish I could have spared you that understanding Miss Rose. But you are right. Believe me, we know what could happen next." Thankfully the council understood as well. Hopefully that would mean they would take steps to prevent anything like that in the future.

"I don't think I'm ready to do that yet." Ruby admitted.

"And Beacon does not expect you to be ready. It is why you are here. You will learn. You are smart Miss Rose. Have a little more confidence. If you are already thinking about the next attack, you are more capable than you think you are." Jaune stood up. "When you are both ready, make sure you do not leave anything behind when you pack up. At the end of the week, I will be calling you both to my office to check on you."

"Right, when I'm ready." Ruby muttered and slumped in her chair. Yang stood up and started to walk the patrolman out.

"I've seen the video recording of the fight at the club." Jaune reminded her. Ruby stood up and did her best to not cross her arms at the reminder. "If you are able to move like that, you are already prepared for the training. And your mind is sharp enough to pick up things huntsmen should be looking for. The only thing you are probably lagging behind is your general knowledge. And you will have your team to support you through that. You are ready where it counts Miss Rose."

Ruby nodded slowly but did not look up to meet his gaze. "Thanks." She mumble quietly.

Jaune gave his sister a concerned look but she simply shrugged. "Good evening to you both. I'll see you both out there at initiation."

-o-

Jaune wanted to sit down and almost forgot to not lean back into his couch after his shower. His everywhere still hurt and he gingerly moved his body around several localized bandages. Most of the scratches had long since stopped bleeding but there were a few that were still too exposed. He no longer needed the obnoxious bandages that wrapped around his chest and torso. But that led to the problem on his back. An oversight he only realized now that he had showered.

The door opened to his apartment without so much as a knock. Coco walked in with a bag and a blue and gold summer dress. A wide brimmed summer hat was under her arm as she spun to announce herself, "Evening stableboy." She teased as she walked in and set her hat on the dining room table.

"Hi beautiful."

Coco scoffed before she leaned in with a chaste kiss, "You say that to all the girls that bring you bandages and extra hands to lay on you."

Jaune laughed and flinched at the same time. "Back first, then laugh. Please."

Coco had seen most of the bandages when they were still seeping through the gauze but it still startled her to see a wound. They were rare in her field. You either healed and walked it off, or you died. Coco laid a gentle hand around the large open cut from some kind of claw that sliced across the back and towards the ribs at an awkward angle. She figured Jaune had likely dodged to avoid a fatal injury, but not enough to dodge this strange looking cut that went across his back then up towards his ribs then across the back towards the spine. It took her two squares with a fine coating of the gel she was given from the doctor to tape the wound covered. Jaune groaned as she ran a finger across the edge of the squares.

"All done Jaune."

Jaune hummed an appreciative tone. "Thank you. Thank god that today was over."

Jaune took a seat on the couch. Coco followed and pulled his good arm around her shoulders. "You missed all the fun today." Coco yawned.

The evening had not been that late, but she had been busy with several teams who had decided to all go together into town. Coco loved the idea to be among friends. The second years had bonded over their defense in Beacon and she shared all the stories she spied while they were out.

Jaune listened with a tinge of envy, but also with a pang of apprehension. Coco wanted him to go be there with her. It felt so divorced from his reality that he had a hard time picturing it. Every time he looked at her smile and heard her speak next to his ear, he felt one more muscle relax. Still, there was one knot that refused to do so. The one in his stomach when he realized it was times like these he felt he barely knew Coco.

-o-

Jaune felt almost normal as he walked into Ozpin's office early monday morning. The pain was still there, but he finally wasn't just tired all the time. "Good morning Sir." Jaune greeted his boss. "Glynda."

Ozpin tilted his head and glanced up to Glynda.

The professor adjusted her glasses and looked at her scroll. "I'll make sure the students are set up for tonight. The platforms have been checked for tomorrow and the third years had already curated the forest. Tonight's greeting starts at five in the evening. If you got anything to do, make sure you are back by then Jaune."

The patrolman blinked, he had not realized she was talking to him. He awkwardly agreed. "I will, thank you for reminding me."

The woman nodded at him before she started to walk to the elevator. Ozpin and Jaune remained silent until the elevator closed behind her. "Five months and I still can't get a read on her." Jaune muttered.

"She had been exasperated with the extra work."

Jaune plopped onto his seat and sighed at his boss. "And I had to hear that from her didn't I?"

Ozpin pulled up a scroll. "It's best that colleagues learn to communicate now than go through a middleman."

Jaune shook his head and propped his head to the side with his hand. His elbow firmly pressed against the armrest. "You called this meeting."

Ozpin frowned as he closed his console screen. "We have a tough year ahead of us..."

-o-

Jaune stood at attention next to Glynda on the dias. He was still surprised the woman all but demanded he be apart of this. Jaune had not thought he would interact with the freshmen much at all. Glynda herself along with Peter and Barty all but ran the freshmen classes. He had a sinking suspicion that she wanted to introduce the freshmen to him as early as possible less he be confused for a student, or an exchange student later in the year. It was something he probably should have thought about as well. For as much as it irked him to be questioned and doubted for his age, he rarely ever considered how others see him. It was a blind spot he was very reluctant to delve into. Self reflection was like that.

Jaune looked around and focused on the students who walked in. He knew it should not be such a big shift in gears to think only about the goings on in the school. He had somehow manage to juggle it all through the investigation. Unfortunately, the meeting with Ozpin only brought to light how much work he still had to do at Beacon. Work that would only increase as the year goes on.

"Greetings." Ozpin said into the microphone. His voice echoed across the ballroom. "You have chosen to come to Beacon to become huntsmen. Because you want to be heroes and help your people and your home. But it is Beacon and Vale that need you." The initiates were silent as the headmaster spoke. Jaune watched as the older man looked around the ballroom. "This year's initiates are the smallest group Beacon has seen in the last ten years. That is because initiates like you were reminded of the reality of what huntsmen must do to protect the people. No doubt many of you have seen the videos."

Jaune resisted the urge to sigh at that. The videos spread like wildfire into the city within the day of the defense. Apparently Ozpin had his hands full with families who found out their loved ones died through the recordings before any word was officially handed to them. But it also had an effect on the initiates.

"I do not bring this up lighty to scorn those who had dropped out. But to emphasis the need we have of you all."

Jaune looked around the room. Roughly, a third of the students that applied to Beacon had appeared. What should have been a group of initiates close to a hundred and twenty, was closer to fifty. And further those who attempted the initiation to fail…

It would be the smallest class since the opening of the school.

"Look around you now. Though you have the courage, not all of you may make it through initiation. Remember these faces that may not be here by the end of the week. They had been willing to step forward when others were not able. Welcome to Beacon for however long your stay. For initiates, you have the capacity to become great huntsmen regardless of your current skill. If you fail, apply again. I look forward to see you all in my halls."

There was a round of applause from the somber message before the initiates broke away to find their temporary lodgings on the floor for the night.

-o-

Jaune stopped walking and gave a relieved exhale at the mass of white uniforms. It took less effort to find her than he had expected. Jaune had only found out that morning that Winter Schnee had taken to lodging at Beacon during her stay rather than the city. It made sense if she had to keep in contact with Beacon and Atlas thanks to the CCT. The First Lieutenant spotted Jaune quickly. She rose from her seat to stand, her little shadow stood up quickly at her sister's cue.

Winter greeted Jaune warmly, "Good morning Jaune. Do you have time to join us?" Winter gestured to the small table that still had two empty seats.

"Thank you Winter." Jaune looked over to the guard who stood at attention at Winter's side. "Excuse me, are you Miss Poledina?"

The girl turned to Winter, her commanding officer, who gave a gentle nod to answer. "Yes sir, Private First Class Penny Polendina." The girls' ginger bob bounced up then down at her salute.

Jaune looked happy to have guessed it. "Thank you for your help during the defense Private. You saved Vale with your hard work. I wish I had something I am able to award you for the service, but it is out of my abilities to personally do so."

The girl's standoffish nature relaxed and she lowered her salute hand. "Thank you sir. Those words are praise enough"

"This was the Private's first field deployment. Although General Ironwood was alarmed she had to be tested this way."

Jaune nodded before he turned to the sister. He gave her a slight bow. "Hello Miss Schnee."

"It's Weiss Schnee sir." The girl said. She looked back and forth between her sister and the patrolman.

Jaune resisted the tug at the corner of his lips. The haughty girl looked uncomfortable with him speaking to her sister as equals. "How was the sleepover in the ballroom?" Jaune teased. The girl blushed just as she turned to look at him.

"It was different. I have not slept in the same room with boys before, or next to so many people, or on the floor…"

"It would do her well to remember that she was born with a silver spoon in her mouth. She knows she is privileged. Just not to what degree. Hopefully she will make a few friends that will teach her." Winter added. Weiss seemed to sink in her chair.

Jaune smiled and offered, "You will have to try. I can't imagine someone not getting along with three other teammates for three years." Jaune held out his hand to receive the tea dish. He stared at the amber contents of his cup and simply sipped it. Different than what he was used to. It was the kind that needed milk rather than honey.

"I am sure I will be able to handle any difficulties that arise." Weiss returned with some confidence back in her voice.

Jaune did not say anything to that. But he did catch a glance of Winter who just repressed a long suffering look. Jaune took a moment to sip his tea then reminded the young lady. "Miss Schnee, I believe it is close to the time where you need to prepare for initiation."

The girl was distracted by her tea and looked up at the time. "Excuse me Winter! I have got to go. Good day to you Mr. Arc."

Jaune set his cup down now fully emptied and looked over to the wait staff. A gentleman in a suit walked up and refilled his tea. When the man backed away Jaune apologized. "I'm sorry for cutting your visit with your sister short Winter."

"It is fine. I love her dearly, but she needs to keep an open mind. I had difficulties myself when I joined Atlas Academy."

Jaune nodded in understanding. "Is it safe to talk in present company?"

Winter nodded, "I would have excused us, rather than let my sister go, had it not been. Is this about the grim attack?"

"Yes. I haven't received the report from Vale. It seems since I no longer have emergency powers, the council has been reluctant to call on me to complete the investigation. They had tried to gain a stronger hold on my rights almost immediately after the invasion. That included the contracts for future cases."

"I take it that did not play out the way they wanted."

Jaune looked relieved as he recalled, "According to my old councilman from when I lived in Anvil, Ozpin was livid. The headmaster had said Beacon would offer no further help unless it is through myself with the current contract."

"Is that why the huntsmen are leaving the investigation to the police?"

"This is the first I've heard of it. If that's the case then that means that the council ignored my warning about the black hearts. And this show of bad faith would not help right after the crisis. I know huntsmen and police do not mix well together but this feels like something else. And it leaves me out of the loop. If the Council wants to keep it close to the chest that's fine. What isn't fine is the lack of information about the source of the grim. That is something the police are not equipped to even investigate. My old councilman said it was more out of spite than anything else."

"Would you like some Atlas intervention?" Winter offered but frowned. She could not go behind Atlas and Vale's back in this.

"Not for me. Keep me out of the loop if you have too, but someone needs to be on the investigation team that knows what to look for."

Winter took another sip of her tea. "I will be in town for the remainder of the week while our engineers finish going through the droids. I can offer to move things along. They may not turn us away as Private Polendina was the one that eradicated the source."

Jaune looked relieved. "Thank you Winter. I should go soon too. I have observation teams to mobilize before I am to meet Ozpin when he launches the initiates."

Winter 's relaxed eyes focused on him as he stood up. Jaune had pushed in his chair when Winter spoke again. "While any new information may not be available to pass along. I can send you all the records we recorded during the invasion. "

"Thank you." Jaune said gratefully.

-o-

Ruby would have been annoyed with her sister if she did not know Yang so well. Yang was putting on an optimistic grin for her. Her sister knew that worked every time. What's worse, Yang always got smug when it did work. Ug. she whimpered to herself.

Ruby sighed and resisted the urge to smile back to Yang. Everything will be ok. Ruby thought to herself. She could do this. The line going up the hill made her chest flooded with an aching anxiety that made her nauseous.

Yang had been on a warpath last night to try and piece together what the initiation would be. The best she could understand was to just survive running through the emerald forest. Just survive some grim. If Ruby could focus on that she would be fine.

Ruby listened the instructions from the blonde woman who directed the students up the cliff side. When she saw the view of the forest below her she audibly gulped. She saw the Headmaster but no sign of the patrolman. Headmaster Ozpin seemed content to drink whatever was in his cup and read his scroll.

"Let's find a pad Ruby." Yang patted her back. The suddenness of the push nearly made her 'eep' aloud.

"Don't do that. I'm already tense as it is." Ruby growled as she banged her fists on her sister's back. Ruby found a square plate to stand on. She looked back to the professors one last time. It was still just the two of them. Mr. Arc isn't coming. She did not realize how much that small bit of encouragement helped her.

Ruby felt she could use a little more of that right now.

"You don't have to look that terrified. It's not an execution."

Ruby did "Eep!" at the sudden voice of the teen next to her.

The teenaged boy laughed. "Or maybe it is? Don't be so afraid, scaredy cat. It's just a two hundred foot drop off a cliff. And look! Launch pads!" The tanned teen tapped the metal plate with his shoes with an audible clang. "That's an extra hundred foot fall with some speed to go along with it. Right into a forest with unknown grim." The black haired teen shaded his eyes and leaned forward. "All alone with no help from your friends."

Ruby stilled her heart after the initial shock but her eyes glared as he kept talking. "That's not funny. You jerk."

The black haired boy tilted his head in an apology and looked past Ruby to her sister. "That one must be a handful."

Yang laughed. "You have no idea Asan."

Ruby rounded and glared at her sister. "You set me up!"

Asan laughed. "That's better. Angry is better than being afraid."

Ruby stopped whatever she was going to say and took turns looking back and forth between her sister and the jerk. Eventually she huffed and looked away from both of them.

-o-

Jaune waited as the three third year teams went over their equipment. They were the fastest scouting teams during the forest sweep and that extra knowledge would help them today. It would be the first year that Ozpin could confidently say that no students would be accidentally disqualified because an observer interfered by mistakes during the exams.

"You have your assignments. Observe and communicate when you see stragglers. Volunteer responsibility when you find one. Don't just wait for someone else to volunteer."

"Yes sir!" The group shouted in unison. Jaune resisted the urge to step back at the loud reply. He had an inkling that he had earned some kind of respect from the third years after the defense. But this group was the first real interaction he had with any number of the student defenders. The absolute respect they showed him still gave him pause.

Jaune did his best public smile. "See you all after the initiation. Speak to the camera if you got a question, the headmaster and I will answer any questions you have."

Each student checked their camera one more time before they all ran into the forest and disappeared among the foliage. The launch pads would easily send initiates half a mile into the forest. The third years would have plenty of time to get into position.

Jaune ran the long way around the path at the base of the hill. He heard the PA announcement that all initiates were to report to the cliffs. That was his cue to get up to the top. Ozpin greeted him with a hot mug of coffee in hand. Jaune honestly wondered if the man kept it hot with aura. The headmaster and Glynda had to have been up here for a while.

"The third years are in the forest and ready."

"Thank you Mr. Arc. I already have several links acquired and on standby. It's a small batch of students this year." Ozpin thought aloud. The concern in his voice was a rare in all the times Jaune had spoken with him.

Jaune looked around as the students filtered up the mountain. Fifty plus initiates walked up the path. Jaune noted the eager ones, the nervous ones and then the ones that had a level of confidence. Then there was Miss Ruby Rose. She was the shortest of the mass of perspective students. Already short for her own age group, she was like a dip in a line of students that filed along Glynda's orders to pick a metal plate to stand on.

Jaune stood at attention as the students took a pad and waited. A few of them looked at him curiously. Ozpin had said that it was normal for about a quarter to fail the entrance exam. The third years had taken to thin the forest but there would still be enough grim to give the ambitious students a chance to prove themselves.

The ones that came less prepared would get injured but rarely would any of them get seriously injured with their aura. But that was in part because how the initiation was formatted. Students actively sought each other out. Even if there was a single student that could not find a partner on their own, there were enough people in the forest to start to congregate together. The sheer number of people in the forest would deter most grim that would fight with inferior numbers.

In the worst case scenario, the cameramen would interfere. The initiates would get an automatic disqualification if a third year had to interfere. But if a third year had to interfere, the applicant was just not ready.

Glynda instructed the student to stand on an individual metal square. Jaune spied his three little convicts. Blake had just walked up the path and he stepped away from the headmaster. Blake Belladonna followed a few meters away to gain some bit of privacy.

Blake extended her wrists. She had a guilty look when ever she asked to have her cuffs unlocked. Jaune wondered how long she would carry that with her.

Jaune gave her a silent nod as he slid his fingers across the locks on her bracelets with his key. The two cuffs opened and he pocketed them on his belt. "I'll see you after you have completed initiation to put them back on. How are you feeling about your hand-to-hand now that you had some time with it?"

Blake looked at her bare wrists and rubbed them slightly. It's only been a few weeks but she was somehow developing faint tan lines from them. "Ok Mr. Arc. Velvet has been good with making time for me."

Jaune frowned. He was honest enough with situation that he had worried. "I am sorry I had not been out there to help you with that. It must have been hard with no aura."

Blake shook her head and nearly laughed at the absurdity "Sir. You were doing something I feel was far more important."

"Have you given any thoughts about..?" His eyes looked to the top of her head. Her bow still sat proudly on the crown of her head.

Jaune could actually see the outline of her faunus ears as they closed against her skull. The bow twinged downward just slightly.

Blake's eyebrows furrowed a the thought but she sighed. "I could. It's just… People would judge me before they even knew me."

That! Jaune could sympathise with. He leaned forward slightly and whispered. "Better make a decision soon. You form your teams with this. Better to know what people think before you become their partners. You can't change those." He gave as a warning.

Jaune walked back to the professors and waited for the initiation to start.

"Good morning Initiates. Below you is the Emerald Forest. You have been tasked to retrieve a relic from the center of the forest and return back to us here by sundown. A few of you may have heard a few things about partners. You will be pleased to know that you will find your partner's down in the forest. The first person you see will be your partner for the rest of your stay in Beacon. Any who are unable to complete the task or make it back to the cliffs failed the initiation. Be aware that the forest is littered with grim. Be cautious. Be safe. And happy hunting."

Ozpin turned to Glynda with a nod. The furthest launch pads fired away. Jaune spotted Blake still picking at her clothes. He only just now noticed she had changed her clothes. She had lost the black and white sweatpants and sweatshirt for a white and black top and a pair of black women tights that's stopped mid thigh.

Jaune held his hands behind his back at attention when the second pad launched into the air.

Blake's bow twitched. Jaune nearly smiled when she slowly and deliberately removed the ribbon and started to wrap it around her wrist. She looked timidly around her and only felt better when no one even noticed she took off the bow. Jaune allowed himself to feel good about the small victory. It was too bad Blake didn't turn to see his encouraging look.

It must have been hard for her. He vowed to check on her a little earlier than the end of the week to see how she is settling.

Miss Rose looked better this morning. She giggled at something her friend had said. A sallow young man with a large lance in hand. He seemed to quietly reply to a question she had. Jaune spied Miss Xai-long stretch and place a pair of aviator glasses on. Apparently someone leaked to her what the exam was if she went and bought those. It was the kind of pair a bullhead pilot would wear in a movie.

Miss Xao-long raised her shades and winked at him before she turned back and took a ready position. Jaune just watched as they were all launched into the air. Once the last one was out of sight Jaune crossed his arms and exhaled heavily through his nose. "How many teams do you think will form from this?"

Ozpin frowned at the number of unused launch pads. There was a time where he would have them all manned with one or two people in line to follow the first group. "Not enough. It's a sad truth, but the number of huntsmen who apply to Beacon are shrinking by the year. This invasion gave us an artificial drop as well."

"We also lost Amber who had been doing the outreach program." Glynda reminded the two. Ozpin simply stared at his monitoring scroll.

"Had Amber brought that many students to Beacon?"

"Not from her most recent visits, but she brought the name of Beacon to every settlement. Settlement students come in generations. We will see five or six from a single settlement in one year and see nothing again for another ten. Amber had an effect but her work will not be felt for a few more years."

"It looks like they are landing." Jaune observed from his own scroll. He switched camera views and alternated between his group of girls. "Any one we should look out for Glynda?"

The woman looked up and shook her head. "Of the crop of students who appeared, there were no real stand outs with the exception of Miss Nikos. She is a Mistral champion who decided to attend Beacon."

Jaune frowned as he switched cameras until he found the girl. "Ah. The Pumpkin Pete's girl."

Glynda nearly raised a curved lip. "Really Jaune?"

Jaune said matter of factly. "Her face was on half the boxes when I was attempting to get that hoodie. I just didn't know her name. It always just said champion on the box. Looks more like a gladiator than a huntsmen from this." He watched as the initiate spun her rifle and it changed quickly to a short spear. She thrust it quickly to stab a grim before she batted it away with her shield hand. Her boot raised as she already used the disappearing grim as leverage to get into the air and clear the mass to move onto the next one.

"She spent most of her time fighting people. She has the ability but she has little experience fighting grim." Glynda muttered.

"So she may not be a team player?" Ozpin asked as he switched to another screen to look at the other initiates.

"She is willing. From her interview, she was looking forward to some anonymity."

Jaune hummed. "Looks like she found her partner." The tanned young man was as tall as she was with what looked like a lance and nothing else.

"Asan Satya. He's from Signal Academy." Glynda supplied before she moved on to look for others that had not found partners.

Jaune did the same. He finally stopped on the one person he was curious about. The girl's neatly tied silver hair whipped back and forth as she dodged a pair of grim with her rapier. She glared and turned to stare at her partner. The camera followed and Jaune frowned at the cautious look of Ruby Rose try and mutter an apology.

"Sorry! I just tried to help!"

Jaune watched as the polite girl he met that morning glowered at her new partner. He shook his head. "Winter would be disappointed."

Ozpin switched to the correct camera. "Weiss Schnee. Ruby Rose. Why is that Jaune?"

"I just spoke with Winter this morning. She advised her sister to keep an open mind."

"I don't care if you are trying to help! You nearly got hit by my attack. Watch where you are going! I can't believe I'm stuck with you!"

Jaune watched as whoever was the observer waited until they were out of range before they said, "Yeesh princess. Bitchy much?"

Jaune sighed before he pressed the com button. "We can hear you Blanche. That means they could probably hear you. Don't disqualify them by accident." There was a round of swearing.

"I'm sorry sir! It won't happen again! I'll just follow my duty." The camera blurred as she started to move around to follow the two girls.

When the camera could suddenly hear Weiss berate her partner. Jaune rubbed his temple. "Winter had said her sister was good willed just very selfish." He said in direction to Ozpin's curious look. "I underestimated what Winter meant when she said Weiss was raised with a silver spoon in her mouth."

"They can make mistakes Jaune. They are still children." Ozpin said quietly as he moved a camera to another pair of students.

Jaune's eyes softened at the reminder before he abruptly switched channels. In the quiet lapse of the initiation, Jaune wondered what Coco saw when she looked at him.

-o-

Blake wished with all that was mighty that this was not her team. She knew this was her team the moment the professors paired them off into groups of four and led them down the mountain path. The sisters were fine. The fact that one of them is years younger than all of them was perfectly acceptable. Blake gave a cautious look to the angry Weiss Schnee. A Schnee in her group. With my ears on full display. Blake thought in full morose. Judging by the glare the white haired girl leveled at them all, Blake was not sure if she should try and confront the girl about her attitude or not. She was still a prisoner and she did not want to rock the boat as it were.

"Miss Belladonna, a word please?"

Blake was saved from any words on her lips to the Schnee and turned to walk towards her parole officer. "Hello Mr. Arc."

Jaune gave the girl a small smile. "I saw you during the initiation. You did well." Jaune paused as he remembered Glynda's last name. "Professor Goodwitch was impressed. Your hands?"

Blake released a relieved sigh. "That's good to hear sir." She extended her wrists and the bracelets went back on. Once they were latched she played with them for a bit to get them comfortable. "I'm not sure how this will work given my current team."

Jaune looked over the girl's shoulder to see her team. "I had seen who you were grouped together with." Blake did not catch the look he leveled at Weiss Schnee, but Blake heard a gasp from the girl. Blake looked back and noticed that the angry girl looked down at her feet and was blissfully quiet. Blake gave an audible, "Huh," before she looked back to Mr. Arc.

Mr. Arc patted her shoulder and gently pushed her around to face her team. Far louder than when he had spoken to her he said, "Any time Miss Belladonna. I know those are important. Just let me know if you want me to hold them for safe keeping again. Best get in line for your teams introduction."

Blake blinked owlishly at her team before she looked over her shoulder to Mr. Arc. "I will. Thank you sir."

Jaune spared a glance to all four girls and turned to walk out of the hall. What were the odds all four of them would be together? Probably better this year considering…

-o-

Mr. Arc closed the security case with the recording equipment. "Thank you for your help. Team's are dismissed. The ceremony should be starting soon to name the teams. Then dinner."

Blanche sighed as her teammates cheered. The group said their goodbyes to Mr. Arc and quickly made their way to the auditorium. The freshmen announcements were a highlight last year. Team Brick had front row seats during the initiation thanks to Mr. Arc. She was ecstatic that he picked her team to be apart of the observation unit. She wasn't the only one as Ivory pushed their teammates forward quickly. Team Brick were eager to see the highlight reel for the teams. There were quite a few creative initiates this year.

The auditorium was massive and made to house hundreds of huntsmen in case of emergencies. It sat unused in the last invasion thanks in part to the fore planning from Mr. Arc. Blanche's mind boggled at how quick the response was from him and the adult huntsmen at the first sign of an attack.

During the invasion, Blanche was horrified the first time he disappeared into the darkness without warning only to come back with a horde of grim. Blanche shuddered at the memory. His calls and warnings saved her team multiple times when her leader shouted change in tactics.

Mr. Arc checked on her team the first few times before he jumped back out of the safety of the walls. His bloody chest and back was an image that burned in her mind. It was rare to see any huntsmen bleed, and to see his whole body covered in grim ash and blood without the least bit of concern… Blanche knew it would stay with her for the rest of her life. It placed Mr. Arc in the seats of heroes to her team. She knew she was not the only one.

Blanche looked around. The third years sat on the highest rows of seats. It was by far the largest class in some years. Thirty seven teams. Only nine people failed to pass the exam in her year. Blanche nearly laughed when she remembered they had to push the ceremony to the next day with how many people passed.

The last year was better with seventeen teams. That was apparently more of a normal number. The students quieted as the names were listed off for the various teams. Blanche was waiting for the surprise at the end as soon as she saw that the fourth team was named.

Ruby Rose, Weiss Schnee, Blake Belladonna, Yang Xaio-long. You have collected the black rook pieces. From today onward you will work together as Team Ruby. Led by Ruby Rose. The screen overhead showed RubyRose's portrait with the letters RWBY.

"She did earn it." Rime said aloud.

Blanche saw the scared look in the girl. "Not sure how that's going to work with her partner though." Blanched spied the bitchy one in the group. Weiss Schnee was not looking at her partner or even looking at her team. She looked over to the professors before she looked down. Team Brick's leader wondered what that was about. The group was shuffled off the platform before the next team was called.

"Here it is," Blanche looked up from her front row seat. The third years started to notice it. It seemed to spread like a wave as the second years realized it too. Then the final team was called to the platform.

Nora Valkyrie, Lei Ren, Pyrrha Nikos, Asan Satya. You have collected the white bishop pieces. You will form Team Noria. Led by Nora Valkyrie. Like the other teams, the screen above them showed Nora Valkyrie's portrait along with the letters NRPA.

Blanche would have whistled at the leader choice if the dead silence from the peanut gallery was not so noticeable. The freshmen clapped politely but slowed to a stop when the second and third years did not start immediately.

Six teams. There were only six teams in the freshmen year.

There was a gentle clap from the center stage. Blanche noticed it was Mr. Arc. The headmaster and Professor Goodwitch followed. That snapped the students out of their surprise as the whole stadium clapped to welcome the first years.

-o-

Ruby sat on her bed while two of her teammates argued.

"Excuse me princess Schnee, not all of us want to listen to someone that descended from the mountains to claim they know better!"

"How dare you! I have been trained to be an organizer and I just said there could have been a mistake in letting someone younger than us become leader!"

"Leave it to a Schnee to try and take something that doesn't belong to them!"

Ruby felt herself nearly in tears. Their first team meeting was going as bad as she thought it would. And they had not even been together for a few hours. She looked to her sister for help.

Yang was wide eyed and decided to stop watching the train wreck. "I think we all should calm down for just a second. We need to learn to get along."

Weiss rounded on the blonde, "Easy for you to say, it's your sister! Does she even know not to favor you?"

Yang scowled. "Hey! I am trying to get us to cool down. Ruby knows better than to favor any of us. Just give us all a chance to be a team Weiss."

Weiss turned away with a frustrated sigh. "Come on Blake. I can't be the only one that thinks Ruby is too young to lead the group."

Blake's ears lowered against her skull with a vicious glare. "Don't. You. Dare. try and bring me into that argument Schnee. You may think you hide it well, but you damn well telegraphed what you thought of me as soon as you saw my ears. You have been nothing but a toxic pile of sludge since we got into this dorm."

Ruby sniffed. "Guys…" she nearly whimpered her plea. Maybe Weiss had a point. They were not listening at all. "Stop."

"I did no such thing! I was simply surprised there were faunus here in Beacon." Weiss said wide eyed.

"Welcome to Vale! The place that allows faunus to walk around in the daylight Schnee. Grow up."

"I said stop…"

"Is that what happened?" Yang glared at the petite Schnee. "Really Weiss? There are a lot more faunus here in the school. Will that be a problem we need to watch out for?"

Weiss looked horrified at the two taller girls. "No! Nonono. I never once thought that! I just-"

Blake crossed her arms unimpressed at the alarmed silver haired girl.

"Guys you need to stop arguing." Ruby sniffed slightly as they continued to ignore her. She looked around and wondered, what should she do? What could she do? They wouldn't stop and any chance for them to be a team, to be friends, seemed to die a fiery death between their words.

"Stop." She murmured and found she was really tired of being ignored. "I said stop." She sniffed and looked at all three. She glared at them for a moment and her semblance came to life. Rose petals floated across the girls. Yang was the first to see something and looked over to her sister to see the young leader scream. "ENOUGH!"

"All three of you out! You are all out of this dorm right now. Go walk around and cool off. I don't want to see any of you in this dorm room for two hours. If you can't follow these simple instructions I am going to the headmaster tonight to break the team!"

Yang looked to Blake and they both slowly stood up. Yang looked like she wanted to reach for Ruby to hug her. Ruby just glared at the three and pointed at the door. "Out."

Weiss still stayed in the room but she stood up too. She walked to the door and turned back to Ruby. "I still don't think what I said was wrong."

Ruby hissed out. "Than you missed the entire point of their argument. Out Weiss or I am going to drag you out of here by your hair!"

Weiss sniffed at the threat and walked out. The door closed and Ruby collapsed on her bed. She heaved a sob into her pillow.

Weiss stood on the other side of the door and listened to the girl bawl by herself. Weiss swore at herself and walked away. Ruby was right. She needed to go cool off.

-o-

Nora felt how… ungenuine her smile was as her team started to unpack. "Excuse me guys! I'm going to go see when the floor's kitchen closes."

Nora closed the door to her dorm behind her, but she could hear the amused voice of Asan ask, "Why would it close? Its just in the communal area."

Nora knew the excuse was a weak one, but she closed her eyes and sighed against the other side of the door. How did I become leader? It would have been so easy to just let anyone else be leader. But me? How am I supposed to do any of this?

Taking Ren by the hand wherever she went was completely different from leading a team. Ren just liked being with her. He was her closest friend. She thought of the two strangers in the room behind her. Pyrrha and Asan seemed nice and both actually looked relieved when they themselves were not chosen as leader. Nora honestly could not see what Ren would do as leader.

Nora moaned slightly and started to walk down the hall. The only comforting thought was that she was not really in charge of anything yet. She was more like a representative for the team when the headmaster would talk to them about her teams behavior. None of the group seemed to want to cause trouble. Thank the lords for small favors. She thought before she noticed that the light to the kitchen was on.

"Hello?" Nora called as she walked around the corner to find a girl with a red hood shuffling around with a sad look.

Nora wide grin nearly forced her eyes shut. "Hiya!"

The girl gasped and looked up. "Hello. Sorry. You scared me, I thought you were…. Someone else."

Nora gave the young girl a sympathetic look. "You were hungry?"

The girl looked around at the mess she made on the counter from what seemed like baking. The young girl glanced at her bowl and shook her head. "Not really been hungry the last few days. This is for my team."

Nora walked into the kitchen and looked at the scared girl. "Congratulations on being made leader. Ruby right?"

Ruby nodded and looked at the mess around her section of the counter. "Yeah. Thanks. You too."

Nora felt her face give Ruby a pained look. Ruby's matched her perfectly. So much so that they both giggled. "Sorry. Ruby. I think I needed that."

Ruby's mouth morphed into a ghost of a smirk that found its way out of her dour mood. Ruby looked back to the mixing bowl to hide it. "I did too actually. I'm making cookies to try and bring peace to the team." She lost some of the shine to that smile but it was more optimistic now.

"Problems already?" Nora walked up to the counter and sat on a stool. Her hand propped up her chin as she offered an ear to listen.

Ruby nodded while she looked over the ingredients. "You can say that. I didn't expect to be here this year and I never felt ready. I think my partner picked up on that. I don't know what to do about making her like me, much less work with me. My mom always said cookies makes everyone feel better. I hope these work for her."

Nora nodded and she pushed aside the panicked vice that seemed to choke her chest when she thought of her own status as leader. "I guess I was lucky there. Everyone one on my team is pretty relieved not to be leader. Not sure how I am going to give orders. I usually just move and Ren follows. If you need help with anything I can help. Well, I can try."

Ruby looked up at the older girl. The youngest girl in Beacon looked like she might tear but blinked and looked back to the mixing bowl to continue to mix the contents. Her face looked less pinched and anxious. "Thanks."

Nora changed the subject and did her best to distract Ruby. She told stories how Ren and her had traveled on their own for years before they took an exam to attempt the initiation.

"Was it a lot of writing?" Ruby wondered aloud.

"Naw. It was more to make sure we had aura and knew how to use it. I got tossed a few hundred feet by a giant golem thing, and Rennie had to stand a few minutes under aura pressure."

"What's that?"

Nora laughed and shrugged. "Beats me. Ren said I did the same test, but I guess I didn't notice anything." Nora giggled along with Ruby. The girl seemed more relaxed now. "It's Nora by the way."

Ruby turned on the oven and looked up. "Hm?"

"My name, I didn't introduce myself. I'm Nora Valkyrie leader of team Noria."

"I'm Ruby Rose, leader of Team Ruby." Ruby grimaced at that but extended her hand. The two exchanged a handshake that morphed into a four step handshake complete with hand slap low and a high five at the end.

"Do you think the headmaster made up those team names off the top of his head?" Ruby asked. "No way they rigged the teams to come together for premade names."

Nora laughed. "No idea. But I wondered about it when I got my team name. I had no idea what a noria was."

Ruby tilted her head but shook her head when she admitted she didn't know what it was.

"My teammate Asan actually knew it off the top of his head. It's some kind of water wheel for a stream. He said his village used them as prayer wheels though." Nora faltered at that.

"You ok?"

Nora grimaced and shook her head. "I guess that's why I'm down here. When he told me that, I think I really needed some air. I wondered if the headmaster had a different plan for the team leader and just chose me for some stupid reason like my name started with an 'N'."

Ruby paused. "I really hope not. That would mean he did the same for me. I could so not use the extra stuff that came with it."

Nora snorted at the thought. "I doubt that is true, but with the way Asan went on to say that he only heard of noria's in his home village, I had to wonder…"

"I guess that makes two of us. I am not sure why I was made leader, but I'm here. Baking cookies to try and smooth things over."

"Hey, if it doesn't work we got a new friend out of it!" Nora cheered at the thought.

Ruby looked up surprised and grinned. "I guess we did." She pulled out the cookie sheet. "I think I'm making a double batch. I feel like I am a little hungry now. Did you want some, they will take a while though."

Nora scratched her head before she went to the sink to wash her hands. "Mind if I help? I don't think I've ever baked cookies before."

Ruby beamed and pushed the flour closer to her new friend. "Yeah. Sure.

-o-

Ruby waited back in her dorm. The smell of freshly baked brown sugar cookies filled the room. It was just past the two hour mark when the door opened. She felt her heart stop when it opened to reveal her sister. Ruby didn't allow herself to relax. She simply patted the spot next to her on the floor. Yang moved and sat down next to her. The plate of cookies in front of them both. A few minutes passed before Blake walked in. She apparently smelled the cookies before walking in. She zeroed in on them immediately with perked ears. Ruby smiled and patted the other side of the floor silently. Blake took the spot across from Yang. The three remained silent and waited. It was close to curfew so Weiss would not be too far behind. The door opened again. This time Weiss looked at the three and very reluctantly walked inside and closed the door. Ruby gestured to the floor across from her.

Weiss looked like she debated if she would really sit on the floor but walked forward and knelt into a seated position. Ruby looked around at her team. The traces of her own tears had long dried and disappeared. Weiss looked tired and Blake and Yang look between Ruby and Weiss. Both seemed ready to feel with an impending blow up.

"Thank you for listening to me and taking the time to cool off everyone. Since you all listened to me, I think I should listen to you. If you have anything to say, you can say it now and not worry about anyone talking back." Ruby looked back and forth in warning to Blake and Yang. Both looked ready to mutiny at that but they both calmed down and agreed with a nod to follow directions. "And if you want to talk, you get a cookie. I think they came out pretty good." Ruby reached out and took one. She looked around the group and lost some of the air of authority she pushed when she shyly asked, "Who wants to go next?" Then she bit into her cookie.

Weiss huffed. "I should go first. I would like to apologize to Ruby and her sister about my lack of tact. Upon reflection you were correct in that I could have conveyed my concerns better. But my concerns were for her and the team." Weiss looked at Yang who looked put off but did not say a word. "Ruby is two years younger than any of us with the years of schooling skipped to come to the academy. She is missing out on a lot of her education and is now placed in a leadership role with an education handicap. This was what I was trying to say and failed earlier."

Weiss reached out to grab a cookie. She looked at it and gave it a delicate bite. She looked at Ruby who smiled triumphantly. Weiss resisted the urge to roll her eyes as she took another bite.

Blake did her best to not scowl at Weiss. It just looked like she had a headache. "I am sorry Weiss. I am from Atlas too." That got the Schnee's attention. "I lived with families that worked in the mines. And I've seen what happens to faunus in the upper city. Vale is a haven compared to that. Or it was until this last week. Vale feels very much like Atlas right now and you being on the team was a reminder of what I saw. I am sorry for taking that out on you." Blake rubbed her elbow with a half apologetic shrug. She reached for a cookie and nibled it.

Yang scratched her head. "Well I want a cookie so I guess I should say I am sorry for not listening to Ruby when I just said she would be a good leader. I didn't allow her to lead. And I am sorry for being so defensive Weiss. I have been an older sister to Ruby for a while and it just felt like I slipped back into that role without meaning to." Yang grabbed a cookie and ate half of it in a single bite. "Still good Rubes."

Ruby's relief was palpable. "So now we know where we all were during the fight. Can everyone agree we started badly and recovered from the fight?" Ruby looked around as everyone nodded.

"Just one more thing Ruby." Ruby looked nervous when Weiss spoke. Weiss looked like she wanted to say something and finally decided on. "I was wrong. And I'm sorry. If this is what you do to help our team. Then you are a good leader."

Ruby gave a nervous relieved laugh. It was a breath she held for as long as Weiss had spoke. "Thanks. So? Teammates?"

The four looked around at each other and nodded. They each grabbed another cookie and they touched them all together like champagne glasses. The all looked relieved when they said, "Teammates."

-o-

Jaune watched the precession as they arrived into the graveyard. There would be too many funerals to attend if they were not all done at once. Seventy-one huntsmen died in the defense. Three students were among them. Jaune was relieved it was not more. It easily could have been a massacre of the third years. Jaune had the older huntsmen to thank for that. He knew how many had just tried their best to handle their job and still watch after the third years. All it would have taken was a simple mistake for one of them to lose their life.

The mass grave was a stone mausoleum for the heroes who died in the protection of Vale. The remains of the huntsmen were cremated and placed in their own private spaces. The stone plates that covered each huntsman's remains gave a private epitaph and date and what battle they died.

Jaune stood alongside Headmaster Ozpin, Mr. Roselink and Councilwoman Soek at the memorial service. The rest of the council stood behind them but silent. The ceremony itself was far shorter than Jaune felt it should have been. But there was a lot of work to do. Mr. Roselink hurried out after he bid Jaune a good day. He had the crew build a depot near the water to unload trains with the undamaged tracks. The trains would have to come one at a time. It was far slower than what it was before the attack. But trains were still coming.

The people of Vale for the large part were unaffected other than some jitters with the knowledge that there was an attack. With no real enemy to direct their ire, Councilwoman Soek gave an optimistic speech how Vale and it's huntsmen would always be ready to defend their country. Jaune's left hand ached during that.

Jaune stood at attention the entire time until the procession left. All that remained were the volunteers and workers to clear the cemetery. Glynda had stood off to the side and only now walked up with a few flowers. She handed them to him. "Thank you for holding on to those for me Glynda. If you would excuse me Headmaster."

Ozpin gave him a solemn nod of the head.

Jaune walked off the stage and into the stone building. Squares lined the walls with names of huntsmen, patrolmen, civil servants, and civilians who had fought against the grim in the name of Vale. Towards the middle, Jaune started to see some of the families as they huddled around the new squares. None of them knew who he was. Fewer paid any attention to him on the side of the stage. Jaune thought none of them knew what his blue vest even meant.

Jaune weaved through the crowd of mourners huddled around the names of their family members. He finally found the names he was looking for. The only Beacon casualties. "Hello Team Sleet." This side of the mausoleum was for Beacon students while they attended the academy. Jaune raised the flowers and placed them on the stone shelf below each name. The shelves were full of flowers and small candles.

Jaune stared at the names. It was only now that it hit him that these students were dead. He blinked back a few tears. "Sal, Lenei, Tanis." There was an empty space next to them along the same row. Their names just happened to be towards the end of the wall but Jaune could have easily pictured their team mate's name there. "Thank you for your hard work. Thank you for making sure not all four of you were on this wall."

Jaune stared at the names and he felt his eyes run. "I was always proud of you. You were good kids." Jaune nearly choked out that last bit before he touched the stone wall. "You were great huntsmen."

Jaune took a moment to compose himself. It was the first time he knew anyone that died personally. The fact they were students… Jaune stepped back. He stared at the names one last time before he walked back out. The families had thinned out of the mausoleum. When he emerged, the headmaster stood alone having waited for him.

"Let's go Mr. Arc."

Jaune followed Ozpin away from the memorial.

-o-

"You mentioned you needed help for the eventual next big case."

Jaune sat in the now familiar chair in Ozpin's office the next morning. "Yes sir." Jaune knew his sullen voice had put off a few people this morning, but he really had not been in the mood to be upbeat since the memorial.

"You asked for help before, but it was more for aides for your work in Beacon. What you are asking for now is different."

Jaune nodded. "We only really survived the attack on the kindness of friends. Had Neo decided to leave when her contract was up, or if General Ironwood was not as paranoid as I am, we would either still be on that line, or have fallen."

"I'll make some inquiries. Plenty of Huntsmen saw your work. But there will be precious few that would have the ability to move as fast as you. You still believe that Arthur Watts was interested in your companion?"

"At this point I am not sure. Coco did not recognize the man, but that means little. Either way, I am convinced he would leave Vale alone until he has cause to think the maiden is here. The attack was as much to do damage as it was to see if he could flush the maiden out of hiding. The signal he used was still locking us out of the CCT after we had cut the connection to the antenne. He was in town. Probably with several men to attack the maiden if she had appeared. I am just counting us lucky he showed no interest in trying to control the grim like the woman that attacked us in Minstral did."

"The lack of search is my fault. I had assumed that sending out a few huntsmen to look into curiosities would be enough. But he must have seen through them, or focused on you."

Jaune gave a tired laugh. "I would have been the one you would have sent out if you wanted someone to look for the next Maiden."

Ozpin nodded in agreement and looked up to see the vehicle had made it around the lake.

-o-

Jaune walked into Juniors for the first time as a patrolman without his hoodie. He could appreciate why Miss Belladonna would be reluctant to let go of her bow. He felt naked without something protecting his face and hair. The twins were surprised when he appeared at the club entrance with his jersey on. "Fourth floor Melanie."

Melanie had her wits about her to quickly escort him from the entrance to the elevator. "I hope you know what you are doing." She warned.

Jaune refused to let his nervousness affect him. But she really tested that with her final look. "Me too."

Jaune recognized the man who had given him the card on Sunday. The man's round glasses in front of sharp narrow eyebrows gave Jaune a scrutinizing look before he nodded. "Mr. Velt is waiting."

Jaune followed into a room not too different from the others. Instead of a coffee table, there was a round table. Jaune ignored it for the moment until he found out who he was looking for. The man had dark green hair and a thick mustache. "Mr. Arc."

Jaune recognized the voice as one of the men who seemed to argue against opinions for his amusement during the council sessions he observed. "Councilman Velt."

The man smiled and moved around to put out a cigar at the table and gestured for Jaune to sit. This is one of the families heads… Jaune felt he shouldn't be surprised. If there was a leak, it would not be too surprising for it to be from a councilman as much as one of the aids.

"You know who I am Mr. Arc."

"You are a head of one of the families." Jaune said quietly. His voice carried the cautious answer. It amused the older man.

Mr. Very nodded. "Surprised?"

Jauen shook his head ruefully. "It shouldn't be, power is power. It does not matter who it is so long as the city runs."

The man's humor filtered into his voice. "I appreciate the candor. My family has helped run the kingdom for generations. Both from the front and the alleys. You will meet a few of them I am sure if you are able to help me."

Jaune frowned. "I am not for sale Mr. Velt." There was a clatter of raised weapons. Jaune felt the blur of movement from around him as the two obvious guards and what seemed to be three more nearby grab weapons.

The man raised his hand. The guards had lowered their weapons. "I did not mean to insult you Mr. Arc. I apologize. What I am looking for is as much for Vale as it is for my family. And from what I have seen, you are very particular about the safety of Vale." The man gave Jaune a firm look. The kind that a grandfather would set on a grandchild that had been particularly smart.

"I am." Jaune replied. He felt the presence of the guards behind him. Their firearms were still ready but no longer threatening.

"I just ask you listen and decide for yourself." At the patrolman's nod, Mr. Velt pulled a folder from the table and opened it. Jaune looked at the paper that slid across the table top. "This is a transcript of a meeting of a few of the families. Names omitted, but you will get the general feel of the conversation when you read it. There has been a hostility among the families as of late. While it would normally be nothing new, this felt different."

Jaune tried to wrack his brain for anything about the families and then remembered what Roman said last week. "The families were nervous given my movements with the huntsmen."

Mr. Very nodded. "That is my concern. The families are a lot that tend to forget about small things like a patrolman running underfoot. But this was different. A few of the more influential families started to drum up noise. The families have never been this quick to anger. Nor have they been so set on panic. The escalation these last weeks had several words of real revolt against Vale. It has quieted now that it is common knowledge that you were prepping Vale for an attack from outside the country. But that still leaves the confusing reaction from the families."

"You think someone has been pushing things along to revolt against Vale."

Mr. Velt nodded. "Someone's hand has been pushing us along yes. You mentioned the man Watts who had orchestrated the death of the White Fang. I am concerned that he may have tried to do that with the families."

Jaune closed his eyes and saw where he needs to start looking. "I'll look into it. If there is a source that is still present, I will try and find it. But I give no guarantees. Not against the families."

Mr. Velt looked relieved. "All I ask is that you try. I don't want a war in our streets. Not when it could be prevented. Unfortunately this can not be an official investigation. But those powers would do very little for you here." The man looked out of the viewing window to the floors below. "Good luck patrolman. Just a word of warning. Try and not to fight anyone. I am not sure if the families will still not follow through with their misguided attempt to attack Vale."

-o-

Jaune walked into the elevator and was not sure what to think of everything he just learned. He needed more information. Jaune glanced at the elevator's doorman then at the number as it moved past the third floor to the second. "I need to speak to Junior privately."

The man nodded and stopped the elevator. He opened the maintenance hatch and pulled out a phone. "Patrolman Arc wishes to speak with Junior." There was a pause as the man hung up the phone. "Just a second Mr. Arc." The doorman held the stop button until a chime and pressed and held the fourth floor again. The elevator jerked before it was suddenly pulled upwards. The elevator passed the fourth floor and stopped at a new level. The door opened to a space that looked like an office building.

"Your floor Mr. Arc."

Jaune looked surprised but thanked him.

"Before you go. I trust what you saw just now will not be used again."

Jaune nodded and watched as the door closed behind him.

It was late at night, so many of the cubicles were empty. At the end of the hall was a larger office that led to a view of the city below. Jaune recognized Junior while the man looked over something on his screen. He stopped typing as Jaune walked in.

"Good evening Jaune. How was your first private meeting with a family head."

Jaune exhaled the tension he did not know he bottled up. "Not as bad as I thought but more than what I was expecting."

Junior smiled. "You asked for me. What do you need?"

Jaune pulled out a card to transfer funds. "I need everything on Councilman and family head for the Velt Family."

Junior teeth formed into a wide grin. "It will cost you."

Jaune laughed. "I was afraid of that."

Jaune was quiet on his way back to Beacon. The information from the transcript was more than just alarming. There had been plans. Plans on how to wipe out the huntsmen in a preemptive attack. What to do with the council. It was during these conversations that the families may not actually be aware of who the family head next to them actually were. He doubted that talks of over throwing Vale's council would have been mentioned in front of a councilman. Not unless Mr. Velt was everything Jaune had first thought the families would be.

Jaune looked at his scroll. He had a lot of reading to do.

-o-

Blanche had been nervous about going out to do another sweep of the forest. But now that she had been out here for a while in the early hours of the morning she felt silly. This wasn't the front lines. Not every time would be like the hundreds of grim that pressed down on her back.

Blanche looked at the rest of her team and her sister teams as well. They had all been going slow. When she looked over to Mr. Arc and Professor Goodwitch, they seemed to have expected the slower pace. They never once commented or pressured them to go faster like Blanche felt they may have done before the invasion.

"Team Chrome is done sweeping the south end."

Mr. Arc opened his scroll. "Then let's head home. See you at the bullheads."

There was a slow pause before the leader said something quietly to Mr. Arc. Blanche didn't need to hear it to know it was something about their friends. Mr. Arc said something quietly into the scroll before he closed it. The patrolman walked towards the edge of the clearing for the bullheads to wait for them.

Blanche didn't mind waiting. Team Chrome could take as much time as they needed to get their work done. They knew Team Sleet. It amazed her that they were even out here. Mr. Arc was just as surprised. He had ordered them to take the day off, but they insisted that they go out. She remembered the look between the professor and the patrolman before they both agreed. They had both been worried but did not stop the team.

When Team CROM came back Jaune gave the group a look of approval and gestured for the teams to get on the bullheads. Blanche looked out the window to the land as it flew under them. Fourteen miles deep. They were almost done. She would be happy with the extra sleep if she was honest, but she would miss being productive. After the invasion there was a mass of uneasiness? Restlessness would be a better word. The third years were all restless. The sweeps seemed to help but the three days where her team did not do a sweep, Blanche felt useless.

"Good work. You are dismissed huntsmen. Get some food." Patrolman Arc dismissed them all. But Blanche felt the satisfied grin on everyone's faces. They all felt it whenever he called them that. They had not graduated yet, but they felt like they were real huntsmen.

Blanche grimaced as she remembered when she got reprimanded for calling the princess bitchy. Mr. Arc immediately called her out on that. But there was a level of trust she could feel from the professors and the patrolman that was not quite there last week.

Rime led the group inside the mess hall and into the line for whatever was left for the morning's breakfast. Blanche heard the clatter of something metal hit the floor and everyone in the hall went quiet. She looked around until she spotted Croma with his team. They were glaring at a freshman. She hopped out of the line and started to make her way to them quickly. The freshman stood up and sneered at the upperclassman.

"Say it again. Please. I don't think I quite heard you correctly." Croma growled. Blanche looked over to Team Sleet but they all glared at the freshman.

The freshman was cocky but his team seemed nervous by the attention they got from all of the third years. Most of the class of third years were present and watched silently from their seats.

The freshman tried to push off Croma with little luck. "Get off, I just said what I was thinking. That's not against the rules."

Croma punched the freshman hard in the stomach. For all the bravado, the younger teen collapsed to his knees. He gasped heavily. Croma looked over to the other freshmen. "Let's get this out of the way now. Bad naming any fellow huntsmen regardless of their origin is not just bad form, it will get you killed in the field. Learn to keep those thoughts to yourself, or you will not last long here. Speaking ill of the dead would lead to worse."

That got the third years attention.

Blanche almost asked what he said, but another third year from the door ran in. "Patrolman on deck!"

Blanche stood at attention along with Croma's team. The seated third years all stood at once just as Patrolman Arc walked in. The second years were slow to stand but they followed the third years example and stood. The patrolman looked around. The first years were slow but they stood up one at a time unsure what was happening. The guy on the floor seemed to have tried to see what was going on but laid on the floor pitifully. The freshmen didn't seemed to have engaged his aura, not expecting a third year to actually hit him. Idiot.

The patrolman looked around and finally said, "Be at-ease Huntsmen." The patrolman noticed the still down freshman and walked toward them. Blanche was pulled away by her team but she was sure everyone was listening.

"Is there a problem here Team Leader."

"I was giving a freshman a lesson in unity sir."

The patrolman looked around at the third years who all seemed to look shyly back at him. "Meet me in my office this evening for a lesson review Team Chrome."

The group looked at the Patrolman guiltily but all replied in unison, "Yes sir."

"Be off then." The patrolman shooed them away and he looked down to the teen who had slowly been able to recover from the blow. "Team name?"

The student with the mohawk spoke for the group. "Team Cardinal."

"Who is the team leader?"

They all looked down to the teen who got his breath back and rubbed his stomach tenderly. The patrolman gave an unimpressed looked to the group. "That is your leader… Team Cardinal report to the hospital wing to get your leader checked and immediately report to Professor Goodwitch about this incident."

The patrolman started to walk away. Team Brick sighed but nearly groaned as the freshman team started talking amongst themselves. They seemed to not have learned their lesson as the leader started grumbling almost too loudly. "Who the hell does he think he is?"

Blanche looked over to the patrolman. He ignored the freshman as he left the mess hall. She sighed in relief before she glared at the freshman. He was still talking.

"He's just like us-"

Blanche simply said, "Look around you moron." The six freshmen teams looked around and felt the wave of oppressive aura from one hundred and thirty some third years glared at Team Cardinal. "Fix your attitude fast or no one that will want you when you leave Beacon."

Blanche turned to her team with a satisfied look. "Food?"

Ivory shook her head. "Nice to know terrorizing freshmen builds your appetite."

-o-

Croma stayed behind when his team was dismissed from Mr. Arc's office. "Sir?"

Jaune set down the form. He needed to document the incident since it involved a freshman and senior. There were other circumstances to consider. The freshman team built a lot of bad blood. The freshmen had out right wished death on the team that was killed in action and had commented on how they were surprised more of them didn't die.

It was a juvenile joke from someone who just did not know nor care to understand. Jaune looked over to Croma. The man looked ready to face punishment. Unrepentant. Jaune could understand why. "I still suggest counseling Croma. But that is your choice. Do you feel like you will act out again?"

Croma's jaw tensed. "No sir. The student's words just caught me off guard and I responded as if they were equals."

Jaune huffed through his nose. "The incident is documented but no other punishments will be issued at this time. Act out again, and I will need to sit your squad until you get some counseling."

That drained the tension from Croma and he nodded.

Jaune watched him squirm slightly. The huntsman was unsure if he was dismissed. Jaune eventually asked, "How is your team handling everything?"

Croma relaxed his stance now that the inquiry was over. "They are doing better. Rol goes and visits Tanis' square every few days. One of us goes with her. But she seemed better. Thank you for letting us know about Liat. We found her sister right away. I think that helped everyone to know she is ok."

Jaune set down his paper and stood up. "Everyone misses them Croma. Even me. Classes resume monday. But that doesn't mean we should forget what happened. It is just a reminder of what can happen to any of us and why what we do is so important."

Croma's eyes were red and jaw clenched. He thanked the patrolman and left the office.

Jaune was finally able to rub his eyes when the huntsman left.

-o-

Ozpin stood near the window looking out from his office when his patrolman walked in. "Thank you for coming Jaune. I have just spoken to General Ironwood from Atlas. I think we have found an agreeable answer to your partner problem."

Jaune walked up to his boss and followed the mans' gaze out the window. This early in the afternoon second years had started to train in the fields rather than in the stadium. Jaune couldn't actually see her, but he could imagine Coco and her team were somewhere down there challenging their friends to a race of some sort.

Jaune could almost wish that his third years were that care free. Jaune was not surprised they changed after the invasion. But he marveled at how they coped with it. He was pleased and relieved that so many students were able to accept the change and learn from it.

Jaune ignored the bit of bile in the pit of his stomach. Lately it had begun to burn uncomfortably whenever he thought of spending time with Coco. She made him a promise. He took a few days to realize that he was actually scared of what she showed him. No doubt tonight she would come to his apartment or invite him down to her dorm to share stories she heard and asked about among her classmates. She would be all smiles and allow him to unwind and just enjoy being a human being. He pictured her on her days off in a park or a street filled with shops. The time off was so... her. And it was not him.

Jaune turned to his boss and thought of what he needed to do inside Vale. Surrounded by problems that needed to be solved. Make sure things like invasions, rebellions, and people who want to abduct others to empower themselves don't succeed… To make sure Coco can stay her happy self for as long as possible. This was him.

"Just in time. I got a case where I could use the back up."

A/N: Finally its done! Thank you everyone for the reviews and welcome new readers. I planned to put this up a few days ago but decided to tackle a few ideas in this chapter. I really liked how it turned out. Team RWBY and Team NRPA actually spawned from a small scene I had cut early about Ruby and Nora bonding over their teams in their first class. It was an idea that I had thought would have gone in a separate story since it would be hard to justify putting in a class scene in this one if it wasn't relevant.

Goes to show you what you can do when you don't immediately delete things you don't like or would cut right away.

Oh! I just remembered! With this chapter, this story has becomes the longest single story I've written. Noice! Sorry 'A walk alone'! I try and work on you and nothing is coming out good.

I am looking to target the end of October for the next chapter and maybe squeeze one more out in december. See you all in a few months!