Bloody Arc

by Kharneth666

The typical Gamer story has a character suddenly become an RPG character. Their body becomes defined by stats, quests and the vaunted Gamer's Mind. This is not one of those stories. Tonight, Jaune Arc joins the Hunt.

8. Blood and Fire

Disclaimer: I thought that I wouldn't make another one of these, but there's a lot of stuff inspired or from other stuff, so I REALLY, SUPER DUPER don't own anything.

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Chapter 8: Blood and Fire

Having exited The Bloody Jewel, they were trying to decide where to go next as they walked in the Old Quarter, with everyone having their own idea of where to go, except Jaune, who had cleaned off the blood from his face. Seeing that he brought them here, he felt that he already had his turn. Fortunately, the other male in the group had an idea.

"Why not draw straws again to choose a few? We don't have time to go do seven other things."

Jaune nodded, showing his agreement. "Good idea. Why fix what isn't broken, after all?"

Yang quipped, "I'm getting the impression that we'll be drawing this up a lot in the future. Eh?"

Hearing, or not hearing in this case, a void of laughter, "Oh, you all suck."

One random selection later, and the lucky winners were, in order, Blake, Ruby, Nora, and Yang, of which the blonde cheered, "Woo, 3-1 team RWBY! All right Blakey, what's first?"

"Please don't call me that." 'Blakey' gave her partner a flat stare of disapproval.

"Nope. You'll get used to it." She popped the p in nope.

With a dry retort filled with sarcasm, "Right. Anyway, I know this bookstore a few blocks from here."

From there, several discussions took place as they walked. Nora latched onto Ruby debating which pancake was the best, strawberry or blueberry, and it was getting quite heated. Weiss and Pyrrha discussed academic differences between Chronos and Sanctum, namely how little education regarding advanced Dust mechanics was taught in the latter by comparison.

The guide of the group remained silent, busy with her thoughts. 'The past few days have been chaotic. Who would have thought that a Faunus, let alone a former White Fang member, be on the same team as Weiss Schnee and be civil towards one another, even if said Faunus is in hiding? Not to mention that her family and company isn't as racist as I was lead to believe, just putting profit over people like any other corporation consumed by greed… oops, tautology.'

But the true measure of how beyond the pale her life had become in comparison to even a week ago was that wasn't even the oddest thing that she had been through. 'At the fulcrum of everything that has changed is Jaune Arc, the strangest of us all. A whole religion seemingly out of nowhere, and a brutality that I have not seen since Adam. Even his sword is similar to him at some level, and why does the name Orion sound so familiar?'

With all of this in mind, Blake should have felt suspicious or wary of him at some level, but she did not. 'Especially since knows what I am, but he hasn't told anyone, and respects my privacy. If anything, I feel… at ease around him, and I don't know why.'

Pushing aside her conflicting thoughts for a later time, she listened in on the source of her conflict's conversation without looking back towards them. The two males were discussing their martial arts styles with Yang as their semi-involved audience. Her primary style was heavily geared for hand-to-hand combat, so she found their different approaches fascinating. Ren was a practitioner of Jujitsu, a style favored by nomadic monks mostly for self-defense, deflecting attacks and using momentum against them. Jaune was discussing the benefits of his much more offensive oriented methods, to which Blake's new partner leaned more in favor of.

"Your style is much too soft. Sure, it has the benefit of looking graceful as you make opponents look like fools, but there's no oomph, no fear factor. If your opponents is already scared after seeing a few brutal takedowns, then it becomes that much easier."

His more passive debater replied, "While I acknowledge the strengths you present, I find it too aggressive, and it uses stamina more inefficiently to my preference."

Chuckling a bit, "I suppose we'll agree to disagree, but there's no need for me to worry about that. I've got stamina for days." He drawled his boast, oozing confidence.

The other blonde couldn't help but jump in, "Oh really? Lots of guys say that. I seem to remember you were passed out on the couch before I was. You sure you're not just bragging for the ladies?"

"Last night was because I ate twice as much food than you did, and I'm talking specifically in combat." Jaune shrugged, giving her a dry look.

"Besides, I don't believe in bragging without being able to back it up. You'll see soon enough. I've got… plans for Sunday" He added a smile that underlined sadistic intent.

"Ooh, ominous. Like what?" She remained unaffected by his theatrics.

"Spoilers~." He sang in a teasing tone, wagging an index finger.

"Here we are." Blake called out before she could pester him further.

Before them was a store named Tukson's Book Trade, based on the green sign above the door and glass windows in gold lettering. Stepping into the humble store and breathing in the unique smell of paper, Blake exhaled bliss from the smell of literature and stories, of ink on paper.

"Welcome to Tukson's Book Trade, home to every book under the sun!" The owner, Tukson, performed his standard greeting for new customers.

As he had been in the back room, he came out to see a rather large group coming in and spreading out around his shop, correctly guessing that they were Beacon students based on the chaotic clash of colors.

With a one of a kind book on his person, Jaune held a smirk, though the owner probably misinterpreted the reason for it as he said, "Quite a slogan you have. Where do you keep your horror? I don't see a section label for the genre."

He pointed out to a corner in the back of the store. "Right over there. I used to not get many customers asking for horror, but with the genre rising in popularity in recent months, I'll have a sign for it soon. If you're interested, Noire Addams' newest novel came in yesterday."

"Damn it, she could have told me. You'd think I'd get some advance notice, at least." The Hunter shook his head in consternation as he walked to where he was directed.

Casting slightly suspicious eyes on him as he walked away for a moment, Tukson focused his attention on the Faunus at the counter and greeted her as an old friend. "Good to see you Blake. Your order came in yesterday, if you would like to pick it up."

She looked a bit flushed as she quietly gave her assent, and he nodded in response to her unspoken desire for discretion as everyone else meandered to browse, seeing if something catches their interest. Leaning in a bit to whisper, "I'll wrap it up. So who's the priest, and why does he smell like blood?"

"That would be Jaune, and he's not a clergyman. We stopped by The Bloody Jewel for breakfast, and he found out about their recent… problem with the Eagles. He came back from a 'walk' with one of the thugs limping in tow, and he got a pigeon to apologize. I don't know how he managed it, but I know for a fact that his pants weren't originally that dark."

He let out a low whistle. "Damn, kid's got some balls. Those twins are good, honest people, and Rouge makes fantastic muffins. I'm glad someone stood up for them, but why would he help them out, though?"

"They're his sisters, and if you think that's strange, so is Noire Addams."

If he wasn't already intrigued, he certainly was now. "Quite a… diverse family, the Arcs."

The storeowner, speaking loud enough for everyone in the bookstore to hear him, said, "I forgot to mention earlier, but Beacon students receive a 20 percent discount."

"Since when?" Blake raised an eyebrow.

"Since always. It's just never come up, and it hasn't applied to you before. For you information, several businesses offer similar discounts. Just don't ask for it, or you just look greedy. If you'll excuse me, I'll get you order ready." With a kind, hospitable smile, he turned and walked into the back room as she could hear her partner approach her.

"So, a bookstore?" Yang asked, not usually one for books.

"Yes, is there something wrong with that?"

"Nothing, it's just that I prefer action over words, but everyone's got their thing. The only books I read outside of assignments were fairy tales for Rubes as a kid, and even that hasn't been for a while. Any recommendations? No horror, though." She quickly added in the last part, looking over at the corner Jaune inhabited.

"Sure." Blake smiled at her request for help, leading her to a novel she had come across with plenty of action.

As the latter half of RWBY ventured off into another section of the bookstore, the former, plus Pyrrha, had taken a hard left into the comic book section, coincidentally the farthest from the horror section that one could be in the store. The trio of young women was of differing opinions as the second in command looked for new issues of Red vs. Blue with satisfaction and joy.

"Honestly, why comic books? They're for children and are cartoonish." The paler partner was slightly miffed at her leader's choice in 'literature'.

Ruby gasped in mild offense. "Don't say that, Weiss! Have you even read comic books before? Red vs. Blue has complex character interactions, great humor, and overcoming prejudices for enemies to become allies and friends in the face of adversity, and that's just one series. They're just as entertaining as wordy books, and look…" holding out the comic book, opened on a random page, in her hands to Weiss, "It's got plenty of pictures, so you can see everything that's going on, rather than just imagining it."

"You've put quite a bit of thought into that." Pyrrha stated, appreciating the compelling argument.

As the smaller redhead continued browsing, "Eh, not really. I just heard it from Dad debating with Yang when he got me into them."

They both looked slightly confused as to why said debate was with her elder sister. Pyrrha asked, "Why your sister and not your mother?"

Cringing a bit and with her body closing in on itself for a moment, Ruby clearly didn't want to talk about it. Pyrrha, feeling a bit somber from her sudden lack of tact, "I'm sorry. I didn't mean to…"

Knowing thin ice when she saw it, Weiss responded with, "To answer your earlier question, no I haven't read them before. My education and schedule did not allow for much leisure time."

With Weiss's attempt to salvaging the situation successful, the petite Ruby grabbed her into a hug, making Weiss feel a bit distressed at the sudden lack of personal space as her partner grandly gestured towards the printed works. "Don't worry new bestie, I shall guide you through these uncharted waters! How about you Pyrrha? Any ideas for something that might catch your eye?"

With an apologetic smile on her face, "Perhaps another time. I'm midway through a book in the Wheel of Time series, and I think I'll just get the next book in advance."

"What's it about?" Ruby inquired, always willing to try new things,

"I'll let you borrow mine, but you'll just have to wait and see." She prevaricated, enticing her fellow redhead to follow the fantasy section. Weiss made to join them, but hesitated, thinking of what Ruby had said earlier.

'Just as compelling as books, hmm? We'll just see about that.'

Grabbing a random comic off of the shelf, titled Sandman by Navy G, she headed to the counter.

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With her hands behind her back, Nora peeked over her bestie's shoulder, trying to discover what he was searching for. Sighing loudly, Nora complained, "I'm so bored! What'cha looking for, Ren?"

"I was recommended a book on philosophy in that last town before we came to Beacon, and I wanted to see if I could… ah, here it is." Pulling out a thin, small book, Ren turned it to the front, displaying its title, The Art of War.

"Ooh~, war. Are there pictures?" She asked curiously.

"I doubt it."

"But why does it say art, then? If there's no art in it, then the title is a dirty liar." Nora pouted and scowled a bit.

"I believe that it implies presenting war as an art form, but I will let you know if there are any pictures."

That seemed to cheer her back to her normal self. "Thanks Renny!"

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At the counter, the Beacon students had all made their purchases, all but Jaune, who had an interesting proposition and a grin copied and pasted from a Taijitu oil salesman.

"Are you a betting man, Tukson?"

Bemused, he replied, not really sure if he wanted to know the answer. "I play poker every now and then with some buddies. Why?"

"Well, I have a bet for you." Holding up a copy of Noire's latest novel, 'The Devil in the White City', "I'll put your slogan to the test. I have a book in my possession that I believe that you do not have here." He knew what he was doing was risky, but he had a very good feeling about this. "If you haven't, then I get this book free of charge."

The older man crossed his arms, but was still curious, "That depends, what do I get if I have?"

"In that… unlikely event… I'll give you an autographed, complete copy of Lovecraft's Journal. So, shall we toss the dice?" The owner's eyes widened, knowing the rarity of such an item, and therefore how much that would be worth.

"But there aren't any dice here, Jaune. Or are you carrying some up your sleeve? Or maybe they're in one of your pockets? How many pockets do you have?"

"I believe that's just an expression, Nora."

"It's a silly one."

Regaining his composure, "You're on, kid. I've seen practically every book known to man. 'Every book under the sun' is a claim I've never failed to live up to."

Still wearing his almost trademark grin, Jaune reached out, and gently placed Oedon's Codex on the table. "Go ahead, take a look for yourself."

With little hesitation, Tukson picked up the book, and briefly skimmed through the contents, mumbling to himself, "No publisher… I don't recognize the dialect, but based on the varying format… This isn't exactly playing fair, you know?"

The Hunter placed the white-bound book back into its pouch, "Hey, if you're not cheating, you're not trying. We never established any rules of exclusion, did we?"

"Well, a deal's a deal, you win. But why? All for a book" He was curious as to why he would just give away such risky information to someone he had just met.

Jaune had a sheepish look on his face, as he scratched the back of his head, "Well, reading my sister's books is a bit of a guilty pleasure of mine."

He held up the book, with the front facing Tukson, and steadily tapping his finger just underneath the title, "I can't help but wonder what abomination of claws and fangs she's come up with this time."

Glancing at the tapping finger briefly, Tukson nodded and gave an awkward smile. "I suppose I can relate. She does write well, if a reader doesn't mind having nightmares for a while."

Said author's brother laughed at that, "Honestly, she considers the nightmares a sign of success. Just for that, I'll forget the priest jape."

Looking back to his team, "Well, I'd say it's time for our next destination. Who's next? I'm afraid that I've forgotten."

Ruby jumped in place, waving her hand like an overeager child in school. "Me me me~! Oh, this'll be great. I have just the place. Well, what are we waiting for? Let's move out!"

She speeded out of the store, leaving a temporary trail of rose petals in her wake. Her sister sighed, before addressing the owner. "Don't worry, they'll disappear in a few minutes."

"No worries. Have a good day, and come back soon!" Tukson waved her off and said his standard farewell a bit stiffly.

As Jaune was the last to pass through the door, he turned his head back to Tukson and tipped his hat. "Don't worry, your slogan holds up. Under the sun, yes, but not under the moon."

Blake had known Tukson for some time, and despite trying to hide it, and he did it well, he was nervous at the end. 'Something in their exchange wasn't right. It's like they were having a second conversation. For a moment, Tukson looked a bit scared of him, but that might have just been the smell of blood. Come to think of it, Jaune always smells like that, even if it was more pronounced after he returned from his… walk. He is a bit daunting, even if he seems like good man.'

She was cut off from her thoughts by her partner's hand waving in her face. "Huh?"

"So nice of you to join us, Blakey. What'd you get? Is it porn?" Not an outlandish assumption, since it was wrapped in paper to hide the cover.

"Just some romance recommended to me, and it's not porn." Porn doesn't have a plot, or three-dimensional characters. It was erotica, at worst.

"Umm… how do you get an epithet?" Ruby chimed in to distract and derail the inquisition.

Nora squealed a bit and lightly hopped on her feet. "You have to do something really awesome and the Hunter community decides, or several veterans do, or something else. I don't know, but I do know it has to be earned."

"Something along those lines." Jaune corroborated with his hyper teammate.

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"Yay, we're here!" Ruby called out in front, stopping in front of what appeared to be a weapon shop, named 'Pandora's Box' with dark red letters on a white sign.

"Cerise, you here? I've got some friends with me!" Ruby called out. Stepping into the store, they were surrounded with display cases of various weapons and ammunitions. Turning back to her friends, "I should probably mention that she's a bit of a nerd for weapons."

"Rubes, you have no room to judge…" Her sister jested, before an unfamiliar blonde woman popped up behind Ruby and grabbed her into a bone-crushing hug, similar to Jaune's earlier experience with Opal, happily saying, "Welcome back Ruby!"

The woman, obviously Cerise, was quite an attractive woman with blonde hair cut into a flare cut and cherry-red eyes. She had a fairly broad shouldered torso, yet maintained a buxom figure. She wore a yellow Vale Self-Defense Force uniform with a matching mini skirt, long white stockings, ankle fold brown boots, and brown gloves. Around her neck was a small silver chain holding a wedding ring over her chest.

She put down the young reaper before continuing her cheerfulness. "Hello everyone, welcome to my shop. So who are your friends, and what are they packing?"

"Excuse me?" Weiss spluttered, not expecting such a bold question.

"Your weapons, duh. What did you think I meant?" Cerise tilted her head, seemingly ignorant to any innuendo she might have implied.

"Oh, don't mind her. So this is Weiss and Myrtenaster, a multi-action Dust rapier…"

And so Ruby continued the introductions, addressing them as their weapons, to the appreciation of the bright eyed and mildly drooling Cerise, leaving Yang to think, 'Huh, someone with a bigger weapon obsession than Ruby. Now I've seen everything.'

"And this is Jaune, and… umm" Taking a brief look to take inventory of all the weapons that Jaune had brought today, "A 9" Bowie style dagger, a one handed flanged mace, a buckshot pistol-rifle, and a katana bow-blade. Is that all?"

"For today, yes. No need to bring everything, that'd just be paranoia."

"It's still a bit much, don't you think?" His partner added her opinion politely.

"Hells no! Overkill is underrated, am I right?" Holding out his hand, getting a loud high-five from Nora.

"Yep! Overkill is my middle name!" After traveling with Nora for so long, Ren thought that it might as well have been.

Cerise got really close to the walking armory, almost to an uncomfortable level. "You have more!? Tell me tell me please!"

"Let him breathe, ma chérie." A man's accented voice called out from the back.

"Uncle Pip? The fuck you doing here?" Jaune recognized the familiar voice, as he looked over Cerise's shoulder.

The now identified Pip was a man about Ren's height of 5'9 with reddish brown hair, styled into a long braid, a dull green eye, with a leather patch over his left, and a bandage over his nose. He wore a green, VDSF officer's combat jacket and brown slacks over a light blue shirt. Similar to Jaune, he also wore a red scarf, but instead tied like a necktie, and a slouch hat with an emblem of a griffin clutching a goose on the buttoned brim. He looked in his early thirties, but Jaune knew he was older, as the man lit the cigarette he was holding in his mouth.

"I live here. This is my wife's shop, you know." He emphasized his vowels a bit differently than common Vernacular.

Evidentially, he did not, and looked at Cerise, now standing next to Pip, and spoke with mocking disappointment. "This is your wife? I should have known you'd be a cradle robber."

"Piss off, you brat."

"Jaune, please don't be so rude. I'm sure he's not that old." His partner admonished him.

"I wasn't. That was pretty polite, by our standard. And he is, considering he was my parents' team leader." The man sighed in nostalgia.

"Ah, yes, team BAJO (Banjo), good times. So what brings you here today, and with such delightful company to boot? But where are my manners?" After his self-criticism, he dramatically bowed as if he was on stage for a play, "Pip Pandora, at your service."

"Ruby brought us. We're having a team-bonding day."

Looking to the petite scythe-wielder, "So you must be the girl my little cherry here goes on about. A pleasure to meet your acquaintance." Gently, he picked up her hand to gentlemanly kiss her knuckles, shutting down Ruby's mental faculties as her eyes seemed to whiten, her face redden once again to match her cloak, much to the irritation of her protective sister.

"Hey perv, hands off my sister!" Yang growled before attempting to punch the man acting so suave for Ruby, and in front of his wife, no less. Chuckling, he easily dodged it before comically cowering behind Cerise, who sighed, but didn't look at all irritated at his behavior.

"I apologize on his behalf. I'm still breaking this old dog in. Feel free to look around while we have a … chat." Her eyes seemed to briefly glow, but everyone dismissed it as a trick of the light as she dragged him by his long braid to the back with a cheerful smile, with a hint of actual fear and desperation in his eyes as he comically clawed the floorboards.

Having been familiar with how much worse he was on default, Jaune gave her a thumb up. "No worries, you're doing great."

Weiss came to a conclusion. "With men like Dante and him as your male role models, a lot makes more sense now. So is he your actual uncle?"

"Hm.… oh no. Like I said earlier, he was my parents' team leader, so they're quite close. He came around a lot, especially after missions. He even taught me how to use firearms." Jaune explained their relation.

"Are you sure he's a Huntsman? He doesn't look like much."

"Appearances can be deceiving. If we weren't armed, would we look like defenders of Remnant, or cosplayers?" Ren asked rhetorically.

Coming to his 'uncle's' defense, "Believe it or not, he's one of the best marksmen out there. Now, where were we? Ruby, you brought us here, so do you care to share your reasoning?"

"I just thought that we should restock on ammo and Dust, since I'm almost out. This is a really good place for us to do that, so here we are. Plus, she's my friend, so I though I would help her bring in business."

"Excellent foresight, Ruby. This seems like a fine place to restock." Pyrrha appreciated the blend of practicality and consideration.

They dispersed across the shop; searching and acquiring their own supplies to either replace or create their own ammunition, with the exception of Weiss who had her own stores of Dust back in her room. Jaune just headed to the counter, where the newly weds had returned, and asked, "Hey, do you have any mercury?"

"But of course, my boy." Pip reached into a shelf under the counter, and pulled out five vials of the liquid metal, as well as a small glass dish with steep sides. "I had a feeling you'd call or stop by eventually. They're all at 130-gram portions, just how you like them. I'll even sell them at half off for making squad leader."

"How'd you know that?" He asked, not having mentioned anything of the sort.

"I can tell, boy; you're a natural leader. They defer to you. Congratulations, and surrounded by such lovely ladies as well. Orion would be proud, and a bit jealous. He never was good with the ladies, despite my best efforts."

"Ugh, you sound like Mom." Gaining a somber look and sighing in mild depression, "Yeah, he probably would. Mind if I work right here?"

. "Work on what? Oooh what is that? It looks pretty." Almost out of thin air, Nora popped up and pointed to the vials of quicksilver.

"Making ammo." He took out his dagger, and cut a deep gash on his palm over the dish, filling it halfway before the cut sealed thanks to concentrating his aura.

"But how will that make bullets?"

"Have patience." Picking up a vial, he poured the one vial mercury in the blood. The metal seemed to bubble a bit as if it was boiling, but then solidified into a few marble-sized balls with red flakes, identical to the others in his ammo pouch, and the blood in the dish had reduced by about half, instead of disappearing entirely like he had expected. 'Cool, so now I need less materials as well. Ain't that convenient?'

Repeating the process for the other vials, he got about 20 more quicksilver bullets, and then paid for the vials of mercury.

"That was so cool! Are you a wizard or something? I wish I could do that." Cerise asked, in awe of what appeared to be magic.

"Yeah, it's really cool." Pulling her leader into a one-armed hug, almost hanging off of him, "He can make buckshot, or even arrows with those things. Are you sure you're not a wizard?" Giving him a suspicious look, lacking any apprehension about his abnormal methods.

"No, I'm just a Hunter who can use his blood for more than ghoulish decoration."

"Well, let me know when you need some more, and I'll ship them to you. Keep the dish." Pip said, before turning to Blake so that she could buy her bullets for Gambol Shroud. She asked, "So that's how you make your magic bullets?"

Holding onto Jaune now with both arms on his shoulder, Nora gasped. "Magic bullets? So you ARE a wizard!"

"Blake was joking." After denying to Nora, again, that he was not a wizard, he turned to the instigator, "So you do have a sense of humor. I shall to repay in kind, and you won't expect it. Beware!"

"Mhm." Blake rolled her eyes at his overdramatic declaration.

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Pandora's Box mostly catered to Hunters, so they had as many types of ammunition as Tukson had books, in order to keep up with any and every demand. Not much discussion took place there, as they were more focused on their individual needs.

"Well Ruby, thanks for taking us here. It was nice to see Uncle Pip again, and I now have a reliable supply of mercury." Jaune thanked his second, rubbing the top of her head affectionately.

"Why mercury?" Pyrrha asked, not having seen his unique method of creating bullets.

Having seeing what she had missed, Nora recounted the sight. "Oh it was so cool!"

Looking around with a dramatic suspicion for any potential eavesdroppers, "Jaune's a wizard, and he used blood magic."

The 'wizard' objected. "Once again, Hunter, not wizard." Pulling out a fresh bullet, "I just mix some quicksilver with my blood, and voila, ammo!"

"Is that how you can change its shape?" Ren had begun to postulate what his semblance was, and this added more evidence to his theory. "Because it technically has a part of you in it."

"Precisely, and it helps that it's naturally liquid at normal temperatures. So, Nora, where to now?" Jaune asked, not really wanting to answer any more questions in public.

"We're going to my favorite place Ever in Vale! Besides-"

Reeled back in with a hand on the shoulder courtesy of her partner, Nora cut to the chase. "Music~!"

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After they left the shop, one little detail kept nagging at Pip, and evidentially his idle curiosity showed on his face because his wife asked as she was performing maintenance in an affectionate manner for her first sniper rifle. "Something bugging you Pip?"

"Oh, it's nothing. It's just… he sounded a bit different."

"Who, Jaune? How so?"

Lightly scratching his eye patch, "His voice sounded a bit different. Lower, or something like that."

"Maybe it's puberty. I was a bit of a late bloomer, myself."

"Eh, probably an understatement. It's for the best, really. He used to have a bit of a whiny voice. This suits him better. But enough about him, ma chérie, you missed a spot."

She started to freak out a bit, inspecting every surface of the bore and the chamber bolt, and still finding nothing over a minute. Hearing Pip chuckle, she glared at him, realizing the jest for what it was, before going back to her scouring with a bit more vigor than before, unintentionally doing wonders for her husband's imagination.

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Having walked practically across the entire city, as someone adamantly refused to use public transportation, it was late afternoon before Black Supernova arrived at 'Soundwave', a record store that was a bit on the smaller side. With most people able to purchase and download music directly from scrolls, physical stores selling music were less in demand by the masses. In fact this was one of the three remaining stores in the whole city, patroned primarily by retro folks. As it turns out, Nora was one of them.

"Come on, I haven't been to a record store in forever. It'll be fun! We get to see everyone's taste in music, and look at really cool albums." She finished her train of thought with a short burst of air guitar.

Being more technologically inclined, a habit ingrained from being raised in Atlas, Weiss disagreed with the utility of a dying business, but fell in line in the interest of fairness. She certainly would not want to set a precedent for when it would be her turn to select an outing.

The interior of the store was of a similar configuration to Tukson's, only with horizontal shelves to better leaf through CD's and albums quicker. What was also different was that the proprietor was absent.

"Hello!" Ruby called out, but to no avail. Another customer, a nondescript man about in his mid-20's turned around at the door opening and said, "He's handling a delivery, and he'll be back in a few minutes."

Pyrrha thanked the man for informing them, and then Nora proposed an idea. "Why don't we try and look at one of everyone's favorite bands and/or genre? If we're doing a team thing, then let's do a team thing."

"I think that's a great idea." The other female of JNPR agreed with Nora. "So, who's first?"

Fittingly enough, Nora had the opportunity to go first as she had brought them here, but there was a small issue. "Which one should I pick? Something techno? Or maybe jazz? Pop?"

She enjoyed many different genres, and couldn't decide, and everyone was in the beginning stages of information overload trying to keep up with her grabbing albums from everywhere in the store to create a pile of options, rushing around in a blur and speaking a mile a minute. Fortunately, her partner had been desensitized to these outbursts over the course of several years, and had a solution. "Nora, what was the last song you heard?"

She froze in place in and turned her head, with a newfound smile, "I've got it!"

Picking a seemingly random disk out of the pile, she popped it in to one of the several players placed around the store for 'sampling'. "I'll just play the good part, and it even has my name in it! That makes this double awesome."

Soon enough, an orchestral bombardment of noise conveying imagery of a full-scale battle surrounded them. Nora 'danced' to the tune, and by dance she imitated the dramatic movements of a conductor, arms flailing to the music for an invisible orchestra.

"Ride of the Valkyries?" Weiss asked after the song ended. "I didn't take you for someone who appreciates opera." 'Perhaps she has some nuance after all.'

"What opera? I don't see any fat ladies singing, or any fat ladies for that matter." Nora stated confused at what a sleep-inducing bore had to do with this barrage of awesomeness, dashing the heiress's budding hopes of a kindred spirit.

"Ah, don't look so glum, chum. I choose you to go next, so find something that cheers you up, okay?" The Valkyrie offered as consolation, even if she didn't quite get why it was needed. "Renny, could you help me put these back, please?" Practically begging her partner with her slightly watery eyes.

"Of course." Nora bounced back to normal immediately, putting the two dozen albums back in place in the same amount of time that Ren had put away two.

During her previous torrent of indecision, the others had plenty of time to pick their own contribution to the playlist.

As the minimalistic song of a viola and a piano began to play with a hint of static as if played on an old record, Weiss adopted a stiff back and neutral face she presented her choice like a military debriefing. "Clair de Lune by Debussy."

As the song softened into silence at its end, she awaited the judgment of her peers.

"Huh, I've actually played that once." Jaune recounted with a faint smile of nostalgia. "It was the first song I actually learned how to play after my sister taught he how."

After hearing him play a song that utilized similar techniques, they didn't doubt his claim, but as he had seven of them…

"Which of your sisters taught you music?" Pyrrha asked. "She must have been a good teacher."

"The youngest, Amethyst, and she was. She plays professionally with the rest of the trio." Furrowing his brow in thought as he tried to recall the last time he played it. The sudden feeling of nostalgia only offered a brief bout of melancholy, before he brushed it aside with an open smile.

"Bah, not important. So Weiss, who's next?" moving the conversation along before any more questions could be asked.

"Ooh, pick me, pick me!" Ruby jumped up and down with a raised hand like an eager student in a classroom. "I've got a really happy song with his sisters."

Two blurs of red later, with the complimentary petals, she put in, "Gold by the Williams. That's them playing the instruments, except for the piano."

'I guess she's more insightful than I thought. This song practically screams CHEER THE FUCK UP!'Jaune thought.

"Ah, no fair Sis, I was going to play a Williams' song." Yang mildly whined after the cheeriness. "But enough of that, I've got my own theme song!"

Skipping a few tracks on the same album, the remixed song of I Burn, also by The Williams, came on; sounding like it was ripped straight out of a nightclub.

"Given what I've seen, that does seem like you." Blake remarked, earning some nods after seeing her fiery temper directed at Pip earlier today.

Twirling her finger while she was indecisive of her choice of who would be next, Yang finally pointed at the most silent of the bunch. "All right, ninja boy, show us what you got."

Not reacting to the ninja comment, as he had heard it from Nora a plethora of times, put in the CD he was carrying, holding onto it from his partner's previous pile.

"I appreciate the classics, and since a personal favorite of mine has passed recently, I'll play one of his best. Prince's Purple Rain."

It was a song full of soul, entrancing its audience to sway to the music, even if some of them couldn't quite discern some of the quick lyrics. Not feeling like wasting time, Ren chose Pyrrha to be next.

Rubbing the back of her head as she looked to the side with an anxious gaze, "Well, the only stuff I listen to is… well I don't think that you'll like it. I'll go change it."

"Now now, none of that. Everyone likes different things." Jaune said, offering some peace of mind for his partner.

Her music-loving ginger teammate offered her own take. "I mean, look at us! We're a bunch of ragtag Hunters. We've got a pink powder keg, that's me by the way, two ninjas, a boxer, a duelist slash princess, a champion gladiator, a gothic-lolita reaper, and… Jaune! So of course we all have different tastes. I promise… no judgment"

Hearing their words of encouragement erased the worry in her emerald eyes as she kept eye contact with Jaune, and seeing only honest intentions, she relaxed her previously rigid posture, nodded, and headed to the other side of the store in brighter spirits to search without another word.

After a few seconds of silence, eventually Ruby asked, "Wait, how am I a goth?"

She completely ignoring the Lolita part, as she didn't really know what that meant, but it sounded cute, so why not?

With some expertise, if only by observation, in fashion, Jaune felt the most qualified to answer that. "It's the corset and crosses combination, the red and black color scheme and the combat boots."

"Of course, you pull it off adorably." He remarked off handedly, not even realizing the impact of his casual compliment of her appearance. Having experienced his light-hearted teasing, along with her sister's several times since they've met, the innocent comment merely quickened her pulse and dusted her cheeks.

Looking puzzled for a second, Jaune conversed mostly to himself, but still loud enough for the others to hear him. "Come to think of it, I've seen few corsets recently. Is there some new trend I'm not aware of or something? I swear; if I see another one, I'm starting a count."

Lost in his outspoken musings, he didn't notice Pyrrha put in her selection, as another high energy orchestral song began to play with a slightly faster tempo of brass and strings. As the vocals kicked in, he looked at the gladiator with curiosity, to which she responded to what she thought was his silent question after the song ended, leaving them to bask in the primal feeling it bestowed upon them. Looking a bit nervous, but not as much as before, "Protectors of the Earth, by Two Steps From Hell. It's a relatively unknown collective in Mistral."

"That's nice to know, but that wasn't what I was going to ask. Why the fuck did you think that you had bad taste?"

Nora got right in front of her face, speaking much to loudly for their close proximity, "That was EPIC~! I think that it was even better than mine!"

"Damn, that really gets the blood pumping." Yang definitely approved.

A bit more mild and diplomatic in her approval, Weiss said, "Indeed, I see why you utilize it for training."

At the mention of training, Jaune was struck by inspiration, "Well, since everyone seems to like it, how about you and Nora compile a playlist for our training sessions? Sound good?"

Nora saluted him with a smile, "Aye-aye Captain Jaune!"

Pyrrha, seeing the popularity of her choice, was quick to agree, thinking, 'I'm glad that I can be of more use than just a fighter.'

"With a name like Two Steps From Hell, I would've thought them part of the Abyssal movement. Names aren't everything, it seems." Ren postulated.

"What is this Abyssal movement? I've never heard of it before" Weiss asked curiously.

Being familiar and in favor of it, Blake spoke up. "From what I gather, it never picked up in Atlas. As for the movement…"

"I believe that I can help you there." An elderly voice spoke softly from the store counter, interrupting her.

Standing a few feet from them next to the register in a relaxed pose was an elderly man about Nora's height. A full head of messy white hear with grey streaks slicked back over a thin, clean-shaven face with bloodshot eyes, contrasting the light blue irises. He wore a tired, bored expression on his face, which was likely frequent given the dark bags under his eyes that indicated insomnia of some form. Despite his facial expression, he stood confidently with a lean, almost skinny build. He was dressed in a red and black plaid long sleeve shirt, black trousers, and a belt with a treble clef buckle.

"Ah, forgive me if I startled you. I am Quartz Grey. Welcome. I returned a few minutes ago, and I was listening to your rather impressive playlist." Giving a tired smile of approval, eyelids drooping half way down like he would fall asleep on his feet.

"Uh, sir, are you all right?" Ruby asked, concerned for the man's well-being.

"Yeah, you look like you need a gallon of coffee or something." Yang added, knowing the signs of an all-nighter or three.

Waving away their questions in one hand and covering his yawning mouth with another, "No, I'm quite fine, Miss Gold, Miss Burn. I'm feeling quite energetic today."

"If you insist." Jaune ignored how he had addressed the sisters by the songs they chose, "So you were about to talk about the Abyss?"

"Ah yes, thank you. As I was saying, Miss deLune, the Abyssal movement began in earnest about a decade ago, building on a theory published by a Dr. Pitch soon after the War about how embracing our negative emotions, rather than rejecting and suppressing them like you learned in school, would attract less attention from Grimm."

"I thought that was what the Great War was for the right to free expression." Ren expressed.

"It was, but…" Quartz interrupted himself with a yawn. "But like common nature of people, they only fought for the beautiful, the positive, the 'light'. Once they paid the iron price to be happy and optimistic, on the sidelines educational reform came to reduce or eliminate anger, sadness, and all of the other portions of sentience deemed by the newly formed Councils to be unseemly."

By the end of his lecture, he no longer looking half-dead half-asleep, the elderly man stood proudly, seeming to shed ten years off his age as he spoke with passion. At the end, he relaxed and his outward appearance of a kindly, frail old man returned.

"But back to the beginning; Dr. Pitch believed that a negative context of emotion was more important than the emotion itself. And so, artists of all mediums carried on his ideas; they began creating work that would inspire these previously undesirable emotions in a positive environment."

Jaune absently nodded, thinking about own time 'gazing into the Abyss', as the phrase goes.

"But enough of an old man's prattling." The old man chuckled softly, before walking away to sit down behind the counter. "I believe you came hear to hear far more interesting things than a history lesson. You'll get plenty of those at your fancy academy."

Having heard little to nothing from the remaining girl yet to go, Pyrrha decided to look at Blake and say, "I would very much like to hear yours next."

Looking at a familiar image on the album cover as she put in the disk, Jaune was a bit intrigued, and quite a bit amused.'Well, this should get some interesting reactions.'

"'Who Taught You How to Hate?'by Disturbed." She said quietly, barely heard over the so far most aggressive song of the day.

'You clever girl' Jaune felt that this was the perfect song for her. Interestingly enough, Jaune was proven to be correct. Having been unfamiliar with the genre entirely, Weiss was initially taken aback by the aggressive tempo. Ruby, Ren, and Pyrrha just stayed neutral as they listened before passing judgment. Yang had a spark of recognition in her eyes, as she asked her partner with hand gestures for the album cover. As Blake complied, the blonde looked over, looking rather impressed as she lightly bobbed her head to the beat.

"I took you for a smooth jazz kind of girl." Yang remarked after the song ended.

"That's one of my favorite Disturbed songs." The other blond admitted

"You're a fan?" Blake asked.

"Oh yes, and it's a good introduction for everyone. Speaking of… your thoughts?"

"That was pretty cool." Ruby was the first to say.

"I didn't know Disturbed had a new album. I'm definitely getting it, if there are more songs like that. Top notch work from these guys, as always."

"An inspiring message." Ren commented, with his usually more vocal partner adding, "Yeah, really good story."

Looking to her partner, Ruby asked, "So Weiss, what did you think?"

Taking a few seconds, looking deep in thought, "It… wasn't bad. A bit more aggressive than what I prefer, but I can appreciate a good performance. I thought that it would be a bunch of screaming, but the vocalist was clearly well trained."

Jaune clapped his hands together, before speaking in a cheery voice. "Oh good, then you won't mind another song. It's much softer, so I think you'll appreciate this one more."

"Oh please, Disturbed making a soft song? You can't be serious." Yang scoffed at the notion.

Rather than responding with words, he hit a few buttons, and the slow piano intro of Sound of Silence began. For the entirety of the song, he looked to an empty corner in the shop, even as he expectedly became misty eyed from the soul-wrenching song. After the song ended, he saw everyone else recovering from similar states, rubbing shed and unshed tears from their faces, as well as Nora hugging Ren silently bawling in a tense, heavy atmosphere.

Feeling a small amount of guilt, Jaune wished to make amends, and said, "Apologies. This song has a knack for drawing out past regrets and dark moments." Unconsciously, he grabbed his shoulder as he rolled his neck in a vain attempt to pop it. "I should have picked a different song…"

Before he could finish, Ruby interrupted him as she finished wiping away the last of her tears with the edge of her hood. "No, it's fine. Thank you, Jaune, that was beautiful."

"A perfect example of the Abyss, Mr. Silence." Quartz remarked from back over at the counter, seemingly resistant to the emotional impact, as he only looked slightly more dazed than before.

"But in the future, please use the listening booths." He pointed with his thumb to an unseen back door, labeled 'Listening Booths'. "Just a thought for next time. As lovely as this has been, I'm closing soon, so if you would…"

Knowing a polite dismissal when they heard it, they made haste to buy a few things that caught their interests. Yang bought the new Disturbed album, liking the cover image. Weiss bought a few albums from genres she had not heard before, looking to try new experiences, with Ruby as a helpful guide. The bulk of their purchasing came from Nora and Pyrrha, with the former grabbing her new music buddy and spiriting away to cobble together a decent playlist.

"Can we go somewhere with food before Yang's pick? I'm so hungry right now." Nora grabbed her growling belly as evidence of lack of sustenance since breakfast.

XXXXXXXXXXXXX

Meanwhile, in a room in the Vale General Hospital, four men were lying on hospital beds, bandages and casts covering large portions of their broken bodies. Fortunately for them, their companion had called for an ambulance in time to save their lives. Said individual, now feeling relief due to the pain medication coursing through his system, was sitting on a chair by the window as he stared outside patiently. He was broken from this silence as the door opened and a man entered.

This man did not look like the type that would visit men of their ilk. He was a notably handsome man appearing to be in his early to mid forties. His burnt orange hair was gelled back neatly, and was dressed in a crisp, wine colored suit with a light blue pinstripe dress shirt and a black tie. On said tie was a small, golden pin of an eagle. In his breast pocket was a white handkerchief embroidered with an eggplant purple centipede.

As he looked at each of the men unconscious in the patient beds, showing no emotion in blank, purple eyes, he turned his attention to the man who had stood up and briefly saluted him. But the newcomer froze the thug in place with but a callous glance, as if he merely noticed an insect on the floor, and debated whether or not to waste his time to squash it.

As he continued to stare at the thug with a neutral face, the thug felt a cold sweat down his spine, and began to speak. "Sir, I just wanted to…"

He raised a hand to cut him off, and spoke, and a calm, detached voice. "I am fully aware of what has occurred, Mr. Cotta. You acted without orders, disgraced yourself and your brethren, and now… here we are. Care to explain yourself?" He asked with a faint smile that did not reach his cold eyes as he waited for an answer.

Quietly gulping from his anxiety, the thug named Cotta said, "Yes, sir."

He then recollected the past events that led them here. "About a week ago, we came across a bakery in the Old Quarter owned by a couple of ani-… Faunus." The unexpected correction drew the listener's curiosity. In a previous meeting, Mr. Cotta was adamant in putting Faunus into what he believed were there proper place, so to hear him not call them animals was intriguing to the man in the purple suit. "We did the usual threats, and everything seemed business as usual. A few hours ago, we were at our favorite pub for some lunch and a drink, and then some blonde kid in leather just came in and attacked us without warning. It all happened so fast; he took us out in less than a minute, and…"

Looking to his companions, he shuddered with the pain of memory. "He took his time breaking them, smiling like a demon as he did so. I was helpless to do anything but watch. After that, he dragged me back to that bakery and made me apologize and promise to leave them alone."

He showed no reaction, compassion or otherwise, to the story, and asked, "This bakery… what was it's name?"

He easily recalled the name, as it was quite memorable. "The Bloody Jewel, no way I can forget it. Why, sir?"

Rather than answering, the man in the suit asked, "Mr. Cotta, do you know why I require you and your cohorts to only act in such a manner under orders?"

As it turns out, the thug did not, shaking his head in slight confusion. His superior elaborated, "While your zeal is admirable, it is counterproductive unless given proper direction. In this case, this retaliation was simply a matter of bad luck."

"Luck, sir?"

The man in the suit did not appreciate being interrupted, and looked in the thug's eyes with an icy gaze until the offender looked down in shame. With him properly cowed, he continued. "The reason why I do not have you and your compatriots simply ransack every Faunus-owned business and drive the filth out is because of a few that have connections to individuals it would be too much of a hassle to cross at this time. As it happens, that particular establishment is owned by the daughters of the Huntsman Hans Arc, better known as 'The Black Hammer"."

With this little nugget of information known, Mr. Cotta looked somehow even more craven than he already did, as if said huntsman would burst into the room at any moment, summoned by the utterance of his name.

"Based on your description, the man who attacked you was his apprentice and son, Jaune Arc. Logically, if he's here, he should now be a student at Beacon." He surmised. "Considering your injuries, no further punishment shall be imposed."

"T-Thank you sir."

"However…" The man stepped closer to his subordinate, cocking his head and his eyes gleaming with malice. "Should you and yours act out of bounds, or fail in such a manner again during this crucial period, I will not be so kind. Am I understood?" For a brief moment, the room was seemingly filled with black mist, and disappeared just as suddenly as Mr. Cotta blinked.

With extreme discomfort clear on Mr. Cotta's face as his boss continued to stare at him, "I understand, sir."

As if that didn't just happen, the man in the suit smiled in what seemed like a genuine manner, "Wonderful. I do appreciate your compliance. Without proper direction, zealotry and dedication like yours would make you no better than the beasts clawing at our walls." With that subtle threat, the man in the suit left the room.

As he exited the hospital and entered his car, he paid minimal attention to his surroundings as he was chauffeured back to his office. While they had acted out of bounds, if he had discovered this under more pleasant circumstances, he would have paid it no mind. However, someone had defied the Golden Eagles, the embodied will of the one true God, and that simply would not do. Pulling out his scroll he made a call. After two rings, it was answered. "Hello, father. I am pleased to report that I have passed and have been made team leader."

"I expected no less. However, I am not calling about your progress at this time. I have been made aware that one of your fellow students has stood against our noble cause. He has assaulted your brethren, and we must retaliate."

After a brief pause, "Who?"

The man smiled with no small part of smugness, "Jaune Arc."

"I am aware of him. I knew he was an affront to humanity the moment I saw him, and I shall deal with him."

"Very good, but remember, only to the point of humiliation, nothing further. Am I understood?"

"… Yes Father." His son did not sound pleased, but complied to his wishes.

"Farewell, Cardin." Hanging up, he returned to his office, for the work of the righteous was never truly finished.

XXXXXXXXXXXX

After a pleasant dinner at a nearby diner, the eight were now being led by Yang to parts unknown, much to the consternation of a few.

"Oh, come on Yang" Ruby complained, drawing out her sister's name. "We've been walking for over fifteen minutes, just tell us already."

"Nope" clearly enjoying holding this over her head, "It's a surprise. Besides, we're almost there. We would have been there already if some of us weren't afraid of public transportation." She looked directly at Weiss in blatant accusation.

She scoffed in response. "I am not afraid of the concept, merely the near absolute certainty of illness being contracted from those filthy disease-ridden things. Who knows how many people have been sick on any given seat? Besides, it's a lovely evening."

That may have been stretching the truth a bit. During their meal, dark clouds had overtaken the evening sky, and had blackened as night had fallen. The gentle breeze had picked up speed, causing hanging signs to creak as they swayed, and flags to billow and dance. A drop plopped on Jaune's hat, and then the rain began to fall.

Mentally berating herself about forgetting to check the weather forecast, Yang called out with a raised voice as she checked for directions on her scroll for the third time. "Quickly now, it's just another two blocks!"

With a smug tone, Jaune asked as he maintained his casual walking pace as she jogged. "Oh, what's the rush? Rain feels quite refreshing, you know." And then, he began to sing in a low, dulcet tone, "I'm singing in the rain, just singing in the rain~!"

Lightning began to strike ahead of them, brightly illuminating the street to show Jaune's carefree visage.

"Oh hell no! Cut that shit out, I am not getting frizzy hair today, jackass!" Yang was not amused in the slightest.

"That's Captain Jackass to you." Nora exclaimed, pointing at Yang with a limp wrist to emphasize her statement, feeling more energetic due to the storm above their heads soon to unleash its full fury. "Ooh, if you're not a wizard, does that mean you're a pirate?"

"No, it does not." Ren refuted her latest theory.

"But he's got the swaggering coat and hat, Ren! Oh wait; it's not a tricorn hat, darn it. Never mind!" She abandoned her romanticized dreams of piracy as quickly as they came.

"Here it is, Blackwater Tavern!" Yang called out as she rounded the corner. Over the door hung a sign in a similar fashion as The Bloody Jewel's, but thankfully to some there was no gargoyle or macabre imagery. Instead, it was a simple design on a smoke-grey kite shield. Wrapped around it was a black-iron chain engulfed in green flames. Oddly enough, the flames kept burning, unfettered by the few raindrops that touched it with light sizzle.

"A bar, really?" Weiss asked in mild disapproval.

"Tavern, and you bet. What better way to celebrate than with a drink or three? Well, what are we waiting for, get inside!" She opened the door and hurried in first out of the rain, quickly followed by Blake and the rest. They passed by a stern looking bearded man clad in black leaning on the wall between the door and an open window, likely the bouncer. He gave them a sideway glance and a curt nod after they all had entered, with Jaune responding in kind as he closed the door, shutting out the torrential downpour.

He followed the rest to a table picked out by Yang that was large enough to accommodate twelve. Oddly, there was a small footstool at the edge of the table closest to the bar. They were near the center of the tavern, and as they sat down they took a quick look around. It had a rustic feel to it, with dim lighting and wooden furniture scattered across the place.

Business proved to be moderately busy, as half of the bar was full of patrons drinking, and a few of the other tables were occupied by people of all shapes, sizes, and colors doing exactly the same, finding their drinks and companions interesting enough for the group of eight to garner no more than a few brief glances. Based on the number of armaments either poorly hidden or being openly displayed, it was easy to see that this was a bar primarily frequented by Hunters and other soldiers.

Walking up to them was a woman who must have been a waitress. She was a rather attractive woman, with large brown eyes, sun-kissed skin, and curly black hair that hung loosely just blow her shoulders. Her dress was a hybrid of a shirt with long, loose sleeves that was made of an almost sheer material, black with orange trim that honestly looked more like a nightgown on the brink of immodesty than something to work at a bar in. The only other things that she wore were comfortable flat shoes with low hemmed socks, and a stiletto dagger strapped to each of her thighs.

Greeting them with a sultry smile, "Well, hello there. Welcome to Blackwater, I'm Haes. What can I start you off with?"

"A round of Wildfire shots, if you please." Yang requested before anyone else could order.

The hostess looked at them all with scrutiny, and saw that several of them were visibly armed. "Fresh out of Initiation, are we? Well, you've come to the right place. Who's picking up the tab?"

During their dinner, it was proposed by Yang that the one who scored the least amount of points on Kill Count during Initiation would pick up the tab, up to a max of three rounds since breakfast was paid for by alternative means.

In first place was Pyrrha, who had split the points from the Onigumo with Weiss, as they had both dealt the deathblow (135 points).

In second place was Nora, who had demolished a sloth of Ursa with Ren before JNPR's first team fight, as well as the whole Onigumo nightmare scenario (115).

In third place was a tie between Ruby and Jaune, who had numerous kills of the small fry. Ruby had more individual kills, but Jaune made up for it by killing that Alpha Beowolf and some Nemeans (108).

Ren, who had soloed a King Taijitu before pairing up with Nora, was in fourth place by a close margin (106).

Close behind him was Blake, whose quick attacks and option longer range would have put her in fourth without Ren's big kill (100).

Yang, who had little luck in finding Grimm before everyone had gotten together, and had conserved ammo for most of the time, lagged behind at (80).

However, the one picking up the tab tonight would be Weiss (77) because of her inclination to single target attacks, conservation of her Dust, and her weapon being ill-suited to fighting Arachs before she found a method to work around that without wasting Dust.

"Thank you, dear. I'll be right back." She sauntered back behind the bar to ring in their order.

As she left, Blake asked her partner, "So why here? Been here before?"

"Nah, I was going to bring you guys to another place, but it's… under renovations. So I asked Uncle Qrow, and he told me to come here."

"But the drinking age is 18, and Ruby is youngest of us. I doubt that this is very responsible." Weiss pointed out, citing her partner as an example for her case that they should be too young to be here, who was ignoring them to stare starry-eyed at the smorgasbord of weapons on display. Thankfully, a hand on her shoulder, courtesy of Yang, prevented her from dashing around the bar to inspect them closer and creep anyone out.

"As soon as we passed Initiation, we're considered adults in the eyes of the law. After all, we are allowed to carry weapons in public." Cutting in, Ren rebuffed her concern with following a law that no longer applied to them.

Adding to that, Jaune said, "It would be fucked up if we're old enough to be sent out to kill Grimm, but not old enough for a drink. That kind of oppression is something I'd expect from Atlas… meaning no offense, of course." In an effort to placate Weiss, who responded with, "Some taken."

"You fucking cheat!" A slurred yell from a nearby table, and the screech of a chair scraping against the wooden floor interrupted their conversation. Turning to see the cause, it was a man with his back to them yelling and angrily pointing in accusation at another man sitting lazily, with his left leg propped up on another chair who dressed in a similar fashion to Jaune but with some noticeable differences.

A leather duster dyed dark green, a white tunic laced at the chest, blue trousers, and shin-high boots. Around his neck was a black infinity scarf, and on top of his head was a black hat with a stiff, wide brim and a raven's tail feather pinned to the cap. The man appeared unarmed and looked at the man with a cheeky smirk as he disrupted the peaceful atmosphere of the tavern, before glancing at the other man sitting at the table.

He was an older man, with age lines beginning to grow on his lean, wolfish face. He had short dark hair with a few grey strands and black eyes contrasting with his lightly tanned skin. He wore a black leather jerkin that was scaled in a fashion that resembled the scales of a crocodile's back, and underneath this was a black long sleeve shirt. Any weapons he may have equipped were blocked from their view by his table.

Based on the dice and the stacks of lien on the table closer to the man in green, it would seem that he was having a good night, and the blond haired man in the plainer attire of a white t-shirt and jeans took exception to that.

The sore loser was about to begin another, longer, and louder diatribe, before the wind was cut out of his sails by the wolfish man in black, who calmly spoke with a lilting accent. "Those are my dice, you daft cunt. If you should be calling anyone a cheat, it's me. You accusing me of cheating, in me own house?" He spoke calmly, but with a threatening undertone as he leaned forward with a dark mood on his face.

This went unnoticed by the man who clearly had too much to drink, if his swaying in place was anything to go by.

"You damn right, I am, you…" As he was speaking, he began to reach for the ordinary pistol holstered on his hip.

Whatever the drunk was going to say went unsaid as the man who had been leaning on the wall by the entrance had been silently walking to behind the man as he was making a scene. However, he did not act until the drunk clearly intended to draw his weapon, but once he did, he sprung into action. Grabbing him by the wrist reaching for his weapon, he snapped it with a quick twist and a loud crack. Hoisting the drunk up by the neck and belt, he lifted him above his right shoulder and threw the man screaming in pain out through the open window.

'Huh, so that's why the window's open… practical.' Jaune thought, mildly impressed with the strength and accuracy of the bouncer. He was a man of a stocky build, and dressed exactly the same as the man with the wolfish face. Based on that, Jaune deduced that it might be a uniform of some sort, perhaps for the tavern, until Weiss gasped in recognition at their shared emblem, a black flame on a white shield. She looked at the strangers with a hint of respect.

The bouncer snorted, and yelled out to the man in a harsh, gritty voice. "You can sober up out in the rain, you daft bastard!"

Turning to acknowledge the noise behind him, he looked at them all, and focused most on Weiss, who was staring at him the hardest. He asked in a surly tone, "Can I help you?"

"What brings two members or the Winter Guard so far south?" She asked politely, which led to Ruby asking, "The what?"

At Ruby's question, the two snorted in mild offense, with the wolfish man saying, "Don't they teach you nothing in your fancy Hunter academy?" Pointing to the girl in white, "Well, at least one of you knows about us."

Stating in a less polite tone, due to her initial question being ignored, "I asked you two a question."

"Aye, you did, but you asked without manners. So I chose not to answer." The stockier of the two retorted, walking slowly towards them and his companion stood up.

Not in the mood for this sort of thing, Jaune intervened. "Everyone, let's calm down a bit. I like a good fight as much as anyone, but we came for a drink. Gentlemen, how about we buy you a round? It's on her anyway."

He pointed to Weiss, who gave him a mild glare at that, but conceded with a small nod. Pyrrha approved at his attempt at diplomacy, whereas Yang was a bit disappointed that she wouldn't go two for two on bar fights. 'But the night's still young.'

The two men in black looked at each other, silently deliberating, before the wolfish man said, "All right, well take you up on that."

He looked to the man in green, who had been ignored in their almost altercation, or at least where he was. Looking around, he saw his former gambling companion had silently taken his winnings and was currently sitting on a stool at the bar, talking to the hidden bartender amicably. "About fuckin' time Sham took off. Thought that he would take all my money tonight… again."

The two men walked over and sat at the two empty chairs at the end of the table next to the stool. The stocky man in black introduced them with, "I'm Rainier Blackwall, and this is Bronn Blackwater."

"Ooh, like this place? Are you named after it?" Nora asked.

"Aye, but the other way 'round." Bronn replied. "I helped open this place with Orys, the bartender."

As the eight introduced themselves, Haes returned with ten shot glasses full of a glowing green liquid on a tray, and slid them down the table to each person skillfully enough that not a drop was spilled. "Here you go. I even brought two more, courtesy of Orys. He noticed the two of you coming over here."

"Wildfire? You ever had this before? It has… quite a kick to it." Rainier looked intrigued. Yang shook her head, commenting that it was a recommendation from a reliable source.

"Well, in that case, just remember to exhale upwards after downing it."

Seeing no reason to object to his advice, Jaune raised his glass. "A toast, to the Hunt!"

"To the Hunt!" Echoed by the table as they all consumed their shot. It had a distinct flavor of lemon-lime with a pleasant hint of spice. After swallowing, they exhaled and a small stream of green flames identical to the ones on the sign outside discharged from their mouths, much to the surprise of the young Hunters. The two Winter Guard had held back on drinking to see and laugh at their amazed reactions to suddenly breathe fire. After a hearty chuckle, they took their own shots and blew out flames twice as big, drawing a round of applause from an observer coming towards them.

He was a short man, just under 5' in height, with a lean, patrician face, marred by a claw mark going across his face from his forehead to his right cheek. Unlike the two in black, he was clean-shaven, but his hair was a messy mane of dirty gold. He wore a deep scarlet waistcoat over a black collared dress shirt, black dress pants, and black sneakers.

Coming to their table, he stood on the small footstool, now able to stand with his head at the same level as theirs. Taking a sip from his glass stein, "Good show. Tell me, what do you think of my special?"

"It was… an interesting experience." Pyrrha said hesitantly, speaking of both the unusual flavors and the aftermath.

"Tastes like my favorite soda, but with some hot sauce, and it tasted great!" Nora added, looking in her glass for any drop she might have missed.

"It's funny, a drink with a literal afterburn." Yang appreciated the comedic factor more than the taste.

Pleased at their approval, the short man continued to talk in good humor. "I appreciate it. It took me ages to figure out how to make the flames green. Only finished it last week. Did your uncle tell you to come here?"

"How do you know our uncle?" Ruby asked innocently.

His smile widened. "That's what I do. I drink, and I know things." Quaffing the rest of his drink to prove part of his statement.

"For instance, I know everyone here just began at Beacon. But to answer you question, he was the first one to try it. He never could pass up a free drink." Knowing his affinity for alcohol, they agreed with the statement.

"How did you add that fire effect? Some form of Dust?" Ren asked. He did not particularly like alcohol or the taste, but he was curious about it.

"Trade secret on the specifics, I'm afraid, but you're essentially on the right track. And before you ask, Ms. Schnee, it's perfectly safe for those with aura. Thankfully with my clientele, that is mostly a non-issue. Speaking of which, I'll go make your second round. Despite the burn, Wildfire doesn't actually have all too much alcohol in it." With that, he jumped off the stool and headed back behind the bar before they could say anything.

"He didn't ask us for what we wanted." Blake stated.

At the implied question, Bronn spoke up. "Orys meets with new customers, and makes their drinks based on his impression of you. He's a good judge of character, or so he says. But hey, if he get's it wrong, it's free."

"What kind of business model is that?" Weiss asked in disbelief that someone would try to run their business on what was essentially gambling.

"One that works, most of the time. I've seen him fuck up on purpose every once in a while, just to keep them coming back, the clever bastard."

Before an awkward silence could form, Jaune asked the two men in black, "So what's the Winter Guard? And why did Weiss ask about why the two of you are so far south?"

"I'm surprised you don't know about them, Jaune. Didn't you hear about them during your… travels?" She looked at Jaune bemused, hinting about his apprenticeship, but without outright revealing it.

"Dad never took me to Solitas, though he did go up there with his teammates, except Mom, a few years ago for some top-level mission." Jaune shrugged off his ignorance, thinking 'I mean really, I only had less than two years to get up to snuff. At least I'm not the only one here unaware.

"That behemoth you call Father was a big help, but let me ask you something. Grimm have been around… pretty much since fucking always, right?" Bronn asked, receiving a few nods. "But you huntsman and huntresses haven't even been around for a century. So… who was killing Grimm, protecting people, before you all came along, huh?"

It raised a fair point in Jaune's mind. 'If humanity didn't have people holding back the vermin, then we would have been wiped out a long time ago.'

"And your order is one of those organizations?" Blake asked, quickly putting the pieces together.

"Right you are, lass." Rainier answered. "We're almost exclusively in Mantle, or Atlas as it's called now, and the surrounding lands. As to what the mission is, that's a bit above your pay grade."

"So why are you guys here then?"

"Patience lassie, I'm getting to it. We're only on active duty during the winter. It's in the name, after all. And as for why we're here… recruiting."

Haes and Orys return with their next round, which consisted of several different glasses and colorful beverages, like the man had distilled his idea of their personality into what was being placed before them, and was named as Haes set them down. Weiss received Frostbite, a delicate, frosted martini glass with a cerulean liquid that was cold enough to lightly mist the air above it. A light sip revealed a creamy texture with white chocolate and blueberry flavors, and garnered an appreciative hmm.

At hearing the same, a few chuckles had been silenced by a mildly chilling, to some, glare in the direction of those innocently looking away. Ruby had a similar glass, unfrosted, but filled with a slightly carbonated crimson solution of syrupy viscosity called Rosewater. It tasted of chocolate covered strawberries, raspberries, and had a slight fragrance of roses, as the name implied.

Nora quaffed her entire double shot of Thor's Wrath, an amethyst liquid that sparkled in the light. After consumption, her head twitched a few times as static discharge coursed over her body in random places and she tittered in delight of the tingly sensation. Next to her, Ren calmly sipped a steaming mug of chai tea, the only one of the bunch that was non-alcoholic.

By comparison to the previous concoctions, Yang and Blake had relatively more common selections, with a Strawberry Sunrise, umbrella included, for the blonde and a Black Cat for Blake, which caused her to look nervously for a brief moment in Orys's direction, only to see his knowing look. A look at the opposite side of the table showed a mirror image on Jaune's face looking at her. With a light huff, she took a sip, and her eyes slightly dilated with delight at the taste.

The most vivid creation color-wise went to Pyrrha's with swirls of orange and red amidst the sparkling beverage within her highball glass. The Valeman's Wife tasted of peaches, foreshadowed by its peach slice garnish, but the delicious sweetness only enhanced her mild embarrassment by the rather bawdy name. "Why the… interesting name, sir?"

"Oh, none of that sir business. It makes me feel like my last boss is going to pop out of the woodwork with that dead rat over his mouth that he calls a moustache. I kept the name as a reminder to never let this one name anything again." Orys pointed to Bronn, who retorted with, "If you changed it, then I'll have made that song for nothing. Speaking of…" He began to clear his throat, presumably to sing the aforementioned song.

"Perhaps another time. If you start, then I'll have to, and I'd rather not subject them to that ear bleeding nonsense." Rainier stopped his comrade and spared them from a supposedly horrid voice.

Putting aside the older men's banter, Pyrrha turned to her partner. "How's your…" She looked at his drink as he held it, and to say that it did not look appealing to her in the slightest would be putting it mildly, nor did it to anyone else. Whereas everyone else's drink was colorful and/or pleasantly aromatic, Jaune's was not. "What, you want to try it?" He nonchalantly asked unfazed by the liquid that looked more like toxic sludge than something potable.

He held out the white horn stein that was styled with red markings similar to a Grimm closer to Pyrrha as an offering. Daring to lean in a bit closer to take a sniff, Pyrrha could almost feel nose hairs burn off from the pungent smell of alcohol and cringed in mild disgust before kindly declining. Quickly going back to her own, far more pleasant drink, she asked the bartender, "What is that, if I might ask?"

"Grimm Blood." Orys proclaimed with pride. "I must say, I never thought I'd find someone who'll drink it, but I had a very good feeling."

After a few seconds as Jaune evaluated it, "Well, it certainly has quite the kick, and it's not the prettiest at first glance. But once you get past that, it's got this lovely salted caramel flavor." He took another big sip, like he was drinking soda, and smacked his lips.

"I think we'll take your word for it." Yang remarked. She might like a drink every now and then, but nothing particularly strong.

Haes had meandered among other patrons to refill empty drinks, whereas Orys remained drinking again at his stool, which prompted Bronn to ask in a mocking tone, "Not much of a bartender if you're not tending the bar, are you? And drinking on the job, no less."

"Oh, like you have room to talk with you drinking and gambling. Besides, Hari can handle the bar. Besides, I do so love stories, including the one you're continuing." Orys negated his friend's jest of his competence.

"No I'm not. The rest is classified." And Bronn meant it. "Unless you're all thinking of joining? We could always use more willing bodies." Rainier asked, although the way he emphasized 'willing' seemed a bit odd.

"These days, most who join are conscripted criminals. What better way to get rid of the scum than have them serve as meat shields? And if they die, who the fuck would care?" He sounded bitter, and gave a brief, but scathing look at Weiss.

"Yeah, no offense, but that doesn't sound like something any random, ordinary schmuck would want to join." Yang commented.

"You've got a point, but I should point out that recruiting is a duty only available to those who 'took the black' freely."

"Uh, sorry?" Yang apologized for her unintentional insult.

"It's fine, you're not the first. Been getting the assumption that we're all criminals for over a decade now."

Checking the time, Jaune finished his drink. "Well, perhaps I'll volunteer for the next hunting season, but now it's time to go."

"What, why?" With free drinks, Yang planned on staying a lot longer to milk it for its worth.

"That plan I mentioned, well it starts early tom… Ruby, you okay?" He looked to Ruby, swaying in her seat as she was balancing her chair on two legs with a flushed face and giggling to herself.

"M'fine, these taste… awesome~!" Raising her empty glass, she nearly lost her balance and fell backwards, had Yang not rushed to catch her. "Easy there, sis. I got you. All, right, I guess you got a point, Jaune. Hey Orys, can we get some w…"

"For the road." Right on cue, Haes showed up with a few bottles of water as she returned Weiss's credit card.

"Come back anytime. I want to see how much Grimm Blood you can handle in one sitting!" Orys challenged Jaune. As they began to head out, suddenly the kind of exhaustion that only comes around from a long day of fun settled upon them.

XXXXXXXXXXXXX

As they headed back to the station, it became clear that a couple of them were not experienced to the effects of alcohol. Blake and Weiss were walking just fine by themselves, having drunk before in varying circumstances and having minimal amounts of alcohol in their drinks. Yang was supporting her sister, grumbling in good humor about her being a lightweight while she mumbled gibberish into her cloak. Nora was fast asleep getting a piggyback ride from Ren, who carried without complaint and she snored right into his ear. It's not like this hadn't happened before, which is why he had tea instead.

Pyrrha was the worst off; stumbling pretty badly due to trying to walk in heels, before Jaune huffed and picked her up in a bridal carry. Where before she was mentally cursing the effects of alcohol, she was now thankful that her face was already flushed as she stammered an apology. "I'm sorry for being an inconvenience."

"Don't worry about it. It's no trouble." He spoke to her with a gentle tone and a kind smile.

"Hey, how come you're fine? That black stuff smelled like pure alcohol, and you drank a whole horn of it." She peered at him curiously.

He furrowed his brow in thought. "You know, I have no idea. I know I have a resistance to poison… I guess alcohol falls under that purview. I'm not complaining too much."

XXXXXXXXXXXXX

Returning to their suite, they all headed straight to bed, all but Jaune, who waited outside his room as Pyrrha was changing. Hearing the loud thump of body on mattress, he lightly knocked before entering, seeing her fast asleep, face first into her pillow. Before following suit, Jaune's last thought was, 'Oh, tomorrow's going to be so much fun.'

Had his partner a few feet below him heard the chuckle that came after, she would not be sleeping so soundly.

XXXXXXXXXXXXX

Chapter End

Trying to give everyone more character development, while staying close to canon is a lot tougher than I originally thought. I saw as I was writing that I put more emphasis on certain characters over others, but so does almost every piece of literature ever. But this is 'Bloody Arc', not 'Wait for A Bloody Long Time to See Some Action Arc', so never fear, there will be fighting next chapter.

'The Devil in the White City' is a real novel, and I enjoyed it immensely. It's historical fiction, and while I won't likely delve into it too much, it'll be different due to my Remnant's equivalent to Lovecraft penning it.

For Nora's stop at a music store, I actually did get the idea from 'Ride of the Valkyries'. I used real music I felt would fit each character. Also, Claire de Lune means moonlight, and I chose the version used for the save room of The Evil Within.