"Ozpin. You're a cartoon." "No that's a terrible way to start it." Crue grumbled to himself, breathing out through his nostrils in annoyance. This whole thing was grating on his nerves. In all seriousness, maybe he should just leave that part out. And just tell him what he has learned.

"Yeah, that's better. Besides, I can just say I learned all that during that one trip." He nodded to himself, walking through the forest on the way to Mentis. Which he still had no idea how to get to.

And once he got back there he had to name the Mech. He closed his eyes and pictured it. "Hmm, let's see. It's like Megas minus the head, and I never watched that weird one. All I know is the meme. SHINJI GET IN THE GOD DAMN ROBOT. I'm sure that would confuse the hell out of anyone here. Do they even have memes? Do they even have- Why am I flying?" His eyes shot open as he stared at the rapidly passing clouds.

The moment he opened his eyes however, he began to fall to the ground. "Nononononono!" He closed his eyes and concentrated on the Mech. He stopped falling, but continued to fly in a certain direction.

"Hmm." Crue thought, a frown on his face. "My Semblance allows me to change my center of gravity. I'm able to change it so that my gravity is facing upward just my thinking it." He thought back to the night in the Inn, where he had floated up to the ceiling.

"And because I'm focusing on the Mech, my Semblance is making it so that the Mech is my center of gravity. If it was lighter than me, it'd probably be hurtling towards me." He stopped for a moment, not exactly enjoying at thought.

"So technically, I'm not flying towards the Mech." His eyes opened as he stared at the sky, stars shining above. "I'm fal-" He looked down, cutting himself and his Semblance off, just in time to narrowly avoid hitting the mech, Bouncing along the ground instead, his Aura flaring up in order to prevent him from breaking anything too important.

He rolled along the ground, and came to a stop, groaning as he flopped onto his back, staring up at the night sky, looking at the twinkling stars. He was briefly annoyed when he realised no one had made any cries of concern or surprise at a Faunus falling into the area. Literally.

He managed to crane his neck slightly, seeing that the fire had been put out, and everyone was asleep. "Ok yeah that's fair." He let his head fall back, groaning as it hit the ground. He stared up at the sky, looking at all of the stars, and wondering if there were any different constellations in Remnant.

He closed his eyes, and breathed in. "Northstar." He stared upwards, seeing the bright and shining star, and then looking over to the Mech, where he noticed a hand leaning off it. He saw a silver ring on one of the fingers, and realised who it belonged to.

"Must've been drinking. Not that I can say much." He sighed, deciding to close his eyes and actually try to sleep.

"Maybe when I'll wake up, it'll turn out I never actually met her." He let out a bitter laugh. "Yeah. Like I'd be that lucky."

…

A gunshot sounded, and instantly Crue was on his feet. So was quite literally the entire camp, all of them holding their weapons at the ready. "My bad!" Everyone turned, seeing Qrow standing atop the Mech, the barrel of his weapon pointing into the air and smoking slightly.

"I had to get you all up somehow." Crue sighed, letting his head fall back down onto the soft grass and closing his eyes. "There will be a few bullheads coming soon, in order to bring you to Beacon, where you ca-"

Everyone wondered why Qrow had stopped talking. "CRUE GET UP YOU LAZY BASTARD!" The Faunus' response was to raise an arm, along with a middle finger. A few laughs sounded out, causing Qrow to grumble.

Having failed to get Crue up, at least he knew he was awake. "Anyway." He rolled his red eyes. "You'll get to Beacon, where we'll either house you for a bit, or you can straight to Vale and make your own ways home."

"Which is something I don't recommend." Crue sat up, now fully awake and going through scenarios in his head rapidly.

"Oh look who has decided to jo-" "Yeah whatever shut up." Crue waved away Qrow's insult, surprising the hunter that the Faunus could be that blunt.

"You all realise the Vytal Festival is in like, a week, right?" Crue told the crowd, many of whom looked shocked.

"HOW LONG WAS I OUT?!" He heard someone exclaim.

"Absolutely no idea." Crue replied. "But, you might as well go seeing as you'll be in Beacon, you know, where the thing is being held." Part of him felt that he wasn't exactly correct, but he had gotten his point across.

"Some of us have families to return to." A voice called out, and Crue vaguely recognised it as Heather's.

"I'm not saying you have to go." Crue responded. "It's just an option. You can go home to your families, friends, whatever you got."

There were a few more murmurs going around, people discussing it with those next to them. He waved down Qrow and thought of what to say. The Hunter jumped off the Mech, Northstar, Crue could remember that much, and approached the Faunus.

"Have you talked to Ozpin?" He asked simply.

"Of course I have." Red eyes looked mildly insulted. "I tell Ozpin everything." It was Crue's turn to squint at the man. "There will be Bullheads here in a while." He nodded his head over to the left.

"Go talk to your friends or whatever you kids do now-a-days." The Hunter instructed.

"Sure ya old fart." The Faunus ducked immediately, dodging the Hunters punch. Crue backed up rapidly while flipping Qrow off with a smirk.

The older Hunter grumbled, taking out his Scroll and dialling up Ozpin, planning to tell him about the possible new additions.

Meanwhile, Crue found CRDL along with Sunny. He noticed that Sunny was wearing some strange necklace of flowers, shrugging it off and figuring that Russel made it for her. "Hey!" He waved, catching their attention.

They waved back, returning to their own conversations as Crue walked over. He saw Russel and Sunny exchanging contact information, and the other members of the Beacon team talking about last night.

"…and she gave me some really good pointers, told me to look her up if I was ever in Mistral." Cardin explained to Dove and Sky. He nodded to Crue, who joined the trio. "What about you guys?"

"This one dude showed me a really cool trick I can do with the halberd. It also gave me an idea for a new team attack." Sky answered.

"I learned absolutely nothing." Dove said. "But, I had fun." This got a laugh out of the team. "What about you, Crue?" The slant-eyed teenager asked, turning to the Faunus. "You learn anything?"

Crue stayed silent for a moment, thinking over everything that happened. "I learned that some very weird people like me."

"Hey." Cardin frowned.

"Not you dumbass." He smirked good-naturedly, before shaking his head. "Just, weird people." He sighed, deciding that when he tells Ozpin he will leave out the fact that Salem wanted- wants to bang him.

"This have anything to do with Qrow outing your fetish the other day?" Sky asked.

Crue thought back to what Qrow said. "Fuck." He crouched down, slapping his hand against his face, and causing the other three to laugh.

There was a sound of rushing wind, causing all of those on the ground to look up and ready their weapons. There was no need, as the cause of the wind appeared, two Bullheads hovering over the forest.

"Ah shit." Crue cursed, realising he needed to fly. Maybe he could use his Semblance to get to Beacon. "Nah." He shook his head. There was still a lot he didn't know about it, and using it to travel such a large distance was a risk he didn't want to take.

The Bullheads landed, blowing back everyone's hair. "Alright!" Qrow called out. "Everyone going to Vale, get on!" His voice was partially lost due to the engines of the machines, but everyone got the idea.

As the mass of professional Hunters boarded, Crue watched as Sunny stayed where she was. "You're not coming?" Russel asked, disappointment evident in his voice.

The redhead shook her head sadly. "No, I've got to make sure the town is ok. Who knows what Alice might have done." At the mention of her name, the group looked over to where the blonde was being carried onto a Bullhead, her mouth gagged and her limbs tied.

She looked over to the teens, and when her eyes met those of Crue, she immediately began to panic and struggle against the hunters, her pupils practically pinpricks. This action did not go unnoticed by the others, who all looked at Crue concerningly.

"My head ain't a nice place to be." He said shortly, before walking towards the Bullhead that did not currently occupy the only other person who knew what was in his head. The others followed, saying their final farewells to Sunny, waving at her as the Bullhead took off.

"She still has your jacket." Crue noted, nudging Russel who looked down at his shirt, evidently not noticing this.

"Ah crud." He frowned, before shrugging. "I've got more back at Beacon. Sides, aren't girls supposed to take guys clothes?"

Crue thought back to his time with Neo, and waking up one morning to see her wearing his shirt. "Yeah." His voice came through with a touch of melancholy, still hurting over the break up. The Faunus lightly shook his head, knowing that she was probably going through the same.

And maybe if he tried he could actually believe that. "Then it's fine." Russel said with a smile, looking back at the forest, where he could barely make out a flash of red amongst the green.

Crue recognised the smile, the smile of a boy who has recently acquired a girlfriend. He shook his head, deciding not to give the green haired teen any shit for dating her. At the thought of his hair, he glanced up to Russels Mohawk.

"Hey, where's your little flower crown yoke?" Crue asked, waving above his own head.

"Oh, Sunny took it." Russel laughed.

Crue nodded. "She took your flower-" The Faunus froze mid-sentence, slowly turning his head to stare at Russel.

The teen slowly began to sweat under the burning gaze. "W-What? What is it?" The Bullhead was too cramped for him to successfully escape his watch.

"She took your flower." He repeated.

"Yeah, my flower crown." Russel corrected. Crue stared. "I don't know what you want me to say to stop you from killing me."

"There is nothing you can say." Crue told him. Before he could make good on his word, the Bullhead lurched. Every set of hands gripped onto something, keeping themselves steady. Crue completely froze, standing as straight as a rod, with his Semblance focused entirely on the metal below him.

"Why don't you kill me once we land." Russel said with an amused expression, holding onto one of the railings. Crue would have responded with a witty comeback had he not been fearing falling out of the flying vehicle.

Thankfully his fear was short-lived, as the Bullheads soon returned to Beacon, setting down and letting their passengers off. Crue almost kissed the ground, but refrained from doing so because he considered all of the foot traffic a place like this must get.

"I must commend you on a well completed mission." The Faunus looked up from the ground, and met the hazel eyes of Ozpin.

"Thank you Professor." Cardin accepted the compliment, stepping beside Crue, the rest of his team behind him. The white haired Headmaster looked at the two before him, and smiled, seeing that they weren't trying to bite each other's head off.

"Very good." He nodded, before turning, seeing Qrow directing all of the Hunters. "And what an amazing turn out for the festival." He seemed to chuckle. "Ironwood will be pleased with the extra security."

His words gave Crue pause, realising that he couldn't exactly tell Ozpin without telling Ironwood. And how would a General of a military react to a 'being from another planet' who seemed to know their future.

Based on literally every movie he had ever seen, he would be drawn and quartered. "Fuck." He thought. "I can't tell him. I- Why is this shit so complicated?" He considered maybe leaving hints as to what would happen as the Wolf.

"That could work." Though whether or not they would listen or fire on sight to a 'criminal' is up in the air. "I need a neutral party." He decided. "Someone that I can tell what's going on without any repercussions."

And where the Hell was he gonna find one of those. "Hey!" Crue suddenly exclaimed, seeing a pair of guards walk away with Alice, and her flamethrower. "That's mine!" His words caused Ozpin and the others to look at him.

"It belongs to the culprit." Ozpin told him. "Therefore, it will be evidence." His words caused Crue to grind his teeth and grow a frown.

"Damn it." He hissed. "I won it fair and- ok maybe not fair." He stopped himself.

Ozpin chuckled at the Faunus' words. "If you want a flamethrower you will have to make one yourself."

"Fine."

And it was at that point Ozpin realised he may have made a mistake. "Guys, I'll see you all later." Crue waved to CRDL, walking towards the dorms, planning to have a shower, then go into Vale to buy supplies.

"What have I done?" Ozpin whispered, expecting the entirety of Vale to be on fire by midnight. No that was too generous. Eleven thirty.

…

Crue walked through the surprisingly empty halls of Beacon. "Everything seems quieter for some reason." He shrugged it off, heading to the dorm. He noticed the door slightly ajar, but did not care much, only seeing it as not needing to take out his Scroll.

"I wonder what everyone's been up to while I was g-GHHH!" Something heavy and hard impacted Crue's head, and he instantly fell to the floor, face first.

"Ha! Now that's ice wa- OH MY GOODNESS CRUE! I'm so sorry!" The Faunus could barely comprehend what was going on, hearing the voice, but also a large amount of ringing. He managed to lift his head, to find a distinctly concerned Weiss staring down at him with a horrified expression.

"W-Weiss?" Crue stuttered. "Why do you look so, so, Chibi?" Her eyes were too large, along with her head.

"I don't know what that means, but it might because I dropped a bucket of ice on your head." The Heiress picked up the Faunus carefully, sitting him down on her bed. "I didn't realise you were back." She told him, sitting down next to him.

"I got back today." Crue replied, rubbing the spot where the bucket landed. It luckily missed his ears, God only knows how much that would have hurt. "Who was that even meant for?" He groaned out, resting his head on Weiss' shoulder.

The girl clearly didn't mind, if the way she was currently rubbing her hand along Crue's head was any indication. "Ruby. We are in the midst of a 'Prank War'. I've, never pulled a prank before." There was a slight giddiness to her voice.

"Word of advice." Crue spoke up. "Add a rope. And don't freeze it completely. You could give her a concussion." Weiss nodded in agreement, realising how badly it could have gone. Before realising something else.

"You, don't have one, do you?" She asked hesitantly. Crue chuckled lightly.

"No." He smiled. "I've got a thick skull." He rapped his knuckles on his head to prove his point, before wincing in pain.

"Hmph. Very thick, as I can see." Weiss giggled. "But you are ok, right?" She asked seriously.

"Yes. I promise." Crue told her, holding up his pinky finger. Weiss shook it without question. "Now, if you don't mind, I think I'll have a shower."

At his words, Weiss gave a short sniff. "You smell, like wood smoke. And forest." Crue nodded.

"Yeah, we ended up having a huge campfire." Crue explained, loosening his tie and letting it rest on the bed. "Didn't get much sleep though."

"I wouldn't imagine so. It must have been quite an arduous mission, with Cardin of all people being in such close proximity." Weiss gently pat Crue's head.

"Actually we're cool now." Crue told her, leaning into her hand. "He's not racist against Faunus any more. Well. He still doesn't like the White Fang. But he's got reasons."

"Hmm." Weiss hummed in surprise. "I suppose there is hope for all of us." She leaned her head against Crue's without thinking. The two let out a sigh of contentment at the comfortable position.

"I didn't realise how much your presence meant till you weren't here." Weiss spoke. Crue raised an eyebrow at this, unseen by the heiress. "You've become a part of this team, even though you're not officially a member."

"Yeah you're stuck with me now." The Faunus chuckled. It got a smile out of the heiress.

"Oh please. If anything you're stuck with us." Weiss replied, feeling the Faunus shake with laughter. "I'm glad you're back. The others will be too."

A genuine smile grew on Crue's face. "It's good to be back."

…

The two stayed like that for five more minutes, neither realising just how starved for affection they were. There was no romantic gesture to any of this, though Crue did make a joke about dating Weiss for the sole reason of giving her dad a heart attack.

After a laughing fit, which Crue recorded due to both the hilarity of the situation and the fact it made Weiss look adorable, he headed to the shower. Once inside, he began taking off his shirt, and realised something horrible.

Where he had been hit by the flamethrower was blackened with soot. However he was focused on the mechanism beneath it. "Nooo." He moaned, looking at the darkened gauntlet. He tried to activate it, but all that happened was a puff of air escaping through the destroyed tube that connected the two.

He took the gauntlet off, and winced as the plastic tube was practically peeled off of his arm. He didn't feel any pain from the sensation, surprisingly. He checked the other gauntlet, relieved to see it still worked.

"Maybe I should remake my glove." He thought, stripping down and getting in the shower. The ash began to wash off almost instantly. He sighed in relief, the water hitting his skin. It had been too long without a shower.

He began to focus on his plan, and ignoring the fact that Weiss had probably knocked something loose with that 'prank'. He'd probably go to a normal shop, and not an armoury. Even with what he had from robbing the store, the prices there were pretty steep.

He decided to ignore the thoughts for now, and simply relax in the shower. Or he would have, had the water not suddenly turned ice cold. "AAH!" Crue's voice took on a higher pitch at the sudden change in temperature.

He could hear muffled laughing from outside the bathroom. "Weiss!" He exclaimed, hearing the laughter grow. He shook his head with a smile. At least she's happy. It would be a far cry from the Weiss that ended up in Atlas because of her father.

As he returned to his shower, he continued to think about the Fall. "Gotta stop Weiss from being taken by her father. Gotta stop Penny and Pyrrha from dying. Which but would be a lot easier if she doesn't take the Maidens powers."

"I can probably convince her not to. But, she's too good a person." He frowned, lowering his hands to his side. "And even then… Ozpin will probably do a better job convincing her." Crue started to grind his teeth together, becoming angrier with every passing second.

"Because that's what he does. He manipulates people." Crue's fist clenched tightly. "He manipulated a first year who only wanted to do some good." His fist impacted the tiled wall of the shower. "Ozpin would have never have told her if he didn't expect her to say yes."

Crue slumped down against the wall, sitting in the shower as the water cascaded down. "She would give up her life for the 'greater good'. So would Ruby." He would make sure neither of them lost their lives to someone like Ozpin.

"Maybe it's a good thing I didn't tell him." He grabbed a bottle of shampoo, and squeezed harder than strictly necessary. "I'm not lying to him. Just like he's not lying to anyone else. Just keeping more secrets."

"I don't know why I suddenly hate him so much." Crue pondered. "Maybe cause of what Salem did to me. Or maybe I only started to actually think about the stuff he's done." The Faunus vigorously scrubbed his head, his thoughts carrying over to his actions.

"Maybe what Salem said about me was right." He stopped for a moment. "Maybe I should show Ozpin my Wrath."

…

CRUNCH! "Pyrrha are you ok?" The redhead blinked, turning in surprise to see who had spoken to her. Jaune, along the rest of her team, were looking at her with concern. More specifically, they were looking at her hand.

Pyrrha followed their gaze, seeing an absolutely crushed can of 'People Like Grapes' in her grasp. She had no idea what happened. She just suddenly felt a surge of anger, of rage… of Wrath. "I don't know what happened."

"I just, suddenly felt really angry at-" She cut herself off. Why was she mad at Ozpin of all people? He was a lovely man, who cared deeply for his students. And he was a Headmaster. There was no reason to be angry at him.

"At something." Her emerald eyes shone with confusion. She was rarely a person to even get angry, even mildly annoyed was a stretch as far as she was concerned. "I'm not sure why."

The other three members of her team shared a glance, and nodded. "I've got an idea." Jaune spoke up. Pyrrha looked to her leader with a raised eyebrow. "Let's head to Vale. We can go to that café you mentioned."

Pyrrha stared at Jaune with practical hearts in her eyes, not that he would notice. "I'd love that." Nora sniggered at the pining, but didn't say anything.

"Alright then!" Jaune said with a smile. "Let's head into Vale, enjoy the few days we have before the festival, and just relax." With that, JNPR made their way out of the dorm, Ren stopping a moment to close the windows.

As he was closing them, he noticed a black bird standing on a branch of the tree near their dorm. It stared at him with beady red eyes. "The Gods must have a message for someone." The ninja said shortly, before closing the window, watching as the bird took off towards Vale.

He shrugged it off, idly going through his knowledge of birds in mythology. "They say that raven's are a symbol of bad luck." He thought as he joined his comrades. "But what bad could a raven bring to Vale?

FINALLY FINISHED! So yeah Crue gets back and realises that maybe it's not such a good idea to tell Ozpin all that he knows, seeing as he would probably be locked up or worse if Ironwood knew about it.

Two things of note here: One, both Weiss and Crue are extremely touch-starved, hence that little bonding moment they had earlier and why neither really seemed interested in breaking it. Second thing, this story is a bit over two years old at this point! Amazing!

Anyway, with the Mentis Arc finally over, (and thank you to all those who commented with their opinions and criticisms, they meant a lot) we can move onto Crue's actions during the Vytal Festival. With one claw down and a touch of pyromania, what's a Faunus to do?

Anyway, I hope you've liked this chapter, if you have, let me know, and if you didn't, let me know anyway, and as always

Until Next Time

-Friday