Sorry about the delay for this chapter guys, I just got caught up doing so much stuff. But now I'm back and I'm not going anywhere for a long time. So expect some more chapters soon!
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Jaune felt tired, that world-weary kind of tired and he couldn't quite place down why. The weekend was fast approaching, and every day seemed to take more and more of it out of him. He had a few more sessions with Goodwitch and one with Oobleck, but they were both nothing noteworthy; Goodwitch, for all her stern demeanor, did have a soft spot for her students. He just wished that she didn't waste on him.
Nora bounced around the room, clearly excited at the prospect of a weekend out with both teams. Weiss still got irritated with the perky ginger, and Rin still sat there cleaning his guns, but it didn't mean anything. He just sat there on his bed, lethargic and uncaring as his team continued their antics. Truth be told, he had nothing left in him anymore; no more anger or hurt, and that left him with this weariness.
There were no more dreams, just an empty black void that let him dwell on his doubts. What was he doing here? He hadn't done anything to earn his coveted freedom, his role in society had not changed in all the time he spent here, it just got a different lighting than before. He was still trapped, bound by a contract and subservient to the wishes of others. He couldn't even escape, at best he'd get out of Vale and then be captured by someone else or, at worst, he'd get caught before he even made it out of the school.
He decided to stop thinking about it for a bit, Jaune could feel the distant rumble of what might have been madness in the back of his mind. Weiss huffed at whatever Nora had just done -he had not been paying attention- before turning back to him, an unreadable expression on her face.
"What's got you moping around Arc?" she asked. "I would have thought you'd love to get out of Beacon for a weekend or so, especially after everything that's happened."
Yes, the whole Team CRDL fiasco. They were making a good recovery, and, from what he'd heard, their team was growing a little closer over the entire experience so there was a silver lining at least.
"I'm tired Weiss." was his simple response. Weiss frowned and exchanged a look with Rin but decided not to dwell on it.
"Oh come on guys! This weekend is gonna be so freaking cool!" Nora chanted, bouncing on her bed.
He sighed, maybe Nora had a point. Maybe he needed this more than ever, a chance to get out of this school and clear his head for a bit. The night finished in blissful silence, or atleast as close as one could get with Nora, and Jaune ended up hitting the hay a little earlier...
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2 weeks earlier...
The bar was run down and dingy. The kind of place people with no future go to make themselves feel better, in other words, a place that Qrow Branwen frequented quite, quite often. The master huntress sat there, heady drink in hand, thinking about what a shit day she had had. First, she got ambushed by every goddamn Grimm on the road (fuck her semblance), then she gets a surprise call from her boss, Ozpin, telling her in great detail how shit the situation at Beacon is with her student, and finally she had spilled two drinks just in the last hour.
Yep, today was a real shitshow.
Her student. A conundrum that made her want to drown herself in liquor until she couldn't tell left from right; not that she didn't want to deal with his issues, which she still didn't but you know, it's just that the damn kid was so hardheaded that she'd need a diamond drill to break through to him.
She was caught at a major crossroads when she left: stay and teach the kid while simultaneously hoping her semblance didn't kill him or leave him halfway through his teaching in the "capable" hands of Oobleck, Peach, and Port.
Again, not that they weren't experienced but she could tell where the kid was coming from to some extent. Lord knows she knew something about troublesome family, but that doesn't mean he didn't piss her off rightly sometimes.
She sighed and gulped down some more alcohol, hoping it would help chase the pesky thoughts away.
It didn't, and never has.
Ever since team STRQ fell apart things had only gotten bleaker. Raven went MIA and rejoined her merry band of bandits, Summer was murdered by the Queen and her allies, Titian settled down away from the troubles of the world, and Qrow was drinking to a grim past and a worst future.
Not to say she didn't have some light in her life, Yang certainly shone brightly enough for a hundred people and Ruby did her best to help those in need. And of course Jaune was there and, even though he'd rather commit hari kari than admit it, she knew that the boy cared about her more than she let on.
She sighed heavily and a drank some more, signalling the rather cute bartender to bring her another one. She pondered how things were at Beacon when she felt her scroll ping, cluing into the fact someone had just sent her a message.
Qrow, I need you for a very special misison. -Ozpin
What kind of mission Oz? You usually don't call me with another mission when I'm out in the field. -Qrow
Yes, I know, but this is important. I need you to make your way over to Haven before the Vytal students from Mistral ship off. Lionheart thinks that one of her teams isn't who they say they are, but she can't figure out which one. -Ozpin
What are you thinking Oz, spies? -Qrow
Perhaps, but I don't wish to take any chances with it. Head to Haven and be extremely subtle, one slip up could mean the end to this entire lead. -Ozpin
Oh relax Olivia, when I have ever failed you? -Qrow
Well there was that time in Vacuo... -Ozpin
Touche -Qrow
Qrow breathed deeply and picked herself up. Setting down some white lien cards at the counter she waved goodbye to the bartender and exited the comforts of the bar into a rather crisp night air.
Well, atleast the drink in Mistral isn't so bad.
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"So, are you guys excited for this outing or what?" Yang cheered happily, her team and Team ARSN following behind her onto the bullheads that would take them into Vale. Truth be told just about everyone was ready to get away from the school for a little bit, if for different reasons.
"So, what do we plan on doing first?" Pyrrha asked the group which decided to think on it for a moment while the bullhead took flight. Well, everyone but Nora and Jaune thought about as the latter was trying to not vomit and the former didn't care.
"Well, I say we go visit the docks first. That way, we can view any of our competitors that will be coming to join us for the Vytal Festival." Weiss said professionally, Ruby hummed in agreement while Yang teased her over the true motive behind viewing the new competitors.
When they arrived in Vale, the group set out for the docks and their oncoming ships arriving there in no time flat. Incidentally, at the same time they had arrived, there appeared to be some kind of commotion going down at the docks. Two sailors were shouting at a blonde monkey faunus who leaped from the railing of the boat and onto the wooden docks exclaiming her skill as a stowaway.
Said faunus raced out of the docks and onto the street where both ARSN and RYBN occupied. As the blonde stowaway dashed past the front of the group, his eye caught a certain cat faunus hiding among her visibly human teammates. Smiling her usual charming smile and winking at her in a drive-by flirt, she did not see the sudden fist that rocketed into her stomach.
Faunus or not, the girl was a stowaway and that didn't sit all to well with the leader of Team ARSN. It's not that he had anything against the girl, but she had to meet with the frigid bitch known as karma sooner or later.
Blondie pulled herself up, hacking and coughing from the blow as she tried to make sense of her surroundings and subsequent attacker. "Fucking shit man! Where'd that bus come from?"
The group finally got a good look at the stowaway revealing to be, indeed, a monkey faunus sporting a bright yellow tail. She was dressed in a white, short-sleeved collared shirt that was open to reveal a hefty portion of herself as well as a pair of jeans and sneakers. Her more... feminine parts were covered with a swath of bandages acting as a binder.
"And who might you be?" Jaune asked critically, if she was just some random hobo then they'd either turn her in or let her run. He truly did not care which. The blonde, for her part, wilted under the combined gazes of 8 hunters.
"Oh, hehehe, nice to meet you I'm Sunny Wukong, but my friends just call me Sun." she chuckled nervously, Jaune had a moment where he remembered his family's maid back home of the same name.
"And what are you doing here, Sun?" Weiss asked icily, no pun intended, shooting a harsh glare down at the faunus. Sun wilted even harder under the girl's stares but still managed to stammer out a reply.
"W-Well you see I'm here for this tournament thing in Vale. And you know my team wanted to stay home for a little longer b-but I wanted to come here earlier but there were no ships I could get on s-so I just thought I could hop on that one you know?" she tried to chuckle again but it came out more in a wheeze.
"Riiight, well I suppose we'll just have to report you to the police and your academy then Miss Wukong." Weiss stated in that "Professional Schnee Heiress" voice as Nora called.
Sun paled and tried to choke out some excuse, but Blake ended up saving her ass from the fire so to speak. "I hardly think that's necessary do you Weiss? While I don't condone her actions, she doesn't need to be jailed."
Weiss huffed but didn't give up. "Is that so? Well I think she is a criminal who deserves to be brought to justice."
"She's hardly a threat, more than that she is a huntress like us." Blake shot back, obviously ruffled. Oh gee, I wonder why? Jaune thought with a roll of his eyes, seriously, if she wanted to confess this is not where he would start.
"Even more reason to bring her in then, she is a huntress like us and should be able to handle the personal responsibility of being a good citizen and person." Weiss said, and she kinda had a point too.
"So what, we should lock her up and throw away the key?" Blake barked, no pun intended, back at the ice queen.
"When did I say that? When did I imply I wanted that to happen? I'm not some ironhearted authoritarian you know." Weiss snapped back, obviously offended at the blatant accusation.
"Are you sure the reason you want her jailed is because she is a stowaway? Or is it for a different reason?" Blake asked coldly, Jaune cursed under his breath and rolled his eyes. Weiss stood there gaping before becoming angry at the hidden faunus.
"How- How dare you!? Are you assuming just because I'm a Schnee I have some kind of vendetta against faunus kind?" Yep, little did Blake know, she had hit Weiss's number one sore spot.
"Well your family certainly has made their opinions clear."
"Oh put it back in the deck Blake." Jaune muttered, he then tried to fight a wince as Blake looked at him with angry, somewhat betrayed, eyes. Meanwhile the rest of the team's eyes swiveled between the two, not willing to get in between them.
"You two- I just- arrgh!" Blake cried, before storming off on her own, her team following behind her and Ruby shooting an apologetic glance over at Jaune. Now it was just the merry team alone with themselves and a faunus...
And Sun had run off at some other time when they were arguing. Great.
Weiss breathed deeply and reigned in her emotions. "Apologies, I let my anger get the better of me."
"For what it's worth, I think you were right." Jaune mumbled, Weiss perked up slightly but otherwise showed no emotion. Rin sighed and Nora tried to lighten the mood with an exclamation that she wanted pancakes.
Sighing and understanding she wouldn't stop until she got said treat Rin looked up on her scroll a cafe/bakery they could stop in at. The mood and plans for a co-team outing were ruined by the combined forces of a Schnee and a faunus.
Speaking of said faunus, Jaune wondered what got her so upset. It's not Blake was one to give into her emotions, maybe this whole "revealing her true self" got her kinda frazzled Jaune thought to himself, arriving at the cafe with his team and getting a seat.
While Nora ordered her mountain of pancakes, Weiss tried to let off some steam in her own way.
"I just- Why would she say that?" something ugly passed over her face. "I am not my mother. And I never will be. I get that my mother's company has committed atrocities against faunus, but I didn't."
"Don't take it personally Weiss, I think Blake is dealing with her own things." Jaune explained which got her to calm down a little bit. Their food arrived and they ate in relative quiet what with Nora sucking down her food with the force of a black hole.
Suddenly Jaune's scroll pinged and he saw he had a message from Ruby.
Hey Jaune check out this girl we found! -Ruby
Attached to the text was a picture of a strange ginger girl who was obviously not normal. Her stare was a little too... solid for what should have been a normal picture. Felt like she was staring into his soul.
Jaune chuckled dryly and sipped some more coffee, Rin noticed this and decided to ask. "Something funny?"
"Apparently Team RYBN found a new friend." he said, showing the picture to his team who had mixed reactions. Like him, Weiss thought she was weird, Rin thought nothing of it, and Nora found a potential new friend to have adventures with.
They finished their food and paid Nora's, hefty, bill as well as their own and opted to go on a short walk. They just window shopped or talked about various things before they wound up on the topic of the Vytal Festival.
"Well, I am proud to say we will be getting into such a prestigious event." Weiss said, injecting some ferocity into her voice.
"Hmm, yes I suppose it could be a good way to showcase our skills." Rin chimed in.
"Ooh! Ooh! And I can break some legs right fearless leader!?" Nora shouted, looking at Jaune with hopeful eyes.
Jaune himself was rather impassive on the subject. On one hand, he could get some valuable experience with fighting against those from other schools and such, but, on the other hand, the last thing he wanted was to be on the world stage.
However, knowing Weiss's temper and Nora's excitement, it would seem he would have no choice. He was sure of their abilities to qualify, so he supposed he'd just need to see how things got along.
"Well, I for one can't wait to display my skills and pride as a Schnee heiress." Weiss remarked, bringing a hand to her chest. "I'm more than confident in my skills, and it would show how far I've come."
"Who exactly are you showing off to?" Jaune questioned causing her expression to falter slightly.
"M-My sister, Winter, of course." Jaune's lips curled in distaste at the memory of the women and her superior. "And perhaps such news of my victory will show mother that I belong here."
Ah, so that was it. Well, far be it from to get involved in such affairs such as high-class family drama, lord knows he's had enough of that. The sudden thought brought him back to a conundrum of his: What would he do if his parents came to see him before the Vytal Festival. The easiest answer was to avoid them, but that would prove to be near impossible as visiting parents get to go to the class of their children and eat with them at lunch.
But, of course, that assumes his parents would come to visit him. After all, they could no longer get what they want from him so what would be the point? The logic eased his thoughts but not his heart, but he had grown used to such things.
His team walked around Vale some more before the alarm to go back went off from his scroll. Team ARSN made their way back to the bullhead docks and met up with the still rather awkward Team RYBN. He and Ruby made an executive decision to keep their arguing subordinates away from eachother on the ride back, but the conversation, and atmosphere, was still rather dry.
When they got back to the dorm rooms the members still willing to talk with eachother said their goodnights and retired to their respective rooms. Team ARSN decided to go pretty much straight to bed without doing much else, they were all rather drained from the day.
The dream from days prior still plagued him. More so than he let on even to himself, the logic was sound and based in undeniably evidence he himself had witnessed and heard. However, he guessed that following the arguments of a hallucination was how you ended up killing in the name of god or some other weird, schizophrenic crap that he didn't need.
Still, something about the whole situation bugged him. He was temperamental, liable to go off the rails sometimes, and stubborn as a mule, sure, but he wasn't one to have vivid nightmares where an alternate you makes you question everything you believe to be real. He was hesitant to tell Goodwitch or the teachers, despite the fact his therapy sessions were designed for such reasons like self-doubt, due to the fact they would A) Not likely take it too well B) Use it as a sure argument against his mental health and C) Have him either incarcerated in a looney bin or get shipped back to Atlas and into the clutches of that damned Ironwood.
Maybe that was what made the hallucination so real, so scary. That it had a definitive point against him, his situation really hadn't changed in all the time he spent running away from home. It didn't help that he was almost completely devoid of options, I mean, it wasn't like some new player on the board was going to offer him a one-way ticket out of here right?
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Cinder smirked as she watched the White Fang grunts move back and forth on the warehouse floor, moving supplies and dust between themselves to different hideouts. Behind her were her two most trusted pawns: Emerald Sustrai and Marren Black. Both of them had their undoubted uses, and their skills would be essential for her plans in the future.
However, her smirk was not one belonging to her plans. Or rather, it did, but not in the same way, you see, her mistress had recently shared a small side project she had been working at. Cinder had, of course, heard and seen the boy who claimed to have aura but she had not been extremely impressed from the start. But, if her master's words rang true, then the boy had suddenly grown more interesting.
Forcing someone to do something through power and intimidation worked for people like Roma and Aruna just fine. But for someone more delicate like their dear Jaune here, one needed to be subtle and clever. Her mistress had already placed the seeds of doubt into the boy's head, and knowing his type, they would soon blossom into a full-fledged breakdown where he would be far too easy to swoop in on.
The trick was to destroy any allegiance to the old hag and the bitch herself had been doing that quite finely. More than that, the boy, this Jaune Arc, seemed to have quite the negative emotions boiling inside of him and a very short fuse. From her mistress's report it seemed the boy needed only a small push in the right direction before he went berserk on those buffoons.
Yes, with a semblance powered by negativity he would make a fine pawn to her. There was, however, one issue that irked her slightly: Qrow Branwen. That rugged carrion bird had wormed her way into the naive fool's heart and trained him for nearly a year, and training from someone like Qrow, even for a short amount of time, is nothing to scoff at. That crow could be amazingly focused when she needed to be, and even she herself would not face such an opponent without having the deck stacked entirely against her.
It was a good thing she had been lead to Mistral by the good headmistress herself. Cinder's spies had located the drunk stumbling her way into Mistral most likely looking for any suspicious persons heading to Vale for the Vytal Festival. Cinder knew the old woman in that tower was not entirely stupid, Ozpin knew that if anything were to happen anywhere it would be at the Vytal Festival. Rumbling from Atlas foretold of Ironwood herself coming to provide security which worked perfectly into her plans.
She licked her lips at the carnage about to be brought down upon the hopeless fools from Beacon. Her plans had been in motion for years upon years and now, now they were coming to fruition. Cinder was a woman of patience, of plotting, and of deceit, and more than that she knew how to think on her feet.
Even now, the clever agent of darkness began to include the boy in her plans against that old crone Olivier Ozpin. She laughed darkly to herself, sometimes it was fun to just set everything up and watch it all fall into place perfectly.
"Ma'am? Is there something we she know?" Emerald asked quietly, the girl had always had a dependency of Cinder. It was fine, she supposed, it kept her loyalties clear as crystal atleast.
"It's fine Emerald, just that we may have a new player joining us very soon."
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Blake snuck out of her room in the dead of night, focused on her moral dilemma once more: to reveal her faunus heritage or not. Despite the conversation with Jaune yesterday, her decision was no more swinging towards secrecy. She supposed that going off on Weiss for something she couldn't control didn't help her at all, nor did the fact that Sun had escaped while they were arguing make her feel any less guilty.
Truth be told, she didn't have anything against Weiss. But the SDC did horrible things to their faunus laborers, that was undeniable, and her former affiliation to the White Fang still cut to the marrow of herself. It was one thing to be faunus, but if her team found out that she was former Fang, if Weiss or Jaune found out she was former Fang?
The cold shoulder would be the least of her worries.
Weiss was arrogant and snobby, but down to earth which meant that she would report her to Professor Goodwitch herself if need be. And Jaune, she wasn't sure how Jaune would quite react but the punching of Sun without hesitation clued her in to his line of thinking.
Overall she was without a lot of options.
Unless...
The Fang had been operating in the city, so maybe if she could catch them in the act she could prove her loyalty. However, there were more than a few problems with that, such as: where would they be operating? When would they be operating? Could she face them alone? Could she even prove her motivations to her team, or worse Ozpin?
She came to the statue in the courtyard. A fine sculpture depicting the great huntress of old as many called her, a solid rock of courage and honor that comforted her occasionally.
Would that old huntress had protected someone like her? A faunus? A terrorist?
She slipped the bow off her head and let her ears feel the wind that blew throughout the empty stone pavement.
"I knew you looked better without the bow."
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Done and done! I hope you guys liked this chapter even though it's a little short. Yes I had to change Adam's name to Aruna, don't break out your pitchforks. But beyond that I thought this chapter was ok, the next one will take place down at the docks and you know how that's going to go.
XOXOXO
CoffeyJoe