The next morning Shayne woke early and woke the rest of his team, taking care to put his hand over Hanna's mouth to keep her from shouting at him, she liked to sleep. With them all awake he sat them down on the sofa and began to pace before them. Hanna yawned and looked concerned;
"Shayne what's going on?" Hanna said rubbing her eyes
"We'll you know I got that box a couple of days ago" they nodded,
"In it were two letters, the first was from my Grandfather it explained about the second letter...which was from my mother"
"Wait a second, I thought you said your parents were dead" Dundra asked blinking sleep from his eyes
"As far as I was concerned, when we met, they were, well my father still is dead"
"So what has this got to do with us?" Eddi asked unfazed by the early wake up.
"To be honest, not a thing, I'm going to see her in Mistral this weekend and I thought that I would let you know what was going on" he said finally stopping pacing.
"Shayne, at least you had the courage to tell us about this" Dundra said as Lina walked over.
Eddi made a decision, she would tell them about her past, and about the things she had done and seen. That could wait until later, for now they had to get dressed for classes.
Later that day Shayne was on his way to his last class, he hadn't been able to concentrate all day. He realised that he had left an essay at his dorm, and ran back to get it. He opened the door and Ashe was sat on her bed crying softly holding her Scroll.
"Ashe, are you okay?" her head shot up and she wiped her face.
"Y-yeah Shayne I'm fine, what are you doing here?"
"I came back to get an essay, are you sure okay, you don't look like you are"
"Yes I'm fine can we drop the subject" she said shutting her Scroll
"Well what are you doing here, shouldn't you be in class?"
"I could ask you the same"
"Good point, well I'm already so late now as it is I may as well not go" Shayne said putting his things away and taking off his jacket.
Ashe watched him cross the room and walk into the bathroom. The shower began to hiss as water struck the tiles.
"Shayne…I have something I want to tell you" she said standing next to the door.
It opened suddenly and Shayne peered out.
"Can it wait until I finish in here" he was shirtless and Ashe had to resist the urge to drool.
"Uh…of course it can wait, sorry for disturbing you" she quickly walked over to her bed and looked at her Scroll again. Various images of Shayne flipped along the screen.
Shayne emerged from the shower a few minutes later, he was half dressed, he'd only made the mistake of walking out in just a towel once, and at least it was only Hanna that had noticed. Ashe looked up from her Scroll as he sat down at his workbench.
"Shayne, I really need to tell you something"
"Oh right, so what is it Ashe?"
"I'm in love with a guy who is dating someone and I don't know if I should tell him how I feel"
"Well, you should probably try to tell him in private how you feel and see where it goes from there"
"Well, okay…Shayne…"
"Yes Ashe?"
"I just told you…"
Shayne blinked a couple of times in disbelief, when suddenly Lina and Hanna came walking through the door, Lina made a bee-line straight for Shayne.
"Where the fuck were you?"
"I was here" Shayne said standing up.
"Why weren't you in class?"
I forgot something so I came back here, by the time I found what I was looking for I was too late to class to bother going so I didn't, and I got thinking about the letter…"
"Well because of you I got lumbered with a load of essay work to do and Ozpin is coming here later to see you" Shayne looked down at his gauntlet and stood up, making for the door.
"Where are you going? Ozpin could be here any minute"
"I'm taking a walk, alone"
"No you're staying here" Lina threw his knife at him; he turned and caught the blade.
"I'll be back soon"
Shayne left and encountered Ozpin while out on his walk.
"Shayne, why didn't you attend your class today?"
"I was thinking about the letter from my mother"
"What about it?"
"Well it's been taking all of my concentration and I was wondering…"
"I said that you couldn't go early but if it has this much of your concentration, then I suppose you could go early if it would let you get this out of your mind"
"What about my team?"
"If it means so much to you then they can go as well"
"Thank you Professor, but I'd like to go a day before the rest as I have things I need to do"
"Okay then, I'll let you go prepare, you can leave tonight" with that Ozpin walked away.
Shayne gazed into the sky, he didn't know what to expect and he was nervous. He walked back to his dorm. A pair of yellow eyes watched from the shadows, they burned with hate.
'I will have my vengeance Shayne' the eyes thought before turning and disappearing into the shadows.
Shayne arrived back at the dorm and began packing, drawing confused looks from everyone.
"Shayne…what's going on, you're not leaving are you?"
"No Hanna I'm not leaving I'm just taking a trip to go visit my mother in Mistral"
"Then I'm coming with you"
"No you guys are coming in a couple of days, there's some things I need to do alone…"
"But…"
"Hanna drop it, if he says he has things he needs to do alone, then we should respect that"
"Thank you Dundra, Lina take care of yourself, I'll see you in two days at most" they shared an embrace and when she eventually let go, he picked up his bag and walked out.
Shayne met Ozpin at the Bullhead.
"Shayne, this will take you to the docks so you can board a ship for Mistral, I hope you find what you're looking for"
"So do I professor…" Shayne stepped aboard the Bullhead and it hauled itself into the sky.
Shayne stood on the edge of the platform gazing down at Vale as it sped along under him, the lights of the street lamps switching on in the fading light of day. The streets were still full of people going about their business. He arrived at the docks late, the ship was minutes away from departing, he was climbing the slope to board the ship when he heard a familiar voice swear after a crash.
He turned and saw Ellice on the shore line; he made his way down and helped pick up her things.
"Thank you so much, I'm just clumsy…Oh, hey Shayne, long time no see"
"Likewise, so what takes you to Mistral this fine evening?"
"I'm going to see my supplier, I haven't received my normal shipment of paint, and what about you Shayne, why are you going?" she said as they climbed the gangplank.
"I have my reasons; I'd rather not talk about it"
"Oh come on, you can trust me" she smiled and pushed him lightly.
He remembered how she had helped them to deal with the Grimm all those weeks ago, the memory of his uncle flashed in his mind.
*sigh* "Fine, I'm going to see my mother for the first time ever since she left when I was a baby"
"My god, why did she leave, do you know?"
"My dad and her went to fight in the war, leaving me with my grandparents"
"And what about your dad, where is he?"
"He's dead, I thought my mother was too until I got a letter from my Grandfathers will from her, it explained that after my dad had died she had gone to Mistral and opened a store, and I'm assuming that's she is still there as the letter is almost as old as I am"
"Well, once I've visited my supplier we'll go see her together"
"I have some other business as well that I need to do first, but I'd like that Ellice"
The trip took several hours and Shayne managed to find a cabin so that Ellice could sleep. He decided to take a walk. His meandering brought him to the top deck and into the open air, the moon shone bright in the dark sky, casting a silver glow on the calm waters.
He leant against the guard rail and a girl came and stood next to him.
"Evening, what are you doing out here all by your lonesome?"
"Am I not allowed to be alone?"
"I'm not saying you're not allowed to be alone, it's just that I'm alone too"
"What's your point…" he gestured trying to coax her into giving up her name
"Rose, my name's Rose"
"Nice to meet you Rose, I'm Shayne"
"Well nice to meet you too, my point is I thought we could be alone together"
"I have a girlfriend"
"Oh, well where's she?"
"She's back in Vale"
"Then why don't we go for a drink?"
Shayne sighed and his head dropped, he knew she wasn't going to drop this.
"Fine, but I'm not paying for your drinks" Rose laughed and punched him in the arm.
They sat talking and drinking long into the early hours before Rose asked him to walk her back to her cabin, Shayne was a gentleman and took her back to her room, she fell over half way there so he picked her up and carried her the rest of the way. He opened the door and put her down on the bed, she grabbed hold of his lapels and kissed him. Shayne was drunk, he knew this was wrong but he couldn't help himself.
The next morning Shayne woke up to find Rose's head on his bare chest, he raised his head and looked out the window, Mistral was just becoming visible on the horizon, they would be arriving in the next few hours. He tried to sit up, but Rose stirred ad he stopped, instead he took a pillow and slipped it under her head as he got out of bed. He made a mental note to drink less and gathered his clothes. He was dressing when she woke.
"Hey, good morning Shayne"
"Rose, last night was a mistake….im sorry"
"Why, your girlfriend never has to know"
"That's not the point, I shouldn't have had sex with you, I should go"
"Shayne, you're such an asshole"
"Why am I an asshole?"
"You made me love you and now you're leaving, typical men, get the fuck out" she shouted the last part and he left without another word.
Later that morning Rose was sat in the restaurant on the upper deck when she was approached by a male in his early twenties.
"do you want to get back at him?" he said from behind her.
"Who are you and what are you talking about?"
"Shayne…do you want to get back at him?"
"Of course but what's this got to do with you?"
"Let me explain…" he sat down at the table and told her his plan.
The ship arrived at Mistral at around 11:45 and Shayne disembarked with Ellice.
"Shayne, you seem troubled, did something happen last night?"
"No Ellice I'm fine, now come on we've got things to do"
They walked for a while with Ellice leading the way, they mostly walked in silence, Shayne eventually had Ellice wait in a café while he went and did something in private.
He walked down an alley way to an almost perfectly hidden doorway, known only to those who have contacts and the know how to find it. He knocked on the door and an eye panel slid open, a pair of green eyes squinted at him through the shade of the alley.
"Yes, what do you want?"
"I'm here to purchase some merchandise"
"Really and how do you intend to pay?"
Shayne held up a brown packet, it was as thick as the man's arm.
"Very well, do come in" the door opened and Shayne stepped inside and allowed his eyes to adjust to the white lights of the store before moving around the glass cases.
He looked in several and found what he was looking for, he signalled the store clerk and he came over and unlocked the case. Shayne pointed at the pieces and the clerk handed one to him and Shayne examined it closely, checking it for imperfections or any indication that it was fake. One he was happy handed it back to the clerk.
"And how would you like these packaged sir"
"Individual boxes" Shayne said putting the package on the case
The clerk nodded and took the jewellery and came back a few minutes later with them in individual boxes, Shayne inspected them again to ensure he hadn't been duped.
"Now why would I switch them out for fakes, you're paying by cash"
"Can't be too careful, now there's seventy five hundred in there, that's more than enough for these and you know it, but I'll let you keep the rest if it means I get to leave alive" Shayne knew that as soon as he stepped outside he would be jumped and killed to get the rings back.
"You really are observant, very well you may keep them, I bid you good day" the clerk opened the door and the large men stepped inside and bowed their heads to Shayne as he left.
Shayne went back to Ellice stowing the small cases in his inside breast pocket. They continued walking until they arrived at Ellice's supplier. She was about to go inside when Shayne grabbed hold of her wrist.
"What are we doing here?"
"This is my supplier, is something wrong"
"This is the same place as my mother told me to come…."