JACS Chapter 5: The supporter's story

The three of us sat down in the cafe with different expectations. Winter wanted to learn what had happened to her now that the excitement from being chased had worn out. Cardin and I wanted to get a better idea as to why she felt it necessary to run away from her home in the first place. I figured that after all of that stress she caused, she should be the first to explain herself. We started off with the simple request that she clarify why she had decided to run away from her home.

She explained that after the events of the breach that happened a few days ago, her father had become increasingly paranoid of anyone and anything. He increased the amount of guards, heightened security around every place he could and even started supporting actions against any faunus, despite the fact that some of those things led to the incarceration or death of obviously innocent people. This had, in a somewhat ironic twist of fate, spurred the white fang to act out even more openly against the SDC. She said the moment she decided to leave was when they attempted to assassinate her. It had failed, but even worse was that her father was more concerned with the fact that his security was breached than the possibility that his daughter might be hurt physically or mentally by what had happened. To her, that was the final straw. The irony of the situation was that all the measures her father took to keep people out hadn't done a thing to keep his daughter in.

She let out a bitter chuckle at that.

I then asked something a little more basic.

"How old are you?"

"I'm 15, but I'll be sixteen by the next month" She responded, confused as to what I was aiming for "Why? Do you thing that I'm a little young to be fi-"

I quickly interrupted "No, one of the best fighters I know is your age. Cardin can validate this evidence if you want."

I was answered with a quick "He's not wrong" before continuing.

"On the note of fighting, what weapon are you trained to use?" I inquired.

"I was trained in the use of a bow that also doubled as a quarterstaff. If you knew where I could find one, I would be able to contribute a little more than I did the last time you fought with me around" She added with a somewhat nervous chuckle.

"Well, it looks like we'll have to make a visit to the weapon shop again." I responded.

"We should also probably go to the nearest clothing store too, so you can get some clothes. Unless you managed to pack any in your escape attempt." Cardin added.

At that point our group had finished their meals and started to leave, paying for their food. I made a quick check to see the amount of money we had to spend.

655 Lien

I saw this and mentally made a 200 lien budget for us to work with for the trip. Clothes shouldn't be that expensive and the bow I could guess would come to cost somewhere around one hundred lien if my rifle, with all of it's parts that had to be assembled, cost me 125. With this in mind, the three of us entered the nearest clothing store. It was a smallish place, and seemed to sell things that were less for fashion and more for comfort. It was like the places I would normally shop, so I was surprised when Winter took to this place much better than I thought she would. I browsed for a while and, finding nothing worth getting, decided to leave the store and sit at a nearby bench I saw when walking here. I took the time to take a look at what I could get with my larger amount of AP. I ended up investing in two more skills for 100AP.

50 AP: A.Z. Ammo (20 MP): Imbues the gun with freezing properties, allowing any round fired to act is if it were a blue dust round. Does not stack with other ammo effects. Duration: 5 minutes

50 AP: Crippling slash (10 MP): Strike the enemy where it hurts! Make an attack that inflicts minimum damage but leaves an enemy stunned for 0.5-10 seconds, depending on level gap.

I would have continued, had I not been interrupted by another message.

Budget update! You now have 600 lien!

Not long after, Cardin and Winter came back. The heiress in a loose forest green t- shirt and jeans with an extremely pleased look on her face. Cardin simply gave me a look the communicated something along the lines of: 'Why, Dear Monty, did you leave me there?' I responded with the best apologetic look I could why trying to hold in a little chuckle.

Winter quickly plopped down on the bench I inhabited in a very unladylike manner and started talking all the while with a contented smile on her face.

"Oh Oum in paradise, it's so nice to be wearing something other than those stuffy clothes father forced me to have. It just feels so free, having the ability to make my own choices for once, you know?"

"Yeah, I guess it is. Well, here's to freedom." I dryly responded, raising a mock glass to my compatriots.

"To freedom" Winter responded, reciprocating the gesture. We both looked at Cardin expectantly.

"To freedom, all the joys of responsibility and the constant struggle to feed ourselves." he deadpanned in return, smiling a little.

After our little "Yay team" moment, we set off to the weapon shop again. I quickly went to buy some more ammo for my gun while Cardin stood by Winter, allowing her to take the sights in. Following that, she went up to the shopkeeper and started inquiring about a bow, arrows and their combined costs. He presented a few models to her and showed the different types of arrows available (normal, dust infused and blunted). It was useful to learn that, if you were careful, you could get many uses out of them before needing to replace them, even the dust infused ones. We then went down to the target range, allowing Winter to test the bows and figure out which one she would like. I got to test my new ammo power on the dummies while Cardin also took some time to practice with his magic, shocking the store's owner who had no idea he could do this at the time. His face was priceless as he watched one of the targets that he was looking at spontaneously combusted.

In the end, Winter decided to get a longbow that could double as a quarterstaff along with 30 normal arrows and 12 dust arrow (3 each of the 4 basic types). It came out costing us 150 Lien when my ammo purchases were added on. The store's owner looked us over once more and then decided to give us his contact information, saying that if we ever needed more ammo, weapons or mods to give him a call. He rarely met people that simply looked so interesting and, in his words, "Looking like the 'lucky' type who end up saving the world or something". I accepted this as we left and looked at the two messages that appeared.

Budget update! You now have 450 Lien

Fitting my expectations, I viewed the other one.

Contact added! H. Festes, weapon maker and shop owner.

Uses: Will serve as mobile merchant for weapons. All shipments arrive within a day of ordering in Vale areas, two anywhere else.

Contact now Y/N

That was very interesting, and perhaps we could add more to that list as we traveled and met more people.

As we made it back to the inn, we went about renting another room and then returned to our own. As we came back we were greeted by a most auspicious omen. My scroll has a message.

Jaune, a week from now you will commence with your first mission. A band of white fang members have holed up in a base near the town and I want you to take them out. Use of force is done at your own discretion. I expect to here good things from you.

-Ozpin

Well, it looked like our week was going to get a lot more interesting.