Jaune groaned as he felt his muscles twitch across his body from the grueling morning workout, even in spots he didn't know he had. He was used to waking up early for a mile run, some pushups and situps, and whatever sets his cousins threw at him back home. But that was when his family made him do the bare minimum to stay healthy. Now that they were taking him seriously, Jaune could only wonder if the pain was worth it.

There was a clack from trays being set upon the table. "Breakfast is served, Master Jaune," Sheffield said.

It took considerable effort, but Jaune brought his head up to look at his food, and then up at Sheffield. "What about the pancakes?" He did so many burpees to earn those!

"Apologies," Sheffield said without sounding the least bit apologetic, "but it appears I was bribed with extra oatmeal in exchange for them."

Jaune shot a look of betrayal at Nora, who was already pouring syrup over a second plate of pancakes. "What?" the culprit asked as she took her first bite. "Ren always tells me oatmeal is good for you. I'm just looking out for my fearless leader!"

"You need to eat healthier too, Nora," Ren added between bites of yogurt and berries.

Another tray clattered and a plate was pushed across the table. Jaune glanced to see Pyrrha beside him, letting go of a plate of pancakes. "You can have mine, Jaune. You'll need the energy."

He only spared a thankful nod at her before snatching the syrup bottle from Nora and digging in with gusto. Oh how it hurt to move, but the food tasted too wonderful for him to care and he could feel his aches ebb away with each bite. Engrossed with the bliss from stuffing his face, he barely noticed the extra plates set in front of him or the other people sitting further down the table making conversation with his team. Only when the last strip of bacon was gone and washed down with juice did Jaune notice how many plates were piled in front of him. He probably ate enough for three people in one sitting.

"Damn, Vomit Boy, where do you put it all?" a boisterous voice asked. Jaune looked up to see Yang and the rest of team RWBY sitting on the other side of his team.

"I, uh," Jaune paused to cover a burp, "I worked up an appetite this morning from exercising."

Yang nodded. "Yeah, I'll bet. Hey, I have a question for you," Yang pointed at Sheffield, who was calmly drinking tea. "What's she doing here, and why is she wearing our uniform?"

Jaune opened his mouth to answer, and then he paused. He looked to Sheffield and asked, "Sheffield, what are you doing here?" He had meant to ask earlier, but several rubber bullets were kind enough to remind him to focus on training.

Sheffield put down her cup of tea and stared at Jaune as if he was a simpleton. "Is it not obvious, Master Jaune? This is part of the arrangements your mother made with Ozpin regarding your education and training."

The food in Jaune's stomach chilled into a block of ice, swiftly cooling off his bliss into dread. "Say what now?"

The maid's face twitched oh so subtly, but Jaune could see the smugness all but radiate off of her. "Oh dear. I assumed your mother had made it clear that we would be sending tutors to complete your training. But since both parties wished to maintain a low profile as this is carried out, your mother put together a team of four to enroll as students as our cover story. In between your lectures, we will provide supplemental lessons that Beacon doesn't provide." Jaune's thoughts must've been painted across his face as Sheffield added, "Yes, these intense morning workouts will be a regular occurrence. You have quite a lot of conditioning to catch up on."

Jaune felt his soul leave his body as he envisioned his future mornings. Already he could feel his skin pop from the barrage of high powered rubber pellets that would soon pelt his back for slowing down on a morning jog. This had to be payback of some kind.

"Wait, so where's the other three?" Ruby asked, mouth full of cereal. She gasped. "Is Minnie coming back?"

Sheffield shook her head. "Miss Minneapolis has other duties to tend to. The rest of the girls are en route, but it will take time for them to arrive from their patrol routes. They should be here by the end of the week if not delayed."

"Who exactly is coming?" Jaune asked, then quickly added, "Please tell me it's not Roon."

"I said 'low profile', Master Jaune. Please use your few brain cells for more than a few seconds," Sheffield said humorlessly. "Perhaps if you rubbed two together, you might figure out who will arrive." She took a sip of her tea, and then she frowned at the cup as if it committed a grave sin. "Pardon me a moment." She stood up and walked back towards the drink station.

"Most people I know would fire their maids for such blatant insubordination," Weiss said, sipping at her coffee while giving Jaune an inscrutable look. "Is she always like that?"

Jaune nodded. "She's always been abrasive, even in the best of moods. I think she's upset that I'm taking her away from her maid duties." Weiss seemed to accept that answer.

"What's so bad about that?" Yang asked, "Sounds to me like she got a free vacation."

"Sheffield takes her duties very seriously. All the maids do, but especially her. She wears her uniform even on her time off."

"Sounds like she was really maid for the job," Yang joked, earning a couple groans from Ruby and Weiss.

"You have no idea." Sheffield appeared like a ghost and sat down with her fresh tea. "Master Jaune, I'm afraid the selection of tea here is rather lacking, although the coffee beans are rather diverse. How odd. Permission to requisition proper tea rations for our time here?"

Jaune gave her a confused look. "Um, go ahead?" He tried to continue eating, but found Sheffield still staring at him. "What?"

"That's not the response you're supposed to give."

Jaune flushed and rolled his eyes. "Do I have to?"

"Yes."

"C'mon, Sheffield, it's just some tea." Jaune internally winced as the words slipped out.

Sheffield's eyes narrowed at him. "Tea is an important staple to rations as coffee. Rations are part of any logistics operation planning. If I'm to teach you anything, it's to put you in the proper mindset of a Commander. Say the line."

Jaune could see his friend's eyes upon him. Most of them were curious, but more than a few held mirth at his squirming. He grumbled out the response.

A spray of water met his face. Blinking away the water, Jaune saw one of Sheffield's pistols poking out from below the table, water dripping from the barrel. "Say it properly, Master Jaune."

Jaune sighed and grabbed a napkin to wipe off his face. "Permission granted," he said with a glare.

The pistol disappeared into Sheffield's sleeve. "Was that so difficult?" She placed a small tea biscuit on his plate like a treat for a pet that learned a new trick.

Perhaps she was more than a little upset than Jaune had thought. He tried to ignore the whip cracking motions Yang was making as he finished off his breakfast.

The clanging of metal on metal echoed through the classroom as students clashed under the teacher's guidance. Currently it was Pyrrha against Yang, the latter of which challenged the former for the thrill of it. It was certainly not the first time, but she had yet to gain a single victory against the champion.

Jaune should have been watching closely, taking note of his partner's use of her sword, but his mind was still caught on Sheffield's words from breakfast. As cutting as they were, he also knew there was a grain of a compliment in there and Sheffield didn't hand those out lightly. Could he figure out who would arrive? He tried to compile a list of all the girls back home and narrow it down to three.

'Low profile team,' he thought, rolling the phrase around like a marble. 'They would need to blend in with huntsmen and huntresses in training.' Immediately, he was able to cross off half the list by virtue of age alone. There was no way Granny Mikasa could pull off acting that young. 'What else?' Jaune's eyes found themselves glancing over to Ruby, who was doodling sketches of Crescent Rose in her notebook. 'Weapons. They would need weapons. Every huntress needs a weapon.' His list shortened much more until Yang's cry on the stage shook him for a moment as he watched her hammer on Pyrrha's shield with burning fury. He then backtracked and reconsidered the few brawlers he knew, leaving the list a bit longer than he liked.

"Mister Arc!"

The sharp tone cut through Jaune's thoughts and jolted him into sitting up straight. It appeared that the last match was already over, Pyrrha having returned to his seat next to him. "Y-yes?"

Goodwitch's stare felt deadly even from across the room. "Please come down to the stage for your match, Mister Arc. I won't ask twice."

"Yes, ma'am!" There were a few snickers behind him as he leapt out of his seat, but he ignored them and rushed for the stage.

"His opponent will be," Glynda said as she scanned her list, "Cardin Winchester."

Jaune looked to the crowd to see a bulky form stand up and swagger down to the stage. Jaune couldn't help but note the amount of armor the boy wore, far more than Jaune's simple chest piece and spaulders. The way that Cardin swung around his massive mace like a toy in one hand spoke of either great strength or exceptional skill. Probably a bit of both, like Sirius.

Needless to say, Jaune did not like his chances.

"Good luck," Jaune said, drawing his sword and opening his shield.

Cardin didn't respond but stopped at the other side of the stage and gave Jaune a quick look-over before getting into a loose stance. "Hey, your fly is down," he said casually.

Shocked, Jaune looked down. "Wha-"

"Begin!" Glynda called out.

If it weren't for years of experience with surprise pranks from his sisters and many cousins, Jaune would have been knocked out of the fight almost immediately. But Jaune sensed Cardin's rapid approach and only glanced up in time to throw himself to the side before the mace crashed down upon the floor with a mighty two-handed crash, cracking the flooring.

While Jaune got back to his feet, Cardin shook with laughter. "I knew you looked stupid, but I didn't think you'd fall for the oldest trick in the book!" he said with a cruel grin. "How'd an idiot like you get in?"

Jaune felt a sense of deja vu and his tongue let slip. "They let you in, didn't they?"

Cardin stopped laughing, and the fire dust crystal in his mace began to glow. "Yeah, and I'm gonna show you why."

As Cardin marched forward, Jaune brought his sword and shield up, this time ready for tricks. 'No big deal,' he thought. 'If I could fend off Cassie, I can do this. Now that I know his tricks, this'll be a piece of SHIT!' The gap between them had suddenly closed as Cardin leapt forward, leading the charge with his shoulder and the mace in the leading arm, ready to swing.

Jaune flinched backwards, narrowly missing being run over, and brought his shield to bear as the arm swung forth… but no mace in tow. Confused by the disappearance, he failed to see the empty hand grab his shield and wrench it away. Just in time to leave Jaune exposed to the glowing mace flying forth in Cardin's other hand.

Reflex tried to bring Jaune's sword up to parry it away, but it hesitated in the last second as Jaune recalled the cutting power behind it and wondered if Cardin's armor could withstand it. That worry was blown away along with the air in Jaune's lungs as the mace rammed into his gut and lifted him off the ground. The room spun for a second until it righted its orientation with Jaune flat on his back.

"Are you gonna get up, or am I gonna have to come over there and make you?" Cardin taunted.

Jaune stumbled to his feet as his senses began to register everything, or rather the lack of certain feelings. His gut and back felt sore from the impacts, but there was no sense of cracked ribs and what little pain he felt was already ebbing away to phantom tingles. A familiar tingle: Aura.

'Oh. I forgot I have that now,' Jaune thought. 'Huh, it really is a second armor.' He had heard stories of what aura could do, but seeing was believing as it were. Regaining some of his lost confidence, Jaune brought up his sword and considered his attack.

'Big guy, big mace, hits like a truck, so don't get hit.' Jaune huffed to himself. 'Easier said than done. Hmmm, well if Road Warrior 4 taught me anything, then bigger guys tend to be weaker to leg attacks! If I can trip him up, then I'll have the advantage. Perfect plan.' Jaune rushed forward, keeping an eye on Cardin's mace while bringing his sword to bear. When the mace was raised up, Jaune lifted his shield to follow. At that moment, Jaune struck, swinging low at the armored legs, aiming for the thicker metal to prevent serious injury.

There were a few sparks at the edge grazed the metal, but no more as the target was gone halfway into the swing. It soon reappeared, with the knee embedded into Jaune's gut. Stunned by the blow, Jaune swung wildly in Cardin's direction in an attempt to ward him off. But each swing was batted away easily before an armored foot met Jaune's chest like a steel beam flying off a truck.

If it weren't for his aura absorbing the blows, Jaune was sure he'd be wheezing for air. But instead he was sent off balance, trying to regain his footing for a second before diving to the side to avoid an overhead blow that crashed into the floor. Jaune didn't waste a second in getting back to his feet, raising his shield to catch the backhanded swing aimed for his face. He felt the mace make contact with the shield, and suddenly there was a burst of heat and light reaching around the shield.

'Oh, his mace explodes,' Jaune noticed in the instant before he was sent flying across the floor once again.

"His mace explodes," Jaune repeated dumbly to himself as he coughed. "Of course it explodes, there's a chunk of fire dust in the middle. Why wouldn't it explode? What next, launch fireballs?"

Jaune looked up at the sound of flames to see a bolt of fire headed straight for his face. As he dodged the searing flame, he cursed his big mouth for jinxing things.

Across the floor, Cardin grinned cruelly as he held his smoking mace pointed at Jaune like a cannon ready to fire. "Come on, let's see if you can dance." The dust crystal began to glow once more.

Sheffield hummed to herself and noted Jaune's capabilities as he was tossed about the arena. Perhaps it was a bit underhanded to request Ms. Goodwitch to select someone of similar caliber to match up against Jaune, but it was necessary to establish a baseline to build a proper training regimen. It was a shame that the bar was being set quite low.

"I thought Jaune could fight off that one maid? Cassie?" Ruby asked. "Why is he getting wiped here?"

"Jaune was stalling her for us, remember?" Weiss answered. "He didn't need to win then. Though I'm amazed he lasted as long as he did, now that I'm watching this."

"C'mon Jaune! You can do it!" Ruby cheered. She winced when it distracted Jaune from a blow to the side. "Sorry!"

Sheffield ignored them as Pyrrha leaned in towards her. "He doesn't have the experience, does he? His form isn't bad, but he's falling for a lot of basic tricks."

"Yes, and I'm afraid the selected swordplay tutor arriving might be a poor fit for him," Sheffield bemoaned. "Oh if only there was a sparring partner capable of using a sword and shield available to help. Perhaps one that's won a championship or two?"

Pyrrha blushed and scratched her cheek. "I suppose I could help? We are partners after all."

Sheffield watched as Jaune attempted to swipe at Cardin's feet, only to be parried and pushed back. "He'll need all the help he can get."

Out of the corner of Sheffield's eye, she saw Blake raise her arms in a stretch. An idle flick of fingers sent a crushed gum wrapper towards the maid. Sheffield casually swiped up the trash into her palm. Meanwhile Blake resumed watching the match, chewing slowly on her new gum.

"Hey, is it just me or is Jaune's aura not going down?" Nora asked.

Looking up at the aura boards, Sheffield saw that despite the number of blows Jaune had taken, very little of his aura had been shaved off. Was his opponent holding back, or…?

Jaune breathed heavily, feeling his body tingle from the pain and his aura working overtime. It was beginning to feel like the aura high he experienced back in the forest, except the pain was keeping him grounded. He pushed the sensations aside and focused on Cardin, who was stomping over towards him. It was becoming abundantly clear to Jaune that he was not going to beat him in a straight fight, and Cardin knew it.

"Getting tired, Jauney-boy?" Cardin twirled his mace before striking out for Jaune's shoulder.

Jaune parried away the weak strike with his sword, but just barely caught Cardin's foot with his shield, pushing him back a few steps.

"I can do this all day," Jaune replied as casually as he could. It was probably the aura high talking, but Jaune felt like he could at least outlast Cardin. "Are you even trying to win?"

Cardin glanced up at the overhead screens and frowned. Jaune itched to look as well, but he knew better than to take his eyes off Cardin now. Cardin looked back to Jaune and brandished his mace. "I guess not. Let's fix that, hm?"

Jaune brought his shield up just in time as a fire blast crashed into it, and then another, and another. The explosions so close to his face were deafening, which was probably the point. Jaune tensed his legs to dodge and peeked over his shield to see Cardin come in with his mace high above his head in both hands. Jaune dodged to the side as the mace came down, but was clipped in the back from a last second twist of the mace, sending Jaune stumbling.

The stumbling turned into a drunken retreat as Cardin immediately advanced upon Jaune, swinging hard for Jaune's exposed limbs. Jaune ducked a horizontal blow for his head, then skittered back as the mace shot for his knee, and then twisted his sword arm out of the way before Cardin could disarm him. A small part of him wondered how a guy so big could move so quickly, but it was drowned out by an ocean of panicked cursing as Jaune desperately tried to get into a defensible stance. He just needed to make some distance to recover.

An idea struck him. Not a sensible idea by any means, but better than nothing.

Jaune danced a little more to the tune of Cardin's mace whistling through the air, careful not to make any sudden moves of retreat. After another powerful swing came for Jaune's head, he let his shield arm move away a little too much from his body. Cardin noticed and capitalized on the mistake, using his momentum to bring the mace around for a stunning gut blow.

'Wait for it. Time it right.' Jaune watched the mace head fly towards his body, time slowed by the adrenaline in his veins. 'Now!' Jaune caught the mace in his gut and began to fall into the motion, letting himself be carried away. It was then he noticed the dust crystal glowing in its casing. 'Uh oh.'

Jaune felt his aura crackle like sheet metal against the explosion and then creak again when he landed. But he didn't waste a second looking up at the board for his aura level. Jaune crudely flexed his aura to nullify the damage as he leapt to his feet. He grinned upon seeing the new distance between him and Cardin.

'I can't believe that worked,' he thought. Jaune went over the facts in his head with this brief respite, hoping to concoct a much better plan than "Don't get hit". 'Big guy. Moves way faster than he looks. Hits like a truck with a mace that explodes and shoots fire. Legs are not a weak point. Fights dirty, but looks serious now. Way more aggressive than Newcastle was. She was going easy on me, wasn't she?' Jaune grimaced as his options were coming up slim to futile. 'Guess I don't have much of a choice, do I? New plan: Forget Offense, Just Defense.'

Jaune set his feet apart in a wide stance, recalling a bit of advice from the few sword users he knew, brought his shield up to his chest and held his sword above his shoulder, pointed at Cardin. He pushed out every thought of attacking and just focused on holding his ground. Then, just to keep the ball rolling, he taunted Cardin, "I thought you were trying to win? I barely felt that one."

Cardin growled and marched over, swinging his mace around as he advanced. Jaune held Cardin's gaze the entire time, which only seemed to piss him off even more. When Cardin stepped within range, he brought his mace overhead for a hammer blow, but Jaune was ready.

At the last second, Jaune flicked his sword upwards and caught the shaft on his blade, letting it slide down for a second before parrying off to the side. The next strike rebounded from below but never reached its mark as Jaune dug the tip of his sword into the ground, blocking off the attack like a steel post. Frustrated, Cardin attempted to strike from the other side, but Jaune's shield may as well have been a steel wall for how little it did.

Parry. Parry. Block.

A strike for the head scraped along the black blade and went skyward.

A double handed strike was sent crashing into the ground.

A feint for the legs tried to scratch the paint on the shield.

Parry. Parry. Block.

Unlike Newcastle's graceful, gentle ripostes that sought to test Jaune, Cardin became a wild barrage bent on enforcing submission or a brutal defeat. It was all Jaune could do to parry or block the assault, and the longer it went on, the more aggressive Cardin attacked.

"Why won't you just go down?!" Cardin growled out, punctuating each word with a blow.

Jaune said nothing and kept his shield up as best he could, but it was slowly getting harder to position it each time. Just a little bit more… but it wasn't quite enough.

Cardin batted away Jaune's sword with a strike to his hand, nearly knocking it out, and then wrenched the shield aside with one hand as he prepared to make the final blow.

"Time!"

The two of them froze, then relaxed as Glynda walked onto the stage until they saw her cold scowling. "This match is a draw," she said. "And the lowest grade I can give you both, short of failing. Really, that was the most childish display I've seen in many years. Can either of you tell me what you did wrong? Mr. Arc?"

"I should've attacked more?" Jaune guessed.

"That is clear enough, but it's not quite the answer I was looking for." Glynda adjusted her glasses upon her nose. "You were far too hesitant to attack, which had cost you many opportunities to counter your opponent. You also relied far too much upon your aura reserves for defense. While that may save you from a pack of Beowolves, it won't help you against Grimm that sap away at your aura. See that you work on your techniques and form, is that understood?"

Jaune nodded. "Yes, ma'am!"

"Good."

As Cardin was getting his scathing comments, Jaune looked to the stands and saw Sheffield writing away in a notebook. She locked eyes with him and gave him a critical look that promised a lot of training in the near future. At least his team was trying to be supportive with their thumbs up.

Class continued on with a few more spars before everyone was dismissed. Jaune headed for the locker rooms to change and maybe take a quick shower to rinse off. Just as he took off his armor, a large hand grabbed his collar and slammed him face first into the lockers before spinning him around and pinning him against the wall.

"Do you think you can play games with me?" Cardin's face pushed up inches away from Jaune's, fury etched into his features.

"What are you talking about?" Jaune found himself slammed into the wall a couple more times.

"Don't play dumb with me!" Cardin growled. "First, you're a complete idiot in fighting. Then, you make a fool out of me by not losing like you should. And now this!" Cardin brandished his mace, twisting it about.

"It looks fine to me," Jaune said.

Cardin shook Jaune as he spoke. "You scratched it up! I had my aura running through it and you scratched it. My family gave me this weapon for Beacon. Do you know how much it's going to cost to get this fixed?"

Jaune eyed the weapon again. Now that he mentioned it, there were quite a lot of scratches made in the metal. Nothing that prevented it from working, but it definitely did not look as fresh as it once did. "Look, this was just an accident," Jaune said placatingly.

However, it only had the opposite effect. "I'll make you look like an accident." He pulled back his mace hand, intending to pommel strike, when he suddenly froze.

Click!

"Try it and what I'll do will be no accident," Sheffield said.

Cardin looked over his shoulder while Jaune looked under it to see the short maid with a pistol dug into Cardin's back. "The fuck? Who are you? This is the boy's locker room!"

"So it is. Now put the boy down or your weapon won't be the only thing scratched up."

"What are you, his girlfriend?" Cardin asked. "Is he so pathetic he needs you to protect him?" He then cried out in shock as one of his knees was kicked forward and he was forced to kneel. The pistol in his back found a new home up by his neck, digging into his collar.

"If you suggest such a crude thing again, I will shove that oversized club up your arse and use it as a handle while I mop this floor with your face." Sheffield's scowl may have been carved from ice for all the warmth and emotion she showed.

Cardin looked back at Jaune and seemed to weigh his options for a moment. With a huff, he let go of Jaune and got up to leave, but not before 'accidentally' shoulder checking Jaune on the way out. Sheffield kept her gun trained on his back until the locker room door was slammed shut.

"Thanks, but I had it under control," Jaune said, rubbing his shoulder.

"Of course, Master Jaune. You really had him on the ropes for sure." Sheffield's voice was so devoid of sarcasm that it somehow sounded sarcastic by its absence. "I can always dispose of that garbage if he causes you trouble."

Jaune shook his head. "Please don't. It kinda was my fault anyways. I didn't know that the sword could cut through Aura. I'm just glad I didn't accidentally cut him up."

Sheffield pursed her lips. "This is a bit of speculation, but I don't think it was the sword. Not entirely, at least."

"What do you mean?"

"Tell me your observations so far. Preferably somewhere more suitable," Sheffield said, eyeing the lockers.

The two of them left out a back door and strolled around. Jaune recalled every detail he could, from the strange weight disparity to its cutting ability, along with his grandmother's insights. Sheffield just listened and nodded from time to time. When Jaune finished, he looked to the maid. "What do you think?"

"I think some further research is required," she said. "I'm well aware of what that sword is capable of in experienced hands, but there are a multitude of unknown factors, starting with you."

Jaune rolled his eyes. "I already know that. Can't you give me a guess, or some advice?"

"If you insist, I advise you to start practicing your sword forms. Perhaps even ask for some help." Sheffield pulled out a slip of paper. "Here's a list of comments I made after seeing your match today."

Jaune took the slip and read a few of the lines, his smile tightening with each one. "Um, Sheffield?"

"Yes, Master Jaune?"

"What does 'Percussive Defense practice' mean, and why is Nora involved?"

"After your performance today, Miss Valkyrie was quite enthusiastic about helping with your training when I mentioned it to her. Try not to be late to that. I instructed her to hunt you down if you are."

Blake's hidden ears twitched again as the library doors opened. She glanced out of the corner of her eye, but to her disappointment, it was just another student that had left the building. Blake smothered a groan of frustration and returned to her book, the only thing keeping her sane as she waited for her meeting. It was a compelling story about clandestine romance between a Mistralian lady and her faunus manservant while her Valean suitor was either trying to win her heart or her estate for nefarious reasons. Right now she was in the middle of reading Lady Marzipan confess her feelings for-

"Enjoying yourself?"

Blake whipped her head around to see Sheffield standing a few meters away at the end of the long table, clad in her maid outfit. Once again, Blake couldn't help but wonder how this woman snuck up on her! She had even picked a spot where she would see any approach! Blake bookmarked her page and set the novel down. "I have some questions for you." There was no point in small talk.

"I surmised as much from your… note." Sheffield held up the gum wrapper in her fingers while she gave Blake an unamused stare. "Really? Just because I'm a maid does not mean I'll pick up any piece of garbage. I receive enough of that from Master Jaune."

Blake winced internally. "Sorry, but I couldn't think of anything more discreet."

"Then you need to work on your spycraft." Sheffield walked over and sat across from Blake. "Ask your questions. I ensured no one would be close enough to eavesdrop, hence my tardiness."

Blake wondered if that was true, or if the maid simply liked to frustrate people. Brushing the thought away, she focused back on what was important. "Back in the forest, how did you know who I was?" The first question barreled out without a second thought, burning to be answered for the longest time.

Sheffield's eyes flicked to the top of Blake's head. "A bow is hardly what I would call a proper disguise, Miss Belladonna. But I assume that's not what you mean." Her hand dipped into the folds of her skirt and pulled out a manilla folder. She pushed it across the table and gestured to Blake to read it.

Blake took the folder and read the little label in the tab: Blake Belladonna. She flipped it open to find several papers inside, the first of which had her name and face and other miscellaneous details about her life. Parents: Ghira and Kali Belladonna. Home: Chieftain's Palace of Menagerie. Organization: White Fang (hostile faction). Known Associates: Khan, Sienna; Taurus Adam; Amitola, Illia…

The more details Blake read, the more disturbed she was by the picture it painted. Menagerie didn't have a CCT tower, and its distance from the nearest one in Mistral meant they had to rely on local servers for the most part and a relatively weak connection from the world. That meant there wasn't a whole lot of information that left the isolated island. Not that many cared to learn about the Faunus continent, much less acknowledge them. Regardless, the amount of detail here could only mean one thing: there were spies deep in Menagerie.

"As the saying goes, 'Knowing is half the battle'. " Blake's eyes snapped up to see Sheffield pour out steaming tea from a thermos into two plain porcelain cups. "We paid cursory attention to the White Fang when they formed, but we only truly started to gather information when the attacks began. We learned who your members were, what your goals were, and various plans of attack. We needed to know if our paths would cross, or worse, become a conflict of interest."

Blake bristled at the suggestion. "The White Fang would never attack Azur Lane! They have supported Faunus' rights and independence since the Revolution. They keep our island safe and supplied for less than what any other Kingdoms would provide."

Sheffield stared at her with an odd expression. "Wouldn't be the first time an angry mob raided trade ships in a harbor out of some misguided revenge. Tea?" Sheffield placed a cup in front of Blake.

A small part of Blake wondered where the hell the maid pulled those from until she smelled the tea's fragrance and gasped.

It was her mother's favorite brew. It smelled like a floral arrangement with a hint of citrus. It would taste bitter in the first sip, but sweet in the last. Seeing the green color almost took her back home to a sunny afternoon where it was just her, her mother, and some of the guards gossiping while her father was out checking the town. When was the last time she…

"It's going to get cold if you don't drink it," Sheffield's voice cut in.

Blake blinked and saw the cup was just shy of her lips, close enough to see her own reflection in. 'When did I grab it?' she wondered. Keeping an eye on Sheffield, Blake took a sip. It was as bitter a start as she remembered, and just as flavorful too. And yet…

"...My mom's tastes better," Blake said, before sipping some more.

If Sheffield was insulted, she didn't show it. "Master Jaune has probably guessed it by now, though he may continue playing the fool, but another part of my mission is to provide security for him. And at the moment, you are the biggest liability."

Blake hid her frown in her cup. "Me? What makes you say that?" She had little interest in Jaune beyond his family's influence in supporting the Faunus and Menagerie. How could she be the liability?

"I simply find that it's rather convenient that you, a known member of the White Fang, would join Beacon at the same time as a certain corporate heiress studying abroad. Waltzing in with such a poor human disguise and managing to place yourself on the same team as her." Sheffield's eyes pierced through Blake. "One might think you have an agenda to carry out."

"It's not like that," Blake said with a scowl.

"Forgive me if I find that difficult to believe." Sheffield's voice was colder and drier than a Vacuan night. "The White Fang have already carried out dozens of assassinations against the Schnee Company, family included. Why wouldn't they try to strike out at the source of their woes?"

Blake glared at Sheffield. "I thought this was about Jaune's security?" she spat.

"It is, in a way. So long as Miss Schnee is within proximity of Master Jaune, whatever plans you have for her may affect him as well."

"I don't have any plans!" Blake said, almost shouting. Catching herself, she glanced around before lowering her voice again. "Maybe you should check your intel again. The White Fang didn't know Weiss was coming here, and I'm here because I left the White Fang. Us being on the same team is just an unfortunate coincidence and nothing more." Blake finished off the last of her tea in an attempt to calm herself down, but the sweet finish only tasted short of bitter in her mouth.

The two of them stared each other down unflinchingly for minutes. Sheffield's calm facade betrayed nothing except that her eyes hunted for any form of lie in Blake's words. Blake had seen it before in police officers and guards that asked a lot of questions, but the maid would find no lie. Blake might have much to hide, but there was no reason to lie about this.

Though, technically Blake did have plans for Weiss, albeit hastily made ones. But they were just the passive-aggressive nonviolent kind, like enticing the rich heiress to treat the team to expensive dinners often, so they didn't count.

After a long time, Sheffield leaned back in her chair. "I see. Perhaps an update is in order. For your sake, I hope it's the truth."

"It is," Blake said with conviction.

"I'll be the judge of that." Sheffield took a long sip of her tea. "Moving on, were there any other questions?"

'Other questions? Oh!' Blake had almost forgotten the other reason she had called out the maid amidst the shocking developments. 'On second thought, maybe I shouldn't ask that now with this mood. But I may not get another chance like this unless I ask Jaune and he might be too embarrassed to tell me anything.' She licked her lips, wishing she had another cup of tea to settle her nerves before she bit the bullet. "I was wondering… what exactly is Sirius' role as a maid for Jaune?"

Blake did not expect the thousand-yard stare of disappointment she received from Sheffield.

A/N: Hey guys. Sorry for the radio silence this last half year. Life kinda kicked me in the ass last Christmas, work has ramped up like a boulder running down a hill, and I spent more than a few months trying to move into a new apartment. I'm just glad I can come back to working on this story.

Speaking of which, goddamn was this a pain in the butt to write. Start of a new arc and I have several impatient plot threads to kick off. Took a while to get those picked and sorted, and then took a bit longer because I felt like i owed y'all some quality work for being out for so long. Writing those combat scenes was a balancing act for sure.

Azur Lane has been hitting hard with the events since the last chapter giving me plenty of ideas and lots of characters to choose from. I should be able to squeeze a couple of them in where I can.

Anyways, thanks for following me this far. I hope I can bring a new chapter out sooner than this one.