After that day was done and everyone had received a full night's rest, the real work began.

I mean that literally.

Now fully licensed Hunters, the mission boards were open for us to peruse. That opened us up to a source of income that didn't rely on the generosity of either our friends or people that we knew. Everyone was excited to get started, and there was no doubt in our mind that things were going to get busy for us. When we weren't shoring up defenses, we were working or trying to relax as best we could until we took another mission.

Cinder and I were both worried about Shi being left on her own so much, but Theodore patched that up for us by offering to take her under his wing while we were working. That was good, because while we wouldn't be going on the same missions often, the times when one of us wasn't working while the other was, or when we were both at home, were somewhat rare.

I wish I could say the first mission we went on was something remarkable or amazing, but it really wasn't.

Team CALM's first mission was escorting a trade caravan to and from a small village. In places like this, the lack of roads meant that the only vehicles people used were off-roaders, or classic horse and buggy, sometimes with camels. Normal villages on the outskirts of places like Vale already relied on trade fleets coming to and from their villages to help them make ends meet, and to provide protection in case of crop failure or Grimm attack. It was all the more pronounced in Vacuo.

I could tell that the others had wanted something a bit more exciting, but I reminded them that, at the end of the day, no excitement on missions like that was a good thing. Our job was to protect people as well as kill Grimm, not one or the other, so we just needed to be ready to do whatever it took.

The paycheck from that job was nice as well, it felt good to be able to earn money in a way that didn't rely on Alex's sporadic quests and side-quests. To this day I'm still not entirely sure what metric they use to decide what quests to give me and what wasn't worth it. I was sure it was probably something along the lines of 'whatever I feel like', knowing them.

A lot of missions we went on for the first few months were really nothing worth noting. Sometimes we went on joint missions with Team RWBY—usually extermination missions—sometimes we'd go with Cinder and her crew, other times it'd just be us.

Around early December, we had one of the latter instances of it just being us, well, us plus two.

We hadn't seen anything suspicious in regards to Orchid and her crew, nor for Grimm activity, but we had to be cautious. To that end, Cinder's crew was given a job to clear out a known bandit hideout while Team RWBY was given a mission straight from Theodore to help the final preparations for the city's defenses, and to help guard the place in case the attack were to be a surprise.

Meanwhile, my team and Qrow were given a mission to go to all of the villages we could, both on the inner and outer perimeter of Vacuo, and make sure they were all safe. If needed, we were to escort the villagers to the city, if things looked too dangerous.

Shi insisted on going with us, under the guise of 'shadowing her mentor', which I supposed made sense. However, I knew her primary motivation was the fact that I'd be gone for a couple weeks at least, and she very much didn't like that idea. Still, her reasoning was solid, and she had been continuing to improve, so I agreed that she could come. I told her that if she did well enough I'd talk Theodore into giving her her own paycheck, even if she was just my apprentice.

Not that she needed that motivation, but it certainly helped to reward good behavior.

Theodore lent us one of Shade's larger patrol vehicles, something similar to an Atlesian APC, but designed to withstand the harsh climate and conditions of the desert. As the only person (other than Qrow, but he doesn't count) that actually knew how to drive, I took it upon myself to take us from place to place.

This was another instance where I was glad that the CCT system continues to stand, because that meant the radio worked. It would have been a lot more dreary if we couldn't listen to music, or the others couldn't use their scrolls to browse the CCTNet (of course, I didn't have that luxury), but we were thankfully fine. Conversation also kept time from slowing to a crawl, as we talked about such deep and philosophical things as…

"Trikes are not motorcycles, two back wheels or two front wheels!"

That. Jeanne had started the conversation, and it had spiraled somewhat. Lunus protested, "It just is! That's how it works! That's like saying a moped isn't just a small motorcycle!"

Violet was quick to join in, "A moped is not a motorcycle! It's just a moped!"

Shi, who seemed perplexed by all of this, rubbed her chin (sitting in the passenger seat as she was) and looked back, "But what about electric bikes? Aren't those just mopeds?"

Qrow, who was clearly at least somewhat sloshed, responded, "Nah, kid! It's different! It's different 'cause, uhhh…"

"See, Uncle Qrow! Even you don't know!

I was smiling because of all of this, and so I decided to pitch in, "Alright, guys, riddle me this. What makes an ATV an ATV? Is it just the all terrain part, or does it have to look like an ATV?"

Jeanne scoffed, "Duh! Of course, it's gotta look like an ATV!"

Lunus once again disagreed, "But what about quad ATVs? Those don't look like regular ATVs, they're mini. So clearly the form factor doesn't matter that much."

Violet giggled, "Yeah! That's like saying a truck isn't technically just a spicy car!"

Silence fell over the APC…

And then it promptly erupted in protests.

"What, no way! A truck is a truck, a car is a car!"

"Come on, Vi, you know this!"

Luckily or unluckily, the discussion had to be paused as I said, "Alright, guys. We're coming up on the first village, so get ready. It looks safe from here, but you never know. Try to leave a good impression, huh?" At that, we all began to pile out of the vehicle, with me locking the doors afterward.

We looked around and took in the village. It was a small, unassuming place, built at an oasis with some of the rare land that was farmable providing their life-sustaining food. The buildings were all adobe, reminding me of some old school towns you'd have seen in movies on Earth. The cultural soup of places like Vacuo had been jarring to me when I first arrived on Remnant. Now, though, I've found I quite like it.

The villagers, too, were eclectic. Some were dressed like they were taken straight from an old-western movie, others looked more like desert travelers. We had gained quite a crowd, it seemed. The village wasn't that big, and it looked like almost all of the villagers were looking at us. The group was at my back as I smiled and greeted them with a traditional Vacuan greeting, "Howdy, brothers and sisters! We're huntsmen, here to check on how things are going in the town. Is someone in charge around here?"

An older man with gray hair and a handlebar mustache in a full sheriff getup stepped forward. His hands were on his belts, and he nodded, "That's me, son. Ya'll look a little young to be Huntsmen, 'cept for that guy. Can I see your licenses?" Then he looked at Shi, "And what about the little missy?"

We all fished out our scrolls and showed our licenses while I explained, "Shi is my apprentice." We all put away our licenses after the sheriff looked them over and nodded, "Now, was there anything you need help with?"

The sheriff rubbed his chin while the locals all went back to their own business, "Well, we do have a problem with a pack a Dromedaries causin' us trouble, attackin' our cows n' camels n' such. There was somethin' else, but… we have someone out dealin' with that already."

I raised an eyebrow, Leo had told me that most, if not all, Huntsmen in the area were stationed in Vacuo by this point, "Oh? Who, if you don't mind me asking?"

The sheriff smirked, "Oh, bit of a local legend. Goes by Sequoia. They ain't much older than ya'll, but they've been hunting Grimm and chasin' bounties since they were fifteen. Maybe you'll meet 'em out in the field."

I hummed, "Interesting." It was, but I supposed it wasn't unprecedented, "So about those Dromedaries, are there any clues as to where they might be?"

The sheriff gave me the information I needed—the Dromedaries having been last spotted northwest of the town—and we agreed to take them out. It was noon, and if we worked fast we could be done by nightfall. So, after checking our supplies and making sure the APC was secure, we headed out on foot. The APC would have made too much noise and likely drawn too much Grimm attention.

In the same vein, to avoid attracting too much attention we split up and agreed to contact each other with our scrolls if we spotted the Grimm. Qrow, Ruby, and Lunus grouped up, while Violet and Jeanne partnered up. That left Shi and I, so together we started our search.

Shi and I both had our weapons out, my cane was hardly good for walking on sand dunes, but I kept it retracted in my hand in case we came across our Grimm. We kept a vigilant watch as we continued our walk, although after about twenty minutes of walking in silence, Shi asked, "I'm your apprentice?"

I nodded, "For all intents and purposes, you are. Although, just as we talked about, I'll be sending you to Signal next year."

Shi huffed, seeming none too pleased with that, "Why can't I just stay as your apprentice? If that can get me licensed as a Huntress, then why not? I'd learn more from you than I would from any teacher!"

She was right, but…

I smiled, "Shi, you already have trouble talking to people, trouble interacting with those who aren't in our circle, you need to develop those skills. Part of being a good Huntress isn't just being able to save the day, it's being able to assure civilians that they're safe."

Shi thought it over before responding, "But… can't you teach me those things? It's not like we don't talk to people already."

My smile remained, "But can you talk to people your own age, Shi?" Silence followed, and then I responded, "My point exactly. While many a Hunter is socially awkward, all of them are able to at least hold conversations and forge bonds. Strong bonds with your peers is essential to success both in and out of school. I met every one of my friends as a result of the school, for example."

Shi huffed, and I knew she knew I was right, "Fine… will you still be training me in your free time?"

My smile faded slightly but I returned it quickly, "Of course I will, and I'm sure the others will be willing to help as well. I'm hoping to become a professor once all of this is over, so I may be a bit busy…" That was my hope if things ended the way I wanted them to, but I knew better than to make assumptions. I knew that Glynda would probably want to make me Headmaster after a while at Beacon, given that I'm the new Oz, and it would likely happen fairly fast. 'Neve Cadere, Headmaster of Beacon' had a nice ring to it, even if it felt weird.

Shi smiled, "So when I get to Beacon, you'll be there as well? You'd better treat me like everyone else! I don't wanna get treated differently."

I had been struggling to keep my smile before but now it grew genuine. She reminded me of Vesta, except she wanted to go to Beacon regardless. I nodded and looked at her as we kept walking, "The fact that you're already thinking about stuff like that is very mature, Shi. Of course, you'll be treated just the same as any other student, favoritism doesn't do anyone any favors."

Shi seemed pleased with that answer, but before we could continue our conversation the ground began to rumble. We looked around and suddenly, not far from us, creatures began to burst out of the ground. The Grimm had four long insectoid limbs that bend at the halfway point before finally reaching the ground. They weren't particularly tall or large, about the size of a big dog. They had a carapace that started down by their head that had no eyes and fangs and ended up by going diagonally into the air for about a foot. They had mandibles, and were all black as night.

I recognized what they were immediately, "Antlions! Get ready, Shi." Figures, they'd be named the same, and they look so similar to something I'd seen before.

The beasts barely had time to screech at us before we were converging on them.

There were only ten of them, which was a small number when it came to these beasts, but it wasn't uncommon for Antlion nests to get eradicated while small squads of them were out hunting. Two of them shot acid at me, but I ducked under the large glops of the deadly liquid before reaching the one closest to me.

I slammed the end of my cane down on its head, crushing it underneath and leaving just the body laying there limply, smoke emitting from it. After that, another beat its wings and started to fly towards me. I raised my cane and shot out a series of fireballs that connected and exploded against the beast, leaving naught but ash.

The final three all started shooting acid at me, and I formed a shield in front of me. The acid connected with the shield and then bounced right back, being returned to their senders. Each beast screeched in agony as they were burned by their own acid, while I raced forward and finished them off with a few whacks from my cane.

I looked to see how Shi was doing, and I was unsurprised to see that she wasn't having any trouble at all. She had activated her semblance and frozen the ground at the Antlions' feet, rooting them there. Then, right side burning with fire, she slashed outward with Theta and sent out a wave of fire at them. In equal measure the Antlions were burned and frozen.

An easy fight, thankfully. I smiled at Shi, "Good work. Luckily these things aren't much of a threat in numbers this small."

Shi smiled back, flecks of ice on her left side while embers danced off her right, "Nothing we can't handle, Dad."

After that, we started walking again.

We traveled for a few hours, looking for the Dromedaries. We had expected to need to set up camp, or go back to the village, but then I got a text on my scroll from Lunus.

It read, "We think we might know where the Dromedaries are. We met someone who's been tracking them." What followed was their location, supplied by the CCTS' geolocational abilities. Armed with this knowledge, Shi and I started heading to the location.

It was nighttime when we got there, and we found the others were all there, sitting around a campfire.

However, true to what Lunus said, they had a guest.

They were tan and had brown hair that fell to their neck, equally brown eyes carried some mirth, clearly they were enjoying the conversation they had been having. They wore a brown duster over a dark red vest. They wore skinny jeans and had brown boots complete with spurs, and atop their head was a stetson. They looked somewhat feminine, but then again there was a certain boyish quality to them as well.

She tipped their hat at Shi and I, "Howdy." Then, addressing me specifically, they said, "So you're the leader of this here expedition? Come sit a spell."

I nodded and said, "Thank you." Before taking a seat next to him, with Shi sitting next to me. Then, I asked, "I take it you're Sequoia?"

He smirked, "Good eye, partner. That's what they call me. I've already done a bit a' jawin' with your teammates there." They nodded to them.

Lunus nodded right back, "Yep, gotta say, it's a nice bit of a serendipity that they were in the area. Sequoia's been tracking them for a couple days now, apparently they finished hunting their other prey some time ago now."

Sequoia grinned, "What can I say, I'm somethin' of an expert. Ain't no Huntsman, never cared for labels like that. If I kill 'em, then that's what matters. Though there's still some things even I can't take on my own, the Dromedaries were gonna take days to pick off, no doubt." Then, she moved her duster slightly, "I've got my six shooter, loaded with dust rounds, was my Pa's, then I've got this," they reached to their other side and grasped something, pulling it up and showing a coiled whip, "it's a Dust infused whip, was my ma's, although she was partial to a pistol too."

He put his weapons back, "Which is ta say, I might have weapons, but I ain't in any position to be killin' a whole herd of Dromedaries. Was a bit a luck ta run into ya'll, then." She looked at me, "Your friends have told me a bit about ya'll, but I gotta wonder what you're doin' out here. Ya don't look Vacuan."

I nodded, "You're right, we're not. We're from Vale, on some business. We're worried Vacuo might get attacked sometime in the near future, so we've been helping the headmaster of Vacuo get ready. To that end, we set out to travel Vacuo and check if the villages were all alright. We weren't necessarily asked to help kill Grimm, but…"

Violet finished for me with a smirk, "What kind of Hunters would we be if we let any Grimm we could kill just get away?"

I smiled, "Exactly. So, where are these Dromedaries?"

Qrow answered after taking a swig from his flask, "The whole herd's up north a ways. They haven't moved a bunch, but we can assume it probably won't stay that way. If we wanna get 'em, we'll have to move fast. I say we leave at first light." He chuckled, "It's a good thing Grimm have to sleep too."

That made sense to me, so I looked at everyone and said, "Right, then. We'll head out at daybreak." Then I looked at Sequoia, "I assume you're coming with us?"

Sequoia grinned, "'Course I am. What, do ya think I'd miss a chance to see how you fancy Valean Hunters work? Naw, I'll be there." Then she hummed, "We should set up a watch. We can't let our guards down out in the wild. I'll go first, who wants to go second?"

We sorted out who would take watch and when. I was the last watch, which meant I also had the job of waking everyone up. Well, except for Shi, because she insisted on being on watch with me. I told her that she should be getting as much sleep as she can, given her age, but she wasn't budging. So, I let her, but I told her this wasn't going to be a constant, she needed to get a full night's sleep!

Once everyone was up, we broke camp and started in the direction Sequoia suspected the Dromedaries were in.

It took a couple hours of travel, but eventually we reached the area she had been talking about. It seemed to be an oasis, albeit there was no sign of any habitation from other people. Instead, we were able to spot the Dromedaries all gathered around, seemingly waiting on something. That wasn't a good sign, not at all, Grimm usually only did that if there was some force making them do so, or if they were more intelligent than normal.

Just looking at them, it was easy to tell that they weren't extraordinarily intelligent, so it had to be that something was making them wait. I had to guess that it was Orchid, and that meant that the attack on Vacuo was no doubt going to be happening this month, although we still didn't know when, nor did we want to abandon our mission. We still had to check on the other villages, and we could easily just send word over the CCTS about the strange behavior.

The herd wasn't insignificant, I counted a hundred of them, and no doubt they would overwhelm us if we let them. However, if we struck hard and took out as many as we could before they could reorient themselves, we'd be able to make short work of them.

So, keeping our profiles low and staying as hidden as we could, we fanned out and encircled the oasis. Thankfully, the dunes were tall enough to hide our approach, forming a bowl around the oasis. Shi stayed with me, while the others all took their own positions. Then, after a few moments of making sure everyone was in place, I pushed forward and jumped off the dune of sand I was on, with Shi following close behind.

We landed right next to some of the Dromedaries, and I wasted no time in striking out with my cane, jabbing it into one of the beast's camel-like heads and releasing a burst of kinetic energy that separated its head from its neck. One of the beasts reared back and tried to jab at me with a hoof, but I managed to duck under it easily. Then, I brought my cane around and jabbed it repeatedly in its exposed chest, the final one sending it tumbling back into another group of five of its pack-mates.

Shi was quick to follow up, as one approached me on my exposed right flank she closed the distance and slashed it with Theta in its scythe form. The beast exploded into black mist, while Shi wasted no time in turning her attention to another that was approaching her. There was another on her left, and one on her right, I saw her gain a wicked grin before she ignited her semblance. The right side of her body shot out gouts of fire while the other caused several ice spikes to shoot towards the ones on her left. The Dromedaries didn't even have time to react before they fell before her.

Then, she cut off her semblance and charged forward to deal with some of the others, so I turned my attention back to my own quarries. As I charged at another one, its head suddenly jerked to the right as a bullet slammed into it and it crumbled to the ground. I looked to the left and saw Sequoia, one handing her revolver while keeping his whip in his free hand.

Following that, I saw him crack his whip at an approaching Dromedary, the whip blazing with fire as it did so. It wrapped itself around the beast's neck and then Sequoia jerked back with their hand, cracking the Grimm's neck while scorching its body at the same time. They certainly weren't lying about being skilled!

I saw Lunus off in the distance, doing what he did best and surfing across the sand with Selene. He gathered a small herd of Dromedaries chasing him before he leapt off his weapon, grabbing it by the handle, and in one smooth motion transforming it into its giant saw-polearm form. Then he spun in a circle before bringing the spinning blades forward, sawing through several Dromedaries at once.

Qrow joined him, striking down several of the pack with Harbinger in its sword form before blasting several dust rounds at some of the further out Dromedaries that were charging them. The two continued their tandem engagement, back to back with buzzsaw and greatsword at the ready.

Jeanne was working with Violet, while Jeanne cut down any that got too close, Violet was using Suncutter in its chakram form to slice through distant targets. All the while, she was shooting at Dromedaries while Aura did what she did best and punched out the Grimm as they came, in her usual ten foot tall combat form.

I returned to focusing on what was in front of me, a small group of around ten Dromedaries were charging at me. I activated my semblance and mixed it with ice magic to create a swirling blizzard in the middle of the desert once again. Luckily, now that I had magic I was able to be selective about who it affected, and so I could use it against just the Grimm.

They fell due to the biting cold, and those who were too far for me to reach were taken down by the others. The fight was longer than it was difficult, wading through that many Grimm was a challenge in patience. I could have likely used a single powerful spell to take out large swathes of them, but that would have drained me of a lot of my magic, and I didn't want to do that unless I absolutely had to.

When the fighting was done, the oasis was littered with the dissolving corpses of Dromedaries. At least, those that hadn't dissolved immediately upon death.

Everyone was catching their breath when Sequoia came up to me with a smile on their face, "Your group can really hold their own, I'm impressed. That semblance a' yours' is really potent." Then they looked at Shi, who was standing next to me catching her breath, "Her semblance is incredibly potent, too."

I smiled as I looked between Shi and Sequoia, "Indeed, although she's still got a ways to go before she has real control over it." I smirked as I looked at her, "I've yet to see her master using it in more… minute ways. The criminals we took care of before were a good start, but there's still the matter of limiting how much damage you do to yourself, and seeing if we can't find a way to activate one at a time."

Shi turned her attention to trying to get the ice off of her left side, "I know, I know." She huffs, "I'll get there one day." Then, she smirked, "It's fun to use, though…"

I tutted, "Try not to get too lost in enjoying a fight, that's when you go overboard and get yourself hurt." For all her efforts, she still had trouble with overextending and working too hard, but Rome wasn't built in a day, so I could forgive her. I looked out to the others to see how they were recovering.

Jeanne was gulping down water from the oasis, her head outright dunked into it, while Violet was drinking some out of her water canteen. Lunus and Qrow were sitting together near the girls, talking about something or another. Whatever it was, they seemed to be joking about it, based on the smiles on their faces.

After taking in the others, I smiled, "Well, I suppose with this taken care of we can return to the village. It shouldn't take as long as it did to find these Dromedaries, thankfully. Then we'll be off."

Sequoia pouted, "Aww, so soon? What a shame." Then she smiled, "You said there's a chance Vacuo will get attacked sometime soon?" I nodded, and so they said, "Well, in that case, how bout I come with ya'll, just for a lil' bit? The other villages will be a lot more welcoming ta ya with me around."

That was a sound idea, so I nodded, "That sounds like a good idea. We've got enough space in our vehicle for one more." Besides, having another person around was bound to make the conversations the others got up to even more interesting. I wondered what Sequoia thought about the debate between mopeds and electric bikes?

Probably nothing, but it would certainly be fun to find out one way or another.

Once we returned to the village, we were all celebrated for having gotten rid of that Dromedary herd. Those who were once skeptical of us were telling us we'd be welcome back anytime, and a few folk even offered their daughters' (or even their sons') hands in marriage to various members of our party.

Of course, they were politely rejected, and after we had all piled into the APC, we were off again.

While on the road, Lunus (who was wiping his cheeks off with a towel following a few smooches he received) asked, "Is offering marriage a normal thing in Vacuo? Seems a bit old school."

Sequoia laughed a hearty and full laugh, "Ooh yeah! Happens to me once a week! They never know whether ta offer me a mister or ma'am, so they just offer both! Not that I'm in this business for the hay or the flower. I just do it 'cause it's the right thing to do. It's what my paw would always do."

I heard Jeanne ask, "So what did your parents do for a living anyway?"

Sequoia answered easily, "Me paw was a Huntsman from Atlas, came down to Vacuo lookin' for this crook. One who called herself Redden. Turns out that was my mama, instead of killin' each other, they ended up fallin' in love. Hell of a thing. Everything was great for em 'till the secret was out, by then I was already in the cradle." They spoke of this as if it was no big deal, "When that call came in, everyone in town knew who they were. There was only one way to handle it, so they drew pistols. My old man was faster. So he's the one who raised me."

They talked about it with such ease compared to the heavy topic, and Qrow said as much, "Wow… sorry about that kid. Sounds heavy."

They chuckled, "Nah. Not like I have any memories 'bout my mama, she was dead long before that. My papa did his damndest to raise me right, and I think he did a good job if I do say so myself. He's still kickin', moved back to Atlas ta take care of my gramma, she's gettin' on up there, y'know."

It turned out Sequoia had lived an interesting life, and boy did they have a lot of stories to tell. We hardly needed the radio, with the kind of stuff they talked about. It was mostly stories about what her parents had gotten up to when they were younger, their mom and her crime spree, their dad and his time as a Huntsman. Occasionally they'd tell a story about themselves, things they'd done while traveling around Vacuo. Apparently, they'd circumnavigated the nation several times in their life already, which was quite a feat, admittedly.

While we continued to travel, my mind turned to Cinder. I had to wonder how she was doing. Not that I expected her to be doing poorly, given her skill and status as a Maiden, but my mind wandered. I was certainly looking forward to the next time we'd both get some free time.

I had to imagine, regardless, that her job was going fairly well.

Cinder POV

The mission was going slowly.

We had been pointed in the direction of the bandit hideout we were supposed to clear out, but were warned that the location was very general. Not that that was any challenge to us, we'd spent the past several months tracking after all, finding some bandits wasn't hard work at all.

Still, when we located them, we found they were inside of a cave that was decently guarded. Our job was to take them back alive, for some reason, so we opted to wait until nighttime so we could eliminate them while they were unaware without needing to potentially resort to more deadly measures.

That was what led Emerald, Mercury, and myself to camp some ways out from where we knew the cave was. It was still daylight, and we weren't going to be able to move at all until at least the night was starting to fall. While we were sitting around, there really wasn't much to do other than mess around on our scrolls or to talk. I would have been fine with reading some ebooks, but of course Emerald and Mercury decided talking would be the better option.

Emerald, who was laying on her back while staring at a passing cloud, asked, "So, you don't find the whole 'fusion with an old wizard' thing to be weird, Cinder? It's pretty weird to me."

Mercury chuckled, he was sitting on the ground near where our current unlit firepit was, "Yeah, seems like it'd be a major turn o-" He didn't get to finish his sentence before a rock collided with his cheek, blocked by his aura of course. He threw up his hands, "Alright, alright!"

I scoffed, "You never did learn how to stop running your mouth, Mercury." At the time, I was sitting across from him at the firepit, "The answer is no, it doesn't affect me. Neve is still Neve, even if he's picked up a few odd mannerisms and all the knowledge the old wizard had. I'd have known if he wasn't." Then, I added, "You don't know what I'm talking about because you're never loved anyone before like I love him."

Mercury responded a bit too quickly as he raised his voice, "That's not true!" He laid back with a groan, "Okay… I get what you mean. I was just giving you shit. If the people I cared about like that were seriously fucked up then I would be able to tell they were different. I get what you mean."

That was curious. I raised an eyebrow, "Oh? And who do you love, Mercury? If you know how I feel, then you've got to have someone you love."

Mercury held up two fingers, "I've loved two." He put down one finger, "The first one loves someone else, so I gave up. I felt something serious for her for a while, but it just never happened. Shit luck, huh?" He held up his second finger again, "The second one… Well, I don't know if anything's gonna happen with that. I haven't tried. Not really something I'm willing to fuck up again, you know?"

I had a feeling I knew who the first one was, but the second one was a surprise. I wasn't going to push him on it, though, because I had done my fair share of snapping at people when they asked me about Neve, when things were first starting.

Emerald, however, had no such compunction. She got up, walked over to where Mercury was, and then sat down next to him. Then she leaned over him a bit, staring down at him, "Oh yeah? Who managed to pierce that iron heart of yours, Merc?" She smirked, "I need to know who it is so I can give you shit for your bad taste."

I didn't miss that odd look in Emerald's eyes, her usual playful gaze had some sort of glint to it that was usually never there. I wasn't good with people, so I couldn't tell you what it meant. I would have to ask Neve to keep an eye open for that, he was always better with people.

Mercury chuckled, "Wouldn't you like to know, Em? Please, as if I'd tell you. You'd never stop making fun of me." His voice held its usual mirth to it, but there was something… tense about it. Guarded. More so than normal, and more so than anything I'd heard from him recently. He mimicked her, "Wow, Merc! You're such a dumbass!"

Emerald huffed, "Fine then, keep your secrets." She leaned back into a sitting position and then laid back on the ground with a groan, "See if I tell you any of my secrets."

He chuckled, "Yeah? What kinda secrets do you have? Maybe we can trade."

She sighed, "Maybe after we get back to town, yeah? We've gotta get this job done first so we can get back before that bitch decides to launch an attack that we have to repel. I swear, it's like they don't know when to quit."

I found that ironic, coming from Emerald, but didn't comment on it. Instead, I focused on reading the ebook I had while trying to wile away the hours. Once this job was done we would indeed be going back to Vacuo. From there, we'd be stuck waiting in anticipation until either an attack hit, or the school year had started back up.

When the sun had sunk below the horizon and night had almost entirely set, the three of us broke camp and started for the cave. We knew there would be at least one of the bandits standing guard, but with the help of Emerald's semblance it would be a trivial matter to take care of them. When we got there, true to our expectations, there was just one guard standing in front of the entrance. A tired looking guy wearing cheap and tattered clothes wielding a sword. He could have easily passed for a regular traveler, if we didn't know any better.

Emerald activated her semblance and so the watchman was completely unaware of our approach. Once we were close enough, Mercury choked out the guard by putting his forearm over his neck and pulling back hard before leaving him unconscious on the ground.

The cave itself was rather spacious and with several different paths to take. It looked like it had once been an actual shelter, mined out by some forgotten people. Now, however, all it did was serve as a base for bandits. The main entryway was deserted, which worked well for us. We slinked in and, while sticking together, made our way into the first side passageway we found.

The first passageway didn't have anybody in it. It seemed to be some kind of storeroom for the bandits' supplies. Mercury reached a half-open crate and reached inside, producing what looked to be hard tack. He bit into it and then winced away, tossing the offending bread against the wall.

Hardtack vanquished, Emerald and I glared at him. He looked back and shrugged before starting over to us, whispering, "Doesn't look like they keep their loot with their food."

I frowned and whispered back, "We could have figured that out without you biting into hardtack, you ice dweller." Then I turned around and gestured for the two of them to follow me, and then we made our way out.

At least, we made it to the main hallway before we stopped and hid in the corridor we were approaching from, as we heard footsteps approaching. The bandit that was approaching muttered, "'Course I get guard duty tonight, stupid straws… Who died and made them king?"

The bandit walked right past us, allowing me to create a rope out of ice that I then wrapped around their neck as I choked them out like Mercury did the last person. The bandit was out before too long, and then we carried them to the storeroom, where we left them temporarily.

We checked the next pathway that we spotted, but this time all we found was an empty room with a single chest in the middle of it. When Emerald opened it, there was nothing inside of it other than a slip of paper with the word 'mimic' on it. We had no idea what that meant, so we just left it there and returned to the job at hand.

We finally located where the bandits were sleeping after checking a couple more passageways and reaching the final room. They were all sleeping in the same room, which made it both easier and harder to deal with them. On one hand, we didn't need to hunt down any wandering, on the other hand we needed to be extremely quiet. I knew Neve would have been able to use magic to put them to sleep, but if I was capable of that, then I had no idea how to do it.

So, we began methodically knocking them out. Our strikes were strong enough that we were able to knock them out with one hit as we each took one at a time. It was a good thing their auras were down, otherwise it might have taken a few more hits, but aura was never good at protecting a sleeping fighter.

Once they were all unconscious, we set about tying them up with the zip ties we had been provided. After we did that with everyone and then the two we had knocked out elsewhere, we put in the call to Shade that we had their targets.

We gathered the unconscious bandits outside just in time for a hovercraft to sail towards us. It had a large flatbed to it and an old-style wheel as if it was some sort of wooden ship. It was being piloted by Aurum, who gestured for us to get all of the bandits on board, "Up and at em! They're going to enjoy a nice long stay in the Shade prison cells until Theodore figures out what to do with them."

After we loaded them all up and Aurum started to pilot us back towards Vacuo, I remembered a question I had for her once. So, I asked, "Aurum. You and Neve seemed to know each other when we first met, do you have some sort of history?"

Aurum hummed, "It's not really my place to explain, but we're part of the same… social club, I guess." She smiled, "Although neither of us are particularly interested in talking about that with each other, which is for the best. I have my business, he has his, you know?"

That… didn't really answer any of my questions, but I left it at that. It seemed like they less knew each other and more 'knew of each other'. Which was still curious, but something I could ask Neve about later.

Meanwhile, I heard Emerald talking to Mercury, "You'd better be ready to share your secret later, Merc."

I heard him groan as he said, "Fine, fine."

I smirked, even if originally I viewed them as coworkers at most, I couldn't deny that Emerald and Mercury had become my friends. They followed me after I deserted Salem, and they continue to follow me. For that, I would always be grateful, even if I would never tell them that in person. Neve would probably call them my 'found family', and…

I suppose that's accurate.

Neve POV

The next few villages we checked were fairly uneventful.

One village had some trouble with their irrigation system that, surprisingly, Lunus was able to fix. His father had apparently taught him all sorts of things about being a handyman, which included plumbing. The irrigation system wasn't too different to that, and the problem was easy to spot and fix, given that it was a mixture of a leak in the piping and some clumped up mud blocking the flow of water.

The next had nothing to report, except for the fact that apparently one of the children had gone missing. After we helped turn the village upside down, we eventually found them. It turned out they were hiding under their bed the whole time, who would have thought? The third village had a small issue with an Antlion nest, something that we took care of easily given our manpower and skill level.

This all took place over a week, and by the time we finally went to the last village, we were all prepared to go back to Vacuo. Surely, we figured, this one would be easy and we could just check on the village and then head back to Vacuo without issue.

However, we were wrong.

When we arrived, we found naught but smoke, ashes, and ruins.

As we fanned out and began to investigate the village, we found little in the way of traces of those who had lived there before. However, we did see some Grimm corpses, indicating that the town at least put up a struggle before being taken down. While I was investigating a burnt out house, Shi, who had been staying close to me, asked, "Do you think anyone… survived?"

Before I could respond, we heard what sounded like an older man coughing and retching nearby. We both hurried over to the source of the sound, finding the noise coming from beneath a bunch of wood. After moving it, we managed to uncover an older man wearing a tattered button-up shirt, his legs crushed under a particularly heavy piece of roof. I went to help him, but he coughed, "N-Nah… I'm done for. Just…"

He pointed to a room that seemed somewhat intact, "Th-There's a… teddy bear in there. For my grandson, Orion Starborn. He's… in Vacuo with my daughter. Give that ta him, wouldya?"

I could tell just from looking at him that the man was dying, it was likely his body had suffered far too many injuries for anything to be done at that point. So I just nodded and said, "Shi, go get it." She quickly did so, hurrying off to grab the teddy bear.

Then, I looked at the old man, who chuckled, "She yours or…?" I nodded and he smiled, "Keep 'er close to ya, son. You never know… when… it'll all be over." Then, his head fell back onto the ground and he breathed his last.

I closed his eyes and sighed, muttering, "I know." Then I stood up, turning around in time for Shi to emerge with the teddy bear.

She walked over to me, "Is he…?" I nodded and she sighed, hanging her head, "Damn it…" I wasn't going to chastise her for swearing, not in a situation like this. She looked back up at me, eyes filled with clear sadness, "It doesn't get easier, does it?"

I sighed and looked at the man who had died, "The best thing we can do is try to get used to it. As morbid as that is, death is all too common in our line of work. We will never really get used to seeing innocent people die, but… we can try, and find comfort in each other. That lessens the impact."

Shi nodded, "Then… should we bury him?"

I recalled that Vacuans usually preferred to be cremated, so I shook my head, "I'll take care of it." Then I held out my cane and pressed it to the man's chest. His whole body flashed orange before it disintegrated, the ashes blown away with the wind, "Ashes to ashes, dust to dust."

The two of us walked out of the building in silence, and began to help search other buildings. Unfortunately, there were no survivors. I helped cremate the bodies we found, all told it took us an hour to assess everything. When we were done, there wasn't much else we could do but get back in the APC and start for Vacuo.

The ride was mostly silent, although Lunus did have a valid question, "Do you guys think this means that Vacuo is going to be attacked soon?"

Qrow chuckled morbidly, "It could be a coincidence, but what're the odds? A village like that one being wiped out without any Grimm hanging around? That ain't a normal attack. Grimm usually stay to eat. It means that they were probably passing on their way to somewhere else and the village just happened to get in the way."

Sequoia, grunted, "I reckon after everything we've done the villages we visited will be fine, but I still don't like this. Better floor it, Neve."

I was already going fairly fast, but I went faster, as fast as I could without us flipping due to the dunes, "Going as fast as we can without crashing. We should get back in a couple hours." Vacuo's central location was helpful to us in this situation, it took us a lot longer to circumnavigate the desert than it did for us to just get back to the city.

Violet sighed, "I knew this would be part of the job. We all did, but… that doesn't make it any easier." The normally boisterous and bombastic girl had a sorrowful tone, even she couldn't hide her distress at what we had seen.

Jeanne, similarly, sounded forlorn, "I hope we make it back to Vacuo before anything bad happens." Then, she added, "I mean… we're all great fighters, but we can't be everywhere at once."

That was an important lesson, and I pointed that out, "We can't and we never will be. We just have to do what we can where we can." Someone out in the world could be asking for a Hunter's help right now, but we wouldn't hear them, we couldn't get to them. We also couldn't focus on that. We needed to keep going.

Qrow agreed, "Yeah… it's a raw deal, but we're still just people." I had no doubt that he'd seen this scene hundreds of times. In fact, I knew he did, if I reach I can get the memories fairly easily. The first time he saw something like this, Team STRQ was working with Team LGCY, and nobody walked away from that mission in high spirits.

Lunus sounded deep in thought when he said, "At least the others are back in Vacuo… I hope the attack hasn't started yet." We all shared his apprehension, nobody wants to be late to an attack we'd been expecting for months.

I tried to look for a silver lining and managed to pluck one, "If it has, then we'll be coming in from behind. No doubt we'll be able to relieve the defenders, if that is the case. After everything that Atlas has done to shore up Vacuo's defenses, I think they'll be able to hold out."

Nobody said anything in response to that, but I could tell that it at least helped add some sort of optimism back to our group. We could make the best out of a bad situation if we needed to, that was part of the job.

However, luckily, we didn't need to.

When we got there we found Vacuo still in one piece and without any Grimm in sight. We were able to ride straight into the city and made our way back to Shade, and when we got there Theodore was waiting for us. As we unloaded off the APC, he took one look at us and asked, "Bad news?"

I sighed, "One of the villages was destroyed, no trace of any Grimm lingering around. They're likely migrating somewhere, possibly towards Vacuo. We need to be ready."

He nodded, a clear look of dismay flashed on his face for a moment before he got control of himself, "Right, well. Team Juniper and some of your other friends arrived just a few hours ago, they're waiting out at your home. I take it you've got it from here?"

I managed a smile, "I do. Also, can you call Orion Starson and his mother to the house? I have something to give him." Theodore agreed and then left after that. I turned to the others, "Right, let's get all of our stuff back to the house. Sequoia, you can stay with us. We're gonna need you here when this storm hits."

Sequoia smiled tiredly at me, "My appreciation." Then we all made our way out of Shade and towards the house.

Not a word was spoken, but this time I could tell it was less because of the dreary atmosphere (though that was no doubt a part of it) and more because of the eagerness to get home. The skies were overcast, it looked like a storm was imminent both literally and figuratively. Everyone seemed to have this air of anticipation about them, even the civilians knew that something was going to happen.

After we got back, before we could really settle in, we had to greet our friends, which immediately brought energy back to us.

Jaune, Ren, and Nora all had their outfits I recognized from Volumes Seven and Eight.

Pyrrha had surrendered her old armor, likely to make it part of Jaune's, and now had something new. She was wearing a black corset with a bronze chestplate on either side of her body, but not covering her midsection. She had bronze shoulderpads, a brown utility belt around her waist, a brown skirt that went to her thighs, black stockings, and bronze boots that reached up to her knees. Her shield and spear were still there, and the only physical appearance change I noted was that she had let her hair down, it was now a lot fluffier as well.

Caine was wearing the very same outfit I saw his other self wearing, with the charcoal colored cloak with a silver clip on it that went down to his lower back and had a hood. Beneath that, he wore a light gray jacket with blue accents without a zipper, a white shirt that went up to his neck, albeit the collar was loose like mine was in my turtleneck. He wore light gray pants, dark blue boots, and a midnight blue silk belt. The only thing that really seemed different was that he wasn't wearing the armor the other version had.

Ozza, meanwhile, was wearing a variation on the same outfit that Oscar wore in the show, except obviously fitted for her very different body.

I had expected everyone to share hugs with each other equally at first. However, instead, the whole of JNPR dogpiled me in a group hug. Jaune laughed, "You're safe! Thank the Brothers. We heard from Cinder, but…"

Pyrrha followed up, squeezing me in a way that would have hurt had I not had aura, "We've wanted to see for ourselves for some time now!"

Nora laughed, "Yeah! You can't just go running off on us, ya know! You're supposed to call the shots!"

Ren, meanwhile, smiled, "It is nice to have you back."

Ozza agreed, "Absolutely! I'm much stronger now!" Once Team JNPR broke their hug, she and Caine replaced them immediately. She then said, "It was frustrating, not being able to help. You saved my life, and all I could do was… wait. At least we got to help Atlas while we were doing that."

Caine smiled, his hug was perhaps the most surprising out of everyone, but it wasn't unwelcome, "I felt the same way, but I understood what needed to be done. Now we're all ready to help in any way we can." They both let go and he added, "Cobalt Lazuli is here too. We ran into him in Atlas, he said he wouldn't miss the defense for anything. Even if his team wasn't coming."

That was a relief, the more people we had the better. I smiled as Ozza let go and said, "I'm glad to have you guys back. I… don't think we have space for everyone in this place, but I assume Theodore's dealt with that?"

Jaune spoke up, "Theodore let us stay at his place, he apparently never really goes home anyway."

That was good to hear, I nodded, although before I could say anything else we received a knock on the door. I hear a woman's voice, "Uhm… Hello? Mister… Cadere? Theodore told us to talk to you."

I realized who it was and looked to Shi, she handed me the teddy bear and I walked over to the door, opening it.

There was a woman who seemed to be in her late twenties, she had fair skin, midnight blue hair that went to the small of her back, equally blue eyes, and wore a dark blue dress with star designs decorating it.

She had a boy with her, he looked about Shi's age, I could tell at a glance he was her son. He had fair skin and was wearing a simple black T-shirt, a pair of pants, and shoes. The most striking thing about him was his eyes and hair, his eyes were the color of the night sky and his irises were shaped like stars, while his hair was the same color and had white stars across it as well.

I couldn't linger on their appearances, though, interesting as they were. Instead, I held out the teddy bear to the boy while addressing the woman, "Your… father wished for Orion to have this."

She seemed to understand what happened immediately as her eyes widened, "I… I see." She looked away and swore under her breath, "I told you to just move to the city…" Then she looked back at me and smiled, though it hid a great pain, "Thank you." She placed her hand on her son's shoulder, "Thank the man, Orion."

He took the bear and nodded, smiling shyly, "Thank you, mister." I could tell he wasn't entirely sure what to do with the bear. He was at the age where he would grow out of those things, but I knew he'd keep that one.

I smiled, "Don't mention it, and…" I looked at the woman, "If you need any help of any kind, you can ask Theodore, or ask me." I looked back at my group and then back to her, "We're Hunters, we know a thing or two about… well, this."

She nodded a few times, "Thank you. We'll remember that." Then, after waving, she left.

I turned back to the others and then we set about returning all of our traveling supplies to our respective rooms. After the day we had, everyone was eager to get a shower. Of course, I just used magic on myself, everyone else had to fend for themselves.

Cinder was back as well, but when I checked her room I noticed she was sleeping. It was cute, but I didn't want to disturb her, so I shut the door and headed to my own room.

Laying in bed after changing into a pair of shorts and a T-shirt was absolutely divine. However, before I could really get settled in for the night, I heard a knock on my door. I could tell just from the way the knocking sounded that it was Shi. I knew that she would want to talk about what happened that day, so I sat up on the edge of the bed and said, "Come in, Shi."

Sure enough, it was Shi, now in her nightgown, her hair still wet. She shut the door behind her and then sat next to me. However, instead of talking directly about what happened, she just closed her eyes and looked down, "...Can I sleep here tonight? I… I don't want to be alone tonight. Not after that."

I smiled softly, "You know you don't have to ask, Shi. I'm always here for you."

She was happy with my response, and as we moved to get into bed, she sighed, "Still… I feel like I should be more mature than this. More grown up. After everything, I still get so afraid…"

I laid on my side and she rested her head on my chest, holding me tightly. I ran my hand through her hair, "It's okay, Shi… nobody is above fear, you know this. Not even me. Especially not me. But… I promise you, that no matter how old you are, you can always tell me about how you're feeling. You're my daughter, I won't ever judge you, and…"

It was difficult for me to say this, because I had no idea if it would mean anything in the end. It was a hope for myself as much as it was a promise to her, "I promise I'll never say goodbye. I'll only ever tell you goodnight… because even if we're separated, I know I'll see you again." I chuckled, "You wouldn't let me get that far away… would you?"

Shi was silent for a few moments before she responded, "No…No I wouldn't. Even if you were worlds away… I'd get you back. I lost Mama and Papa. I won't lose you and Mom. I promise." Promises weren't something to make lightly, and yet…

I felt she would be able to keep hers.

(The following is not part of the book 'Shattered Assumptions')

The Deserts of Vacuo

Orchid stood with her arms crossed as she looked at her assembled crew. Haimon, Astra, and Hazel. "Soon we will strike, and soon I will have the Relic of Destruction. From there, achieving our goals will be easy. Atlas won't stand a chance. If there's anything any of you have to say before this fight, then say it. You might not get another chance."

Haimon, who was in his armor, grunted, "I hope this works. It seems they're expecting us."

Astra chimed in to agree, "Their guard is up. They read us like a book."

Hazel crossed his arms, "As long as the job gets done, I've got nothing to say." His stoic expression belied his uncertainty.

Orchid smirked, "Good… Then, all of you, complete your final preparations."

"We attack at dawn."