LX - Stress Sprout

~~~(LX)~~~

"We finally made it…" Oxon hadn't known what to expect when he thought of the city of Argus. Looking at the approaching walls almost reminded him of his home. Though instead of being nestled against the ocean, Prism had been in the mountains. The walls here were also of much higher quality. Argus was definitely going to last far longer than the wood and stone walls of his old home.

"Yeah, and from here, Atlas!" The small leader seemed to be regaining her cheer after the morning's terror. It was something he was glad to see. A frowning Ruby just seemed wrong.

The hearty mood seemed to grow as they came closer to the northern city. Down there somewhere was the rest of their group. Nora probably had her hammer at the ready, something that made Oxon nervous.

Suddenly, Yang yelled back to the group as she slowed the vehicle down a small amount. "Pothole incoming!"

"A what?"

Oxon, not growing up in a city, had no idea what that warning was for. So instead of what was normal, he pulled out Partis and prepared for a fight, though only getting more than a few strange looks from the others as they gripped the side of the trailer and tensed. He didn't have time to ponder their actions when the side of the trailer dropped and rose sharply.

For a brief, awful moment, Oxon was airborne. The teen was alright with bullheads, but he didn't like not being on steady ground. What in the gods damn..? That short instance of weightlessness came to an end as he fell across the laps of both Weiss and Qrow. In full armor.

"Oxon!?"

"The hell are you doing kid!?"

"Sorry!"

Quickly scrambling for purchase, he managed to get off the two fairly quickly while the two vocally complained. He had avoided Weiss and instead used the older man's legs and stomach as a way to push off them. He knew precious little when it came to inter-gender interactions, but he knew that he'd get slapped for doing what he'd done to the male huntsman to Weiss.

Maria, the rude old bat that she was, laughed at the scene, finding plenty of amusement at his embarrassing moment. "Sonny, have you never seen a road in your life? You looked ready to shoot the poor thing. Still do." He stopped glaring at the road at her words and looked away from the eyes of everyone.

His face was flushed as he tried to dust himself off, apologizing to Weiss at the same time. The others in the flatbed snickered a bit at his actions and face. He hated being embarrassed…

"Calling the place where I grew up the sticks is an understatement… So no, I can't say I've heard of a "pothole" before." Weiss handed him his gun with a flushed expression. The thing fell out of his hand in his panic, the slight red mark on her forehead told him where it landed. He gave another quick apology.

"Well save the comedy act until after we go through the gate, we don't want them paying too much attention to you as they check us in." Qrow had a less than amused look on his face at the sudden crushing weight from when he'd fallen over. "Since you're, you know… A Convinced terrorist that escaped from a maximum security prison in Vale and all."

Oxon shrunk into himself at that. Yeah, definitely not a good idea to stick out too much. Sure, Mistral seemed to have turned a blind eye due to his efforts at Haven, but who knew how Atlas would react.

"Yeah, don't worry, I'll let y'all do the talking and all that." He looked at the metal headguard strapped to his backpack, a stupid plan in his head. "You think they'll let me get away with wearing a helmet the whole time?"

The only response was a raised eyebrow from Blake and Weiss facepalming.

I'll take that as a no…

~~~(LX)~~~

The entrance gate was well guarded, a few Atlesian soldiers standing guard. They all turned to give the approaching group their focus. Yang flashed a confident smile and a short wave at the guards, getting them to relax a bit.

"What is your business in Argus?"

At their questions, Qrow took the lead. "Huntsman business, don't worry, we are not going to stay too long." The man was pulled off to talk to them after he showed his huntsman license. Paperwork maybe. Oxon let the man gain them entry and helped the others unload the flatbed. Maria and Weiss accepted his help in stepping out of it and Oxon put Weiss' small pack over one shoulder.

She gave him a cute pout and crossed her arms. "You don't need to do that. I am more than capable of carrying that myself, Oxon."

He shook his head gently with a slight smile. "I'm doing it because I want to. That, and also as an apology for the whole "pothole incident "." She looked up at him for a moment before giving a shrug and a smile.

"I'm not upset about what happened, though, if you are insisting…" She walked past him to use her Schnee Charm™ on the gate guards. As she walked by him, she gave a light pat on his shoulder. "Thank you."

The guards, after confirming a few details with her and their token adult, Maria being the token elder, the guards asked them to form a line and prepare their forms of identification. The group lined up in a calm manner, though Oxon wasn't quite able to hide the slight blush as he brought out the ID given to him by The Spiders. He still wanted revenge on the joker that chose this alias for him.

"Next!"

That was him, schooling his features into a familiar slight frown, he approached the soldier. The man asked for his ID and Oxon promptly gave it over. The man spent a few seconds inspecting it and comparing the photo on the card to his face. Though, Oxon didn't quite know how lil miss got this photo of him, but it was probably best not to question it.

"Everything checks out Mr. Bergundy. You're free to enter Argus." The man gave him back the card and waved Oscar up next. Deciding not to stick around in case they remembered him from the festival and his arrest, Oxon hurried inside the walls.

Once inside the gate, Yang moved her bike into a sort of vehicle locker. After a quick code input, she locked Bumblebee and the trailer in a secure garage thing. He and the others looked around them, taking in the scenery. Qrow and Maria seemed to be a little used to the place, probably having to travel here for huntsman work.

The calm atmosphere does not last long however. Through the crowd of the locals, a certain explosion causing ginger zoomed towards them. Stopping a few meters away, the girl raised a finger, gesturing at the youngest team member as he came through the gate.

"Cute! Boy! OZ!"

Oscar, the poor kid, looked over in confusion only for his eyes to widen in shock and fear. It wasn't for no reason, since he received quite the tackle hug from Nora. Oxon sent a quick prayer for the kid's bones.

"Oh, come here!" The kid tried valiantly to protest the obliteration of his spine and ribs, but the girl heard none of that and began shaking him back and forth. The kid was going to need a chiropractor…

Jaune and Ren appeared next, thankfully more reserved than the ginger bomber. Their expressions brightened at seeing the group; Ren's was a bit subtle though.

Ren walked up to the group and spoke in a worried voice. "Are you all okay?" He received a nod from the other blonde of the group and smiled. The two then shared a brief hug.

Jaune gave Blake a tight embrace as well. "We were so worried!"

Yang, patting Ren in the back, spoke to the three. "It's been kind of a crazy trip."

Weiss gave a good natured groan. "That's an understatement."

Nora, after finally letting Oscar go, noticed the odd one out among the group. "Wait, who's the old lady?"

Oxon gestured at her in an exasperated manner. "It's kinda a long, and strange story…" Though him speaking up caused the girl to snap her head to him. In a speed that defied normal physics, the girl was in front of him, hammer out.

"You ditched us." Not a question. And while he was nervous for his safety, he also knew he made the right choice. He gave the girl a determined nod and stare.

"And I'd do it again." The girl looked into his eyes for a moment before a grin broke out in her face.

"Well, we were fine, so it's alright!" The pat she gave him on his back probably shaved off ten percent of his aura. It took everything he had to not fall onto the ground. "Once Renny used his semblance with Jaune's, it was smooth sailing.

Blake had looked ready to intervene if Nora got angry, but was now smiling at the two. "I'm so glad you're all safe."

Weiss was also close by looking at him with a grin. "Seriously…"

Nora then wrapped an arm around him and Oscar a megawatt smile on her face. "Ah! You're gonna love this place!" Oscar and Oxon shared a look of apprehension at being at the powerful girl's mercy. Both silently hoped she wouldn't get any more excited and accidentally squeeze their necks in two.

~~~(LX)~~~

After getting in without any complications, the group found themselves traveling through the city on a trolley. The mode of transportation seemed to be what most people relied on. Oxon found it charming.

He wasn't the only one who seemed to like the city. Yang was also vocal about her positive impression of the place. "It's a lot bigger than I thought it'd be."

"It's actually one of the largest non-capital cities in all of Remnant."

Ruby gasped at Ren's words. "No way! But wait, wouldn't it be harder to settle something this big away from the main Kingdom?" Oxon was confused as to why she didn't know that.

"Wait, how did you not know that? Even I know that from study sessions with Weiss." The silver eyed girl chuckled nervously, not meeting his eyes. Her partner had no reservations about exposing the girl.

"She focused so much on Grimm and weapons that geography was near the end of her priorities." The young leader hid her face in her cloak as Weiss gave Ruby a flat stare. "It's good to know someone appreciated and paid attention when I was helping them."

Jaune chuckled at the scene between the girls. "Putting Ruby's obsession aside… It was, until the old kingdom of Mantle showed up. Early settlement attempts by Mistral didn't go well. But colonists from Mantle were able to help them brave the cold climate and return for goods that Solitas couldn't provide."

"Right, the city was founded pre-war, when Mantle and Mistral were both oppressive slavers. It seems my people tend to settle in cold northern regions." Prism was at a similar latitude to Argus, though perhaps a bit colder due to being in the mountains. "Mantle used Argus as a launchpad for its invasion of Vale and Vacuo."

"While that did happen later on, the two nations worked together to create a hybrid city. While it falls under Mistral domain, Atlas keeps a military presence here to help keep the people safe and keep trade between the two nations steady."

Nora looked a bit sad and piggybacked off her partner's words. "Well, until recently…" After her words, it seemed like they finally reached their stop. The trolley slowly came to a stop and everyone disembarked.

"We should probably start looking for a ship." Oxon wilted at the idea of sailing the open season again. Why Blake preferred the sea to air travel, he didn't understand.

Oscar turned to speak to Jaune. "So, where have you guys been staying?"

"Uh…" The mildly armored teen chuckled nervously. The others picked up on his reaction.

Then, out of nowhere, there was a sudden shout. "There you are!"

As the trolley left, it revealed the form of a blonde woman holding an infant in her arm. Once she sees that she has been seen by the group, she begins waving to Jaune and company.

Yang looked between Jaune and the older girl. "Is that...?"

Oxon was likewise inspecting the girl. He definitely noticed a good many similarities between her and Arc. "He did say he has seven of them."

"Hey, Saph." Confirming the connection, Jaune smiled and waved back.

Ruby then zoomed in, all bright-eyed with a huge grin. She looked back and forth between Jaune and the girl, and gasped upon realizing who the woman was.

Jaune, noticing the others were tired. That or in a hope for some privacy, led the group to his sister's home.

~~~(LX)~~~

Once inside, Ruby quickly restarted her excited bouncing "I can't believe I'm meeting your sister! I have so many questions."

"Oh, I can give you the rundown later!"

Jaune gave a good natured pout to his teammate and friend. "Will you guys knock it off?"

Saphron wouldn't allow any skipping of embarrassment. Especially little brother's. "What? I love telling stories about my baby brother." She leaned over to squeeze Jaune's cheek, furthering his blush.

Jaune groaned while also flailing his arms at his elder sister. "I am not a baby! That is a baby." In a move of clear genius, the teen pointed at his nephew, who huffed back at him.

Yang and Weiss moved over to coo wide-eyed at the infant and fuss over Adrian. Both of them began making baby talk to him. Huh, so they must have a weakness for kids.

"Aww, you're so cute! Yes you are! Oh, look at your little face!"

"Aww, coochie-coochie! Aw, baby! Oh my!"

Blake, after watching the pair for a moment, turned to the elder Arc. "So Saphron, you're the only Arc living here?" At her gesture, the group turned to see a rather amusing image in a frame.

In the bookshelf, said photo of the Arc siblings all together could be seen. Right in the center was a young Jaune with pigtails and a deadpan expression. He was also in possession of a sign that said "HELP" on it while his sisters were doing various energetic things around him.

A date worse than death… I'm glad I only had to deal with girls in classes back home. And none seemed as chaotic.

"Yep! Moved the second I could. Jaune and I are the only two living away from home." With a grin and a teasing voice, she turned her attention to her brother. "I guess he just wanted to be like his big sis."

"I, uh…" the poor guy groaned in acceptance of his ruined image.

Saphron didn't relent on the teasing. "Aw, you didn't deny it!"

Jaune gave her a look and soon the two siblings began to play fight with each other. In a move only close siblings could do, they quarreled by pulling at each other's cheeks.

The assembled outsiders looked on. Yang made a bet with Blake on who would win, when the main door was heard opening and closing. Oxin turned to see a dark-haired woman with glasses walking inside, with bags of groceries in her arms.

Saphron, releasing her grip on her brother, turned to introduce the new arrival. "Everyone, this is my wife, Terra Cotta." Each of them give their own greetings to the other half of the Cotta-Arc household.

"Hello!"

"Hey there!"

"Nice to meet you."

"Do you need any help, ma'am?"

Terra chuckled at his offer and shook her head. "Why, hello there! Wow, quite a party, you weren't kidding. Hun , can I get some help please?"

Saphron quickly ran over to help Terra in the kitchen. Later on, Jaune, Ren and Nora moved to the kitchen as well and began preparing sandwiches for everyone.

"So, I know a few names, and I can guess at most of the faces, but I don't quite know a few of you."

"Oh! I'm Ruby Rose! Jaune's first friend at Beacon!" She excitedly waved at the blonde woman

"Weiss Schnee, I'm honored you have welcomed us into your home." Weiss gave a slight curtsy.

"Hello, Mrs. Cotta-Arc, I am Blake Belladonna." A simple nod was given from the more reserved member of the team.

"Yang Xiao Long!" She just sent finger guns and a wink.

"Qrow, best huntsman in Vale and uncle to these little devils." Said nieces complained at the noogies received.

"Maria Calavera, thank you for hosting us." A simple wave was what the elder huntress sent to their host.

"Tim." Oxon's short introduction was noticed by Yang and took a sharp elbow to the shoulder for it. He looked into her eyes for a moment before turning away and sighing, a faint pink on his cheeks. "Tim… Tim Bergundy, a pleasure to meet you."

"Heh, Tim-ber." The blush increased at the embarrassing fake name. He had an inkling Yang was responsible, but had no concrete proof. The blonde woman was clearly amused by the funny scene before her. Her attention was quickly stolen by the more polite one of them.

"And you're sure it's alright if we stay with you?"

Saphron waved off Weiss' concern with a cheerful smile. "Of course, we're happy to house huntsmen and huntresses."

"You all risk so much to keep people like us safe. It's the least we can do." The darker woman seemed to agree with her wife. She then turned to Qrow with a smile. "Especially for such an elite huntsman like yourself. Although, I will say I was surprised to learn you had students helping you. Is that even... legal?"

Qrow, hadn't been paying attention and got his arm bumped by his niece. "Uh, of course. Think of it as an extended training mission. Trust me, I was a professor back at Signal. Even went to the same academy as them. Let me tell ya, these kids are way better than we were at their age."

Jaune, Ren and Nora then walk back into the room with plates full of sandwiches. Ruby gasped happily upon seeing them. Oxon moved a few items off the tables they were sitting around to help the team out.

"Well, not better than me specifically, but a lot of students-"

Ruby had enough of the conversations and shushed her uncle. "Shut up, there's food!" Right, they never had breakfast that morning due to the Apathy messing with them. They hadn't thought to stop and cook on their drive to the city either.

Everyone laughed at her words and Qrow's annoyed reaction. Once the food was set out, the assembled teens, tween, and older folks began heartily eating the sandwiches. Saphron and Terra share a look with each other until a scroll is heard buzzing. Terra sighed as she noticed it was hers.

"Excuse me, I'll be right back." The woman answered her scroll and walked out of the room. "Hello?"

"Is everything okay?"

"Oh, yeah, it will be. Terra's a technician for the town's relay tower. Unfortunately, the military's radar system is also housed there." The older blonde turned to look at her son, making baby talk at Adrian. "Guess what's been on the fritz lately and who's getting falsely blamed."

Terra peeked back into the room, hand covering the microphone. "Me." She left just as fast to return to the call.

"So, what's your plan for tomorrow?"

Ruby began to answer the woman with a stuffed mouth. "Well…" she clears her throat with a gulp. "We're trying to make our way to Atlas. We'll probably start with the military base."

Nora and Ren share concerned looks as Jaune speaks up nervously. "So, we kind of already tried that, and... it didn't go... super great."

Yang laughed the concern off. "Come on, it couldn't be that bad…"

"They shut the gate on us immediately. it took the both of us to keep Nora from storming the place…" The flat look on Ren's face was all the evidence he needed to know that was true.

"Well, we have Weiss now, isn't her family practically royalty? They should listen to her."

Weiss flushed a bit at the words and quickly made to correct him. "We're not anything like that! We just happen to be well off."

""Well off" she says… Girl, your family has that kingdom eating out of your hands. I think Ox was spot on." Weiss' blush deepened at Yang's words. But there was no denying the words.

"W-well perhaps my father does have a bit of influence…" Oxon chuckled at her speech and gave a slight pat on her head. She gave him a glare in return before ignoring him and working to get her cheeks under control.

Heh. Cute.

~~~(LX)~~~

Early the next day, Oxon waved the large group off as they left the house to check out the Atlesian forward base. Team JNPR failed to get any results the previous attempt, and hoped the use of a licensed huntsman along with Weiss would sway their minds. Oxon was confident they could, the group managed to walk from Vale to Mistral, defeat the white fang, and defend Haven. They had this.

"So, tell me again why you aren't going as well, Tim Bergundy?" Oxon turned his head to look at the eldest of the Arc children. She was nice, if a bit concerned by the obviousness of his false identity. They wouldn't tell the Arc-Cotta family anything in order to protect them. Jaune hadn't been happy about that plan, but he accepted it due to wanting to keep the family safe and all. Plausible deniability was a good defense.

"Ah well, uh…" He really had no concrete excuse. Not one that would make her relax. "Atlas and I don't exactly get along. I might, no, I would definitely make things worse by being there."

"And yet you're going with them to said kingdom. How does that make sense?" Incredulous did not even start to describe her expression.

"..." Oxon averted his eyes momentarily. "It's something I need to do." The blonde narrowed her eyes in suspicion. "I promise I'm not a threat. To anyone other than Cinder and her allies. I just want to help Ruby and the others get to Atlas safely, you can trust me on that."

"Do you mean that?"

"With all my heart."

The older sister and mother sighed before shaking her head. "Well, it's not like I can kick you out or anything, Jaune really trusts Ruby, and she seems to trust you in turn. So I guess I'll just have to accept it. Just make sure to watch over my baby brother yeah? He tends to get in over his head a lot." She had a knowing smile on her face, though she wouldn't be so relaxed if she knew everything.

She has NO idea…

"I will, you have my word on that." Not that it meant much anymore. His reputation was shit, but he'd be damned if he wouldn't do all he could.

"Good!" The woman was suddenly all smiles, and not one that inspired joy. "So while we wait for my brother and his friends to get back, why don't you tell me all about his time at school."

"Why didn't you ask him?" He backed up a bit from the far too toothy smile Saphron was giving him. Surely she had ample opportunity to question her sibling since he arrived here. "He's been here a few days now, surely Nora shared a few tales of her "fearless leader"."

There was a glint of fire in her blue eyes. He didn't know what happened to the suspicious mood that was there a moment ago, but Oxon was pretty sure he prefered that to this. His slow retreat came to an end as his butt hit the back of the couch.

"Oh but he seems to have his team under his thumb. He's convinced them not to spill any of the more… fun… details." Her face inched closer to his. "So come along Mr. Bergundy, why don't you share some fun stories with me? I'll trade a few of my own about Jaune's younger days."

Oxon felt a bit of nervous sweat fall down his neck.

~~~(LX)~~~

The woman was a devil. Oxon thought he knew evil and its forms… but Saphron was something else. She had made him share every story he knew about Jaune.

He definitely shouldn't have told her he had reportedly worn a bunny onesie during the first night in the school. It took her a good seven minutes to get herself back under control. That reaction was nothing when he told her about the whole situation at the dance. With him wearing a dress and all.

Sorry bud…

"So, tell me just how many girls danced with him? He's always been a good dancer."

Before he could answer her, the door opened suddenly and the big group came back from their mission. Though from the frustrated grumblings of a few of them, he knew the result.

Nora, Maria, Yang, and Qrow were easily the most annoyed. Weiss looked flustered and frustrated. Curiously, Oscar and Ruby looked nervous for some reason.

"Didn't work this time either?" Jaune looked over to his sister and sighed while shaking his head.

"No, I think it actually went worse this time." The blonde boy glanced at the muttering old woman as she sat on a chair. "Cordovin and Maria seemed to act like cats and dogs. Completely hostile out of the gate…"

"Though apparently only Weiss is allowed through the embargo. Said the rest of us "people of questionable character" were on our own. She definitely was glaring at Blake when she said it. Ugh, I was this close to letting Nora have her way." Yang's robotic fingers were probably about a paper's width from touching.

"Not that I would accept the offer." Weiss slumped into the couch next to Oxon with an annoyed look. "I'd just get locked away in the mansion without you all to back me up."

The blonde woman and Oxon winced at that. Well, it seemed like this plan had more complications than expected. It was a good thing he wasn't there as well. Violence would have been committed…

"So putting aside the obvious plotting of retaliation…" Jaune gave both Oxon and Yang a calming look; neither of the two looked particularly repentant at the accusation. "You guys said you had something to tell us?"

Oxon sighed and leaned up against the far wall. It was inevitable the other team would have to be told the situation, but it was not something he was looking forward to.

~~~(LX)~~~

After a tense telling of their latest issues, Jaune startled the group by punching the wall, leaving a decent large crack in the drywall. Ruby seemed shocked at the reaction of her friend.

"Jaune!"

"Everything we did was for nothing!"

"That's not true."

Nora looked over and gave Blake an angry look. "Really? Cause it sure does sound like it."

"I, um…"

"If Salem can't be killed, then how are we supposed to win this?" Everyone remained silent. Sadly they hadn't been able to come up with anything yet. They were still getting over the fact that the bitch was literally immortal.

"Wow... Great plan everyone!" Oxon's eyebrow twitched at the sarcastic tone of his voice.

Pushing off the couch, Oxon gave the teen a frustrated glare. "Quit acting like a jerk, Arc. We only just learned about this two days ago. Plans of any substance take time! You should know that, being a team leader."

Oscar valiantly tried to calm the two of them down. The boy took a position between him and Arc. "Look, none of this is great, we know. But we're not the bad guys here." Sadly it only got them to pay more attention to him.

"Are we sure about that?" Jaune turned and spoke to the kid in a hostile tone.

"What?" The kid seemed visibly surprised at the sudden accusation.

"He's in your head, isn't he? Did you already know about this?" The blonde began angrily walking over towards Oscar.

Oxon wouldn't let the angry blonde get any closer and shoved the kid behind him. "Leave the boy out of this! He's as much a victim as the rest of us!" Jaune stopped in front of him, anger seeping out of his body. Jaune switched targets with a look of sheer rage.

"You!? A victim!?" The teen grabbed Oxon, shoved him against the wall, and created more cracks in the home. Oxon didn't fight back, but did throw up his aura in case the blonde did more than just shoving him. "You have no right to say that! Not after you helped Cinder kill Pyrrha!"

Yang seemed to be surprised by the normally calm blonde. "Jaune!" The fellow blonde student wasn't having any of it.

"How do we even know you're actually here to help us? What if you have been lying to us!? Again!? What if you're still working for Salem!?"

Oxon didn't flinch at the accusations. He knew his allegiance was to Weiss, Blake, and Ruby, no matter what the others believed. "I know my sins, Jaune. So if striking me will heal you in some way, then that is fine by me." His eyes glanced at a shocked Oscar. "You will leave Pine out of it, though."

"Jaune! Ox!" The red wearing girl appeared to their side, head snapping back and forth. Oxon gave the girl a shrug while Jaune ignored her. She didn't seem to approve of the situation. Not one bit.

"Jaune!" Ruby angrily glared at Jaune, who glared right back at her. He looked back over to Oscar, who was cowering in fear behind Oxon. Jaune then had a look of realization on his face and released Oxon's fur collar. Once realizing what he had done, he shot Oxon an angry yet conflicted look before he went upstairs. Not long after he left their sight, a door was heard opening and slamming shut.

Yang nervously looked at the guy's teammates. They looked just as upset as their leader. "Is he... gonna be okay?"

"I don't know!" The girl threw her hands up before she, too, got up and left.

"I think it would be best if we had some time to ourselves." The polite teen shot Oxon a slight look of apology before he left to head upstairs as well.

Blake spoke up in a reserved voice. "Maybe we could all use some space." Everyone was silent for a moment at her suggestion. Oscar looks down sadly. Seeing the look on his face Oxon rustled the kid's hair.

"It ain't your fault kid, we just gotta let them come to terms with everything. Like we did."

"Have you all come to terms with the situation?" Oxon was surprised by the words, but nodded nonetheless.

"Eh… sorta… maybe... I still think we should get to Atlas to make sure the relic gets secured. What we do after? That's on each of us." Hearing his own stomach gurgle a bit, Oxon realized he'd accidentally skipped breakfast. "On that note, I'm going to whip up some food. Don't let Jaune's words get to you, Oscar, he just needs to process stuff."

Moving into the kitchen, he saw an upset Saphron. Her eyes were narrowed at him while her arms were crossed and tapping her foot. "Just what was that commotion just now? And why do you have drywall and what looks to be my wall's paint on you?"

Oxon raised a hand and opened his mouth to defend himself. Though he sighed and slumped when he knew it wouldn't help him out of trouble. Instead he told the girl about the argument that came at the end of the recent briefing. He didn't tell her everything, but enough to get a picture. He hoped she'd be able to help her brother out.

She's a blonde, after all. I would not be surprised if she manages to get Jaune out of his mood.

~~~(LX)~~~

As the noon sun began its journey downwards, Oxon stared hard at Jaune after the guy came bursting into the back deck. The series of questions about Pine made him nervous. Though the next words from the team leader made him even moreso.

"What do you mean the kid is gone?"

~~~(LX)~~~

According to a sleep tracker, I've only been getting roughly 5 hours of rest a night for the last month or so. It's also been getting worse lately... Love that…

~~~(LX)~~~

Omake: Can you go back to hating him? Please?

Did this woman say what Weiss thinks she did? And at Blake!? "What's that supposed to mean?"

"It means we're done here." The gates to the base close quickly, leaving the group outside and locked out.

"Oh yeah? Well, your base looks... like a big dumb boot!"

Jaune gave his teammate a deadpan expression. "Way to show her, Nora…"

Ruby, Blake and Yang look at her as she lets the words of the officer sink in. "I don't…"

"Weiss. I told you we wouldn't leave your side for a second. We'll find a way to Atlas. Together." Her partner placed a comforting hand on Weiss' shoulder.

"Besides, I doubt Frowny McAxman would be pleased to see you go." Yang slid up next to her and put an arm around her shoulders. "He might just swim after you."

"Y-Yang!?" Where was this coming from!? Wasn't the blonde girl still against Oxon joining them?

"I mean, the dude's been hovering over you ever since Haven." The brawler let out an amused snort as she thought about his actions. "Seriously, the guy went from avoiding you to following us to the back of the train just for you. I doubt Ox ditched Jaune and the others for all of us."

"Since when have you been alright with him!? I thought you hated him?" On one hand, it was nice that they all got along. On the other hand… this type of teasing would become more common.

The blonde menace shrugged and looked out over the sea. "Yeah, I was pissed at him and I've been pretty mean to the guy these last few weeks, but he's taken it in stride. It's kind of hard to stay mad at the guy since he's so sincere about making up for everything; especially with the whole "Apathy" thing yesterday, he definitely got us out of a snag there.

She put her hands behind her head as she smiled a bit. There was a smile there, though it looked a bit conflicted. "Haaah~ he even promised me a spar later today to help work out a bit of my frustrations. That and You, Rubes, and Blake seem to approve of him, so there's not much for me to say anymore."

That was good, great, even! The boy had been trying quite hard to get along with everyone. He'd been having the worst time trying to make up with the blondes of the group, so this was a good bit of progress. A smile formed on her face as she saw that people were beginning to heal.

"So that's why I'm curious about the sordid meetup on the train." And now the good mood was gone and her face flushed in mortified audacity.

"Why must your brain always find a way to focus on the impure..? We just had a heart to heart about a few things." Their talk on the train had been good, for both of them, and she was glad she had the chance to speak with him alone. As short as it unfortunately was. "There was much that needed to be said. We just happened to be at the rear carriage when the Grimm arrived, not what you and your magazines may imply."

"Well if he wasn't focusing on Weiss, what about Blake?" Ruby, blessed Ruby, came to her rescue. "Didn't you say your mom adopted him or something?"

Blake seemed disinterested in joining in, but seemed to find no way of escape, joined the conversation. Sighing, she confirmed the question asked. "Yeah, unofficially, Oxon and I are siblings. It's kind of strange to think about, though I'll admit that we have been getting along surprisingly well. I wouldn't have thought so back in Vale since we didn't talk to each other much."

"See? It's not just me he was worried about." Sure he had hung around her here and there, but there wasn't anything more to it! "Surely he was worried about his new family member, or maybe he was worried about all of us."

"He does tend to put himself in danger for other people…" Ruby had a slightly worried frown on her face as she thought back on his actions.

"Exactly!" If she could just get them to stop being nosey, that would be great. "So while I'm sure you'd love to read into it, the fact is that there isn't anything going on."

She felt good at her words and the effect they had on the sisters, they seemed to nod in some agreement. Now they just needed to return to the Arc house and figure out a new plan. Until Blake spoke up, that is. "That's for coming back." Weiss froze at the words that came out of Blake's mouth.

"Blake?"

"I was waiting for you to finish up before cutting the line to the rear train cars. But I definitely heard you say that before joining us. Among other things."

"Wh-what? How!?"

The faunus just wiggled her ears. "Even through the door I could hear your conversation." The girl did look a bit guilty about eavesdropping. "I didn't mean to, but you guys weren't exactly quiet. Don't worry, I wasn't watching you two as well." That didn't inspire much confidence in the petite girl.

Weiss could only put her face in her hands to hide her blush. The howling laughter from Yang did not help. It was just like back in Beacon, the constant teasing from Yang about her personal life. She didn't miss it.

"Oooooo! Something spicy happened on the train? Now that I remember it, you also showed up during the manticore fight yelling about him being cut off from everyone else and how he didn't have any weapons." Weiss buried her head more. "Just what led to the two of you being alone so far away from the rest of us?"

"Nothing!" Her head came up, the cool northern air clashed with the heat in her cheeks. "Nothing! Happened!"

None of them believed her, the fiends. Seeing defeat, Weiss huffed and turned to leave. "Ten lien says there was a steamy make out sesh in the storage car." She quickened her pace as Yang continued to laugh.

That day, Weiss vowed revenge on them all.

~~~(LX)~~~

We're almost at a full year of this fic! That's crazy to me, I wasn't sure if I'd be writing this for so long. Hopefully I can also get one pumped out for the 27th.