"Ugh… I don't think I have it in me to have any more of this stuff…" Jaune said, the boy dressed in a pair of black shorts and a simple plain red shirt as he spoke as he placed the arcade pizza he and his team had bought back down on the plate all the while trying his best to hold back his lunch.

"Oh, I don't know. I wouldn't mind another slice." Pyrrha said, the girl dressed in a casual red blue blouse, jeans, a face mask, a snow cap, and a pair of glasses to disguise herself as she and her team went out into Vale for the day. Taking another slice of the nearby pizza, the redhead happily took another bite out of it.

"You really don't need to force yourself to eat all this food, Pyr." Jaune said, gesturing towards the plate of cinnamon sticks, spaghetti, and cheese sticks laid out before them, "That's what we have Nora for. That girl will happily wolf down anything remotely edible."

"Speaking of, where is she, anyway?" Pyrrha asked as she looked around the downtown arcade. To answer her question, Jaune simply pointed to an arcade shooter game called House of The Dead where Ren and Nora were currently spending their tokens.

Ren, dressed in a simple green jacket over a pink button down shirt and a pair of black pants, was killing the enemies with precision and a sense of calmness that only he had. Meanwhile, Nora, the girl having chosen a dark red top to go along with her purple skirt, was jumping all over place as the two partners tried their best to complete the game.

Pyrrha couldn't help but laugh at how different yet at the same time how compatible those two were.

"You know, we still have a bunch of tokens left. We could play a few more of these games if you want." Jaune said.

"No, that's alright. I think I've had my fill, to be honest."

"Yeah? Well, we still have some time before we need to head back to Beacon. Any plans?" Jaune asked as he checked his watch.

"Jaune, can I… ask about your family?" Pyrrha asked.

"My… family?" Jaune repeated, the blonde confused more than surprised at the sudden topic, "Why do you want to know about them?"

"You've never really… talked about them to any of us and I get why you wouldn't want to but I just wanted you to know that if there was anything you wanted to talk about, I'm always here for you." Pyrrha said, the red tint on her face getting deeper and deeper before quickly adding, "As your partner, of course! I mean, that's what partners do, right? We help each other out however we can."

Jaune let out a small laugh at the girl's small outburst at the end, "It's alright, Pyrrha. I get what you mean. I was just a bit taken aback by what you asked, that's all."

"I'm sorry. I'd understand if you don't want to and I-"

"It's fine, Pyr. I don't mind telling you about them." Jaune said, waving away the girl's concerns, "Well, my dad was a huntsman. He wasn't as active as he used to be but he did still go on the occasional mission when funds were starting to run low. My mum ran a general store at my village. They weren't the most perfect parents in the world but they did their best and honestly, that's all I could have asked from them. My mom would have liked you, you know?"

"M-me?" Pyrrha asked, blushing at the thought of meeting her crush's parents even if they were no longer alive, "A-are you sure…?"

"Oh, yeah. You, Nora, and Ruby's team." Jaune replied, "I didn't really have a lot of friends when I was a kid much less any girl friends so I think she would be thrilled to have met you guys."

"O-oh, right… That's what you meant…" Pyrrha whispered,, the girl looking away in embarrassment as she chuckled to herself.

"Hmm? Did you say something, Pyr?" Jaune asked.

"No, it's nothing." Pyrrha said with a wave of her hand.

"Now, where was I? Right, my sisters. I had six sisters at the time, seven if you counted the one my mom was pregnant with." Jaune said, causing Pyrrha to recoil in shock.

"You had six sisters?!" Pyrrha asked.

"Yeah, that's that about reaction I expected." Jaune said with a laugh, "The eldest of us was Saphron and let me just say that she was the worst. I loved her, sure, but she used to pull all sorts of pranks on me. She and Sapphire, my second eldest, would just come up with different ways to torment me with whatever pranks they could come up with. Of course, I was never one to back down from a challenge so I fought back as best I could but that usually ended with all three of us getting our asses kicked by our mom."

Pyrrha and Jaune shared a laugh at that, the boy reminiscing back to simpler and happier times.

"After Sapphire, there was the twins, Diamond and Pearl. Where Sapphron and Sapphire would play pranks on me, these two would cause trouble all over the village and it caused no shortage of headaches for my parents." Jaune said, the boy taking a drink of soda before continuing, "After those two came myself and then a year younger after me was Violet. She kept to herself most of the time and when you couldn't find her at home or at school, you'd more than likely find her at the local library with her nose buried deep in a book. Then finally, there's the youngest of us, Cyan."

At the mention of her name, Jaune took a deep breath as he seemed to be reliving a distant and joyful memory. Pyrrha was about to speak up before the blonde continued.

"Cyan and I were… close, I suppose. She was the outgoing type, always ready for the next adventure and more often than not, would drag me into it even if I didn't want to." Jaune said, "Usually, that meant coming back home with our clothes drenched in mud and getting an earful from our mom."

"They sound like wonderful people." Pyrrha said as Jaune finally finished telling her about his family.

"They weren't perfect but they were the best." Jaune said before Ren and Nora appeared before them. The two of them had won just enough tickets to win a warthog plushie that Nora had her eyes on. Once she claimed her prize, the four teens finally went back to Beacon, each of them happy with the day they had just spent together.

[~]

"Look, if you would just-" Jaune said, as he dodged a sword swing that would have definitely took a huge chunk of his aura, if not outright decapitate him, "-tell me what it is you want, then maybe-"

"I already told you what I want!" Adam shouted, growling in frustration at how easily Jaune seemed to duck and weave through his barrage of attacks, "I want to know where Blake is!"

"If I tell you where she is, can you promise me that you're not going to hurt her?" Jaune asked.

"That is none of your business, Arc!" Adam shouted once more before the Faunus dashed forward. Unable to react in time, it was all Jaune could do to block the Faunus's attack. Reacting quickly, Jaune delivered a kick towards the man's stomach that successfully put some distance between the two fighters.

"Okay, well, it's obvious that you're planning on killing her so I'm going to continue not telling you where she is." Jaune said, frowning at how little of an impact his previous counterattack had on his opponent. Just then, the sound of a large explosion came from behind the blonde. Adam and Jaune stared at each other for a few seconds, the silence looking like it would drag on forever. Finally, the Faunus became the one to speak first.

"That's her over there, isn't it?" Adam said, looking past Jaune to where the rest of his comrades were supposed to be.

"No. That was just a different group of people." Jaune said, lying as naturally as he breathed. Adam, not believing such an obvious lie, made to run past the blonde only for Jaune to get in his way.

"Out of my way, Arc. Or else." Adam said, the Faunus pointing his weapon at Jaune.

"Look, I think it's obvious from that little exchange we just had would end with at least one of us dead-"

"Hmph. If you think you even have any hope of beating me, then you're even more arrogant than I ever gave you credit for." Adam said, cutting the boy off.

"-But even if you did get past me, what's your plan?" Jaune asked in an attempt to buy some time to think of a way to deal with Adam.

"I told you, that's-"

"None of my business, I heard you the first time." Jaune said, rolling his eyes at the Faunus, "Hate to break it to you but even if you did reach them, chances are you'd fail to kill Blake even if you wanted to."

"You think a bunch of children would be enough to stand against me?" Adam asked, the man insulted at what he thought Jaune was suggesting.

"Obviously not. No, I'm talking about the veteran huntsman with them." Jaune said, "I mean, I don't know him personally - seems and sounds like a dick, if you ask me - but I'd bet good money he knows his way around a fight. After all, this career isn't exactly one where you're expected to grow old, don't you think?"

"Hmph. Even if that were true, I've faced countless huntsmen in my day. What makes you think this will be any different?" Adam asked as he took a step forward.

"Oh, that's an easy question: While you're fighting the huntsman, you'll also have to worry about Ruby and the rest of her gang of meddling kids." Jaune said as the blonde blocked the Faunus's path once more, "I'm pretty sure even someone like you would have trouble with those odds."

Adam growled at Jaune's words but even he had to admit that there was some truth to what Jaune was saying.

"What do you suggest, then?" Adam asked, "That I just sit down and talk it out with Blake? That I just let her off with a slap on the wrist for leaving the White Fang? For leaving the cause?! For leaving me?!"

"Sheesh, the red flags on you are practically crimson." Jaune said, "Also, that suggestion of actually sitting down and talking it out doesn't sound like the worst idea out there."

"Hah?"

"What's the alternative?" Jaune asked, "Either you go in there and kill her before getting yourself killed or you go in there, you fail to kill Blake, and you get killed in the process. You might as well just try the peaceful route where nobody gets stabbed."

"Then I'll just wait for them to leave for Atlas. I'll bide my time for a more opportune moment than I have now." Adam countered.

"Atlas? You mean the place where quite possibly every single member of the military has a kill on sight order for Adam Taurus?" Jaune asked, a self-satisfied smirk on his face as Adam seemed to consider the blonde's words, "That Atlas?"

"Alright. If I agree to this… ridiculous idea of yours, what would you suggest I do, then?" Adam asked.

"Well, first things first: Give me your weapon." Jaune said as he stretched out his hand.

"You're joking." Adam said, the Faunus clearly not amused by the boy's request.

"Look, if you go in there with the intention of 'talking things out' but you still have your weapon in hand, they're obviously not going to believe a word you say." Jaune said.

"Even if Blake is willing to talk things out, I doubt this would work seeing as I cut off that blonde's arm back during the Fall of Beacon." Adam said.

"Yeah, those were fun times," Jaune said to himself, "But hey, if that's how you feel then what do you have to lose by giving it a shot?"

"You mean besides being killed by a bunch of children and a veteran Huntsman?" Adam asked, a single eyebrow raised in question.

"Nah, those guys aren't like that. They may threaten to kill you but they'd never have the guts to actually do it." Jaune said as he stared at the coast where Ruby and the rest of the group were waiting for him to come back.

"And I suppose you do?" Adam asked only for Jaune to shrug in response.

"So, what's your answer?" Jaune asked, the boy's hand outstretched once more. Adam stared at the sword in his own hand, the Faunus gripping it tight before swiftly sheathing the weapon.

"You're to just hold it for me. Don't even think about unsheathing and using it for yourself." Adam said as he tossed Jaune his weapon. Catching it with ease, the blonde then strapped it to his side and the two of them were about to make their way to Ruby and the rest before Jaune abruptly stopped in his tracks.

"Crap, I almost forgot why I was here in the first place." Jaune said, the blonde swiftly turning around as he made his way towards the radio tower, "That would have been embarrassing, huh?"

"Humans. I swear…" Adam said, a sigh escaping his lips as he attempted to rub away the growing headache he was feeling.

[~]

"Hey there, unimportant people. How's it going?" Jaune asked as he emerged from the bushes to join the rest of the group.

"Jaune!" Nora shouted upon seeing the blonde. Not a moment later, the ginger promptly launched herself at him, sending the both of them tumbling down to the ground, "We were so worried about you!"

"I wasn't." Yang said from behind.

"Nor was I." Weiss added.

"Get off of me, would ya?" Jaune said as he pushed himself up while having to scrape the ginger girl off of him at the same time. Dusting himself off, Jaune then addressed the rest of the group, "So, what have you guys been up to since I've been away?"

"Well, to stop Weiss and Maria from stealing an airship, Cordovin brought out a giant robot to kill all of us which forced us to try and bring it down. But because it's Atlas and they're the ones with all the shiny toys, none of our attacks were working." Nora said, "Not even when I smashed Yang with my hammer."

"What was the point of that?" Jaune asked.

"To activate her Semblance, silly." Nora replied.

"Yeah, for all the good that it did." Yang grumbled in the background.

"Okay, and then what happened?"

"Well, after crashing the airship, Ruby made herself bait for the giant robot's canon. Using her Semblance, Ruby crawled inside the canon before firing an ice dust round, making the canon useless."

"Wait, you guys crashed the airship? So it's useless to us now?" Jaune asked.

"That's what we thought, too but apparently these Atlesian airships are super durable. Talk about lucky," Nora said with a laugh, "Anyway, after that, a giant Grimm came walking out of the water and is now headed straight to Argus. And then that's when you showed up."

"I wasn't even gone for an hour and you guys already messed up this bad?" Jaune thought aloud.

"Messed up? I'd like to see you try and handle a giant robot, you arrogant ass!" Yang shouted as Weiss held her teammate back.

"Well, I guess now we'll never know how that'll go, will we?" Jaune replied with an arrogant smirk. Yang was about to counter the boy's words before Blake spoke up.

"Jaune, t-that sword on your hip… Where did you get it?" the Faunus asked, eyes wide in shock at the sight of the familiar weapon.

"Oh, right. I ran into an old friend of yours back at the tower. Here, catch." Jaune said as he handed Blake the weapon with a toss.

"An old friend? You don't mean…?" Blake asked, her hands shaking as she stared at the familiar weapon in her hands.

"Yup. Hey, you can come out now." Jaune said as he looked behind him.

"Hmph. Took you long enough, Arc." Adam Taurus said as he emerged from the bushes behind the blonde.

"Adam Taurus?!" everyone besides Jaune shouted at once. Almost immediately, every single one of them shifted into a fighting stance as they readied their weapons. They were all about to rush forward and attack the newcomer only for Jaune to stand in the way, blocking their advance.

"Jaune, get out of the way!" Yang shouted, her eyes the color of crimson.

"Would you guys calm down?" Jaune said, his arms raised towards the rest of the group.

"What the hell are you doing, Arc? Are you protecting this terrorist?!" Weiss asked, the young Schnee heiress unsure whether to point her rapier at Jaune or Adam.

"Look, if everyone here could just chill out and listen to what I have to say, that would be great." Jaune said as he looked over the tense group in front of him. It took a few seconds as looks passed between the former students of Beacon before an unspoken agreement was reached.

"Alright Jaune, talk. What's he doing here?" Yang asked, the girl not taking her eyes off of the former White Fang leader for even a second.

"Well, he was here to kill Blake until I convinced him not to." Jaune said, winking at the girl in question, "You're welcome."

"I don't believe that for a second." Weiss asked, "You think a former terrorist like Adam Taurus would just lay down his weapon because you asked him to?"

"Hmph. Unlike you Schnees, I am a man of my word." Adam spat, a death glare sent the girl's way.

"As if your word holds any worth to me, Taurus!" Weiss countered as she reached for her weapon only for Jaune to stop her in her tracks.

"Look, we can spend all day arguing and threatening each other but the way I see it, we have a problem of giant proportions that urgently need to be dealt with." Jaune said, pointing towards the Leviathan Grimm that was slowly but surely making its way towards the city of Argus, "But good news: I have a plan on how to stop that thing."

"How do you already have a plan on how to deal with that thing? You just got here." Ren asked, the boy remaining silent all this time.

"Because I'm a genius, obviously. There was a reason old man Ozma made me team leader and not you, buddy." Jaune said, earning a frown from his former team, "Anyway, my plan here involves Adam."

"Him? How?" Yang asked, skeptical at the blonde's words.

"That's very simple, Yang. My old friend here-"

"We're not friends." Adam said.

"-is going to be the one to kill the damn thing."

"This wasn't the plan, Arc." the Faunus argued.

"Relax. If you just kill this thing, then everything will turn out fine." Jaune said.

"You say that as if it's an easy task to achieve." Weiss pointed out, "How would you even go about doing such a thing?"

"Well, first of all, he's obviously going to need his sword back." Jaune said only for Yang to immediately protest that decision.

"You're insane if you think we're just going to hand him his weapon!" Yang shouted, Ember Celica primed and ready for a fight.

"Why wouldn't you?" Jaune asked, genuinely puzzled by the girl's reaction.

"Because… because he's a terrorist. He's killed people. A lot of people!" Yang argued.

"So have I as have Qrow, I'm sure." Jaune pointed out as the man in question merely shrugged at the accusation, "I never see you guys talking about that."

"That's different!" Yang shouted once more.

"Not really. Killing is killing, no matter the reason." Jaune said before pointing at the rapidly approaching Leviathan, "But that topic really isn't the issue at the moment."

"It doesn't matter! We'll just find another way to save Argus!" Yang shouted but even she nor did the rest of them believe they could.

"Will you? With the giant robot down and none of us here with an surefire and effective way to stop it, how many people will die before we kill it?" Jaune asked as he and Yang locked gazes, "Will you be able to live with yourself if that happened?"

"He cut off my fucking arm!" Yang shouted as Ruby flinched at her sister's cursing, "You really expect me to just hand him his weapon after all that?!"

"Not you. Blake." Jaune said, turing his attention towards the cat Faunus, "What do you say, Blake? It's all on you. You're the one with his weapon. If you choose not to give it to him, then we'll just find another way to deal with the Leviathan."

"What? After all that, you're willing to just follow whatever Blake decides? Why?" Weiss asked, confused at Jaune's decision.

"Well, Blake? What do you say?" Jaune asked once more, ignoring Weiss's question, "Will you trust that I have a plan to kill that thing and give Adam his weapon?"

The girl in question took a small step back as everyone suddenly shifted their gaze toward her.

"I… I don't…" Blake looked between Adam's weapon in her hands and the approaching Leviathan, the sound of her heart beating in her chest suddenly becoming incredibly loud, "I choose… I choose…"

[Chapter END]

A/N: Phew. I certainly took my time with that one, huh? Sorry about that. I just felt super un-creative during March and most of April. Anyway, here's Chapter 10. This is how I'm choosing to write Adam's fate. Obviously, the story will be shifting a lot more from canon from here on out so hopefully, I'll be able to write it well. I have some ideas on what to write so, stay tuned. Hope you guys and gals liked my decision not to kill Adam here.

This was certainly a fun chapter for me to write. Every single scene was a treat, from the flashback to the talk between Adam and Jaune to Nora explaining to Jaune what happened when he was gone. Just fun things all around.

As always, fave, follows, and reviews are always welcome.

Praise be to Cinder Fall