It was three weeks since his aura had been unlocked. Tomorrow he was travelling to Mistral to meet with the twins and their mentor Professor Pink and possibly with Professor Lionheart primarily to discuss the visit by Professor Pink this summer to inspect the walls of Kulsa. It was also an opportunity to discuss how he could become a hunter.
Things were calming down after an incredibly busy period. While tensions had reduced from that horrible first day in Kulsa, Grimm incursions had been up on normal throughout Ansel. There was a tense time when the Kingdom Guard left Kulsa, and most Faunus had stayed at home that day or only went into the human part of town accompanied by their human friends and employers.
One problem was that the friends and relatives of those murdered in Argus by the White Fang had been left angry by the fact that much of the media coverage outside Ansel had focused on the alleged deeds of the victims. The fact that most of the coverage referred to deaths or killings rather than murder caused resentment, let alone those who referred to executions or speculated whether they were justified.
Quickly the terrorist attack had left the headlines and it was clear that the police had no leads beyond saying that a White Fang of at least twenty people had been involved. There were a few people who had been arrested, but these were humans who had almost certainly been honest patsies or dupes who had inadvertently assisted the operation. They were arrested in a blaze of publicity and quietly released a week later. Apparently the press in Argus had been vocal in saying that the people involved should have been assumed to be witnesses rather than potential suspects.
The main work of the Ansel LGDF members who were not hunters or flight crew had been arranging house swaps. These had gone through at a staggeringly quick speed. No one argued with the valuations. Apparently friends and family of the human families moving had been happy to pay the equality money or the moving families had been prepared to move to a smaller house.
He had been the go-to person as the human sent to the Faunus villages to assist the humans move while the main squad consisted of Faunus members of the LGDF who would check that the house had not been trashed, checking that they had not cancelled the utility supplies, or deter the leavers from being jerks and removing all the light bulbs or lying about the gas and electricity readings.
Today he was in Kinver. This was a predominantly Faunus community in a district which was predominantly a farming area with a small coal mine. They were doing two moves at once as two human families swapped with two Faunus families in Client, a predominantly human village five miles away.
Like many small towns in this area of Ansel, the village could not afford walls to deter Grimm. Instead, the houses were built of wood and were designed to be easily rebuildable, but most had huge stone cellars which the families could hide in during Grimm attacks. Apparently they believed in the cellars well enough to prevent too many negative emotions seeping through to encouraging the Grimm to try and dig through the floor and the families could rebuild quickly afterwards. This one had been safe since the Faunus wars and the fact that it was surrounded by farmland for five miles meant that there was always some warning of Grimm incursions for the villagers if not for all of the farmers.
As one of the people moving had been the local policeman, Deputy Chief Reynard was leaving the move team. While he was very senior for the role, the risk of past resentments being visited upon an authority figure was perceived as too great a risk and he was effectively the most senior Faunus in a position of authority in Ansel Province.
Sergeant Gillespie welcomed Reynard, Jaune and the other LGDF members into the house. It had been left in excellent condition. The man joked that it was the cleanest it had been in twenty years. As with many of the people who they moved the man expressed some sorrow at moving but blamed it on his wife's parents in Clent. He also said that he was being appointed to deal with the area of the Clent district which bordered on Kinver, "I hope I can do some good there."
Jaune was asked by Mrs Gillespie to have a word. He went into the kitchen and while having a cup of coffee, the lady asked him to call her Cerise. She said, "I'm both sad and relieved to be going. Those deaths in Argus were just the last straw. Eighty percent of the Faunus here are good people, most of the rest are not violent, but my husband's had too many runs in with about two percent to make it comfortable living here."
Jaune knew that his job was to let people get things out of their system. He nodded and the woman continued, "A cousin of mine worked for Atlas Gold in Vacuo for six months. It was good money. But he could not stick it, but never said why. He called me after the killings to tell me they said about the treatment of the Faunus strikers was true. That they did throw troublemakers out of bullheads and said that they had been fighting the guards."
This clearly cost the woman something to admit. She paused before continuing "He knows that most people don't want to believe the truth. What he said was that many of his neighbours in Kulsa just wanted to go out and provoke a Faunus into attacking them, so that they would have an excuse to get revenge. He asked me if I were a Faunus wouldn't I want payback for things which had been done to their friends and family."
He nodded away. This was something which Jasper had said. He preferred what Amber said that it was better for people to learn to live together. He believed that people should forget or at least forgive the past. The more Faunus he met the less convinced he was that there were any real differences between humans and them.
He nodded. "I hear a lot of that, Cerise. All I can say that is the Faunus I work with in the LGDF are good people and seem content to put the past behind them."
Cerise nodded, "I know. It's just I've looked round the school my children will be moving to and it's clear that more money has been spent on it and they can do more courses there than they can here."
She broke off, "Is there any chance you can take my daughter to her school for the lunch break. There was a friend she did not get the chance to say goodbye to. He's been off school for a week."
"Of course, Cerise."
She called down a younger version of herself called Dawn and said, "Dawn, Jaune Arc here has volunteered to take you to school so you can say farewell to your friends."
Jaune wondered about the reason for the surname being used. This was always a sad process. Normally at least one of the family was angry about leaving friends who were Faunus behind while others were openly relieved to be moving and vented. So far this was one of the easier moves.
Dawn looked around twelve. She was still young enough emotionally to be glad of a hand to hold on the way to see her friends for probably the last time.
They walked down the street and then looked up at him and asked, "Are you Nancy and Jessica's brother?"
Ah, that was the reason for the surname. "Yes, I am."
"They're really dope. Me and Brian are their biggest fans. We both want to go to ACS when we are fourteen. Mother doesn't want me to."
It was alarming meeting youngsters who worshipped the terrible twins. He had learnt long ago that trying to convey the terrors of being their younger brother was not what people wanted to hear. He replied, "Yes they are really dope. I'm going to see them at Haven tomorrow."
The girl must have been sensitive enough not to probe about why he was not at Ansel Combat School or Haven. Either that or her mother had trained her not to ask potentially embarrassing questions. She differed from the twins in that regard.
They reached the school gates. There was a teacher at the gates who looked at them and relaxed when he recognised Dawn and Jaune showed his LGDF identity card.
Dawn said, "I want to say goodbye to Brian, Mr Bisque."
The teacher nodded, "Yes. He's back at school today, Dawn."
He looked into the playground and shouted, "Brian Midnight, come here. Someone wants to see you."
A mole Faunus with large glasses came running across the playground of the middle school. Dawn took off running and the two hugged together.
The dog Faunus teacher said to Jaune, "They've been best friends since the day they started here. Thanks for bringing her here."
Jaune and the teacher walked up to near the spot where the friends were still hugging. They stood a little bit away from them to give them some privacy.
They did hear, "So you're fine then. I was worried that they had hurt you."
"Not too badly. I think I scared them."
The Mole Faunus turned round to the teacher, "Mr Bisque. I just want to show Dawn."
The teacher nodded, "Fine, but this is the only time."
Brian said, "Dawn, just stand back a bit." He concentrated and an aura flared from him. Dawn squeaked with excitement, "Brian, that's great. Are you going to go to ACS now?"
Brian looked a little moody. "Dad says it's not for the likes of us. I'll work on him though. I've still got a year before I need to apply."
Jaune looked round at the teacher who shook his head and shrugged. Jaune made a note to himself to ask Reynard and mum about the reaction.
Dawn said, "Father says that he is being appointed to look after the district of Clent next to your family's farm and will try and stop the bad men from bothering your family again."
"I know your father's a good egg, Dawn. I'll let dad and Constable Ochre know."
Dawn then introduced Brian to Jaune. "Brian, meet Jaune Arc. The Arc twins are his sisters."
"Respect. I have two older sisters myself." Brian's reaction showed a greater sense of reality than most people.
"They're good people. I'll let them know that you two are fans. Should I get you both some autographs? I assume that if I send them care of the school they'll get to Brian."
Both youngsters were delighted by this.
Just then the rest of their class came up around them. Bisque consulted his watch and took Jaune aside. "There's only ten minutes before class starts again."
Jaune said, "I've found what sometimes works best here is to allow an excuse for some tears and hope."
He paused, "Do you know if Brian has a scroll?"
"No, not a personal one. He does have a scroll address at school. We do monitor the school ones, but that might allow them to stay in contact. I can let you have it for Dawn."
Jaune was for some reason good with youngsters in these situations. Perhaps it was just a sticking plaster to make them believe that they could stay in contact by scroll or to organise the friends of the leaving child into singing happy or bittersweet songs suggesting that they would stay close, but it seemed to help the leaving process.
Anyway, he and Bisque encouraged Dawn and her classmates to sing "We'll meet again." It was tune which both sides in the Faunus Wars had claimed for their own. Jaune noticed that Bisque kept an eye on one group of older children and glaring at them and pointing to Jaune if they seemed inclined to ignore the warning.
At the end of the song the bell was rung by Bisque and the class dispersed. The two friends held hands and then Dawn gave Brian a last hug.
On the way back to the house, he gave Dawn the scroll address for Brian and warned her that the teachers monitored it. She was glad to have it, but said that, "I wonder whether one of the reasons we are best friends is because we only communicate by talking. We can tell when we are upsetting each other and say sorry to each other or make it clear that we were only joking."
They got back and twenty minutes later the move took place. Both families had packed up the last items of furniture and had started the drive to their new homes. One of the LGDF cars accompanied the moving vans and he and Reynard waited for the Faunus arrivals.
Reynard said, "I hope this is the last one for a time. This is the bit of the job I really hate."
Jaune described the children saying farewell to each other. Reynard grimaced when Jaune described Bisque's feeling the need to warn off some older children. "You know that Kinver is now 95% Faunus, and those remaining humans are either farmers who send their children to school in Clent or elderly without children."
"And Clent?"
"More or less the same the other way round. We don't have the expertise to value farms or otherwise we would be doing those as well."
Reynard paused, "It's bad when Faunus growing up don't meet any humans other than police or officials or when humans don't meet Faunus other than as waiters in restaurants or collecting tickets on buses or trains. At least I grew up learning the clues as to when a human was a jerk or afraid of me and when they were open to treating me politely."
Jaune nodded, "There was this mole Faunus boy who had just had his aura unlocked. He wants to go to ACS."
"How poor is he?"
"Doesn't have his own scroll. Lives on a farm with his family. There was some trouble there a few weeks ago and his aura was unlocked."
"Best tell your mother about that. I thought Gillespie was giving us a hint when he talked about his new job. You do realise that he is taking a demotion by moving to Clent."
Reynard paused, "I will be amazed if the boy gets to go to ACS. He will need to board. His parents won't be able to afford the rent easily."
He paused. Jaune said, "Go on. It's best for me to know about things."
"He might not even get on with the Faunus students. Most of the boarders come from well off families. The day pupils at least have a bedroom of their own and live in Ansel. Don't think just because we are all Faunus to most humans mean that we all treat each other as equal. Being poor and a Faunus are not a good combination at school. More importantly, if he is living on the border between Clent and Kinver and has an unlocked aura the family will prefer him to stay at home and learn to fight Grimm and make humans think twice before burning the fields or stealing the livestock."
Jaune nodded. "The girl wanted to go to ACS as well. I doubt that she will get the opportunity as the chances of getting to Haven are only about twenty percent."
Reynard laughed, "I've heard the story from your mother. Men don't like wives and girlfriends with unlocked auras. It means that they can't beat them up." The Fox Faunus winked, "Mostly joking. It does mean that they need less protecting than most Ansel men feel they should provide to the weaker sex."
Jaune realised that mother's deputy would not have dared say that to him even a year ago. It had taken time for him to be certain that Jaune was very much his mother's son in the way he approached life.
Just then the van's travelling from Clent arrived. Reynard confirmed to the new arrivals that all was in order and he and Jaune departed by car as the new arrivals unpacked and their new neighbours came round to greet them.
Jaune drove back to Ansel while Reynard dealt with the paperwork on his scroll. They arrived back at headquarters and then went into mother's office.
Happy was there reporting on the moves he had overseen. Happy might as well be a full-time employee for the last three weeks as he and his semblance had been used to calm down the humans who wanted to vent their anger at the leaving Faunus. It had even worn Happy down as often the best he could achieve was to change the fury away from violence to simple glee rather than the bystanders simply wishing the leavers all the best. Mother was clearly working on boosting his morale and pointing out that things would have been a lot worse if he had not been around. Luckily Happy's semblance worked on him as well as others and by the end he had nodded and smiled.
After Happy had left, mother briefed Marion on the events of the day. Marion was in charge of the night shift tonight and looked almost surprised at how quiet things looked like they were expected to be.
"Hope it's back to usual now, Claire. Sorry Chief."
"I think Jaune and Reynard count as being in private by now, Marion."
Jaune said, "I don't know if it was reported at the time, but it seems that some humans from Clent attacked a Faunus farm in Kinver a couple of weeks back. It was frightening enough that a middle school Faunus had his aura unlock itself."
Marion and mother exchanged glances. Reynard said, "One of the people we moved today was police indirectly mentioned it. He said that he would keep an eye on things from his side of the county line and liaise with the new chief in Kinver."
"Thanks. I'll get Darren Marine and his team to show the flag around there now we aren't fighting actual fires. It is bare land around there?"
"Mostly. There is forest five miles north of Kinver, but that is near a more or less deserted area rather than humans."
"OK. Let's keep an eye out in the future."
She dismissed Marion and Reynard and then briefed him on his mission tomorrow. Professor Pink was a specialist in long range weapons and city defences and was seen as about the third ranking academic in Haven. He had mentored the twins and was on about as good terms with Amber as anyone at Haven. He was coming to Ansel in the summer to look at the walls in Kulsa and Jaune was to take him written reports and photographs of the walls to give him an idea of their current state of repair and what areas of concern the Ansel LGDF had.
Jesse Earl, the local chief of the LGDF in Kulsa, had surveyed the walls on the human side and Reynard had done the walls around the Faunus quarter. They had met together, and their approach was as consistent as could reasonably be expected.
Mother had a rather old-fashioned approach to security and considered is safer not to put sensitive documents into a form which could easily be hacked into. Both Faunus and human activists could take parts of the reports as signs that the LGDF favoured the other side or use them to challenge the final report which Professor Pink made.
Afterwards, mother said, "The twins have lined him up to speak to you about the practicalities of going to Haven. He is kindly but honest. Please bear this in mind."
At dinner that night, mother told dad and Lavender that the busy spell looked like been over and that jaune would now have a chance to start training and to investigate the possibilities for his future. Dad said that he would start training him as well as Lavender on the weekend. He would also take them both to the local firing range for target practice and see if either of them had a particular aptitude for firearms.
He got up early the following morning and was given a packed brunch by Lavender to eat after he landed. His motion sickness plus the tension had meant that it was best for him to travel on a nearly empty stomach, and he had been reserved an aisle seat near the toilets. As he boarded the plane he put his earphones on and started listening to music. Lavender had lent him her Flynt Coal and Tan Lehrer discs and said that he would enjoy them. He did wonder whether dad would appreciate the fact that Lavender's taste in music followed Amber's, but perhaps mother had told him that he was best off letting her listen to her own stuff and not asking questions and told Lavender to use her headphones when listening to any gifts from Amber or Saffy.
Even music was political nowadays. DJs had to watch out for requests which were either intentionally or otherwise capable of being perceived as politically motivated. For example, "Mr Sandman" and "The Cell Block Tango" were banned songs in Ansel province because they were seen as indicating support for the White Fang. One previously popular DJ had been sacked for playing the latter and not appreciating that the refrain "He had it coming" and "Only had himself to blame" was a little too on the nose.
The person next to him tried to get him to swap seats, but quickly desisted after he had explained his reason for the aisle seat. Another advantage of the aisle seat was that it was easier to stretch his legs. Luckily, it was just a two-hour flight and he only had to barf once.
He ate his brunch on the way through the airport to meet the twins who were waiting for him. Nancy saw his first and shouted "Joanie, over here!"
Jessica then added, "Where's Chachi?"
This was clearly a joke he was not expected to understand, but he ignored it. The twins had a liking for old sitcoms and when not working had odd sleeping patterns which allowed them to indulge the liking for reruns.
Lavender had explained to him that Nancy calling him Joannie again was a sign of affection and should be taken as a good sign that she did not feel the need to treat him with kid gloves any longer. Jaune supposed that Lavender was right, but it was still slightly embarrassing.
Jessica said, "Let's take the cable car to Haven."
Jaune replied, "Ha, ha." He had taken the cable car once and that had been a disaster for his stomach and the other occupants of the car.
Nancy said, "Ok, the shuttle train to the lower part of Mistral City and we'll then walk the rest of the way."
The journey was fine. The two told jokes during the shuttle train trip and then interrogated him about the last few weeks in Ansel on the walk. They even used quieter voices than usual during the walk. While at the pace they walked no one was likely to overhear more than a couple of sentences at a time, they recognised that some discretion was needed.
Nancy ruffled his hair when he talked about leading a farewell song for Dawn yesterday, "You're a big soppy old Jaune, but that's why we like you."
He involuntarily flared his aura. Normally that phrase was accompanied by a playful punch. Jessica laughed, "Good to see we have you well trained. What's the name of the mad scientist with the dog and the metronome, Nancy."
Nancy said, "After hearing what happened to Amber when she unlocked his aura, I'm not going to risk hitting him hard. Being knocked over by Joannie here would be bad for my image."
Jaune laughed at that. It confirmed Lavender's theory for him that the renewed teasing was in part a sign of respect and so should be welcomed.
He took the opportunity to ask for autographs for Dawn and Brian. The twins were delighted to oblige. Nancy did pull a face when he described Brian's situation. "Perhaps we should try and talk Jasper into funding some bursaries for ACS?"
Jessica nodded, "It's worth a shot, but who would choose who got them?"
Nancy screwed up her face and then suggested "Perhaps dad could be put in charge of the awards committee?"
"That might work."
As they walked through the campus at Haven he spotted some familiar faces dressed in an unfamiliar way. The members of Team Blood were dressed in the Haven uniform rather than the good ole boy clothes they used at home. A fifth person, a woman, was with them and holding Lucas's hand.
Daffy Earl shouted at them, "Hey, Jaune. How's it hanging?" The group moved towards them, and Nancy pretended to mock them, "Oh rats, it's team Bloody Fools and the mad woman who hangs out with them."
Beau ignored the insult and said, "Jaune, it's good to see you. Hope you've forgiven us for the carried in the General. By the way this is Magenta. She and Lucas like each other."
"Good to see you as well. While I don't want to repeat the experience, the car ride was what was needed at the time, so no hard feelings. The bruises disappeared quickly after Amber unlocked my aura."
He wondered why the girl frowned when he mentioned Amber.
Daffy said, "We'll see you this summer. We are interning for the Ansel LGDF in the summer. Mostly around Kulsa, but Uncle Jesse and your mother has promised to mix it round for us."
Beau said, "I doubt that they will send us to the western part, but perhaps in the future."
Daffy asked, "Is it true that Arslan Altan and her friends are the other summer interns?"
Jaune said, "I wouldn't know about that."
Jaune knew that mother had accepted some students from outside the province who would be between finishing combat school and going to Haven but had not clocked the names properly yet.
Magenta said, "Poor girl. No matter how hard she tries the Invincible Girl will always have her number."
Beau said, "Well at least she tries. Anyway. the Invincible Girl beat me when I fought her at the Mistral regionals that time."
Nancy said, "Well that wasn't a hard test for her."
Beau laughed, "Ouch, I am wounded to the core. Unfortunately, it is fair comment."
Jaune said, "Look forward to seeing you this summer. I've got to rush now. I have an appointment with Professor Pink."
"Hope it's about the city walls back home. I don't know how they'd cope if a goliath hit them."
Magenta looked interested at this comment. Jaune said, "LGDF business. I'm just the messenger."
Nancy said, "He knows nothing. He comes from Ansel."
Now that was a sitcom joke he recognised. Mother and dad still watched the tapes from that one about a hotel owner in Argus.
Team Blood and Magenta laughed and went off presumable to go to their next class.
Nancy asked, "Is their car still called the General Lagune?"
"Yes. It's painted orange." He waited a beat and continued, "It has the pre-war flag painted on the bonnet and the car horn plays "Misty."
Jessica guffawed, "I knew about the name, but not the flag and the car horn. No wonder they aren't sending them to the west. Seriously has mother lost her mind."
Jaune said, "I believe that what convinced her to take them on was when they saved a mouse Faunus from a lynch mob that day in Kulsa and took him to the Faunus quarter with them. They pretended that they were taking him to Chief Scarlet."
Nancy said, "Ok. I get it. Gods knows how one can celebrate the good old days without wanting to return to them, but if anyone can those four can. Good natured morons."
Jessica said, "Bet they have not told Magenta that they saved the life of a Faunus."
"Perhaps I should. Lucas should learn not to go out with someone who is crazy."
Jessica looked at her twin hard and Nancy put her hands up. "Fine, yes that's the sort of favour no one forgives. If Daffy hasn't felt the need to inform Magenta, then I'll follow her lead."
They then escorted him to the administrative block and the huge entrance hall with a statue of a half-naked woman wearing jewellery and chains at one end just by a spiral staircase.
Jaune stared at the statue in disbelief. Nancy laughed at him. "Goodness knows what the founder was smoking when he ordered that one. It used to be a ritual prank before they installed flush lavatories to put a potty on her head."
Jessica added, "The statues around here are an odd selection. There is a statue of General Lagune on the way to Lionheart's office."
"Last year we got someone to propose that should erect one of General Belladonna facing it giving Lagune the finger."
Jaune laughed. He was not entirely sure that the twins were joking but decided to go along with it.
Nancy detected the doubt and said, "Jessica, tell him that I'm not kidding him."
"She's not lying except it was Amber who proposed the statue of General Belladonna in her final term. She not only burnt her bridges, she poured paraffin on them first."
"Sounds like Amber."
They took a door out of the main hall and walked down about fifty yards before stopping outside the door with a name plate saying "Professor Pink" attached to it.
"Ok, Jaune. You've still got a minute to go. We've primed him. He said that you were sounded like an unusual case. He will ask you to flare your aura and ask you a whole load of questions. He's a good man if a trifle eccentric. He will deal with mother's business first and you can be honest with him about Kulsa."
"Thanks."
"Let us know on your scroll when he's finished with you, and we'll take you out for a drink and a meal afterwards. We have booked a room at the airport hotel for you so you can get your flight tomorrow morning."
Randy and Monster King – I appreciate the encouragement.
This is a shorter chapter than normal, but what started as a paragraph about what Jaune had been doing for three weeks ended up being the bulk of the chapter. Having created a LGDF for his mother to run and him to work for, thinking about what it did and how it worked seemed a required part of worldbuilding. Thinking that he might be good with youngsters was suggested by the road crossing duties he had in Atlas.
One reason for dealing with Mistral in a story is that the volumes dealing with that kingdom were probably the weakest and there was a lot of tell don't show. We have a kingdom which we are told has the most discrimination against Faunus, had powerful criminal gangs without getting much hint at what this really involved.
