Here's a new chapter for you all. Why? 'Cause why the hell not! Last chapter we got left off with a cliffhanger, and now we get to see who that crow was. Those who are avid RWBY fans will already know who it is, those who don't… well, you're in for one hell of a surprise, I guess.

Now, before that, let's get to my response to Reviews/Comments, shall we?

[My Response to Reviews/Comments!]

(Qoutev) TACO SENSEI: Ah, I see. Well, in that case, if you thought that was bad. Buddy, that barely even scratches the surface. To put things into perspective, if Jamol was in the real world, he would be ticking off the Geneva Convention as a checklist, and doing everything it says for nothing more than the fun of it. As for who the crow is, it has nothing to do with Jamol. Besides, he already sent out Jasper, why send out a crow?

(Ao3 – Ch 22) TheNutOfTheArchives: While it hasn't happened yet, it will, and trust me, it's gonna be hilarious went it does.

Kolt999: Honestly, Fanfiction dot net is not usually the best place for reading things. I mostly stick to Ao3 because it doesn't crash whenever I open the crossover section on the site. Also, the reason why you didn't get the notification probably has something to do with the opt-in thing. To get notifications, you kinda gotta click that on the website. Hopefully, that fixes the notification problem.

Now then, God being 4 feet tall and looking like an elderly grandpa was entirely the point, because that is how I envision him, as I believe I stated in my last response to someone else in the last chapter. And, as far as I am concerned, Cosmic horrors like Chuthlu and the like could easily subjugate gods just because of their nature, namely because they are anomalies within reality itself. Especially with regards to The Multiverse.

And Jamol is… Well… he is a dude. And if it wasn't clear, he is the antagonist for this part of the story. And trust me, he is way worse than what I've made him out to be for the first impression. His appearance has caused massive ramifications within The RWBYverse, and we'll be seeing those as time goes on. This chapter has just one of his… many ramifications on this world. And I don't know how you'd react to it.

Oh, and yeah, Murphy is gonna want a word with her for being cocky as all hell with that hard-mode choice. It is going to bite her in the ass, and I plan for that to happen rather quickly just to give her a bit of a wake-up call. Not in this chapter, mind you, but in the coming chapters. I'd say… a handful from now.

Now, as for the whole faunus heat thing, the reason why I brought it into this was A: the Harem portion of this story and B: because I feel like it only makes sense, and it gives the Faunus something more unique to deal with than just "humans with animal traits/parts and night vision." As I said, a lot of the stuff going forward with the faunus is going to be my interpretations of the lore, because as far as I'm concerned, Rooster Teeth did a horrible job of fleshing out The Faunus and making them unique. I'm going to change that when it comes to this particular portion of the story, as well as other things…

Don't worry too much, though. I'm not going to be changing the base plot (Salem versus Ozpin, at least), but a lot of the world-building is going to change, as well as a few of the characters. Mostly thanks to Jamol. Because it's not just that he's been doing nothing for his duration there. He's been making changes. Lots… and I mean lots of changes.

You'll see what I mean in this chapter, as a matter of fact. After all, I didn't just slap him in there to be an antagonist. He was there before Jolyne, and he made a lot of changes already to the world around him just by existing. As I said, you'll see what I mean. :)

(Guest) Reader 451: Jolyne will never catch a break. Because if she does, then what's the fun in that? And yes, I fully plan for Jolyne to… humble Weiss, to put it lightly. I am not a fan of Weiss. Even with her redemption arc, I still don't like her, ESPECIALLY after Volume 8, but then again, I just don't like Team RWBY post-Volume 8. So, that basically means nothing but that's beside the point.

Now, with that out of the way… onto the shit show!

xxXXxxXXxx

[Jasper]

He hadn't even left "Lord" Jamol's palace, and he was already running into issues, namely, he had been in such a rush to leave, that he had forgotten to get adequate supplies like food, and water for the trip! So, he was scrambling around to get some. Not that he needed them, but he did like food and water, especially being in a desert. Just because he didn't need to eat or drink because of Gamers Body, didn't mean he didn't like it.

That, and being in a desert required water, so that way he didn't get dehydrated and started taking chip damage because of dehydration. That just wasn't his thing. And seeing as he had to wear The White Armour Of The Cross whenever he left the palace to represent "Lord" Jamol for the surrounding villages he conquered, assuming they weren't already abandoned, it was going to make the trek ten times more difficult due to the armour being more cumbersome then it had any right to be.

The only reason why he wore the armour was because of the defence stat increases it gave him, and the enchantment on it that warded off The Grimm. Nothing more, because otherwise, he preferred his baggy clothing over the heavyset armour any day of the week.

He had just finished packing around several bottles of water, enough to last him the 10-day adventure, along with a healthy supply of food, when he felt a cold hand on his shoulder. He looked around, and his eyes nearly bulged out of his sockets once he found out who, or rather, what it was that had grabbed his shoulder.

Why?

Because it wasn't supposed to be out. Not unless someone let it out.

The, "it", in question was what appeared to be a woman. But that was just it, an appearance. The body of the woman it was using as a shell had a myriad of stitches all over its body, notably its arms and from the open spots on the outfit it wore—which had come from the bodies owner—that being a white cloak that went down to the knees, a black bodysuit that cut off at the thighs and slowly turned into a knee-high skirt. The top of the black bodysuit had a cut in it around the chest, which showed some cleavage that also had a metric ass-ton of stitches.

Then, there was the face. Or, what he could see of the face, that was.

The face was covered by a hood, but from what Jasper could see, he saw a single line of stitches going down the center of its face, and what appeared to be sunken eyes, or, the sockets at the very least. Jasper knew that there were no eyes there and that all he would see should he look beyond it was something… undesirable.

It used to be one of Jamol's prisoner concubines. Until the person who was the shell of its body fought back and tried to escape. Which, Jamol had taken personally. Originally, Jamol had saved them from certain death at some undisclosed location that Jamol refused to tell him about, but from what Jasper understood and remembered—his memory was foggy about what it was Jamol had said due to it being a year before he was forced to join up with him—the person who was used to become its shell suffered a fate worse than death after her "rescue" and recovery.

Daily rape, physical abuse, torture, starvation, forced combat with other prisoners and being forced to kill said prisoners… all for Jamol's sick kicks….

To think that at one point, Jasper looked up to Jamol…. It was nothing short of mortifying to him. Of course, back then, that was before he knew anything about Jamol and what he did in his spare time, but even still… he should've known that back then, he was making a deal with the devil—a wolf in sheep's clothing, someone far more terrifying than who he initially believed.

He should've listened to his friends at the time. He should've listened to her. But he didn't. He made a mistake… and now he paid for it.

The hand on his shoulder was firm like it wanted something. It was rare for it to want something, as it usually was content with anything that Jamol gave it. So for it to want something was… completely out of character.

"H-How did you get out?" Jamol asked it, only to receive nothing in reply. It didn't speak. Not unless it had to. And when it did, the speech was hard to decipher. Jamol called it The Dog, because that was exactly what it was, despite its human appearance. It listened to every word its master spoke to it. It sat when it was told to sit. It rolled over when it was told to roll over. Killed when it was told to kill. In every way, despite its human appearance, it truly was a dog.

Although, you wouldn't be able to tell that by just looking at it. And, right now, Jasper was confused about what it wanted. So, he took a shot in the dark. "Uh… do you want to come with me?"

It nodded. Jasper swallowed back the building tension in his chest, before looking around. Jamol wasn't there, but chances were that Jamol knew. Otherwise, he would've expressly been looking for him to let him know that The Dog was to stay here.

Which meant Jamol gave an order to The Dog. And that was not a good thing. In fact, it was actually kind of scary, because Jasper had no idea what that order was going to turn out to be until it acted upon it.

Perhaps Jamol was doing something else now that he had ordered it? Or, did he pre-order The Dog to do something, and was still "busy" raping that poor faunus girl.

God… if he could, he'd slit that monster's throat right then and there when he watched him drag off that poor girl. But, he knew that he couldn't. Not because he wasn't allowed, but because the gap in power between them was so vast, it was, in Jamol's words not his, "bigger than Venezuelan inflation".

The only reason he stayed with Jamol was that he protected him from the far more powerful dangers of the world. Even if it meant putting up with Jamol's sick idea of… entertainment. That, and he was terrified of what would've happened should he try to leave his side.

He had done many things in front of Jamol as a way to prove his loyalty which he would've preferred never to think about again. And as much as he wanted nothing more than to make sure Jamol's cruelty would end, he simply was not strong enough, nor would he ever be strong enough, to defeat Jamol.

Not to mention, freeing her was another thing he wanted to do. But if he was going to do that, he needed help. And unfortunately, he was fresh out of help. Not even a skilled Hunter could land a hit on Jamol, or even so much as sneeze on him without being bisected.

Maybe… just maybe this new person that Jamol was after could help… All he'd have to do was find some way to get Jamol out of his head so that he didn't know every conversation he had, then maybe… just maybe he could beg for help. He needed to get out of the abusive relationship he was in with his… lord before he got sick of him.

The last time Jamol got sick of someone was when he got sick of one of Jasper's teammates. Prior to meeting Jamol, he had been travelling with a few people when he had first arrived in this world. Around a month into travelling the new world of Remnant, they had run into Jamol's palace and sought shelter from the desert. With himself, along with another Gamer by the name of Makaria, a man by the name of Diamond, and a Fox Faunus by the name of Scarlet, they begged Jamol for safety… only for him to kill Diamond, enslave Scarlet, and imprison Makaria and make him his "loyal" servant.

This happened slowly, throughout a handful of months, and by the time he saw the warning flags, it had already been too late. There was no running away at that point anymore. And he still had night terrors about that day narrowly a decade ago from today.

If he could go back in time and change his decision, he would've. But, time wasn't something that could be tampered with. He had to sleep in the bed he made for himself. Even if it was painful.

Jasper sighed, gesturing for The Dog to follow him. There was no time to rethink any prior choices he might've made in the past. He needed to stay focused on the future, and plan accordingly. If he didn't, then he'd end up forgetting his stated mission by his Patron, The Egyptian God Basat.

To defend Remmant from a terrible curse that was going to befall it.

A part of him wondered if perhaps Jamol had been that curse, and that he could've killed him back then. Maybe, just maybe, he could've ended that monster's life back then, and freed the world from the shadow that Jamol covered it in.

Or perhaps, he was just getting overzealous.

"Best to forget this line of thought… if Jamol thinks I'm betraying him then he'll… he'll…." Jasper shuttered. No. Never again. That was before he had gained Jamol's trust once Jamol showed him his true colours…. If there was one thing he learned, it was that you never wanted to be on the other end of his ire. Because it didn't matter who or what you were. He would break you in the most demeaning way possible. He didn't care what he had to do to do so.

Jasper was very… very aware of what his favourite option for breaking people was. He was lucky he had gotten the favourite option, even if it was probably worse than any of the other options. Because at least with that, he wasn't beaten to near death and left to die in the desert like Diamond had been.

At least he got to live.

He thought back to her and frowned, fighting back tears. He wished it was him in her position. Because at least then she'd be living a proper life, and not being chained and constantly raped by Jamol. She was one of Jamol's "favourites."

The last time Jasper had seen her, he promised her that he'd help her once he found a way. But that promise had been made almost a decade ago, and there was no telling if her mind was gone or not. He wasn't allowed to go to that room, and Jamol had forcefully made him sever the mental connection he had with her. And, perhaps that was for the better because the last thing he wanted to hear was… that.

After all, she was Jamol's favourite, and whenever Jamol wasn't in there doing unspeakable things to her, he was out here abusing the faunus he bought as slaves to run his palace, or he was out there making, in his words, "Vacuo his bitch before moving on to Vale and doing the same fucking thing."

If he remembered correctly, the term was "Subjugation Through Dependency," or "STD" as Jamol had called it. He had used it to conquer the other settlements around his palace, and with it, he captured and enslaved all the faunus living in them and turned them into his slaves through a series of events in which he made the faunus in those areas more and more dependent on him. This eventually resulted in those faunus blindly trusting him, which led to their doom, and he did so by making the humans of those settlements turn against their faunus neighbours. The process didn't take long, only around 4 to 5 months per settlement, which really went to show just how fragile the human mind was to suggestion.

Quite frankly, it reminded him of how, back when he was living his old life, Nazi Germany subjugated the Jews. Just… more weasely and less "in your face".

He hadn't tried to conquer the major city in Vacuo yet, which was where Shade Academy had been, but he was fairly certain that Jamol was just biding his time. Jasper knew that Jamol could more than easily turn that place and the surrounding settlements around The City of Vacuo into dust with just a few attacks.

Then again, it took him a decade to get this far without anyone being alerted to it. So perhaps he was planning to do something else with The City of Vacuo. A massive attack would alert the other kingdoms, and at that point, it hardly mattered what kind of power Jamol had, he would be steamrolled by the combined might of every Kingdom of Remnant, and he was fairly certain that Jamol knew it.

Which made Jasper shiver. Just what did Jamol have planned for The City of Vacuo? Was he going to secretly take control? Or, had he already done that and Jasper was none the wiser?

Regardless of what it was that Jamol had planned, Jasper knew he most likely had a role to play in it. And a part of him wondered just what Jamol had in store for him when the time came. Not because he wanted a part in Jamol's plan, but because he knew he had no choice.

As Jasper exited the castle with The Dog, he looked back at the massive, towering entrance, and grimaced. One day… one day he'd free Makaria from his clutches. But, until that day came, he was going to be Jamol's ever "loyal" servant. Even if it meant that he had to do unspeakable things to keep his life.

"Come on, let's go…." Jasper muttered to The Dog, who obediently followed behind him, a small upturned smile on its face, as something moved beyond the fleshy veil of its shell. It made Jasper shiver, but he ignored it.

It was time to start the 10-day-long journey from Vacuo, to Vale. And with the moon in the dead center of the sky, that meant he had to be careful. The Grimm were especially violent at night, and despite the fact he had the armour on, he had a feeling that it wouldn't matter with The Dog around. It tended to… get excited when Grimm was in the area. You know, so it could fight them and add them to its mass underneath its shell.

A final shiver flew down his spine, as he left the compound and hiked onward.

[?]

Quite frankly, he wasn't paid enough for this shit. First, he had to watch over Amber so she didn't get attacked—despite the fact that he knew that she could fend for herself—and now three Faunus, one being incredibly unique due to the fact he had never seen one like her before, and a green-haired human appeared out of nowhere.

Like, literally, one moment he blinked and the spot they appeared in was empty. The next time he blinked, they were there.

So, while abandoning his post might get him yelled at by Glynda, it wasn't like he couldn't get to Amber faster than a Beowulf could howl. So long as he wasn't too far away, say, on the other side of the world, Amber would be fine. She was The Fall Maiden, after all, and she knew how to fight. Any bandit would be stupid to try and jump her.

Hell, even Raven was smart enough to leave Amber the fuck alone, lest she incurred Ozpin's wrath. Ozpin had made it very clear that so long as Raven didn't step foot in The Kingdom of Vale, that she was allowed to do whatever she please. But if she so much as touched Amber, or set foot in Vale, she would be immediately executed.

And while Qrow wasn't exactly pleased with that, Raven did vocally declare that she was going to kill Ozpin the next they saw each other, so the response made sense. Raven was smart, don't get him wrong, but even some smart people made stupid choices. And Raven's was declaring war against Ozpin.

Whatever. That was beside the point. The point was that he was sure that Amber could handle herself. Right now, he was more focused on these new interlopers.

It was needless to say that he was a tad suspicious. And why wouldn't he be? Oh, don't get him wrong, he had seen some shit in his life, what with being a high-profile Hunstman in Ozpin's ranks, but even so, he had never seen people just… blip into existence. That… was new. Especially if two of those people were children faunus—he was pretty sure one was a wolf, and the other was a bear.

He couldn't make out what the third, older one had been. It was some horned lizard of some kind. And then there was the older human. The two older ones seemed to be, at the bare minimum, 15 to 16, and the two younger ones were either 11 or 12. Why on earth people this young with no way to defend themselves showed up in a forest all by themselves was beyond him, though he had to assume that it was the fault of a semblance, perhaps the humans.

Qrow had been following them up above the treeline for around ten minutes now and he was starting to get annoyed. They hadn't stopped walking since the moment they appeared, not even to take a break, and his wings were starting to get tired. That made Qrow wonder if perhaps their appearance wasn't so much an accident, but pre-planned. And if that was the case, that made him more suspicious. And, that suspicion made him continue to follow them further into the woods.

Finally, after what felt like another five minutes, the group halted. And then, the little girl with green hair, bear ears, and wearing a green and white dress spoke up. "I think we're being watched…" the girl said, as Qrow landed on a tree branch just behind them. He made his best effort to look like a regular crow, that way no one would suspect a thing.

"You're just scared of the forest, Monica. C'mon, we have to keep moving. Standing still like this is a bad idea," the green-haired boy said as this Monica child shook her head.

"No, I'm serious! We're being watched! See, I'll even show you!" Monica said… before turning directly to the tree that he was in. Before he could fly away, purple vines of some sort launched out of her arm, and when they wrapped around him… by the gods they felt like Aura. Not metaphorically speaking, either. The vines felt like Aura compressed into a physical form, and not in the same way a semblance did.

That. That was a red flag and then some.

That revelation aside, he had been completely wrapped up in these purple vines, which meant his cover was blown, somehow. He had no idea how the child had been able to detect him, but she had. Was he really getting that rusty? Sighing, he transformed from his bird form to his human form seeing as there was no point in hiding it.

That had garnered a reaction out of the mystery Faunus. And now, because of the angle he had on her, he only just noticed that half of her hair was black, while the other half was pink. And, it didn't look dyed, which meant it was natural.

Had it not been for the fact she was a Faunus of some kind, he would've assumed she was Roman Torchwicks's right-hand woman, Neo… something or whatever. She was also wearing what appeared to be a black and white hooded cloak that reminded him of someone he once knew, and their daughter, a white shirt, and a pair of grey sweatpants, along with a pair of combat boots. Her tail was about as long as her legs had been, and it had black and pink scales. So, she was a reptile faunus. Neat.

As for himself, his messy black hair and black and red cape did not do well being upside down, seeing as it exposed Harbinger to the air, and seeing as they knew about his weapon, that might sway them into not attacking him. Then again, it was only a chance, and he couldn't bank it.

More importantly, he didn't like being upside down and in the air, because having all the blood rush to his head would not be good. And so, with an annoyed frown, he looked toward the mysterious faunus, and with a sigh of defeat, he spoke. "So, uh… don't suppose you could get your youngster over there to let me down?"

The mysterious faunus looked at the Monica girl, nodding, as the purple vines retracted. Qrow fell to the floor but was quick enough to land on his feet. Dusting off his dark and light grey button-up v-neck t-shirt and black trousers, he looked at the four mysteriously appearing travellers with a slightly suspicious gleam in his eyes.

"So… mind telling me where you all came from? Considering you all just randomly appeared out of nowhere?" Qrow asked as the mysterious faunus seemed to mumble a curse under her breath. Ah, so no one was supposed to have seen that. Even more suspicious. The mysterious Faunus's tail twitched as it patted the floor around her legs, probably something she did either out of nervousness or it is just that, a twitch. Qrow crossed his arms, waiting for an answer.

He didn't want to jump to violence. He wasn't exactly in the mood to fight. But if he didn't get an answer, he'd use force to get his answers. And if Glynda tried to chew his ear out for attacking four people, two of which being minors, he'd just reply to her with "they appeared out of nowhere in the area I was searching for Amber in" and that'd get her off his back. Luckily, the green-haired human spoke up and answered the question for the mysterious faunus.

And what he said didn't help calm his suspicions. In fact, they only made them worse.

"I had an accident with a transport spell I was working on, and we ended up here. I hope we didn't cause alarm," the green-haired teen said as Qrow's eyes widened for a split second, before returning to a neutral gaze.

Spells.

As in magic?

But… that was impossible. The average person shouldn't be aware of magic, let alone know any. As far as the average citizen was aware, magic wasn't real, something only seen in media or fairytales. Sure, Semblances and Aura made sense—they were soul-related abilities after all—but honest to god magic was something only two groups of people would know about.

The Witch's allies, and Ozpin's.

And last he checked, he had never seen these guys before.

He narrowed his eyes in thought. He had to approach this carefully. If these really were the witch's allies, then perhaps they were here for Amber. He'd play along with them until they slipped up, and when they did… he'd kill them. Or, more realistically, catch them and interrogate them with the help of Ozpin and Glynda, or perhaps even Jimmy.

"Spell, huh? Are you sure it wasn't just your semblance acting strangely?" Qrow asked as the green-haired human teen raised an eyebrow.

"Uh… if that's what you call magic, then sure, I guess," the boy said as he stuffed his hands in his pockets, his posture relaxed. Either he was confident in his abilities to fight, or he didn't see him as a threat.

Or, he could just be relaxing. That was also a possibility. There was a chance he was panicking for no reason. Ozpin never said that magic couldn't appear in other people—The Maidens were a key example of that, even if they had been the ones to absorb all the magic during the new age of humanity and become the sole harbingers of it all if you excused The Witch and Ozpin, that was.

"Okay… and where exactly did you come from?" Qrow asked, moving the conversation along, trying to fish out what he could from them. If they truly were with The Witch, then either they would clam up, or—

"Tokyo, Japan," the wolf faunus child blurted out as Qrow blinked.

"Uh… is that a colony in Mistral? Cause I've never heard of that place before?" Qrow asked. He had not been expecting them to answer that. And so readily, too. Which made him wonder if this whole thing was planned. Suddenly, he was starting to worry about Amber. What if this was a splinter group of The Witch's pawns? What if they were sent here to distract them because they already knew that Amber was here?

Oh god… what if he had fallen into a trap?

Then, the mysterious faunus spoke up. "Yes. But, you wouldn't have heard of it. We're practically the last survivors of that place. It got… overrun by The Grimm…. They slaughtered everyone." As the mysterious faunus said that, she looked down at the ground. She then moved her hair out of the way, revealing an eyepatch, as she looked up at Qrow. Suddenly Qrow felt a slight tinge of sympathy for the girl.

If, and only if what she said was true, then that meant she lost her eye in that Grimm invasion. The question was, though, where were the Huntsmen? If that was the case—Damnit! He was getting sidetracked. That didn't matter. Until proven otherwise, he had to assume they were with The Witch. He frowned but gave an understanding nod.

"I see… I'm sorry for your loss, then," Qrow said, keeping the skepticism out of his voice. "Well, seeing as you're clearly not from Vale, mind telling me your names?" Qrow said as the mysterious faunus put a hand to her sternum and gave him a half-assed smile, which highlighted the small bags under her eyes.

"My name is Jolyne Brooks. To my left is Rantaro Amami, a friend of mine. And in front of me are Monica Towa and Jataro Kemuri. It's a pleasure to meet you, sir," this Jolyne Brooks person said, as Qrow nodded, keeping their, albeit strange and most definitely fake, names in the back of his head, namely so that he could report them to Ozpin to see if he ever heard of a place called Tokyo Japan in Mistral and if these people were ever in its census.

"A pleasure to meet you all, as well. Name's Qrow," the black-haired man said, leaving his last name out. If they were agents of The Witch—at least, the two older people, anyway—they'd be able to figure out his identity using his last name. It was best to air on the side of caution. And if something did break out, well… Harbinger was just a flick of the wrist away behind his back. And he was pretty sure he was quicker on the draw than these guys. Of course, they knew he had his weapon, so he had lost the element of surprise, but once again, he was confident in his abilities.

"So… where exactly are you going?" Qrow questioned as the small wolf faunus, Jataro, spoke up in a stammer.

"W-We're looking for s-shelter, Uh… Mr. Qrow… D-do you happen t-to know w-where some is?" The young boy asked as Qrow frowned. Shelter, huh? It was a good cover story, or perhaps a genuine one. Either way, he shrugged.

"There are a few settlements out here. But I don't know exactly where they are. Most of them are Faunus settlements, so while you three," he pointed toward Monica, Jolyne, and Jataro, "will be given warm welcomes, I don't know about you," Qrow continued, before jabbing his thumb at the Rantaro boy. "Nothing against you, or anything like that. But you know how these things go. Faunus Discrimination has been hiking ever since the White Fang continues to make asses of themselves in public. So naturally, the Faunus settlements are going to look upon the humans, like you and I, with more scrutiny."

The Rantaro boy frowned. "I see… thank you for the information," the boy said, sighing. "By any chance, do you know which one is the closest? We really need a place to sleep, and I don't trust the forest for, well, obvious reasons," the boy asked as he gestured to the forest around them. Qrow frowned, crossing his arms.

"Like I said, I don't know. Sorry," Qrow replied, before scratching at his chin, where the stubble of a beard had been as he thought. "The more I talk to them, the more genuine I think they're being. Though that green-haired one having magic is a cause for concern…. Still, I'll have to report this to Ozpin to see what he thinks. Last time I trusted my own judgement I nearly got everyone killed… back when Team STRQ was still a thing…." Qrow thought, waving away the bad memory as he cleared his throat.

"Well, one last question for you guys. Have any of you seen a brown-haired, light brown-skinned girl wandering around here? Or, at the very least, do you know of her? She's wearing a white blouse with some gold plates on her clothing. I know it's a long shot, but if you have, can you tell me where she went?" Qrow asked. This was the last question he'd ask of them. Depending on what they said, he'd make his full judgement for himself.

Because if they knew where Amber was, considering they just appeared out of thin air, then his suspicions would be confirmed, and he'd go on the attack immediately.

"Hmm…" Jolyne Brooks hummed in thought, before shrugging. "I mean, that's rather hyper-specific. But… nope, I ain't got nothing. Sorry about that, Mr. Qrow," the dual-haired mystery faunus replied, as Qrow sighed in relief. While not a definite character judgement, that at least eased his fears that they were part of a splinter group of The Witch's agents.

Still, though, he had to be wary. Just in case that wasn't the case, and this Jolyne Brooks person had been onto him right from the get-go. "Alright then, well. I'll be off. I gotta continue my search. Stay safe, all of you." And with that, he transformed into his crow form and flew off. He had to find Amber, and fast. She wasn't even supposed to be out of Beacon's campus. Once he found her and brought her back, he'd report to Ozpin about his discovery.

For some reason, he had a gut feeling that he'd have to watch these new people once he got back from returning after he reported this stuff to Ozpin. He didn't know why, but they seemed important, and perhaps, they were the key to ending the war with Salem once and for all.

At least, he hoped so.

[Jolyne Brooks]

Jolyne sighed in relief once the man named Qrow flew off. She got the vibe that he didn't trust them and seemed like the kind of person to attack another person on the slightest air of suspicion or believing them to be a threat. And if that happened… well, she wasn't fond of the implications. Not to mention that their cover was nearly blown as world hoppers because of what Jataro had said. Though, she couldn't blame the poor kid. He was scared out of his mind and had no idea where he was.

Whatever. At least she had been able to play into it. She wasn't going to scold Jataro, though, despite what her mind told her to do. He made an honest mistake, and that was all there was to it. Besides, she had more important things to worry about. Namely, what it was she saw after activating CHECK on that Qrow person. What she saw was kind of unnerving, because it had to do with something new that showed up that she hadn't seen before.

Name: Qrow Branwen

[Lv. 220]

HP: 35,000

Stamina: 10,000

Aura Level: 100%

Mana: 500 (Locked and restricted to Bird Transformation)

Faction: The Wizard

Description: A former Bandit turned Huntsman, Qrow Branwen works with a man named Ozpin to combat the forces of The Grimm Queen and is known for his drunkenness. Don't let that fool you, though. The drunker he is, the stronger and more dangerous he is in combat, and not because he becomes unpredictable, but because he genuinely becomes a better combatant the more inebriated he is.

Now, description aside, she had no idea what the hell Aura level meant, but due to it being a percentage, she assumed it was something like a secondary health bar. Meaning that if she wanted to do any damage to this Qrow person if she were to come to blows with him, she'd have to drain that, first. That would also explain why he was so squishy in terms of an NPC's health.

There was also the tidbit that he got stronger as he became drunk. She didn't see a visible flask on him, but she assumed that he did carry one around wherever he went.

Regardless, she'd think about that later. Right now she was more interested in getting to safety in the form of one of these settlements that that man mentioned. She looked over to Rantaro and spoke. "Let's keep going. North, or, whatever direction we were already going in," Jolyne said as Rantaro looked up at the sky.

"Hmm… we were heading west, actually," Rantaro said, as Jolyne blinked. How he got that from just a brief glance up at the sky was beyond her, but she wasn't going to question it. "Well, c'mon, let's go," Rantaro said, before turning on his heel, and heading down the path they were already going. Along the way, she found herself carrying Monica on her back, and Rantaro carrying Jataro via piggyback. Their feet were hurting, so it only made sense. They were still only little children, and walking long distances wasn't exactly something they were used to. They were probably used to driving in a car with someone instead of walking.

Especially Monica.

It took them another half an hour before they began to see a neck-high wooden fence up in the distance. She smiled, knowing that finally, she found some sort of civilization. Two people were standing guard, wearing what appeared to be some form of chainmail armour. One of them had rabbit ears, and the other had a pair of cat ears. Underneath their chainmail were what appeared to be a matching set of black and grey tunics, and brown leather pants and boots. And, in both their hands were simplistic spears.

Once they got around a few feet closer, it prompted the guards to walk forward a few steps, and for one of them to shout. "Halt! Who goes there!" Jolyne and co. stopped dead in their tracks as per the guard's request, and prompted Jolyne to shout back.

"We're looking for a place to spend the night! May we approach?!" Jolyne hollered back as the two guards looked at one another. They seemed to have a brief conversation, before one of the guards approached, the one with rabbit ears. Once he got a few feet closer, he stopped just before Rantaro and grimaced.

"You've got a human with you," the man said as Jolyne narrowed her eyes.

"You got a problem with that? We're all in the same predicament, as you can tell, and none of us have weapons. We mean no ill intent, we're simply looking for a place to sleep, like a motel or something," Jolyne bit back as the guard sighed, shaking his head.

"My apologies. But, you can't blame me for being wary. You should know that more than most, ma'am," the man said as he glanced at her, only for his jaw to drop, along with his spear. "W-What the…?" He stammered, before looking over to his buddy in the distance, then back to her. "I… um, I mean no offence, but… do you mind me asking what kind of Faunus you are? I… haven't seen anyone like you before."

Jolyne smirked. Seems as if her Dragon Faunus status was working out for her. "Give me, my human friend, and these kids a place to sleep, and by morning, I might answer that question. Do we have a deal?" Jolyne replied as the man shakily picked up his spear, before nodding.

"V-Very well, ma'am. We'll let you enter. Come with me," the rabbit faunus man said, leading them toward the entrance. Once they approached, the rabbit faunus nodded to the wolf faunus, which gave them the signal to open the wooden gate. The rabbit faunus then turned to Jolyne, and pointed down the street, directly at a large wooden building. "There is a motel just down there. It's 10 lien per person. Do you think you can afford it?"

Jolyne smirked, pulling out four coins with the number "10" etched just above a small symbol that looked to be an L with two lines going down it. She wanted to take 40 from her collective 213K Lien, and this was what they appeared to be. The man nodded, before turning to face the outside of the entrance. "Very well, then. Please, enjoy your stay at the humble Settlement Of Styx."

Location: "Settlement Of Styx" has been added to Huginn's fast travel map.

Jolyne had to stop herself from saying "what" out loud. Since when did she have access to Huginn? She looked at her arm and rolled up the white sleeve on her left arm. There, she saw a large tattoo of a bird spanning her wrist to her elbow. She felt the surge of life come from it, indicating that the tattoo was alive.

"I guess Odin entrusts me with Huginn. Though, something tells me that this didn't come for free…." Jolyne thought. Whatever the case might've been, she was thankful nonetheless. She looked over to the rabbit faunus guard and nodded. "Thank you, sir."

The man smiled. "Please, call me Jade, ma'am. Have yourself a good night," The rabbit faunus said as Jolyne smiled, before walking ahead of Rantaro, and making her way to the nearby motel, money in her pocket. She thought back to that Qrow Branwen person and frowned. She hoped that he was able to find whoever he was looking for.

As they walked, they noticed that the street was empty. It made sense, seeing as people were probably asleep. It was the middle of the night after all, and no one wanted to be up past midnight if they didn't have to be.

It didn't take them long, but they made it to the motel, and once they entered, the first thing that Jolyne saw was someone manning the receptionist's desk, which mean that they were still open, which was good. The person in question was a tired looking… pig faunus? Maybe a boar? Honestly, couldn't make heads or tails. But, she assumed he was a pig. Mainly, it was because of the swirling tail sticking out of their pants, which she assumed were customized for that reason.

Another thing that she noticed was that they were also rather rotund, but not in the unhealthy kind of way, seeing as their arms looked like they were strong enough to crush a fucking watermelon between their elbow and forearm, and another thing to note was the small pair of glasses on the bridge of his nose.

Then there was the rest of the place. It looked more like an inn than a motel, with four tables just by the entrance, a staircase taking whoever walked up it to a second floor, which consisted of four bedrooms split up and separated on other ends of the building by a wrap-around balcony. Only after you walked past the four tables, was someone able to reach the receptionist's desk. Upon making their way to the pig faunus, the man looked up from what he was doing and spoke.

"Aye, welcome to the Pigs Barn. Name's Ronin, how may I help ya?" The man said, putting both his arms against the desk as he eyed Rantaro closely. She didn't make note of it, but she did feel a little annoyed.

"How much for four rooms?" Jolyne asked as the man looked over at her, tipping his glasses with slightly widened eyes.

"Why… I'll be. It's just like the legends said…." Ronin gawked as Jolyne raised an eyebrow.

"Legends?" Jolyne asked as Ronin cleared his throat, before shaking his head.

"They never specified gender, but… you're a Dragon Faunus, aren't you? The legends tell of a Dragon Faunus with pointed forked horns and a scaly tale appearing during the time of great suffering for Faunus's kind, after the war of Menagerine, that is. And… you match that description. Tell me… are you really the one that the legends foretell?" Ronin asked as Jolyne blinked.

She thought that the description was just something to hype her up. Not that it was literal. Without hesitation, Jolyne nodded. "If it described that, then perhaps I am what the legends say I am. But, truth be told, I never heard of such tales. My parents… secluded me from the public eye. I can only assume why," Jolyne lied effortlessly, though that was mostly to protect her status as a world hopper.

"I see…." Ronin said, sighing. "Even so, even if you might not know the tales, I can tell that you really are the hero we've been waiting for. And for that, you and your friends may stay for as long as you want, free of charge. Would you like me to show you to your room?" Ronin asked as Jolyne blinked. Was he… being serious? She shook her head and scoffed in disbelief.

"Sir, I… I appreciate your kindness, but… that's insane. You run a business here, and I can't just… take advantage of you like that!" Jolyne said, genuinely shocked at this man's kindness. The man frowned, shrugging.

"Fine then, but you're getting a discount. Instead of 40 lien for 4 people, it'll be 8 lien," Ronin said, a smirk on his face. Jolyne sighed, knowing she wasn't going to get anywhere with this, she pulled out 8 lien from her pocket and placed it on the countertop. The man smiled, taking the coins and placing them in his pocket. "Alright, all of you, follow me to the second floor. I'll show you all to your rooms."

And so, that was exactly what they did. Jolyne was shown to her room last, as per request so that the two kids could know where her room was in case they needed her. Monica's was the first one on the left, Rantaro's was the second, and Jataro's was the one next to her own. Once everyone else was in their rooms, Ronin showed her to her room, and when she entered, she had been impressed—for what she assumed was medieval standards, the room was quite nice.

There was a single-sized feather bed with a single pillow and a thin green blanket sitting in a wooden bed frame, a polished wooden closet, and a chest in front of the bed, along with a place to put her cloak. Jolyne nodded, turning to look at Ronin, who stood in the doorway. "Thank you, Ronin," Jolyne thanked as the man nodded.

"Aye. If you need anything, just come get me. I've had plenty of sleep during the day so that I can run this place at night, so don't worry about me. Though, when you get up, I want you to come to speak to me. There's something I need to ask of you and your human friend. You seem like seasoned travellers, at least, to me anyway. For now, though, Goodnight." And with that, Ronin closed the door, leaving Jolyne all to herself.

The dual-haired Dragon Faunus mage sat on her bed, adjusting herself so that she didn't sit on her new tail, and took off her cloak and put it in her inventory. Brushing aside her hair, she took off her eye patch as well and felt around it.

Nothing.

"Drat. And here I thought I might've gotten it back because of Cellular Regeneration, or Rantaro's healing magic. I guess just some things will never come back, even if I want them to…." Jolyne thought, as she took the eyepatch and put it into her inventory, before taking out the one that Junko had made for her to wear. She was supposed to have worn it during the beginning of the apocalypse back in Junko's world, but she was so caught up with just finishing beating Izuru and actually preparing to leave, that she completely neglected to.

But now, she was going to wear it.

The eye patch in question was a solid black eye patch, with a red reverse-facing thunderbolt smack dab in the center. It was comfortable, twice as so as the one she had been wearing up to this point. Once she had it on securely, she laid her head down on the pillow, before tugging the blanket over herself, feeling her tail curl up around her tucked-in legs.

Her last thought she had was of everyone else, who she had been separated from. She wondered what exactly it was they were doing, and if they were safe. Regardless, she'd contact them using her mental connection in the morning. Right now, all she wanted to do…

Was sleep.

-To be Continued-