Panther Ears and Beanie Return

Menagerie: Kuo Kuana

'I'm getting the worst sense of déjà vu right now,' thought Aegis as he ran through the streets. 'This is the third time I've had to chase down this chameleon girl.' And it wasn't proving any easier this time than it had the last two times. The difference this time, however, was that Aegis had a couple of Faunus guards dressed in white, black, and gold helping him out.

They'd split up to cut off any obvious escape routes while Aegis continued pursuing her on the roof tops. He'd been slowly gaining on her despite the chameleon Faunus making occasional sharp turns and sliding underneath obstacles like air conditioning units. 'All those times I spent chasing down Ruby, Nora, and Yang in hide and seek are definitely paying off here,' thought Aegis as he jumped over another air conditioning unit.

'Though if Wayne was here, he'd probably say I just need to figure out where she's going and cut her off before she gets there, but of course that's only if I lose sight of her.' Unfortunately, Ilia decided now was the time to change tactics as she slid off the roof of the building she was on and into the crowd below. 'Oh that's just perfect,' he fumed as he continued along the roof tops, 'I really don't want to run through a huge crowd again.'

Fortunately for Aegis, she was still rushing, causing the crowd to part as she shoved her way through. 'You know,' thought Aegis as he hopped onto the roof of a building in front of her, 'You just slowed yourself down quite a bit.' Looking for a good spot, Aegis began sliding down the roof. Or at least he would have if he hadn't suddenly been seized by a pair of hands which lifted him into the air.

"Hey what gives," said Aegis as he tried twisting around to see who, or what had a hold of him.

"I'm afraid I can't let you catch sister Ilia today," said a voice Aegis didn't recognize.

"And I'm afraid this is gonna hurt," said Aegis as he grabbed onto his new foe's arm and generated a glass glove around his left hand. The man tried to let go, but couldn't due to Aegis's left gauntlet holding onto his hand. Forming a second gauntlet, Aegis punched the flying man in the face, causing them both to spiral downward as they crashed into a nearby stall.

'Just once I'd like to chase that girl without getting interrupted,' thought Aegis as he pushed some of the stall's awning off of him. A wood board came swinging down at him in the next second. But Aegis was able raise him arm in time to block it, causing it to break as he struck back with a right cross. His fist connected with his opponent's jaw as it knocked him out of the stall and finally into full view.

"Well how 'bout that," Said Aegis as he got a look at his attacker, "I never met a bat Faunus before." The individual staggering to his feet was a man with spiky, brown hair which went down the back of his neck. A goatee and a slight five 'o clock shadow adorned his jaw, which he was currently rubbing. He also wore a jumpsuit similar in color and appearance to Ilia's, minus the overalls. His most striking feature, however, were the two large bat wings protruding out of his back.

"And it's been a long while since I last met anyone with human and Faunus lineage," answered the man as he reached behind his back. "Though one less of your kind likely won't hurt the world." Knowing his intent, Aegis quickly grabbed a board as the man's hand swung out from behind his back with a gun.

In the span of hardly a second, Aegis threw the board at his enemy's hand, knocking the gun out of it. Aegis charged forward as he drew Ursus Cleaver from his back and swung. But the man's reflexes were surprisingly good as he managed to move out of the weapon's path. Aegis swung a few more times, with none of the blows connecting with his target.

At one point, the bat Faunus managed to get a hold of Aegis's weapon. But he didn't count on Aegis head butting him, forcing him to let go before the huntsman in training kicked him into a nearby building. "Well thanks to you," Said Aegis as he walked into the wooden building, "That chameleon girl is probably long gone by now. On the upside, bringing you back means one less problem either way."

"You make it sound like I'll just come along quietly," replied the bat Faunus as he staggered to his feet.

"It's recommended if you don't want to be dragged back with a massive number of bruises and possible broken bones," Said Aegis as he spun the cylinder on his weapon, "I'm not really known for holding back my strength."

"We'll see!" Exclaimed the bat Faunus as he charged at Aegis. Using the handle of his weapon, Aegis blocked his first few punches. Then, ducking a rather wide swing, Aegis countered by knocking his enemy upside the head with the back of Ursus Cleaver.

As the bat Faunus reeled back, Aegis formed a stone mace on his weapon and swung, knocking him through the other side of the building. 'I really should check if there's such a thing as home insurance around this island,' Aegis thought as he stepped through the hole.

"It's no wonder my brothers and sisters of the Fang were having such trouble with you," Commented the bat Faunus as he stood up, holding his stomach as he did so. "You are quite a fighter, but even with your help the Belladonna's are finished."

"Tell ya what," Said Aegis, "You can let 'em know all about it once you're behind bars!" With that last statement, he rushed his opponent. But the bat Faunus was ready this time as he tossed a smoke bomb on the ground. The sudden assault to Aegis's eyes and nose caused him to cover his face with an arm as his swing went off target, hitting nothing but air.

"I'd hoped to accomplish more than one objective today," said the bat Faunus, who'd taken flight after he threw the smoke bomb, "but young Ilia has had more than enough time to escape to an area you can't sniff her out at. 'Til next time, Aegis Ursario!" With another few flaps of his wings, the bat Faunus quickly ascended out of reach as he turned and flew away.

Aegis leapt onto a nearby roof top in an attempt to follow the White Fang agent, but it was already too late. "Ah #," seethed Aegis as he slammed his fist into a nearby chimney. 'I can't believe there was still another agent running around out there,' he thought as he tried to calm himself, 'And now they've both gotten away.'

With a final glance at the bat Faunus shrinking in the distance, Aegis hopped down from the roof and began the walk back to the Belladona's. 'I hope we have better luck finding volunteers than I've had at catching people tomorrow,' he mused, 'We're gonna need it.'

Mistral: The City Streets

'Well this is a great start,' thought Qrow as he walked along the partially crowded street, 'That last bar usually has at least one huntsman in it from what I heard. But today there was hardly anyone in there period.' Pulling out his scroll, Qrow opened up a list of names, some of which already had lines through them.

'Good thing I compiled a long list,' he thought to himself as he tapped the name of the person he'd been looking for. A line crossed through the name as he moved to the next one on the list. 'At least this next one's supposed to be in a nicer part of town,' he thought as he glanced at a map of Mistral he also had on his scroll before slipping it back into his shirt pocket. Qrow then proceeded to turn a corner as he headed towards his next destination.

'Come on already,' thought Qrow as he checked a few more names off of his list, 'I've checked almost this entire part of the city!' With a sigh of irritation, Qrow put his scroll away and retrieved his flask, once again downing its contents as he continued to walk. 'At this point I'd be happy stumble-Woo!' Qrow was forced to right himself as his foot caught on the wheel of a motorcycle.

"Oh, who in the world parked a motorcycle right in front of….huh?" Putting his flask back in his pocket, Qrow took a quick moment to examine the bike he'd tripped over. It was a brown motorcycle he'd seen only a couple places before. What was more interesting was it was parked next to a second white motorcycle. A cruiser style which had been modified for forest conditions.

"I don't believe it," Qrow thought aloud, "Did you two troublemakers actually make it?" Figuring he had some time to spare, Qrow stepped into the bar style restaurant the bikes had been parked in front of. Taking a quick look around, he noticed that like so many other places lately, this one seemed to only have a few customers. 'Guess you guys aren't up front,' thought Qrow as he approached the bartender, a blue-haired woman.

"Excuse me," Said Qrow as he attempted to get the woman's attention, "I got a question about those two bikes out front."

"The owner's aren't selling them if that's what you're wondering," stated the bartender.

"Actually I was hoping you could just point me in their direction," Said Qrow, "I'm something of a friend of theirs."

"They did mention they were looking for a few folks," remarked the bartender as she pointed her thumb at a table in the corner, "Those two kids in the booth back there, they've had a bit of a day so don't be surprised if they seem a little jumpy."

"I'll keep that in mind," replied Qrow as he headed for the table she'd indicated. But as he approached, he noticed something distinctly wrong. One of the occupants was wearing a black beanie and some type of track hoodie with purple hair covering 'her' left eye. And while the other occupant possessed ears, they weren't bear ears but rather black cat ears. He also wore a faded white jacket which looked like it had had something erased off of the back of it.

"Excuse me," said Qrow as he walked up to the so-called 'owners' of the bikes, "But would you mind telling me how you came into possession of those two motorcycles out there?"

"Who wants to," The cat-eared boy started to say while turning around, revealing that he was wearing a pair of shades. But the moment he caught sight of Qrow, he froze. "Qrow Branwen?" Questioned the boy.

"Who?" Asked the girl as she looked up quizzically at Qrow.

"I asked first," Said Qrow as he gripped his weapon, "How did you two come across those bikes?"

"This may be a bit hard to believe," said the boy, "But they were actually lent to us, in order to help us get here."

"You're right about one thing," Said Qrow, "I am having a hard time believing that. You see I know the guys who own those bikes."

"Wayne and Aegis Ursario right," Said the girl, "They were heading here when they ran into us."

"And what were you two doing when they ran into you, come to think of it who are you two anyway?"

"May Zedong," replied the girl, "If you were watching the Vytal festival I was on team BRNZ, the one from Shade Academy. We fought that JNPR team from Beacon."

"Hmm," Said Qrow as he put a hand to his chin, "Now that you mention it, I recalled you all got your hind ends handed to ya."

"Don't remind me," Said May as she pulled her beanie a little lower over her head.

"And what about you panther ears," Said Qrow, "Who are you supposed to be?"

"Someone you'd understandably be suspicious of," Said the boy as he removed his sunglasses. His face had burn marks going across his eyes and the top of his nose, in many respects it looked almost like war paint. "My name is Drake Beller," he said, "A former Lieutenant in the organization known as the White Fang, an organization I now oppose."

"And why should I believe you oppose them?" Asked Qrow, his hand still on his weapon.

"Because of this," Said Drake as he pulled up a video on his scroll and showed it to Qrow. After a moment of loading, an image of Wayne and Aegis appeared on the screen. The two huntsman in training looked a bit worse for ware, but otherwise okay.

"Hey Ruby," began Wayne as the recording started to play, "And Jaune, Nora, Ren, and whoever else has made it to Haven so far. First I'd like to say sorry we aren't there yet, but Aegis and I have got a bit of a detour to make."

"And by that he means we got to jump to two separate continents," Aegis said, "With some help from a scary lady. But don't worry, we'll be coming back with more of our friends."

"In the meantime," Said Wayne, "This is Drake and May, they've got some very valuable data that needs to get to Haven Academy. Data that the White Fang tried killing us all over. So we've lent them our bikes, seeing how we're using another means of travel."

"So try to play nice and all that," Said Aegis, "We went through a lot of trouble to make sure these guys are still alive."

"And try not to worry too much," Said Wayne, "We're still heading towards Haven, it just might take a slight bit more time than we thought. With luck, our next message will be in person."

"And don't forget to save me some honey," Said Aegis with a wave, "'Cause the Ursarios are coming to Haven Academy!" The video ended then as Drake returned his scroll to his pocket.

"Wayne and Aegis Ursario saved our lives," he explained, "If not for them, my former partner Exo likely would've killed us a while ago."

"And it would not have been pretty," Said May, "Especially if he let that umbrella toting Neapolitan girl take a couple of stabs at us."

"Neo," Said Qrow as he released his weapon, "Alright if they sent her, then maybe there is something to that data. Mind if I see it?" Drake handed him the scroll and pointed out the file for Qrow. It only took the veteran huntsman a few moments to look over it for him to know it was real enough.

"Alright," he finally said as he tossed the scroll back to Drake, "At least that part of your story checks out."

"The Ursario's also gave us a few specific instructions for when we arrived, besides delivering the data," Explained Drake. "He asked us to keep an eye out for the group lead by the girl in the red hood, Ruby Rose I believe. We even sent word out to the Mistral air patrols to keep an eye out for any newcomers matching their description."

"So that's why those airships came out for us," Said Qrow as he crossed his arms, "Well one last question then, what was your plan once you found them?"

May and Drake both sighed before one of them spoke up. "Well you see we were both there when Beacon fell," Said May, "After seeing all that, fighting through that nightmare. I guess we just want to find a way to keep it from happening again."

"And even though we managed to get the data delivered," said Drake, "We haven't been granted any kind of an audience with the headmaster of Haven. And any time we ask how we can help, we just get sent out on another scouting mission."

"Hmm," Qrow hummed as he pondered everything that he'd just heard. "You say you want to help," Said Qrow, "How well can you handle yourselves in a fight?"

Drake was about to answer when the bartender called back in their direction. "Hey sure shot," said the bartender, "Those pricks from earlier are back, and they brought friends."

The three of them glanced out the window at where the bartender was pointing. Sure enough, a large number of thugs were approaching the restaurant/bar. On closer inspection, a couple of them had bruises on their faces. "Oh not these guys again," said May as she and Drake stood up.

"Friends of yours?" Asked Qrow as they headed for the entrance.

"These guys made the unwise decision of hitting on the bartender, and May," Answered Drake as he turned to May, "Looks like you didn't knock enough sense into 'em the first time."

"Actually this is perfect," Said Qrow with a slight smirk, "You two say you want to help. Take out these guys and you're in."

"And your meal will be on the house," added the bartender, "I've had it up to here with those guys."

"Well how can we refuse that," said Drake as he and May grabbed their weapons and headed out the door. The thugs stopped advancing the moment they set foot outside, sizing up the two people blocking their path.

"I hear you two roughed up a pair of my guys," Said a large bearded man, likely the head thug.

"Actually it was just her," Said Drake as he pointed a thumb at May, who nodded.

"You're drunk friends were trying to tear up the place while we were eating," Said May, "And they needed to learn about giving a girl her personal space."

"They were just having a bit of fun," Said the thug leader, "But thanks to you, Benny's missing a tooth and Brit's eye's swollen shut. And you got to understand, I can't just let something like that slide, not when it comes my gang."

"You may want to make an exception this time," Said Drake, "Unless you want the rest of the gang to have matching bruises."

The head thug actually laughed at that until he realized that Drake wasn't joking. "Beat 'em down boys," he said, "Then we're raiding this place once we're done with 'em." The rest of the thugs complied as they charged forward, wielding a number of assorted blunt weapons. Drake and May simply rolled their eyes at the advancing thug's unwise decision.

As the first thug came in range, Drake knocked him back with a claw swipe at his face before kicking the next thug down into some of the others. May ducked a swing from a pole one of the thugs was carrying as she elbowed him in the ribs. The thug yelped in pain as May moved past him and butted the next thug in the face with her rifle before whirling and kicking the first thug's legs out from under him. Both went down as the two fighters rushed into the main group of thugs.

Qrow smirked a bit as he watched what was definitely a 'very' uneven match up. Drake was no amateur in his hand to hand. In fact he hadn't even touched the sword hanging at his hip while he messed up these unfortunate thugs with a series of claw strikes and kicks. As for May, her self-control was impressive considering all she had to do was flip her rifle over where the blade was. Not that she needed it as she used her rifle's stock to knock her unfortunate victims over the head or sweep their legs out from under their feet.

Qrow moved to the side as one of the unfortunate thugs was sent flying through the air by a kick from Drake into a barrel that was right behind him. "Oh that tears it," Said the thug leader as he pulled out a rather large pistol from his coat. But his draw was far slower than Drake, who finally detached his weapon from his hip and sliced clean through the pistol.

The head thug reared back in surprise as he glanced at his destroyed weapon. May took the opportunity to swing her rifle at his legs, knocking the thug to the ground. "Hey wait just a-," the thug tried to say, but was interrupted by Drake drawing his second sword and holding it to his throat.

"You should consider yourself extremely lucky," Said Drake, allowing some of his old menace into his voice, "Had you tried this a few months ago, I would've just killed you." The head thug looked like he wanted to speak, but was too scared to get any words out.

"Alright I think he gets the point," Said Qrow as he walked down off the restaurant's porch.

"Just thought he ought to know," Replied Drake as he sheathed his second sword and knocked the thug in the head with the handle of his weapon. With a groan the thug fell unconscious as Drake stepped back towards Qrow. May did the same, but not before stepping on the head thug on the way over.

"Alright," Said Qrow, "Not too shabby, maybe ease off of the intimidation factor until it's absolutely necessary. But otherwise, pretty good work."

"But are we in?" Asked May as she slung her rifle over her shoulder and crossed her arms. Qrow pretended to contemplate the question for a few seconds before finally answering.

"Alright," he finally said as he pulled out a couple sheets of paper with a list of items on one of them. "You're both in so long as you do one more little thing for me first."

"And what would that be?" Asked Drake as he raised an eyebrow quizzically. Qrow handed him the list as he explained.

"I need you to go and pick up this list of food items," said Qrow, "I still got a long list of my own to take care of and there's no telling how many people I'll be bringing back with me."

"So our first job as part of your little world-saving group is grocery shopping," Questioned May as she looked the list over.

"You can handle it," Said Qrow as he turned to leave, "And believe me, at least a couple of them will be a lot more trusting of you if you show up with a lot of food. Oh and I included the address of where we're staying with that list, so try not to get lost." Qrow headed off after that, leaving a slightly confused Drake and May standing in front of the restaurant.

"Well I suppose it's not the worst thing we've had to deal with in the last few months," said May as they started walking.

"Just so long as he doesn't make me wear anything stupid on my ears, I'll live with it," Replied Drake.

Team RNJR's Haven Residence: One Long Shopping Trip Later

To say the members of team RNJR were wiped out was something of an understatement. They'd been training most of the day and hadn't had anything to eat, mainly because everyone was too tired to get up and make anything just yet. A sudden knock at the door, however, meant someone was gonna have to get up whether they liked it or not.

"Oh whose turn is it to get the door," groaned Nora as she shifted to get more comfortable on the couch.

"I got the door last time," replied Jaune as he pointed weakly at Ren, "I think it's Ren's turn."

"I answered the door earlier when the letter carrier came," replied Ren, who was sitting in something of a meditative pose, "I believe it's Ruby's turn."

"Oh but I'm at the best part," complained Ruby as she set her comic book down.

"You can pick up where you left off," Jaune pointed out, "Besides, we all agreed to take turns answering the door."

"Oh fiiiine!" Said Ruby as she picked herself up off the couch and headed toward the door. The visitor knocked on the door yet again as Ruby approached. "Coming," Said Ruby as she grabbed the door handle and opened the door, "You didn't forget your key did you Unc-."

Ruby stopped speaking as she got a look at who was actually knocking at the door. "Uh, can we help you?" She questioned. In the door frame stood a panther Faunus wearing large shades and a purple-haired girl wearing a beanie on her head.

"Ruby Rose," Said Drake as he held out his hand, "A pleasure to finally meet you. Wayne Ursario speaks very highly of you."

And here they are, Drake and May are finally back in the fold. But how will team RNJR take to the presence of the two newcomers? Now, onto the important issues. First off, I'd like to apologize for getting this chapter out later than I meant too. Life's kept me a bit busy this week, and the chapter turned out longer than expected. I'd also like to say thank you to all my readers who've waited patiently for this latest chapter. Feel free to come on in next time as Wayne, Weiss, and Yang have a rather tense discussion with the bandit leader mother of the year. 'Til next time.