And I'm back with another chapter. I'll spoil it a bit and say that there's not much going on. If that doesn't turn you away, then enjoy the chapter.
To Better (K)nights
҉¯`•.¸¸.•´¯? ¯`•.¸¸.•´¯҉
"Do you have any news?" Cinder asked, not bothering to look from the map of Vale that was in front of her. Emerald and Mercury could only flinch before the grey assassin stepped back and motioned for Emerald to step up. The thief gave the assassin a cold glare before Cinder spoke up again. "Well?"
"W-well ma'am…our lead about who kill Torchwick went cold." Emerald said, taking a moment to wait and see what Cinder would do. When the woman motioned for her to continue, the thief let out a sigh of relief. "We've also managed to contact Adam again. He's still angry about losing so many members but has agreed to meet with you to discuss any future plans…if only to decide on what the White Fang are going to do."
"And what of Roman's replacement?" Cinder asked, getting Emerald to look back at Mercury, to which the assassin took a step back and raised both hands.
"There's currently a power struggle between many of the crime lords in Vale. With news of Torchwick's death, many of them have been trying to expand into his territory. We've managed to get a rough guess as to who the best candidate would be."
"Have you made any contact?" Cinder asked.
"Not yet, but Emerald and I are planning to pay each of them a visit." Mercury said, getting a nod from Cinder.
"Good. I expect favorable results." The woman said, getting an affirmative 'Ma'am!' from the two teens before they left her alone. Once she was sure that she was alone, Cinder let out a heavy sigh before standing up straight. "It seems I have get involved myself."
҉¯`•.¸¸.•´¯Vale Streets (With Blake)¯`•.¸¸.•´¯҉
"So…what are we going to do now?" Nora asked, getting the group to stop and look at her. The group had left the rundown and nearly abandoned streets and entered a more bustling part of Vale where there were more people walking around. The bomber looked back and waited, letting the silence between them grow awkward until Ruby decided to speak.
"I guess we can try and look for Weiss." The reaper said before she pulled out her scroll. "That shop owner did say that Jaune ran into her right?" There was a round of agreement before Ruby dialed Weiss' number, putting the call on speaker when it began to ring.
"Hello, Weiss Schnee speaking, may I ask who's calling?" Ruby couldn't help but roll her eyes when she heard the heiress' answer.
"Weiss, it's me. You have my number" Ruby said, getting an audible sigh from Weiss.
"I know it's you, but proper etiquette dictates that I ask." Weiss answered, "Now, why are you calling?"
"Heard that you ran into Jaune." Yang said, getting a moment of silence from Weiss.
"Who told you that?" Weiss asked, her voice telling everyone that she was surprised.
"We were with Blake when Jaune called the shop owner she took us to." Pyrrha said. Another moment of silence passed before Weiss spoke up again.
"So, what do you want?" The Heiress asked.
"Where are you?" Ruby asked. "We couldn't meet Jaune, so we decided to call you."
"A shopping area just at the edge of Vale's Commercial District, bordering the residential." Weiss answered, getting everyone to look at one another before Yang pointed to the south.
"Well, just wait wherever you are, we're on our way." Ruby said, getting heavy sigh from Weiss through the call.
"Very well…" The Heiress answered before Ruby hung up. The group shared a look with one another before Ruby pointed towards the south.
"Now then, we're off to find Weiss." The reaper said.
"What about Jaune?" Nora asked, getting Ruby to stop and look back.
"If Weiss ran into him, then she could tell us where it happened, and we can search around there." Blake answered, getting a round of nods from the others before they began to walk away.
'My only question is what Jaune's doing.' The Faunus thought as she followed behind Ruby.
-With Jaune-
"So, Junior's looking to step up?" A man said, getting Jaune to nod. He has already visited and talked a good amount of shop owners who had pledged their support to Junior, some of them expressing some relief upon hearing that the club owner was looking to take charge.
"Yes, sir. He asked me to see if you, as well as everyone else around here, are willing to support him." Jaune repeated, getting an amused snort from the shop owner.
"Well, he can have it. Junior's covered for me many times." Jaune nodded at the answer before he pulled out a small notebook and wrote the name of the shop and turned to leave. "Hold on," The blonde stopped and looked back to see the man holding up a hand before walking behind the counter and ducking behind it. After a few seconds, the man rose up again and slammed down a large case on the counter. "Here, when you meet up with him again, give him this." Jaune took a second to look at the case before lifting it up.
"What is it?" Jaune said, getting the man to chuckle before he moved around the counter and adjusted the case, grabbing it and moving towards Jaune's back.
"Junior decided to have his weapon modified." The man said as he strapped the case to Jaune's back. "It was a bit strange he didn't ask that other Atlesian to do for him, but I wasn't about to turn him down." At that, Jaune raised an eyebrow.
"Other Atlesian?" Jaune asked, getting the man to stop and look at him.
"You might have seen her shop, has the name 'Lady Fyre's' on it." Seeing Jaune's surprised face, the man smiled as he finished strapping the case to the blonde. "From what I've seen, those two have some kind of history. After all, Junior's also Atlesian so they might have known each other before." Jaune nodded slowly at that before he gave the man a wave and left. As the blonde turned the corner, he was met with a pair of mismatched eyes.
"I was wondering where you went." Jaune said, getting the girl to blink before she pointed to case on Jaune's back. "This?" Jaune asked, getting a nod. "This is Junior's weapon." The girl tilted her head for a second before holding her hand out. Jaune immediately took a step back raised his hands up, getting the girl to narrow her eyes. "I'm not handing it over." Jaune said, taking another step back when the girl stretched out her hand. The two stared at one another before girl let out a sigh and lowered her hand, shaking her head before looking at Jaune again.
Before Jaune could move, he felt a foot plant itself on his stomach. Watching as if the world itself was moving slower, Jaune saw the girl reach up and undo the latch that kept the weapon on his back before he was sent rolling across the ground. Looking up from his position, Jaune saw the girl open the case and pull out what seemed to be a large club. Dropping the case to the floor, the girl hefted the weapon onto her shoulder before aiming it at Jaune. Before the blonde's eyes, the club transformed into a bazooka, a sinister smile appearing on the girl's face as she readied the weapon.
"Do it and I'll make sure you never get Roman's cane!" Jaune said, getting the girl to stop and lower the weapon a bit. Jaune saw her narrow her eyes again before she lifted the bazooka back up. Moving quickly, Jaune pulled out his scroll and called the number he used, putting the call on speaker once it began to ring.
"Blondie?" The girl didn't lower the weapon this time but motioned for Jaune to talk.
"Hey Pyre, any news about Roman's cane?" The blonde asked, getting an annoyed sigh in response.
"It told you I'm looking into it. I just checked in with one of the other weaponsmiths and they told me who might have it." Pyre said, getting Jaune to smile. The girl lowered the weapon this time, enough that it was no longer resting on her shoulder. "I'm actually getting ready to head over there. Why?"
"Just wanting to check in, I figured it wasn't going to take long after I made that first call." Jaune answered, getting a hum from Pyre.
"Well, if you're that interested, then why don't you come back? I'll be leaving thirty minutes after I get ready."
"Sure. Let me finish up what I'm doing, and I'll head straight back." Jaune said, getting another hum.
"And to whoever's forcing you to call…I wouldn't get to forceful." Pyre said, getting Jaune to look at the scroll. "Do anything drastic, and I'll have that cane stripped for parts." Jaune said nothing as the call went dead, causing him to put his scroll away.
"So? Still feel like doing anything?" Jaune asked, getting the girl to narrow her eyes before she transformed the bazooka into a club again and dropped it into the case that was holding it. The blonde didn't get up from the ground until the girl closed the case and kicked it over to him. There was a moment of silence before Jaune reached for the case, keeping his eyes on the girl as he tried to reattach it to his back. A minute of failing was enough to cause the girl let out an audible sigh before she began to walk over. Jaune stiffened when he saw her approaching but loosened up when the girl fluidly reattached the case to his back.
Another moment of silence followed before the girl rolled her eyes and turned around. Jaune didn't say anything but began to follow her, making sure to keep some distance between the two of them.
"You sure they're calling for a meeting now?" Hearing that, Jaune stopped and looked to his right to see a pair of Faunus currently talking to one another. It was clear that they were trying to keep to themselves, but Jaune felt like they were just attracting more attention.
"Positive. With everyone that was lost during that last mission, Adam's calling for everyone to meet up." One of the Faunus answered.
"Do you think he has another plan?" The second asked, getting a nod from the first.
"I don't doubt it. Hopefully this one won't involve working with another human."
"Well…should we get going now?"
"Yeah, follow me. And make sure we're not being followed." As the two started to leave, Jaune couldn't help but let out a watch. Taking a step forward, the blonde voiced his thoughts.
"Pretty sure that if Blake were here, she'd want to follow after them to see what's going on." Jaune said before he felt a hand grab his shoulder. Without a word, the girl pulled him back before stepping past him. Just as Jaune opened his mouth to say something, the girl shattered into glass, leaving him alone on the streets. Looking around, Jaune pulled out his scroll when it vibrated, showing a new message.
Get me that cane and I'll look after them.
Jaune looked at the message before looking towards the direction the two Faunus walked off. After thinking for a moment, Jaune pocketed his scroll and continued on his way back to Junior's.
҉¯`•.¸¸.•´¯Vale Square (With Blake)¯`•.¸¸.•´¯҉
"I was wondering when you were going to get here." Weiss said, as Blake and the others approached.
"It's not like we were across the street." Yang said, before she, and the others, stopped and looked at Weiss.
"What?" Weiss said when she noticed everyone looking at her.
"Didn't expect you of all people to dress like that." Yang said, pointing at Weiss' clothes. The Heiress simply crossed her arms and turned away before turning back to glare at the blonde.
"If you must know, my clothes are currently at the cleaners and Blake left some of her clothes behind." Weiss said, getting everyone to look at the Faunus.
"What? It's not like I have to wear the same thing every day." Blake said, narrowing her eyes at the others. There was a mix of shrugs and back of the head rubs before Blake spoke up again.
"Back on topic…" The Faunus said, refocusing her attention on Weiss. "…we heard that you ran into Jaune." At that, Weiss let out a scoff.
"Please, you make it sound like we had an actual conversation." The Heiress said, but it seemed like the Ruby didn't listen.
"Where?" Weiss stayed silent at that but cast a quick look at Ruby. "Weiss, please. Where did you see Jaune?"
"We ran into each other at a place called Junior's." Weiss said, getting a snort from Yang.
"You went to Junior's?" The blonde asked. This caused everyone to look at her in either confusion or surprise before Yang lazily crossed her arms. "Looks like you're full of surprises today."
"I take if you're familiar with the place?" Weiss asked, getting Yang to smirk. When the blonde kept silent, Ruby decided to answer.
"From what I was told, Junior has a history of dealing with information." Yang said, with a shrug. "I thought I'd try my luck at finding someone." The blonde said before Ruby let out a sigh.
"Yang actually beat up the club owner and few of his men." The Reaper explained, getting everyone to stare at the blonde.
"It's not my fault Junior wasn't able to take a joke. I was in the right to defend myself after he sent his guys after me." There were no words for what the blonde said, leading her to shrug again. "But since I know where Junior's club is, we won't be running around. C'mon, I'll take the lead." Yang said, turning around and waving for the others to follow. There was a moment of nervous eye contact from the others before they began to follow Yang. As Blake began to take a step, a hand catching her wrist made her stop and look back to see Nora looking at her.
"Did you ever give Jaune that paper thing?" The ginger asked, getting Blake to look away before shaking her head.
"Not yet." The Faunus answered, getting a nod from Nora before she loosened her grip on Blake's hand.
"We should hurry after the others." Nora said, before she walked past Blake, pulling her along when she got far enough.
҉¯`•.¸¸.•´¯ Junior's (With Jaune)¯`•.¸¸.•´¯҉
"So, you're back." Junior said when he saw Jaune walking through his club's doors again.
"Yeah." Jaune said as he pulled out the small notebook he used and placed it on Junior's counter along with the weapons case on his back. "Here, I wrote down the shops of everyone who gave you support. One of the owners also gave me this and said it was yours." Jaune said, motioning to the case. Junior took a second to eye the case before opening it and smiling. Pulling out the club, Junior jumped over the counter and gave it a few good swings before transforming it into a bazooka and taking aim.
"Ah, welcome back Pinot Noir*." Junior said before he changed the weapon back into a club and hefted onto his shoulder. Turning around and bringing out the small notebook Jaune gave him, Junior looked over the names before nodding. "Nice work kid. I'll send a few of my guys out and talk to these people. Here, take this." The man said before he placed some Lien down. Jaune raised an eyebrow at that, getting Junior to shake his head. "Payment for names. Can't exactly have people going around and say I don't pay for work."
"You really don't need to-" Jaune started.
"Just take it." Junior cut in, getting Jaune to look at the money before taking it. "Now, if you don't mind, me and my boys have some work to do." Jaune immediately took the hint and nodded before backed away from the counter.
"If you need help…" Jaune said, getting a dismissive wave from Junior. Shrugging at the man, Jaune fully turned around and walked out of the club, taking a second to let two teens walk past him.
"Hei Xiong?" Junior let out a heavy sigh before he turned around and was greeted to two teens smirking at him. "We'd like to talk."
҉¯`•.¸¸.•´¯Lady Fyre's¯`•.¸¸.•´¯҉
"There, you are." Pyre said, uncrossing her arms when she saw Jaune slowing down his jog as he approached. "You finished Junior's little errand?"
"Yeah. I'm came back as soon as I was done." Jaune said before he noticed what Pyre was wearing. It was basically the same as the night before, but the warm colors of her clothes replaced with cooler ones. Pyre smirked a bit before patting Jaune on the back.
"Well, at least you're getting to know people." The Faunus said. "C'mon, the sooner we meet with this guy, the better. And here," Pyre said, taking a second to turn around, throwing out her hand in the process. Jaune took a second to process what she said before he felt something hit his chest and fall into his hands. Looking down, Jaune saw that it was a tactical belt with a few magazines of Dust bullets and his gun, the slide wasn't the stainless steel be remembered but a was now blue. "I'm still fixing a few pieces, so I had to use a few spares laying around." Pyre said, getting Jaune to nod before he wrapped it around his waist.
"Is a weapon really necessary?" the blonde asked.
"You have no idea." Pyre responded as she led Jaune down the street.
And there we have it. This was surprisingly easier to write than the last chapter, but it's mainly because it was a bit of a build up chapter. I do try to put as much information into a chapter without overdoing it, but with a self-imposed limit of around 3,000 words I'm often fussing over what I should add. Some minor details aren't needed, but I'm not exactly one that keeps 'Chekhov's Gun' on his mind when writing.
Anyway, I thought that I'd add a few details that weren't there; like Junior being from Atlas just because. I'll likely add a more details like that since I'm not even sure what's considered 'canon' aside from the show and I'd rather not get everything mixed up. I know a few people will try and tell me, but I'm just going to go off the show for the most part so please don't bother.
Either way, I'll try and pick up the story's pace in the next chapter. Hopefully, I can get some action in if not progress things so Jaune and leave Vale.
Until next time, see ya!
* Pinot Noir is a type of red wine. Since I thought Junior's club looked like a wine bottle from Yang's trailer, I looked up a few names. Apparently, this wine is good with either Sushi or Salmon.
P.S. To the asshole who PM'd me and told me how bad I am compared to someone like Cour Al'Aran…fuck off. I know he's not reviewing other people's stories but don't act like you're on the same level as him. Especially when you have NO stories on your profile and over 1000 stories in your favorites.