Dear Reader,

You know what my favorite scene in all of RWBY was? It was that short little scene at the beginning of vol 4 where the blacksmith is thanking team RNJR for helping their village. Its pretty short but it implies so much. That the team were there for a while, that they became friends with the towns people, and when they got Jaune's armor instead of money it tells us they did it because of more than money. I like that a lot. I love the idea of team RNGR wandering around being heroes and making friends with towns. Today's chapter is as if you took the 'making friends' part of that scene and blew it up into a chapter. I'm just a sucker for dialogue. I'm not the best righter in the world, but damn do I love in character dialogue. There are several parts in this fic that I could have just skipped over with some kind of line break or transition, but I couldn't help it. I'd rather they talk and walk than smash cut, even if its only a few lines.

From,

Clevnar

Chapter 2: The Drive Back to Crusot

First light begins to chase away the dark blues of the night sky, leaving in it's absence a lighter hue and the soft oranges before the golden sunrise. Drops of dew collected on blades of grass and waxy leaves reflect the first rays of light. The hardy frontier farmers of Libourne are out in their fields doing their morning chores, already awake before first light. The sleepier residents of Libourne just begin to wake up and start their morning routine. In the heart of town in a second story bedroom bundled up tightly in blankets and comforters Ruby Rose sleeps. Her scroll silently counts down to her six thirty alarm. A gentle piano plays a soothing melody for all of ten seconds.

"Maybe it's red like roses!", the alarm screams, a loud and jarring transition from the beautiful piano of only seconds earlier. A pale arm slaps down on the nightstand missing the scroll and stinging Ruby's palm. "Maybe it's the pool of blood!", the alarm's choir sings. A troubled groan is pulled out of Ruby's mouth as she gropes blindly for her scroll on her nightstand. Her pinky finger hooks the charging cable and pulls the scroll towards her. "The innocent will lay in when in the end you failed to save them!", the cruel alarm mocked. The scroll gets dragged over the edge of the nightstand but as the scroll's weight swings down it pulls itself out of the charger and slides into the crack between the nightstand and the bedframe. The crack the scroll makes as it hits the hardwood floor sounds expensive. "Shoot", Ruby whispers to herself as she rolls over and looks down the crack to find her scroll. "Their dying eyes!", the alarm screams again from under the bed. Ruby sees the corner of her scroll and moves her head out of the way so she can reach down. "Are wide and white like snow and now they know the cost of trusting you is obliteration", the alarm sings with panicked speed, as if afraid to be caught. Ruby's fingers scratch against the dusty floor as she feels for her scroll. Her middle finger bumps against it and pushes it further under the bed. "Are you kidding me", Ruby whispers to herself as she tries to cram herself in between the nightstand and bed to reach further down. "Mirrors will shatter!", the alarm sings drawing out its words as if it were celebrating its escape.

"Ruby", a deep croaky voice speaks up from a sleeping bag in the corner. Jaune's head tilts towards Ruby's bed to give her a glare. His eyes are squinted shut so tightly they might not have been open. "If you don't get your alarm I'm going to break your scroll", Jaune growled out, "Arc's word!" Ruby didn't turn to look at Jaune but scoffed at his words anyway. Giving up trying to reach for her scroll Ruby slung her blankets aside and got on her hands and knees to reach under the bed. She wore a big green shirt too many sizes too big to be her own and a pair of Yang's workout shorts. In faded letters in black on the front of the shirt it said "Signal Kickball Champions", and on the back it had a list of all the players. "Crushed by the weight of the world!", the alarm sang somberly, as if aware of its incoming capture. Fighting through the dust and lint Ruby grabbed her scroll and finally turned off her alarm. For a moment she stood there with the scroll in hand offended at how much effort it took to turn off that alarm. Briefly she considered just climbing back in bed. Briefly she considered blasting the alarm back in Jaune's ear. Her sense of responsibility beat both desires. Instead she grabbed a change of clothes and her toiletries.

"If you're not awake by the time I get back I'm getting the whistle", Ruby warned. Instead of acknowledging her Jaune pulled the hood up over his head on his bunny onesie and curled up in his sleeping bag. She stepped over him and headed to the bathroom down the hall. She hummed the rest of the song she set as her alarm. The bathroom was already locked and Ruby could hear the shower running inside. After a handful of minutes Nora walked out of her room and joined Ruby in line for the bathroom. She wore an oversized black hoodie with Beacon's big neon green emblem over the heart and on the back, and a pair of pink shorts. They greeted each other quietly with tired smiles. Ruby kept humming and Nora decided to make a game of trying to guess the song. After another handful of minutes Ren came out of the bathroom fully dressed.

"Good morning Ruby", Ren nodded towards Ruby, "and hello Nora" he smiled briefly.

"You miss me?", Nora jokingly asked. Ren raised an eyebrow and tilted his head a little.

"Sure?", Ren shrugged, chewing his smile down before it could spread on his face. Nora gasped offended and slapped his shoulder. Ruby smiled at their little display and went into the bathroom. Fifteen minutes later she came out fully dressed and refreshed.

"Oh my gods Nora!", Ruby exclaimed, "I missed you so much!" Ruby dashed in and swept Nora up in a hug.

"Ruby Rose!", Nora gasped, she hugged Ruby tighter, "Its been so long it feels like I haven't seen you in years!". Two shared a laugh and went their separate ways. Ruby headed back to her room. Leaning in the open doorway Ren having a one-sided conversation with Jaune doing a log impression.

"C'mon Jaune get up, If you don't Ruby's going to get the whistle", Ren looked over his shoulder to see Ruby in the hallway with crossed arms and a raised eyebrow "Too late, I warned you". Ruby walked past Ren into her room to see Jaune curled up even tighter in his sleeping bag making every effort he could to stay asleep.
"Last chance Jaune", Ruby taunted. She kicked his sleeping bag lightly. "I'm getting the whistle Jaune", she said again. That finally got a reaction out of him. Jaune groaned and moaned but wormed his way out of his sleeping bag. He rubbed the sleep from his eyes, pushed the hood of his onesie back off his head. The blue bunny ears flopped down his back.

"You", Jaune pointed an accusatory finger at Ruby. Ruby kept her arms crossed and both her eyebrows raised. Jaune stood there for a second fishing for words in his foggy brain. None came and instead he collected what he needed and headed to the bathroom. Ruby and Ren smiled as Jaune's bunny feet squeaked away and his puffy bunny tail bounced back and forth.

"Me?", Ruby asked smiling and turning to Ren. Ren smiled without teeth and slowly shook is had back and forth.

"You", Ren said still shaking his head. "Want to get breakfast?", he suggested.

After a quick breakfast the team gathered their gear and set off for the townhall. Walking down the streets they noticed many of the towns residence already awake and going about their day. Children were playing games before school, parents were taking care of household chores, and deputies were already patrolling town. Townhall was a three story cinderblock fort with a large flagpole on top displaying the flag of Vale, Beacon, and of the town. Past a set of heavy wooden double doors they entered into a waiting room that smelled like fresh paint. The walls were a yellowish cream color and decorated with realistic paintings of previous mayors. A well dressed receptionist smiled at them and directed them the mayor's office. Mayor Otto Tulip was engraved in a gold placard on the office door. Ruby took a breath and knocked.

"Come in", a horse voice called in from inside and the team entered. An overweight elderly man sat behind a large desk. His desk was covered in neat stacks of papers and old pictures of friends and family. He wore a blue suit blazer over a white button up shirt. He leaned forward as he waved them in and his belly bulged with the movement. He was clean shaven and a wispy white combover hiding his balding head. He stood up with great effort out of his plush chair and held out a hand towards them.

"You all mus' be the young huntsmen Navy told me about", he said slowly with emphasizing his words. He shook their hands as he spoke and then gestured for them to sit down.

"Yes sir, that's us, I'm Ruby Rose, this is Jaune Arc, Nora Valkyrie, and Lie Ren", Ruby said while pointing to each of her teammates. "We're looking for huntsmen work and were told that you'd have something for us?", she asked.

"Oh yes, I've got some work fer ya, But the betta' question is can ya' handle it", Mayor Tulip said challengingly. "You all are here for Bonehead correct?" he glanced up over the rim of his glasses and waited for their nods. "Well he's a tricky one and he's been a thorn in this town's side fer about ten yea's now, and he's put this town o' ours in a very delicate position" He steepled his fingers "Bonehead's new favorite hobby is to harass trucks comin' in an' outta Libourne, an' now no nearby towns want to trade with us, This wasn't always a problem, We used to be able to rely on trade with Vale, but… "the Mayor's face grimaced. The team's expressions weren't much better. "Ahem, Libourne is stuck, the town can't trade which means our farmers can't sell their surplus and we are flat empty on anything we can't make here, that means dust, medicine, ammunition, food, the list goes one" Mayor Tulip said as he counted off on his fingers. "We ar' at risk of an economical collapse!" he steepled his fingers once again, "The stakes for this town couldn't be higher, I just wanted you all to be aware of that", he wiped off his forehead with a handkerchief and then folded his hands again, "So let me ask you huntsmen, as a man concerned for his town, can I put my faith in you? That you'll save us from Bonehead?".

"You can count on us sir", Ruby said confidently. Ren and Nora exchanged a side eye over her head, her hero streak was triggered, there'd be no backing out now.

"I have a question sir", Jaune said raising a hand, "Do you think we could meet with any huntsmen with experience with Bonehead?", Jaune asked.

"Absolutely! You'll be wantin' the sheriff" Mayor Tulip leaned over to a phone on his desk and quickly punched in a number, he nodded at Jaune with a small smile approving of his question "Hello, would you min' gettin' me Sheriff Poire? Sheriff! How are you doing this mornin'? Well, I'm doing fine myself, hey listen would you min' doing me a favor? Well now hold on I know you're busy, but I've got four young huntsmen, yes the ones from last night, they're here for Bonehead!, Oh! Have a little faith in them! Well that's exactly why I called you, I was hoping you might have a little time today for them to ask you some questions about Bonehead?", Mayor Tulip gave the team a quick thumbs up, "Oh I'm sure they won't min', when? Alright they'll be there, ok don't sweat to death out there, goodbye", He hung up. "Good news you can meet Sheriff Poire right after this meeting, he's going to watching out for grimm in the barley field west of town"

"Great, we'll meet him there", Jaune smiled and clapped his hands together.

"You can count on us sir", Ruby said confidently. Ren and Nora gave each other another look and began to smile.

"So can I assume you all are accepting the mission?" Everyone looked between each other for a moment before agreeing.

"Wonderful!", Mayor Tulip stood up and shook their hands, "You're doing Libourne a huge service, good luck hunting". Jaune, Ren, and Nora left the office and hovered outside by the door as Ruby finalized the paperwork with the Mayor and discussed pay.

"So", Jaune began, "What do we think of the mission so far?"

"Its killing a Grimm", Nora dismissed, waving a lazy hand at Jaune, "So what if it runs away, we'll just kill it before it escapes". She planted both hands on her hips and shifted her weight to one side, "We literally fought The Grimm Dragon, Atlas Paladins, and the White Fang all in one night", she lightly backhanded Jaune's chest and smiled, "this is going to be a cake walk".

"Yeah, well…" Jaune trailed off. He didn't want to finished what he was going to say. He didn't need to as Nora's smile strained a little and Ren looked distantly towards the floor. They all remembered The Fall.

"Its not going to be that bad", Nora said much less confident than before, "that's completely different".

"Nora's right", Ren spoke up snapping himself out of his fog. The color slowly seemed to drain from his face as he spoke. "That was an anomaly", he said slowly and deliberately, "An organized attack that we nor the kingdom of Vale were able to stop, this is just a single Grimm, it has no support, it has no hidden schemes, and no way to sabotage us". Ren slowly regained his color and looked up to Jaune. "We can do this", he said determined. He turned to Nora and shared the same look with her, "Maybe it won't be a cake walk, but it will never be as bad as Beacon".

"Alright team, we're good to go", Ruby said smiling as she led the group out the building. The rest of the team followed behind her finishing their conversation with a shared look and no spoken words. "Lets go find Sheriff Poire", she spoke over her shoulder at them.

"We really should think about how we're going to fight this Bonehead", called Jaune catching up to Ruby, "I can't fly or shoot so unless we can ground it I'm not going to be able to do much"

"Yeah me too" Nora butted in, "Magnhild can shoot pretty high but not Nevermore high". Ren nodded as well.

"Well we can ground it?" Ruby shrugged, as much as a question as a statement. "When we fought that Nevermore in initiation we had Weiss to freeze it to the ground, and then we just hit it with everything we got, Hmm" Ruby rubbed her chin, "but Weiss isn't here".

"Maybe we can cripple its wings?", suggested Jaune "Maybe have Nora hit it in the shoulder and break it?"

"Yeah! I like that plan, but we'd still have to wait for it to land", Nora said.

"Then we set up some kind of trap or ambush, then we ground it, then its easy picking" Ruby smiled "sounds like a plan to me!"

The team chatted and strategized as they walked to the barely field. They spotted the sheriff leaning on a halberd looking at them from the field, he wore the same green uniform as the deputy from last night, but the hat was a Stetson and star badge on his breast said 'Sheriff' instead of 'Deputy'. He had a pair of cheap sunglasses on and a scruffy mustache. He looked one cup of coffee away from awake.

"So you're the team going after Bonehead huh?", Sheriff Poire asked, "I was hoping y'all would be a little taller"

"Hey! I'm still-", Ruby was interrupted by a swift elbow from Jaune, "Yeah that's us, Team RWBY!", another swift elbow from Jaune. "Not RWBY! But that's not important right now, we are the team". Ruby's face strained to make a confident smile, instead looking closer to awkward and constipated.

"I'm Jaune, this is Ruby, Ren, and Nora", Jaune said with a smile quickly cutting in for Ruby.

"Mhm, ok", Sheriff Poire dismissed unimpressed, "Well kids, you got questions for me, so shoot?"

"Oh um", Ruby quickly looked between her teammates but none of them spoke up, "got any advice?", she asked unsure. Sheriff Poire closed his eyes, as if taking an especially long blink. He reminded Ruby of Weiss, but not in a comforting way. How was this possible? She was doing so well with Mayor Tulip ten minutes ago, how'd she screw this up so fast?

"Well first of all don't listen to much of what everyone around town says about Bonehead, everyone calls him a coward or stupid or not dangerous, but that's not true, that's a propaganda tactic the mayor came up with years ago, but amongst us huntsmen it wouldn't due for you to be fooled too", Sheriff Poire stood up straight. "Let me quiz you kids on something, what's a country town's first line of defense?"

"Walls?", Ruby suggested.

"No, before that"

"Warning systems?", suggested Nora

"No, even before that"

"Grimm culls?", suggested Jaune

"Good guess, but you're thinking too much like huntsmen" Sheriff Poire smiled and crossed his arms around his halberd, "its good morale, good morale means no grimm are attracted to the town, and for a town like ours that's everything", he quickly scanned for anyone close by, "Like I said, the whole 'Bonehead the Coward' thing is a hoax, a clever piece of propaganda pushed by the mayor" he shook his head. "That thing is no coward, that thing is dangerous, It don't fight like no normal grimm, its smart" Sheriff Poire took off his sunglasses. "I've been watching that thing learn and grow for the last two months, and I'll be honest with you its starting to worry me, who knows how long before it figures out some kind of weakness in our defense, or grows strong enough to flatten us"

"How big is it now?", Ruby asked

"Hm, standing on the ground I'd say about as tall as a one story house, pretty big for a Nevermore but nothing like an alpha or ancient Nevermore", Sheriff Poire planted a hand on his waist and scratched his head in thought, "He ain't figured out how throw is feathers yet, and that's a blessing for sure, but he's armored more than usual for a Nevermore, Boneheads got this helmet thing around his head" he leaned his halberd against his shoulder as he motioned around his head "its not a solid piece, more like a bunch of pieces that all kinda fit together"

"Like scales?" Ruby asked trying to imagine it.

"Naw that's not it, more like a cracked sidewalk, but that ain't all", he started gesturing around his chest, "He's got the same thing around his chest, its not as solid, but its solid enough to keep that thing alive, a last summer before the SDC mine closed down, the man in charge of their security forces gifted us an RPG to help us kill that damn thing", Sheriff Poire spit on the ground, "Did a whole lotta nothing for us, that bastards foot was stuck through the roof of my truck, and one of my deputies missed him! He missed him by an inch, hit the side of my truck, and blew off Boneheads wing", Sheriff Poire stuck his head and growled, "if he'd have hit the damn thing I'd still have my old truck and if it weren't for that armor Bonehead would be dead, you should have seen the thing, no wing, half burned to death, and hole in his chest big enough for you to see his organs, it ended up just pecking off its own leg and running away"

"What if we tried to ground it?", asked Jaune.

"We've tried that once or twice, bear traps, worked for a bit but Bonehead just ripped out of it", the sheriff shook his head.

"Do you think it could work again?", Jaune shrugged

"I don't see why not, you just gotta kill it before it can escape", Sheriff Poire shrugged back.

"Do you know where it nests?", Ruby asked

"Not for sure but I've got a suspicion, there used to be a town called Germent to the north but it fell to raiders and grimm ten years ago, and I don't think it's a coincidence that Boneheads been hanging around ever since", He his weight to one leg, "I wouldn't recommend it though, no ones been there since and its bad manners to linger in dead towns for too long".

"Do you have any suggestions on what we should do?" asked Ruby

"Well I know Dr. Paprika was planning on driving to Crusot later, she asked I send a deputy with them just in case of grimm, why don't you kill two birds with one stone and go with her instead, you'll help Dr. Paprika out, and you've got a good chance of glimpsing Bonehead"

"Sure! Sounds great!" cheered Ruby

"Come with me I'll introduce you", Sheriff Poire turned towards one of the deputies in the field. He whistled and waved his hands and the deputy gave him a thumbs up in return. "Alright lets go", he said before he started to march off into town. The team was quick to follow. "The trip to Crusot ain't that bad, its just coming back that can be a little touchy, Bonehead figured out a while ago that humans can't see too well in the dark and ever since that's been its favorite time to attack, so you best keep your eyes peeled after dark"

"Does it attack like a normal Nevermore?", asked Ruby, "You know, like, pecking and biting?"

"Hmm, for the most part", Sheriff Poire scratched his head again as he tried to remember, "He jumps and flies a lot too, he ain't as awkward on the ground as a normal Nevermore, and he's not afraid to grab you either, Oh! And you know what else, it might sound crazy but I think he can recognize guns too, I guess he's been shot enough times to learn how to dodge".

"That doesn't sound too bad, right?", Ruby turned to look at the rest of the team, "some grimm already do that, don't they?", Nora nodded back.

"Yeah, well, not like Bonehead", Sheriff Poire trailed off. They came to stop in front of a cinderblock house with a big wooden sign in front that said 'Pharmacy'. "This is it, and before we go in, lets keep the 'Bonehead the Coward' thing going hm? Its good for morale", he then pushed through. The inside was a small room, nothing more than a counter, register, and shelf full of toiletries. Sheriff Poire rang a service bell and a voice called back from a backroom. A young girl with black tightly curly and caramel skin pushed through the back door. Poking out from her hairline were two nubby horns.

"Good morning Sheriff! Can I help you with something?" the girl's high pitched voice squeaked.

"No I'm alright, I'm actually here to hand off these four here, these are Jaune, Ruby, Ren, and Nora", he pointed at each in turn, "they're the huntsmen going shopping with your mom today". An older woman in a lab coat then walked through the back door. Her hair was in tight box braids, and she didn't have horns like her daughter, but the resemblance was there. "Ahh, Dr. Paprika, I was just talking about you", Sheriff Poire said with a smile.

"Nothing bad I hope, good morning sheriff I hope you're doing well", Dr. Paprika smiled back, she then looked past Sheriff Poire to the strangers in her store. "and who might you kids be?", she asked smiling to the team. She extended a hand to all of them shook their hands one at a time while getting their names.

"These four are gonna guard you on your trip to Crusot today", the Sheriff said slapping Ren on the back.

"All four? Its only Crusot? Its only going to be a few beowolves at worst", Dr. Paprika asked confused.

"And Bonehead", Sheriff Poire reminded her.

"Sure", Dr. Paprika crossed her arms and rolled her eyes, "and Bonehead". The team exchanged a look, but said nothing. The sheriff sighed internally at the kids lack of poker faces. Gods forbid these four be trusted with some kind of secret. "We're going to leave after I'm done with breakfast, why don't you four come sit while we finish up, you can leave them with me sheriff I'll bring them back in one piece", she joked. Nora chortled once. Dr. Paprika lifted up a hinge piece in the counter and let them through. The team waved the sheriff goodbye as he turned to leave. They walked through a thin back room covered in shelves and medicine, then into a cramped dining room. Sat around the table was on older man and another woman eating breakfast, both of them seemed surprised at the strangers in their home. The man was tanned skinned the color of leather, he had slightly almond shaped eyes and short wavy hair in a comb over. He had curled goats horns coming out of his hairline. Nore idly wondered if they made combing his hair harder. The other woman was dark skinned like Dr. Paprika with a similar hair style to her younger sister. She looked like she might have been older than the team by a few years, but not by much. She had the same horns as her father. She seemed to recognize them and cringed a little.

"This my husband Gray, and my oldest daughter Esme", Dr. Paprika said gesturing to the two in turn, "and you've already met my youngest, Cayenne". Dr. Paprika and Cayenne sat down to finish off their breakfasts.

"You're the huntsmen from yesterday", Esme spoke up, "you were doing math to figure out how much money you could spend". Nora tilted her head as she recognized Esme.

"You were our waitress", Nora said. She smiled apologetically at Esme, Jaune let out a quiet 'ooo' and Ren sucked in his lips and squinted. "Sorry about that, heh heh", Nora laughed weakly.

"Ok", Dr. Paprika exclaimed and she rushed to stand, "bye family! Love you all", she quickly kissed her husband Gray on the cheek and ushered the huntsmen out the back door. She grabbed a satchel by the door led them to an old blue pick up truck. "If we leave now and don't run into anything blocking the road we can make it there by lunch, it shouldn't talk me too long to restock, maybe an hour or two, and if all goes well we will be home before the sun sets", she turned and smiled at the four huntsmen, "any questions?".

"No we're good to go", Jaune smiled back politely, "We actually came from Crusot so we're pretty familiar with the town".

"Great, now the cabin can only seat three of us, so two of you are gonna have to sit in the flat bed, ok?"

"not a probl-"

"I want to sit in the back!" Nora volunteered

"Me too!", Ruby cheered raising her hand.

"Alrighty then!", Dr. Paprika smiled amused with their energy, "then you boys are with me".

The five of them clambered into the truck and set off west to Crusot. The radio buzzed to life and began playing some rock radio station.

"I'm surprised the radio still works", Ren commented, "I'd have thought there'd be no connection ever since the CCT fell". Jaune's pleasant smile became a little strained at the reminder.

"Well sort of", Dr. Paprika said making a so-so gesture, "This is Budgie's Mixtape, it's a local station", she sighed, "There's not much that comes out of Vale anymore, I don't really know how it works but any signals from Vale are picked up and boosted by local broadcast antennae", she shook her head slowly, "I don't bother listening to any of their radio, its either emergency broadcasts or something so patriotic or hopeful that it makes you feel sick to your stomach", she glanced quickly at Ren and Jaune, "That's not a bad thing, I just, I just can't keep listening to that crap".

"Its ok, I understand", Ren nodded, "After The Fall it was comforting for a little while, but I got pretty sick of it too". Inwardly Jaune agreed, but instead he rolled down his window and pretended to count the trees.

"I'm sorry that happened to you boys", Dr. Paprika said mournfully, "I can't imagine what you've been through".

"It was…" Ren paused. The moment lingered as he thought. "It was chaotic", he finally settled on. "Everything happened quickly… No one was prepared… so much… confusion", he spoke slowly, finding the words as he went. He couldn't find anymore. The only noise in the cabin was the fuzzy radio and laughing from Nora and Ruby in the back.

"You don't have to talk about it if you don't want to, I'm sorry for bringing it up, that was insensitive of me", Dr. Paprika said scolding herself.

"No, its ok, it doesn't do anyone any good to ignore it", Ren said shaking his head a little, "although it might be nice to talk about something else".

"Well how are you boys liking life on the road? Enjoying the country side?"

"Yes actually", Ren gave her a grateful smile, "Its almost nostalgic, Nora and I had to make a similar trip when we came to Beacon for the first time, although we were going to Vale and not leaving it"

"Nora is the pink one right? So you knew each other before Beacon?"

"Yes, we've known each other for most our lives, we met when we were kids and stayed together ever since"

"Aww, that's cute, I'm happy for you two, you're not from Vale then?"

"No, I'm from mistral and Nora is from Mantle, but we've only been in Vale for about a year"

"I had a feeling you two weren't from around here, if you were you'd be dressed warmer for the winter".

"What's wrong with how we dress?", Ren said frowning. He looked down at his beautiful green coat.

"Southern Vale winters get pretty harsh", Jaune piped up.

"Ah! He speaks!", Dr. Paprika joked. Jaune chuckled a little too. "Your friend is right though, the winters get pretty harsh and if you four plan on spending winter on the road then you better prepare accordingly"

"We've been meaning too", Jaune said leaning forward to see Dr. Paprika better. "Its just that we've been living paycheck to paycheck for a while now".

"You think about staying in town for a little while then? You could do some work around town and save up for a bit?"

"Maybe", Jaune said, "but we're kind of in a rush to get to Haven".

"Well what ever suits you, but be careful, or else you're going to freeze to death in a month" she lectured. "Holy Mother of Pearl!", She exclaimed as she slammed on the breaks, in front of her a Beowolf blocked her path. Ruby and Nora thunked against the back of the cabin.

"Swerve!", Jaune yelled and he desperately gripped the ceiling handle and Ren.

"Ahh!" Dr. Paprika screamed. Instead of coming to a full stop she pulled a sharp left dodging around the Beowolf and pulling the truck on back on the road. They could hear bangs and yelps from the back as Ruby and Nora were thrown around in the flat bed.

"Jaune move!", Ren yelled as he unbuckled his seat and launched himself halfway out Jaune's window. He drew both of his Stormflowers and unloaded a burst of machine pistol fire into the Beowolf. Before it could even turn to chase them it was dissolving into black smoke on the ground. Five more Beowolves were quick to burst out of the tree line in hot pursuit of the truck.

"Step on it", Jaune yelled now with an arm around Ren's waist to keep him from falling out. The truck lurched and Ruby and Nora were thrown about the truck bed again. Ren steadied himself and shot at the Beowolfs again. His pistols punched holes in another Beowolf's hide. Its body went limp and fell forward turning to smoke under the paws of its packmates. Ruby steadied herself in the back of the truck and shot a golf ball sized hole through the face plate of another one. "I swear to god one day I'm gonna get myself a gun", Jaune muttered to himself.

"Hold on!" Dr. Paprika yelled as she slammed the breaks and turned sharply with the bend in the road. Nora screamed as she and Ruby were almost thrown off the flat bed as the truck fishtailed in the dirt. The Beowolves had no such problem keeping their traction with their claws. Hot on the truck's tail they bared their teeth, growled, and nipped at the truck's bumper. Automatic fire peppered the closest Beowolf but wasn't accurate enough to put it down. Instead Nora unfolded Magnhild and smashed it into the Beowolf's head in panicked swipe. Its skull crunched and died instantaneously. The last two Beowolves growled and yipped, but skidded to a halt and gave up their pursuit letting the truck speed away.

"I think we're in the clear now", Jaune said, trying very hard not to be sick. He pulled Ren back inside. The tiny window in the cabin's back window slid open and Nora stuck her head through.

"Next time, I'm sitting in here", she said sternly looking between Jaune and Ren. She pulled back out the window and closed it. She sat down in the flat bed across from Ruby. Both were panting, but more because of the driving than any real exertion.

"They gotta put handle bars back here or something", Ruby called over the wind.

"I know right? I feel like it might have been easier to just stop and fight them instead", Nora shouted back".

"Or maybe one of those truck mounted machine guns like they have in those war movies", Ruby said while pantomiming a machine gun turret.

"Can't", Nora shook her head, "minors aren't allowed to buy machine guns in Vale, I tried it when I first designed my weapon when I was 16"

"But we're huntsmen? And Coco has a minigun!"

"Coco's like 19, and-"

"Wait a second! You have a freaking grenade launcher!" Ruby pointed accusatorily, "They let you have a grenade launcher at 16 but not a machine gun?!", Ruby slapped her hand down on the bed of the truck, "That doesn't make any sense!"

"I don't know, its something about how quickly machineguns shoot that made them too much or something", Nora gestured vaguely with her hand. "Besides we'd need a truck for a truck mounted machine gun". Ruby grumbled to herself and crossed her arms.

"Those last two Beowolves were kinda weird right", Ruby spoke up, "Usually grimm just attack until they're dead, it's kinda weird that they stopped chasing us at the end".

"Eh not that weird, its not like we haven't seen grimm do that before" Nora dismissed waving a hand at Ruby, "When I see something weird I'll tell you".

"Yeah, maybe you're right, all this stuff about intelligent grimm has got me questioning things I guess".

The truck left the forest and into a field. Crusot was a familiar sight, they had only left the town a few days ago. It was much older than Libourne. The town was surrounded by fields on all sides. Tall walls made of cobble stones and mortar surrounded the town, it was decorated with scratches, pits, and countless repair jobs. The truck slowed to a stop in front of a medieval looking gatehouse, and a familiar guard approached the drivers side window.

"Good afternoon Dr. Paprika, here for the usual?", the guard asked. Jaune recognized him as Officer Jay, one of the town's local police.

"Yes sir, I'm here to restock on medicine for my pharmacy", she nodded.

"Hello Officer Jay", Jaune smiled and waved at the man.

"Hey! You're them huntsmen kids from a few days ago, what yer names again?, Johnny and Ben?", Officer Jay cocked a hip and leaned forward on the window.

"Um, Jaune, actually"

"s'what I said, when y'all left you said you were going to east to the shore, whatcha you doing back here?"

"They're my guards to today", Dr. Paprika smiled and shook Ren's shoulder, "You should have seen them, we got chased by a bunch of Beowolfs on the way here and this one nearly leapt out the window trying to shoot them!"

"Well color me impressed!", Officer Jay smiled, "Y'all can come in". He walked back to the gate house and let them through. The truck rolled through into town. The roads were lined with cobble stones and the houses were made of plaster, stone, and wood. The town looked as old as its walls, but had smatterings of modern infrastructure. Power lines rose above hundred year old stone houses, holographic signs hung in window sills next to carved wooden ones, and trucks were parked next to an open air market place. Dr. Paprika pulled into an open space and they all hoped out.

"Alrighty!", Dr. Paprika unfolded a hand trolly from the back of the flat bed, "I'm going to be gone for an hour or two, you four go shop for some winter clothes, ok?"

"It's a miracle that trolley didn't fly out of the truck on the drive over here", grumbled Nora.

"Hey, why don't we have a truck?" Ruby asked as she turned to Jaune.

"We can't afford one Ruby", Jaune sighed. He started to lead the team into the market place.

"But it would be so much faster", Ruby whined. She kicked the ground as she walked.

"How about this, if you can find someone who will sell us a truck for cheap then we can save up for it", Jaune said dismissively.

"You're doing your older brother voice again", she accused, "You don't think I can do it"

"I don't know what you're talking about", Jaune said doing his older brother voice, "Why don't we go see if there is anything we can afford here instead?"

Deep in the forest in between towns two Beowolves sat together. Their packmates were dead, killed by ones with their souls on the outside. Killed with the sticks that threw burning stones at them. Those sticks were bad, they agreed, next time they'll eat the sticks. One Beowolf laid down and whined. Learning was hard. The other Beowolf huffed. The scabby Nevermore said learning would make them stronger, and it had the scars to prove it. The first Beowolf whined some more. Learning was really hard. The second one laid down next its only remaining packmate. Learning was hard.

Dear Reader,

I was really unsure where to end this chapter, so I kinda just kept going. I think it turned out ok though. I'm happy with this chapter and that's why I'm posting it. Let me ask you all a question though. Have you ever wondered how groups of Grimm organize themselves? We see pretty commonly that Grimm hordes organize themselves around an alpha Grimm, but who decides that? Do Alpha Grimm fight until there is only one left? Do they defer to the oldest and smartest? What holds the horde together? Relationships and respect like in animals? Mind control over other Grimm like how Salem does? Fear of being killed by other Grimm like how the Sabyers avoid the Goliaths in Mantle? I'd like to think its a combination of all options. Maybe amongst equals the Grimm follow relationships like animals. Maybe a powerful Grimm among lessers mind control those weaker than it. Maybe those Grimm strong enough to resist mind control but not strong enough to fight a more powerful Grimm chose to run away. The next question then becomes what makes an ideal Alpha Grimm.

From,

Clevnar