A PART OF ME...

Jaune

The mission went surprisingly smooth all things considered. This was our first mission together, an official one, as the new Team JNPR, albeit we were being babysat by Elm and Vine, we managed to push through no problem, but the biggest surprise of all was Ezra fitting in so well. It was as if...

"Pyrrha is here fighting with us."

Nora placed her hand on her hips as she nostalgically stare at Ezra hold on to Milo and Akuono. Soon me and Ren found ourselves doing the same.

"Oh, stop... please."

Ezra blushed as he pulled his helmet back. He sheated the golden sword behind the shield in his arm, as we waited for further instructions from Team RWBY's end, giving us an opportunity we oddly enough have never had: a chance to get together as a team.

"I admit."

I whispered to myself, but loud enough for everyone else to hear. Everyone's gaze shifted towards mine, making what I was about to say even more difficult and awkward than it already is.

"I had my doubts. Replacing Pyrrha I mean... not that anyone can really replace her. I mean our team name was JNPR, created with Pyrrha in mind. Ever since she died..."

I couldn't force myself to finish my thoughts, thankfull, Ren stepped in to do it for me.

"There's been a hole in our team that we've had trouble filling."

Then, it was Nora's turn to say something.

"Ruby tried to fit in there, at one point Oscar did, but none of them could fill the gap Pyrrha left behind-"

Before she could finish, Ezra stepped in.

"That's because it's impossible. Pyrrha is her own person, and filling in that hole is not something anybody can just do. I think..."

He looked down on the ground, and hesitated for a little bit before continuing.

"It's supposed to be left empty. Us losing Pyrrha, you guys in particular- it's supposed to feel that way, otherwise, if I could just step in- or anybody for that matter, and fill that hole then, did Pyrrha really mean anything to us? To you?"

Ezra poses the question to the group that got us thinking. I mean, he's right. People that you've bonded with are more than just a moment in a person's life. The moment you bond with them, your life becomes theirs, and theirs yours. To lose someone is to lose a part of yourself that you've surrendered.

"You're right, Ez, but you know the funny thing is, it feels like you ARE filling in that hole. It was almost as if she never left."

Ezra closed his eyes with a smile on his face and nodded.

"Thank you, everyone."

Nora skipped merrily behind Ezra and patted him on the back with a big grin on her face.

"Aww, don't mention it bud. By the way! I like the new threads you got going on."

Expecting to be embarrassed, Ezra flipped the script and pointed Nora's enthusiam towards me.

"You're talking about my clothes? Good ol' Jaune over there got a whole new makeover."

I brush my hand over my hair and smiled.

"Yeah, I figured it was time for a change anyways. Ezra did a good job."

Not wanting to feel left behind, Ren jumped in with his hands crossed in front of his chest.

"That he did. Didn't really expect that from you. Even Blake's new haircut looks great, you did that too right?"

Ren asks, but oddly enough, Ezra was a bit less enthusiastic when we were talking about my cut compared to Blake's.

"Y-yeah?"

Something that Nora noticed as well.

"Everything okay? Blake did seem a bit... too Blake-y today, if you know what I mean."

Ezra could only chuckle and shrug his shoulders.

"I- don't know, she started talking about Adam, and about her insecurities but... I'm not too sure. She wouldn't tell me."

The last time somebody from our group acted that way, it didn't end very well.

"Don't worry, Ezra. It'll be okay."

I feel so stupid that that's all I could say, but at least it's not as serious as Pyrrha's situation. Thankfully, Ezra's built like a tank, brushing off the situation with another joke.

"I know. Blake will be alright, I just wish she'd tell me everything. I'm here, you know, not going anywhere."

All of a sudden, Ezra smirked while he placed his hand on my shoulder.

"But enough about me, have you asked Weiss out yet?"

Weiss? Why would I ask her out? It's cold outside all the time. Oh. OH!

"Look he's blushing already."

Ezra teases.

"Sh-shut up! I'm not!"

Ren and Nora immediately burst into laughter.

"Yeah, Jaune? What's taking forever?"

Nora cheekily asks.

"You're one to talk! What's taking YOU forever?"

Nora pulled herself back, speechless while she herself blushed. The sight of which caused our entire group to start laughing out loud.

[Clover: Squad Charlie, this is Alpha squad leader. We've reached and cleared the LZ. Proceeding on foot.]

"I guess that's the signal."

Everyone nodded and readied their weapons as we prepared to head deeper into the cave.

"Alright, JNPR, let's make this count!"

Yang

I wouldn't call our first mission a breeze, nor was it really the usual death defying adventures we've been going on recently, but something about working with professional huntsmen and huntresses with an actual purpose, seems oddly satisfying. For once, we're not chasing something, crossing our fingers that we'd make it in time. For once, we're actually making significant and tangible progress to help the world - a concept that we all thought was impossible after hearing the truth about Salem.

We all hung back in front of the mines we were just in, waiting for Clover and the rest of the Ace-Ops to give us their instructions. Ruby watched the Ace-Ops strategize in silence. Her boredom completely painted all over, till an idea suddenly pops into her head. She rushed towards me and the gang with a massive grin on her face and yelled.

"What do you guys wanna do when we get back to Atlas? Sightseeing? What should we see first?"

Blake stared at the floor for a couple of seconds before smiling softly at Ruby.

"How about our beds?"

Then proceeds to walk away, much to Ruby's dismay.

"Oh come on guys! This is a great time to go exploring! We haven't done that in so long!"

But Weiss sassily shot her down.

"Ruby, we just explored an entire continent... on foot, before flying to this one."

Ruby pulled back and waved her arm at her while she scoffed.

"Yeah, but it was only the boring parts!"

She tilted her head at me, hoping that I'd be on her side but I was just as tired as everyone else. Thankfully, before Ruby can insinuate any further, the General raised his voice and called all the team leads over. Weiss sighed and glanced over at team JNPR, before looking back at me.

"I'm gonna go over there real quick before Ruby forces me to take her on a tour around Atlas."

I nod and smile, turning my attention over to Blake, who was still oddly spaced out.

"You wanna join them, too? Ezra's there."

But she just continued to stare off into the distance, as if she didn't hear what I had just said, leaving with no choice but to tap her on the shoulder.

"Blake?"

As soon as my metal arm grazed her shoulder, Blake's entire body flinched, causing her to look back with eyes wide open.

"OH! Yang. Hi!"

I raise an eyebrow and responded hesitantly.

"H-hiiii... are you okay?"

Blake pushed her finger down in between her eyes and sighed, the exhaustion in her face was crystal clear, even without saying a single word.

"I, uh. Yeah, no.. I don't know."

At least she's honest.

"Ezra?"

I ask, assuming that that is the issue. What else could it be? I mean, it could very well be something else, but what are the-

"No, it's... Adam."

C-chances? Okay, that caught me off-guard.

"What? Why?"

I admit, I kinda responded with a harsh and rude voice after hearing her say that, but can anybody really blame me?

"I know it's a bad look, but listen..."

She crossed her arms and looked away, most likely because of how embarrassed she feels for even saying this all out loud.

"When we were fighting Adam, and Ezra got hurt. My heart was racing so fast, and a million thoughts were rushing through my head, and I know you felt the same way too. I-I panicked when I saw the state Ezra was in, and it felt like my entire world was about to end, and I'm starting to realize now that I'm feeling that way for all the wrong reasons."

What other reasons can there be other than being scared for the love of your life? I truly don't know, so I asked.

"What do you mean?"

Tears began to form on her eyelids, before she briskly wiped them away.

"When Swan arrived, everything stopped. Everything lost color, the noise around us just disappeared, and even my sense of smell stopped working. For a moment, I was frozen, left alone in my thoughts. I had a choice back then. Save Ezra from Swan or kill Adam... and I chose Adam."

I don't think that's something she should be worrying about.

"Blake, Adam was just as much a threat as Swan was-"

I tried consoling her, but Blake cut me off.

"No he's not. He was grovelling on the ground, struggling and unable to fight. Didn't even have his weapon to use his semblance, yet I chose to... chose to... end him anyways."

The pain in her voice was so deep that it resonated with me, although I admit, I still have no idea where this is going.

"Ever since then, I've been thinking. Why did I go to a helpless Adam, rather than save the person I 'love'? That's when I realized, Adam punched a hole so deep in me that I couldn't find a way to stand up on my own after we broke up. I think that's really the reason why I went to Beacon to begin with, made friends with you, and ended up dating Ezra. All of it, I was just using as a crutch to help me stand up."

I put my hand on her shoulder to try and comfort her as she continued explaining.

"Adam has had such a tight grip on me, that I instinctively wanted to break free, and when I finally did, the emptiness he left behind didn't go away. I surrendered a part of me to him, a consequence of falling in love, and when he disappeared, he took that part of me with him. All this time... I've been trying to fill that hole, to replace the part I've lost-"

I stare at my mechanical arm and finished what Blake was about to say.

"But you never really can. You just move forward, carrying that burden, so that you can grow better, stronger, wiser..."

Blake sighed and nodded.

"I don't think it's fair, Yang. I don't think it's fair to Ezra that I'm using his love to fill a hole that he never can. I love him, but not in the way I thought I did."

That's... sad. What's even sadder is me wanting to ask the question looming in my brain the moment she admitted all of this to me.

"Are you, uh, breaking up with him then?"

What a scummy thing to ask, but I couldn't help myself... after all, if there is any sort of hope... for the hole in your heart to be filled and fixed once more, wouldn't you take that opportunity? Blake looked at me with a soft smile, which I really had no response for other than a cheeky and awkward smile.

"I don't know. What I do know is that I want what's best for him, and hopefully, that'll be me."

Blake and I stared at each other with a smile, understanding that this conversation was over, no more words were needed between the two of us. I'm not in this relationship after all, and what happens between the two of them is solely that: between the two of them. After letting the topic go, we all got together to discuss about the state of Mantle and why the General is the doing the things he's doing. On top of all that, we've had to deal with an unwanted visitor: Jacques Schnee.

All of which were almost too much for us to handle in one go. Thankfully, Penny and Winter came in just in time to deliver some much needed good news.

"Surprise!"

Penny fell rapidly from the sky, landing on one knee as she spread both her arms open above her head. In between the palms of her hand was a colorful hologram that spelled out 'Congratulations!'

I really don't know what she's congratulating us on, but okay. Looking past her was a disappointed Winter, shaking her head.

"Have we not started?"

Penny asks, to which Winter sighed.

"Apparently not."

Out of curiosity, Ruby butted in.

"Started what?"

Winter and the General waited till the sun started to set till they gathered all of us inside Amity Arena. They had us all stand up in one straight line, both RWBY and JNPR, minus Ezra, as Ironwood began to pace back and forth.

"It goes without saying that this arena holds a significance to all of us. It's only fitting that we should be able to reconvene here. Now. When the world needs to be brought together more than ever. The road you traveled from our first meeting hasn't been easy."

Penny pulled up a tablet, happily bouncing up and down, as she patient- impatiently waited for the general to finish his speech.

"You fought for your school and your friends at Beacon. You fought for the world and the innocent at Haven Academy and beyond. You faced down terrors people can't even fathom. That's not the behavior of students. It's the behavior… of Huntsmen and Huntresses."

He looks over at Penny, who happily begins humming and walking past the two teams, stopping in front of each person to tap on her scroll. With each tap, her scroll emits a beep and someone else's scroll buzzes, urging me to pull up my own scroll to check

STUDENT LICENSE BEACON
Name: Xiao Long, Yang
LN: 63600 - 13592 - 88610
Place of Issue: Vale
Authority: Beacon Academy
Restrictions: Class C

My scroll began to blink as Penny passed by, changing my student license suddenly. The Kingdom of Atlas symbol is now in the background behind the information tab, erasing Vale's insignia. The new license says:

HUNTRESS LICENSE Atlas
Name: Xiao Long, Yang
LN: 63600 - 13592 - 88610
Place of Issue: Atlas
Authority: Atlas Academy
Restrictions: Class C

"Wait... what is this?"

I ask out of general confusion. Winter once more crossed her arms behind her back and stepped in.

"You are being granted your Huntsman licenses, today."

Penny finishes using her scroll to grant everyone their licenses and walks away with a big grin.

"I know this is coming a little ahead of schedule, but Brothers know you deserve it. I only regret that I couldn't do something a little more ceremonious for the occasion."

I began to stare at my license in awe the same way Ruby's doing right now. Well, really, the way everyone's doing right now.

"We… we're honored, General Ironwood. But you really don't have to do th-"

Ruby tried to be humble and deny her license, but Ironwood quickly shut it down.

"Please. With the threat of Salem still out there and tensions rising in our Kingdom, I certainly could use more trustworthy fighters by my side."

As the general began to walk away from us, the four of us looked at each other, feeling guilty of the fact that we're still hiding crucial information from him.

"I should be so lucky to have all of you."

With one final smile, the General preps himself to leave.

"It's okay. It's a big moment. And what better way than to celebrate here? When this tower is ready and communications are back up and running, we'll tell the world about Salem and face down whatever comes at us after that, together. That's… just about all the pomp I have in me. If you'll excuse me, I have to get back to running this operation. Um… Well, then. Enjoy the cake."

With that, both Winter and Ironwood swiftly walked away, with Penny not far behind, yelling some form encouragement to the General, who obviously wasn't all too used to giving speeches out like that.

"Your speech outros are improving, sir!"

Now that they're gone, I couldn't help but look back on my license.

"After everything we've been through, I almost forgot this is what I wanted in the first place."

Blake stepped in to offer her thoughts on the matter.

"When Beacon fell, I didn't think this would even be possible."

So did Weiss.

"It almost feels trivial now."

The mood was way too somber for something that we should be celebrating, and it took Ezra stepping in knock us back to our senses.

"Geez, guys, lighten up a little. Enjoy yourselves for a change. We've earned it."

Nora twirled in front of him and gleefully danced while she spoke.

"Finally! Someone said it. Let's kill some cake, huh?"

Nora moves forward, throwing a fist in the air.

"Because I can eat two slices before Ren even eats one. Who says I can't? Who says it, huh!?"

Ren sighed, placing his hand in front of his face.

"Nora, nobody is arguing with you about this."

But out of the corner of his eye, Ren noticed something else outside of Nora, gleefully bouncing up and down with Penny.

"Ezra? You didn't get your license?"

He asks, to which Ezra responded with a big smile, although everyone can tell it was forced.

"I didn't even have a valid student license remember?"

Blake stepped forward, and tried to reach for his hand, but pulled away last second before awkwardly looking away.

"I- I still think you deserve one... after everything."

Ezra smiled softly after seeing Blake's reaction then promptly looked away as well.

"N-no, it's okay. I-I never wanted to be a huntsman anyways. I just had other reasons for attending Beacon, remember?"

Blake placed her hand at the back of her head and chuckled.

"O-oh yeah, that's right... how can I forget?"

Seeing this whole scenario play out was painful to watch, and it seems I wasn't the only one who's feeling that way, as Nora made her way towards me.

"Is it me, or is something different about those two love birds?"

Well, clearly there is, but it's not my place to tell.

"I think they're working some stuff out. Best we leave them be."

Nora raised an eyebrow, as she scratched her chin.

"Huh. Okay."

Pushing all that aside, we tried our best to enjoy the next couple hours, taking photos with one another, having a nice relaxing chat, and demolishing the cake like Nora intended. Ezra and Blake talked for a couple minutes at a time, but all their interactions seemed forced, especially this last one.

"Blake... you hear me?"

Ezra beckons, but like every other time today, Blake was too spaced out to even respond. Unable to bear the tension between them any longer, I couldn't help but step in and ask.

"What's up Ez? What do you need?"

He flinched for a second and pulled back his hand he was about to reach out Blake with, before hesitantly shifting his gaze towards mine.

"Oh, I was going to borrow Blake's license. Elm and Marrow just got here and just pulled up a mission log for us to skim through. I have no license, so I can't access it without help."

I look back at Blake who was staring at us blankly.

"I, uh, here. Why don't you borrow mine."

Ezra sighed and nodded.

"Y-yeah, sure. Thanks."

I can feel the disappointment underneath his breath. It seems he wanted to use that opportunity to speak with Blake again, but she hasn't really been receptive of him lately. After finding out what she just told me not too long ago, I can kind of tell why, but still. This is... a bit too cold. As soon as I handed my license to him, Ezra began typing away at the terminal, rapidly skimming and filtering all the mission requests available to us. So much so, that everyone just dropped what they were doing and watched the screen flash vividly over and over again, in awe of how fast he was doing all of this.

"What are you looking for?"

I ask, but Ezra didn't even look back up and simply continued typing.

"Data logs from the last three months. Mafia involved murders... all that jazz."

Ugh, dark.

"What for?"

Ezra ignored me momentarily, opting to bury himself deeper into his search.

"The Nest is here. I'm looking for clues of their whereabouts- well really, not whereabouts. Once Hathaway and her crew integrates themselves to a community, it's next to impossible to find them, unless someone rats them out... like Neopolitan did back in Vale. Rather, I'm looking for clues as to why they're trying to involve themselves with the murders."

The Nest, huh? He did mention them a little bit back in Argus. So they are here, but who's...

"Who's Hathaway?"

This time, Ezra stopped, almost instantly. He Lifted his head up and looked at me with a smile.

"Grandmother."

Hathaway. So that's her name.

"You still have that?"

He asks.

"Still have what?"

Confused, Ezra raised his hand and pointed his finger at my chest. I look down to see what he was talking about only to find out that I now hold in my hand the necklace his grandmother gave me almost a year ago, caressing it like it meant something to me still.

"OH!"

Embarrassed, I quickly tucked away the necklace inside my shirt and awkwardly smiled back.

"We-well! It looked really expensive, and I didn't want to just THROW IT AWAY! You know. Yeah!"

Way to go Yang. Way to go.

"Whatever you say-"

Ezra tried to tease me, but something caught his eye on the screen that stopped him in his tracks.

"What?"

I leaned in closer to him, and squinted my eyes, trying to see what he was staring at, only to see the photo of an overweight middle-aged man with light brown slicker hair, mustache, and copper eyes. He wears a black business suit with a white-collar shirt and bright yellow tie. Underneath his photo was the name 'Amoncio Glass'

"Who the hell is Amoncio Glass?"

Eliza

I had intended to follow Ezra to Atlas, but in my own terms, not under the scrutiny of Arthur Watts and...

"OOOH! This'll be an exciting trip filled with carnage and blood!"

A derranged man.

"Watts, why did you choose to bring this maniac with us? He'd just draw the attention towards us."

I complain us the three of us overlook the citizens of Mantle on top of a worn down building, one of many. Tyrian Callows began to slither his way next to me and smiled eerily as he leaned in close to my face.

"ME? I wasn't the one that set off a bomb the last time they were here. Sure I killed a couple people here and there, but nowhere near as explosive as you... Swan."

I can feel his breath brushing against my face, even through my mask. Really uncomfortable, so I made sure he knows his place.

"AHHH! MY FACE!"

I sent a cold breeze towards him, temporarily freezing his cheeks, causing him to flop backwards in pain. Tyrian gritted his teeth and readied his blade, as he prepared to lunge at me, only to be stopped by Watts, who recently just got off the phone.

"Calm down Tyrian. Now's not the time to cause a scene."

I scoff at the two of them and continued to watch the people below us.

"Swan, our moles have began their operation. You know what to do with them once they're done."

Of course. That's the only reason I'm here- the only reason I'm ever here.

"How's the hand?"

Watts asked, though not out of concern. I raised my left hand up, pulling the sleeve towards my elbow and examining the metallic brace Watts oh so kindly bolted down to my bones for me. Ever since I used my semblance to revive my half dead brother, I've had trouble regaining the life back to this arm. I guess Ezra was closer to death than I thought he was.

"It'll do it's job."

It certainly will. Though there is something bothering me. If all Watts wanted out of me was to take care of the trash, then why is Tyrian here?

"Ezra is here too, I hear..."

And that. Him bringing that up. If Ezra is here so is Team RWBY, JNPR, Qrow... Ozpin. Why bring up Ezra in particular? Probably because he suspects we're related. At this point, they would have known from Emerald and Mercury that Ezra has silver eyes, and if his tone of voice was any sort of sign, I suspect they're wary of me too now.

"I would assume so."

I've become a liability to them. I imagine Tyrian would be the one to dispose of me once I've outlived my usefulness.

"Tyrian, would you please dispose of that body properly?"

What Watts said caught my attention as I was force to take a glimpse of what Arthur was talking about. Out of the corner of my eye, is the body somebody I used to know, from my past. A man named Forest. He worked for the Snows, well used to. Last I heard of him, he's working for...

"Hathaway."

The Nest is here. It seems I've found a way out of my predicament.