I just want to take a moment to address the people saying characters are and are not acting in character. Honestly, everyone brings up some good points and I don't want to dive into saying who is right and who is wrong. I read all the comments about why people think someone isn't in character and why people think they are. As I didn't invent the characters, I can't really say 100% how they should act. What I do like is the fact people have differing opinions based on what THEY would do. It's almost like we are all different and would react differently to the same event. Who knew?
Special thanks to BlindandBound for betaing this chapter. Holidays are rough for everyone.
Disclaimer: I do not own RWBY.
Pyrrha laid on her bed, staring at the text message Jaune had sent her last night.
'I heard what happened. You did nothing wrong.'
The champion knew Jaune had been in contact with Ren and Nora. Ren made sure to pass on information to her about Jaune's current situation. However, he said Jaune didn't contact them last night. So how did he hear about what happened to her in Forever Fall? The only possible way he might know is if he heard it through Ruby's team. Blake had seen what happened to her involving Team CRDL.
A shiver ran down Pyrrha's spine.
This was the same thing that happened back home. People would 'prank' her like Cardin did with the sap and rapier wasps. There would be students who thought she had to be taken down a peg. They couldn't beat her in the ring, so they resorted to underhanded trickery. Spreading rumors about her, stealing her stuff, and even destroying her property. Pyrrha always tried to keep a positive attitude and be kind to everyone, never letting herself get upset. More at her manager's insistence than anything. A certain reputation had to be maintained. Once she became a celebrity, people sort of stopped trying to hurt her and just sucked up.
That was the reason she wanted to study at Beacon. A fresh start, new people, and fewer fans that would idolize her. She could be herself rather than The Invincible Girl. Naturally, there were still some fans, but she could at least walk out in public without being mobbed. Going to the movies was actually possible here in Vale.
Beacon had almost started off the same back home with Weiss. The girl had instantly wanted to team up with Pyrrha due to her reputation. That didn't happen and now that Pyrrha got to know Weiss, she understood the heiress wasn't like that. Still, that first interaction always had Pyrrha on guard so she doubted they could ever be really close friends. Not like what she and her team had.
"I wish you would have called me."
It was selfish of her and she knew it the moment the words escaped past her lips.
It had only been a little over a week since their fight. A fight that was by no means a small one. As Ren pointed out, Jaune would need time to think his feelings over and decide if he was able to continue being friends with her. Getting a text from him had given her a brief moment of hope. Reading it only caused confusion. Jaune didn't sound fully sympathetic. It sounded like he was only letting her know that he didn't think she did anything wrong with Cardin. Maybe it was just because it was a text.
"If he was still here, I probably would have had to stop him from marching at Cardin." Pyrrha chuckled weakly. "I miss him… so much. I miss our team dynamic only because I was selfish." Her eyes watered slightly as she continued to stare at the message. "Maybe I should have stayed in Mistral. At least my family would be-…"
Almost as if someone knew her lament, her Scroll began to ring.
"Huh…" Pyrrha answered automatically before thinking things through. "Mom?"
"Hi, Honey." A woman with the same flaming red hair and sparkling green eyes stared back at her. The difference was her hair was shorter, glasses adorned her face, and the woman naturally appeared older with a few age lines on her still relatively youthful face. "I hope I'm not interrupting anything important. I checked the schedule you sent us."
"No… not really." Pyrrha admitted.
"Pyrrha… is something wrong?" Instantly, her mother grew concerned. "You sound down."
"It's nothing…" The lie was forced and Pyrrha's mom instantly saw through it.
"What happened?"
Thinking it through, there really wasn't a reason not to tell her mom the truth, with a few omissions of course. She wasn't going to tell people about Jaune's transcripts again. That was the entire reason why things were so bad in the first place. Glancing into her mom's eyes, that were full of nothing but concern for her, Pyrrha found her resistance waning. With a lack of people around her showing they cared about her recently, it was hard to fight her mother's gaze.
"I got into a fight with my partner, Mom." Pyrrha finally relented. "I did something that upset him and it's caused a lot of tension in my team." Her voice shook slightly as she spilled everything. "Everything is so messed up. We used to be so close and like a family, now Nora won't talk to me, Jaune's off on an apprenticeship, and Ren is trying to keep the peace, but he's obviously going to favor Nora. Even if he doesn't mean to. I don't… know what to do anymore!"
"Oh…" Her mother paused as she thought about something. "Take a deep breath, Pyrrha." She waited as her daughter did so. "Now, I don't know what this fight was about. How bad was it?"
"It…" The words stuck in her throat as she wanted to tell her mom, to get some real prospective, but the look of hurt on Jaune's face when he heard what she did still haunted her. The girl couldn't tell that secret again. "It's private, but it involved a really big secret of Jaune's. I found out about it and revealed it. This secret… it could affect his entire future. I didn't want to, but I felt like I had to. He's incredibly important to me… was... I'm sure he hates me now and doesn't want anything to do with me ever again."
"Honey… I wish I was there to give you a hug," Pyrrha's mom really looked sad, those bright green eyes dimming. "I can't really give much advice here, nothing that will really help. I assume you know given time and once everyone cools down, you'll be able to talk, but that can take a long time."
"Ren keeps telling me that… hic…" Pyrrha covered her mouth with her hand. Her mom just ignored that noise.
"Do you want to come home for a bit? I can arrange a ticket for you this weekend. Maybe a change will help you."
"N-No!" Pyrrha shook her head. "I don't want to leave Beacon… I just want things to go back to normal. I loved everything here. It was exactly what I was looking for. Friends, a close team, classes where I can improve my skills to be a Huntress, not just being The Invincible Champion, but just… me."
"I'm regretting allowing you to do all those sponsorship deals," Her mother let out a long sigh. "We should have let you be a normal kid. It must have been so hard on you and we didn't even realize it. I've been a horrible mother…"
"You haven't!" Pyrrha interjected sharply. "This was my decision. I love being an inspiration to people. Whenever a girl comes up to me and tells me she wants to be a Huntress, I'm so proud that I could do my part to encourage people to reach their full potential. I also got to donate a lot of that money to charity. There have been… some challenges…" Mostly people pretending to be her friend, but she quickly learned to see through those people. "…but overall, I don't regret doing it. It's just… the situation right now…"
"You're young," Pyrrha's mom cut her off this time. "You all are. You might think you're adults because you're off risking your life to protect everyone from Grimm, but you're still all so young. Mistakes happen. Even with good intentions. People are going to get hurt and all you can do is apologize and try to make things right if you make a mistake. Sometimes, mistakes can be so great that you can never truly fix it. I know people from when I was your age that happened to. All you can do is accept that things change. Everyone changes."
"I don't want to change things…" Pyrrha felt her eyes water. "I just wanted to help protect him…"
"Did he want to be protected?"
"Huh?"
"Your partner," Her mother emphasized. "Did he want to be protected?"
"N-No." The words Jaune shouted at her came back in full force. "That's why he was so upset."
"Ah, I think I understand." The woman leaned back in her chair and rubbed her brow. "And your kind nature caused you to want to help him." Pyrrha slowly nodded at this. "You can't force people to accept help. You can offer, you can advise, but it has to be their choice. If you force your ideals on them, then they will only push back."
"I think I understand that now," Pyrrha admitted, her eyes on the floor. "If only I knew that before."
"I can always send your father over to teach that young man a lesson for making my daughter cry." Her mother offered.
"D-don't!?" Pyrrha cried out, causing her mother to laugh. Slowly, she felt herself laugh too. At least a tiny chuckle slipped out. Her first laugh in over a week. "He would, wouldn't he?"
"At least to put the fear in him. He wouldn't actually hurt that young man."
"Thanks, Mom," Pyrrha gave a small smile. "I really needed to laugh, but please don't. This is something we need to work out. Even if it hurts, I do know that for sure. How did you know to call right when I needed someone to talk to?"
"Mother's intuition. Call me anytime you need to talk, or even just vent. Keeping everything bottled inside isn't good for you. It leads to more mistakes when you can't express yourself."
"I'll try."
"So is there anything else going on that's been bothering you?"
For a brief moment, Pyrrha considered telling her what Cardin's team did with the rapier wasps and sap. That would actually be enough to get her father to come down and crack some heads. Or the fact she was being ostracized by her other friends. Maybe the fact that everyone was back to putting her on a pedestal and considered her unreachable.
"No, nothing else. That's what I've been fretting over for the last week."
Her stomach twisted around itself as she straight out lied to her mother. They exchanged a few more pleasantries before hanging up. Pyrrha felt a little better talking about some of her problems and part of her wanted to tell her mother about the others. It was just she didn't want her parents to worry more about something they really couldn't control. Any more information Pyrrha shared could also have revealed details on Jaune's situation he didn't want shared. If he found out, her team leader might hate her even more and they would never have a chance at fixing things.
Finally coming out of her room the first time that morning, she stopped as she saw a familiar blonde girl yawning, also walking out of her room from across the hall.
"Hello, Yang." Pyrrha greeted automatically before remembering the situation.
The brawler turned and her lilac eyes studied Pyrrha for a moment before turning away and heading down the hall. The action wasn't anything different from the last few days. Yang was still upset Ruby left to go on a dangerous adventure and partially blamed Pyrrha for starting the cascade of events that led to her sister leaving.
Still that shunning hurt a lot more than it should have.
"Rise and shine, brats! Just because we're in town doesn't mean you get to sleep in!"
Ruby instantly jumped to her feet while throwing the covers off herself. It only took one time out in the wilderness for her and Jaune to be too tired to move out of bed at the crack of dawn. Qrow threatened them that if they didn't get up, they would regret it. At the time, she and Jaune were at their limits, her especially. So, Ruby refused to get up and only remembered mumbling angrily. Her uncle accepted that as their final answer.
And thus, ice cold river water was dumped on them.
One time was all it took and Ruby never doubted her uncle's threats again. He was so much meaner outside their home. The girl remembered all the fun times they had back at Patch, and now he was a dictator. She understood why of course, but inside her mind with her private thoughts, she could still grumble. This time, Ruby was the only one to get up on time.
Jaune was trying, but he only managed to sit up before groaning and rubbing his head.
"Jaune, you have a hangover!" Ruby cried out in surprise. "Just like Uncle Qrow does all the time."
"Hey!" Qrow huffed, crossing his arms in annoyance.
"Can we keep it down?" Jaune begged, looking like he wanted to vomit. "I'm dying."
"Drink some water and get some food," Qrow told him, sounding unsympathetic. "You didn't drink that much."
"Maybe for you, but Jaune doesn't drink!" Ruby hugged Jaune, not noticing him flinching at her loud, high-pitched voice. "He's not used to being drunk or hungover!"
"Pssh, he had a few shots and a small glass, hardly something a kid his size should have a problem with." The man rolled his eyes. "It's not like he was forced. Now, hurry up and get some breakfast. If you aren't out in fifteen, you two are starting morning practice without it."
Ruby pursed her lips together and glanced over at her friend. Jaune was looking up at her uncle, but at the same time seemed to be squinting like the light was hurting his eyes. Still, he slowly stood up, grabbing the headboard of the bed for balance.
"It's fine, Ruby." Jaune assured her weakly. "Qrow was just rejected by a girl and he made us drink more than planned."
At his words, Qrow froze and stared at the boy. It seemed that being in pain with a hangover, along with all the rude jokes he and Qrow shared over their travels, was causing him to turn into a huge smartass. Honestly, the man was impressed. Just a little. Ruby on the other hand gaped at her uncle.
"Uncle Qrow! Just because a woman doesn't like you, doesn't mean you should make Jaune drink so much! You'll find someone who likes you for you one day. Even if you smell funny and curse a lot."
Okay, Qrow knew his niece was trying to cheer him up, but that shot hurt a little. Naturally, Ruby didn't mean to hurt him and was trying to be nice. Which made it so he couldn't counter with his own insult, like he could with Yang.
"She was pretty attractive," Jaune's smirk was evident. "You really should have just been nicer to her. I would have left and hung out with Ruby last night if you needed time alone, but you insisted I stay."
"You reap what you sow." Ruby huffed, shaking her head. "I should tell Yang."
"Don't you dare!" Qrow shot that idea down instantly and then glared at Jaune. Suddenly, his cold expression formed his own smile as he walked over and put a hand on Jaune's shoulder. "You're full of spirit. Why don't we go and get started with your training now. You don't need breakfast."
His grip tightened on the boy's shoulder as he led them out. Ruby tried to object, but Qrow shut her down. The rancid taste of vomit entered Qrow's mouth for a moment as Jaune reminded him of what he suggested last night. A little revenge was in order to remind that boy what the real pecking order was.
"Hope it was worth it, kid." Qrow mumbled so Ruby couldn't hear.
"Sure was." Jaune replied, equally as quiet.
Of course, that teenager quickly learned to regret his words.
"Oomph!"
Jaune grunted as Qrow's fist slipped past his guard and hit him in the side of the face. They were doing their normal morning sparring session. While he had blocked Qrow's sword with his shield and prepared to counter with his own blade, he wasn't watching what Qrow was doing with his other hand. The boy forgot how ambidextrous his mentor could be in a spar. It didn't help that his reflexes were slowed from the hangover. Pulsing pain thudding against the inside of a skull tends to distract people.
"Little slow there, kid." Qrow mocked. Secretly, he was a little impressed Jaune was still on his feet. His form was off balance, but that was a hell of a change from their very first match. The blonde's feet adjusted almost naturally back into his basic stance, sword raised in preparation. "Tired?"
"Of course not," Jaune panted. "I'm just getting warmed up." He was regretting everything he did up to this point. A sorry wasn't going to cut it, so might as well go for broke. "I was just thinking the same about you. Still fretting over your lost love?"
The broadside of Qrow's sword smacked him across the other side of the face this time with enough force to knock him down.
"Word of advice, brat." Qrow stood over him. "Smart mouthing can get some people to be sloppy in anger, but you shouldn't try it against a professional."
"Duly noted." Jaune moaned.
"Ruby, you're up squirt!"
The girl in question had been giggling at the back and forth between her best friend and favorite uncle. As much as those two bickered, Ruby could tell Qrow was bonding with Jaune. It was like her uncle got a nephew. She wished she could bond like that, but Yang always told her boys and girls bonded differently. Making fun of people didn't really sit well with her. At least if she did it. Insults were mean and bad words made people sad. Unless used endearingly. When Qrow called her, she hopped to her feet and rushed over as Jaune got up.
They high fived as they passed.
"Are the onlookers laughing?" Jaune whispered.
"A little at your words, not the training." Ruby replied under her breath.
One thing that happened after the three of them went behind the inn to begin their training was a couple random townspeople noticed them. Mostly some kids who had gotten up early for some reason. Qrow smacking Jaune around quickly drew a small crowd. The old man didn't really pay attention to them, and Jaune was too busy trying not to be a freshly tenderized slab of beef. Ruby had constantly been eyeing the onlookers who were treating the sparring session like some sort of entertainment.
'I guess it kind of is. They have festivals every couple years to show off Huntsman and Huntress' skills, along with all sorts of tournaments. It's how Pyrrha got to be famous. There probably isn't a lot of entertainment out here that doesn't involve life or death struggles with Grimm.'
Keeping citizens happy with practical demonstrations was another part of being a Huntress.
Though, maybe entertaining the masses by being thoroughly crushed by her uncle wasn't the best thing for her reputation. No matter what Ruby did, she could never get a good clean hit in. Taking Qrow's words to heart, the girl tried to mix up her attack strategies. Instead of using her speed Semblance in obvious ways, Ruby began to attempt a couple different patterns. Most times, she would zip behind her opponent and strike them in the back before they had a chance to react. Her uncle would expect this.
The flurry of petals appeared, as to the onlookers, Ruby vanished. In reality, she zipped over behind her uncle at speeds normal eyes couldn't follow. Qrow was already moving so Ruby took her attack one step further.
She spun around her uncle in a flurry of petals, ending up in what would have been in front of him, if he had been just watching the location where Ruby had been standing. A twister of rose petals wrapped around the man as Ruby smiled, swinging her scythe horizontally.
"Got you-…!"
Her blade cut through air.
"…wah?!"
Qrow had leaped upwards and Ruby's attack passed harmlessly underneath him. The man glanced down at his niece, who slowly looked up in shock and horror. Qrow couldn't help grinning as he swung his sword down, smacking the flat of the blade on the back of Ruby's head. Not at full force, since this was just a spar, but enough so that the young girl was thrown forward and hit the ground face first. Gracefully landing on his feel, Ruby's uncle turned and eyed his niece.
"You didn't let go of your weapon, Squirt." Qrow commented. "Good job. Along with your sudden change of attack patterns. That was impressive. You almost got me." The crowd clapped and cheered for him, so he gave them a lazy wave as he eyed his student. The spectators began to move away now that the demonstration appeared to be over.
"Why didn't I?!" Ruby demanded, pushing herself up and puffing out her cheeks indignantly.
"If I was a lesser person, I would have fallen for that," Her uncle explained patiently, though with a little amusement in his words. "Sometimes, you'll face people who are stronger, faster, and smarter than you. They can predict what you're going to do and counter it. All you can do is keep trying, or try to escape." He cracked his neck with one hand. "That was a significant improvement on your simple patterns though, Ruby."
Ruby's cheeks tinged as she tried not to look proud of herself.
"Jaune, looks like we can start working on something else now," Qrow turned to the boy who was gulping down some water. "You got the very basics, so now it's time for getting you some adaptability in your style."
"What do you mean?" Jaune asked, brow scrunched slightly as he walked over.
"If you only use the basic swings after a block, your opponent can read them like an open book," Qrow explained. "You need to change up your formation, like what I've been drilling into Ruby. Not as extensive, but one important aspect is when you attack." He stepped back and did a powerful swing downward, which caused a gust of air. His arm was stretched out completely and if a Grimm had been in front of him, it would have been easily cleaved in half. "Notice anything?"
"Nope." Both kids shook their heads.
"I committed my entire body into this strike." Qrow pointed out, gesturing to his outstretched arm with his left. "If my opponent dodged by side stepping this attack, I won't be able to pull my blade back in time. Normally, I would then move to the side and add momentum to my follow up swing." As he talked, he slowly made movements to show. "This way, my blade's not stuck in a bad position. Ruby can do this, but Jaune? You're not agile enough in your combat form to do so. You'll have to be careful about this. You can commit some blows, as your shield acts as your defense, but you'll see in our spars why this won't always work."
"Wait, then why did you teach me to put everything into my attacks in the first place?" Jaune remembered their earlier training. "You literally told me to do just that."
"I told you that then because you needed to learn how to attack," Qrow stated simply. "If we attempted multiple things at once, you'll do them all half-heartedly. You'll learn each step as needed and the experience in the field will help you put it all together. Got a problem with my method?"
"N-No!" Jaune stammered, shaking his head violently. They had been together such a short time and he could tell the vast improvements he'd made already. Before Qrow, fighting a group of Beowolves or a King Taijitu would have been impossible. Ruby would have had to do everything herself. "I was just confused."
"As I've said… multiple times, this is a heavily condensed training regime that will force you to grow or else." The man reached into his pocket and tossed a small wrapped item to Jaune. "Breakfast, kid. Ruby and I ate already. Hope your sass was worth it."
"Oh no…"
Ruby's face paled as Jaune caught the food. With food being very loosely defined here. Jaune's face turned an equal shade of white to match Ruby's. The grey writing on the white brick sent dread through the two of them.
Atlesian Trail Ration.
Atlas, the northern most Kingdom of Remnant, was known for many things.
They were the forefront of technology. Most of the weapons, designs, and cybernetic robotics used in all four kingdoms were designed in Atlas. Most of Remnant's Dust supplies were being mined by the SDC in Atlas. Battleships that protected trade routes, high speed railroads, and even the CCT which allowed telecommunication across the world was developed by them. It was realistic to say they were helping keep all four kingdoms safe.
Food and other 'luxury' items were not a priority for them.
While Atlas did design a healthy trail ration that did not spoil and had all the required nutrients needed for a body to survive and thrive, they completely ignored the taste. It was like eating a block of chalk. Tasted like it too. Taste had nothing to do with survivability up north in the cold climate, so they never bothered. It wasn't just food either. Coffee, spices, and pretty much anything that people would enjoy wasn't factored into their consideration.
Ruby still remembered the first time they tried one. Her uncle packed a couple, not many, but a few. They would eat them if they didn't have time to cook, like if they were rushing somewhere. Getting used to the taste and feel was important, or so he said. No matter how much water they drank, it was torture. Literal torture. After they got it down and the chalky taste out of their mouths, they did feel full but tasty food was a small silver-lining while traveling. It did encourage them to cook whenever possible and find a campsite out of the rain.
Jaune faired a little better than Ruby eating that ration. The poor girl was used to sweets, so it was worse for her. Some of the camp food Jaune ate with his grandfather had been burnt to the point of being nearly inedible, undercooked so the beef was still mooing, and everywhere in between. He was a little more used to eating crap. That didn't mean he enjoyed it. Eating charcoal pancakes would have been more preferable to this brick.
"Thanks." Sarcasm oozed in Jaune's words as he grabbed more water.
"Hurry up and finish," Qrow told him, enjoying the boy's suffering. "We got a mission and I want to leave ASAP."
"A mission?" Ruby jumped up and down eagerly. "What is it? Grimm extermination? Scouting? Is that why we stopped sparring earlier than usual."
Both kids had noticed Qrow didn't knock some more basics into them that morning like during the previous days. At first, they considered it might have to do with the crowd. Now they knew why. He didn't want them tired going into the field or they wouldn't be able to fight well.
"Calm down, Squirt." Qrow put his hand on her head and pushed down to keep her from moving. "I'll tell you the details once we head out. Get back and pack up. We might be out of the city for a couple of days."
"Is it serious?" Jaune asked, biting into the block of chalk. He gagged a bit and washed the garbage down with some water.
"Could be, but that's what we're sent to find out." Qrow answered.
The moment Jaune finished 'breakfast', he and Ruby rushed back to their room, threw their stuff back into their packs, grabbed their weapons, and headed after Qrow, who was already waiting at the gate. He glanced at their supplies, nodded and led them out. The town guard waved at them before writing their names down in his ledger. Tracking Huntsmen entering and leaving town was important, in case any of them went missing. Disappearances were a possible sign of Grimm.
"So, will you tell us yet?!" Ruby complained, once they were a significant distance away from the town and walking along a dirt road. "What's our super important mission?"
Qrow didn't answer immediately. The reason he didn't explain anything yet was because he had still been mulling over what exactly he wanted to tell them. They needed to learn the truth, but he wasn't sure the kids would be able to handle it. Grimm were one thing, people were another. Ruby had knocked some robbers around before Beacon, but that was a significant difference between them and slavers. Of course, slavers were only a possibility. There could be another reason.
Gut feelings didn't let him believe that little lie.
"Last night, I talked to the chief a bit," The man's words came out slowly, as he weighed each one. "There have been some disappearances. Not just around this town, but other nearby ones too."
"Disappearances?" Ruby repeated, sobering up at once. "Like people just vanishing… or are they… dead…?" Her words shook her a little at the end.
"We don't know," Qrow admitted. "If they were killed by Grimm, a corpse could be found. For a while, they just seemed to vanish. No trace. Once in a while, you expect that out here. Someone thinks they can handle themselves for a short trip because Grimm hadn't been reported for a while. Doesn't always work out. If remains are found, towns send extermination groups to get rid of the Grimm. If it's too big of a task, they request a Huntsman."
Ruby didn't look happy at the news, but kept her mouth shut. She couldn't get worked up over just talking about people dying. This was the world they lived in. Jaune, meanwhile, grabbed hold of a couple words from their mentor.
"You said, for a while, does that mean they found some clues?" The boy asked.
"Heh, pretty sharp there, kid." Qrow stopped and turned around. "They just discovered an abandoned camp that belonged to some travelers. No signs of where the people went, but they did discover some holes from a Dust Rifle."
"So they were attacked?" Jaune's hand reached for his sword almost instinctively. "That would mean there are Grimm, but why weren't there any bodies?"
"Did the Grimm capture the survivors for some reason?" Ruby pushed. "I've never heard of them doing that, but since traveling, I'm trying to keep an open mind."
"Most Grimm don't," Qrow replied slowly. "There have been reports of certain types of Grimm that like to use people as bait. Mostly insectoid Grimm, but there's a few other kinds that have too. None around these parts that we know of."
"So are they… being eaten whole?" Jaune spoke up.
"I suppose that's possible," The man rubbed his chin as he thought about that answer. "Then their supplies would be left behind, as Grimm don't care about stuff like that."
"So why would these people be disappearing?" Ruby muttered, thinking hard. "That doesn't seem like a Grimm attack than. Did they move away because they didn't want to live out here? But surely they would tell someone. Friends, family, the town guards, anyone. The villages are in contact, right?"
Qrow gave her an affirmative nod of his head as he watched his niece struggle to put together the missing pieces. Telling them would speed things up, but then the brats wouldn't learn. They had to be able to take information and determine what happened without someone feeding it to them. It was a little annoying on his part to wait for them to connect the dots. If time was of the essence, then he would have told them outright. As no one knew where the slavers were currently, they would have to track them. Another important skill he could teach those two.
"Jaune, any ideas?" Ruby turned toward her friend. She was getting stumped. It didn't make sense to the girl. Her uncle was just pointing out why she was wrong and it was getting frustrating.
"What if it's not the Grimm?" Jaune replied, causing Qrow's ear to twitch as he heard this. His face was passive as not to confirm anything yet. "We're used to dealing with Grimm, so that's the first thing we think of. What if it's something else?"
"Like natural disaster dangers?" Ruby titled her head quizzically. "Quicksand would make people and all their supplies disappear, but I doubt there's any here. That seems like something in Vacuo."
"Then there's only one option left," Jaune's mouth grew dry. He didn't like where his mind took him. "It's not Grimm, it's not nature, so what if it's… people?"
"People?" Ruby gaped at him. "Why would people kidnap other people? If they just wanted supplies… BANDITS!" She slapped her head. "They would steal the supplies and get rid of bodies because they didn't want to be found." Oh, that was so obvious. She should know something as simple as this. Bandits and robbers weren't actually that unusual.
"Yeah, I think that's the most likely option." Jaune agreed with her. "Qrow, what do you think?"
"Not a bad train of thought," Qrow had to admit. The kids were doing well. "You'll be surprised with bandits though. They don't tend to cover their tracks. To risky staying in one area. They attack travelers, steal anything they can get, and leave. Unless the person is a risk to their lives or valuable, they won't normally kill people once they surrender. The reason?" He held up one finger. "Money."
"Money?" The two students said in unison.
"If you keep killing traders, no one will want to trade out here," Qrow elaborated for them. "Bandits won't have targets anymore. For them, it's their life line. Once they hit a couple suckers, they'll move on and find another place for a while until the heat dies down. It's more profitable to let people return usually."
"So then what?" Ruby asked stumped. "Sounds like it's a Grimm that just eats people and their stuff."
"I suppose you did well for your first time," Qrow let out a long sigh. "I doubt you two would consider this possibility. Bandits was actually a pretty good guess. No. Talking with the chief last night, we think it is people, just not bandits."
"Then who?" Jaune asked.
"Slave traders."
The venom Qrow spat out those two words cause both kids to freeze. Out of all the people he met, slavers were some of the vilest people. In a world of monsters, freedom was a rare commodity. Most people were stuck behind walls their entire life. Death was always a possibility. Taking away someone's freedom was worse than killing them. Forcing them to work for you, physical mostly, but some garbage would also do more profane things with slaves.
"But… slavery is illegal!" Ruby protested, as the blood drained from her face. "Forcing people to work… it attracts Grimm with all the negativity. It's why it's outlawed."
"You underestimate greed," Qrow muttered darkly. "A lot of resources are constantly in demand around the world. Lumber, crops, metals, gems, Dust; all of which takes a lot of workers to farm. When less scrupulous businesses need workers, they hire groups to 'find' people." The man air quoted the word find with his fingers. "Under any circumstances. The businesses don't question how the people were hired. All they care about is getting the work done."
"What stops people from just running away?" Jaune asked. "Or telling people in the business."
"A lot of mines and lumber camps aren't anywhere near cities," Qrow continued, sounding almost exasperated. "Think about that. The camps provide protection and food for the workers, and maybe pay so low, it's nearly criminal. If someone tells them they were kidnapped and forced there, what would they do? The supervisor of the camp just goes, 'What, really? Well, you can go on then.' Let them leave the camp into Grimm infested territory with no weapons or combat skills."
"Can't they wait until, like, a Bullhead shows up?" Ruby pushed, looking for any way people could get out of it.
"Sure, if they are willing to pay the company for food and housing until then," Qrow laughed, but there was no amusement. "That's indentured servitude. People will owe so much money to the company before a Bullhead arrives, they have to work to pay everything back. Most of the people who get captured are poor people who won't draw attention. Or…"
"Jaune?" Ruby asked quietly, causing Jaune to spin around towards her. "Weiss and Blake argue about the White Fang and SDC a lot. Racism, getting bad jobs, those kinds of things. I mostly try to ignore them when they are arguing, but I picked up a few things…"
"Right, Weiss Schnee might have some insight," Her uncle agreed. "Her pops isn't popular among Faunus. Lots of claims of racism and he gets away with it because Atlas tends to… overlook things for economic benefit."
"What?!" Jaune demanded, hitting a tree. "Faunus are people too! All those people we met in town, they have families, lives… dreams. How could an entire kingdom overlook it?"
"They say they don't," Qrow stopped walking and turned around, looking older than he should for a moment. "The SDC says they pay Faunus the same rate as humans. That satisfies Atlas laws. What they don't look at is Faunus tend to get stationed in the least desirable or dangerous areas. Safety is lacking and costs are cut wherever possible. I've seen reports. Collapsed mines, Grimm attacks, all are disproportionally hurting Faunus."
He shook his head and continued walking, with Jaune and Ruby following close behind.
"Atlas won't look into it further because of reasons they wouldn't normally share with the public. Look at it this way. Let's say Atlas did crack down on all safety measures and the SDC had to spend a lot of money on upgrading everything. Where do you think a business will get that money? Increasing prices of their products. Prices of Dust would increase tremendously. Consumers would have to spend more money on Dust, which upsets people. For some reason, people don't like paying more for something. They also have less money for other stuff they want, which increases negativity. And what does negativity do? Calls more Grimm to the city."
"That's not fair!" Ruby protested.
"Life's not fair. It's a dog eat dog world."
"Next chance I get, I'm calling Weiss and giving her a piece of my mind." Ruby huffed.
"Do what you will, but I doubt that girl has any say in what her dad does. She's what? 17? I doubt she has even seen the accounting books."
"Oh…" Ruby fell silent. "I know Weiss. When she takes over, she would change things. I know it."
"Sounds good." Qrow glanced over his shoulder at Jaune. "You're quiet, kid. What's on your mind?"
"It's just… who would do this?" The blonde stopped and just stared off into the woods. "We're all against the Grimm, right? Why attack each other and cause problems when we should be working together. I just imagined what my family would go through if one of my sisters was captured like that…" He held a hand to his mouth as he looked a little green. His free hand made a fist.
Ruby patted him on the back lightly, trying to get him to calm down.
"It's why we're here." Ruby told him. "We'll protect innocent people, even if it's not against the Grimm."
"I wasn't sure you two were ready for this," Qrow scratched the back of his head as confessed. "It wasn't something I wanted you two to face. There was always a possibility but I didn't expect it so soon. If you want you two can sit this out. I'll give you a training plan to fol-…"
"NO!"
Both Ruby and Jaune instantly shut him down.
"There's no way I'm going to sit back and watch bullies like slavers hurt innocent people!" Ruby snapped. "I've fought criminals before."
"I would never forgive myself if I turned my back on people in need," Jaune agreed. "You're stuck with us."
"I could order you two to stay back," Their mentor pointed out. His remark was met with stony glares that caused him to quickly backtrack. "Okay, but you need to follow my orders. If things go wrong, people could get hurt. Understand?"
"Yes!"
There was no argument from either of the students.
"Here's what's going to happen," Qrow told them. "You both know how to use a compass and a map." He pushed the map into Jaune's hands. "Start marching here." His fingers tapped a small hilly location. "I'll meet you both later today. I'm going to start scouting some other areas for tracks. If you find anything,contact me through your Scrolls. Do not engage with anyone if you can help it. Feel free to kill any Grimm you find."
The two groups split up.
Nothing was found the first day, not that they expected anything to turn up. The world was a big place and even just the surrounding areas between towns were enormous. All they could do was keep looking for any signs. Ruby and Jaune continued trying to put all the tracking skills Qrow taught them to the test. At one point, they thought they had found a trail, only to find a large warthog. That had been a shock as the beast darted away from them. Qrow would disappear for an hour or two at a time, meet up with them, give them a new location to head to, then vanish.
"I wish he would let us know what's going on." Ruby huffed, as they reached the last location as the sun began to set. She tossed her backpack on the ground and sat on a log. "This sucks being kept in the dark."
"Tell me about it." Jaune mumbled, plopping down on a rock. "I keep thinking about people being kidnapped and enslaved. Even the Grimm don't do that. It's like people are worse than them."
"Are you okay?" Ruby asked cautiously. She was getting pretty good at reading him since they were traveling together. "Ever since Uncle Qrow mentioned the slave traders, you've been on edge… a lot."
"It's just…" Jaune gulped. "I guess I can tell you. Years ago, one of my younger sisters was kidnapped-…" he was forced to pause as Ruby gasped. "It wasn't a slave ring or anything like that. It was a robber who failed at a heist and couldn't get away, so he took a hostage."
"Your sister!"
"Yep, pretty obvious." Jaune tried to give her a weak grin. "He holed up inside a building for hours. I can't begin to describe the fear that caused my family. Not knowing if she was alive or dead and praying for hope. I was young and didn't fully understand the implications. My mom was hysterical."
"I bet," Ruby admitted. "If it were me, Yang would have attacked and taken down the building to save me."
"That's what my dad and grandpa did."
There was a pause.
"Like literally?" The confused girl asked.
"Yep, the entire building was destroyed by two angry Huntsmen." Jaune actually chuckled for a moment. "The robber regretted everything at that moment. The aftermath though?" He sobered up once more. "My sister had to have a lot of therapy to go out of the house and my mom was pretty overprotective for a while. No going out after dark, calling us every hour on the hour, stuff like that."
"I can sort of understand overprotective parents." Ruby was secretly referring to her sister, but her dad also over did it with the rules. He pretty much let Yang set the rules since she was so strict. "It must have been terrifying for her." She vaguely remembered Jaune talking about this during one of their previous talks, but never went into details. Being stuck together in the wilderness really brought them close. "We won't let anything happen to those people. We'll stop the slavers and free the hostages, okay?"
"Heh, you're always so optimistic, Ruby." Jaune smiled at his friend. "Thanks. I feel a little better."
"It's what I do." Ruby puffed out her chest. "You're not alone and remember what Manny told us? We have to stay positive."
"I thought he was just keeping us from fretting over the past, but now I think he meant stuff like this," Jaune admitted. "You'll see things you really don't want to see."
"Just focus on the all the people we're going to save," The young girl suggested. "Uncle Qrow won't let anything bad happen to them. And once we take down the bad guys, we'll send a message to anyone else who tries. That Huntress Ruby Rose and Huntsman Jaune Arc are on the case."
Jaune burst out laughing and wiped a tear from his eye at Ruby's expression.
"You really know how to cheer me up."
"We're best friends," Ruby held out a fist. "To the end, right?"
"Always." Jaune fist bumped her back.
They were just about to start setting up camp when there was a rustle in the bushes. Without thinking, both kids grabbed their weapons and held them in the ready position. Jaune was slightly further toward the noise, ready to block for Ruby, who was their main striker. Something out in the wilds this late, with night fast approaching, was most likely a wild animal, Grimm, or a person. And the number of good people they knew nearby was severely limited to one.
So of course, that one person emerged.
"Glad you two are prepared, but I really don't want to get shot by Ruby's rifle."
"Welcome back," Jaune greeted, lowering his sword. "Find anything?"
"As a matter of fact, I did." Qrow didn't smile, but looked a little proud of himself. "I found their camp and it's actually not very far. Leave your stuff here except weapons and ammo."
"We're ready!" Jaune jumped to his feet.
"Are we going in and kicking their butts?" Ruby asked.
"No!"
Both kids instantly snapped their mouths shut at Qrow's reaction. They had expected him to be eager to take down these slave traders. So their confusion was understandable. The man saw their expressions and rubbed his face as he explained.
"Listen, brats." The man growled. "This isn't like facing the Grimm. If we go in shooting and trying to attack head on, you know what's going to happen? They are going to take their kidnapped people hostage. Might even shoot a couple to make us stop. You think you can charge ahead when one of those bastards has a gun to a kid's head?"
Neither Jaune nor Ruby spoke at that.
"Thought so. So listen up. This is what we're going to do. I'm going to be the bait. I'm going to be on the far side of the camp, while you two hide on the opposite side. Once I draw them away, you have two jobs. One, to disable the large turret on the back of one of their trucks. Ruby, that is your job. You know more about weaponry than Jaune. It's what they've been using to keep Grimm back and hunt down travelers. Two, there's an armored transport vehicle with captured people in the back. You're going to open the door and lead them to safety. Get them out of there, Jaune. Once they are safe, I won't have to play around with those assholes."
The kids nodded grimly. Due to the seriousness of the situation, neither of them even considered arguing. Ruby didn't even flinch at Qrow's foul language. Their entire beings were focused on saving the innocent civilians. Leaving their supplies behind, they took off through the hills. None of them talked. Ruby was gripping her weapon tighter than necessary, while Jaune was too distracted with worry to ask anything. About an hour later, the slaver camp came into view.
There were four vehicles. One was an armored van that was locked from the outside. As they watched, they saw one of the men open it and let out a dozen people, ranging from kids to adults. They were too far away to make out too many details. The second vehicle had that mounted turret Qrow was worried about. A powerful Dust weapon that could pierce armored Grimm. Pretty standard for excursions outside towns due to its mobility. The other two vehicles appeared to just be basic off-road ones for transporting the slave traders and chasing down unsuspecting victims.
"You two remember the plan?" Qrow whispered, as Jaune and Ruby crouched down behind some bushes. "Don't go in until I distract them. There might be one or two left, so you have to move quickly."
"You can count on us, Uncle Qrow." Ruby told him confidently.
"We'll make sure they get to safety." Jaune confirmed, his voice stronger than he really felt.
"Do try to get that turret down, Squirt." Qrow mumbled as he began to leave. "Those things hurt." He vanished into the darkening tree line. With the sun already set, the sky was still lit, but quickly fading.
Jaune gritted his teeth as his hand rested on the hilt of his sword. He never considered the fact he would be fighting like this. All of his previous imaginations involved fighting Grimm and protecting innocents in trouble. Fighting people? It seemed like the exact opposite of what a Huntsman should be doing. Slave traders were criminals and that small but significant detail was what kept him focused. He and Ruby slowly drew near the camp, making sure to stay quiet.
"Take a deep breath."
Jaune nearly jumped when Ruby spoke.
"Take a deep breath, Jaune." Ruby repeated softly. "You're too stiff. We know what we have to do and fretting like that won't change anything. We need to be at our best to save those people."
"…You're right, sorry." Jaune inhaled deeply. Weirdly, he felt a tiny bit better as his muscles relaxed a hair. "Okay, I'm ready."
They didn't have to wait long.
"Who's that?!"
The gruff voice of one of the slavers rang out. From Ruby's perspective, she could see her uncle walking into the camp from the far side, his sword swung over his shoulder. He was grinning and looking nonchalant. If these criminals were just ordinary people without Aura and training, her uncle could take them all out in under a minute. Hostages were the only reason they were taking precautions.
"Hey!" Qrow called out to them without the slightest trace of fear, even though several of them had drawn guns. "I got a little lost after doing some routine patrols. Know where the nearest town is?"
"You a Huntsman?" One of the men asked, not lowering his gun.
"Yep, can't you tell?" Qrow rubbed his chin. "My rugged good looks not clear enough."
"Why are you patrolling now?" Another man asked. "There's been like, one Grimm spotted this week and we killed it. Shouldn't you be south?"
"Not looking for Grimm," Qrow told them. "I was looking for a bunch of fucking bastards kidnapping people for slaves. Know them? They look just like you lot."
There was a pause as the words sunk in. The silence stretched as the men didn't seem that bright.
"SHOOT HIM!"
Gunfire rang out as Qrow laughed and mocked them, before pulling back into the trees. The men began chasing him, just like they planned. The slave traders were under the impression no one knew about them, so allowing Qrow to escape wasn't something they could afford. The two off-road vehicles roared to life and took off, with the last two slavers heading toward the turret vehicle. Everything was going according to plan.
The two men collapsed as Ruby appeared behind them. All it took was a quick smack in the back of the head with the blunt end of her scythe. The girl then climbed up on the turret and began to disable it. Jaune meanwhile raced toward the back of the locked transport and tried to open it. Without the key, the door didn't budge. Growling to himself, he ran over to the unconscious bodies and rummaged around. Finally, finding the small metal item, he managed to unlock the door. Inside, a group of scared looking Faunus and one human coward back before him. Men and women, kids and adults. The slave traders were taking anyone they could capture.
"My name is Jaune Arc," Jaune told them quickly, panting a little. "I'm a Huntsman. We're here to save you all. Come on, we're leaving and getting you back home."
The fear in the back of the vehicle turned to relief as his words washed over them.
"Thank you!"
"I thought I would never see my family again!"
"We're going to be okay!"
"Hurry," Jaune ushered them out. "You all need to head that way." He pointed to the hill. "Meet up on the other side while we deal with these guys." Most of the captives were quick to follow his orders, but a woman with long blonde hair, and a pair of dog ears of the same color, grabbed his arm.
"They took my daughter shortly before you came!" The woman had tears running down her face. "Did you find her?"
"I…" Jaune shook his head. "Go with the others. I'll find her. I swear."
The woman didn't want to go, but she really couldn't stay behind. Another of the captives helped drag her with them. Jaune felt horrible, knowing what it was like to not know where a family member was. Even worse, it was a mom with her daughter. She was probably freaking out internally.
"Ruby!" Jaune called out. "There's someone still out there. I'm going to check the tents."
"Hurry!" Ruby told him. "We may not have a lot of time if the others come back."
"I won't be long."
The camp wasn't very big. As the vehicles that left weren't designed to hide anyone, there were only a few places left where a kid could be. Unless the kid was no longer alive… Jaune shook his head to get rid of those negative thoughts. The girl was alive and he was going to find her. A couple tents were lined up and since the girl was nowhere else in sight, that was the logical spot. The first tent was open and was empty, so Jaune moved to the next one. He was just about to open the tent when-
"Watch out!"
Jaune fell back as a gun fired where he had just been. Scrambling to his feet, he raised his shield as a man holding a struggling girl got out. It must have been the daughter, as the girl had blonde hair and dog ears like her mother. Jaune froze when the gun was pointed to the side of the girl's head.
"Drop your weapon, or I'll kill her." The man threatened him.
The boy didn't respond immediately. His eyes had zoomed in on the girl. Her clothes were ripped, she had a black eye, and several bruises on her arms and legs. Her skin was slightly gaunt as if she hadn't eaten much over the last few days. As Jaune stared at her, the girl looked back up at him, fear in her one open eye. She had warned him, even in her position. Jaune couldn't believe a child would go so far for a complete stranger. His hand tightened around the hilt of his sword so much, his knuckles were turning white.
Without the ears, that Faunus girl resembled his sisters.
"You heard me, asshole!?" The man spat at him. "Drop the weapon, NOW!"
The sword clattered on the ground as Jaune let go, followed by the shield. A stupid decision on his part, but what else could he do?
"No!" The girl shouted, as she squirmed. Being malnourished, small, and beaten, she wasn't strong enough to break her captor's grasp.
"Idiot." A scream and gunshot followed.
Bang!
The man was grinning as he fired the gun at Jaune. A flash of light glowed on Jaune's face as the bullet collided into his forehead. The slaver assumed he won and lowered the gun, only to receive a shock. The bullet had collided with Jaune's aura and halted before it caused any damage to the young Huntsman. Slave traders were used to dealing with normal humans and occasionally guards, not Huntsmen and Huntresses. Not understanding Aura was a fatal mistake. Jaune charged forward and pulled his hand back into a fist.
A sickening crunch followed his fist making direct contact with the slaver's face.
The girl screamed again but stopped when Jaune caught her from falling. The man was thrown back and collapsed onto the ground, blood gushing down his front. His nose was angled oddly.
"You bruk my fucghlng nost!"
Jaune ignored him and called over his shoulder.
"Ruby! Get her to safety!"
"On it!" Ruby appeared in a flash of petals next to him. "Come on, I got you." In a flurry of even more petals, Ruby carried the injured girl away.
"What the hell were you thinking," Jaune growled at the man, as he picked up his sword and shield and prepared to leave. "Kidnapping and torture?"
"Their jush animals." The man spat back. "No one charsh about them." He was still sporting a bloody nose.
"They aren't animals!" Jaune shot back, his hand tightening on his sword. "They are people!"
"Hah!" The man started laughing. "They are beashs to ush as we want. Wen we're bored, we can get rid of-." A gurgle interrupted his words and he spat out blood. "I was jush relieving some stress. A weak girl is ushless. Grimm food at besh. Being weak ish a crime out here."
"Watch it." Jaune growled, as anger washed over him. Being weak wasn't a crime. That little girl didn't deserve any of this. This person… no, no person would ever treat another like this. This guy was a monster. The boy thought he had seen it all with Cardin back at Beacon. A bully, a racist, and an asshole. Compared to this guy? Cardin was a Saint.
"Or what?" The man rolled his eyes as he sat up. "You'll tak me in? You're already doing that. Shame I couldn't kill thath little dog beforehand. That'sh shome pleashure."
"Shut up!"
Jaune swung his fist, forgetting for one brief moment that his sword was still clutched in his grasp.
Feel free to leave a review, comment, suggestions, or ideas, I love reading them. If you have a question you wish to ask and would like a quick answer, feel free to message me directly. I try to respond to those within a day or two. Comments, I tend to respond to in the next chapter.