Jaune and the rest of his team woke up feeling absolutely incredible in a way that was difficult to explain but easy to understand and easier to appreciate but if they had to try and put these feelings into words. They would have described it as though an awful weight had been lifted off of their shoulder and to be perfectly honest that wasn't too much of a hyperbole, last night provided an outlet that had been sorely needed after the past couple of events experienced by everyone involved. Being in a safe setting where they could just drop their guard allowed a lot of pent-up stress to evaporate into the ether where it would not be missed. Sure there were still plenty of issues that haven't yet been resolved but none of them seemed to be as big or as confusing as they did only yesterday.

"What an absolutely beautiful day!" The pirate said to no one but himself as he got ready for a long day of…What am I going to do today? Let's see, we just came back from a mission so we have the day off so let's see what the others want to do before I try calling Tock to see if she has some plans. If that doesn't pan out then I can practice for the Vytal Festival. "So does anyone have an idea on how to spend our day off?"

Pyrrha was the first to answer him, "Well I don't know about you but I'm looking forward to hitting the track and just enjoying the feeling of the warm sun on my skin as I work up a good sweat."

Ren was quick to agree with her, "It would be nice to get back into the habit of nearly daily workouts and we do have to start training for the Vytal Festival soon."

"How about we start by doing something about the strange man just outside our window?" Nora helpfully suggested.

"That's a great sugges… wait, WHAT!?"

Nora pointed towards the window and explained herself, "There is a strange man sitting in the tree just outside our dorm. Look, he's even waving at us." She then started to wave back while the rest of her team immediately ran towards the window and found that she had spoken the truth.

Comfortably sitting in the tree just outside their dorm was a tanned blond blue-eyed middle-aged man with what could be generously described as a "Dad Bod," dressed in brown cargo pants, with a tan dress shirt, and an open brown vest on top. For some reason that they did not understand, he was doing just as Nora had described and was waving at them as though there was nothing unusual about any of this, "Hey kids!"

Jaune first looked at his teammates seeking any kind of advice but all he got was confused shrugs, Thanks for being so helpful, a real team effort. "Hello stranger, I hope you don't mind me asking but who the hell are you?"

"Oh, I don't mind at all! My name is Taiyang and I'm looking for my daughters, you all look to be around the same age as my oldest so maybe you know them, their names are Ruby Rose and Yang Xiao Long?"

Ren narrowed his eyes in suspicion, "Anyone can say anything that they want, how do we know you're telling the truth and aren't just someone who got caught and is now lying through your teeth to get away? You brought up two members of Team RWBY which just happens to include Weiss Schnee so who's to say that you're not just a fan of hers or maybe you're a member of the paparazzi who just looked up some tidbits about her teammates in order to add some credibility to your story." Truth be told he didn't actually think this man was a member of the press, he just said as to not scare him away before they could figure him out.

The man scratched his chin and then pointed out a flaw in that theory, "If I was a member of the paparazzi then why would I be looking for Weiss when you guys have Pyrrha Nikos on your team? No offense to that other girl but an heiress who only dabbled in music before quitting doesn't really compare to a four-time regional champion."

"May I remind you whose tree you're in and how you were the one who brought up our friend, to begin with," Nora said as she began to palm her fist with enough force that the sound echoed throughout the room, a promise of what would happen if his answer didn't satisfy them.

Oddly though the man was more impressed than concerned by her unspoken threat, "Wow, you kids are way more cautious than we were at your age, by the way, that was a compliment, not a critique."

"We? Who's We?"

"I was referring to my teammates back when we were students of Beacon just like you guys are now." He then noticed that while he was talking Pyrrha had pulled out her scroll and began dialing, "Um, who are you calling?" he nervously asked.

"The police."

"May I ask why?"

She gave him a warm friendly smile, "Because you have yet to prove anything and we're not obliged to give you that chance."

He embarrassingly scratched the back of his head, "That's a good point… um, I have a lot of family photos on my scroll, would that be good enough for you?"

"Give us a second to talk about it," Jaune answered before he and the others huddled together and began to whisper as the strange man waited patiently in the tree. "Alright, so we all agree that this guy is suspicious as all bloody hell but that doesn't mean he is with Peter. So how do you want to handle this?

Pyrrha was the first to suggest something, "I guess it depends on the photos, if he isn't in any of them then we'll know somethings wrong."

However Nora was quick to point out the error in her logic, "All that means is that at some point in the past he knew them and was on good terms with them, it doesn't mean that they're friends now much less family!"

"How about we look through his phone records as well?" Asked Jaune, "Yang told me that she called her dad recently so if he's telling the truth then we should be able to find a record of the call in the scroll's history."

Rend then asked something so obvious that for one moment everyone else wondered how on Remnant did they not think of something so simple, "Why don't we just call either Ruby or Yang and ask them?"

It took a moment for Pyrrha's mind to reboot but when it was done it then had a thought, "What if he tries to stop us?"

"Then we'll break his legs!" Nora replied with a grin that was soon reflected on the faces of everyone else before they turned back to face the man still chillaxing in the tree unawares at the peril awaiting his knees.

Jaune then grabbed his own scroll, took a step towards the window, and pointed right at him, "Okay, this is how things are going to play out. You're going to stay in that tree and I'm going to call your supposed daughters and ask them about you. What happens next will depend entirely on what they tell me so if you're lying I suggest that you start running now because you do NOT find out what we will do to you if they tell me that you're full of shit."

"Oh thank you, that would be great!" The man happily replied as though they were somehow doing him a favor. "The calling my daughters part, not the threat but then again it's not like I have anything to be afraid of."

Of all the possible responses that he could have received this one was by far the least expected and for one moment Jaune felt rather silly being so defensive around this guy, had it not been for some recent events he just might have just dropped the plan and let the man inside without further question. And what if it's yet another member of the Lost Boys? After all, we never did catch the Grimm summoner but, what could he hope to accomplish here? Well, we can just ask him after we expose his lies and catch him.

Yang was in the middle of a nice morning stretch when suddenly her scroll began to ring, alas the device was just out of reach of her hands and she was on the verge of breaking a personal record and was thusly uninclined to stop, meanwhile both Weiss and Ruby were occupying the bathroom while Blake was still trapped between the border of the dream world and reality which as a result meant that none were available to answer the call. Granted there was the possibility that it was something important but if that was the case the caller could just try again later when everyone would be less occupied

Eventually, the ringing stopped and all present thought that the matter was over for now, then suddenly Ruby's scroll began to ring. This proved to be the deciding factor that finally pushed Blake into the world of the living, however waking up and getting out of bed are often two different things, "Yang, why don't you answer it." She yawned before adding, "You're the only one in any position to do so."

"Just give me a second, I'm so close!" Yang replied as tried pulling herself further, "Besides it's probably just a telemarketer trying the next number on their list." Before too long Ruby's scroll stopped ringing as well but instead of peace and quiet, they were all treated to the sound of someone knocking hard and knocking fast on their door.

"I'll get it," said Blake, forcing herself out of bed before Yang could ask her to answer the door.

The moment the door was even slightly ajar Jaune's voice nearly shouted from the other side, "There is this weird man sitting in the tree outside our window asking for Ruby and Yang!"

"What does he look like?" Yang asked as Blake fully opened the door letting their friend in.

"He looks like…," he turned around and looked through the still-open door of both his and their own dorm rooms to get a look at the man still sitting comfortably in the tree, and after a few seconds he looked back at her, "He kinda looks like a middle-aged surfer bro."

"Then that's probably my dad, he does this from time to time."

For a few seconds just stood there in complete silence as though he was waiting for her to add something but whatever he was waiting for never came, "You're serious? That's Your dad in Our tree!?"

Blake, who was still rather drowsy, was having a hard time following the conversation and wondered if she had perhaps misheard, "Why is your dad in a tree?" She then whispered to herself, "Or am I still asleep but then why on earth would I dream something like this?" She then pinched herself and was perplexed to find that she was indeed awake, "Is this some kind of overly complicated joke?"

"Both are excellent questions Blake, Yang would you mind explaining why your dad is in a tree?"

"He was probably trying to ambush us," the brawler nonchalantly answered as she gave up on breaking her personal record for now and transitioned into another set of stretches.

"WHAT!?"

"Cease Your Bickering!" A door swung violently open and Weiss stomped out of the bathroom wearing nothing but a towel and a shower cap while her face was covered in some kind of bizarre grayish colored goop, "What could you all be possibly talking about that requires you to raise your voice this loud this early in the day!?"

Blake answered calmly and matter-of-factly, "Some guy wanted to ambush Yang and Ruby but they made a mistake, climbed the wrong tree, JNPR caught him, he asked for the aforementioned sisters, Jaune came here to ask what was his deal, and according to Yang that was their father who apparently does that for reasons that she has yet to explain."

"WHAT?!"

Now it was Ruby's turn to step out of the bathroom in order to try and find out just why everyone was speaking so loudly so early in the morning, "What's gotten all of you so riled up today?"

"Dad is in the tree over by JNPR's dorm," answered Yang.

"Really!?" Without any hesitation she ran past her partner, her sister, her friends, out of her dorm, across the hallway, into Jaune's dorm, past more friends who she made sure to wish a good morning to, before finally stopping in front of the window, peering out anding finding that Yang had indeed told the truth but… she felt conflicted. Normally the sight of her father would have instantly put a smile on her face especially when he was in such an unusual position but this time was different, she knew why he had come and that meant that her life was about to change.

Maybe it was because he was her father or maybe it was because he had been trained to notice such things, either way, the look on her face was painfully easy to read. For a moment there existed the temptation to lie about his purpose, to delay an already long overdue conversation with the reasoning that the bad guys had been caught so what harm could come from this? Apparently plenty and that's only going to get worse the longer I put this off. "Hey kid, we've got a lot to talk about."

For one excruciating moment, there was a look of solemn seriousness on both their faces which left the members of JNPR feeling out of place within their own room which in turn made Ruby feel awkward over how she was making them feel which just magnified the uncomfortableness for everyone in question. Before long that feeling morphed into a desperation to get out of that situation and conveniently there was someone that she could metaphorically throw under the bus, "Dad… why are you trying to ambush my friends?"

Taiyang quickly caught onto what she was doing and placed a hand on his chest before throwing his head back in an overly dramatic fashion "My own daughter accusing me of foul intentions!? Oh, how could this have come to pass!?"

"Well for starters you climbed up a tree, waited outside our window, and when confronted claimed that you had made a mistake and that your real targets were friends of ours," Nora helpfully stated as the last bit of tension finally evaporated leaving nearly no trace of its existence.

"Hey, that… sounds really bad when you say it like that." He was starting to become painfully aware how just how badly this all could have gone down, What if one of these kids had been sleeping with their weapon like Qrow and Raven would? "Could you guys word that a bit differently? I don't want the students around here thinking that I'm a-"

"Predator?" suggested Ren, the sheer blunt brutality of the comment struck Taiyang like a vicious left hook from his ex-wife and caused him to nearly fall out of the tree in shock. Even Ruby had been left speechless though deep down inside she couldn't really disagree with him.

"Damn that was cold, you guys really don't play around," Taiyang commented once he finally recovered.

A guilty look appeared on the faces of Nora, Pyrrha, and even Ren, "I apologize for my rudeness, normally we're the type to enjoy surprises but the past few days have been rather rough for everyone."

Taiyang nodded along understandingly as he climbed through the open window, "I've heard all about The Breach and a little bit about the settlement mission that you guys went onto afterward. But far more importantly I heard from Yang how you all helped protect Ruby and somehow convinced a group of bounty hunters to help take a bastard down."

Jaune stood at the doorway and shrugged, "Ruby and everyone else on her team are our friends, it's only natural that we would help them out in any way we could but in all honesty, we didn't do all that much. It was Tock and her crew that told us what we needed to know and they were the ones who actually went and got the bad guys, we just handled the ones who came after us."

The older Huntsman's face didn't show it but internally he was frowning, during his career, he had seen this kind of attitude multiple times, and usually, it was just the result of a sense of humility which itself wasn't a bad thing. But sometimes it was something else, sometimes what at first glance looked like humility was actually just a veil hiding a deeper issue that the person themselves weren't fully aware existed. He glanced at the young man's arm, It couldn't have been easy to train with a physical disability like that, especially when the good prosthetics can be hard to get. The fact that he's even here is a real testament to his drive but… everyone wears out eventually.

"Don't go selling yourself short," Suddenly Jaune felt a strong hand patting him on the back as Yang walked past him and joined her father and sister pulling both into a warm hug before looking back at the entirety of JNPR. "You guys were the first ones to arrive at the Breach, you were the ones who kept us from being overrun and it was you who put me and Tock into contact with each other, the only reason we were able to catch Peter is thanks to you."

A smile formed on Jaune's face, "You're right, I guess I was just upset by how the mission turned out."

Blake tilted her head, "I thought the mission was successful?"

Nora lifted up her hand and tilted it left and right, "It was really so-so, technically we were successful but realistically the settlement is going to be abandoned and I can't blame them. Surviving one Grimm attack is fortunate, surviving a second one happening so soon after the first one is nothing short of lucky."

"It's downright miraculous," Pyrrha then paused before admitting the sad reality of that situation, "We never caught the summoner but it wouldn't have mattered even if we did, there was too much negativity, too many wounded, and too many repairs that needed to be made. A third attack was all but guaranteed and it would have been disastrous, it was time to throw in the towel."

"You assessed the situation, made a call based on the facts, and saved lives in the process," spoke a brand new voice that belonged to a tall broad-shouldered man dressed in a clean white neat suit who was now standing in the hallway between both rooms. Everything about this man from the way he walked, stood, talked, and even held his gloved hands radiated with the confidence and authority of someone who was born a leader but didn't take it for granted like so many others did. Despite most of them not knowing anything about this man they all could tell at a glance that he was someone significant but far more importantly, that he was someone who had earned his position.

"Hey Jimmy, wassup?"

"Taiyang!?" Before their eyes, a bizarre change overtook the man, who was apparently named Jimmy, as a great big and surprisingly goofy-looking smile broke out across his face as he nearly galloped into the room and came face to face with Taiyang. "It really is you!" he happily exclaimed while offering his apparent friend a handshake that was graciously accepted. "What are you doing here?"

"He was trying to ambush his kids but climbed the wrong tree and ended up here instead," Nora helpfully interjected.

"Really?" Jimmy looked at her before looking back at Taiyang, "You're still doing that? Haven't you learned anything from Glynda?"

"Hey! She has her methods and mine are just as valid as hers! And I'll have you know-"

Jaune saw that the mess of a situation was spinning out of control and stepped in to try and rein things intruding Taiyang in the process before looking right at Jimmy and asking, "I'm sorry to interrupt this reunion but who are you and why are you here?"

The man had a strange look on his face that could best be described as someone who just remembered something important, something so important that they couldn't believe that they had forgotten to begin with, and were now admonishing themselves for fucking up. However, he was a professional, and soon enough his face returned to normal as he straightened himself up and faced the young pirate with a small smile, "I apologize for forgetting my manners, my name is General James Ironwood and I came for two reasons. The first was to commend you all, RWBY for catching a dangerous criminal group operating from within the kingdom and JNPR for saving the lives of the settlers and catching most of the other members of that same group. These were the acts of true huntsmen and I assure you that I will be watching your careers with great interest."

After hearing that Blake who was hiding behind the door of her dorm room accidentally let a groan but thankfully it went ignored by all present as Ironwood continued, "The other thing I have to say is less pleasant but necessary… the Council of Vale has put me in charge of security for the Vytal Festival."

"Now hold on Jimmy, isn't that supposed to be the job of the resident headmaster?"

"Correct but the Breach led to some security concerns," he paused to consider how to best phrase the next part. "The Council decided that Ozpin's… hands-off methods weren't appropriate given heightened tensions so they chose to break with tradition and hand the job over to me."

"And what does that mean," asked a now dressed Weiss as she did her hair while occasionally glancing over to Blake who was hiding behind the door.

"Right now it means that I have some questions which I'm hoping you all will be able to answer."

To Ironwood's surprise, he found that not only was everyone all too willing to volunteer information to him but they were clamoring to do so, "Is this about Jaune shooting that guy? Because we had nothing to do with that!" "I'm a former member of the White Fang, the Former part is the most important!" "I may be a Vale citizen but firearm laws are different in Patch which is where I made the gun so I technically haven't broken any laws!" "I owned the car so I had the right to set it on fire!" "Jeez, how many times do you want me to apologize for the kilt?" "I already told Ozpin everything I already know about what the White Fang is planning!" "Look I get that Tock and her crew are technically criminals but what choice did I really have?" "We were only part-time bandits and only Mistral which is out of your jurisdiction." "Look I was drunk when I married her and we couldn't get annulment at the time because of the chaos caused by the Breach and then Lost Boys showed up!" "Tournaments are a test of skill and my semblance is a skill that I had to train just like my weapons! In fact, I'd go as far to argue that it is no different!" "I get that my ex is a bandit but the keyword here is EX, Raven isn't my wife anymore." "Penny and I sometimes make out when no one is looking!" "I know I grabbed his balls and then wrecked his club but it was only because he didn't give me what I wanted, he's the unreasonable one!" "Ghira Belladonna, the Chieftain of Menagerie is my father, and as his daughter, I demand my rights be respected!"

"SHUT DA FUCK UP!" Standing further down in the hallway was a young man that none of them recognized but judging by the fact he was wearing ripped jeans, a white t-shirt with a pair of pink-tinted sunglasses hanging from the collar, and a black and sky blue hoodie instead of a uniform which suggested he was from Vacuo's Shade Academy. "The sun has barely risen and most of us have yet to drink even a single cup of coffee and yet you're all making more noise than an orgy of drunken mole crabs! So do us all a favor and shut up or fuck off!" He then stomped away leaving them all to steep in the now growing sense of awkward self-awareness. And what followed was a span of time that felt like a minute or so for everyone still standing in and between the two dorms where no one spoke, in reality, it was only a few seconds either way it was impossible to know just how much longer they would have wallowed in brutal self-awareness if it hadn't been for Ironwood.

Ironwood possessed a Semblance that he called Mettle, it was a subtle ability to the point where only the people who knew what to look for had any chance to know whether he was using it or not. It wasn't an ability that was suited for battle and to be honest, it was useless in most situations thanks to its completely underwhelming power however now and then a moment would come along and it would become the deciding factor turning a defeat into a grand victory and right now it was working its magic. Mettle was a mental Semblance that could activate automatically and it brought the world back into focus as everything else faded away as though they were never real, to begin with. It forced him to dismiss everything else as irrelevant and remember why he had come as cold logic demanded that he shake off the feeling of awkwardness and get back to work, That's enough. With a bit of concentration, he turned his Semblance off before it could go much further, and as he did so his perception of the world returned to normal as his heart defrosted and the machine turned back into a man. Then with a sigh of relief, he turned back to everyone else and grabbed their attention with a simple question, "Perhaps we should have this discussion elsewhere?"

Atlas Academy prided itself on the discipline that it instilled in its students which they believed would create Huntsmen that truly understood the dire seriousness of their job and act in a manner that was appropriate. Right now many of those students were gathered together in the cafeteria and in a show of unity were staring dumbfounded at a sight that everyone who wasn't from Atlas just didn't seem to care about which made the whole thing all the more bizarre to them. Some of the more imaginative students secretly began to wonder if they were being subjected to some kind of practical joke or mass hallucination or maybe even some kind of test, but none had the courage to confirm except for one and her name was Neon Katt. She alone had the courage necessary to start walking across the cafeteria floor towards the possible illusion as her fellow trainees watched the brightly colored cat Faunus in awe while remarking how she never really fit in. Back then they saw her bright fun-loving demeanor as unprofessional, her accessorizing as frivolous and immature, and they had assumed that it was all because she was a troublemaker but now, they wondered if they had misjudged her.

However, not everyone agreed, more than a few of the 4th and 3rd-year students refused to even reconsider their opinion of the free-spirited girl with her dyed stylized hair, rainbow tattoo, and bright multicolored bracelets that she wore with her uniform, and some even took offense at the sight of her tail. They told themselves and each other, "Just wait, in a moment she'll come running back without even trying, and then she'll try to laugh it off." They were more than content to believe that a girl lacking in both "Discipline," and "Patriotic Pride," could accomplish what they couldn't… So why hasn't she stopped?

"Sir?"

General James Ironwood turned around and came face to face with one of his students who was saluting him as the others stared eagle-eyed from a distance waiting for something, "You're Neon Katt from Team FNKI, correct?"

"Yes sir! Permission to ask a question?"

"Granted."

"Sir I hope you don't mind me asking but, are you lost?"

He wasn't the sort of man who received many questions, most people seemed to be content to take him at his word but when they did happen it was usually important. He could not remember the last time someone had asked him something so plain and yet it sounded so odd, "No… why would you ask me that?"

She motioned to the entire room, "Because you're eating breakfast here in the Student cafeteria. Shouldn't you be eating with your colleagues in the Teacher's lounge rather than with a group of Beacon students and…-," She looked a Taiyang for a moment to try and figure out what his deal was and why was he sitting between a smoking hot blond and an equally cute brunette, both who were acting so comfortable around him that it gave her a familial vibe rather than a creepy one, "-a middle-aged surfer daddy?"

Ironwood bit his tongue to keep himself from laughing, "Hmmm, I suppose this whole situation would seem odd to most people." He glanced over to where his other students were standing and noticed a rather dumbfounded look on all of them, Seriously, why is the sight of me eating Breakfast with others so weird to you all!? Is there something wrong with the curriculum? "But I assure you, cadet, that I am fully aware of just where I am and who I'm eating with, besides Taiyang is an old friend of mine."

She looked at the General, then at the surfer dad before looking right back at the General, "I understand," That was a blatant lie and everyone knew it but no one would ever call her out on it. "Well in that case I'm sorry for bothering you Sir, enjoy your meal!" She then gave him a cute little salute and a flirty wink towards Yang and Jaune before walking back to her peers as everyone else watched her leave while playfully swinging her tail back and forth.

"Well that was weird," Jaune muttered to himself as soon as Neon was out of earshot.

"I agree but she seems rather normal compared to the other Atlas students," commented Ren while pointing at the group who were outwardly still but inwardly were in the middle of losing their goddamn minds.

The sight of all of them just staring blank-eyed sent a shiver down Ruby's spine, "What are they waiting for."

"I don't know what they want but I can tell you that they're acting this way because of Ironwood and to a lesser extent Pyrrha and to an even lesser extent, myself," Weiss answered with annoying vagueness.

Nora then asked, "But what so special about him," she then glanced at the general, "No offense."

"None taken and I'm happy to answer your question, I'm not just the Head General of Atlas, I'm also the Headmaster of the Academy, and I am a member of the Kingdom Council."

Yang scratched her chin as she recalled something, "I remember learning that the council system works a bit differently in Atlas, here in Vale all the seats are up for election and it's strictly one seat per person but in your kingdom, the head of the Army is granted one seat and the Headmaster of the Academy has another which means you have two seats."

Blake then took over, "Don't forget that both positions are lifetime appointments meaning that Ironwood despite never being elected now and for the rest of his life holds two permanent seats of power in a council of only five which makes him the most important person in Atlas. And when you consider the importance of tech and its military aid, it's not too much of a stretch to suggest that the General is the most important person in all of Remnant," She then shot him a dirty look before returning to her meal.

In return, he just sighed and for a moment a rather tired and regretful expression crept into his face and voice, it wasn't too hard to imagine why as only a fool would think that he didn't know about Blake's past which meant that there were certain implications that had gone unsaid. Implications that quite a few people would have argued were simply facts, "I assure you that's it's not as big a deal as it all sounds, I'm just one man and it takes many people to change the world."

"But you could easily push for change."

"I wish I could, however it's never that easy but maybe you and everyone else can help make it a bit easier."

He now had their undivided attention, "How?"

"Earlier I mentioned that I had questions, specifically I would like to know more about the Breach and what happened afterward. I've already managed to come into contact with Tock and her crew and they were more than happy to help clear the air and I was wondering if I could count on you to do the same?"

Taiyang raised his hand, "Excuse me Jimmy but would it be possible for my daughters to sit this one out for a bit? I have something very important that I need to talk to them about."

Ironwood gave him a knowing nod, "Ozpin warned me ahead of time of this so I already took it into account, take all the time you need."

"Thanks."

He then turned and looked at the two remaining members of RWBY and the entirety of Team JNPR before repeating the same question, "So can you help me?"

"Sure," they all replied together, seeing no good reason to refuse his request especially when it involved something that all had a vested interest in.

"I really appreciate it but now how am I going to schedule this…," He then took out his scroll as everyone else continued eating and began running numbers in his head, Tock and her crew are scheduled to come in at around 1 so I should get Blake and Weiss before that to compare their side of the story with Tock's. However Yang was the one in contact with both Jaune and Tock so maybe I should start with JNPR but, the settlement is easily the least important part of this case. However, Jaune is connected to both parts but…

Suddenly Ruby spoke up, "Oh by the way Jaune, Penny, and I managed to finish that new weapon you asked for! Do you wanna grab it after we're done eating?"

"Of course! Do you even have to ask?"

The two then began chatting about the specifics of that new weapon while the General took that new information into account, Well this makes my decision easy. Thought Ironwood to himself as he reminisced about all the practice sessions he had with his own weapon, a pair of bulky revolvers called Due Process that was heavy and sturdy enough to wield as surprisingly effective clubs. Even the mere act of learning how to best pistol whip with them had taken hours to get right and then several additional months of training to be able to use it against the Grimm. Far be it from me to deny them a chance to better themselves.

"In that case," Ironwood said, catching the attention of both youths, "How about I start with Weiss and Blake then later after that I can move onto JNPR? That way you'll have some time today to train with your new weapon for the Vytal Festival."

"Then why don't you start with us? That way we'd have the rest to train," Ren suggested.

Blake just shook her head, "It's hard to tell just how long these sorts of things can go, it can be as short as 30 minutes or if they feel 'Justified,' it can be an all-day affair." The way she had said it made it clear beyond a shadow of a doubt that she was talking from experience, maybe her own personal experience.

Either way, it was a solid argument that none could think of a proper counter to, so they accepted Ironwood's proposal and continued eating their breakfast.

Inside one of Beacon's many sparring rings, Team JNPR had set up some Atlesian Knights to use as combat targets after they finished examining the weapon that Ruby had made for Jaune at his request. It was shaped like an old-fashioned hook hand prosthetic like something a pirate from a children's book might wear regardless of how impractical such a thing would be in real life. There could be no doubt that the average person on the street would upon seeing the weapon would not recognize it as one and probably dismiss the thing as a costume piece especially since the hook itself was too big to be of any practical use. Those who got curious and went out of their way to get a closer look might notice the high-grade material that the prosthetic was made of and appreciate the expert craftsmanship but still walk away thinking that it was just a costume piece, though admittedly an expensive one. However, a proper inspection would quickly reveal that the silver rotatable hook had a rather sharp inner edge making it closer to a sickle with an adjustable blade. Likewise, the black socket which was engraved with the Arc family Crest was more than what it first seemed, the outer shell was made of a strong weapon-grade metal whose name Jaune didn't know but he did know that it was often used in armor and judging by the fact that it covered the entity of his forearm and elbow it was what Ruby had intended.

"This thing is basically a vambrace but since when was Ruby into armor?" Jaune wondered out loud while admiring the thing.

"She probably got help, for example, there is a third-year student here named Kjelle who's into armor the same way she's into weapons," Pyrrha suggested.

Ren used his scroll to look over a digital manual that Ruby had provided them, "According to this she got advice from quite a few people with Penny being listed as a co-creator."

"I'll be sure to thank her next time I see her," Jaune commented as he began to put on the prosthetic and frowning when he found that it was too thick to fit underneath his coat forcing him to put it over, Huh? Black armor over a red cloth looks pretty cool, I wonder if Coco helped?

Nora was now looking over the manual with her boyfriend when she noticed a passage that she quickly pointed out, "Hey Ren, check that section out." He did as she requested and they read it together and when they were done they reread it just to make sure that they weren't misunderstanding anything, "Hey Jaune, could you aim the hook at that droid and imagine yourself harpoon it with the hook?" She asked while pointing at one of the Knight units.

"Okay, but what am I-!" Before the words had finished leaving his mouth, the hook had shot out from the socket and flew forwards until it buried itself inside the chest of the droid, "Okay, that was really cool." He then noticed a slight metallic reflection in the air and pushed a little bit of Aura into his eyes until he could see a thin metal string connecting the hook to the socket, This looks like the same string Penny uses to control her swords.

Before he could recall the hook Nora hefted her hammer and gave him a great big smile that put the fear of the Brothers in him, "Alright Captain Hook, let's have some fun testing out your brand new toy!"

Jaune quickly glanced over to Ren and Pyrrha hoping that one of them could talk Nora down but he saw that the two of them were playing Rock Paper Scissors to decide who'd get to fight next, This is mutiny! "Go easy on me, you've had Magnhild for years but I literally just got this thing. At least let me name it before you break it in half." She gave him an excited nod before slowly walking up to him to start what would be the first of several matches that would last for a good part of the day.

Author's Notes: I hope that you all enjoy this chapter, so for the next one we are NOT going to see the questioning because that would just be the characters repeating what you all should already know. Instead, it's going to start after the question has already occurred and we'll be peeking in on a few characters but the majority of the chapter will be focused on Jaune and Tock. Specifically, they are going on a date so I hope you are looking forward to reading it because I'm looking forward to writing it.

Also, I wonder if you can guess who the pissed-off guy in the hallway was or if you can remember where Kjelle is from without looking it up.