Ch. 90 In time for lunch
The resident's of Velia stepped out of their home and watched the loud thing approach. The town's folk could recognise the sound as a jet, however since it was coming down a mountain at a breakneck speed it likely wasn't an aircraft. All the same, Grimm don't generally sound like a jet engine so most thought it was safe enough to watch for now.
Cobalt Fèvre stood outside his workshop much like the others. It was something of a welcome distraction from the pile of work he had to do. It was days like this he wished for another apprentice. Of course, he only had to pick one of the aspiring young men and women that contacted him… unfortunately for him, thanks to Jaune's antics, most of the kids were much more interested in learning how to fight for him.
Jaune's fame came in multiple flavours, but the primary reason he was famous was for being a huntsman blackmist. After founding a company in Atlas and helping the young Schnee girl, the gossip magazines dug through everything they could find on him. Anything for a good story after all.
The story of how Jaune came to Beacon soon after finishing his mastery was published in quite a few gossip rags and eventually made its way onto a public broadcast in Vale. Of course the obvious conclusion was that Jaune's skill came from Fèvre directly as the lad's semblance wasn't widely understood.
Cobalt shook his head and re-focussed on the approaching noisy object. By the time it was close enough to be identified as a strange bike with glowing wheels it was easy enough to guess who the riders were. The billowing red cape gave it away. When the whole ensemble burst into a storm of red for a split second to make it's way over a nasty little chasm in their path any doubts faded away.
At least one of them was Ruby Rose, and Cobalt would take a bite out of his anvil if the other rider wasn't Jaune.
The way down into the valley wasn't exactly short. In fact even going downhill it took a good half a day to descend if one took the derelict path. Of course the two reckless teens barely followed that path and often cut down the hill; cliffs, grass and mud be damned.
It still took around fifty minutes for them to enter the settlement propper and make their way towards Cobalt's smithy. A few minutes later the bike ground to a halt only a few paces before Cobalt.
He watched with amusement as Ruby jumped off the bike the moment it stopped. Though when Jaune grabbed the bags by their straps and the bike dematerialised his eyes nearly bulged out. Not only did he suddenly understand Ruby's actions, he understood exactly what just happened. Jaune's semblance, the Arsenal. Unless it changed dramatically since they last spoke it meant the bike was a weapon in its own right and that was incredible.
"Hello, Cobalt." greeted Jaune jovially.
"Master Fèvre." Ruby nodded politely.
"Glad to see you're doing alright, miss Rose. Last I heard of you, you two were making waves in Atlas. Oh and congratulations are in order I suppose." Cobalt spoke calmly while making stern eye contact with quite a few onlookers that were peeking in on their conversation from a distance.
"Right, don't think I forgot about that, did you know?" Jaune replied with a seriousness Cobalt found a little unsettling.
"Oh, a small thing really, a minor difference between a certain blacksmith's and huntsmen tradition."
"Oh that… do I look like I study law in my spare time?" Cobalt threw up his hands in mock surrender.
"So you didn't? Shame I wanted to thank you for giving me the push." Jaune smiled, the overplayed seriousness gone. "Anyway, let us come inside. I have something to show you."
"Hope it won't take long. I have plenty of work to do. Weapon maintenance won't do itself these days."
"Don't worry, I promised we'd make it home in time for lunch. We'll get out of your hair soon after. Hope you don't mind if I come borrow the workshop tomorrow though. I have some work that needs doing."
"So do I, you ungrateful apprentice of mine! You could at least offer to help." Cobalt proclaimed loudly while slapping Jaune on the shoulder while ushering him in.
"I can help you with weapon maintenance!" Ruby piped up as they entered the door. "I do kinda miss it since my Rosa doesn't need it when Jaune's around."
=O=O=O=
As Sky approached their transport he couldn't help but wonder who they'd be working with on their upcoming mission.
It wasn't really a matter of adult huntsman supervision anymore, they were more than capable enough to go on missions on their own, even if they were missing a member after Roman broke his leg. It was the fact that the mission was marked as four people.
Neo was prancing behind Sky while Cardin walked on autopilot in deep thought about the mental checklist of supplies in their bags. Sleeping bags, a single tent for two, MREs, ammo, dust and many more miscellaneous items.
Honestly if you looked at the group, you'd think the guys were going on a mission while Neo was just going out on a stroll, her bag only filled with the bare minimum of supplies while the rest mysteriously made its way into Cardin's pack.
When they arrived at the dock and entered their Bullhead their fourth member was nowhere to be found. "He's running late." was all the info they got out of their pilot. The engines were already spun up and the aircraft nearly in the air when the huntsman ran into the closing bay door.
"Ha! Made it! Lucky me."
Sky's eyes went wide the moment he recognised the man.
"Oh no, nononono. Not you, anybody but you!"
"What's your problem kid?"
"What's my problem? Dude we saw the aftermath of the swamp. Team CFVY was traumatised and so were we! I heard it from others too, you're bad luck man!"
The man smiled cryptically as if he knew something Sky didn't, sat down and rested his sword over his knees just as the bullhead lurched into the air. Sky's eyes darted to the door, contemplating if he still had time to jump out. In the end he decided against abandoning his team, though he was sure he would regret it.
"Oh hey, I think I heard about that piece of armour from Jaune. Winchester, right?" he spoke to the other guy, already knowing that the ice cream girl wasn't one for conversation.
That finally broke cardin out of his thoughts. His eyes widened slightly with recognition. "Qrow Branwen? What are you doing here? I thought you went back to Mistral after sending Roman to housesit on Patch."
"I did, took the long way back too. Jaune let me hitch a ride most of the way here." Qrow answered.
"Arc is here!?"
"Well, not here here. He's gone to visit his family. I'm sure he'll make his way back to Beacon eventually. I already told them they should pick up Zwei from Roman. Oh, Roman said good luck by the way, he's the reason I ran late."
"ROMAN KNEW YOU WERE COMING WITH US!" Sky spoke up again, interrupting Cardin's conversation with Qrow.
"Yeah? Why?"
"Dude!" Sky said motioning to Qrow vaguely.
"Relax, we're going to Mt. Glen. No swamps there, I promise."
"That's not the point!"
It was at that point that Neo tapped Sky on the shoulders and signed a few words.
"She said you should let it go."
"I got that… also you weren't there Neo, you didn't see it… you didn't smell it…" Sky's eyes went vacant as the memory of their mission with Port resurfaced.
"Oh that reminds me Ice cream girl, don't think I forgot about that one time… you left me with the tab! That parfait was expensive damnit and Roman refuses to pay me back."
That made Cardin audibly snort while Neo laughed silently, miming wiping tears from her eyes.
"Yeah, that sounds about right. Don't expect me to pay you back though, I'm the one she usually leaves with the icecream bill so…"
"Oh man, good thing daddy can pay the bills huh."
"He doesn't actually. I'm trying to be self reliant… not that this girl is making that easy."
Neo signed at Cardin in mock anger.
"Neo, sleeping at your place doesn't count as saving on rent when Beacon provides accommodation."
Qrow laughed and turned back to Sky "Hey, at least they keep their relationship outside of your dorms."
This earned him a smug grin from Neo while Cardin averted his gaze.
"...you'd fucking think so." Sky replied dejected.
As the four bantered time flew by and soon enough they entered the airspace above the abandoned Mt. Glenn.
As the bay door opened, Qrow looked down and yelled over the roaring wind "Hey pilot! See that horde of Grimm! We're jumping there!"
"Copy that." replied the voice of the pilot, amplified by the speakers in the cabin.
"We're what!?" asked Sky incredulously.
"See that big Deathstalker? That could be a problem later, better I take it out now! You guys can deal with the surrounding fodder! The sooner we clear them out the sooner we can have lunch and I don't know about you but I'm looking forward to that!" Qrow yelled back, grinning.
The moment they reached the horde Qrow jumped out without hesitation, while the rest followed him reluctantly.
Moments before Cardin's Executioner made contact with the Grimm below him he heard a sharp clang from the direction of the Deathstalker. Unfortunately neither him or Sky had the leisure to look at what Qrow was doing. Neo on the other hand utilised her parasol to slow down her descent. As such the clang caught her attention while she was slowly gliding towards the ground.
Seven soft rhythmic clicks sounded out as Lucky Break's rings aligned while the sword shifted to a scythe. Then Qrow swung the scythe.
Neo watched with wide pink and brown eyes as the Deathstalker, the Grimm that was supposed to give them the most trouble, got split down the middle as if its bone white armour wasn't even there.
The entire pack of Grimm was completely wiped out only about five minutes after they landed, much to the surprise of everybody but Qrow.
"Well, that's that. I say it's time for lunch."
Neo was the first to stop staring at Qrow after that proclamation and started poking Cardin, demanding her portion of lunch, as well as his portion of desert.
=O=O=O=
Lavender was sitting on her bed by the window, face glued to the glass when she heard the distant rumble get louder fast.
She immediately jumped from her bed and ran out of the room, nearly colliding with Topaz on the stairs. Clearly they had the same idea. The two youngest Arc sisters were nearly out of the front door when Solei caught them by the scruff of their necks.
"Oh no you don't you two."
"But that must be Jaune!" Topaz protested while struggling to free herself from her sister's grasp.
"I know, and that means mom's gonna put lunch on the table soon. So you two can't go running around outside. Now go wash your hands." she scolded the two.
As the two walked towards the ground floor bathroom dejectedly, Blanche called out from the dining room "Don't be too harsh on them. I know you're just as excited as they are."
"Yeah, now follow your own advice and go wash your hands!" Amethyst called out from next to Blanche, already sitting at the dining table and waiting patiently for her brother to join them.
Solei sighed before giving in. "Fine, you're right."
But the moment she turned around to make her way to the bathroom she locked eyes with Lily. They both stood frozen for a second before Lily quickly jumped down from the windowsill she was standing on, landing on the ground outside of course.
"Why you!? Come back here Lily!" Solei yelled as she ran out of the door just in time to see Jaune turn his bike into a drift and come to a stop.
As the two new arrivals dismounted their bike Jaune opened his arms wide ready to hug the incoming Lily.
Of course Lily ran straight by him, leaving him to stand there waiting awkwardly, and jumped to hug Ruby instead.
"Sister in law!" Lily greeted happily. Jaune turned to them, pinched the bridge of his nose and sighed shaking his head.
"Jaune!"
"Solei! At least someone appreciates me around here." he greeted enthusiastically.
Just as he was about to step towards the house however the weight of his sister latched onto his back.
"Seriously? This is how you greet me?"
"Jaune you stink." she laughed.
"Hello to you too, Lily." Jaune smiled at her antics.
"She's probably right, you know. We could use a shower. Lily, could I borrow some of your clothes? I need to wash all of mine."
"Of course!" Lily agreed immediately.
"Be quick about that shower though. You're just in time for lunch, we're all waiting on you." Soleil added as she ushered them inside.
Jaune gave Ruby a look.
"No Jaune, you know that would just take longer."
"I didn't say anything?"
"But you were thinking about it. Now go ahead and be quick about it. Lily, which way was your room again?"
As the two sped off, Solei nudged Jaune with her elbow "Horndog."
"First of all, I didn't say anything. Secondly, she's my wife, I'm allowed." he defended himself with a wry smile, feeling a little awkward now that his sister pointed out his behaviour.
"Yeah, yeah, whatever you say brother dearest. Now go and wash yourself, you really do stink and I'm hungry." she smirked as she hurried to go wash her hands.
=O=O=O=
Author's note:
A nice little chapter, mostly slice of life with a sprinkle of important details. Really feels like the volume is coming full circle... not quite there yet though. I forgot how much I enjoyed writing she Arc sisters.
Still I'm so busy these days, actually trying to take on more work... feels a little insane to do that when I already feel tired from work, but hey I think I can handle it.
But hey if you want to support me you can do so on P a treon . com (slash) OlympianScribe
Anyway I hope you enjoyed and are looking forward to the next chapter: Ch. 91 Careful, hot