Small fix made for continuity sake.

Jaune watched as the team of four walk up the creaky stairs, drowsy and weary for a night's sleep. Jaune waited a moment, unsure as to whether or not to follow them. He had been offered a bed, but had he been offered their room as well?

"Jaune?" Arslan called out, looking at the standing blonde. "Are you coming with us?"

Jaune looked up, meeting her sage green eyes. "Yeah, i'm coming." he started moving on the creaky wood floor as silently as the grave. Jaune ascended up the stairs, stopping in front of Arslan at the top. "Am I sharing a room with you and your team?" he asked her.

Arslan nodded. "Yes you are. Unless you would like your own room?" She asked her fellow blonde. "I'm not sure that they take silver coins as an official currency." Jaune considered it, he really did. He did have some lien in his wallet.

"You think 85 lien will cover me till thursday?" jaune asked in a joking manner. 85 lien could buy him, at most, a liter of fire dust, considering the big dust crunch that he assumed was still going on. No way in hell was it going to manage two? Two days of fare.

Arslan shook her head. "I regret to inform you that 85 lien cannot pay for two days of rent fare." Arslan said in a mock somber tone. Jaune nodded. "Than you don't mind me resting with your team?"

Arslan shook her head. "Not at all. But you might have to fight Bolin for a bed." She said, walking to their room. Jaune smiled and shook his head.

"He doesn't have to sacrifice a good night's sleep for me. You all have already done enough." he said, shouldering his sack. "Although, i will require your bathroom for some time." Jaune admitted. Arslan nodded.

"I know." she said. "I didn't mention it, but you could really do with a cleansing. You kind of stink rather badly."

Jaune made a face and raised his arm a little. He took a whiff of the unwashed pit, and reeled back. Wow, ok. He really did need a shower. He supposed it made sense, considering he hadn't had the opportunity to bathe in at least a month.

"I'll tell the others that you'll be showering first then." Arslan said before opening the door. "Bathrooms the second door on the left. Don't use all the hot water, there isn't much of it."

Jaune nodded as he headed in. It was a small room, only a meter and a half by a meter. A large barrel, cut in half, made the tub.

Jaune took off his cloak, letting the grey crumple onto the chair. Jaune looked down at his breastplate. It was chipped and battered, a particular dent in the left plate over his heart that had come from some unmemorable battle. Jaune sighed as he fiddled with the clasps by the place under his armpits, lining his ribs. The belts came undone and the armor flapped loose, no longer being held against Jaunes chest. It hung there, limp on his shoulders as jaune let out a sigh. He had forgotten what it was like to not be constrained by the large piece of metal. He lifted the breastplate up off his shoulders, gently setting it to the ground with a soft clink. Jaune twisted, his back letting loose a series of rapid succession pops.

"Oh yes." Jaune sighed as the stress he didn't know he had, or had been ignoring for so long he had forgotten it, was released. Jaune looked down at his faded hoodie. The worn bunny face looked back at him, a faded reminder of who he was. Is. who he is, right?

"Huh." he said with a small snorting huff. "I had forgotten that I was wearing that." he smiled at the memories that drifted back to him. He remembered being a fool, trying to collect enough boxes to get it. He ate himself sick making the deadline.

The hoodie was gently crumpled on the chair, on top of the grey mottled cloak. Jaunes undershirt, a plain white thing stained with wear and the burdens of his travels, followed. His boots were set by the feet of the chair, and his pants were heaped on top of his shirt. Jaune caught a view of his body.

He had grown skinny these past months. Or was it only a month? Jaune didn't know. Actually, scratch that. He had grown into a grotesque thin prick laced with muscles. His ribs could be clearly counted under his skin, and he had the start of some kind of pack on his stomach, worn into his flesh by constant battling and survival. His skin was probably too pale and there was probably not enough red in his complexion, and it was starting to flake off in some places. Frankly it gave an almost ash appearance.

But what was worse was the scars. An endless constellation map of stars etched into his skin from his countless deaths in the Dream. Puncture wounds from being shot and impaled, shattering impacts from heavy handed slams, chunks of regenerated flesh that was ripped off by slathering drunken ghouls. Jaune traced a small series of lines, faded with the fact that they were not given to him here, on his shoulder. The mad doctor had given him those with that terrible bone saw. He turned to see his back, which was in equal despair. He could see a particularly large area of his back on his lower left where it looked like the face of the moon: craterious and broken.

Jaune sighed, his eyes drooping at the frankly horrific sight. It was a depressing enough sight. He didn't need to know that it belonged to him.

He turned his attention to the tub, where a single hand powered pump stuck out of the wall. Jaune squared his shoulders as he grasped the pump handle. He began working the metal piston, forcing the water up through the pipes. It sputtered and spitted the water out. It smelled like iron.

Jaune supposed he shouldn't be surprised, considering this was an out town that did not have many of the modern luxuries. If Jaune remembered correctly, the kingdoms funneled most of their resources to their capitals, roughly somewhere around 80 percent. That was because that was were almost the entirety of each kingdom's population resided. That was also the only city that got to vote for councils.

Ah, yes. B remembered. We took a high school political sciences class. We know this stuff.

Jaune shook his head. Correction. I took a high school political sciences class. You guys didn't even exist then.

A snorted at that. How do you know that we just haven't always existed? We might have been around since your birth, and just never said anything. Didn't think of that, did you?

Jaune gave a a skeptical look. A. I know you haven't been around since my birth. Do you want to know why? Jaune asked.

A nodded. Sure. Why have i not existed since your birth, oh omniscient one? A asked, with no small amount of jestful snark in his voice. Jaune sunk into the chilled water, letting out a shudder as he submerged into the tub.

I know you haven't existed because you only started talking… recently. Jaune started, taking on a faux british accent. And you are incapable, my good sir, of shutting the fuck up. Jaune explained. If you had existed before hand, I would have heard you.

A was flabbergasted at the logic. It was sound, and it was right, but still. The sheer audacity! No matter how accurate it was!

B laughed at that, actually falling off his stool and hitting the ground. His laughter died into a pained groan. Jaune actually flinched, sending the cold water sloshing around in the half barrel.

You ok buddy? Jaune asked the grounded figment.

No… B responded back, dragging himself up by the stool. I am not ok.

That concerned Jaune. If B was a figment of jaunes imagination, how could he get hurt?

A leaned over to look behind him at the fallen figment. Oh get up. He snipped at B. You can't even get hurt. You don't have a physical body remember?

B groaned, a very different groan. It was a groan of someone who had their practical joke spoiled. Oh come on! B called out, getting back on his stool. Why can't I have my fun.

A crunched on a potato chip. But ruining your fun is fun! A called out with mirth.

Jaune grumbled at B's joke.

"I didn't find it funny." Jaune said, descending even deeper into the bath. He reached up to grab the soap. It was a coarse bar of sand, or perhaps ash? Beeswax and jaune gave a whiff of the hand made soap.

"Huh. Sage." jaune commented. "And is that- that's flax? Barley?" Jaune asked to no one.

B nodded. I think that's barley.

Jaune gave a hum of approval, and put it to use.

He would appreciate not smelling like fermented man meat.

Reese practically collapsed onto her bed once they got into the room. She heard Jaune ask about the bathroom, and the door close.

"So." She said, turning to get on her stomach and look at her leader. "Which ancient cursed tomb did you dig him up from?" She asked the cocoa colored lioness. Arslan gave her an unimpressed look.

Bolin turned from the window to look at the skater. "You were with us when we found him?" He asked, confused by the question that she knew the answer too.

Reese returned that with a flat look. "Very funny." She spat out, before turning to Arslan again. "I mean he's not, well, normal."

Arslan sat down, raising an eyebrow. She knew what she meant, but it was still worth listening too. She might have picked up on something that Arslan had missed, despite her enhanced sensory abilities. "Elaborate." She suggested. It was really more of a command, as there was no inclination in her voice that phrased it as a suggestion.

"Well, to start, he has moss growing on him." Reese explained. "Like, actual live moss. It's on his shoulder. and I think in his hair?" She asked, her head tilting. Yeah, she thought there was stuff growing in his hair. Arslan nodded. There was indeed moss on him, although Arslan was skeptical of it's ability to sustain itself on the blonde ranger.

"He's undeniably odd. The dude barely speaks, he's constantly looking around. Hell, I think i've heard him say, like, ten words. Tops." The green nymph continued. "And there's something about that just…" Here she faltered, failing to find the words she wanted to use. "When you stand next to him, it feels-"

"Grey?" Nadir offered from his corner of the room. Everyone turned to look at him, surprised that he had joined their conversation, or even bothered to say anything from his corner at all. Reese blinked, squinting at her pink haired teammate.

"I think i get what you're saying, but elaborate please?" She asked, confused at the allusion.

Nadir straightened up in his corner, putting his phone down infront of him.

"I'm saying that he feels grey." Nadir said. "Not warm, not cold. He feels dry and grey. Like bones. Or something older" He started, before shrugging.

Reese nodded. "A little more poetic than i would have put it, but yeah, that. He just feels off, you know?" She continued.

Arslan nodded. She thought that there was something off, but has placed the feeling as her own impression. Apparently it was a common impression.

Bolin nodded, sitting down on his bed. "I agree. There is something wrong with that man." He said with certainty. "It would be wise to distance ourselves from him." The blue monk suggested.

Arslan closed her eyes and prayed for strength. "Just because he is a strange person does not make him a bad one. Besides, he has done us no wrong yet." She said, the softness in her voice betraying her rejection of the idea. It was an ironic tone of voice, the one a mother might use when their eldest had said something controversial. Arslan was trying, was really trying, to have patience with her teammate.

"Yet being the operative term here." Bolin pointed out, as if that meant anything. "I'm telling you that I don't like him, and that he poses a threat to us." Arslan sighed, standing up from her seat. "Bolin." She growled, causing Bolin to snap his attention to her. "We have had one argument already. I would really like to not have a second one." She said with more bite than she intended. But was it too much to ask for a small break? It had been literally less than a day, and here he was again.

Bolin opened his mouth, most probably to continue speaking out against the blond. He thought better of it and changed his words.

"As you wish, Ars." He said, giving a small bow of concedence to her. Arslan thanked the gods for Bolin's unusual submissiveness.

Reese looked between the two, her eyes dancing back and forth between them. She gulped, only a little scared of coming between the two powerful forces. "So, changing topic." She said, moving them away from the tense subject of Jaune the ranger. "What is the plan tomorrow? I know we ship back home the next morning, but are we going out hunting? Do we get some R and R?" She asked,

Arslan had considered that before they left. She had suspected that it was a geist or something that they would have to remove. Troubling, yes, but not impossible for them to take care of. So the plan was originally to have some time to rest. But they had found a dirty, grimy, smelly wild ranger man who was soft spoken and oddly polite. So much less exhausting, but much more confusing. So the rest time she had planned for was not necessary at all.

"Well, considering that we have the ability to do so, i figure we can go hunting tomorrow."

Reese nodded. "Ok, sure." She said before rolling onto her back and looking up at the ceiling.

Bolin turned away to look out the window again, his back to his leader. Arslan rolled her eyes and pulled out her scroll. She opened up her scroll. It was a couple years old, but it was functional. And that is what really mattered. She fiddled around on it before a sudden thought hit her. She actually didn't know if Jaune was indeed a huntsman. This could actually be really bad. What if he was a bandit? Or a con man? Actually, she doubted con men could actually fight like that, but still. It couldn't hurt to check.

Arslan opened up the mail app.

Dear Headmaster Lionheart

We appeared to have picked up a wayward student

Arslan shook her head. No, that wasn't right. That made it sound like they found a missing student.

On our mission we encountered a student of Haven.

No, that wasn't right either. Jaune hadn't actually shown them any confirmation that he was a student. Ohh, that was a mistake, wasn't it? She really should have checked that.

On our mission we encountered a huntsman who claims to be a student of Haven. This man, Jaune , claims to be a transfer student from Beacon academy. Jaune is blonde, blue eyed, stands at roughly six foot one. We encountered him in the town of Balone on our mission. Do I have permission to take this Jaune back with team AMBR at pick up on Thurdsay at 10:00 am?

Arslan Altan.

The message was sent and the little loading circle began to spin. I hate out towns. Arslan thought They have such poor CCT connection.

It took over a minute and a half for the message to send. Arslan put her scroll down, not expecting a response until the morning. Her scroll buzzed not shortyly after, much to her surprise.

It wasn't monday, her mother shouldn't be contacting her just yet. Did something happen?

She picked her scroll up to look at who had messaged her.

Oh. She thought, surprised. It's the Headmaster. I did not expect him to be so fast in responding.

She opened the message.

"Dear Ms. Altan:

Thank you for contacting me about this. Jaune Arc is indeed a new student to Haven, and matches your physical description. I am surprised and confused as to what he is doing up in Balone, but please bring him back with you.

Thank you

Headmaster Lionheart.

Arslan nodded at that, letting out a small sigh. Thank god Jaune was who he said he was. That could have been a disaster if it wasn't. His last name is Arc? She thought. I could have sworn I've heard that name somewhere before...

There was a slight sloshing sound from the bathroom. Arslan's head tilted as she wondered what he was doing that could actually make sounds. It went on for some time before stopping. and after a few moments, the door creaked open. The four members of team ARBN turned to it, to see a rather wet, but freshly washed Jaune. His undershirt was also wet and wrinkled, but appeared to be relatively clean.

"Uhh…heh, I uh, what do you want me to do with the tub full of water?" he asked, scratching the back of his head.

"The water?" Nadir asked from his corner. "You can just dump it out the back window. It waters the garden, apparently."

Bolin tilted her head at the pink haired boy, a frown on his face. "How do you know that?" he questioned. Nadir shrunk back into his corner.

"I-I asked the inn keep?" Nadir asked with a quiver, as though such was obvious. He then turned back to his scroll, ignoring the world around him.

Jaune nodded, returning and closing the door. There was a slight grunt and the sound of water sloshing around. And then the window opened and the water dumped. Arslan blinked as she listened to the falling bath water, which seemed like a quantitatively large amount.

Reese turned to look out their window. "He does know that there was a bucket for that, right?" She asked Arslan. Arslan frowned as she walked over. Her head peered out of the window to see the half barrel bathtub being poured out. She had caught the tail end of the process as it retreated with a grunt back into its housing. There was a soft thunk as it was gently placed back. Arslan and Reese turned to the door expectively, waiting for the blonde to return from the bathroom.

The door opened as jaune scuffed his hands together. He let his shoulders relax as he came into the room. Reese stared at the alien man.

"You do know there was a bucket for that, right?" She found the words falling out of mouth before she could stop them. Jaune stared at her, his face unshifting from the blank slate he seemed to wear all the time. Not even his eyes, which if one looked close enough could betray his emotions, seemed to change from their unwavering stone gaze. Frankly, it was unnerving as hell. Nadir was right, it was kind of like grey. A harsh, uncaring, stone grey.

They had a bucket? Jaune asked A and B. They just shrugged.

I thought it was for shitting in. A confessed.

B gave him a critical and confused look. What the fuck man? He asked, picturing the wooden bucket. The clay pot is for that, not the bucket- do you know how hard cleaning that thing out would be?

A held his hands up in a surrender. Alright, alright, Wood buckets are not for shitting. Got it.

Jaune nodded after a moment. "I did." He said, is voice carrying like thunder over the plains, or light from the stars to Remnant. Unwavering, unfettered, unimpeded by the air. It was like he was in front of her. And behind her. And to her left and right, whispering in her ear and shouting from a thousand miles away and talking from across the room all at once.

She blinked, shaking her head. "Ok, just making sure."

Jaune nodded before stalking over to Nadir, as quiet as the grave.

"May i sit here?" Jaune asked the pink haired boy. He staired up, wide eyes and shy at the impider of his space. He gulped, but nodded.

"Yy-yeah, go ahead." he managed to get out. Jaune sat down. Leaning up against the wall that led to the bathroom door. He let out a sigh and rolled his shoulders.

Nadir could feel when his eyes settled on him. Or at least what he was doing. Nadir nervously scrolled through the article on game theory and the development of chess over it's several hundred year period. But he couldn't focus, the gaze weighing agonizingly heavy on him, like a cloud of smoke.

"You play chess?" Jaune asked after far too long, breaking the suffocating silence. Nadir shook his head into a hod.

"I dabble." he choked out. "Do you?" Oh that was a stupid question. Why would he have asked if he didn't? Perhaps he doesn't and is just bad at making small talk? Nadir really hoped that was the case.

Jaune gave a nod, his head bowing in a slow, single dip.

"I do." He said, his voice carrying a deep sollom weight to it. Nadir gulped, frantically thinking as to what to do.

"Would you like to play a game?" He found himself blurting in an uncharacteristic manner. The words came out rushed, flowing like a breaking damn in an unghastly and ill measured maner. Jaune gave a slight smile that only Nadir noticed, by proxy of his physical closeness to the ranger. Nadir took that as a good sign as he fumbled with his scroll, pulling up the holographic chess game.

"B-black or white?" he asked. Jaune considered it.

"White, if you don't mind." Jaune decided. The board materialized in front of them as the scroll was placed between them.

Jaune moved first, moving the king's pawn forward two spaces. It was strange, as it actually didn't have any mass. It was just a projection. The camera sensed your fingers, and tracked the piece you were moving to it's location relative to the scroll. It was actually a fascinating piece of code that was developed in Atlas (of course, where else would it have been developed in) for military UI use for to command and control their robots. Not that Nadir, who was carefully considering his next move. A black pawn advanced, moving to Jaune's C5.

Jaune moved his king side knight behind his pawn, to F3. Nadir hoved a hand over his queen, tempted by the powerful piece. He instead moved his queens pawn forward to D2 in support of his extended pawn. Jaune nodded, and moved the queens pawn to D3. Nadir's face shifted as he pondered the queen again, but instead took the pawn. Jaune nodded, retaliating with his knight. Nadir's own kingside knight moved forward towards the center of the board. Jaune let his other knight advance to the center. C3 in particular. Nadir scratched his head with a hum sound. This was a strong position for controlling the left side of the board.

Nadir moved his rooks pawn forward a single space. Jaune smiled as he moved his black squared bishop to threaten Nadir's developed knight. Nadir's face twitched into a grimace for a moment as he moved his other knight to protect the valuable piece. Jaune nodded, and considered the aggressive move of Queen to G4. He instead moved his kings bishops pawn forward to control even more of the board. Nadir pushed his queen over to the B file, creating a straight line of attack to Jaunes left side. Jaune nodded, moving his queen forward by a single space. Nadir gave Jaune a confused glance, trying to discern the meaning of the move. He found nothing in that mask of a face that returned his stare with an intensity that Nadir did not like. Nadir gulped and made the first major aggression of the game. Queen to B2. Moving the black queen firmly in Jaunes ranks. Jaune raised an eyebrow in a subtle surprise. He was expecting something a little more center focused. Perhaps Knight to G4? Or the mustering of a pawn forward. But alas, Plans are worthless, but planning is everything. So what was the plan now?

Jaune thought for a moment on that question. The advance of the knights could not, no, would not be impeded, but that was not enough for a final killing blow. A more powerful piece, the rook was his favorite for this, was needed to gain checkmate. There was an open opportunity here, however. Nadir's black queen wasn't actually threatening anything of importance. The knight that was next to it was protected by his own queen, and that knight covered a critical point. B1, right infront of the queen. Jaune moved his rook over to that spot, shutting down and threatening the powerful black piece. Nadir instantly moved his queen back to A3, still a thorn in the ranger's side, but not as dangerous as it's previous position.

Jaune moved his long forgotten bishop to take nadir's king side Knight. A sacrificial move, but it removed one of the few strongly positioned pieces Nadir had on the field. Nadir frowned and retaliated with his defensively placed Knight.

"You play rather conservatively." Jaune noted softly, his hand tilting his single moved rook. "Are you scared of loosing your pieces?" he asked, not looking up from the board. Nadir blinked as Juane moved his pawn forward, a direct threat to his only remaining Knight. Nadir instantly moved his pawn in retaliation, taking the offending pawn. Jaune took that pawn again with his backup pawn, set there long ago. Nadir retreated his knight back to the safety of the king's presence. Jaune advanced his backmost Knight, sending the horse forward to tighten the noose. Nadir moved his Queen next to the two stacked Knights, posing a danger to them. Jaune moved the bottom knight back, retreating to threaten the black queen and letting his own queen defend his exposed knight. Nadir tisked and moved his queen back once more in a retreat. Jaune smiled, moving his knight again to attack the queen. Nadir let out a sigh, thinking long and hard about his position. The ranger had a strong offensive position that was quickly becoming difficult to out maneuver. He moved his black queen again to threaten the two knights, moving between them. Jaune smiled and moved his knight forward, taking a pawn and threatening the queen again. Nadir impulsively moved his queen to safety, only seeing imediety after that he had several other options. Were they any better? Probably not, but still. Jaune's rook took advantage of this mistake, and he moved his rook forward to threaten the queen, cornering it. Nadir groaned, wondering what he could do. Perhaps it was still playable? He moved his queen to the edge of the board, A4 to be more precise. Jaune raised an eyebrow a miniscule amount, surprised that Nadir had decided to continue the game, but was pleased at the decision. A surprise, but a welcome one for sure. Jaune actually saw how he could end the game right now. Knight to C7, trapping the king within his own pieces. But that was not Jaune's move. He wanted to play with his prey- err, opponent a little more. Juane moved his bishop to D3, a strong central position that did not make a lot of sense considering the stage of the game. Nadir blinked, having seen the trap jaune had set and did not execute. His pawn advanced to F6, opening an escape hatch for his king. Jaune smiled, moving his queen over to it's right on a white square. Nadir gulped, moving his queen down a space, hoping to take the gap between Jaunes two pawns to attack the king. Jaune sent his queen flying to the far right corner, creating a direct line of attack on the black king.

"Check." Came the words, soft and hard, as biting as the harsh winds and as calming as a gentle breeze. It was strange, how his voice seemed to teleport through space to surround him instead of actually flowing from him. Nadir shuddered under the word, nodding with a nervous energy. He knew, just by looking at the board, what was going to happen. But the pink gunner played on anyway. The game was over, they two players were just going through the motions right now

His pawn advanced fruitlessly to block the queen's attack. Jaune gave another slow nod, taking the fresh pawn with his white bishop, refurbishing the attack with renewed strength. Strength that nadir could not counter or evade.

"Checkmate." Jaune said, letting Nadir's head fall with a groan. Nadir was smiling although, behind the suffering loss. "You play well, Nadir." Jaune admitted as the app flicked with the holographic "PLAYER ONE WINS: CHECKMATE". Nadir nodded at the praise with a jolt.

"Thank you." he managed to get out. "You p-play great as well."

Arslan coughed, letting her presence be known to the two. "An excellent game from the both of you, I'm sure. But it is late, and we have a day of hunting tomorrow. I need you to be at your best." She said as she strode to bed. "Now lights out, and get some shut eye."

Jaune nodded, standing and moving to under the window. Nadir rolled out a teal blue sleeping bag that had seen better days.

"You're not taking a bed?" jaune asked as he leaned up against the wall. There was a wooshing sound as something flew through the air. Jaune was blindsided by a sleeping bag.
"Here." Arslan said as she stretched out for bed. "Feel free to use that. I can't have you sleeping on the floor with nothing, can i?"

Jaune smiled, giving the leader a nod. "Thank you." he said before turning his attention to Nadir.

Nadir blinked, shaking his head back into reality. "Huh- oh, yeah. Beds are too soft for me." jaune nodded, eyeing the two beds. Bolin had taken one, while Reese and Arslan split the other. He wondered if there was something there, or if it was just circumstance of sleeping arrangements. Judging by their interactions so far, he assumed circumstance. Not that he particularly minded the other option. His own sister was a lesbian, and he had spoke at their marriage.

Arslan blew the dust lamp out, plunging the room into darkness. Jaune laid on top of the sleeping bag Arslan had graciously provided him, watching out the window as the moon rose and the world fell asleep.

But he couldn't. The world was to harsh. It smelled of wax and treated wood and metal and man made things.

There was no thick scent of sap from the trees, or the decay in the ground, or the crisp cold moss that wafted in the air. Jaune gazed up at the fractured moon, and wondered if he could sleep tonight. Team ARBN certainly could, judging by Arlsan's surprisingly loud snores. She sounded almost like a wild animal like that.

He found himself perched on the window sill, a block of wood being worked away with a blade of his. A quick slash took off a large corner, letting the chuck fall to the ground with a small clattering sound.

"HUUUURR-Sngrgk?" Arslan went, rising up from the sheets and blinkets. Jaune turned, looking at the groggy lioness. Arslan rubbed her eyes, looking around the room. She jolted when she saw the man in her window sill, before realizing that it was Jaune there, whittling away at something in the moon light.

He looked even more ghostly with only the light of the pail moon to illuminate the world. His hair was almost silvery ash instead of the watery color of straw, and his piercing blue eyes seemed to glow in the shadows.

"Did i wake you?" He asked from the window sill. Arslan struggled to find words for a moment. "Deepest apologies, then." He gave sincerely, sorry that he disturbed her sleep.

Arslan squinted with tiredness at the ranger. "You should be sleeping." She decided.

Jaune nodded, giving another differential slow dip of his head. "And as should you. Go to sleep ms. Altan."

Arslan gave him a groggy glare, lifting some stray hair from her face. "Get some sleep, jaune. You need it more than any of us." She said before deciding that she was too tired and too sleepy to deal with this. Laying back down, she pulled the covers back over her and went back to sleep.

Jaune looked upon her sleeping form with envy, and he wondered if she dreamed as well. He hoped not. No one deserved to hold such a burden as him.

Except you. A said, voicing the context that Jaune had hoped to ignore.

Except me. Jaune said solemnly, putting the in progress carving down and looking at the moon.

But to sleep, but to dream… Jaune whispered, perhaps to the moon, perhaps to himself, or perhaps not at all. And with that, he closed his eyes.

But to dream.

So, a long chapter this time. I hope to get more progress in on this story considering that I am technically on break right now. I am actually really pleased with this chapter and how it turned out. I hope you liked this one as much as I did.

I got to introduce my favorite little Easter egg for this story concretely in this chapter. And for everyone who's Jonesing for some good old fashioned violence, don't worry. Jaune returns to the dream next chapter.

in other words: Everyone: HARD MAGIC HARD MAGIC HARD MAGIC! so the people have spoken. fireballs it is then.

I am also surprised that this comment did not come up: Jaune: has hot food for the first time in what must be months to him. Get's fucking ratatouilled into the astral dimension.

the chess game Jaune and nadir played can be found here: perl/chessgame?gid=1589615. I have extended it by a couple moves to reach checkmate, as that is what Nadir and Jaune would have done instead of cutting it early.

As always, please leave a comment, constructive critism, character ideas, scene ideas, story head cannons, questions and theory crafting. they make me happy to read and are often really good ideas. They are the life blood of progress, and progress is good. I hope to see you soon!