Jaune was having a surprisingly pleasant stroll through the park. The world was bright, the sun gazing down upon the insignificant mortals it so unwittingly provided life to. It was just warm enough to keep the breeze cool instead of bitterly cold. He got a couple strange looks, full of hushed admiration. He supposed they could assume his current occupation, considering the whole get up and all that. But the trees were pretty in this season, and the paths were clean swept. Must have been one of the many benefits to being in the inner, high end city. Jaune could only imagine what the lower city parks must have looked like, if they had any parks at all. The world was oddly peaceful here, filled with quiet little chatter. Jaune let out a content sigh, breathing in the park air.

There is nothing that could ruin this moment right now, is there? A sighed, taking in the scenery. B gave him a wide eyed glare, silently daring him to say that again.

You do realize that you've just incurred the wrath of all the gods, old and new, upon us, right? B sighed, almost in physical pain. You've doomed us. Doomed I say, doomed!

Jaune shook his head, a small smile on his face. The universe owes us a little bit of rest, wouldn't you agree?

Jaune looked around the park, at its green grass and blooming corners. Maybe A was right. Maybe nothing really could ruin this moment.

There was a buzzing in his pocket. He looked down, pulling out his scroll. "Saphron? I wonder why she's calling." he muttered as he hit the answer button. "Hello?"

Saphrons voice exploded from the other end. "DID YOU FIGHT A FUCKING SNAKE!?" Jaune reeled at the shriek, pulling it back away from his ear.

"Hello to you too, sister." The ranger grumbled, shaking his head.

"DON'T AVOID THE QUESTION, JAUNE!" she ordered. "DID YOU FIGHT A FUCKING BIG ASS SNAKE? BECAUSE I'M LOOKING AT A VIDEO THAT MAKES IT LOOK A LOT LIKE YOU FOUGHT A BIG ASS SNAKE!" Jaune could imagine what his sisters expression must have looked like. Red in the face, puffed up and swollen with anger. It would have been comedic if it wasn't directed at him.

"Perhaps…" Jaune trailed off, turning the crux of his attention to looking for the SAC. He assumed it was a sac, or other small bag-like container. "I fail to see what the issue here is though."

Saphron sputtered at the other end of the line. "Fail to see the problem? Fail to see the PROBLEM? THE PROBLEM IS THAT I JUST WATCHED YOU GET EATEN BY A FUCKING FISH SNAKE! THAT'S THE GODDAMN PROBLEM!"

"Language dear." A faint chiding voice came. It was one that Jaune recognized. Terra's voice, in particular. Saph sighed, calming herself down.

"Jaune…" She managed after a moment. "That video was scary for me, Jaune. I straight up had a heart attack when I saw you fall overboard. I- I was scared that I had lost you, and I am still scared." She admitted, her voice quiet and a little hoarse. "I wake up each morning now wondering if you've died or not. Dad never got into danger like that. At least not before he graduated and was already going to be a legend." There was a floomphing sound that made Jaune think that she had just collapsed onto the couch. "I worry for you, jaune."

He just gave her a small chuckle. "It's a dangerous line of work, Saph. You're right to worry." He admitted. He would not lie to his sister, particularly as she really was the last connection to his family he had. "But someone has to do it. Better me than some other unfortunate schmuck."

Saphron scoffed at that. "Jaune. I hate to say it, but you are possibly one of the worst schmucks I know." She giggled, clearly teasing her little brother. Jaune let out a sharp little snort.

"I'm afraid I've grown quite a bit since you last saw me, sister." He said, his thoughts shifting to the cost of his growth. He wondered if it was worth it, in the end. If all his decisions, all his actions, all his sacrifices and suffering were worth the end goal: To die young just like everyone else, for people you would never know.

There was something poetic about that. Almost romantic, in a way. That people would die in the name of something as simple as the word "others", that the intrinsic human being was so noble that such a thing was expected, if not inherent. It led to the obvious conclusion that sacrifice was noble. But Jaune knew that wasn't true. Sacrifices were not noble, and only rarely necessary. In chess, sacrifices only had to be made for a superior position or for gain. No one mourns the loss of a pawn in the game.

Too often unnecessary sacrifices were made for no reason at all. Jaune admitted that he had made unnecessary sacrifices in his past. He probably could have strong-armed Ozpin into keeping him at Beacon somehow.

Don't kid yourself, bud. B said to him. You don't have anything to hold over him.

Jaune shrugged, brushing away a set of bush leaves to look under the bush. There was no suspicious looking bag there.

"You still there Jaune? You're pretty quiet buddy." His sister asked him. Jaune was yoinked back out of his thoughts. He nodded, finding a nice bench to sit down on.

"Yeah, I'm here. Just working, that's all." He said into the scroll. The ranger looked around the park with keen eyes, trying to tease apart the location of his assigned scavenger hunt item.

Saphon's voice piqued with curiosity. "Oh? What are you working on?"

"One of my new teachers sent me on a fetch quest." The ranger sighed. "I fear it is going to be a pain in the ass."

Saffron snorted. "Well, I suppose I should leave you to it." Jaune could hear the smile in her voice.

"If you wish to." He said. Saphron was silent on the other end for a couple moments. She finally broke the soft quiet with something almost louder than a whisper.

"You've changed, Jaune." She admitted to him. "I didn't think I'd ever see the day." That sentence ended with a chortle. "I'm proud of you, Jaune. I hope you know that."

Jaune could feel his smile splitting his face. A genuine smile, not induced by madness or anguish deposited from the insanity he suffered from in the Dream. Not from the stressful fuckup of a mess that had become his life. A genuine smile that was not his mask breaking. It felt precious to him.

"Thank you, Saph. That means a lot to me." he managed to get out. Saphron just laughed cheerfully.

"Yeah, yeah. I know. Just try to call a little more often, ok? Love you."

Jaune nodded. "I will make the endeavor to do so. I love you too. Give your family my warm welcomes."

"Sure." And with that, she hung up. Jaune put his phone back, reveling in the normalcy of having a call with one's sister. He returned to his task of looking for the sack. He searched around the bag in every bush and other particularly obvious places that one might hide a bag. It would be particularly bad if Jaune ended up wasting a bunch of time looking in obscure places when the obvious spots were right in front of him. He did this for a couple of minutes before B altered him to something.

We're being watched. B noted, feeling it with that strange sixth sense that people seemed to have when attention was directed at them. Jaune called it anxiety.

When are we not being watched, my cynical friend? Jaune sighed as he pushed aside another small butterfly bush.

B rolled his eyes. Not like that. It's focused. Behind us at seven o'clock. The ranger turned, glancing over his shoulder at the aforementioned direction. A little old man was sitting at one of the public chess tables, shuffling a deck of cards. He was watching the blonde rather intently, clearly observing him with great interest. Said blonde approached the man.

"Can I help you?" He asked the card shuffler. The man shook his head.

"Unless there is some danger I don't know about, I don't need a huntsman." he chuckled, spreading the cards in front of him. "Although it looks like you could use a hand yourself, lad."

Jaune snorted, shaking his head. "I'm sure I could use it. You haven't seen a small satchel, have you?"

The man shook his head as he fanned out the cards. "I have not. Although if you have the time, could I interest you in an innocent game?" he offered. Jaune was intrigued at the very least.

His head tilted to the side as he inspected the deck.

It's only worth bonus points. A commented. Couldn't hurt us to accept. We've got an undefined amount of time anyway.

Yes. B replied dryly. Creepy old man offering us a card game described as "innocent." As though that alone wasn't suspicious enough, he was watching us as well.

A sighed, rolling his eyes. Come on, it will be fun.

Jaune took a seat after a long moment. "So, sir, what's the game?" That got a laugh out of the man.

"No one's called me sir in a long time, Mr. Huntsman. Just call me Jim, or pop. Every one else does." He chuckled. "Hell, or even Jim pop." He started to stack the cards. A portion of the deck was dealt out to the two of them.

"Mr. Jim, then." Jaune says, one eye watching the cards, one eye watching the elderly Jim, and a third eye keeping a harsh track of the world around them.

"Do you know how to play Mineshaft?" Jim asked him. He shook his head no, the light motion making his loosened ponytail brush against the back of his neck. Jim broke into a wide smile.

"Good. I love teaching new games. Mineshaft is a simple one." he flipped over the first card on the deck. "It's a cooperative game where you work with the other players to reach the bottom of the mineshaft." The old man gestured to the stack. "You have a set of cards and I have a set of cards. The goal is to reach the bottom of the deck by removing the top card with a more powerful one of the same suit." He placed the jack of hearts over the ten on top, and took the two off and into a separate pile. Jaune raised an eyebrow, failing to see how it was a coop game. But his listened quietly and intently all the same.

"Now, here's the twist: You can put cards on the stack face up." He said, tossing a three of spades onto the pile. "So if you can't get rid of the card there, you can change it. Once you get a card of the same suit that is higher, you remove the entire stack. Discard pile is shuffled and hands are refilled, and the next set of turns continues." Jaune nodded, understanding the game so far.

"And if someone runs out of cards?" jaune asked Jim. he just shrugged.

"You lose, simple as that."

Jaune nodded, looking through his hand. The two played for a while, and they spoke. Or rather, Jim spoke and jaune listened for the most part. He learned many things as the old man filled the silence. He learned that he was one of six, four sisters and a brother to his name. He had learned that he was a farm hand at the age of fourteen, but had moved onto steel working after a short time. He was just about eighteen when the first major economic depression hit Mistral when the SDC was responsible for the collapse of several banks when its stocks dropped. He spent some time as a snake oiler during that depression before the economy recovered.

Jaune learned that he had six grandchildren who he tried to see on the weekends.

He also learned that while this game looked simple, there was a surprising amount of layers to it. The blind cooperation, the statistics and probability behind the chance of loosing on any given turn. It was interesting brainfood that B latched onto, keeping himself occupied and respectfully out of the conversation. After a long while Jim had run out of stories from his youth and not so youth to tell.

"So, what about you?" he asked the ranger, clearing off the current stack. "You have any stories to tell, Huntsman?" Jaune looked up from the cards.

"Hrmm?"

"Stories, young hunter." Jim laughed. "Surely you've heard of them, because you've been sitting here listening to them all afternoon!" The laugh was cankerous, a bright smile and loud chugging.

The blonde shook his head. "You don't want to hear my stories." he admitted, giving Jim a small shake of his head. "They're all sad and depressing."

Jim frowned at that. "I'm sorry to hear that. I've got a couple sad tales of my own." he admitted. Jaune thought for a moment about what stories he had that were not tainted with his sorrows. Although he had to admit he was probably a little biased. His mind wandered far back into his past, to when a knightly fool tried to prove himself against the world.

"I suppose I have one good story, in retrospect." Jaune admitted to Jim. "If you have the time for it, sir."

Jim's smile widened. "I thought I told you to quit that Sir nonsense. But yes, I got time." the old man settled down, ready to listen.

Jaune took a breath, figuring out how to segment his story. "Well, it starts where many things do. At a school. Beacon Academy in particular. There was a young knight, a boy pretending to be a knight, really." jaune started, wringing his hands together. "And he was set on proving something to the world." He moved on, starting to introduce the characters he knew so well.

A young excitable girl, younger than him, who zipped around with the kind of force that could be that of a storm's wind.

A cold and haughty princess who was a better person than him, deep down under all that ice.

A quiet and sneaky cat, undisturbed and aloof, but attached and careful.

And a bright and burning brawler with a mouth as loud as her smile.

He introduced the old card player to the knights own team, an invincible warrior held down by her own achievements, a quiet and demurred rogue who cared more than he let on, and a strong fighter whose soul was a force of nature alone. He told him of an adventure, seeking relics and adrenaline. He wove a tale out of that wandering and the fights that came from it. "And Ruby, the reaper, took the nevermore's head clean off! Her scythe shot forward, decapitating the grimm with one swoop!" Jaune exclaimed, mimicking the words with his hand. He went on, of course. "The knight, Jaune, had his victory and his friends' safety. They ended their initiation to Beacon academy with those fights. They became Huntsmen, at least in training with those fights." Jaune ended his story with a shrug. Jim looked impressed.

"And where are they now, young man?" he asked the ranger. Jaune shrugged.

"Hell if I know. Hopefully they're still in school, safe and sound." He admitted. He was indeed hopeful that they were in Beacon Academy, safe and unperturbed. As safe as one could be there, anyway. Jaune did not hear Jim's comment that he "Must be popular with children." as he was a little lost in his own thoughts.

Jim took note of the time, his exclamation pulling Juane out of his recollections. "Blimey, is that the time!" he cried, pocketing his ancient looking scroll. "It was a pleasure, but I ought to be halfway to town by now. Don't want to upset the missus." Jim smiled as he started to shuffle away with surprising speed, giving Jaune a wave over his shoulder. Jaune gave him a small, uncertain wave in return.

"Jim!" he said to the retreating figure, but his call fell of deaf ears. "You left… you left your cards." He trailed off. The old man didn't hear him, and frankly Jaune couldn't find it in him to go after him. He looked at the scattered cards, a little spread out in a chaotic manner from his hand motions during his retelling of initiation. He gathered them up, sliding them into the little cardstock box that housed them, and slowly tucked it into his pocket.

Cards are cheap. But these? I think these might be worth keeping.

B returned to the common space of Jaunes mind, no longer not needed for human interaction. That's great you're getting sentimental over a deck of cards, but could we please eat? I'm starving over here, practically wasting away. Turning into bones. I'm dying Jaune, dying. B droned with an incredibly flat tone. Jaune rolled his eyes, a good natured warmth spreading through him.

Yeah sure. We'll find someplace to eat. Jaune replied, realizing that he was indeed a little hungry. It made sense to him, he supposed. He ate early this morning and had yet to have lunch. His stomach gave a grumble of appreciation at the thought of food.

With the park behind him, Jaune set off in the hunt for food. He wandered around town, keeping to the edges of sidewalks and back alleys, out of people's way. Eventually he ended up in a place that, if you removed the neon lights and the bustling people, would have looked a lot like the Eternal City. Grayed plaster building stinking with decay.

Well, welcome to the southern slums. A thought with mock cheer. Happy little place, isn't it?

Jaune looked around, dodging bumping into what was most likely a hopeful pick pocket. He saw a little courtyard that had been transformed into a food court. One that pandered to the large faunus population that lived down here, and had lots of ethic foods. Jaune strode in, feeling like he was inside some old western movie. The few patrons that were there turned their heads to look at the out of place man. He decided to ignore them and opted to go to one of the carts. He looked at the collection of woks in front of him, each already frying or ready to fry a variety of foods.

"What can I get ya?" The boar faunus said. Jaune looked over the laminated menu, trying to decide.

"Hello." Jaune greeted him. The man seemed a little taken aback, but shrugged it off. He had seen stranger things than slightly off putting humans speaking feral. "I think I would like the beef Hakatrabu."

The man nodded, grabbing the various ingredients and tossing them into the pot. The man looked up, about to ask for payment when something stopped him in his tracks. Jaune was about to ask what was wrong when he heard someone behind him yelp. The ranger turned to see four young men that could only be described as punks. Dark leather jackets, badly done mohawks or off shaven heads, piercings and tattoos. They had decided to spend their afternoon harassing people, at the moment some middle aged person. Jaune let out a sigh.

Really? Now? In front of my food? Jaune sighed. "Fine." He grumbled under his breath. He strode over to them, rolling up his sleeves. One of them let their fist fly, threatening to hit the man. Jaune's hand shot out like a piston, catching it firmly within his palm.

"Shouldn't you boys be in school?" He drawled, helping the victim off the ground. The punks snarled at him.

"What's it to you, pretty boy?" One of them snarled at Jaune. "We're members of the Spiders gang, we run these streets!" he said as though it brought him pride. Jaune looked around at the dilapidated buildings.

"Really?" he asked. "You guys should be fired. You have no idea how many freaking health violations there are here, do you?"

One of them shrugged. "No? How many are there?" he asked, seemingly actually concerned. The first one that had spoken, who was clearly the ringleader of the four, hit him in the back of his shaved head.

"Why the hell should we care, dumbass?" he growled, and Jaune wasn't sure if he was talking to the bald one or to him. "Doesn't matter, anyway. You're one our turf, and we sure as hell haven't let you be here, mate. So we're just going to beat you up real good, ok?" There is a jeering chorus of support from the other three. Jaune's shoulders slumped with a sigh. He turned to the man he had helped up, who was cowering behind him. "You'll probably want to leave. I cannot guarantee your safety." He said to him before turning to his four opponents.

The four of them started to surround him, pulling out switchblades. Jaune couldn't help but be a little amused. These poor kids were just walking stereotypes, weren't they? Jaune rolled his neck.

"Four on one?" He asked, balling his fists. "That doesn't seem very fair."

The ringleader sneered at him. "Awe, what are you going to do? Cry about it?"

The ranger shook his head. "No. I mean for you guys. You're going to need more men." The four tensed, a little off put by the blonde's sheer confidence.

"You're confident." The ringleader says after he has mustered his courage. "Let's wipe that smile off your face, fucker!" he dived at Jaune, blade forward. He moved pitifully slowly compared to Jaune's trained reflexes. Jaune's fist shot forward, catching him in the jaw. The blow rocked his head backwards, but Jaune was already moving again. The follow up was a punishing blow to the stomach, folding the ringleader like a lawn chair.

That's a lot of damage! A cheered, whooping with laughter. He had no real problem, hurting people he didn't like.

B smiled, knowing that cue by heart. How about a little more?

Jaune could feel that cold, manic grin spread across his face. With pleasure. He complied. After all, who was he to deny his tennates good entertainment? He sent his leading fist upwards, uppercutting the man in the forehead. His hand inverted, gripping his victim by his shirt. He heard another one come up from behind him. Predictable. He shot his elbow out, impaling the man with his own forward momentum on the appendage. Making a brief half turn, Jaune headbutted the offender in the cranium. The concussive blow sent him reeling backwards and stumbling into one of the many cheap tables that littered this hole in the wall food court. He only barely recovered his senses enough to throw himself out of the way of the ringleader of the bunch, who jaune had flipped over his shoulder to throw at him. He broke through the table from the force of Jaune's third rushed at him, attempting to shank him in the ribs. With a simple sticking of his foot, Jaune sent him tumbling to the ground. The ranger turned to look at the other two gang members that were standing.

"Anyone else?" he asked them. The challenge was met by the two of them, who honestly had not yet learned that four was greater than two. The one that had been tripped got up to attack him again. Jaune couldn't help but roll his eyes. He surged forward, sparta kicking the poor bastard in the knee.

Jaune was pretty sure by the subsequent crunch that he had broken the mans leg. Ouch. he mentally thought, remembering the feeling of his own bones breaking. Admittedly, those were his ribs more often and not. Jaune reached over to the nearest table, grabbing the first thing he wrapped his fingers around. He looked over at what he had gotten. It was a fish. Jaune nodded.

That will do.

A and B blinked in confusion, as did the man kneeling in front of him. What was he going to do with a fish-

SLAP. Ah. That's what he was going to do with a fish. Jaune had slapped him in the face. His arm reeled back to deliver another slapping.

SLAP. A looked on the slappening with one single thought. I think that is the most professional slap I've ever seen. And I've seen mama Arc dole out some slaps.

SLAP. B nodded in response. They are impressive slaps. Very good form. Jaune cocked back for another blow, but was halted by the last gang member slamming a wooden stool over his head. It shattered like the cheap mockery of balsa wood it was, leaving Jaune physically unphased. He stopped, straightening up to his full height. Turning mechanically, as though he were some Terminator robot, he stared down the offending man. "You are audacious." he said. He cracked his knuckles with a smile. "Now, I will be gracious and end this quickly." He said. The gangster blinked. "I'm sorry-"

Jaune clapped his hands over the man's ears with a loud smack. It sent the gangster cross eyed and to the floor.

I am fairly sure I caused a rather severe case of perforated eardrums in this man, which will have . I highly doubt he will ever fully recover his hearing. The unbidden medical examination came to mind. "So, are we done?" He asked the four unconscious bodies on the ground. "I suppose so."

Jaune finally got to have lunch. The cart cook was rather stunned at the display of violence. "What?" The ranger asked him. "Never seen a street fight before?" He said as he handed over a fistful of coins. "And a little extra to pay for the damage."

B rubbed at his face, feeling exasperated already. We are going to be directly responsible for the collapse of the economy, aren't we? He asked as Jaune sat down with his dish. We can't just give people gold and walk away as though we paid for it.

Jaune thought about that as he chewed his beef and rice. Man, I hope not. He responded eventually. Because that would suck.

As he ate, he came to an unfortunate realization. It wasn't particularly good food. Although he supposed that was to be expected when it came from a place like this. He considered not finishing it, but he had paid for it and beat four men unconscious for it, so he wasn't going to let it go to waste. Upon tossing his paper into the nearest makeshift trash can, Jaune left the courtyard. He figured he should get back to school, as he had probably skipped one or two classes at this point. He stalked through the city, making his silent way back to the gondolas.

He had expected no one, or at least no one of importance or that he knew, to be there. One could imagine his surprise when he saw Dr. Cortez waiting for the next car.

"Mr. Jaune, what an unexpected surprise." He greeted with a nod. "And by unexpected, I mean Entirely Expected!" He cackled, opening the door of an approaching car. "So, what are you doing at such an odd hour here, out and about?"

Jaune shrugged. "I was out looking for your quest." He said quietly. Sebastian looked at him.

"Oh really? And did you find it?" He asked, to which the ranger replied with a shake of his head.

"Alas, nay. But I think I found the answer to your question."

Sebastian raised his eyebrows. "Oh, really? And what question is that, mr. jaune?"

"What keeps us human."

The doctor was surprised at this. He had never actually gotten a legitimate answer from one so far, and he felt that this Jaune fellow had lots of promise. "And what is your answer, Jaune?"

Jaune gave him a smile. "Other people." He said simply. Sebastian nodded, looking out over the mountain scape.

"You know what?" He responded. Jaune turned to look at him, joining him in his rather stunning view. The sun bathes the green aspen pines in a crystalline light reflected from the snowy peaks. The rays seemed to refract in mid air, splintering into small fragments of infinity, backdropped by an endless sea of green and gray.

"That's a good answer."

Another segment of time, another chapter. I meant to finish this about three days ago, but lord forbid I ever do any of my deadlines on time. Before I get ahead of myself, a copy of my comment that I posted earlier, because I would forget to do so otherwise: Regarding the personality shift of A and B, there is a little bit of behind the scenes explanaiton I have to do. originally A and B were alternate personalities I had created to have some form of dialogue and conversation in the dream and the exodus arc. That purpose became kind of mute once Jaune found other human beings to talk to, so I needed a reason to keep them around. And they shifted into something else, and that was what they are now. Originally they were just a standard A vs B. Now they have less constricted personalities and instead have purposes instead. B does what he can to keep Jaune alive and prepared for whatever violence and chaos the world throws at him, and A tries his best to keep Jaune human (if you remember several chapters ago, there was that conversation.) Their personality and actions are a reflection of this purpose. It's not that they have reversed necessarily, but rather that the situation for them to shine has been reversed (Jaune is with human beings and not in constant danger at the moment.)

And for moving on to this actual chapter: I really liked this one for a reason I cannot explain. We get to see a rather important character devolvement in Jaune that I hope to use to frame his character by. We also have now established something that is going to be a recurring habit for him as well.

I have now addressed him fighting the snake. You can stop asking me about it. originally it was going to be Nora who called, but I realized that Saphron fit what I had written out much better. Don't worry, Nora and Jaune will talk about it, along with other things, next chapter. But that's going to be more focused on Nora's character (I think). Also, good news everyone! We return to the dream next chapter and fight a boss fight! Yay!

Today has been a good chapter.

Please leave your comments, support, theories, reactions and whatever else you want to my story. Thank you for taking the time to read this and for taking the time to write something out in response. It really fires off all the serotonin to read them, you know?