They approached the cabin. The structure was even more derelict up close, with moss creeping up its walls and the smell of rotting wood hitting his nose.
Jaune knocked on the door.
A shuffle from inside was followed by the clatter of what sounded like glasses. Moments later, the door creaked open and revealed an elderly man, wearing old style clothes which Jaune had only seen in old films. His face was wrinkled, mostly covered by a white beard. He looked them over.
"Yes, what is it? What you want?" he asked impatiently, his voice raspy.
"Allen sent us." replied Jaune.
"Ah, you must be the hunters Allen mentioned." Mr. Zong said, "Come in, come in. We shouldn't talk out here."
The cabin's interior didn't look better than its exterior, but the rotting wood's smell was definitely stronger. Shelves filled with jars of herbs and trinkets lined the walls, a small fire crackled in the stone hearth, above it a hunting rifle hung on the wall. Mr. Zong gestured to a pair of chairs near the fire at a table while he muttered something under his nose.
Cinder and Jaune took their seat, but the old man didn't join them. It appeared he was looking for something in a chest next to the door, then when he didn't find it, he turned his attention to the shelves above it. The muttering didn't stop, like he forgot they were there.
This didn't bode well, Jaune thought.
When Jaune turned to Cinder she was already looking at him with a gaze that indicated she was on the same page as him. Her lips pressed into a tight line as she leaned back in her chair.
Jaune sighed, knowing that this was going to be a difficult conversation. "Mr. Zong." Jaune called him.
"… not… remember… tree…" mumbled Zong who was scribbling something into a little notebook.
"Mr. Zong." Jaune called louder.
"… stars… wake… night…"
"Mr. Zong!" snapped Jaune.
He stopped the mumbling and turned around, there was a moment of surprise in his eyes that they were here. But as fast as it appeared as fast it disappeared, and a slight confusion sat on his face. He had forgotten about them.
"Mr. Zong, Allen sent us to investigate the sound that you heard last night. Do you remember? You said it was from a Grimm." Jaune hoped giving the old man enough information would make him remember the last night or at least stay with them in the present. If they were already here, they could hear him out.
"Last night?" he said uncertainly.
"Yes." Jaune said, leaning forward slightly. "It was late. You called Allen in the nearby village, and he called you back today to expect us."
His confusion transformed into recognition. "Ah, yes, yes, I remember now." Zong said with a laugh, waving a hand dismissively. "It's hard to remember everything when you've got so many more important things on your mind, you know!" he explained and brought a third chair to the table. He sat down opposite them.
Jaune gave him a small, tight smile and hummed in a fake agreement. "Sure, but could you tell us about last night."
"Of course, my boy!" Mr. Zong exclaimed enthusiastically, "It was like most of the night this time around. Despite how nice the weather was, my knee ached all day like always when rain's coming – it still does. It has never let me astray yet. My grandfather was the same back when we still lived in Mistral, usually a little fried rice had always helped him when it got bad. I miss a good bowl of rice, ever since we moved to Vale, I haven't had a good fried rice. Vale just doesn't have –"
Jaune's attention drifted as the old man rambled on, his hand on the table proved to be more interesting for him. He didn't even pretend to listen. Jaune turned his attention to his partner on his right.
Cinder tapped her finger lightly on the table, her expression was unreadable, but her narrowed eye betrayed her growing irritation. When Zong paused to catch his breath, she leaned forward, her voice cutting through the old man's musings.
"Tell us about the sound you heard last night." she said before he could continue his rambling.
Zong blinked, seemingly snapping back to the present. "Oh, right! The sound! Yes, it was… weird. A howl, but not like any Grimm I've heard before. Maybe it was closer to a roar than to a howl. And it almost sounded like human."
"Human?" asked Jaune, finally drawn back into the conversation.
"Aye. And what is strange too is that it came from the direction of the Witch Hill." Zong said it in a low voice.
"Witch Hill?"
"Yes. Legend has it, a witch once lived in these woods with her four children. One day, she went to a nearby village to help someone who was sick. While she was away, a great forest fire broke out. It burned down half the forest, including her home and children. She went mad in grief, and she started looking for a way to bring her children back from the dead."
"Let me guess, she found one, didn't she?"
"Aye. Darkest of dark magic according to the tale – blood sacrifices. She lured and kidnapped eight children from nearby villages, two for each of her own. She chose the top of a hill for the ritual. It happened just after the sun dipped below the horizon. She hanged them from four trees on the hill and slit their wrists, soaking the trees' roots with blood. But the villagers caught her before she could finish. They killed her and burned the trees down. They say her ghost still haunts that hill, bound until her children return to the land of the living."
"…Yes, thank you for the story." Jaune said, glancing at Cinder who looked like she wished to be anywhere else but here. "I'm sure it will be… helpful. Where is this hill exactly?
"South from here. You cannot miss it."
South from here? Jaune had a feeling that they had seen this hill already. "By any chance, is this Witch Hill the same hill with the big radio tower on it?"
"That's the one! Those city folks are asking for trouble by putting there that thing. Disturbing the spirits this way will bring that thing trouble." he warned.
"So far works just fine as much as we've seen."
"So far." repeated Zong ominously.
Cinder rose from her chair, using the momentary pause to end this conversation. "We'll keep that in mind, but now it'd better for us to move on until it gets dark."
Jaune followed suit, adjusting his sword on his hip. "Thanks again for your time, Mr. Zong. We'll get started right away and find what caused that sound."
As they turned to leave, Zong spoke up unexpectedly. "Wait." Jaune turned to him. Zong's gaze was transfixed on Jaune. "What's that?" he pointed with a trembling finger on his weapon.
Jaune paused, glancing down. "My… weapon? It's a sword with a collapsible shield that acts as a scabbard for the sword."
"Open it." said Zong, still staring at Crocea Mors.
"Uhm, okay." Jaune agreed a bit confused. He unclipped the scabbard from his belt and put it on his left arm. Then he activated the mechanism that smoothly unfolded the shield in front of him.
There was no reaction on the old man's face. The only noticeable change was the slightly widened eyes and a louder breathing. He just continued to stare at the shield.
Jaune was at a loss for what to do next. Glancing at Cinder didn't help solve this question, she seemed just as puzzled, her brows furrowed as she observed the scene.
"Mr. Zong are you alright?" asked Jaune with a little concern in his voice.
"Get out." whispered Zong, still looking at the white shield.
"Excuse me?"
"GET OUT!" he bellowed. He was no longer focused on the shield but on Jaune, eyes filled with barely contained fury, his visible face was steadily turning red – a strong contrast against his white beard.
Startled, Jaune quickly folded the shield back into its scabbard mode. "I'm sorry." said Jaune in haste to calm the older man down, "I didn't mean to upset you." he said cautiously, holding up his hands in a placating gesture.
"OUT!" Zong shouted, rising from his chair. "Get out of my cabin! Both of you!" He pointed at the door with a shaking hand.
Cinder frowned, her amber eye narrowing. "We didn't mean any offence. What's your problem?"
"You!" Zong barked, glaring at Jaune with a mix of fear, anger, and hate. "You're the problem! Just leave. Now!"
Jaune hesitated, confusion written across his face. What did he do? He tried to get an answer. "But –"
"OUT!" Zong roared again louder, his voice cracking under the strain.
"Alright." replied Jaune, "We're leaving." Slowly, he and Cinder backed toward the door, careful not to fully turn their backs on the agitated old man. Once they were out, the door slammed shut behind them so strong that even the ground vibrated under their feet.
"What was that?" asked Cinder a few moments later. They were standing a few meters away from the door.
"I don't know." said Jaune, his expression still puzzled. He glanced back at the cabin, catching a glimpse of Zong peering at them through the curtains. The man's face was partially obscured, but the hate was evident.
"What's on your shield that had him freaked out?" Jaune turned to Cinder. She looked curiously in his eyes then at his hip.
He tilted his head slightly, signalling to her that he didn't want to discuss this in front of the house. They went well behind the treeline where they were well out of Mr Zong's view.
"So?" she asked, a hint of impatience in her voice.
"I have no idea what made him this upset. The only thing on it is my family's crest."
Cinder was silent but she was clearly thinking, she was once again biting her lower lip. Then her gaze lowered to Crocea Mors. "Show me."
He sighed. He unclipped the scabbard and opened it again. Cinder's eye scanned it for a few seconds, from left to right, from top to bottom. She studied the crest for a little, she even tilted her head slightly. He saw a little sign of recognition on her face as her brow raised a few millimeters, her eye flickered at him then back to the crest. Afterwards, she shifted her gaze lower. Where her memento was. Then, like it was radiating a blinding light, she quickly tore her gaze away, but she avoided looking at him, or the shield.
Jaune didn't know why she reacted this way, maybe it was guilt or regret. She had shown something similar when he had told her about the refugee group's fate. Whatever made her want to restart, maybe it made her reevaluate her past decisions.
Or maybe this thought was just a misguided attempt to see something in her that just did not exist. Seeing the good in people. A habit he had thought got rid of, but it appeared a few months with his friends had brought back a semblance of it.
He chose not to mention it, she would deny it or make her hostile for the next couple of hours.
"So? Anything?" he asked, turning back the topic to what had happened. "I've never seen someone react this way to the Arc crest."
At first, he thought he would receive silent treatment for the rest of the day as she didn't answer him, but then she glanced at him. "I have no idea either. It's minimalistic and simple enough to mistake for something else that someone else uses. Even I've seen something similar on old banners. He probably confused it with something from his past." She turned away, already walking back toward the path. "Let's move on. We've stayed here long enough."
Jaune lingered for a moment, glancing back toward the cabin. He couldn't shake the feeling that Zong's reaction was more than a simple misunderstanding. With a sigh, he secured Crocea Mors back at his hip and followed after Cinder.
The weather was definitely getting worse. It had gotten way darker despite it was just late afternoon, the clouds above felt more menacing and darker than an hour ago. The wind was now non-stop blowing – although not always with big intensity but the branches were continuously dancing in the wind. They couldn't hear anything else but how the wind twisted the trees in the forest.
Jaune was glad that it was not autumn, otherwise, they couldn't see the path because of the falling leaves.
The anxiety that he had felt for hours caused by the stormy weather had doubled. It helped that he had something to focus on.
His mind was still on what the man said to them before he sent them away. There was a little voice back in his head that told him that something was off. It had helped him to survive before Team RWBY had shown up, he trusted that voice. On the way back he had checked the ground for any track that would help him figure out this mystery, any footprint that could've been made by Grimm, but he had only seen theirs so far.
He was missing something, but he couldn't put a finger on it.
Soon they reached what looked like a junction. One path led back to the village. The other headed south. To the Witch Hill. To the tower.
He stopped.
Moments later Cinder noticed his absence and turned around. "What is it?" she asked, standing on the village road.
"That one leads to the hill." He nodded to the southern road.
She groaned. "No, Arc. That man was clearly crazy and that whole tale of his about the strange 'roar' was nothing just that. A tale."
"Don't you find it interesting that what he heard came from the same direction as the communication tower? I think we should check it out. Just to be sure."
"No, I do not find it interesting. I think it explains pretty much everything that he claims he heard yesterday." Jaune waved his hand that he wished to hear it. "The tower is brand new. Maybe even unfinished at some points. I think the construction is still ongoing and the sound was probably made by the crew up there. It's also explained why that 'roar' sounded human; it was them who made it."
"Okay, it was them." he agreed for the sake of the argument, "Why would they shout at late night? Why would they work at night?"
"They're behind schedule." she speculated with a shrug.
"Or something might have happened to them." countered Jaune.
Cinder gave him a hard look. "No, Arc. Our job was only to check on the old man, not on the tower."
"Don't you think they could be connected?"
"I wouldn't care that much even if the Grimm left us somewhere a detailed plan of how they'll attack that tower."
He rolled his eyes. "Look at this way," began Jaune, "we can ask for some extra cash if I'm right."
"And if you're not?" she shot back, "We walked enough already for the day, adding an hour to this will only just tire us more for nothing." She turned around and started walking again in the village's direction. Jaune's instincts told him that something was going on that hill, he couldn't turn away and ignore it.
"We could say we find Grimms." he spoke up. Cinder stopped. "We could say it was an alpha Beowulf, or an Ursa.
She turned around and looked at him with frowned brow. "What are you saying?"
He was not proud of what he was about to propose. "Come with me to the hill and check out if I am right. Whether my hunch is true or not, we'll say that there were Grimms near the hill, we pick something from the unusual ones to match up with Zong's strange roar. Either way, we can ask for more lien for our trouble as you agreed with Allen in the morning"
Cinder stared at him strangely. The wind tugged at her black hair, almost shielding her face entirely, just her eye was uncovered. Then, to his surprise, she laughed. Not the usual 'evil laugh' that she had always done before, but an actually genuine laugh. "Barely a week with me, and I'm already corrupting you, Arc. Wicked lies and all." she chuckled, "My, my, what an immoral idea from you. Colour me impressed."
"This is a yes or a no?"
Her eye roamed over the other path, Jaune knew she was on the fence, so he gave her the push that might just work.
"If I'm wrong and nothing is there, then you can keep my part of the reward." he offered.
She tilted her head, studying him with a mix of amusement and calculation. She brushed away a few strands of wind-tousled hair from her face. "That's quite the gamble. I didn't think you were the betting type." she mused.
"Because I am not" he replied. He knew he was right.
Cinder tapped her chin theatrically, pretending to weigh the options. "Fine." she said at last, her tone casual. "You've piqued my curiosity. Let's go and see what nonsense this is."
Jaune let out a small sigh of relief. "Thanks." If something was truly there, he felt more confident with a Maiden on his side.
"Don't thank me." she quipped, already heading toward the southern path. "At least I can use your part to buy myself new clothes that are easier to put on with one hand and a bit warmer." She rubbed her arm, the chill in the air clearly bothering her. "Shame that I lost my clothes to that Grimm attack, especially that nice glove. The ones I was given in Antlers are not exactly my taste."
"I didn't know you had the time for shopping gloves." he said when he caught up to her. The path leading to Witch Hill was narrow and overgrown, the trees on either side were looming over the road and them. The further they walked, the darker the forest seemed to grow.
"I wouldn't say shopping. I didn't really have that many liens on me."
"You mean you stole them?" he asked with a little surprise. It was hard to imagine Cinder Fall stealing clothes and gloves. Then, like a lightbulb switching on, he remembered a conversation he'd overheard not too long ago.
"…He must have been in a hurry, the alarm went off soon enough, he even left a piece of a pair of that fancy leather gloves there. You know which's in the window."
"You were in Searock." stated Jaune. "You the one who stole that glove." Then another memory surfaced, another case of theft a few days later.
"Someone stole women's clothes while they were hanging outside a few days ago…. If we are lucky the opportunist thief has moved on already"
"And you stole more from that village at Ember Mountain." He realised she had been only days ahead of him the entire time.
Cinder gave a small smile. "Small world, I guess. But answering your accusations, yes, I was at those places and might have acquired a few things for myself in a less legitimate way."
Her casual honesty was a welcome change in his opinion. Then again, why would she bother lying about these things? Petty thieving wasn't the worst thing that she had ever done.
"If we're having this nice little chat, I'm curious about something myself since you mentioned it." she said, "You said that you want the Relic of Choice. Out of curiosity, what are intending to do with it once you have it?"
"I just want to take it away from its hiding place, out of Beacon and nowhere near Vale." he answered.
"And…?" she inquired further.
"And getting it away from people as far as possible.
"That's it? You're just going to walk around Remnant with the Relic in your bag and hope for the best?"
"I plan to hide it somewhere safe, most importantly away from population centres." he replied reluctantly but firmly. "If such a place doesn't exist then I have to resort to what you mentioned. The point is I must keep the Relic away from Salem, and it's quite obvious that simply protecting the vaults is ineffective. She already has the Relics of Creation and Knowledge; her getting Destruction is only a matter of time. While she is busy in Vacuo, I can snatch the crown without much of a problem."
"Doesn't sound like a very well-thought-out plan." she commented.
"No, it doesn't, I admit that. But this is the best I have. I don't want Vale to become the next Atlas; Vacuo is out of my control with the missing Summer Maiden, so the sword remains at Shade. But once Salem realises that the crown is not at Beacon, she'll have no reason to attack Vale."
"She'll hunt you instead." she added. "You know that the Relics attract Grimms, right? If you won't find a safe place for the crown, then you'll never be able to stop running from her." She almost sounded like she cared about him.
"I know, but it doesn't matter. Stopping what is coming matters more."
Cinder studied him for a long moment, her expression unreadable. "And you're the one who saves us all."
"… In a way, yes."
Cinder let a sharp laugh escape, a smile creeping across her face. "And I thought Watts was full of himself."
Jaune didn't appreciate the parallel. He knew his previous admission might have sounded egotistical or even narcissistic, but what else should he have said? If his plan pans out the way he hoped, then he would save people's lives! Everyone's!
The main difference between him and the failed Atlasian scientist was that Watts would have never worked for the others' interests but his own. Jaune pegged the man as someone who would never make a sacrifice, take a step back, or help someone unless it served his ego.
Jaune on the other hand was ready to make sure that there would be a future for everyone, even if he wouldn't be there to see it. This was what the Rusted Knight would do, right?
No, he wasn't 'full of himself' as Cinder implied. He was just seeing where this path was heading.
"Both of us know that she will destroy everything and everyone who stands in her way. I don't know what she told you what will happen when she gets all the four Relics, but I guarantee you that whoever remains after this conflict, they'll die. I intend to prevent it in the only way I can. If you're judging me because I see my role in all of this then so be it. Your opinion hardly matters to me." he said
For many minutes, silence ruled among them. The only sound was the rustling trees in the wind.
"You've changed." she said finally.
"What do you mean?" he asked, glancing in her way.
"You're not the same wide-eyed, naïve boy who thought he could stumble his way into being a hero." Cinder said, her tone surprisingly even. "You've hardened. You've got a bit of steel in you now. It's… interesting."
"Interesting?" he repeated.
She shrugged, turning her gaze back to the path ahead. "I'm just wondering what changed in so little time. I've expected you to be furious the next we see each other, screaming at me, trying to kill me, but you've never done that. Instead, here we are, talking, doing jobs together. Strange, isn't it?"
She was right in that regard. He too had imagined how what could happen when the next time their paths crossed. The past week's events were not among them. Saving her, lying about her, work together were the polar opposite of what should've happened.
Her amber eye flicked toward him again, searching. "But the most interesting for me is that where is your hate? Where's that hate from Mistral? From Atlas?" She tilted her head slightly, her voice quieter. "I threatened your sister, yet when you look at me, even now, or earlier, I don't see that hate. What happened to you in the past half a year that changed you this much?"
Jaune didn't respond. His gaze fixed on the path ahead, his jaw tightening as he carefully considered her words. What could he even say to that? The truth was too complex, too personal.
Too painful.
Cinder didn't press him further. She walked alongside him, her posture as relaxed as if they were on a leisurely stroll, though her sharp gaze betrayed her curiosity.
Jaune could feel her waiting for him to speak.
"We are close." he said finally, distracting her. The road ahead started to tilt upward. The hill loomed before them, there was a strange foreboding that took a hold on him. After the tale of this place, a certain level of eeriness was in the air.
The trees got smaller as they went up, but somehow, they felt older than the tall trees around the forest. The trail narrowed to little more than a rugged, winding path, the ground uneven and riddled with gnarled roots. The closer they got to the top, the more Jaune's unease grew.
Jaune paused at the edge of the plateau, catching his breath. He then looked around at the area.
The hilltop was surprisingly large, like it wasn't the actual top because it was cut off a long time ago. Sparse vegetation scattered across the uneven ground, the air smelled faintly of ash and something faintly metallic, like… blood.
Jaune shuddered ever so slightly. Old memories threatened to resurface.
Bad memories.
This and the coming storm started to take a toll on him. He had to remind himself that he was not there anymore.
He had gotten out.
He was out.
After he took a calming breath, he took notice of something interesting. Four big tree trunks, or what remained of them. They were arranged in a rough half-circle, their stump's blackened roots clawing at the ground like skeletal fingers. Jaune recognised them.
"These must have given the inspiration." he muttered as he stepped closer to inspect one. Cinder followed him closely. Silence stretched between them, broken only by the crunch of their boots on the uneven trail and the occasional rustling of leaves in the wind.
Jaune knelt beside the inner-left one, neither were taller than his knee. He leaned closer. "It's charred." He dragged his index finger along the edge of the log, feeling the soot build up under his finger as he did so.
"Ow!" he yelped, jerking his hand back. Jaune looked down at his finger, on its black surface a tiny red globe began to grow.
Cinder, watching with a faint smirk. "Now red ichor soaks the trees once again. I brought you the blood, witch. Show me the terror." she teased with a mockingly ominous tone.
"Not funny, Cinder." he said, annoyed.
"I think it is." she replied with a grin, "What? Don't tell me you believe the story."
"I don't. But I'm not feeling comfortable joking with this." This was like when his sisters and their had played with a Ouija board during a sleepover when he'd been eleven years old. In that year he had seen a couple of horror films with those boards in them, and they might have seeded a deep uneasiness in him about Ouija boards. Since then, he had spent every night outside their house when his sisters used one.
Was it a silly thing? Maybe.
Was it an overreaction? No.
Those boards gave him the chills every time, and refusing to spend those nights in a house where it had been used seemed a sensible decision. It still did.
"Well, it certainly looks the part." she said. "Creepy, desolate, and thoroughly unpleasant. Congratulations, Arc. Your hunch dragged us straight into the second act of a badly written ghost story."
Jaune ignored her sarcasm, his gaze drifting beyond the trees. In the distance, the radio tower rose against the horizon, its silhouette dark against even the darkened, clouded sky. The tower itself appeared intact, though the faint hum of static from its base suggested it was still operational, and his scroll's signal was still strong.
At its base stood a simple, one-story tall concrete building without windows. A tall, barbed wire steel fence surrounded both the tower and the building. Nothing looked out of place.
"It looks completed. No construction crew nor any equipment." observed Jaune, looking around and stood up. "Let's take a closer look."
They walked to the fence which was at least twice as tall as him, it looked sturdy enough to survive a Boarbatusk's charge at full speed with its unusually thick steel net. The barbed wire on the top looked twice as dense as he had seen anywhere else. Anyone who wanted to get through on it, then that person would be shredded to pieces before they would hit the ground on the other side.
The building was just as new as everything else. It was a big block of solid concrete without any curved line or the littlest décor. It was absolute utilitarian. It felt like a bunker of sorts. Around it, the grass was still spotty; it hadn't yet grown back; otherwise, there was nothing noteworthy between the windowless building and the fence.
"Everything seems fine." Cinder said, turning to him with a faint smile. She placed a hand on her hip. "You owe me your part. Can we go now?"
Yes, it appeared everything was in order. But that tiny voice still told him something was amiss. "Not yet." he said with a serious tone, still studying the area, "I wish to see the entrance. I think it's on the other side." he replied, already walking alongside the fence.
Cinder let out a noticeable sigh then muttered something and followed him after a few steps.
While they circled the fence, Jaune's attention didn't waver from the station building. He found it strange that it didn't have windows; it was unsettling. Why left it out? He thought maybe because of the electronics inside that the network ran through, to protect them against trespassers or Grimm.
"What exactly are we expecting to find at the entrance? Doesn't look like anyone's here." said Cinder, breaking the silence.
"Then how you explain what Mr. Zong heard?" he objected, still looking inside the perimeter.
"Mushrooms, wild berries, herbal teas." she listed, "Take your pick. He's definitely the kind of person who loves experimenting with this stuff. Or, as you could see, he's clearly not all there. Hearing and seeing things might be a daily occurrence for him."
'He's clearly not… all there.'
This was what Weiss had said about him, too. His friends had thought he was crazy and had been more willing to believe a talking paper mache figure than him. He would be lying if he said it hadn't hurt. He knew he hadn't been doing well at the time, but it had hurt him nonetheless. And now, here was another person who, in a way, reminded Jaune of himself a little.
Maybe this was the real reason he wanted to see this through.
"We're here already. Five more minutes won't matter that much. If you want to head back so badly, maybe you could help by looking for anything unusual. The sooner we finish, the sooner we leave."
Cinder rolled her eyes. "Whatever"
After a few more minutes of walking around the fence, Jaune's steps slowed as he saw it.
"I think I'll keep my cut." he said with a grim expression as he came to a stop.
A section of the fence had been bent inward; the metal torn apart as though something massive had forced its way through. A muddy trail led from the breach to the building's entrance – or what was left of it. The heavy steel door that was designed to secure the structure, lay twisted and broken on the ground beside the frame. Its edges were bent, the metal warped as if it had been ripped off its hinges by sheer brute force.
Whatever had caused this, it had gotten inside last night.
Well, it looks like more than a five-minute adventure, Jaune.
Happy New Year everyone!
TheSlySage: Thank you! There will be fluffiness in the future; I cannot wait to get there. You can drop your ideas here; we'll see what I can do with them.
Slither21: He's an easy target, doesn't he?
WinoKino: Thank you very much for your comments. I'm familiar with the feeling, I read some stuff that has a few chapters, and the updates are slow but they're worth the wait. You don't have to wait for those messages for too long ;)
Hecatonchir of Athena: She isn't the nicest person and won't change that much in under a week. She and Jaune are still at odds. She needs time to change, or someone to help.
