XxX-XxX-XxX
Official Supporters:

Obsessive Readers, Laurel

Compulsive Reader, The Impossible Muffin

Commissioner, Le Spork, Polemoduke, Lea the Rosenwulf
If you want to be on the Supporter list, PM me for details or join our private server for details. Hope you enjoy reading my stories, please leave me a comment to let me know if you did, or where I can improve. Link here, where able to be seen : /2UZncAm

Second link here, remove ( and ) and it SHOULD work : D(i) (slash)kfhkfUb

Beta(s) :

XxX-XxX-XxX

Requested by : Polemoduke

XxX-XxX-XxX

Given the grand and tactical display at the briefing ceremony, Weiss had expected some sort of… Ruined fort, or town, or something of the kind to defend their 'Relic' in. Something defensible, possibly relevant to one of them somehow if the Headmaster was half as wise and insightful as Weiss liked to think he was. And something to search for their Relic, living off the proverbial - or perhaps literal, in the worst case - scraps of the past to make their stand like the old heroes in the tales her grandfather, and now Jaune, oddly, liked to tell her.

She was sorely disappointed.

There was a ruin, that much, at least, met her expectations. But instead of some ancient castle or lost outpost, it was… Little more than a fishing hamlet, if such a joining of terms properly existed, built decades ago far to the south-east, along the coast and past the thick, rolling forests that made up so very much of the continent's heartlands. It was built at one of the ends of one of the great rivers that fed those forests, and the grassy, sparsely forested flatlands beyond them. Right at a delta, where the river broke into two great washes that, she was sure, made the people building there feel relatively safe from the Grimm.

They were, after all, on an island.

"Are you serious?!" Ruby squawked as soon as they saw it, "We just left an island!"

"This is hardly an island." Pyrrha argued quietly as the Bullhead circled, "It's more an… Ah, a delta! Or an ait, perhaps?"

"It's pronounced closer to 'eight', like the number." Weiss sighed, "But… Yes, it's closer to that. A bit small so it's more the former than the latter, true, but regardless."

"You'd know about being small, I guess." Jaune snorted, smiling when she rounded on him and he turned and pointed, smiling down at her, "What? I like small."

"Y-Yes, well… Shut up!" She flushed scarlet, turning and ignoring the chuckles of the rest of her team. And the pilot, she was sure she heard, when he announced their landing. She flicked him a scowl and muttered, "You shall face justice!"

"When we get back, we should head to this little place in Vale…"

"Why are you talking about-"

"It's a cafe with puppies."

"-this just now?!" She squawked, "When did you discover this place and why am I only just now hearing about it?!"

"I believe the term here is 'whipped'?"

"N-No, no, no-" Jaune spun, waving his arms excitedly while the Mistralian laughed and Weiss smiled. Shaking his head, he said, "No, uh, no. That is not how you use that word, Pyr. Like, at all."

"Then what does it mean…?"

"It means, uh…" Jaune blanched, flicked Weiss a look, then frowned when she only smiled thinly and crossed her arms. He turned to Ruby, next, but she was as helpful as the Bullhead pilot pulling away and leaving them there. Stammering and tapping a boot in the dirt he turned back to Pyrrha and smiled, "It means you should look it up when we get back to Beacon, but we have to explore these nice ruins right now!"

Weiss just huffed, "Weak…"

"Oh, you explain it, then."

She just rolled her eyes.

The ait, or the delta, or whatever it actually was, didn't have a properly recognized name on their maps. The River was called the Black River, though - thanks to the rich soil it passed through, which made it nearly dark even in daylight thanks to how clear it was in most parts. And, as they advanced from the open beach, they found an old and mostly rotted away sign that read Raven's Landing, resting at what little was left of a wide path. Whether the old sign was for the town or whatever the single chimney left of a building a few yards away was, they decided to call it that.

Raven's Landing was about fifteen miles or so in diameter, and shaped more or less like a ragged paw, with its ragged 'claws' sticking upriver and the majority of the rest of it sticking out into the sea. It was more densely wooded than the land to either side of the river, too, with tree roots reaching out into the water from the rocky beach, which told Weiss the trees were how it kept itself from eroding. The trees and the huge rock at its further edge, which stood stark and nearly pitch-black against the sky around it, climbing out of the sea like it had been thrown there by some ancient giant and the rest had simply… Washed up against it.

The hamlet, by now, was mostly… Well, gone nearly entirely. Wooden buildings rotted, washed, and blown away in the south's powerful rainstorms and time. There were a dozen husks along the wide path, long since overgrown by grass but still present, if only because animals had probably been using it. Most were little more than fence posts, metal frames, and chimneys. One, though, had half of itself still more or less intact.

It had been built of stone, and was closest to the rock at the end of the island to explain it. Most of it had collapsed under time, too, but a tree had grown up in its corner and, by some wonder, managed to grow under and around one of the ceiling and wall support joints. A lot of the wall and roof had broken from that, but there was still plenty there, solid and without holes, and it stood up to a few swift kicks from Jaune and Pyrrha. Even without a roof, the wall was a nice backing-post for them to set up camp, their four small tents tucked into a corner beside the tree. The front of the tents just barely reached the end of the surviving wall, but the tin-sheets of the roof stuck out further, even if they were spotted by holes, and offered some shelter for the fire Jaune set up while Ruby ran the island.

Literally, that was.

"Nothing else around." She reported when she got back, just as the sun was beginning to dip and redden the sky. "Just… What we've seen. No buildings or obvious places the Relic could be."

"So we dig through the rubble, then?" Pyrrha asked quietly, gesturing around them and frowning. "There isn't much, but…"

"It's a lot of time and effort, yeah." Jaune nodded, kneeling by the fire and stirring the stew Weiss could smell from the mouth of her tent, stomach rumbling while she tried to focus on her journal. He'd built it in a low, dug-out spot already lined in stones that made it quick to get running. Gesturing at their camp, he said, "We could dig in the rubble around here for now and search the rest tomorrow? I'll handle around here."

"A good idea." Pyrrha nodded, standing, "Ruby, take the outside with Weiss. You're both the fastest. Jaune can handle around the tents-"

"Not in them." Weiss cut in, shooting him a narrow eyed look and chucking when his brows furrowed in confusion.

Then in a little pouting glare that made her chuckle.

"-and not in them." Pyrrha reiterated, earning a groan and a wave of the young Huntsman's hand. Shaking her head, Pyrrha gestured at the furthest fallen corner and said, "I'll look for some manner of pedestal there."

All in all, Weiss and Ruby spent just under three quarters of an hour walking around the building twice to look, flipping stones and fallen limbs out of frustration in spite of knowing there'd be some sort of pedestal with the Relic. She'd spotted Pyrrha doing the same, so she understood the frustration - and, with the tree and the wall, and how genuinely mystical it seemed, she was shocked it hadn't been right there waiting.

While they worked, Ruby asked, "So… You and Jaune are doing great?"

"Yes?" Weiss cocked her head, eyeing the younger Huntress warily while Ruby carefully rolled aside a drab grey bit of rock-wall the size of her head. "Why do you ask?"

"Small talk…?"

"Mhm." Weiss wasn't blind, and wasn't a fool, either. She knew exactly what - or rather, who - was the reason for her thoughts to turn that way, but wasn't sure if she should push the subject. After a moment, she simply said, "It is nice, to be understood and appreciated. He's rather like an over-eager puppy now and again, all cuteness and dim wit wrapped up in a too-energetic package, but… He is patient, earnest and considerate, and for people like me, that is more than enough."

"People like you?"

"People who are, well… Famous." Weiss hummed, a bit of… Awkwardness nagging at her, for talking about this at all, let alone with Ruby Rose of all people. "People like me, people like Pyrrha, we have a great many people who seek us out for their own benefit. Fame, fortune, the like. Jaune is not like that, though. He's… Real."

"And that's all…?"

"There's a lot more." She chuckled, "But that was the start. He cares, he's honest, and he is decent. Begin there, and you will do just fine, Ruby."

"I-I don't know what you-"

A gunshot split the air, maybe twenty feet away, and the both of them spun to face it. Myrtenaster was in her hands without a thought and she swept forward while Ruby backed up a step, rifle ready for whoever may be coming. Nothing did, though, and after a moment Pyrrha and Jaune both joined them, sweeping out to the sides with their shields raised to protect Weiss and Ruby against the wall, and let them have a clear line of sight.

When they, too, saw nothing, Pyrrha backed up a step and turned to ask, "Ruby, was that you?"

"No." She shook her head, "And I didn't see anyone either. It sounded like a short-barrel, though."

"You can tell by sound?"

"Mhm." She nodded, hefting her rifle, "Spent a lot of time on ballistics, so… Yeah. Small size, solid caliber short-barrel-" Another crack, this time further to their left, cut her off and made them all flinch and return to their guard, and she added, "Double-barrel… There's two shots at the same time, so it's either a single-action for firing both, or twin-trigger."

"Impressive."

"Y-Yeah? I-I mean, um, thanks." Ruby chirped while their leader paced forward, looking around them warily.

Weiss tried very hard not to roll her eyes too hard.

After a few minutes of silence, Jaune finally sighed, "I think they're gone… Maybe they were fighting Grimm?"

"So far apart?" Weiss frowned, "I doubt it. And any Hunter worth their salt would have melee, too. If they can move so easily, why give their position away?"

No one answered and, after a moment of silence only broken by a crow's cawing in at the top of the tree, Pyrrha sighed and ordered them to search the ruined town. Weiss suspected she knew they wouldn't find anything, but they couldn't just let it go, so she obeyed. And they didn't find anything, for that matter. Or at least, not whoever had fired the shots.

"Check it out!" Jaune laughed as he and Weiss returned to the camp and saw the pan he was cleaning the inside out of with one of his armor rags. "Found it hanging on one of the chimneys - sounds good when I try it, and it's not too dirty."

"A frying pan…?"

"Yeah!" He smiled, holding it up and turning it so its brown sides glinted in the firelight. "Real copper! Oh, man, this thing is gonna cook like a-"

"Jaune, if the pan were from when Raven's Landing was settled, it would have oxidised." Weiss cut him off, and then sighed when he frowned and shook his head, confused. "It would be green. And a little metal hook would have rusted away."

"Oh." He blinked then his eyes widened and he said, "Oh! It's the Relic!"

"Oh Gods, he's an idiot…"

"You're dating him." Pyrrha chuckled, joining them with a small smile.

"Oh Gods, I am…"

"H-Hey!" Jaune protested, pouting while Weiss padded over towards him. "I-I don't think it's fair to- It's a frying pan! Why would it be a-" She leaned up to give him a peck on the cheek, then backed up and raised an eyebrow, and he shrugged, "Yeah, sure, but hey, I'm your idiot. Yeah?"

"...Dolt."

XxX-XxX-XxX

The next five days were an exhausting nightmare.

Like they'd been taught, they set up a watch-rotation - two twelve hour shifts for two watch pairs to share, keeping an eye on the camp while the other two ate, rested, and did whatever else they needed. With the tree and the wall at their backs, and up along some of their flanks, she felt two would be more than enough to keep things secure. Anyone climbing the walls would make noise, presuming they didn't break the wall itself trying, and climbing the tree was just the same with an added risk of dropping leaves or the little fist-sized nuts growing in clusters along its limbs which would alert them just as easily, thwapping off their tents. Or their heads.

It was a sound plan, she was certain of it, but…

The Hunter was a professional, and knew exactly how they were trained, and how to get around it.

The first night started the simplest. Every hour or so, though never at a regular frequency, they would sneak close, near to the wall, and fire off their gun. So loud, and so close, it woke up whoever was sleeping and had them all ready for a fight. The pattern went on for fourteen hours unbroken, and not lined up with their watch shifts - instead, it stretched seven hours into each. Which meant that she and Weiss had to stay up for hours after their shift, or Ruby and Jaune did. That would have already been an annoyance, but on the second night the Hunter stepped their efforts up, adding explosives that went off irregularly all around the ruined village, including a flash grenade in the tree above them that went off right at midnight and blinded them all.

On the third, rocks started falling from high up in the air, smacking them unexpectedly, clattering down the walls, or thwacking off the roofs of their tents. They'd all taken bruises from surprise rocks, or sticks, coming down when they weren't ready. Or were sleeping, in the case of the three holes they had in their tents now. On the fourth, their firewood vanished when a gunshot outside camp had them distracted, and they had to go gather more - which disappeared a few hours later in the same manner, though Pyrrha learned to leave someone to watch the fire and their supplies the third time they tried it.

The fifth and final day was the worst…

Because he did nothing as the day dragged on, the sky overcast and rumbling with distant thunder.

"You're burning the-"

"I am not burning the stew." Jaune cut Weiss off quietly, slamming the ladle down into it and stirring it with a frown. "Fire's not even that hot."

"I-I can get more wood…?"

"We don't need more wood, Ruby." Weiss sighed, gesturing at the little pile beside her tent. "I got plenty."

"I-I was just-"

"I know what you were doing, Ruby, thank you."

"Hey." Pyrrha stepped in when Jaune turned to say something. "We're all tired, but we can not fall to fighting each other. This is our team, and that would be exactly what our enemy wants."

"Whoever is out there is an expert Huntsman, Pyrrha." Weiss argued tightly, watching the fire and avoiding Jaune's gaze. "They do not need to make us fight each other. We surely cannot hope to stand up to them very easily, so why would they bother?"

"I think we could do okay…"

"As do I." Pyrrha nodded, "Ruby is right to have faith in us. Through that, we can do anything, which is why they clearly wish to divide us."

"But-"

"Nah, Red's right. Well, mostly right, anyway." A voice grunted from above them. Looking up, she spotted the lanky man a few limbs up, laid out on one of the wider ones and nursing a flask. "I could handle ya, sure, but Red's a nightmare. I'll win, sure, but do I really wanna go knuckle to cheek with that? I could get way less bruises my way…"

"Oh…"

"Hey, uh, Uncle Qrow…" Ruby stammered, "You're not gonna try and steal our new frying pan, are you?"

"Thinking about it." He hummed, "Why shouldn't I?"

"It'll make me sad…?"

"I'll buy you a box of strawberries." He snorted, "Try again."

"...Jaune can fry some nice dried pork for you?"

"Now that's a better bribe." Qrow smirked, rolling off the tree and dropping to the one under it, rolling his shoulders. Smiling, he sighed, "But I had some o' that pork for breakfast while y'all were yapping. It was good, but I'm all full. Bad luck for you, eh?"

"Ah, poop…"

Ruby flickered away into rose petals as her Semblance took her and she shot up, rematerializing with Crescent Rose extending in her arms while Jaune shot towards the man, drawing Crocea Mors in the same motion while Pyrrha leapt to the side, to get around him and draw Milo and Akouo from her back. He spun to face her, smiling thinly and snapping out a kick into jaune's shield as he charged, using it as a springboard to launch himself back and keep Pyrrha from actually getting onto his flank while he dodged Ruby's shot. Ruby shot up and rolled, aiming to land on the wall while she and Jaune squared against the man.

They took a step and he turned, reaching for the hilt she saw over his hip. When they froze, he tsked, "Too cautious, kiddos… Also, you're watching the wrong hand."

Her eyes widened when his other hand shot forward, hurling a little rod at them while he spun and dropped. She only barely got her shield up in time for the flash, but even then she saw stars, and could vaguely make out Jaune swinging his sword wildly in front of himself to try and buy space. Weiss spun to life behind him and yanked him away when Qrow leapt for him, but the man recovered quickly, spinning on a heel and bringing his sword up and down towards Pyrrha. She caught it on her shield and stepped in to break the strike, but Qrow knew to expect it, yanking his heavy sword aside and slamming a kick up into the rim of her shield to break her guard instead.

She backed away to recover when she saw Jaune launch back into the fight, rushing in shield first while Qrow turned to meet him and ducked to the side, dodging another shot from Ruby's rifle. Qrow slammed his sword down into the dirt and turned, catching Jaune's charge on his shoulder, and then yanked his shield up with a hand on its bottom, forcing Jaune to turn to the side and then booting him away into Weiss when she tried to join the melee. She tried to catch him and tripped on a root as they stumbled back and fell in a heap.

"Say, Red…" Qrow smiled, ducking another shot and turning to her, "Yang told me all about my niece's little crush on you."

"U-Uncle Qrow!"

"And hey, I'm a good uncle,so… Heh, no hard feelings, yeah?" He smiled, turning and rushing her, sword stretched out to one side.

She scowled and flicked her hand, Semblance reaching out and yanking his sword up and back just as he reached her, pulling it up uncomfortably while she stepped in to thrust her spear for his collar. Gears whirred, though, and he turned and ducked, catching the thrust on the suddenly curved, segmented blade of his weapon before he turned, catching her shield with the shaft as it extended. He kept the spin going and snapped out a backhand to knock her spear aside when she swung it around, trying to get space, before Pyrrha was suddenly yanked to the side.

Another black glyph caught her and Weiss hissed, "He's good in melee…"

"He's good with a gun, too!"

"Good idea, squirt, but I have a better one!" Qrow laughed, turning and throwing another little cylinder at them while his scythe, because of course Ruby's uncle had a scythe, collapsed back down. They all ducked, wary of the flash that followed- Before the little tin of beans bounced off Pyrrha's shield and she blinked, staring at it on the ground before a painfully familiar gun crack echoed around the camp-site.

And, behind her, Pyrrha heard stone groan while Ruby squawked in distress.

"Weiss!" Jaune barked, turning and throwing himself over teh Schnee while Pyrrha leapt away, only barely managing to dodge the wall coming down on them. It wasn't enough to hurt them, much less kill them, with their Auras active, but she saw an old beam come down on Jaune's back and pin him down, and Weiss under him.

They'd get out from under it, but…

They needed time, and Pyrrha knew she'd have to fight for it.

Qrow turned to meet her as she came for him, her spear folding down into her rifle as he brought his greatsword down against her shield. She pushed up and stepped back, bracing her rifle and barking three quick shots into his chest in the heartbeat she had to aim. He snapped a kick out to force her to defend herself and turned as a meteor of red shot towards his side. Crescent Rose screeched off his sword as Ruby spun, bringing it up and down in a flurry of quick strikes that he blocked easily, backing up a couple steps until he saw a moment and lunged in to break a downward swing and catch her by a wrist.

"Hey, Kiddo."

"Hey, Uncle Qrow…" She chuckled, "How are you?"

"Oh, you know." He smirked, "About to throw you at your partner."

"What- Eep!" She squawked as Qrow spun and hurled her bodily at Weiss, who had just managed to wriggle out from under the beam to reach her rapier and stand to use a Glyph to free Jaune. They fell in a heap and Qrow turned back to her.

"I really wish they'd stop interrupting…"

"Yes, well…" She shrugged, "What are friends for, hm?"

He thrust the greatsword at her faster than it looked like it should have been able to move, and she ducked back, batting it aside with her shield-hand. He turned with the weight to snap a kick out that Pyrrha caught on her extending spear, turning on her heel to throw her back against his thigh and her shield against his waist. It knocked him away and Pyrrha turned, throwing her shield at his other leg as he staggered to catch himself, bouncing on it to get his balance back. Her strike struck him right in the side of his knee and, hissing, he dropped while Pyrrha reached out, using her Semblance at max strength to yank at his greatsword, sending it flying away.

"Hah!" She laughed, adrenaline rushing through her.

Before he shot up and in and belted a right hook across her jaw that sent her reeling. He followed with two more quick punches to her stomach before she snapped her shield in to drive him back a step and then spun, snapping out a kick of her own to force him back another. He caught it by the ankle and turned, bringing his elbow up to drive it down into her knee, and Pyrrha's eyes widened. Jumping, she yanked her leg back and threw herself away by the pull of her own Semblance on her armor, rolling in the dirt a couple feet away. She'd expected him to be bad without his weapon, like Ruby, but he hadn't been. And just like that expectation, he surprised her when she expected him to rush for his weapon.

Instead, he followed her and drove a knee up into her face.

"Agh!" She snarled, snapping her shield into his ribs and earning a grunt and a snort before he belted a fist down into the side of her head and then grabbed her by her armor, yanked her up, and drove a knee into the inside of her thigh. Turning, he threw her into Jaune's shield as, finally freed, he rushed to help her. He caught her instead and touched her nose, smiled at the spot of blood, and laughed, "He's good…"

"I'm glad you're having fun, Pyr." He chuckled, "But we're losing."

"Slowly…"

"Loss is loss." Weiss grunted, stepping up to her side while Qrow backed up and turned his neck to pop it. "We need to avoid that."

"Indeed…" Pyrrha nodded, then smiled and rolled her shoulder. "Jaune, get in close and hold with me. Weiss, support Ruby."

"Doing…?"

"Tell her 'people like grapes' and she'll understand."

"Cryptic, but very well." Weiss nodded, "Just be sure you can hold him…"

"We can." Jaune scoffed and Pyrrha smiled, "Fine. I can, at least for a while."

"Better." Jaune grunted, smiling, "Now let's go."

"Oh, we're done whispering?" Qrow asked, waving a hand between each of them and eyeing Weiss as she backed away and they stepped forward. Pursing his lips like he was interested, somehow, he went on, "Because if I wait much longer, I'll get accused of bias on my niece's part."

"Would that be wrong?"

"Nah." He shrugged, "Been holding back the whole time for her. This would just be, you know, more easy to prove. Now why the hell are we talking about grapes?"

Jaune answered for her by rushing him and Qrow shrugged, jumping and spinning in a kick that pelted his shield. But Jaune held, shield braced and sword down. He didn't thrust, though, and Qrow looked confused by that as he backed up, clearly expecting it. Instead, Pyrrha shot by him in a side-long thrust, her spear flicking out towards his face. Qrow ducked and so did Jaune, letting Pyrrha spin and swing the spear around like a club to ward him off. He backed up and Jaune advanced like a moving wall, eating a couple quick kicks the man sent his way before he tried to grab Jaune's shield again and Pyrrha intervened, slamming the head of her spear into his stomach to force him back.

"Right." He chuckled, "Okay…"

This time, he moved faster, pelting a kick at the bottom of Jaune's shield and turning, spinning on a hand to bring his foot down on the top inside a second. Using his foot like a hook, he yanked Jaune forward and Pyrrha used her Semblance to yank him back, stepping in while Qrow turned and shot up, driving both fists into her shield when she stepped in to cover Jaune. His knee came up to force her guard higher and he grabbed her shield, this time, wrenching it to the side to yank her arm up like he had Jaune. She released her Semblance's hold on it instead and he stumbled away, holding it tight while he backed up.

And then turned, throwing it away like a frisbee.

He leapt for them and Pyrrha cut between them with her spear, using a finger to call her shield back towards his back while she backed up and Jaune slid in front of her. Qrow smiled and ducked her shield at the last moment, letting it slam into Jaune's shield who, surprised by it, stumbled back a step. His foot came down on a loose bit of fallen wall-rock. He tumbled and fell, and Qrow laughed and rushed them both, slamming a boot down into his chest when he tried to rise and snapping a kick across her shield when she tried to help.

Thinking, she reached out with her Semblance, looking for a surprise…

And got one when the Huntsman's sword slammed into his side, hurling him off Jaune, fumbling to get a grip on the weapon. When he did, he planted it in the soil to catch himself and nodded, impressed.

Before Ruby called, "Uncle Qrow!"

"What?" He looked up…

Where Ruby hung upside down, standing on a spinning black glyph.

"Do you like grapes?"

"Do I what?"

Ruby fired and Qrow brought his sword up to shield himself before the round exploded a foot over his head, showering him in high-speed balls of steel. He hissed from a thousand stinging impacts and jumped away, towards Jaune and Pyrrha. But ruby just fired again while they ducked, pressing close against each other and raising their shields. Even then she felt a dozen stinging impacts along her back and sides, and heard Jaune hiss as they pattered off his armor and Aura.

When it stopped, she hissed, "Keep him off me."

"I can try…"

"That's all I need." She smiled as they stood, stinging bruises already healing all along her body. "That and a couple minutes…"

"Got it."

"You really don't." Qrow barked, suddenly in Jaune's face with his sword raised high. Jaune swore and blocked the strike while Pyrrha backed away. Qrow ducked Jaune's thrust and flicked her a look, grunting around another parry, "And where are you going, Little Miss- Agh!"

He winced as one of her Semblance-controlled pellets shot up from the ground and slammed into the back of his head. Turning, he watched thee more come up and shoot towards him and swore, blocking those while another two slammed into his ribs and Jaune hacked at his back. He snarled and snapped a kick out right into Jaune's crotch and, gasping out a rush of air, Jaune collapsed like a sack of potatoes.

"Hey!" Ruby snapped, putting a shot into her uncle's shoulder when he leapt away from another quartet of pellets. "That's a low blow, Uncle- Eep!"

She dropped from the glyph as Qrow turned and fired, putting a solid shot into Weiss, just barely around the newly former corner of the wall. It exploded, showering her in rock that sent her ducking for cover, but that was enough to break her focus and dislodge Ruby. Who fell, spinning Crescent Rose out to length to catch a powerful swing from her uncle's sword, which hurled her away and into the tree. Pyrrha answered by slamming another fistful of the pellets into his back, and more into his sides as she got used to controlling them, and he winced.

Aura flickering, he chuckled, "Semblance induced grapeshot… Ah! That's why you mentioned liking grapes."

"It is." She nodded, lifting a dozen more and setting them spinning lazily around him, "Now, do you yield? Your Aura is flickering."

"So is hers." He grunted, bobbing his head at his niece, and then at Jaune when he staggered up. "And his has to be close, too, I bet."

"Maybe thirty percent…"

"True." Pyrrha nodded, "But I'm still ready to go, and you are not. I do not wish to hurt you. So, yield."

"Ya know, you're kind of supposed to lose." Qrow sighed as Weiss joined them, looking exhausted. "Kind of a… Humility lesson."

"Yes, well…" Pyrrha shrugged, "I have an excellent team, and your niece is quite inventive. Her idea is why we won here, today."

"Ah, playing to my loving uncle angle, eh?"

"I am media trained." Pyrrha smiled, "So, do you yield?"

"Yeah, sure…" He sighed, "I yield. Can't believe you hit me with canister shot, brat."

"Hehe, yeah, that was awesome…" She chuckled, turning to Pyrrha and adding, "You were, I mean."

"Thank you." She shook her head, turning back to them, "But we still need to look out for Grimm. They could be-"

"Ah, nah, don't gotta worry 'bout that." Qrow cut in, sighing as he sauntered over to their campsite and plopped down, stealing some of the pork Jaune had been frying. "Ice Queen ditched me on day three."

"Winter would never abandon her post!" Weiss argued hotly, to which Qrow just gestured around them to ask the obvious question - why hadn't she helped him against them, then? Stammering, Weiss argued, "N-Not… Not without good reason! You must have done something!"

"All I did was compliment her knife work!" He argued, looking offended and then admitting with a shrug. "When she tried to, you know… Stab me."

"For?"

"Spiking her tea."

"You absolute barbarian!" Weiss shrieked, "That is good Mistrali black tea! How dare you?! She could have gotten ill if she hadn't noticed!"

"Hehe, yeah…" He shrugged, "That was the idea."

XxX-XxX-XxX

Winter sighed, sitting in her airship and picking through her collection of teas. Opening another drawer, she sniffed it and sighed at the overwhelming smell of whiskey drowning out her nice, airy peppermint. Dumping it in the bag with her Mistrali black, Vacuoan spiced, and Valean green teas, she moved to the next drawer with a curse. Hundreds of Lien, out the window… And the nice cabinets she'd had installed, too. Qrow would pay for the mess his bottles had made when they fell off the upper shelf - she'd told him not to put them in here, damn it all!

"Teach me to be nice…" She snarled, "Stupid beard… Stupid smirk… Stupid damn beer…"

He'd pay…

Literally, to replace the tea and cabinet.

"Just my bad luck." She sighed, throwing that set out and moving on. "To be partnered with him."

XxX-XxX-XxX