8

Okay.

This time.

This time it'll work.

I took a deep breath and steadied my feet my eyes focused on the goal before me, weapon at the ready.

Let's do this.

I started sending my aura from my hand and into the weapon.

Yes, that's it, almost there…

CRACK!

"AHH!"

BOOM!

The sudden explosion sentsmoke everywhere, leaving me coughing and spluttering as I tried to draw in a breath of fresh air. Finally the smoke cleared to reveal the mangled form of the training pistol I'd been given, my hand still throbbing from the force of the gun's fatal failure.

"Okay." Ren coughed, waving the smoke away from his face. "So it wasn't a onetime thing then."

I gave my teammate a half-hearted glare as I tossed the twisted scrap metal aside into a growing pile of similarly warped metal.

This was the latest failure we'd gone through in our attempt to find me a ranged weapon that I could actually use.

The first thought of my teammates, ignoring Nora's cry for something that seemed to involve 'Pretty Death Beams' or something along those lines, was that we should try using guns.

It seemed logical, all my teammates used guns, barring Nora's grenade launcher, so it would be fairly easy to learn the basics of how to use a gun from them.

That was not the problem.

The problem was the fact that whenever I pulled the trigger on one of these guns one of two things would happen. One; the gun would not react at all and I'd be standing there like an idiot or two; the gun exploded.

Pyrrha waved the smoke surrounding her away before sighing and gazing at the latest dud contemplating. "I don't understand, what could make a gun explode like that?"

Ren coughed again, the smoke finally gone from his lungs and scratched his head quizzically. "Well we know it's not the guns, they worked fine for us, just not for you."

I coughed out a lungful of smoke and half-glared at Ren. "Thank you for reminding me." I said through gritted teeth. Ren just smirked in response. Ass.

Nora was waving an oversized pink fan with her symbol emblazoned upon it, blowing the smoke away. "It's probably just the third energy conduit in the firing pin overcharging the round because of Jaune's aura." She said casually, spinning the fan with a twirl before it collapsed into a much tinier form.

I stopped mid-conversation with Ren and turned to face Nora, Pyrrha mirroring my movements. "What was that you just said?" I asked, unable to connect the technical jargon I had just heard with Nora's…personality.

Nora shrugged. "The third energy conduit in the firing pin of the pistol is generally where the aura is transferred from the frame of the gun itself into the dust within the round. Due to Jaune's fluctuating aura it's either not putting enough aura in, or putting in too much causing it to either fail to fire or detonate in the chamber." She said simply, looking as if I had asked her a question of such simplicity it would be akin to 'what is two plus two?'

Stunned silence filled the room while Pyrrha and I stared at Nora before Ren suddenly smacked himself on the forehead. I eyed Ren for a moment before turning back to the heavy weapons expert of team JNPR. "How do you know all this?" I ventured, my own thoughts scrambling as to how she had suddenly becomes such a fountain of knowledge.

Ren removed his hand from his forehead and pinched the bridge of his nose, his eyes shut tightly for a moment. "Because she worked with her father."

Nora nodded happily. "Yep! Whenever I wasn't having fun with Ren or getting bored at school, I was with dad helping out at the forge!" She revealed with a grin, spinning around a bit as she did so.

I blinked for a moment before I remembered. Oh yeah, Nora's father is a world class blacksmith isn't he? And Nora inherited something if Magnhild is any proof. Completely forgot about that.

Pyrrha leaned over to Ren at this latest revelation and whispered quietly "How come you didn't say anything about it?"

Ren held onto the bridge of his nose for a few moments longer before he let out a sigh and opened his eyes. "Because I try to forget about Nora's family." Ren said bluntly before stopping for a moment and adding, "I try to actively repress what I remember about Nora's family." He said with a shudder.

I looked at the shivering broken wreck that had replaced my brother in arms. "It can't be that bad…" I began before I was cut off by Ren's hands grabbing my arms, a manic grin on his face.

"You don't want to know." He said firmly before he caught Nora opening her mouth. "Nora, don't tell him. You shouldn't have told me, but you did. So I'm telling you, you don't want to know." Ren ordered, his smile stretching grotesquely as he did so.

I leant away slightly from Ren. "Duly noted." I said politely at which point Ren let go of me, straightened out his clothes and proceeded to death glare a wincing Nora for whatever trauma had caused such a reaction.

Well then…

That was…

It was…

Yeah…

It certainly was something.

"What does what you said before have to do with Jaune's aura?" Pyrrha asked, saving us from the awkward silence that had arisen in the face of Ren's minor psychotic breakdown.

You're an angel Pyrrha, let no one tell you otherwise.

Nora looked just as thankful for the question, nodding to Pyrrha slightly in gratitude before answering. "All Hunter weaponry is built around the basic idea of channelling one's aura into an object to produce an effect, for example, channelling your aura into a gun allows it to fire." "However this basic idea relies on the principle that your Aura is stable, that it is not constantly fluctuating as the weapon channels it. As a result Jaune's either putting in too much or too little."

"How can I fix it?"

Nora shrugged. "You can't really, it takes control. You could maybe use a non-hunter gun but those are a bit harder to come across unless you're part of the police or military. Plus it's a bit expensive getting the dust to power it."

I winced at that. Yeah, I'm not seeing that happening anytime soon.

I am many things.

That wealthy is not one of them.

"Unless I start raiding Weiss' personal stash I don't see that happening any time soon." I said, rubbing my brow as I did so in annoyance.

Ren bit back a laugh. "You mean before or after she murders you for stealing from her?" He asked dryly.

I went to glare at him then paused and thought about it.

Yeah, I can see her doing that.

"Maybe a bow?" Nora cut in, suggesting other options for me to pursue in my quest for a way to attack at range.

I shook my head rapidly, my arms coming up in an X as I did so. "Not happening. I know for a fact I'm horrendous with a bow." I admitted, scratching the back of my head as I thought back on my atrocious attempts at using one.

"He's not kidding, he shot himself in the foot when he was twelve, was the funniest thing I'd ever seen." A voice called out from the doorway, snickering as it did so.

I turned to see Sun standing there, smug grin as present as it always was staff spinning around his hands.

I eyed Sun with a smirk of my own at that. "You really want to go there Sun?" I asked the smirk slowly transforming into a full on grin as I did so. "Okay then, who wants to hear about Sun's first attempt at using his gun-chucks?"

Sun blurred over to me, a hand slapping over my mouth to silence me as he let put a fake laugh. "Aha, point taken, please don't share that." He pleaded, his hands clasping together in prayer as he did so.

I rolled my eyes and punched him in the shoulder. "What are you doing here Sun?" I asked, still smiling slightly at the antics of my friend.

Sun scratched the back of his head, looking off to the side slightly. "Uh, do you know where I can find Blake? I was going to try and hang out with her." He said, scratching his nose as he did so.

I looked at Sun for a moment watching him fidget in place under my gaze before I rolled my eyes. "Don't have the foggiest." I admitted with another of the Old Bastard's sayings, watching Sun slump in place slightly at my reply. "But you're welcome to come to the library with us." I offered.

Sun rolled his own eyes at that. "Man, what is it with you and reading anyway?" He said raising his arms as he did so before he stopped, collapsing his staff and putting it away. "Maybe later, I need to go get Neptune before he gets lost." Sun said before adding. "Again."

I threw up my arms at that. "He's still doing that? I thought you said you taught him how to navigate?" I said exasperated

Sun smiled cheekily at that. "Oh I taught him all right. Not the right way per say, but it's hilarious watching him do it."

My hand found itself cradling my forehead at this latest prank from the monkey faunus. "Damn it Sun."

Ren shook his head. "C'mon, if we don't get to the library now we'll lose Nora along the way."

Nora was already slowly starting to creep towards the door, a laughing Pyrrha blocking the way. "Nora." I said reproaching, "Do you want me to stop making pancakes? Because I will."

Nora spun, eyes wide. "I'll be good!" she pleaded.

"You can be surprisingly mean at times Jaune." Pyrrha noted, masking a giggle with her hand as she did so.

I shrugged unapologetically. "I didn't get the kids to all play nice by being Mr Nice Guy all the time you know." I retorted.

Ren grabbed Nora by the back of her jacket and started pulling the pouting berserker towards the library, her feet dragging along the floor as he did so. "Look at the bright side, at least we'll get some work done." Ren said over his shoulder, Nora still grumbling as he did so.

I need to read up more on Atlas anyway, my global geography isn't as up to scratch as I'd like it to be.

Thankfully Pyrrha's is, and she's offered to lend a helping hand. "C'mon, I could use some peace and quiet after the explosions."

I mean it's a library, what kind of library isn't quiet?

I felt my eyebrow twitch as I gave up on trying to read the book in front of me.

The tip of Ren's pencil snapped off halfway through another sketch as he tried and failed to remain calm during the decimation of one of the few instances of 'quiet time' team JNPR had.

Pyrrha on the other hand was completely at ease, reading the latest X-ray and Vav comic with a grin on her face.

And Nora?

Nora was asleep through it all on Ren's book, an oversized bubble expanding and shrinking with every breath before it popped as he turned a page.

Apparently, this library isn't one of the quiet ones.

And I'm looking at the culprit for it right now.

So team RWBY has started a game of Remnant the board game.

Very, very loudly playing Remnant the board game.

And Yang appears to have just massacred Ruby's forces and looks set to fleece the newbie Weiss onto walking towards her ambush.

It was painful to watch really, Yang stringing the unknowing heiress along like a fisherman letting the line on the pole go loose the moment before reeling in the catch.

Time to intervene.

"Mind if I lend a hand Weiss?" I suggested to the floundering heiress who was about to make her move.

Weiss seemed to struggle as she went to supply an answer before I added. "I have played the game before. And am not trying to make you walk into an ambush like a certain someone."

Yang gave an affronted gasp. "How could you say such a thing Jaune?" she said dramatically her eyes wide. "I would never go out of my way to exploit my teammate's obvious inexperience to ensure my own victory." She finished looking at me with quivering, glistening eyes.

I gave Yang a bemused look at that. "If there was any more ham it'd be a boarbatusk." I remarked dryly, to the giggle of Ruby.

Looks like Weiss agreed with me. "Show me what to do." She said, her tone halfway between a demand and a question.

I moved closer to Weiss and took note of her cards, my eyes lighting up at one in particular.

Perfect.

I tapped the cards in order, whispering a set of instructions to Weiss before taking the lynchpin for the play and palming it, giving Weiss a nod to start as I did so.

"Uh, okay, I play Resourceful Raider to take Ruby's Legionnaire Fleet from her discard pile?" she said with a questioning tone, before continuing on as I nodded. "Then I play the Fleet while also using a field card," Here she paused for a moment reading the name of the card. "Sand Storm, to disable your ground forces and attack you directly. Then I…"

"Trap card." Yang said with a grin, smirking at me as my attack strategy fell apart at the seams.

"Looks like you got us…" I said shrugging my shoulders before my hand turned the card that I had been holding in my palm. "Unless I activate my Counter Card: The Battle of Fort Castle." I finished with a grin.

Yang's eyes widened. "No way!" She exclaimed, obviously realizing what the card meant.

"Yes way. When the battle of Fort Castle is activated all trap cards aside from Weiss' backfire for this turn, effecting the user instead." I let out a sympathetic 'Ooh' as I did so. "That has got to hurt."

Heh.

The kids love to play this game back home.

I like to think I'm alright at it.

Yang slammed her head into the table with a grumble as Weiss let out a cheer at her sudden turnaround as I handed her back her cards, the playing field now levelled. Yang dragged her head off the table and looked at the resident faunus of team RWBY, who appeared to be decidedly distracted today. "Blake it's your turn."

With that I made my way back to my team's table, taking a seat between Pyrrha and a sleeping Nora. Pyrrha arched a brow at me. "How much of your knowledge about other countries was derived from that board game Jaune?" Pyrrha asked me with a smile.

I chuckled at that. "About half of it." I admitted with a grin of my own before Sun's voice called out to us. "Sup losers?" He was standing there next to Blake, one hand thrown up in a casual peace sign.

And there's Captain Cool standing beside him.

I pointedly scratched my nose with my middle finger as I looked back at him, the not so hidden gesture causing Neptune to let out a laugh.

Ruby enthusiastically gave her own greeting to Sun. "Hello Sun!"

"Ruby, Blake, Yang." He paused for a moment before continuing on to the Schnee heiress. "Ice queen."

"Why does everyone keep calling me that?" Weiss demanded only to be summarily ignored by Sun.

"I'd never got a chance to formally introduce you to my old friend." He said before gesturing at Neptune.

Neptune looked down at the board game with a slight look of confusion on his face. "Uh, aren't libraries for reading?" he asked, nodding at team RWBY's table.

"THANK YOU!" Ren exclaimed loudly throwing up both hands to emphasize it.

At that Nora suddenly work up mid-snore with a cry of "Pancakes!"

Pyrrha turned to me, gesturing at the board game as she did so. "Maybe we should play a game together with our team?"

I nodded. "Sounds like a plan." I said before turning back to Sun and the others to see Neptune doing his usual cool debonair approach to Weiss, who proceeded to melt instantly in the face of it. Typical.

Seriously, Neptune takes being cool into an art form.

Still unsure if that is a good thing.

Sun said something to Blake who proceeded to stand up, abandon the board game and walk away abruptly.

Huh.

Wonder what that was about?

"Women." Nora said with a shrug, bringing a grin to my face despite attempts to supress it.

Suddenly my scroll went off, the tone sounding loudly even through my pocket.

I pulled out the scroll and opened it up. "Hello?"

Professor Goodwitch's face stared back at me. "Mr Arc. Your presence is required at the Grimm Studies classroom. You are welcome to bring your team along with you." She informed me, her eyes staring down her glasses as she did so. Then just as swiftly as she had spoken, she terminated the call, leaving a blank screen in its place.

The Grimm Studies classroom?

What does Peter want to talk about so urgently?

Guess I'm going to find out.

Nora leapt up from her seat. "WOO! Study time is over!" she cheered, spinning around the table in celebration.

Ren sighed, looking mournfully at the book he was copying from before he shut it closed with a thump.

Pyrrha quickly finished reading the last page of her comic, then closed it and slid it into a pouch on her armour. "Shall we go then Jaune?"

I rolled my head around my shoulders, letting out a series of loud cracks as it did so. "May as well."

Ren stood up from his chair, a slight smirk on his lips. "By your command fearless leader."

"Fearless Leader!"

"Yes Fearless Leader!"

The remainder of team RWBY cracked up, Sun and Neptune laughing loudly as well.

I glowered at Ren.

"Stop calling me that!"

We quickly made our way through the building, thankfully still mostly empty due to the other students making the most of their last day of the break.

I was in front of the door to the Grimm Studies classroom when I paused, my nostrils flaring as I sniffed the air.

"Jaune?" Pyrrha asked, probably wondering as to why I had stopped.

I sniffed again, trying to get more of the barely there scent into my nose, trying to identify it.

I knew this smell, it was familiar to me.

I just couldn't put a name to it.

"Can you guys smell that?" I questioned, seeing of the others recognised the scent.

A chorus of shaking heads looked back at me.

Okay then.

Eh, what's the worst that could happen?

I opened the door to the Grimm Studies classroom walked through it and then froze, swearing internally.

Damn it.

The worst just happened.

"Oh God, not you." I breathed quietly as I stared at the figure who turned away from their conversation with Peter.

Wheels spun in place and rolled towards me, the focus of my newfound horror approaching.

"Well, well, well Laddie. I didn't believe Peter here when he said you could do it but it looks like you managed to find your way here without getting your ass kicked again." The Old Bastard said with a smug grin, one hand casually scratching his beard.

Spot let out an acknowledging "Hoot!" from his spot on the Old Bastard's shoulder, flapping a wing at us as a hello.

"Get him!" a familiar voice cried out behind me, and suddenly I felt a group of small bodies slam into my from behind, yanking on my legs and arms, with one person grasping onto my back.

I should have known.

Spot wasn't waving at us.

He was signalling them.

"Hoot!" And with that Spot was soaring towards me, his talons clutching tightly around my hair.

"Wargh!" I yelped as I felt my balance slip as this latest assault took place, taking care to twist as I fell to ensure I didn't fall on the little figures behind me, or the ones still clutching to my limbs as I landed on the floor with a crash.

A great cheer rose up behind me, even as the Old Bastard let out a laugh and Peter let loose a chortle of his own.

I felt a laugh of my own come out as well. "Hey kids." I called out bemused.

I felt someone scramble off of my back to run around to my front and saw the mischievous brown eyes of Kira staring back at me. "Hi Jaune!" She said cheerfully.

I grinned. "C'mere you." With that I pushed myself up, one hand messing up her hair casually as I did so. I turned and looked at the rest of the kids all standing around behind me and raised a brow. "Am I going to have to wait for a hug?" I asked myself aloud, still smiling at the kids.

The kids rushed forward at that, the force of the leaping kids staggering me for a second but thankfully not knocking me off my feet this time. A familiar torrent of questions was thrown at me from a dozen chattering mouths.

"Jaune!"

"When's dinner?"

"Please make us something, the old man's food is so bad."

"Big Bro!"

"Are you going to read us a story?"

"Did you fight some Grimm again?"

"Did you miss us?"

"What's im-be-cile mean?"

"Whoa there kiddies, give me time to answer would you?" I said squeezing the group with a hug before I released them and began answering them one by one.

"Carolina, dinner will presumably be at six thirty on the dot, same as always."

"Tucker, don't say that out loud, he'll only make you eat more."

"Ana, I'll be happy to read you all a story, just not right now."

"Kira, yes I did fight some Grimm again and I'll give you all the highlights later."

"Of course I missed you, I missed every single one of you"

"Andy, what did I say about the words the old man says?"

Andy scuffed a sandal on the ground, before rolling his eyes and reciting the rule that the old bastard and I had put in place around the kids. "If I don't know what the word is and the old man said it, it's probably bad so I shouldn't use it." Andy droned, rolling his eyes when he thought I wasn't looking.

I slapped him on the back of the head, one eye narrowing at the suddenly nervous Andy. "Don't think I didn't see that Andy." I said to the young ape faunas, who was scratching his head in an embarrassed manner after getting caught out. "Just for that, you're on clean up duty tonight."

"Ah, man." Andy groaned, already envisioning the towers of dirty plates and the armada of used cutlery to be washed.

Then the grizzled voice of the Old Bastard called out again. "Okay rugrats let the laddie go, I'm sure you'll be able to wrestle with him later." At that the kids untangled themselves from the hug they had captured me with and made their way over to the desks, their heads barely peering over the desks.

I bit back a snort of laughter.

It looked hilarious.

The Old Bastard noticed them staring at us and whistled once. Instantly Spot sprung into the air and soared towards the kids, drawing their attention away from us with a loud bark and a flap of feathers.

"Jaune my boy, perhaps now you could introduce the rest of your team to our guests?" Peter suggested, having a chortle of his own when he caught sight of Andy trying to pull himself into a chair. Problem was, it was a bit too big for Andy.

Wait, my team, cannot forget about them.

I turned to see Ren standing there with a bemused look on his face at the antics that had been taking place, with Nora bouncing up on down on her feet happily as she eyes the Old Bastard. Whereas Pyrrha…was blushing bright red, her eyes unfocused and staring blankly towards me. "Uh, you okay there Pyrrha?" I asked my partner, who appeared to be struck by a very sudden flu.

"Childre, I mean certainly! Certainly Jaune, I'm just fine, don't worry about me." She stammered waving her hands about as she did so.

The Old Bastard let out a quiet snicker at this, and Pyrrha flushed crimson once more.

…Okay.

…

Moving on.

Introduction time.

I moved back to stand beside my friends. "This is my team, Lie Ren," At this Ren nodded his head, "Nora Valkyrie" At this Nora did an enthusiastic wave with both hands to the kids who waved back just as energetically. "And my partner, Pyrrha Nykos." Pyrrha waved a hand politely greeting the others.

Ren's eyes narrowed as he looked at the Old Bastard, looking like he was trying to remember something. "Do I…know you?" Ren asked, still examining the Old Bastard's figure as he did so.

He chuckled at that. "Eh, I've got one of those faces laddie so I rather doubt it." He said non-committedly before gesturing at Professor Port. "You've obviously met Peter then."

Peter chortled. "I did say they were in my classes, old friend." He said chastising the wheelchair bound man. "Now then allow me to introduce you to A…" Peter's introduction was cut short by the Old Bastard's fist thumping into his stomach without warning, knocking the wind out of him.

"Call me Tob." The Old Bastard grunted, massaging his fist as Peter pulled himself up with a groan. "Around the rugrats anyway."

Pyrrha cocked her head to the side. "Like Tobias or Toby?" she asked, trying to figure out the strange name.

I chuckled at that and leant over to my puzzled comrades to explain. "It's an acronym." I said with a chuckle holding up three fingers to help better illustrate it. "T, O, B. The Old Bastard."

"Oh!" Nora said, slapping a fist on her palm as she came to the realisation. Ren smirked briefly but otherwise remained perfectly silent, while Pyrrha giggled quietly.

But now onto the important question.

"Not that this isn't a great surprise, it certainly is, but what on Remnant are you doing here?" I asked honestly, my mind coming up blank as to a purpose behind the Old Bastard's surprise visit.

"HA!" Tob said loudly. "You did miss me laddie, you little pansy." He said mockingly.

I scowled.

Calm, Jaune.

Calm.

Keep the high road.

Don't sink to his level.

"You're just lucky I don't hit people in wheelchairs." I growled, turning away from the Old Bastard as I did so.

The Old Bastard snorted before looking at me with a grin. "Not for a lack of trying, Laddie, and that's being generous."

Peter had a laugh of his own at that.

I fought the urge to sigh despondently.

Despite the fact the man was bound in a wheelchair he was still the one who taught me how to use a sword and was the one who sparred with me to further my experience with it.

And let me tell you, if you think getting your ass kicked is humiliating enough in the first place, wait till an old man in a wheelchair flattens you in a fistfight.

A whole new world of humiliation right there, just waiting for exploitation.

"Anyway Laddie," The Old Bastard started gaining my attention once more, "The reason I'm here is because Oz invited me to act as an independent judge for the Vytal festival tournament. They need at least one person not affiliated with any school, and I fit the bill. Also helps that I never attended any of the academies anyway."

I rolled my eyes at that. "Yeah, but only because your older than dirt." I said, my voice filled with snark as I grinned at him.

The Old Bastard scowled at that. "Sorry were not all newborn chicks like you, you daft idiot."

I glared at him for that. "Should I go get you some hearing aids in case you missed that, you Old Bastard?"

We stood there glaring at each other for a few moments longer, before I couldn't hold it anymore, the glare falling away and a grin took its place. "It's good to see you." I admitted, taking in Tob's appearance, as unchanging as always

"Bah, don't get all touchy-feely now laddie, or I swear by all that is I will roll out of this room." The Old Bastard groused, a small smile visible to my eyes despite his seemingly harsh words. Peter thumped him on the shoulder and Tob turned to yell at him before Peter raised one bushy eyebrow at him. Tob sighed, rolling his eyes as he did so. "I supposed I missed you a little bit as well, I guess." He said half-heartedly one hand rapping on his chair as he did so.

I had to fight to keep my grin from spreading. This was nice, it was just like I was back home at Freshwater, the kids mucking about, me and the Old Bastard talking or arguing about something…

"After all without me there to point out your constant and glaring faults, I don't know how you'd ever survive."

My smile fell at that and I let out a sigh.

Yep.

Just like home, all right.

Suddenly I felt someone tug at my shirt and I looked down to see Kira standing there, shifting from one foot to the other nervously.

What on earth are you doing here Kira?

The little tiger faunus coughed, clearing her throat. "Jaune," She said brightly her eyes shifting away from me and towards my partner whereupon they started to shine like stars, her little tiger ears waggling in excitement. "Aren't you going to introduce us?"

I paused for a moment and had to fight back a laugh as I watched Kira's ears move about erratically. Looks like she noticed her hero was here after all. At least she didn't squeal. That was showing some improvement.

I then noticed the notebook she held in her hands, that appeared to have Pyrrha's picture from the Pumpkin Pete's Cereal box stuck on the front of it, no doubt ready for her to sign.

Okay maybe not that much.

May as well introduce the rest of the horde as well.

"All right everyone, front and centre!" I yelled back at the loudly talking kids who started making their way back down to the front, milling about at random before a few choice looks got them to stay together.

"This little one is Kira, who among other things is one of your biggest fans Pyrrha."

I caught sight of Andy trying to sneak away and promptly grabbed him by the back of his shirt, hauling him to the forefront of the group before he could make his escape. "This little rascal is Andy, who seems determined to be given more chores to do." I noted wryly, one hand ruffling his perpetually messy hair as I did so.

Andy stuck out his tongue causing some of the other kids to giggle, wrapping his monkey tail around his waist like a belt.

I rolled my eyes. Clearly been spending too much time around Sun.

Moving on.

"This is Po, our little kung fu hunter enthusiast." I said with a grin, sticking out a fist for the little panda faunus to jump up and bump with his own little fist.

"The girl in the light blue is Carolina our little eagle when she isn't leaping about." Carolina was standing atop one of the desks, her sharp green eyes narrowing at the snoozing koala faunus on the desk

"Tucker's the one sleeping on top of the desk right now, or at least he will be until Carolina wakes him up." Tucker let out a loud snore at that before letting out a yelp as Carolina flipped him off the table to land at the feet of a girl in a familiar fur jumper.

"The girl with the fur jacket is Ana. Don't worry if she doesn't speak to you, she's a pretty quiet girl prefers to let others talk instead." I went on before biting back a sigh as I came to the next four, predictably rolling around on the floor in the middle of a brawl.

"Then there's the Pups, Identical Husky Quadruplets so good luck telling them apart. There's Natsu, Xatsu, Lutsu and Gatsu." I said no longer able to hold back the sigh as Natsu clambered atop one of the desks to use as a platform to drop back into the ongoing scuffle. "And as usual in the middle of a brawl for some reason or another." I added with a shake of my head.

Sitting at the back watching it all unfold were too mischievously grinning children, their different coloured fox ears twitching every so often. "Finally we have Makkuro and Mashiro, the fox twins, who look like they're planning another one of their pranks to pull later on." I added as I watched Makkuro whisper something to his sister who immediately made of note of it on her notepad with a nod.

I flicked my eyes towards the clock and felt them widen as I realised how late it was.

"Can I ask you guys to take care of the kids for a few moments while I duck back to the dorm room to pick up a book to read for them?" I asked my teammates with a pleading expression.

Pyrrha let out a smile. "We'd be happy to Jaune." She replied before her attention was drawn away by Kira tugging at her leg. "Yes Kira?"

Kira's face flushed red at Pyrrha saying her name. "I, Uh, Can…I get your autograph?" She blurted out, thrusting forward her notebook with a bow.

Looks like they've got this under control.

"Back in a bit!" I called out over my shoulder, opening the door and shutting it behind me as I sprinted away to get back to my bookcase.

Kids won't go to sleep without a story, and if I leave it to long they could stay up all night.

So I just have to make my way there, pick a story and then make my way back.

But which story should I bring back?

As I approached the corner approaching the dormitories, I was still considering what book to bring back to read to the kids.

A tale of two brothers?

Or maybe we could continue on with the Guardian trilogy.

I think we'd just about finished the first book, bar the confrontation at the execution grounds, so I may as well finish it off.

Plus we haven't even got to the plot twist yet, no way am I missing the look on their faces when that happens.

Suddenly someone rounded the corner, clearly not seeing me as their head was faced the other way. I stopped but was unable to move out of the way in time before they walked into me. She collided with my chest and bounced off, looking up with a bright smile. "Oh I'm so sorry abo…" The apology was cut short as red eyes narrowed as they took in precisely who she had bounced off, the smile melting off her face. "You." She growled under her breath.

Well, Well, Looks like it's a small world after all. "Fancy bumping into you here Emerald." I said brightly, Emerald starting as I said her name. Another person stepped around the corner and I was unsurprised to see Mercury standing there, dressed in a similar uniform to that of his apparent partner. "What brings you all to Beacon? Competing in the Festival?"

Gah, which school is that uniform for again?

Obviously not Beacon, no reasons needed there.

Haven maybe? Eh, seems about right.

Mercury smirked. "Just here for a little fun." He said casually, his stance as irreverent as it had been when I had first caught sight of him on the street.

I had to stop my eyes from narrowing when I heard that. The sentence seemed so innocent in context but there was something…off…about it. Something which made my hackles raise slightly after hearing it. "Is that so?" I said, my tone perfectly bland as if I was merely commentating on the weather. However instead of Mercury or Emerald replying a third voice answered my question.

"Well, maybe more than a little fun." The voice said smoothly, the third member stepping forward from behind the others who stepped behind her in response.

The third member was a woman with eyes that looked like a burning candle, shifting from a bright yellow to a much darker gold depending on where one looked. Her hair was a dark black, almost ebony, styled forward over her left eye and trailing down past her shoulders. The darkness of her hair was made even more apparent by the shade of her skin which was incredibly pale, seeming almost like she was made of fragile porcelain instead of flesh and bone. She too was wearing what I was becoming steadily more certain was indeed a Haven uniform. She was beautiful, that much was apparent, but had one of those ageless faces that could belong to anyone from eighteen to thirty.

I looked at her for a few moments and was stuck with a strange sense of Déjà vu. "Have we met before?" I asked, my brow furrowing slightly as I tried to recall where I had encountered this mysterious woman.

She smiled slightly at that and spoke once more. "I don't think we've ever had the chance." She said honestly extending a hand out to shake. "I'm Cindy." She introduced herself, the same demure smile present on her face.

I extended my own. "Jaune." I said shortly, hoping to move past these three so I could return back to the others.

Cindy grasped my hand firmly. "It's a pleasure to meet you…Jaune." She said, saying my name slowly, almost as if she was tasting it.

A shiver ran down my spine.

Time to leave.

With that Cindy released my hand and causally began making her way out of the building, Emerald and Mercury quickly in tow behind her.

Emerald bumped into me as I passed by her, barely spitting out an apology afterwards before the three rounded the corner and were gone from my sight.

I exhaled, the breath that had been caught in my chest leaving in a loud 'whoosh'.

That was…

Intense.

And what was with that Cindy woman? I didn't think she lied to me but still she had a passion, a thirst burning in her eyes when she had been talking with me. Her eyes really did seem like crackling flames seeking to burn me to a crisp with their wrath.

I shook my head.

I was overthinking things, I'm probably just tired.

Now let's go get that book and tell the little sprogs to go to bed afterwards.

I returned to the guest chambers where the kids would be sleeping during their stay in beacon, their beds already joined side to side, making it seem as if they were sleeping on one gigantic bed as compared to twelve smaller ones.

The kids were running around the mattress shrieking happily being chased by Nora sitting atop Ren's shoulders, throwing pillows at random to assault the squealing kids. Pyrrha was acting as the mighty knight protecting the kids, using one pillow to block the incoming projectiles, diving and flipping acrobatically as she did so inciting exclamations of excitement, joy and one word that is not supposed to be used in polite company.

One of the hazards of growing up with Tob as a father figure. You tend to pick up some of his sayings unconsciously.

Trouble is most of those sayings aren't exactly…age appropriate for the kids. Much to the horror of the Old Bastard and I.

The ongoing chase around the bed was cut short by the Pups catching sight of me as they dodged a pillow by throwing themselves out of the way and onto the bed.

"Big Bro's back!" They cried out loudly, the others screeching to a halt at their sudden proclamation, Nora losing balance on Ren's back at the sudden stop and tumbling off but not before lobbing one last pillow that caught Pyrrha cleanly in the centre of her face.

Dedication Nora, never losing sight of the goal even if your noble steed throws you off, I salute you.

As the kids all scrambled to get into bed and Pyrrha went to enact pillow vengeance upon Nora's fallen form I nudged Ren with an elbow. "What did I miss?"

Ren laughed quietly. "The attack of a rogue Norrennosaurs Rex."

I raised a brow at that, a chuckle on my lips. "Not a Renorasaurs Rex?" I asked with a grin as I watched the kids slide under the blankets.

Ren shook his head, struggling to keep a straight face if his twitching lip was any indication. "Then Nora would have to be the feet." He said simply, his eyes sparkling with restrained laughter.

I snorted, quickly high fiving Ren before Nora noticed and then pulled a chair over by the foot of the bed, taking a seat in it. I propped 'Part-Time Protector' onto my knee, flicking through the pages until I reached the bookmark I'd left in it for when we restarted the tale, removing it from its page and sliding it into the front of the book for later. "Now then," I started looking at the eager faces of the kids before me, "Who remembers where we left off last time I read this to you?" I asked, a grin on my face.

"The Protector just beat up the Phoenix with one swing and was just about to fight the Brother at the execution grounds." Po said excitedly miming the mighty swing of the Protector's oversized blade as he did so.

I nodded my head. "That's right Po." I praised, my eyes scanning through the page until I found the paragraph we'd stopped on. "Now then let's see what happens next."

And so I told the tale of the Protector's fight against the Brother, a man torn between his oath to his country which demanded his sister died and his oath to his family which demanded she lived.

As always, complete with sound effects and miming of epic sword fights.

The true Jaune Arc storytelling experience is not complete without special effects and mimed sword fights.

They cheered as the Protector unveiled his newest technique which made his so fast that he could evade the brother's mighty flurries of a hundred million tiny blades. They gasped as the brother revealed his own hidden technique sending the Protector onto the back foot once more, within inches of defeat. They were silent at the appearance of the twisted soul, the white Grimm mask upon the protector's face inspiring a new kind of fear. They waited in hushed breath as the two fighter's poured all their power into one final strike, betting it all on that last attack. They broke out in joyful expressions as it was revealed that although the two were injured, the Protector remained standing.

Then shock as the sister reappeared in the middle of the execution grounds held by none other than the supposedly dead general they were accused of killing.

"…and that's enough for tonight I think." I said with a smile, placing a bookmark into the book and closing it as the kids sleepily murmured protests. I shook my head. "Come on, time for sleep, I'll read the rest for you later." I grabbed the quilt that had been kicked off by a few moving legs and placed it over their little forms once more. They were all yawning now, visibly struggling to keep their eyes open.

I turned and walked over to the door where my teammates were crowded around the outside, Nora and Pyrrha looking at the kids with near silent "Awww"'s, Ren stretching his arms in an attempt to wave off the lethargy that had overcome them.

I turned back and started closing the door, stopping when there was just enough room for me to look through at them. "Sleep tight, kids." I said quietly before I shut the door, flicking the switch that turned the lights off.

I turned ready to walk away when I was stopped by the looks my teammates were giving me.

Was there something on my face?

I cocked an eyebrow quizzically. "What is it?" I asked quietly, remembering the kids nodding off behind the door.

Pyrrha and Nora said nothing, Nora's eyes looking particularly red while Pyrrha was dabbing at her own with a tissue. I looked at Ren who shrugged his shoulders, looking just as lost as I was.

I've got no idea what's going on there.

The familiar sound of four wheels making their way towards me filled my ears and I turned to see the Old Bastard coming towards me, Peter by his side, a serious expression on his face.

"Laddie, do you mind if I have a word with you?" He asked before seeming to remember my teammates standing around me. "Alone." He clarified, nodding his head towards Peter's classroom.

I turned to talk to them only for Pyrrha to clap me on the shoulder reassuringly, Nora already dragging Ren around the corner. "We'll see you back in the dorm." She said kindly, giving my shoulder a squeeze. "Good night Tob. Good night Professor Port."

And with that she left, following after Ren and Nora in the direction of our dorm. I turned to talk to the Old Bastard only to find he was already in the doorway for the Grimm Studies classroom, rolling inside it as I turned.

I quickly made my way inside to find two chairs sitting in a close approximation of a circle, the Old Bastard in his wheelchair making facing the both of them. "Take a seat." he said casually gesturing at the seats in front of him.

I walked over to one of the seats and sat down, Peter taking the empty seat as I looked at the Old Bastard. "What is it you want to talk about?" I asked, waiting for an explanation for this change in setting.

The Old Bastard sat there for a moment in silence before he sighed, taking off his glasses to give them a quick polish. "Peter told me that you asked why we never told you about your aura or activated it when you were younger." He informed me, finishing his polishing and sliding the glasses back onto his head.

I blinked.

In all honesty, in light of everything that had happened I had completely forgotten about that. But now as it was once more bought to the forefront of my mind the question burned with the desire to be answered once more.

I went to speak when he raised a hand, not letting me reply. "Let me finish, laddie. Then you can talk." He said, looking a great deal older than I had ever seen him as he said it.

"Yes I didn't activate your aura. Yes it could have been a great help to you, of that I have no doubt. But there was a reason I didn't activate your aura Jaune. If I had then you wouldn't have been safe." He said with a sigh.

What?

How could my aura make me not safe?

Maybe because of the burn on my back interfering with my aura?

I asked him and he shook his head. "I'll admit that played a small part in it but in all honesty it was small potatoes to the bigger issues that would have arisen."

Issues?

"What kind of issues?" I asked, desperate for the reasoning behind this mystery.

He shook his head resolutely. "You don't need to know that laddie." He said firmly, as if he expected the discussion to end on that note.

I disagreed.

"Considering these issues are about me than yeah, I think I do need to know about them." I said pointedly, not backing down on the issue.

The Old Bastard slammed a clenched fist onto his armrest. "DAMN IT LADDIE! You've gone fifteen years without knowing about them and it hasn't changed a damn thing so no, you don't need to bloody know." He roared back his gaze locking with mine.

We both sat there in silence neither willing to back down on the issue until Peter cleared his throat, reminding me of the fact he was still there. "Now Jaune, you do indeed deserve to know the reasoning behind our choices. That is a fact." he said calmly, mollifying me.

"However," he continued. "That does not mean you have to know right now. It won't bring you any joy let me assure you of that." He said honestly.

I didn't budge. "The truth hurts sometimes. But I'd rather a truth that hurts than a lie that feels good."

Peter looked at me silently for a few moments before the quiet was broken by the Old Bastard letting out a sigh. "The end of the Vytal festival." He said, massaging his brow with one hand slowly. "At the end of the Vytal festival I'll tell you everything you want to know."

Peter looked concerned about this change of heart. "Are you sure about this old friend?"

The Old Bastard let out a laugh at that. "Not in the slightest." He admitted freely before his eyes narrowed. "But if things progress as we suspect they will, we may not have a choice anymore." He said quietly.

Well…

That's certainly ominous.

"Also!" he said loudly, drawing my attention back to him once more. "I heard you're having a bit of trouble with a ranged attack laddie?" he said his gaze a touch smug for a moment.

I narrowed my eyes. "That's right." I confirmed waiting for the stinging insult no doubt heading my way.

"Well you're in luck." He reached into the pouch on the side of chair and pulled out a battered old book, a hand bound thing no more than a few pages long. "There's a technique in here that'll give you a bit of a helping hand." He finished extending the book towards me.

I took the book, quickly noticing some kind of flower on the front although it was so faded and distorted by age I couldn't tell what colour or shape it was originally supposed to be. There was no title or author emblazoned on the cover. I flicked through the pages, taking note of the concise and legible handwriting, a sure sign if there ever was one that the Old Bastard hadn't written it.

"Then again, it does require those last two brain cells of yours to do something other than bounce off each other like they do the rest of the time." He said, his tone not changing an inch from what it was earlier as he casually insulted me.

My eyebrow twitched.

Ass.

Then the Old Bastard gestured at the door, waving me away. "Go on, away with you laddie, time for you to go to bed as well, you've got class in the morning."

I shrugged. "I could just say I feel sick and get out of that first class." I said suggesting a possible alternative.

Peter coughed loudly, giving me a pointed look as he did so.

Right, probably not a good thing to say around a staff member.

"Or I could just go to bed." I said quickly, the Old Bastard giving me a wry smirk as I did so.

"There's a good lad."