CHAPTER 66

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JAUNE ARC POV

"Your father is an interesting man." He said as they sat in a vantage point that showed them a great deal of the mountain below them and a large panoramic view of the Anima Continent.

He could even see some Hunters fighting a flock of Griffins in the far distance with his superhuman eyesight.

"That's one word to describe it." She said as she sat down by his side and leaned on his shoulder. "Thanks for holding back against him."

He shrugged "Didn't have to hold back a lot. Your father is a damn good fighter. If it wasn't for that injury in his thigh then he might have even provided a decent bit of challenge."

He felt Pyrrha nod in his shoulder and felt the contentment through the shroud and minor telepathy. "Yeah. That's the wound that eventually forced him into retirement. Not that he ever stopped being a hunter even when he retired."

She sounded a little bitter when she said that and he didn't begrudge her that.

"Rough childhood?" he asked.

Pyrrha scoffed "That's implying that I even had a childhood. Hard to have one when you're training half of the time and recovering from that training in the other half."

He put an arm around her and stayed silent, waiting for her to continue.

"My father wasn't happy with his retirement. He wanted his son to continue where he had left. To become the hunter he failed to become because of his injuries." She sighed "He never got a son. Only a daughter before the doctors announced that having another child could be dangerous for mom. That… didn't stop him from trying to live his dream through me. If I was a girl then I would just have to work twice as hard."

She let out a bitter laugh at that and tucked her head under his chin.

"I… don't know what to say." He sighed "Your father sounds like a cunt. But if it wasn't for him then I would never have met you."

"Don't say anything." She said, "Just continue to hold me like this."

Her voice sounded a bit heavy and he could feel the sadness in her heart for a childhood that she had.

They stayed in that place for the good part of an hour before they finally decided to go back home via a portal that he had left in the forest near Beacon.

—————

"What do you mean Blake's still missing?" he asked, a little worried now.

"It means that BLAKE'S MISSING!" Yang shouted and he could feel guilt and anger pooling inside her. But mostly guilt though. She was thinking that Blake ran away from Beacon because of her. Which wasn't true but not wholly wrong either. Yang was a shit partner to Blake in this timeline. They both were. "We searched for her all throughout the Vale. We couldn't find her."

He wasn't surprised by that. Vale was a 'large' city spanning over 1,500 sq km. If you wanted to hide in it then all you have to do is go to a random location. That was it.

Someone like Blake who was searching for White Fang and moving from one hideout to another would be even harder to find.

That's assuming that she's even alive by now and that Adam and the White Fang haven't simply deposed of her.

"Where do we even start searching for her?" he asked "Vale is a large city. And searching for her block by block is rather inefficient and ultimately meaningless."

"Have any of you considered that she might have left to join the White Fang?" Weiss asked and everyone turned to stare at her "I mean, during our search for Blake, I learned that the White Fang has been recruiting very heavily these past few days."

"Blake won't join the White Fang." Yang growled, her anger overshadowing her guilt as her eyes turned red and her hair started to glow.

Despite what a bitch she could be from time to time, her semblance was really amazing to look at. Like a discount Super Saiyen.

He stepped between Weiss and her "Calm down Yang. Weiss' just trying to help."

Yang clutched her hand and her anger deflated, to be replaced by guilt once again.

"What do we do then?" she asked "Wait here and hope that she returns."

"Sounds like a good idea to me." Weiss muttered to herself and everyone chose to ignore her.

She never really overcame her dislike for the Faunus in this timeline thanks to his meddling.

He then thought of something and almost facepalmed.

He had the 'Bounty Tracker' app now, which showed him the location of all the bounties in Remnant. And Blake was one such Bounty.

He allowed his friends/teammates to bicker against one another and went to the side where he opened the scroll and then the new app.

After a bit of searching, he quickly found Blake's location.

Thank god she was still alive. He may not like the girl but she didn't deserve to die. Not when she was only trying to do the right thing.

"I have a suggestion." He said and everyone stopped bickering to turn and look at him.

"And what suggestion would that be oh vaunted leader of ours." Weiss snarked.

He ignored the girl with practiced ease and spoke "I suggest that we go out to search for her once more. And if we're not able to find her then we'll return and tell Headmaster Ozpin about her absence. He'll have a far better chance of finding her than any of us."

"Sounds like a good plan to me!" Nora exclaimed as she took Ren's hand "Come Ren. We must find our wayward teammate."

"I'll go with Pyrrha." He said and picked Pyrrha in his shoulder before he carried her out of there.

"Jaune!" Pyrrha exclaimed, embarrassed by the turn of events.

He put her down and before she could say anything, he pushed her against the wall and kissed her lips.

He heard a wolf whistle in the distant background and ignored it.

They separated after a moment, a string of saliva trailing between their lips.

"That was for good luck." He said with a wink. "Now let's go and find Blake."

Pyrrha rolled her eyes "You already know where she is don't you?"

"Yup."

"It would be suspicious if we found her the instant we arrive at Vale."

"It would be." He said and put his arms around her waist "That's why I think we should go out on a date before we eventually 'find' Blake."

She put an arm around him and leaned on his shoulder "Sounds good to me."

"Well, let's get going then."