THE BLIND TIGER SPEAKESY:

Episode 1: Muzzle Flash in the Night

Jaune sat nervously in a chair that Headmaster Ozpin had so graciously allowed him to sit in. He swallowed and looked up at Ozpin, who was currently standing by the window of his large clock-tower like office.

"Mr. Arc. Do you know why you are here right now?" Ozpin asked as he turned to face the blonde boy. Jaune shook his head.

"It's because if your transcripts. Glynda and I have found out, from your parents no less, that they are fake. You lied your way into my academy Jaune. Do you know how many laws you broke by doing this?" Ozpin asked as he stared at the blonde boy in front of him. Ozpin observed the boy's fear, his shame, his loathing of himself. After all he had done with his team, now was the time for him to give it all up? Jaune looked at Ozpin, his eyes tearing up.

"Y-yes sir. I know." Jaune uttered.

"And you do know the consequences, do you not?" Jaune nodded.

"Expulsion and imprisonment…" Jaune said as he rubbed his temples and fought back tears. Ozpin nodded.

"Yes. That is exactly what happens when you do these things. In normal academies anyway." Ozpin said as he turned back around towards the large window, his gaze roaming over the entirety of Beacon Academy, and all of it's ill-gotten glory.

"Jaune. You have shown so much improvement, so much talent, and above average leadership skills. I would be a fool to expel you from this Academy. We need people like you, who we can mold into the hunters and huntresses of tomorrow, those who will lead their teams into battle with honor and the will to overcome even the worst of odds. You are a shining example of this. You may not have the most combat skill, or the greatest intelligence, but what you do have… is heart. That is the one thing that sets you apart from many of the students here at Beacon. Which is why I am offering you a proposition." Ozpin said as he turned back towards Jaune and walked towards his desk. Ozpin pulled back his chair and sat down. He pulled out a file and slid it over to Jaune.

"I'm giving you the opportunity to truly become great, Jaune. In this folder, I have a list of… associates. They can and WILL help you. Here." Ozpin reached into the front pocket of his suit and pulled out a small checker shaped chip, with the letters "BL" painted elegantly on the front of it.

"Go to the address I have provided in the envelope in that file there." Ozpin said, placing the chip in front of Jaune, who picked it up immediately. Jaune looked at Ozpin in confusion.

"So what does this mean?" Jaune asked Ozpin. The experienced hunter smiled a faint smile, and began to speak.

"It means that while you are still expelled, it is unofficial if you decide to follow up on the offer I have given you. It will be official however if you do not show up to the designated area within 24 hours, or in the case you decide to return to your family." Ozpin said as he leaned forward.

"Jaune, the Arc family is well known for their strength and cunning. These people I have set you up with have as much experience as I, maybe even more. They can teach you how to be better than you are. They can teach you to be strong." Ozpin said. Jaune looked down at the chip in his hand, and then at the file. He grabbed the file and put the chip in his pocket.

"Remember. The only person holding you back, is you." Ozpin warned before standing up again.

"The choice is yours, Jaune. Go on and tell your team, and pack your things." Jaune nodded and stood up from the sit he was situated and walked towards the elevator in Ozpin's office. Jaune stepped into the elevator and looked at Ozpin one last time before the doors closed on him, leaving him alone to his thoughts.

Those thoughts didn't last for long however, because as soon as the doors to the elevator opened again, and Jaune stepped out into the hallway, he was swarmed by Ruby and Nora.

"JAUNE JAUNE! WHAT HAPPENED WHY DID YOU GET CALLED TO THE OFFICE!?" Ruby screamed at Jaune. Jaune opened his mouth to speak but was cut off by an equally as worried and loud Nora Valkyrie.

"JAUNEY JAUNEY! WHAT HAPPENED WHY DID YOU GET CALLED TO THE EVIL CORPORATE MAN'S OFFICE!?" Jaune simply stared at Nora in confusion before looking to Ruby, then to the rest of his friends. Ren, Pyrrha, Yang, (Not) Blake, and (Not) Weiss. He gulped and shifted nervously. He had to tell them. He couldn't just disappear.

"I uhh… I got expelled." Jaune managed to choke out as he looked towards the ground.

"What? Why?" Yang asked. Everyone besides Jaune nodded in agreement with Yang's question. Jaune looked up at them.

"I… I…" Jaune choked as the words would not leave his throat. Weiss scoffed and narrowed her eyes.

"Why Jaune?" She asked.

"I cheated into Beacon… my transcripts were faked." Jaune said. Everyone except Pyrrha, who had already knew, looked at Jaune with wide eyes.

"Jaune how… how could you?" Ruby asked as she backed away from him. He could hear the hurt in her voice. Jaune grimaced.

"I wanted to come her and prove that I could be like my parents, that I could be strong… that I could help people."

"Why the hell didn't you just enter into Beacon normally then? If you wanted to do this so badly, why even fake it? Why do something so criminal?" Yang asked, her fists clenched. Jaune kept his gaze to the floor. He couldn't even look at his own teammates in fear of how they were looking at him right now.

"I'm not like any of you, I don't have skill or natural talents. There was no way I would make it into Beacon, or any other Academy." Jaune said, hoping to get them to see his reasoning. Unfortunately, they did not.

"That doesn't give you an excuse for lying!" Ruby yelled, tears flowing from her eyes.

"Jaune, I trusted you! I thought you were a student. A REAL student. Someone who had passed the tests to get in! An honest person! I liked you Jaune! How could you just… how could you lie?" Ruby cried. Jaune held back his own tears as he cursed himself to hell for betraying their trust. He couldn't do this. Jaune walked away from them. Ignoring their words and screams, he ran. Just like he did when he left home. He ran and never looked back.

|S·P·E·A·K—E·A·S·Y|

"It's been quite the slow day, Carol. I'm starting to wonder if our already dying group of loyal patrons are starting to… well… die. That's the only thing that keeps the money from flowing in this place. The fact that people die around here. Maybe we should move areas?" A cat faunus man, dressed in a white dress shirt, black slacks, with overalls said to a woman sitting at a table across from the bar. The woman was wearing a white dress with a cloche hat on. She had short blonde hair, and wore a diamond necklace.

"I'm afraid moving is out of the picture, Jonathan. We already have enough debts. We don't need more by attempting to open a new establishment." Carol said to Jonathan. He sighed and leaned against the bar before grabbing a glass and rummaging through a cabinet.

"What are you doing sweetie?" Carol asked as she sees Jonathan pull out a bottle of whiskey.

"Well. There is one thing I know about us, about all of this. It's that it's all temporary, bound to lost at any moment, drifting away like a breeze blowing through Vacuo, things end yet they begin at the same time. All this pondering over reoccurring occurrences has gotten me down, my thoughts are as stable as our current state of affairs. So, what better way to raise my spirits than with spirits?" Jonathan said as he hopped over the bar to the other side. He slid over to the table Carol was sitting at and put a glass near her before taking a seat with his own glass. He poured her some whiskey, and then poured himself some.

"I think we both deserve some time to relax, some time to just… enjoy ourselves and drown out the world in a bitter yet familiar taste. Don't you?" Jonathan said as he sipped his whiskey and let out a refreshed sigh. Carol giggled before taking a sip of her whiskey. Jonathan's ears perked up when he heard the back door of the pub open. He glanced in the direction of the door and saw a man wearing a fedora a brown overcoat, dark green combat pants that were tucked into dirty black combat boots come in and shake off his umbrella before setting it next to the door and closing it. The man, a tall 6'7 brute with a grizzly beard and a nasty look in his dark blue eyes glanced towards Jonathan and nodded.

"Hey Carol, Garrold has finally decided to come to work today!" Jonathan said as he smiled brightly and went over to Garrold. Garrold glared at the man before walking past him and over to Carol.

"Carol, vhat is this idiot doing here so late? It is 2 hours past closing time." Garrold asked in a thick accent to the woman who was currently enjoying her whiskey. She put her cup down and cleared her throat.

"He insisted on staying here because today we get a new employee." Garrold raised an eyebrow.

"Vhat new employee? Vhy was I not notified?" Garrold growled.

"It was last minute, Garrold. We were contacted by a very special associate who I personally haven't spoken to for a decade. I was shocked, really." Carol said before looking over to Jonathan, who was standing next to Garrold with a smile on his face.

"Jonathan, would you be a dear and go grab me some ice?" Jonathan smiled and nodded and went to go complete his task. Once he was gone, Garrold spoke up.

"Vas this… "associate" Ozpin by any chance?" Garrold asked folding his arms. Carol winced.

"Yes. BUT. Before you decide to go on a murderous rampage to find the poor man, at least hear me out." Carol pleaded when she saw a familiar murderous gleam in the man's eyes.

"Fine. But if I do not like vhat you tell me, I vill go and eh… kill Ozpin. Wring his neck, give him some much deserved shut-eye." Carol let out a sigh of relief. Not at the fact that Garrold could murder Ozpin at any moment for little to no reason, but the fact that he listened to her for once.

"He sent us a student. And not just any student, an Arc." Garrold lifted an eyebrow.

"An Arc, eh? Could he be torpedo maybe?" Carol deadpanned.

"You are our body guard Garrold. So is Saint, Hannah, Ibril, and that upstage murderous fellow. What was his name?"

"You mean Quinton?" Jonathan said as he sat down in his seat and put a bucket of ice on the table.

"Yes, sweetie. I mean Quinton." Garrold grimaced.

"That is no good. Quinton is coming tonight, we cannot have a new man showing up, he vill—" Garrold froze.

"I will what?" Everyone turned and saw a male cat faunus sporting a homburg hat, black rimmed spectacles, white cloth gloves, a black suit jacket with khaki slacks that were tucked into his boots which almost ran up to his knees, and a utility belt with various ammo clips hanging from it.

"You'll probably end up lulling him to sleep with that wack-talk of yours old buddy." Jonathan said as he smiled at Quinton. Quinton frowned.

"First off, I am not your buddy, compadre, friend, old man, old fruit, confidant, or acquaintance. I am a business partner of Hannah's. And who is the person I'll be "lulling to sleep with my wack-talk"?" Quinton said as he glared at a still-smiling Jonathan.

"He's our new associate. His name is—"

"Wait. New associate? You mean this buffoon?" Quinton pointed behind him, and sure enough, there was a soaking wet blonde in a Pumpkin Pete hoodie and torn blue jeans. Carol looked the boy up and down. Tall, blonde and scraggly. Just like Ozpin had described.

"Are you Jaune Arc by any chance?" The boy perked up.

"So this is the Blind Tiger right?" Jaune askes. Carol smiles and nods.

"It's him, Quinton. Though I have to say. I was expecting more… blonde and scraggly." Jaune frowned and looked away.

"Uhh… sorry I couldn't be more scraggly? And blonde?" Jaune said nervously, causing both Garrold and Quinton to frown and sigh.

"Ve have a lot of vork to do vith this one, Quinton." Garrold says as he eyes Jaune up and down.

"Agreed. Well then, Mr. Arc. Let us go. Your first bout of training begins today. As soon as Garrold gets his car ready. And other things." Quinton says and gives Garrold a look Jaune could not describe. And as if words had been spoken between them just then, Garrold nods and walks away. Jaune looks at Quinton.

"Follow me." He says simply before walking towards the back door of the bar. Jaune quickly follows after the faunus, catching sight of Carol and the strange man talking to her smiling and waving. Jaune exits the building with Quinton and sees Garrold putting weapons in the trunk of a black car. Three rifles, all of them choppers. Jaune gulps.

"W-what's my training going to be?" Jaune asks Quinton. The mysterious cat glares at Jaune from the corner of his eyes as he approached the car.

"There are some… less than reputable hoods who have been making business here at the Blind Tiger more difficult than usual. We of course, are going there to clean them up a bit. Their belligerence has been duly noted, thus our need to prepare certain "items" for our little… meeting." Quinton says before opening up the front car door and getting in on the passenger side. Jaune gets in the back, while Garrold takes the wheel.

"What does belligerence mean?" Jaune asked after a while when he realized none of what Quinton had said after that made any sense without proper context of words. Quinton let out an angry sigh. He turns to look at Jaune in the back seat.

"Can you not use contextualization to figure out the clause for which I use words?" Quinton growls. Jaune stares at him blankly. Quinton pinches the bridge of his nose.

"Belligerence is the act of being pugnacious." Quinton says angrily. Jaune continues to stare at him like his head fell off.

"What?" Jaune says after a few moments of silence. The car engines roars to life just as Quinton lets out an angry curse. Garrold sighs and looks at Jaune through the rear view mirror.

"Vhat he means is that the people ve are going to kill are bad people. Angry, quick to violence." Jaune raised his eyebrows.

"Why didn't you just say that?" Jaune question as he glances back over to Quinton.

"What do you take me for? A simpleton? If you cannot understand what I am saying when I use slightly larger words than you are used to then I suggest you open a dictionary, hmm?" Quinton said as he turned around, letting Jaune know that the conversation was over.

Jaune looked out of the side window. He had no idea what to think of his current situation. He had been kicked out of Beacon only a few hours ago. He had broken the hearts of his teammates and friends as he ran only a few short hours ago. He couldn't look himself in the mirror after he made Ruby cry, after he heard her screaming his name. Even as she did that, through footfalls he still ignored her pleas for an explanation. For a reason as to why he did what he did. She didn't understand what it felt like to be so weak. She never would. They all would never know. And now look at him. Sitting in the back of the car with two strangers he only knew by name about to go and commit a crime. Maybe it wasn't a crime? Ozpin had personally recommended these people to Jaune… so it couldn't be?

"Right?" Jaune whispered to himself as he felt the car come to a halt. Snapping back to reality, Jaune looks out the window of the car and notices that its parked somewhere on the outskirts of Vale, by an alleyway. He hears the front doors of the car open as the two men before him get out. Jaune exits the car as well and looks around. He is shocked to see how many buildings in the area were broken down and abandoned. It was like a ghost town. It was also raining and nighttime, so that just added to the dreary factor of it all.

"Mr. Arc. Come over here." Quinton says. Jaune turns to Quinton, who is standing by the trunk of the car and walks over to him.

"Yes?" Jaune asks. Quinton doesn't reply and instead pushes a chopper rifle into his hands.

"Have you ever used a rifle before? Or any firearm?" Quinton asks. Jaune shakes his head.

"No." Quinton did not like that answer and glares at Jaune.

"I used a sword. Crocea Mors." Jaune says as he looks away from Quinton's glare, his dark green eyes boring into Jaune's soul even as he averted his gaze.

"Vhere is this Crocea Mors? Is it still vith you? No?" Jaune grimaced.

"I sent it back to my parents… I didn't deserve it." Quinton scoffed at this.

"Only a fool sends something as valuable as a weapon back to his family before thrusting himself back into the insatiable jaws of violence." The feline says before picking up a rifle for himself and checking it.

"But do not fret, buffoon. We will get you a custom built weapon. But for now, we use the classics. Simple, brutal, and most of all, efficient." Quinton said as he closed the trunk of the car before turning to Jaune.

"Before we go in, I'd like to give you a short lesson on how to use that weapon. Or any gun in general for that matter. Step one: Aim the gun and pull the trigger. Control reactions to recoil. Be accurate. Step two: the person or living being you were aiming at is now paste." Quinton said quickly as he adjusted his glasses and turned toward Garrold. The two both started walking towards a dark alleyway.

"But wait, what if they have aura? What then?" Jaune asks Quinton.

"These guns are specifically and specially designed to handle .45 millimetre anti-aura rounds. I will not get into how they work now, since we have a job to do. Stay focused and keen of your surroundings, and if you have a semblance that allows you to utilize something that will kill faster, I suggest you use it." Quinton said as he began to sprint towards the alley way, with Garrold following suit. Jaune went pale.

He would have to kill other people. He WOULD kill other people.

He had never done or thought of doing that before. Jaune looked down at his gun and his arms began to shake. Taking the life of another human being was the hardest thing he would ever do in his life. And he had fought the creatures of Grimm head on, by himself at times. Jaune swallowed his fears and ran towards the alleyway to catch up with Quinton and Garrold. Soon he was behind the two again, shrouded in darkness with them.

"Ve are almost there, Arc. Be ready to kill anything that tries to kill you." Garrold says as he trains his gun upwards, looking through the iron sights as they approached a corner that turned left, and was illuminated with artificial light. Garrold quickly turns the corner and so does Quinton, both of them firing off their weapons at two unlucky fellows who had been guarding a door. Jaune felt his heart race.

He turned the corner and saw two dead bodies, blood , and bullet holes strewn about. He wanted to throw up. Jaune put his hand over his mouth and leaned against a wall. This wasn't happening. Quinton and Garrold both took note of this reaction.

"Mr. Arc, you have never killed a human or faunus before have you?" Quinton asked. Jaune nodded.

"N-no… never…" Jaune whispered. Because of his heritage, Quinton caught this however. He sighs.

"That changes today, Mr. Arc. This is your training. You want to prove yourself yes?" Jaune nodded.

"Then raise your chin, straighten that slouch of yours, and get bloody going." Quinton said with a glare as he turned and kicked open the door. He went in first, then Garrold. Jaune held his hand up to his chest before gritting his teeth and reluctantly following the two into danger. The three of them entered the building. Quinton and Garrold shared a look between each other.

Jaune, Garrold, and Quinton ran down a narrow hallway leading to a wooden door. Quinton stopped in front of the door and turned to the two males behind him.

"They are most likely all cluttered behind this door. Garrold, do you have the flash on you?" Garrold nodded before pulling out a cylinder canister, which Jaune recognized as a flashbang. Quinton walked up to the door and gripped the handle. He quickly opened it, and Garrold threw the flashbang into the room before Quinton closed the door. A loud "bang" was heard, and Quinton opened up the door again and charged.

With Garrold following suit, the two burst into the room full of temporarily blinded foes and opened fire. Quinton rolled behind a table after he took two men down and Garrold did the same. Jaune was still outside of the room however, hoping that he wouldn't have to fight if those two did all of the fighting for him.

"Hey who the fuck are you?" Jaune nearly jumped as he turned around and saw a faunus in baggy jeans and a long sleeve sweater aiming a pistol at him. The man shot at Jaune, and he dodged the bullet at the last minute before firing back at the man, watching in horror as the bullets tore directly through him, destroying his aura almost instantly. The man fell to the floor, lifeless.

Jaune just stared at the body. At the blood. He had done that. He had killed him. Jaune felt his arms start to shake as he turns around towards the bigger gunfight happening in the room behind him. Jaune runs into the room and sees a man wearing a heavy coat with the hood up aiming a pistol at Quinton. Jaune fires first, the bullets from his gun painting the wall behind the man with holes, and with the color red. Jaune then turns to his left just in time to avoid a bullet hitting him in the back of the head before letting a maelstrom of bullets fly from his chopper, ending the life of yet another man. Jaune stops and looks around, his eyes wide, his heart beating at 80 miles an hour.

He looks over to Garrold and Quinton, both of them checking their weapons and looking around the room. Jaune looks around as well, counting the bodies on the floor. There are 10 dead men on the floor. 3 of them killed by Jaune. 4 if you count the man Jaune shot outside in the hallway. Jaune walked over to a chair that happened to survive the onslaught and plopped down in it before sighing and looking up.

"For your first time killing, you vere good at it." Garrold says as he walks up to a exasperated Jaune. The blonde simply nods. His brain did not want to dwell on what he had done, and neither did he.

"That's all fine and dandy, but remember. We have to clear out the basement. Lets not forget that, and end up exacerbating the very vexed situation we are already a part of." Quinton says as he looks around the room. Jaune raises an eyebrow.

"Basement?" Jaune asks.

"Yes, there is a basement. Ve vere sent here to kill a man named Sirgil. He is here, cooped up in the basement like little girl, surrounded by men more trained than he." Garrold says as he picks up a pistol that belonged to a now deceased faunus. He ejected the mag and checked it before groaning and tossing the pistol away. He leaned down and picked up the weapon he was previously using.

"Garrold, Arc. Take heed. I have found the entrance to the basement." Quinton said as he moved large pieces of bloody wood and glass shards from atop a trap door, which he immediately opened exposing a ladder that supposedly led to a basement. Quinton began climbing down the ladder and Garrold followed suit, Jaune went last.

The basement was not at all what Jaune was expecting. It looked like it had been carved out of the very earth itself, the old rock around them appearing to be so old that some form of plant grew from them.

"Mr. Arc, this isn't a tour, quit rubbernecking and let's go!" Quinton whisper yelled. Jaune nodded quickly and began to follow the deranged cat once more. Eventually the trio came upon a large amount of boxes, filled with illegal substances no doubt.

"Arc, vord of visdom from me. Vhenever you see large crates like this stored in such shitty areas, its usually drugs, not guns. But no matter vhat type of illegal item it is, they are alvays guarded. Be on the lookout." Garrold whispered to Jaune as he crouched behind a crate and took a peek over it. Jaune mimicked him. And of course, there were 3 armed men standing by the crates, their weapons down in resting position.

Jaune's heart started racing. His vision flashed with images of gore and death, yet only for a split second. Jaune massaged his temple and attempted to push the images out of his mind and prepare for the things he was about to help do. Quinton rose up from behind the crates and opened fire at the men, and Jaune hopped the crates and did the same. The three men dropped dead, and 3 more emerged from behind other crates further down the hall. Jaune stood and fired wildly at them, hitting all three but only killing two of them. The other man fell against a crate. Quinton shot up and ran over to the man, dropping his rifle, and pulling a pistol out from his suit jacket. He aimed at the dying man and finished him off.

The three moved past all of the crates, and into a large clearing where they were met with at least 20 men, all pointing guns at them. In the center of these men was a man wearing a hoodie with various pieces of armour attached to it and dark pants. He was missing and eye and had cuts all over his face. Jaune wondered what happened to him.

"So. They finally sent you two after me. Ironic." The man said. Jaune leaned towards Quinton.

"Who is this guy?"

"His name is Sirgil. And we are going to kill him and all of his men." Jaune's eyes widened. How? They were outnumbered. 21 to 3. Or was it 7 to 1?

"Now now, Quinton. I thought you knew how to count. There's 21 of us. And three of you. Well, it might as well only be two. The new guy looks too fresh to pose a threat to me." Sigil said and smirked and he pulled out a rifle/sword hybrid.

"Sorry it had to come to this—" Sigil was cut of by the sounds of a chopper going off and the men around him falling dead. Jaune had had enough of his monologue bullshit. Jaune narrowed his eyes as lead met flesh, and as the gun in his hands started to feel lighter and lighter. The men who were still alive opened fire, spraying bullets directly and Jaune, Quinton, and Garrold. Jaune ducked out of the way and rolled, while Garrold and Quinton ran straight into the fire, taking out their true weapons and killing their opponents with brutal efficiency. Quinton used a long curved blade as his tool of evil, and Garrold used a revolver and three metal claws protruding from some sort of gauntlet on his hand. Garrold grabbed a man's face and flipped him upward before impaling the man and tossing his lifeless body to the side, while Quinton wove around his foes with ghostly, fleet-footed speed. The mysterious man used his curved blade to carve smiles into the throats of his victims before doing the same to their abdomens.

Jaune on the other hand was locked into a hand to hand combat session with a dark-skinned fellow. Dodging hit after hit, Jaune punched the man square in the jaw, sending him flying back into a wall. He then turned around only to see another man pointing a shotgun directly at his chest. Jaune leapt to the side, but not without receiving a few buck shots of aura piercing shotgun shells.

Screaming in pain, Jaune fell to the ground clenching his bloody arm. The man with the shotgun aimed at Jaune again, but missed when Jaune rolled out of the way. Jaune stood up and charged the man, tackling him and forcing him to drop his shotgun. The two fought viciously on the floor, punching, biting and scratching whatever they could to inflict pain on each other.

The man Jaune was fighting punched him in the face, causing him to fall off of the man. He then picked up a pistol and aimed it at Jaune. The blonde boy ducked as a shot fired off from the weapon before picking up a sharp piece of wood and tackling the man. Jaune then brought the piece of wood up and plunged it into the throat of his assailant as hard as he could. He felt the man's aura break, and the sharp wood shard met its target, and the man his maker. Jaune got off of the man and looked around. Blood and gore was everywhere. Dead bodies strewn about like toys. And in the center of it all stood Sirgil, that shit eating grin effectively wiped off of his face as he realized there was nowhere to run. Jaune stood up and gripped his right arm, the one that had been shot, and glared at Sirgil. A bloody Quinton walked up and stood next to Jaune, his piercing eyes focused on Sirgil. Garrold did the same, except 100 times worse.

"Listen guys, I wasn't think straight before. How about we talk this out?" Sirgil pleaded.

"Even now, Sirgil. Twenty years later, you are still as much of a pansy as you are an avaricious milquetoast." Quinton says as he fixes his glasses and wipes the blood off of the lens.

"But don't vory, Sirgil. We give you kind death." Garrold says as he slowly approaches Sirgil. Jaune can now safely say he had never seen a man actually shit himself until that moment.

|S·P·E·A·K—E·A·S·Y|

Jaune got out the car, clenching his arm as he tried to stop the bleeding. His aura still hadn't kicked in, and it has been almost an hour since he, Quinton and Garrold had left enemy territory. Or rather, empty territory.

"I will admit, you have managed to do what most could not, and that was survive with us through standard work. You have my condolences. But do not let this victory make you presumptuous. You are still a neophyte, a fledging if you will. With more training, and more education, you will be better than you could ever hope to be by visiting such a guileless academy as Beacon." Quinton said while walking past Jaune and opening the back door to the Blind Tiger. Jaune followed him in. When Jaune came in he was surprised to see that woman and the man still talking to each other, but now there was another female sitting next to the man. She was wearing a white overcoat and black jeans with white heels. Her undershirt was black and she also wore black gloves. Jaune was starting to sense a pattern. Her skin was dark, but not dark chocolate dark. She was more of a milk chocolate color. Her hair was tied back neatly in a bun, and a bow was tied around it. She also had beautiful brown eyes.

"Ah, Miss Hannah. A pleasure." Quinton says as he tips his hat, which had somehow managed to stay on his head throughout the conflict he and his companions had just went through. The woman sitting next to Jonathan stood up and smiled, pulling Quinton into a hug.

"Quinton! I'm so happy to see you! Where have you been?"

"UNHAND ME YOU ABHORRENT MEASLE!" Quinton shouted as he tried to escape the unwanted human contact he was receiving from Hannah.

"That's no way to talk to your wife now is it?" Quinton grimaced at those words and gave a disgusted look to Hannah, who simply smiled and laughed. She let him go and he backed away from her and dusted off his suit jacket, which was lightly stained with blood and other bodily fluids. Hannah scrunched up her nose.

"Eww what the hell have you been doing?" She glanced over to Garrold, who was currently drinking a bottle of Jack, and saw he was no less worse for wear. Then she glanced over to Jaune, who she didn't know but could tell he had been through hell. His right arm was proof of that.

"You three didn't go out and kill Sirgil did you?" Hannah questioned. Quinton, Garrold, and Jaune looked between each other.

"No?" All three of the males replied. Hannah pinched the bridge of her nose.

"There goes the diplomatic approach to things. Oh well. The slimy bastard had it coming. You there." Hannah pointed at Jaune.

"Let me see that arm so I can patch you up." Hannah said to Jaune, who simply nodded and walked over to her. Hannah went to a table and pulled out a chair.

"Sit." Jaune sat.

"What's your name, hun?"

"Jaune Arc."

"Ohhh an Arc huh? I bet you think you're hot shit don't you?" Jaune shook his head.

"I feel like a hot piece of shit. So. You aren't far off." Hannah laughed.

"I like this guy! Short, simple, and sweet retorts. No long ass words and bullshit sentence composition like your boy eight eyes over there." Hannah said as she gestured over to Quinton, who simply scoffed.

Hannah began to examine Jaune's arm. She narrowed her eyes when she saw all of the lead in it.

"I'm going to have to remove all of this lead. I'll be right back, I'm going to run to the car and get my medkit. You are lucky, Jaune Arc, that I just so happen to be a two-timing doctor." Hannah said as she left to go grab a medkit. When she returned, she was holding a white box. She pulled up a second chair next to Jaune and began to work on his arm. She opened the box and pulled out a metal rod, which she then used to remove all of the lead jammed in Jaune's arm. Jaune fought back his urge to scream out in pain, and grit his teeth as Hannah kept working on his injured arm.

"Alright, the lead is all out. I'm going to clean this up with some ointment and you'll be all good." Hannah said as she got out a small box of medical wipes. She began to clean around each bullet wound, taking care to clean all of the blood off of Jaune's arm. Thankfully in the hour that Jaune had been in the car with Quinton and Garrold, the bleeding had at least stopped.

"They used dust rounds on your arm. It'll take longer for these wounds to heal and because of that they will leave scars. It should take about 7 hours for these wounds to heal at this rate." Hannah said before getting out some gauze and wrapping it around Jaune's arm.

"There, all cleaned up." Jaune smiled at Hannah.

"Thanks." Jaune said as he stood up. His arm still hurt like hell, but it wasn't as bad as earlier.

"Woah. You must have been through a lot if you got shot like that." The familiar voice of Jonathan chimed. Jaune looked over to Jaune and nodded.

"Yeah…" He muttered. Carol glanced at Jaune.

"Jaune. Where will you be staying once you leave? You have been kicked out of Beacon with no money. How are you going to find a place to stay if you don't already have one?" Carol asked. Jaune's eyes widened. He had no idea what he was going to do about that. Not that he cared, however. There were more pressing issues on his mind.

"Oh oh! I'll take him home with me! I have an extra guest room for the ol' chap to sleep in!" Jonathan yelled out. Jaune smiled.

"You'd be willing to do that?" Jaune asked, hoping the offer was for real.

"Yes. Yes yes. Yes yes yes. I am, I am! I am completely sure about this! Lets go now actually because I'm quite tired." Jonathan said as he leapt up from the table and walked towards a coat rack and grabbed a black overcoat from it before grabbing a worn fedora off of the coat rack. Jonathan put the hat and coat on and signaled for Jaune to follow him. Jaune followed Jonathan outside to his car and got in on the passenger side.

"Now it's just me and you buddy! Jaune Arc! My name is Jonathan by the way, incase you didn't hear it in the Tiger." Jonathan said, a wide smile spread across his lips. Jonathan started up the car.

"So my friend. How did you like your first day on the job, huh?" Jonathan asks. Jaune stares out the window. Images and memories dance across his mind and vison as he sees the people he had killed. Jaune shook his head.

"It was… interesting. I don't want to talk about any further." Jaune said as he glanced over to Jonathan.

"Ahh that's okay sometimes we all get the blues, the highs the lows. Sometimes it's the deeps and the steeps, and other times it's the hollows and the shallows. Wait that doesn't rhyme right… whatever. Anyway, don't dwell of the fact you killed men. Just think about why you killed them. Usually thinking about purpose rather than the action itself is better for your mental health. Or you could bottle it all up like Garrold. Or you can just throw all of your emotions into a blender, then let someone else drink them because your eloquence is "much too strong" just like Quinton." Jaune cringed.

"I don't want to be like them." Jaune said. The car came to a stop and Jonathan opened the door. Jaune exited the car as well.

"Then don't be like them. Be like whoever you are. Uniqueness is what stops the world from being boring, lifeless and robotic. But that same uniqueness is why we have so much conflict. That and the Grimm." Jonathan said as he walked up the porch stairs to the porch of his house. Jaune followed Jonathan as he unlocked his door and stepped inside his apartment. Jonathan turned on the lights and took a right.

"Have you ever killed before?" Jaune asked as he walked up a flight of stairs, taking care not to fall. Jonathan opened up a door at the top of the flight of stairs then turned around to Jaune for a second.

"Everyone who works at the Blind Tiger has killed someone. So yes, I have." The faunus turned around and started walking forward. He made a right into yet another hallway, but this hallway was a dead end and had 3 doors. One door on the right side two on the left. Jonathan turned and opened the door to the room on the right.

"So how did you cope with your first killing? How did you forget?" Jonathan stopped for a second.

"I didn't." He said simply before moving out of the way so Jaune could enter the room. The inside of the room was painted white, just like the rest of the house, and the floor was carpet. There was a queen sized bed hugging the left wall of the room and a closet on the right. To the side of the bed was a nightstand. Jaune sighed in delight. He was going to sleep good that night.

"Thanks for letting me stay here."

"Not a problem! But if you'll excuse me, I have to sleep as well!" Jonathan said as he tipped his hat to Jaune and left the room. Jaune took off his now ruined jacket and his bloody jeans. He could ask for a shower, but he was too tired to even bother. Jaune walked over to the door of the room and closed it before turning off the light and falling onto the bed. He let out a sigh, and then grabbed a pillow and screamed into it. The world had done him dirty. His friends had proven that they were never so. And he had just committed 8 counts of manslaughter.

Jaune Arc did not have a good Monday.

Hello, my fellow ladies and gentlemen. I hope you disported this reading experience with vigor. This has been an idea on my mind for ages now, and to type it all into words makes the feeling of creating stories a joy to be had.

Leave a review of what you thought, if you would be so kind, and I will see you in the next update. Ta Ta~