~~-Yellow Maidens-~~

The trip to Shion was fairly uneventful. The one bit of excitement had been a horde of 30 or so Beowulves backed up by a dozen or so Ursi. There might have been some Borbatusks in there too, but it was over so quick it was hard to get a really good count.

The pack was led by a Beowulf alpha that was honestly a little intimidating. It had clearly survived a long time if the scars on its bone plated armor were any indication, and it looked to poses some modicum of intelligence. It's grunts, roars, and howls appeared to direct the others as the bigger Grim fanned out to encircle them. The smaller Beowulves, or 'babybeos' as Nora liked to call them, stacked up in the middle behind their leader.

Jaune decided to adopt the tried and true method of 'throw Yang at anything that looks tanky'. Only this time Yang had her Aura supercharged courtesy of Jaune. Normally Jaune hated that tactic. Because in order for her semblance to be at maximum power she would typically need to take a lot of damage, and her Aura would be quite low. But now that he was getting rather adept with his own semblance, he was starting to appreciate the brutal effectiveness of the strategy. So long as he could ensure she had enough Aura to stay safe.

Jaune never thought he would feel empathy for the Grimm. But the way they took them down made him feel just a bit sorry for them.

Yang met the alpha mid charge, literally head on. Ducking under a swipe of its claws, she silenced its roar with an uppercut that snapped its head back. A kick to the groin lifted it off the ground, leaving it unable to defend against the one-two shotgun empowered punch to the back of its head. The first hit drove it face first into the ground. The second buried it past the shoulders, or possibly just obliterated its skull completely, it was a bit tough to tell. Adding insult to injury she used its now disintegrating corpse as a springboard, thereby snapping what was left of the beast's spine in two. She shot forward to attack its brethren who at this point were looking a bit confused at how fast their leader had been taken out.

Meanwhile Nora went up the right flank like a whirling dervish. Magnhild sending Grimm flying off into the distance. Their corpses leaving smoke trails in their wake, like dark comets that then exploded into dust when they crashed back to earth.

Ruby took the left flank. With all the extra aura Jaune had pumped into her, she just used her semblance continuously. The sound of Crescent Rose sounded more like a machine gun than a sniper rifle. The battlefield behind her was littered with rose petals and Grimm parts. You couldn't see her moving through the horde. But you could get an approximate location of where she had just been from the cloud of arms, legs, heads, and an occasional torso that looked like they were coming out of a blender with the lid off.

Ren and Jaune held back. In theory Jaune was to use his staff to bombard the survivors with fireballs. And Ren was to cover Jaune's blind spots. However, Jaune may have overdone it a bit and the girls were a bit over excited, hyped up on the raw energy filling their reserves way past their normal Aura levels. It left the boys with little to do but observe the mayhem.

"I know I've said it before, but your friends are awesome."

The town guard greeted them at the gates to ask how they made it past the horde and the Geist that had made that road impassable for weeks. They didn't seem to understand that they had killed them but were at least helpful in giving them directions to the local inn. Which is where they met with their current dilemma.

"What do you mean there are only two beds left? I'm hungry and my feet hurt from walking all day. I NEED a bed. I'll pay whatever it takes. We have plenty of money, see?" The innkeeper backed up hands rising in defense as Yang's eyes flashed red, and her gauntlets, gripping a huge wad of lien, slammed down making everything on the counter jump.

"I-it's a-as I said ma'am. The inn is full except for the Presidential and Honeymoon suites. B-but they only have a queen and king bed respectively." The innkeeper looked at each of them imploringly.

Ren stepped up and put a hand on Yang's shoulder as all the color left the normally vibrant teen.

"Fine. I guess we will have to make do. And FYI, I hate it when you do that Ren." Yang glared at the boy who remained impassive but removed his hand none the less.

The innkeeper handed over two sets of keys, his hands shaking so badly they jingled like little bells.

"Seems to me you have a bit of a problem there, girly. I'll have you know I have plenty of space in my bed if you need a place to stay."

All five turned to the new voice with disgust. The skeazy mullet sporting blonde gave, what I'm sure he thought was a charming grin, but only made the girls cringe.

"Yang it will be fine, ignore him. Nora and Ren can share the smaller bed. It won't be any different than last night if we share with Jaune." Ruby glared at the sketchy newcomer as she tried to placate her sister.

"Come on babe. Ditch the loser and spend the night with a real man."

"And that would be… you?" Yang rose an eyebrow as she finally turned to look over the slimeball.

"Yup. Shay Mann at your service." He gave a mock bow that opened his coat a bit to show how he was armed.

"Please tell me your middle initial is a D." Nora popped between Yang and Shay and looked at him in morbid curiosity.

"You heard of me or somethin'? Full name's Shay Dandelion Mann." He scowled as Nora let out a peel of laughter, Yang snorted, and Ruby devolved into giggles.

"What? That funny to you?"

"Shay D. Mann!? Your parents must have HATED you!" Nora howled with laughter.

"I was an orphan bitch." He put his hand on his pistol as he scowled.

"So was I. But Nora Valkyrie is an amazing name, so I know they at least loved me when I was born."

"Why you little." Shay growled as he went to draw his gun only for his arm to be grabbed by Jaune.

"Sorry about her. Nora can be… a bit much. We don't want any trouble." Jaune tried to diffuse the situation and after a bit of a standoff where Shay tried and failed to break Jaune's grip, he relaxed and released his weapon.

"You should consider yourself lucky though. On the ferry ride over they paged some guy named Michael Hunt. I'm sure, with enough therapy, he'll be okay... Maybe..." Jaune shuddered at the memory of the hollow, dead look in the man's eyes when they dragged Nora away. Leaving him twitching and alone on a bench in the boarding terminal.

"Fine. I guess we can let this slide. Be a shame to damage that fine face of yours." He sent a gleaming smile at Yang who just rolled her eyes.

"Hey Jake. Sorry I'm late the rest of the team had to take the airship over to…. Do we have a problem here?" The huntsman paused just inside the door and reached back to grab the riffle slung across his back.

"No problems here. In fact, we were about to kiss and make up. Right Blondie?" Shay sent a wink at Yang.

"Punch his stupid teeth in!" Jaune winced at the volume of Amber's shout in his mind.

Shay puckered his lips and reached out to run his hand through Yang's hair.

Jaune winced again knowing what was about to occur. He winced harder as a wave of heat washed over him, and the sound of Yang's fist meeting flesh rang throughout the inn. He was all out of winces, as he watched the man bounce off two walls the ceiling and the floor before ricocheting past the huntsman and out the front door.

Jaune looked down and kicked the tooth that was spinning on the floor, out the still flapping door, after its owner.

The huntsman had barely moved, he just watched the man fly by. "Well my guess is he needed to be taught that 'No means, NO'? I take it you five are the Beacon kids I'm supposed to be looking out for." He turned to regard the assembled team RYNJR.

"Yes sir, I have a letter here from Mrs. Goodwitch." Jaune started rummaging through his pack.

"Which way did you guys come? The guard said a group of kids came in through the west gate. But that road is closed because of a huge Grimm horde on this end and a Petra Gigas on the other end. My team actually left to get some extra ammo to try and break through next week. Our scheduled supply drop didn't show. Again." He scratched his head as Nora and Ruby beamed at him.

"Whelp, you are welcome." Nora bounded over and began to shake his hand in a way that bordered on assault.

"Yup. All in a day's work." Ruby smiled proudly.

"Wait, you cleared the entire road?"

"It's been a busy day." Jaune nodded.

"In one day?" The huntsman looked at them in disbelief.

"Look buddy. We are awesome what else can you say." Yang gave him a wink. "But we are also tired, and on a schedule. When is that ship coming back? We need to get to Mistral."

"Should be back at dawn, we can get her fueled up and ready to go by mid-morning." He massaged his hand, his Aura flooding it as he tested his grip.

"Sweet. Well I'm going to go check out the room." Yang slipped the keys from Jaune's fingers, and hefted his pack, sauntering off with Ruby trailing. He tossed the other key to Ren with a smile and watched Nora pull him off, rushing to catch up to Yang.

Jaune turned to the innkeeper, leaving the huntsman to scratch his head in disbelief as he read over the letter.

"Excuse me. Jake? Was it? I'm sorry about my friends, they can be a bit high strung. Do you by any chance offer room service? Oh, and do you have a washing machine we can use?" The innkeeper was much more relaxed now that Yang had left. He pulled out a menu and a sheet listing the amenities available.

"Oh, great. Let's see. Can you deliver 3 burgers… No, Yang will probably want two, better make it 4. With 3 orders of fries and chocolate shakes for the honeymoon suite? Are the chocolate chip cookies really as big as your head?" Jaune got an affirmative nod, as the innkeeper rapidly scribbled out the order.

"Great then one of those as well. And for the presidential suite another Burger with fries and a vanilla shake, Nora hates chocolate ice cream for some reason. Also, a chef's salad with an herbal tea. Oh, and a short stack of your buttermilk pancakes, but only include a little bit of syrup, like one of those ramekin thingies. Whatever you do, do NOT send a whole bottle." His tone made the man raise his head in alarm before going back to his notes and underlining something three times.

"I'll also take 5 of the laundry bags and the plush robes if you please."

Two men slipped out the tavern while the Huntsman was distracted and approached the downed bandit, who was trying to get his bearings back and shaking his head slightly while sitting in the middle of the street.

"Shay, you alright man?" The taller one with the jet-black hair came up and helped him to his feet while the slightly shorter one with chestnut hair and arm wraps came up to his other side in case he needed help walking.

"Ungh, Damn bitch hits like a truck." Shay rubbed his jaw while his tongue probed the gap in his teeth. Shay took a few wobbly steps forward while his comrades held out their hands, ready to catch him if he stumbled.

Shay bent down and picked up his tooth off the sidewalk as he looked back into the inn. His hand reached for his gun before thinking better of it. "Micky, what did you hear after I was… ejected from the premises." He gave a wry smile.

The brown-haired bandit stepped forward a bit as the three of them turned and walked toward the edge of town. "The huntsman's team are out of town and won't be back till morning. But those kids are Hunters too. The huntsman called them 'Kids from Beacon'."

"So not Hunters, just trainees. First years I'd wager. The one in red hardly looked old enough to even attend. But Goldie sure looked old enough for what I got planned. Gather the tribe, tell Raven we should attack early. With only the one huntsman and a few trainees it'll be a cake walk. Probably won't even need to fight, surround the town and they'll lay down like dogs to save themselves. If we hit them just before dawn, we can lay a trap to take the airship as soon as it lands."

"But boss, those kids, they came in from the west gate. And it seems like they…" Shay whirled on them.

"You saying I can't take a bunch of first year wannabe Huntsmen? You think I'm weak? Think you can take my place? I got sucker punched, damn it! Not letting that happen again." Shay rounded on his two cronies, who shared a nervous look.

The taller one stepped in front of his buddy slightly while raising his hands. "No one is saying that it's just that…"

"That Blonde Bimbo is going to fetch a nice price. Looks like hers? No way she doesn't have somebody back home willing to pay, even for slightly damaged merchandise. And if not, she will fetch a ton of Lien in Mistral's lower levels. Either way, I can't wait to break her in." Shay turned back rubbing his hands together as his friends shared another nervous look.

"Boss, ahh, if Raven hears you saying stuff like that…" The brown-haired bandit looked nervously around.

"Then she better not 'hear' anything. But it ain't like she is going to care about or be watching one stuck up little bitch with a whole town full of prisoners to ransom. And what she don't know about won't hurt me."

Jaune knocked softly on the door, only for it to fly open as Ruby hopped up and down excitedly.

"Jaune you need to check it out. The bed is enormous! And there is a heart shaped jacuzzi tub right in the room! And the bathroom is amazing too! It's all glass and mirrors and it's huge, all three of us could fit in the shower!" Ruby bounced on her heels before pulling Jaune in, him stumbling forward from the suddenness of it.

"What you got there?" Yang looked up from where she was unpacking her gear, at the armload of clothes and the bags in Jaune's arms.

"The inn offers a 2-hour laundry service. You throw your cloths in one of these bags, then ring the front desk, they come and get it, wash them and then return it all back in around two hours. I thought after being on the road for so long we can all use some clean clothes. And I got us some robes to wear while we wait" Jaune made a face as he sniffed the sleeve of his shirt.

"Is this a ploy to get us naked?" Yang gave him her patented 'Flirk', aka the flirty smirk.

"Har, dee, har, har. If anything, it's a ploy to get me some clean clothes, I don't know about you guys but I'm already re-wearing cloths I normally wouldn't. Do either of you need to use the bathroom? I'm going to go change. If you two want to change out here, that's fine, I'll let you know before I come out." He tossed 2 laundry bags and 2 robes on the bed and headed for the bathroom. Jaune didn't sound mad or anything, just tired, bored even, Yang frowned at the lack of any response. And Ruby just waved him into the bathroom. Beaming when she heard him exclaim, "Wow Ruby, you weren't kidding this is bigger than our entire dorm room!"

"He is getting harder to tease. Is he becoming immune to my feminine charms?" Yang pouted as she began pulling out cloths and giving them a sniff test before deciding to just shove everything into the laundry bag. She moved to stand to the side of the door, out of any lines of sight before she stripped down and don the rob so she could get her full wardrobe cleaned.

"What are you talking about? You hate it when guys leer." Ruby jumped onto the bed kicking her feet. Yang rose an eyebrow at how she was already in the robe and had her laundry bag stuffed full by the door. She looked around at the rose petals scattered around.

"I normally do. But we are in the honeymoon suite, and it's Jaune, he should be all kinds of blushy. Especially since you certainly aren't doing anything to dissuade the romantic image." She nodded at the petals on the bed and Ruby just shrugged.

There was a knock from the bathroom door and Yang bristled donning and fidgeting with her robe. Trying to get the optimum cleavage revealed without giving up the goods so to speak. "Hold on a sec!" The robes had a high sash that when tied, covered everything well, the length was good too, except on Ruby where it almost dragged on the floor. Now, normally all those would be positive things, but currently it only left Yang frustrated. Tightening the sash aggressively she finally gave up. "Okay, fine. We are good."

Jaune casually walked out, and Yang despite her best efforts couldn't tell if he was commando or not under the robe. Not for want of trying, as Jaune bent down to empty his pack into the laundry bag.

There was a knock at the door and Jaune got up to open it, after checking if it was okay with the girls. He opened the door allowing a younger lady with a trolly to enter the room. She looked around at the rose petals strewn about and their robes and gave a raised eyebrow to the girls.

"Oh, do you mind taking our laundry with you? We have three pretty full bags here." Jaune turned back and finished stuffing cloths in his bag.

"That will be no problem sir. You enjoy your evening." She smirked at him as she grabbed the laundry and backed out the door closing it tightly behind her, moving the 'Do not Disturb' sign to the outside handle. Of course, the subtle implication went over his head until Amber perked up.

"You know she thinks you're serving up the meat with two vag, right?"

"hmm?" Jaune hummed in confusion, trying to disguise it as actual humming.

"She thought you are going to be the cream filling in the Manwich."

"Hunh?"

"A double play with the sister act?"

"err?"

"Sex Jaune. A ménage a trois."

"ohhhhhhhhh." Jaune turned away from the two girls awkwardly watching him in confusion as his whole face began to glow red. Amber just cackled in his head furthering his embarrassment.

"I, uh….. I ordered us some food." He gestured at the trolley stacked with plates all covered with a silver cloche. As he willed his blush to go down and refused to look at either of the girls.

Luckily for Jaune, Ruby found the cookie like a bloodhound. Her squeal of delight and the subsequent fight with Yang, who insisted she eat the real food first, distracted everyone from the blushing mess Jaune had become.

The remainder of the evening was spent enjoying a lovely meal and watching an action comedy. Time flew, and before they knew it, their clothes arrived. Jaune let the girls go first, as they took turns getting showered and ready for bed.

Yang was running a towel through her hair, her and Ruby dressed in their newly clean sleepwear. "Seems a shame we aren't going to use the hot-tub."

"If you or Ruby want to use, I don't mind going for a walk or even just staying in the bathroom." Jaune paused, pulling out his PJs as he got ready for his turn in the bathroom.

"Nahhh. That's just silly. Besides I don't have a swimsuit and I don't want to get my nice clean undies wet. And it's already getting pretty late. It just doesn't seem like a sensible idea, you know?" Ruby busied herself prepping her side of the bed.

"Just seems like a waste is all." Yang looked longingly at the tub before turning her attention to Jaune. "You sure you don't mind sleeping on the floor? We can take shifts in the bed or something."

"Don't worry about it Yang. I'm going to stack up all our bed pads to make a mattress. It'll be way softer than the ground we've been sleeping on. Besides I've been sleeping really deeply lately. I'll be fine." Jaune smiled as he gathered his things and headed to the bathroom. "Goodnight guys, I'm going to shower, you guys can just turn off the lights and go to sleep if you want, don't worry about me."

"Yeah. Okay. Goodnight to you too Jaune." Yang smiled as the door closed and she swung her feet into the bed. Ruby turned off the lights and hopped into the bed on the other side.

"He'll be fine Yang. Try and get some sleep. We have another long trip tomorrow." Ruby pulled on her night mask and snuggled down into her pillows with a sigh.

"Yeah. I guess so." Yang fluffed up her pillow and turned to regard the door.

After a few moments of laying in the dark yang reached over to prod her sister. "Hey Rubes, under your robe what were you wearing?"

"Nothing, why? What's it matter? I wanted to get all my cloths clean while I could." Ruby started to react defensively, causing Yang to hold her hands out in a placating gesture.

"Easy Rubes, I did the same. Do you think Jaune was you know, commando?" Yang lay back with her hands knit behind her head.

"Probably."

"I've never been so close to being naked with a boy before. It should have been weird. Especially with my sister being nearly naked on the other side of him. And the three of sitting in the Honeymoon suite of all places."

"Yang, that is stupid. You're showing far more skin right now dressed in your regular sleepwear. Heck your combat gear shows more than those fluffy oversized robes did." Ruby lifted her mask and regarded her sister with a critical look.

"It's the principle of it!" Yang turned to glare at her.

"Okay. Well, in principle, every day you sit next to him completely naked except for the clothes covering you. This wasn't any different." Yang huffed and turned away. The silence stretched for several minutes.

"Hey Rubes, do you think there is something wrong with Jaune? I mean he used to be fun to tease but lately it hasn't really affected him as much. Has he become immune, or is he just incapable of seeing any of us in a romantic light unless we knock him over the head with it?" Yang lay back staring blankly up towards the ceiling.

"By 'us' I assume you mean 'you', but I have noticed something about your 'teasing'. You just aren't trying as hard anymore." In the semi darkness Ruby could see Yang's eyes go wide. "Now that it has some truth to it, you aren't as aggressive or mean about it anymore. You are sort of holding back. Pulling your punches."

"I… that's troubling." Yang continued to stare ahead.

"But I think it's also like a defense mechanism for him." Ruby put her mask down around her neck and lay back regarding Yang through the reflection in the mirrored ceiling.

"How so?" Yang focused in on Ruby's reflection.

"Well, I think since he wears his heart on his sleeve so much, it's just easier for him to just be blissfully ignorant rather than accept the possibility. I think subconsciously he denies the possibility rather than accept the risk of upsetting the status quo. Doesn't help that he has a bit of an inferiority complex. Ultimately though I think primarily he is afraid of risking the relationships he already has, especially on what he considers a long shot."

"Wow. Ruby that's pretty introspective."

"Yeah. Well, I am SUPER deep."

Ruby put her mask back on as Yang gave a weak chuckle, once again allowing the silence to stretch on.

"I can't help but think about him, though. He has always been a tough one for me to figure out. I mean he acts so unsure of himself most of the time, but in actual life or death combat he takes charge like he was born to lead. His lack of basic combat skills is weird considering how easily he picks things up and how dedicated he is. Why wasn't he trained before? He certainly has the talent and drive. Imagine how far along he'd be if he went to Signal with us." Yang sighed heavily, while Ruby hummed in quiet agreement.

"But, I'm worried. He has been acting differently since the attack on Beacon. Not really in a bad way, just different. It's hard to put your finger on." Yang sighed.

"Ehh. It's probably nothing to worry about. He just got his semblance; it's probably affecting him more than we know. Let's talk to Nora about it tomorrow if you are still worried. But for right now, let's try and get some rest." Ruby rolled over and adjusted her sleep mask. Seconds later she was snoring softly.

"Goodnight Ruby." Yang whispered as she rolled over to stare at the door. Watching the light coming from under the door go out. A few moments later the shower could be heard along with off key singing.

Jaune stepped into the bathroom and grabbed his toothbrush. As he stood back up after spitting out some of the excess toothpaste, he looked up to the mirror to see Amber staring back at him.

He probably would have let out a dignified and manly shriek, except: One, it's Jaune we are talking about. Two, he did not want to wake Yang and or Ruby. And three he still had a mouth full of toothpaste.

So, instead of a scream it was a garbled, choked cry that resulted in his mouthful of toothpaste flying out in a fine spray covering the mirror in little white dots. It was only by grabbing the towel bar and the edge of the sink that he managed to not fall on his ass.

"Hiya! Nice to see you in the flesh." Amber nodded down to where his robe had fallen open clearly exposing a broad stripe of skin, but luckily not 'little Jaune and his Merry Men'. Her name for it, not his. Her wide and frankly perverted smile made all his instincts scream stranger danger.

"Amber! What are you doing? How long have you been able to do that?" He hurriedly gathered up his robe securing it with a very tight knot.

"Hunh, that's a good question. I don't really know. You haven't been around many reflective surfaces in the last couple days."

"Well stop it! It's creepy." Jaune adjusted his robe a bit more. And tried to use a washcloth to clean the mirror only to make it a streaky mess.

"Awe, come on Jaune, you show me yours, I'll show you mine."

"Amber knock it off this isn't funny." Jaune turned away only to be confronted with a different full-length mirror. Reflected within was an image of Amber, fully naked but arms and hands covering everything important. It was gone in a flash, but not before she gave an exaggerated wink. The laughter in his mind made it clear it had not been his imagination.

"Why are there so many dust damned mirrors in here?" Jaune tried to find a corner of the bathroom what wasn't shiny glass and failed miserably.

"It's the honeymoon suite. What did you expect? This place was built with one thing in mind and it was for getting dirty, not clean."

Growling to himself Jaune quickly made a mental map of his surroundings and reached out to turn off the light. The room was bathed in darkness, before he flooded his aura into his hands and feet. Which produced just enough of a glow to make out what he was doing and protected him from an inevitable stubbed toe, but it was not enough to really see anything.

"Oh, come on! You are being childish. You know I'm going to see everything eventually. I can literally see everything you see."

Jaune reached the shower and turned on the water. He began singing as loudly as he dared without disturbing the girls in the next room. He deliberately picked a song that he knew Amber hated, and for extra vindictive pleasure sang off key. He had found if he concentrated, he could sort of turn down her volume, even if he couldn't fully mute her. Yet. But why would he? When the sound of her voice pleading with him to stop was such sweet, sweet music to his ears.

~~-Yellow Maidens-~~

AN: The Grimm horde they so casually murderated in the beginning was the same one Qrow took out single handedly when he was shadowing team RNGR. Qrow's not with them this time so they took care of it on their own, like the badasses they are.

True story: At my sister's Graduation from college they were calling roll for the kids to come up an get their diploma's and one of the kids was named Michael Hunt. I, being the mature Man-child that I am, started laughing loudly. That got me questioning looks from my brother to which I responded, "Do you think he goes by Mike or Michael? Sound it out." Which he did. Out loud. And then laughed very loudly at it, keying in most of our section in the auditorium to the joke. This earned a significant amount of ire from my mortified (and very prim and proper) mother, who told us to stop because "What if his parents are sitting right next to us." I responded, and not at all subtly mind you, "I hope they are. Then they will know what they have done." That actually earned a laugh from the guy sitting behind me. So, solid win for me.