Hello, all!

It's been a while since I uploaded a chapter for this fic. It's a lot of setup, so I apologize if you were expecting more Arkos destruction today.

Apparently this is the longest chapter I've ever written, clocking in at over 5000 words. I'm on fire, son.

Beta: Maxaro. Why garlic sauce...? Who the hell uses garlic sauce? Why couldn't it be something simple like salad dressing? Resurrection's already a touch-n-go business as it is...

Enjoy!

The morning was hard for Pyrrha.

It was marginally improved with the fact that she had to finish packing quickly, what with her flight to a fort just outside Vale's capital (which, surprisingly enough, was not the city of Vale itself). The packing partially took her mind off of the quarrel she had just had with Jaune, but the memory was still extremely fresh, and all that Pyrrha could think about was trying to contact her estranged spouse.

Several circumstances kept her from doing so, however.

One, it would probably be a bad idea, considering that their argument had happened not even an hour ago that morning. Engaging Jaune right now would probably have been a rash decision, as she knew that she wasn't in her own right of mind, and Jaune definitely wasn't in his.

Two… she'd already tried to call him. Needless to say, the blonde wasn't answering his scroll.

Three was the biggest obstacle; her flight left in an hour, and she needed to depart for the airport immediately.

Zipping up her one and only carry-on (Pyrrha packed light – usually only the essentials and a few extra clothes) she soberly glanced at the Atlesian husky that stared expectantly at her. There wasn't really anyone she could leave Hermes with at this short of notice, and she wasn't certain that Jaune would be coming back anytime soon, even though he knew that the redhead was leaving today.

"Well, I suppose Ruby took Zwei on missions all the time," she smiled weakly. "You wanna come along, Hermes?"

The dog panted and cocked his head.

Despite her sour mood, Pyrrha chuckled in spite of herself. "It's not like either of us have any say in the matter," she murmured, ruffling Hermes's head. "C'mon boy. Time for you to see some action."

Of course, upon uttering that, she remembered acutely what her mission was. "Or maybe not…"

With a heavy sigh, she pulled on her trademark Spartan armor. It had not seen much change over the years; maintenance and upgrades brought reinforced armor and more flexibility, as well as additional plates to her arm armor, but aesthetically it remained extremely similar to the armor she had worn since her years at Beacon.

Which was a becoming more and more of a bitter memory the more she brooded over it.

Shaking the thoughts from her head in a dispirited manner, she trudged out the front door, and the husky followed behind her.

It was going to be a very long day for the huntress.

"Good morning, Mrs. Arc!" greeted the airship's overly exuberant flight attendant.

Pyrrha glared at the cheery young man. "I thought my name was changed in the last report log. It's Nikos," she snapped.

"Oh… uh, my apologies, ma'am," stuttered the attendant, losing his jovial demeanor and shrinking back slightly.

Immediately Pyrrha felt bad, and she heaved a deep sigh. "I… I'm sorry. I didn't mean to snap at you. I've just been having a terrible morning."

"Uh… okay. Again, my apologies." The attendant hastily returned to his cheerier self. "Is there anything I can do to make your flight more pleasant? Perhaps for the dog?"

"Don't worry about it." Pyrrha attempted to smile. "I just can't help but wonder… I'm only one person. Why bring in a whole airship instead of the regular bullheads?"

"Well, someone of your status certainly deserves the best, Mrs. A- I mean, Ms. Nikos," responded the attendant merrily.

Always with the pampering, Pyrrha thought sourly as she boarded the airship. Can't anyone treat me like a normal fucking person for once? Like Jaune did…?

She immediately stopped that train of thought in its tracks. Dammit.

"Ms. Nikos?"

Pyrrha shook herself out her daze. "Yes?"

Hermes whined at her feet, and behind her, the attendant looked at her worriedly. "You just stopped walking. Are you sure you're okay?"

"I'm fine," insisted the huntress, and she briskly took her seat by the window.

"Well, I'll be nearby if you need me, so feel free to call out!" offered the young man.

"Sure," Pyrrha replied shortly. Please just leave me alone.

The attendant was nice, no doubt, but his overbearing cheerfulness had long worn out its welcome.

She stared after the young man as he walked off, and as he disappeared from the sitting area, Pyrrha gave a sigh of relief and stared out the all-encompassing window, the din of rampant thoughts slowly drowning out as she preoccupied her eyes with the view that the airship provided.

The airship took off promptly, and she wasn't sure how much time had passed before she was jolted out of her trance by another overly happy flight attendant. "Good morning, Ms. Nikos!"

Pyrrha stared in irritation at the young lady. Where do these people keep coming from!? How many people do they think they need to accommodate for me!?

It took everything in her power not to answer irately. "What do you want?" she muttered darkly.

"Would you like anything to drink?" The attendant smiled. "We've stocked up on our selections of wine this fine Wednesday morning. Perhaps a nice glass of pinot noir?"

Pyrrha squinted at the lady. "Alcohol? This early in the day?"

The attendant shrugged, almost in an embarrassed manner. "You'd be surprised, Ms. Nikos. We've had plenty of passengers who've abused the alcohol privileges before we've even taken off. Needless to say, they were not the most pleasant of customers."

Pyrrha nodded, seriously considering wine. It seemed very appealing to drown her sorrow, especially to forget the day's earlier events…

She physically slapped herself. That was a bad route to go; that last time she'd dabbled in wine, things had ended very badly, as was apparent now.

More importantly, this was a business trip. It was in her best interests to remain professional, despite the gnawing feeling of misery that attacked her conscience mercilessly.

"I'll have the chamomile tea instead, thank you very much," Pyrrha responded to the attendant, who seemed very concerned for some reason.

Oh right. She'd slapped herself seemingly for no reason. Whoops.

"R-right away, Ms. Nikos," answered the attendant uneasily, and she left to fetch the tea, looking over her shoulder as if she was expecting the huntress to transform into some mystical werebeast the moment she looked away.

Pyrrha sighed for the umpteenth time that morning. She already had enough to worry about without the flight attendants thinking that she was crazy.

It was two hours before the airship landed, although it seemed agonizingly longer to the redheaded huntress.

Within that time, she had drifted in and out of fitful sleep. She wasn't necessarily tired or sleepy, per se; rather, it was something to do as opposed to mulling over her argument with Jaune, which was apparently the only thing that she could think about while awake.

She stared at her feet, where Hermes was snoring peacefully.

Much to her own chagrin, she was jealous of the husky for being able to sleep so easily.

Gradually shaking the drowsiness off of her, she rose to her feet and made her way towards the exit of the airship. Hermes woke at the slightest movement and pranced after her, his tail wagging behind him.

"We hope you had a wonderful flight!"

Pyrrha jumped at the two flight attendants' appearance, both of whom seemingly appeared from out of nowhere. "Uh, yeah… thanks," she mumbled, immediately conscious of her own morning breath. She gave them a grateful nod, which, at this point in her waking-up process, was just her slumping her head forward in a lackadaisical manner.

As badly as she felt for thinking so, she somewhat hoped that she wouldn't be seeing those two again.

The door of the airship opened, and the sun beat down heavily from above. Pyrrha's eyes watered at the sheer brightness, and she lifted an arm to ease her vision as she walked from the plane to the fort that would be providing her housing for the next few days.

Ft. Soap was designed with many things in mind. Its first and foremost function was to protect the inhabitants inside safe from any outside forces; in that sense, it sort of reminded Pyrrha of Beacon. The fort's second function was as a place of council, a place for officials to meet and discuss politics, economics, and social issues that needed to be addressed. It had once been used as a key point of defense for Vale during the wars of old, but its military designation had since been retired, and it now stood as a major building of Valean government.

Another young woman in military uniform (her nametag identified her as "Lt. Ashera") greeted Pyrrha at the lobby of the fortress and offered to show the redhead to her room. Pyrrha graciously accepted.

The room assigned to her resided on the first floor of the building, as were most of the other hunter quarters (they usually were placed so strategically. If the building was breached, the hunters and military personnel served as the fortresses remaining line of defense). It was comfortably spacious, had a TV, one bed, a small kitchen, a closet, and a workable bathroom. The room had no windows, providing no view of the outside world, but Pyrrha didn't mind.

In fact, the room was very much to her liking.

As Hermes curiously ventured in to explore the unfamiliar space, the huntress placed her luggage at the foot of the closet and immediately went to the bathroom to freshen up and brush her teeth.

"I've placed your detailed schedule on your bed, Ms. Nikos," the lieutenant called out. "Remember the meetings don't start until tomorrow morning, so feel free to settle in and get acquainted with other officials here for the conference. There's also a gym on the second floor and a cafeteria in the central area of the first, all for your convenience."

"Mmmm," garbled Pyrrha through a mouthful of toothpaste. She rinsed out her mouth quickly. "Thank you, lieutenant."

Ashera saluted the huntress. "The pleasure is mine, ma'am." And she marched off.

Pyrrha proceeded to wash her face. "The gym sounds like a great idea right about now," she murmured to herself. "I can always meet the higher-ups later this afternoon."

Stripping out of her Spartan armor, she packed the essentials and her weapons away in a duffel bag and pulled on sweatpants and a sports bra, as well as a clean towel, which she flung over her shoulder.

She turned towards Hermes. "You be good while I'm gone, okay?"

The dog panted happily in response.

"Good boy." Pyrrha ruffled the dog's head and promptly left the room, with hope that a workout would keep her distracted from real life.

Like the locker rooms at Beacon, the second floor gym locker room was co-ed and exclusively for hunter use only. If you wanted to change, there were dressing rooms and gender-separated showers near the back that provided for sufficient decency between the sexes. Hunters also maintained high moral standards; although such a locker room arrangement was more likely for any… transgressions to occur, the hunters usually refrained from such activity, and for the one anomaly filthy enough to harass a fellow hunter, such transgressions usually were met with a beat down provided by either the "victim" or the fellow hunters around them, so the locker room usually functioned without problems.

Pyrrha trudged towards her locker, slightly sore from the eight-mile run she went on as her warm-up. Entering in the locker's code, Pyrrha pulled out her weapons and armor, as well as a water bottle and a towel. All of the combat simulation rooms were empty, and the huntress had every intention to knock the living snot out of a few robot dummies.

Taking a greedy swig from her bottle, Pyrrha sighed and shut her locker door…

… and caught sight of the tall, tan-skinned man that leaned against the locker directly adjacent of her locker, squinting at the redheaded huntress curiously.

"YAAAAAAAARGGGHHH!"

Pyrrha jumped back, fumbling Milo in her main hand. "What the fuck are you doing!?"

The man rolled his eyes. "Good lord, calm down, lady. I was sizing you up, that's all."

Pyrrha glared at her unwanted visitor in neon blue-and-yellow workout clothes. He was obviously very physically fit and had the body of a swimmer. His face was angular and fostered a five o'clock shadow. His hair was long, brown, and wavy, and was currently pulled up in a small man bun. His dark brown eyes seemed very disinterested in Pyrrha, but the playful smirk of his face suggested otherwise.

"Sizing me up?" Pyrrha narrowed her eyes. "What exactly is that supposed to mean?"

The brown-haired man ignored her question. Instead, he lazily shifted his weight to the other foot. "You're Pyrrha Nikos, right?"

Pyrrha gripped Milo tighter. "So what if I am?"

"I've heard stories about you, y'know," shrugged the man, leaning his weight against the lockers. "But that's all they are to me. Stories. I figured, if we're going to be working together, I might as well get to know you for myself."

"'Working together?'" Pyrrha wondered aloud. "Is your name Caraway Du Lac, by any chance?"

The man grinned. "In the flesh," he replied, bowing in a very grand fashion.

Pyrrha sighed. The man's arrogance was slowly getting on her nerves.

"So what say you?" prodded Caraway. "How 'bout you and I have ourselves a little spar?"

As much as she didn't initially like the man, she forced herself to consider his offer. She was about to go spar as they spoke, and at least with the other huntsman, it would definitely save her the trouble of having to fight a bunch of mediocre robots that put up very little of a challenge.

Pyrrha hmphed. "I accept your offer," she replied curtly. "But don't expect me to go easy on you."

"I'd be sorely disappointed if you did," grinned the huntsman.

A few minutes later, they circled each other on one of the vacant training rooms. Pyrrha led with Akouo in front of her and Milo behind her, poised to strike.

Caraway's combat outfit starkly contrasted his bright workout gear. He wore a simple black tunic covered by a brown long coat, unbuttoned but held together by three black straps across his chest and abdomen. His forearms were protected by silver fingerless gauntlets, with the athletic tape showing from underneath them. He wore dark green pants with combat boots, protected by silver greaves made in the same style as the gauntlets. Not much other armor surrounded his body, save the few small plates that were sewn on to the coat's shoulders. An intricate-looking blue cube hung from his belt.

Pyrrha continued to circle warily. "Do you seriously plan on fighting me without a weapon?"

"Absolutely," smirked Caraway. "But trust me, my weapon is right where it need to be."

And before Pyrrha could protest, the huntsman bolted forward.

She met his fists with her shield, keeping herself handily protected amidst the flurry of methodic punches from the huntsman, all the while looking for an opening.

Before long, she found her opening with ease.

With a deflection of her shield, she used the momentum to thrust Milo forward as Caraway opened himself up.

Smirking, Caraway brought his other hand towards the cube at his waist and tossed it at the oncoming spear.

Pyrrha blinked in surprise as the cube's deceptive weight packed enough punch to throw off Milo's strike.

"And now you're open," smiled Caraway, and he punched her square in the solar plexus.

The move had taken her completely off-guard, and Pyrrha suddenly found herself lying on her back, with the wind knocked out of her.

"You okay over there?" laughed Caraway, although a hint of genuine concern came through with his laugh.

"I'm… fine…" gritting her teeth, Pyrrha forced herself to stand up. A quick glance at her scroll revealed that her aura levels had almost dropped to yellow.

Shit.

With a roar, Pyrrha went on the offensive, and Caraway matched her blow for blow with his armored fists.

For the next ten minutes, neither gave the other any leeway. Pyrrha occasionally found and opening, and Caraway would successfully deflect it with the cube while pushing his own attack, and vice-versa. The huntress grudgingly admitted to herself that Caraway was, indeed, a worthy opponent, even without his weapon – or was it that blasted cube?

The finally broke apart, both breathing heavily.

"Ready to give in?" teased the huntsman, spreading his arms grandly.

"In your dreams," retorted Pyrrha, silently questioning Caraway's gesture. Was a huntsman of his caliber really being that careless by leaving himself so stupidly open? Or was he daring her to attack him, hiding even more tricks up his sleeve?

Pyrrha decided to take her chances and blurred forward, with Milo closing in on Caraway's right lung.

She saw him smirk and immediately knew it was a mistake.

Caraway's right hand lowered slightly, the cube already in hand. With one swift motion, he tossed it upwards – and she saw it opening. It happened faster than the untrained eye could see, but Pyrrha made out two prongs of a crossguard first, then a two-handed hilt, and lastly the large, five-inch-thick blade with a sturdy central cylindrical support extending in sections that rapidly came down upon her weapon - and her head.

It took every burning muscle to push herself in a different direction. The zweihander's descent would not only have stopped Milo's attack cold in its track, but also would have crushed Pyrrha and depleted what aura she had left.

She felt her right ankle twist and winced in pain as she tucked and rolled away from the large blade, which collided with the ground a few inches from where Pyrrha currently lay.

Steadily rising to her feet, she limped backwards swiftly, hiding the limp as best as she could.

Caraway lifted the zweihander from its resting spot with both hands and wiped his brow with his shoulder. "Damn. Thought I had you there."

It was Pyrrha's turn to smirk, although it was very much a bluff, given her current condition. "Not quite."

She charged again.

Caraway met Pyrrha's blows with surprising grace, and their flurry continued for a while.

Finally, after what seemed like forever, Pyrrha found another opening. But instead of using her spear to strike, she bashed Caraway's chest with her shield.

He let out an audible "Oomph!" and Pyrrha took advantage of his surprise to land a finishing blow.

She stopped short as she saw his weapon transform again.

The hilt bent in the middle, forming an L-shaped handle, while the blade retracted into the support, and the support retracted into it as well until only a foot of the support protruded out of the cube body as a nozzle. The part of the crossguard that protruded opposite of the L-shaped handle lowered against the nozzle - and spewed a small flare.

Pyrrha's eyes widened as she once again hastened a retreat before the space before her was engulfed in flames.

"Is there anything that your weapon doesn't do?" snarled Pyrrha, thoroughly annoyed.

"It can't brew beer, which is unfortunate," admitted Caraway with a completely serious expression.

"You fucker," growled Pyrrha, and she transformed her own weapon to its rifle form and fired a barrage of shots at the huntsman.

He retaliated with a wave of flame that chased after Pyrrha as she forced herself to go on the move, despite the jolts of pain shooting up her right leg.

Before long the inferno engulfed everything in sight, and Caraway stopped to reload his fire dust charges. The flames cleared, and he noticed something very off about the scene in front of him.

Pyrrha was there alright, down on one knee, panting heavily, and doing her best to ward of the surrounding flames.

Her shield, however, was gone.

Pyrrha grinned, a wicked glint in her eye, and she lifted her unarmed left hand.

Caraway blinked momentarily before the shield rammed into the back of his head, knocking him off his feet.

As the shield magnetically flew towards its owner, Pyrrha dashed towards Caraway, using Milo to easily disarm the stunned huntsman and rammed her shoulder into him, knocking him back the other way.

Caraway landed flat on his back and looked up to find Pyrrha's heel against his chest and Milo against his neck.

"Uh…" he groaned. "I yield."

"Goddamn, the stories don't lie," muttered Caraway as he rubbed the back of his head.

"You're not too shabby yourself," replied Pyrrha, taking a swig of water. "A little cheap, maybe, but formidable nonetheless."

The two sat slumped against the wall of the otherwise empty locker room, changed into their workout clothes. Both were exhausted and sore all over, but it was a good hurt, especially since it kept the thought of Jaune far from Pyrrha's woozy mind for the moment.

"Cheap!?" Caraway feigned outrage. "How dare you, Alondite is a gem! Besides, your weapon has multiple forms, too, and you have a shield. I think I'm the one at a disadvantage here."

"Yes, but you've got a weapon that's a zweihander and a flamethrower. Just say that out loud. That sounds very flashy, like you're compensation for something," teased Pyrrha.

"You hurt my pride, ma'am," laughed the huntsman. "How's your foot doing?"

Pyrrha glanced down. Her right ankle had swollen considerably, but as far as she could tell, nothing was broken. "It'll be alright."

"Well, I'm sorry about that," offered Caraway. "I honestly didn't know you got that badly hurt for the whole of the round! You hid it pretty well."

"I've had worse," Pyrrha smirked in a rare show of pride.

"I find it hard to believe that anyone could've laid a finger on someone with your expertise," chuckled the huntsman.

"I could say the same for you."

"Alright, don't patronize me," laughed Caraway. "You wiped the floor with me, fair and square."

Pyrrha laughed.

They sat there in silence for a while, basking in the air conditioning.

Caraway finished his water bottle and crumpled it up in between his fingers. "Welp. You got anything planned for tonight?"

With a snort, Pyrrha replied, "It's only 1pm, you know. In any case, I'm going to shower up, grab something to eat, and meet with some of the delegates we'll be working with. I suggest you do the same."

"Well…" Caraway smirked. "Maybe we could do all that stuff together? Minus the showering part, of course. And afterwards… I know there's not a lot else to do here, but I hear they've got a basketball court if you wanna play, or… ooh! They've got a movie room! I forgot about that. I hear they're playing 'The Grand Mantle Hotel' directed by Nes Manderson. Love his movies."

Pyrrha gave him a sideways glance. "Are you… actually asking me out on a date? On a business trip?"

Caraway shrugged. "Doesn't have to be a date."

Pyrrha sighed, growing depressed as the suppressed memories from earlier that morning rose to the surface once more. "Caraway… I'm getting divorced."

"O-oh." Caraway's eyes widened. "Shit, I'm sorry. I had no idea."

"It's alright," Pyrrha assured him, albeit weakly.

The huntsman noticed this. "Well, the offer's still up, if you need to get you mind off of things, especially if you need a drinking buddy. And, well…" Caraway gave her a friendly smile. "If, at some point in the future you'd like to get back into the dating game, feel free to hit me up."

Pyrrha shifted into a more comfortable position, still slightly wary of Caraway's advances. "You're very bold, you know that?"

"I've been told," grinned Caraway.

Pyrrha shook her head. "Well, I trust that you know I'm not in any such position to be dating again anytime soon. I just don't have it in me…"

"Understandable."

"But…" A mischievous twinkle gleamed in her eye. "Theoretically, if I were to get back into the 'dating game,' as you fondly refer to it, and I were to date you… lose the man bun. It looks fucking ridiculous."

Pyrrha almost laughed aloud as she saw Caraway's face sink dramatically. "But… do you know how long I've been growing this out…?"

"It still looks just as ridiculous," smirked Pyrrha. "In any case, I should go clean up and meet the delegates. Might as well get around to making a good first impression before I make a fool of myself at the conference."

"You kidding?" laughed the huntsman. "I'm pumped to be getting on with these talks!"

"Really?" Pyrrha raised an eyebrow.

"Oh please, how inept do you think I am?"

Pyrrha snickered in response. "You did come off as an arrogant prick when I first met you."

"And you came off as cold and unfriendly."

"For reasons."

"Excuses, excuses." The huntsman rolled his eyes and jumped to his feet. "In all seriousness, we could be ushering in a new era of peace between the humans and faunus with this conference as our first step!" Caraway looked legitimately excited. "Does that not pique your interest?"

Pyrrha chuckled. "I can't say that it doesn't. I'm just atrocious at public speaking, that's all."

"Oh really?" It was Caraway's turn to raise an eyebrow. "Don't you worry bout that. I'm sure you'll be fine, but if worse comes to worst, I got your back," the huntsman winked.

"Thanks," laughed Pyrrha before slinging her duffel bag over her shoulder. "Now if you'll excuse me, I'm actually going to enjoy myself a nice, warm shower."

"Alrighty," Caraway grinned. "See you at lunch?"

Pyrrha paused for a moment, then smiled back at him. "Sure. That sounds grand… but only as friends and colleagues. Got it?"

The huntsman shot her a thumbs-up. "Friends and colleagues. You got it!"

She laughed and exited the gym feeling a lot better about things than when she had entered it.

Maybe with Caraway as her partner, this mission wouldn't be so bad after all.

"I should go."

Ruby frowned. "Don't be silly, Jaune."

It was late in the evening, and Jaune and Ruby had just finished a meager meal that Ruby had insisted on cooking for the both of them.

Jaune's mind wandered in and out of reality. He had insisted on going to his teaching job that day to see if it would take his mind off of things (against Ruby's protests), but it somehow only served to make his mood worse.

Coming back to Ruby's, he had found her sitting in the kitchen waiting expectantly for him, as if she had been there since he left that morning. Ruby's mood lightened considerably at Jaune's appearance, and she immediately set to cooking dinner as soon as he arrived (against Jaune's protests).

Few words were actually exchanged between the two until now, with Jaune's sudden statement.

"Look," Jaune sighed. "I feel like I've overstayed my welcome. Besides, Pyrrha's gone, and I should go back and figure out what to do…"

"Jaune," Ruby chastised. "I don't mind you staying here. I really don't; in fact, I enjoy your company –"

"But you don't need me burdening you!" insisted Jaune. "I'm sorry, I came her and just laid all my shit on you. You've enough to worry about without me being a burden to you."

"What does that mean, 'I've got enough to worry about?'" Ruby growled, miffed. "Stop talking about my disabilities like they're crutches, because they're not. I don't treat them like crutches, so neither should you."

"I-I… sorry." Jaune slumped his head in his right arm, which leaned propped against the table. "I didn't mean to. You just… you just shouldn't have to worry about my bullshit."

"Jaune, stop." Ruby said sternly. "I'm worried about you, and Remnant be damned if you think you can stop me from doing so." Her expression became softer, and her voice more gentle. "Look, I really want to help you out. You don't have to do go through your problems alone."

"It's better that way!" Jaune replied, raising his voice. "I've already hurt Pyrrha, the dumbass that I am, and I don't need you to get hurt because of me, too!"

"You're not a dumbass for hurting Pyrrha, you're a dumbass for not being smart enough to accept your shortcomings as they are and just fucking ask for help!" Ruby yelled at him, standing up from her seat at the table.

Her intensity succeeded in shutting the blonde up promptly, and Jaune slumped back in his seat gloomily.

Ruby sighed. "The people with the strongest virtues know when to admit that they need help, or when they've fucked up. Jaune, I know you've faced these kinds of situations before, but you're so goddamn stubborn! Please, I really want to help you. These last few years have been the roughest years of your life, and… and I know what it's like to have your life practically ripped away from you."

With a start, she realized that her eyes were tearing up, and Ruby wiped at them with her human hand.

"It really hurts me to see you in pain, Jaune. You don't have to do this alone. I tried, Jaune, I tried... I tried to be bigger than me, to see the good when all I could see was the bad, but… it's been so fucking hard. I've had times after I lost my arm when I was just an emotional train wreck and I needed someone to be there for me, but I didn't ever have that. I tried to smile, Jaune… it's so hard."

Ruby bit her lip. "Maybe call me selfish… but I really want you to stay. It gets awful lonely in our shoes, I know. Please. Let's help each other. I want you to be okay, and being alone with yourself when you don't fucking know what the hell you're supposed to do can eat at you, to the point where you want to kill yourself, and I don't want that to happen to you."

She looked down at her feet. "God knows it almost happened to me…"

Jaune stared at the former huntress as she practically spilled herself to Jaune.

Past the cheerfulness that Ruby consistently maintained, a well of insecurity and hopelessness ate away at the former huntress, and it killed Jaune to see his friend in such a state.

No words came to him that seemed fitting to say, so he just walked over to the somber Ruby from where she sat.

She looked up at him with teary eyes, and Jaune couldn't stop himself from embracing her tightly.

The former huntress was surprised at the gesture at first, but she let the tension in her shoulders go, rising up to meet Jaune and embrace him back. She rested her face against his shoulder, and they held each other close, cherishing what little comfort they could scrap together.

Ruby heard her friend exhale deeply, and the soft voice that came afterwards. "I won't leave, Ruby. Not if you want me to stay."

She smiled, sniffing.

"I won't leave you either. I promise."

First of all, I'd like to address the naming of Ft. Soap. Seems like an unorthodox name for a fort, I know, but I deliberately named it as such in dedication to a friend on the subreddit, who currently fights for his life in the hospital. I know this seems selfish, but I don't think I'll be able to emotionally handle losing another member of the community so soon. Please, get well soon, Soap.

That's really all I wanted to say for now. Some major plot points are on the way.

Reviews, as always, are welcome and encouraged.

Love ya'll!