Training missions were the bread and butter of Beacon students. Headmaster Ozpin firmly believed that Hunters should get to know the people and lands they would be protecting and get a taste of how the job really worked beyond the sensationalistic books, comics and movies portrayed.
What Ruby Rose was learning was that most of it was... Dull.
"Uggggh," Ruby moaned, leaning against the wall in the Beacon mission office as other Hunter teams milled around or waited in line, "This is sooo boring!"
The rest of RWBY was gathered around in a waiting area of cheap couches, coffee tables, and chairs.
"It is a critical part of being a Huntress, Ruby," Weiss gently scolded, though judging from the fashion magazine she was reading, she too was not enthused about the wait time.
"Yeah, the worst part," Ruby grumbled. Yang shadowboxed nearby, while Blake read through another of her novels. Ruby laid on a couch and childishly kicked her legs up in the air.
"Our trainer should have already shown up!" Ruby whined.
"Yeah, he should, and stop that," Yang stated with a scowl, "You're giving the boys a show."
"Nuh uh! I wear shorts under my combat skirt!" Ruby insisted.
"Skintight shorts!"
"You do go around in those yourself, Yang," Blake observed. Yang flushed.
"Well my little sister shouldn't act like that!"
"You were the one bending over in a low cut top around Jaune yesterday," Ruby accused Yang. The blonde brawler had the decency to blush before clearing her throat.
"Th-That's different! He has seven sisters, he knows how a girl should look!"
"And you say I'm tsundere," Weiss huffed.
"You are," Blake smirked.
"I am not!"
"Team RWBY!"
All four girls got to their feet at the barked order and stared at the newcomer. It was a tall, neatly coiffed blond man in a tan business suit, blue undershirt, leopard-print tie, and stylish goggle-like sunglasses. A small battleaxe wrapped in white tiger print hung from his side. Yang was the first to recover and scowled.
"Who are you?"
"I'm your trainer for the day's mission," the man spoke firmly, "Brand Arc."
Four sets of jaws dropped. Ruby recovered first this time.
"Are-Are you related to Jaune Arc, by any chance?"
"Yes," Brand stated firmly, "He is my nephew. I am Isabel's younger brother."
"Another one?!" Weiss muttered in exasperation. Yang elbowed her. "OW! What?"
JNPR was passing by at that moment. They stopped and Jaune grinned. He ran up and hugged Brand.
"Uncle Brand! You made it!"
The grim look on the man's face softened just a bit, as he briefly returned the hug.
"It's good to see you well, Jaune," he said with a nod. Jaune grinned back as his other teammates walked up too. Pyrrha beamed warmly as Nora waved and Ren nodded respectfully.
"Nice to meet you, Mister Arc," Pyrrha said, "I'm Pyrrha Nikos, this is Nora Valkyrie, and that's Lie Ren. We're Jaune's teammates."
Brand nodded respectfully back as Jaune pulled away.
"Both of your teams have been assigned to me," he stated, "For a routine investigation mission near Gallia." He stared at Weiss. "Weiss Schnee, correct?"
"Yes sir," Weiss said with a respectful nod. He shook his head.
"Your father made a catastrophically bad deal with Wayland Motors. He should find people who know the military airship business next time," he stated. Weiss blinked rapidly with a new respect in her eyes.
"You know about that?"
"Yeah!" Jaune grinned, "Uncle Brand was an investment banker for Njord Investments!"
Weiss and Pyrrha's eyes bugged out.
"The biggest investment firm in Atlas?!" Pyrrha gasped. Brand nodded.
"The same," he stated. "I worked as a Level One Advisor."
Blake's eyes narrowed.
"So you were good enough to advise on the state level in regards to international trade," she said, "For Atlas."
Brand nodded.
"Yes. Incidentally, Miss Belladonna, your parents are making excellent gains in the metals market, but every time White Fang launches an attack their efforts to set up a CCT tower in Menagerie has to restart from scratch. Until that changes, Menagerie will always be a high risk investment, though your parents have done a good job on the local economic level."
"I..." Blake blinked rapidly, her ears twitching beneath her bow, "Th-Thanks?"
"Wait," Weiss interjected, "If you're so good, why are you working as a Huntsman? Um, n-no offense."
Brand nodded gravely.
"That's simple: The current finance market is shit!"
The vehemence in his voice made almost everyone jump. Brand shook his head.
"The economy is in a slump right now and dealing with a bunch of spoiled brats with too much money is deleterious to the soul."
"So, you like being a Huntsman better?" Pyrrha asked with a photogenic smile. Brand shook his head.
"No. Being a Hunter is also shit!"
Again, everyone jumped at the force he put into that word. Brand adjusted his glasses.
"The same economic slowdown means that while Grimm are still a problem, Hunter wages aren't going up save in areas of the worst trouble. And even then you need to get paid by corporations with investments in the area to make any real money. If they don't just hire on mercenaries for cheaper. In short..."
He shook his head and crossed his arms.
"Work is shit! But, man must work to survive. So you may as well do the work you are best suited for. And that's Hunting."
Jaune smiled at his brusque uncle.
"You haven't changed at all," he said. Brand nodded.
"It happens to all adults, you get set in your ways. Now, give me your paperwork. I'll sort it out."
Ruby transmitted the paperwork. Brand opened his own Scroll, and sorted through it. He hit "send", and green lights appeared on his Scroll screen.
"Good. We're all set," he stated.
"That fast?!" Ruby gasped.
"Uncle Brand is great at sorting out paperwork!" Jaune enthused.
Brand nodded grimly.
"It is a suffering one must get used to," he stated. "Come! Let's get on our way."
"So, he's a finance wizard but he's back to fighting?" Weiss muttered to Jaune as the two teams followed Brand out the door. Yang, Ruby and Pyrrha all seemed to cluster around Jaune and shoot eachother dirty looks.
Jaune nodded.
"Yeah. He paid his way through college by hunting after my grandparents died when he was a kid. Same for my mom, my other uncles and my aunt."
"I see," Weiss frowned, "I do hope he's not out of practice."
"Come on, Weiss, he's built under those clothes," Yang grinned. Weiss huffed.
"That's not enough to prove he's any good! Jaune's built like a beast but-but he's still terrible at fighting!"
Jaune blushed deeply. Weiss, after a moment, followed suit.
"N-Not that I was looking!" She declared.
"Tsundere~," Yang mocked.
"I AM NOT!" Weiss shook her head. "Anyway, Mister Arc needs to prove his prowess! L-Like anyone else!"
- - -
As it turned out, a bandit gang attacked one of the settlements on their investigation mission. They had the bad luck to attack the village just as Brand and the teams arrived. It was short, brutal... And extremely one sided.
As Brand proceeded to demolish most of the Bandits all by himself with just his short axe and fists. One bandit tried to knife him in the back, but Brand just backhanded him back through a wall.
JNPR and RWBY stared as Brand seized one bandit by the ponytail. The young man whimpered in terror as Brand loomed over him.
"Where is your base and how many comrades do you have?" He snarled.
"I-I can't-!"
"Where is your base and how many comrades do you have?" Brand growled, tightening his grip on the young man's ponytail and pulling back hard. The young man yelped.
"N-NEAR THE WATERFALL! BY THE LAKE! FIFTEEN AT LEAST!"
Brand slammed the man face first through a brick wall. Having his Aura activated, the man was shaken but not badly hurt.
"How many comrades do you have?" Brand again demanded. The ponytailed man screamed.
"Um... Maybe we should stop this?" Ruby offered, staring with the rest of her team at the scene. Jaune shook his head.
"No. These bandits have been killing innocent people and worse things around here," he said firmly, "He should be scared. My uncle's not a sadist though: You won't get any useful information with torture. Intimidation and some rough treatment will do the trick."
"Oh yeah, totally!" Nora said cheerfully, "I mean, you gotta build up to that! Only break their limbs if you need to! They're a huge hassle if you hurt them too badly!"
"Indeed," Ren stated, "We've learned this the hard way."
"Wha-" Ruby's eyes bugged out. "Seriously?! Don't you have any-any issues with this, guys?!"
Yang, Weiss, Pyrrha, and Blake all stared at Brand manhandling the prisoner... With deep red faces.
"Guys?!" Ruby demanded.
"Wh-What? What?" Weiss mumbled. "Oh, um, as long as he's not too badly harmed, it should be okay?"
"JAUNE!" Brand shouted, "Get over here. You're going to help me demonstrate the proper way to interrogate a prisoner!"
"Sure thing Uncle!" Jaune said cheerfully.
"C-Could I volunteer to play the prisoner?" Pyrrha asked hopefully.
"You?!" Yang growled.
"I'm very familiar with interrogations, I'd be best at it," Blake said quickly.
"Seriously?!" Weiss demanded. Ruby brightened. "I should do it! I've gone through the training! And-And I have a ponytail too that he can grab onto!"
And Ruby's face fell.
"Seriously?!"
Brand shook his head.
"No, we already have the bandit for that," Brand stated, "And different interrogation styles will help you learn from your mistakes. Though keep that in mind for the future! Practice is shit, but if you don't do it you will be shit!"
"Yes Uncle Brand!" Jaune said cheerfully. He seized the whimpering bandit's ponytail and yanked hard. "Like this?"
"No, no, more with the wrist," Brand corrected his nephew.
Ruby turned bright red. Thoughts of growing out her hair to get a ponytail emerged... And she frantically shook her head to clear her thoughts.
Stupid hormones!
- - -
Naturally, Brand Arc is heavily based on Nanami Kento from Jujutsu Kaisen. Kento means "Sword" in Japanese, so I replaced his name with "Brand" which means the same thing in Old English. And I had to reference how thirsty girls got over seeing Nanami manhandle a badguy with a ponytail.