One thing that Jaune enjoyed about being back in Radian was that when he looked up at the night sky, he could see the hundreds of thousands of stars stretching overhead. Back in Vale, the city had too many artificial lights that obscured a clear view of the sky. The only overhead lights Jaune ever saw were from towering skyscrapers or relay towers as well as any blinking signals from bullheads and other aircraft flying at night.
Standing outside the bathhouse, Jaune combed some damp blonde hair away from his eyes and craned his neck upwards to stare up at the river of astral radiance that spilled across the expanse above him. Even if the tree tops were bordering around his peripheral vision, it didn't detract from the amazing sight. The paper lanterns that lined the stone path leading to the hot springs were the only other sources of light, but the subtle luminance of the dust crystals powering the lanterns didn't hold a candle to the loud flashes of the city.
It was a quiet, peaceful night.
It didn't match Jaune's mood at all.
"Not exactly the most relaxing soak we'd hoped for."
Ren announcing himself with his comment didn't draw Jaune's attention away from the sky. The leader of JNPR really didn't want to address the tension still present amongst them and how their dip in the hot spring had been unsuccessful in alleviating it. He didn't want to respond to the melancholy and simmering frustration that colored Ren's tone. He didn't want to ask his friend if he'd heard Nora's sobbing on the other side of the bath… or if he'd heard anyone else.
Jaune just wanted to lose himself to the void for just a few more seconds. He wanted to be silent, let his mind drift amongst the stars, and ignore everything that was happening on Remnant for just a little longer.
Ren stared at his leader's back for a few moments before letting out a quiet sight and stepping up next to him.
"Neptune and Cardin will be out soon. Just as soon as Cardin can convince Neptune to not try and sneak a peek at the girls as they're exiting the bath." Ren said. "I'm looking forward to seeing what your family's cooked for dinner."
There was still no reply from Jaune. Ren glanced over at the blonde, frowning worriedly before reaching out tentatively.
"Jaune-"
A sharp cry sounded out from inside the bathhouse, making Ren flinch and causing Jaune to finally look away from the sky and over his shoulder towards the door. A few seconds later, Ruby and Arslan stepped outside, with RWBY's leader giggling lightly to herself while Arslan was rubbing her knuckles.
"Neptune?" Ren asked, earning a snort from Arslan.
"Velvet's paramour held him off. I put a stop to his antics." Arslan reported.
"He wasn't doing anything. He didn't even get past the cabinet and cupboards where we left our stuff." Ruby pointed out.
"You overheard his proposals to Cardin. He tried to make an accomplice, but I'm glad that our fellow leader maintained his integrity. Velvet isn't the only one who appreciates that." Arslan replied to the shorter girl before turning to face the two young men standing in front of her. "The rest should be out shortly."
"It… was a good bath." Ruby smiled, but the other three could see how shaky her smile was and also heard the hitch in her voice. The redness around her eyes that had nothing to do with the heat of the water they'd all soaked in also stood out even with the darkness of the night blanketing them. "Your family has a lot of cool things, Jaune. I'll make sure to thank your mom and dad when we go back to the house!"
"Yes. Repaying your parents for hosting us and providing shelter… the list of things that require us to show them proper gratitude grows even larger." Arslan nodded to the blonde, managing to pull a genuine smile onto her face as she said so.
"Yeah. Even if we… well, um…" Ruby trailed off, shutting her eyes as she thought back to what had happened in the springs.
She swallowed the lump in her throat and mentally patted herself on the back for not breaking down again. After Nora had gotten going and May had started crying, she hadn't been able to hold herself back either. Neither had Yang or Velvet. Arslan was the only one that hadn't had any tears to shed, but the words she'd spoken in the bath had been heartfelt even if Ruby hadn't understood them.
Maybe if she were in a better headspace she'd have asked the older girl to translate them into words she could understand.
Instead, Ruby quietly stepped forward and tugged on the sleeve of Jaune's jacket. Jaune didn't react to it, simply staring down at the smaller girl as she gently turned him around and wrapped her arms around his midsection, burying her face in his chest. Jaune didn't react to that either. He didn't return Ruby's hug. His arms hung limply at his side, eyes vacant as he stared at the empty space above the silver eyed girl's head. Ren sighed and stared down at his hand, wondering if it would be worth it to use his semblance for this if it could stop his friends from hurting for just a minute or two. Arslan merely clasped her hands together, muttering a few prayers to herself to bolster her own waning spirit.
A loud growling noise suddenly pierced through the night.
The four hunters were quiet for a moment
…And then a light chuckle from Jaune broke the silence as he finally returned Ruby's hug.
"We'll eat first thing when we get back." Jaune told Ruby, chuckling a little more when he noticed how red the tips of her ears had gotten. "My family's probably got us a big feast cooked up for us, and I promise you'll get first dibs."
"...Thank you." Ruby mumbled into Jaune's shirt, stoutly ignoring Ren's quiet chuckles and Arslan's sharp bark of laughter.
Holding his friend, Jaune glanced up and felt a little lighter seeing the slight smiles on both Ren and Arslan's faces. Past them, he saw the rest of their party stepping out of the bathhouse. Neptune was rubbing his jaw but looked more upbeat than he did before in the spring and was chatting with May about something that had the girl smiling slightly. Velvet was clinging to one of Cardin's arms and while both had tired looking eyes, they both seemed content in each other's presence. And Yang had an arm, the one with her new prosthetic attached, wrapped around Nora's shoulders as spoke softly to her… and the orange haired girl's usual megawatt smile was slowly emerging back on her face.
Jaune stared at the group and felt his own lips twitch upwards slightly.
…Plenty of things were still broken, but he felt a little more ready to face the world now.
- - - - - - -
Like everything else in the Arc estate, the dinner table was big. So much so that even with the academy students and those from Jaune's family who were present all sitting down together it only took up a third of the table. Neptune made a joke about whether or not Jaune's family had a bigger dining room or if the Schnee family would beat them, and luckily the quip had gotten chuckles out of most of the group instead of depressing everyone over the fact that Weiss had been abducted back to Atlas by her family.
And for once, everyone was able to put their morose thoughts on the backburner. As it turned out, good food did much more for restoring the spirit than a hot bath did. It was likely because if each of the fragmented teams thought about it, they hadn't been able to sit down and have a decent meal in a week. For most of them, it'd been quick meals in between jobs or rations they'd been given by the Radian militia. It was hard to dwell on the negatives when you had a feast of [insert foods here] to distract you.
"So… Lilac-" Neptune started.
"She's engaged." Jaune spoke up, cutting Neptune off before he could get started.
"And I am willing to fight her fiance if she can cook like this." Neptune replied immediately.
"You'd probably have the advantage if it came down to fists. Mercer isn't a fighter." Orchid said. "He makes a living as a mechanic, courier and part-time racer."
"He's a mechanic?" Ruby asked, interest piqued.
"He's a racer?" Yang asked at the same time, interest piqued for another reason.
"Speaking of, mom, how's he…?" Lilac looked to her mother who sat at the head of the table.
"He should be at the hospital helping Verdy and Coral with the supplies manifest and making sure that the shipments are getting to where they need to go." Isabel answered, smiling as her daughter let out a calming breath at the news. "He said he'll make time to visit sometime the day after tomorrow once his relief comes in."
"I'm glad…" Lilac sighed in relief. "What about Nana and Papa?"
Nick hummed.
"They should be getting to Vale soon. They've been sending messages whenever they can."
At the questioning looks on his friends' faces, Jaune explained:
"Nana Arturia and Papa Shirou are my great-grandparents," he said, "And they have, um, political connections. They're trying to pull together support to retake Vale."
"They fought in the Great War," Verdy supplied with a grin, "Total badasses!"
"Wow," Ruby supplied. She grimaced.
"Wait, wouldn't that make them really, really old?"
"They are," Isabel noted in amusement, "But it's barely slowed them down since they both hit their hundreds."
"Huh," Yang observed, "So they're getting a lot of old vets to go fight in Vale?"
Was the situation that bad?
Isabel chuckled and shook her head as she took a sip of wine.
"Oh no! Just talking to old friends in high places to get support… Hopefully."
"You know Nana, she's not one to stay on the sidelines," Nick chuckled. "Tangy is doing well, too. Her company is with Nana."
Again, Jaune felt the looks from his friends and quickly explained:
"My sister Tangerine. She runs a private military company."
"Geez," Neptune muttered, "How connected are you guys?"
Jaune flushed, a bit embarrassed.
"Plenty!" Orchid said cheerfully.
"So, um," Ruby began, "What news? From Vale? Have-have you heard anything?"
Nick grinned.
"Plenty! Was waiting for someone to ask!"
"Nick," Isabel said warningly, "Not at dinner-"
"We should know!" Velvet interjected. At Isabel's scowled, she shrank a little but scowled back. "Don't we?"
"We do," Cardin said firmly. Arslan nodded, her eyes intense even as she sat quietly. May looked shy, but didn't look away. Ren nodded in agreement, while Nora's smile dimmed. Yang stared intently, clenching her mechanical fist. Ruby and Jaune looked at eachother, nodded, and then looked back to Isabel and Nick.
"We deserve to, Mom," Jaune stated firmly.
Isabel looked over at Nick, seeking some support. Nick slowly shook his head, before he took a bite of some roast.
Isabel sighed and leaned back in her chair with a scowl.
"All right," she muttered. Lilac patted her on her hand as Nick took a deep breath. Yang leaned in eagerly, as did Ruby.
"About two thirds of Vale has been overrun," Nick stated, "The local forces and reinforcements have control of about one third, but the dragon's making it harder."
"How?" Ruby asked in shock. Nick grimaced.
"It's spawning Grimm that support the White Fang," he stated, "And somehow the Grimm aren't attacking them. We don't know how."
Velvet audibly grit her teeth and clenched her fists. Cardin put a hand on her shoulder.
"We might have a few ideas," Jaune grumbled. Lilac frowned but nodded. Nick continued, his eyes locking onto Ruby and Yang.
"Patch is being used as a refuge, along with every other nearby community that can take refugees," Nick stated, "Your father is fighting in Vale. He's doing all right, last I heard. He's glad you two are here."
"Th-That's great," Ruby said with a warm if tense smile smile. Yang's fists clenched but she slowly nodded.
"Yeah," she allowed.
"What about my dad?" Cardin asked urgently. Nick grinned.
"Councilman Winchester is one of the few members of the government who survived. He was a former Huntsman Captain, after all! He's essentially in command of Vale's forces. The staff of Beacon all survived and are fighting under his command." He frowned.
"I don't know anything about the rest of your family but-"
"No... It's okay," Cardin shook his head. "My mom and sisters were out of the country at the time-They should be all right. I'm just glad to hear my dad's all right."
Cardin leaned back and let out a soft sigh of relief. Velvet reached out and squeezed his hand with a warm smile. Cardin squeezed her hand back and smiled happily. They leaned in close to each other, touching foreheads. Neptune scowled and looked to Nick.
"So? What about my team?" He demanded. "And Arslan's? And May's? I…"
He glanced at May, wincing. She closed her eyes tightly and looked down. Arslan reached out and wrapped her arm around her waist.
"I'm sorry," Neptune mumbled, eyes blank. "I'm-I'm so sorry, I didn't-!"
"It's fine," May whispered, "I-I know… I know…"
Ruby shuddered. Yang held her hand under the table, and it calmed her down. Ren and Nora were very grim, as was Jaune.
They all remembered how Team BRNZ had gone out, after all.
Nick cleared his throat.
"Neptune, Scarlet and Sage were picked up by Scarlet's father on his airship," Nick explained, "And Arslan's team was evacuated over the mountains to Vacuo's capital city. Their transport made it safely."
Arslan murmured a soft prayer in relief, even as she held the sniffling May. Neptune also looked relieved.
Nick paused a moment before he continued, his eyes kind.
"Sun is also all right. Made it to Menagerie with Ruby's friend Blake."
Neptune looked conflicted, but nodded his thanks.
Yang grit her teeth. Velvet sneered.
"Did she?" The rabbit Faunus demanded, glaring over near Ruby. Ruby glared back.
"What?!"
"I-!"
"That's enough," Cardin muttered, wrapping an arm around Velvet's shoulders. Velvet fumed but slowly nodded. She looked back to Nick.
"Any-Anything about Teams CVFY and CRDL?" She asked. Cardin tensed, but made no other moves. Nick shook his head, looking regretful.
"No news." He brightened. "They're not on any lists of the dead though, so there's still hope."
"Yeah," Cardin muttered bitterly, glaring down at the table. Velvet squeezed his hand again and leaned into him.
"What about Atlas?" Ruby demanded. "They were able to sneak in and kidnap Weiss!"
"They've gone to Status Alert One," Isabel explained, "They recalled their fleets to try and stop the cyberattack. Ironwood is in intermittent contact with what's left of Vale's government. They were planning on a joint action…" She sighed heavily.
"When Mistral fell into civil war."
Arslan and Neptune's eyes widened in shock. Isabel nodded slowly, looking very tired.
"Mistral's three main factions, the Yellow, Red, and Green Dragons, are in full civil war. Many other sub-kingdoms like Pandu and the Hellenic League under Argus are threatening to be drawn in. The reports are scattered and confused, but it looks like the moment the CCT went down, elements of each began attacking the others. Vacuo's also suffered terrorist attacks from revolutionaries." She sucked in a deep breath.
"They're also threatening to attack Menagerie in retaliation, since White Fang is involved in these and other attacks."
"All at the same time?!" Velvet demanded. "All across the world?! At once?"
"Looks that way," Nick confirmed.
"...What exactly happened?"
Everyone at the table turned to Yang, who had remained strangely silent throughout the discussion. Other than her reaction to news of her father and uncle, she hadn't made any outstanding comments so far. The intense expression she wore gave everyone pause.
"I just…" Yang started before faltering. After a moment, she shook her head and forced the words past her lips. "I barely remember anything about the Fall. I mean, the night everything happened I was sitting in my room with Zwei and kicking myself over what happened in my singles match for the Vytal festival, then suddenly the alarms hit. Grimm, White Fang, and even Atlas's robots start attacking and I fight my way to Beacon's plaza area where most everyone was fighting and met up with Weiss. She told me where Blake was and I rushed to help my par-"
The word got stuck in Yang's throat as Blake's face flashed in her mind. The brawler felt herself grow irritated when she saw a few sympathetic looks from her friends, but shook her head with a small growl as she continued.
"A-Anyway, I find her being attacked by this… this guy who isn't dressed up like any of the White Fang mooks we've fought before. Blake's on the floor, disarmed, and the guy has a sword and looks like he's about to run her through. I rush in, ready to beat his face in, he… he s-sees me coming, draws his sword back, a-and t-then…"
Remembering Blake had made her voice quick and heated, but as she got closer to that final moment, that last memory she had before she'd woken up with Jaune's mom hovering over her, Yang's voice had been reduced to a shaky whisper. The young woman shook violently in her seat as phantom pain suddenly raced up her arm from the point where her prosthetic connected with her arm, and for some reason it had gotten a lot harder to breathe and her heart felt like it was trying to hammer its way out of her chest-
"YANG!"
Yang gasped and suddenly sat ramrod straight when she suddenly registered that Ruby had her arms around her and was clutching against her fearfully as she stared at her sister. Isabel had also gotten up out of her seat at some point and was on her other side, grasping her arm just above her prosthetic limb and pressing down on one of her legs to keep her steady. Looking around, Yang could see how severe the reactions of everyone else had been to her sudden fit. Nora, Cardin and Arslan were all up out of their seats with extremely concerned expressions. Neptune was staring down at his plate, expression pained. Velvet mirrored his pose, only her eyes were tightly shut and Yang swore she saw a couple tears leaking from the rabbit faunus's eyes. Ren had one hand on May's shoulder and both looked oddly serene in contrast to everyone else's distress. Jaune's sisters looked like they wanted to help but didn't know what to do, while Nick was staring at… something behind her? Come to think of it, where was vomit boy? Yang noticed that his seat next to his dad's was empty. Did he go to the bathroom or was he-"
"Yang, calm down."
Yang blinked when she heard Jaune's voice from behind her, and a second after that realized that the hands she felt gripping her shoulders belonged to JNPR's team leader.
"Yang, it's okay. You're safe." Jaune's voice said firmly from behind her, and for some reason his words along with the steadying grip he had on her shoulders helped calm her rapidly beating heart. "No one's gonna hurt you here. Everything's gonna be fine. Take deep breaths. In and out. In and out…"
Yang listened to Jaune better than she had any teacher who'd suffered her antics in the classroom. She didn't know why her hands were shaking so badly, or why her chest pounded with every breath she took, or why every sound except for Jaune's voice felt so muted in her ears, or why the area where her right arm used be was throbbing so much, but she followed along with Jaune's instructions and finally managed to steady herself. The shaking stopped and her heart suddenly wasn't beating so loudly. And the pain she felt slowly receded with each slow breath she took.
When she came back to herself, Yang felt some wetness on her left shoulder and glanced down to find Ruby quietly crying into it. Gingerly, Yang pulled her right arm out of Isabel's grip and enveloped her sister in a hug.
Jaune's hands slowly lifted off of her shoulders.
Yang glanced back at him and Jaune met her gaze for a moment. Both blondes held eye contact for a long minute before Jaune nodded his head a fraction. Yang returned it with a small smile.
"...I think that's enough for tonight." Isabel announced as she stood up from where she'd been crouching next to Yang's chair. "All of you, go get some rest. We've told you all a lot and you'll need time to process everything and decide-"
"No, we're not done yet." Yang protested, squeezing Ruby against her and feeling a little more grounded when she felt her younger sister squeeze her back. "I still need to know. After what… after what happened to me, how did I get here? How did all of us get here?"
Yang looked around and met the eyes of everyone who had been there that night.
"How did Beacon… how did Vale fall?"
Yang waited for someone, anyone, to start elaborating on the events of that night and answering her questions, but noticed her friends were all staring over her shoulder… and glancing behind her, Yang realized everyone was staring at Jaune.
Jaune caught Yang's gaze for a second before sight and gesturing to the other room.
"...Get settled in the living room. I'm gonna help clean up and then I'll join you all in there. Then we can all… go over things together." Jaune said.
"...Right. Sounds good." Yang nodded. Glancing down, the brawler smiled softly. "Ruby, I'm gonna need that arm back. Gotta be extra careful now since I'd like to keep one that isn't detachable."
Ruby giggled wetly into her shirt for a second before pulling back and smiling at her sister. If she could joke, then hopefully that meant Yang was feeling a little better.
"Thank you for the food, Mrs. Arc." Arslan said loudly, her words prompting the rest of their group to voice their gratitude to Isabel and Lilac as they got out of their seats.
Yang shuffled into the next room with her hand held in Ruby's. Both sisters sat down on a long couch together, with May dropping into the open spot next to Ruby's other side. Cardin and Velvet sat together, mushy couple that they were, while Arslan grabbed a cushion and placed it on the floor before sitting down on it in a sort of meditative pose. Nora took the big chair in the room for herself and Ren sat on a small stool next to it. Neptune dropped down onto one of the big chair's armrests, and Nora seemed fine with sharing the space since she didn't attempt to shove him off.
After approximately five minutes of sitting in silence, Jaune walked into the room… carrying a tray of steaming beverages that he set on the table before passing them out. At a glance, Yang thought it was coffee but after being handed her cup, the smell and Ruby's giddy smile gave the game away.
"Hot chocolate?" Yang asked.
"Secret Arc family recipe." Jaune replied with something that actually resembled a smile.
"...Well, it's no strawberry sunrise, but I'll take it." Yang grinned over the rim of her cup.
Jaune shook his head as he passed around the mugs before settling himself in a chair that was placed in front of everyone else in front of the fireplace. Taking a sip of his own drink, Jaune let out a sigh as he drummed some fingers against the armrest of his chair.
"So… anyone got any suggestions on where to start?" Jaune asked the group.
Jaune looked around and it seemed like no one was willing to volunteer a suggestion on how to kick off the recounting of the attack on Beacon and Vale. After a minute or two, Yang cleared her throat.
"Why don't you… start it from your perspective?" Yang suggested. "Thinking back, when I rushed outside, I actually don't remember you being there. Where'd you go during the attack?"
Yang felt a spike of guilt shoot through her heart when she saw the flash of pain that crossed Jaune's face. The Arc son took a shaky breath before he started speaking.
"I was… I'd been with Ozpin and Pyrrha. The woman responsible for the attack on Beacon, Cinder Fall, had us cornered in Beacon's basement. Ozpin-"
"Beacon has a basement?" Yang asked.
"This is news to us." Cardin added with a frown.
"Was it like, a shelter or something? Why did none of us hide there?" Neptune inquired.
"It… look, I actually don't know what it was." Jaune admitted. "Pyrrha actually referred to it as a vault after Ozpin took us down there. It had these machines and some woman was…"
Jaune trailed off when he saw the puzzled looks on everyone assembled. Giving a frustrated sigh, the swordsman pushed forward.
"Look, I don't have the answers about what was down there. Pyrrha and Ozpin knew, I was just trying to keep up. I never got any answers before Cinder showed up and started blasting at us. Ozpin stayed to hold her off while Pyrrha and I escaped." Jaune sighed. "When we got outside, Pyrrha, she… she decided to go back. To try and help Ozpin fight. To try and stop Cinder. I tried to stop her, tried to tell her we should focus on getting out, but…"
One hand came up to cover his face. Gods, he hated remembering that moment. The moment he saw the look in Pyrrha's eyes when she turned to him. The look of resolute determination on her face. The… the kiss she'd given him. The way his heart had leaped into his chest and how he felt ready to take on the whole world so long as he could stand by her side…
Jaune could feel his fingernails digging into his face, feeling his own agonized expression behind his fingers as he remembered the next moment after that kiss… when his partner had shoved him into a nearby rocket locker and launched her away from him despite his protests.
Feeling completely useless as the first person who ever thought he'd been worth anything rushed off to fight an unwinnable battle.
"Jaune…?"
Ruby's voice pulled him back out of the memory. Looking at his best friend on the verge of tears had him glancing away from her… which had his eyes landing on Yang who looked at him with eyes full of sympathy.
"...Y'know, on second thought, we don't have to talk about this right now." Yang started but stopped when Jaune held up a hand.
"No, you deserve to know the full story. And… I think it's something all of us need to finally sit down and talk about. We all experienced it, but we've never had a chance to sit down and really process everything." Jaune murmured. "May as well do it now."
"We'll help you through it, Jaune." Ren assured him from where he sat.
"Together." Nora added, reaching over and squeezing Ren's hand in solidarity.
"You were there for all of us. If gets to be too much, one of us can always pick up where you left off." Cardin offered.
"I think I'd make for a better storyteller anyway, so if you want me to get things started, I'm willing." Neptune smiled.
"Because your account won't be biased at all." Arslan snorted, rolling her eyes when Neptune stuck out his tongue at her.
"I-I don't mind answering any questions you have, Yang." May spoke up, raising her hand with a nervous smile.
"We can always take a break and pick things up later too. We don't have to tell the whole story tonight." Velvet suggested.
"But we shouldn't put it off either." Ruby interjected softly, making everyone fall silent. The young reaper nodded encouragingly toward Jaune, who returned the gesture with a small nod of his own. "Go ahead, Jaune."
"Right…" Jaune sighed, deciding to move past that part quickly so that he wouldn't stall things any further. "So, Pyrrha shoves me in a rocket locker and launches me away before going off to fight Cinder. I land somewhere else in Beacon and call Weiss to tell her what Pyrrha's planning to do and trying to get help. If I remember right, Ruby and Weiss had been looking for us."
"We were." Ruby nodded before giving Jaune a rueful smile. "Weiss and I… went after Pyrrha together after you called us."
"Thanks for that." Jaune forced a smile before he shook his head. "Anyway, after I hung up I was on my own. I was scared, angry, lost, and saw Grimm and White Fang all over. So then I just…"
Jaune's gaze drifted over to May for a second before turning in Yang's direction as he began to explain what had happened on the night of the Fall.
- - - - - -
This chapter written with a lot of help from @UnknownAnon It'll be in two main parts, as we do need to do a proper flashback to show how our heroes ended up in Radian. 
