Jaune Arc leaned forward on the map display, the large holoprogected maps transparent blue form floating in front of him. He scowled a bit in frustration and keyed in a couple commands. "Play it again."

  The computer displayed a small news clip, a female reporter standing in front of a destroyed building. Jaune turned up the volume.

  "...reported the wreck moments ago. Witness say that an unknown creature had been spotted around the area and attacked the small town when a resident tried to capture it. While the attack took place last night, no one was able to clearly identify the creature. Evidence suggests a Grimm is responsible for the incident, but the species remains unknown. More will be.."

  Jaune stopped the clip there and rubbed his eyes with a groan. "Blast it.."

  He heard the door slide open behind him and the lights turned back to full, the dim lighting now going back to fully illuminating the room.  "You're still here?"

  Jaune turned to his team mate, Pyrrha Nikos. She wore her usual bronze colored outfit with her long red hair done back into a ponytail. "Sorry Pyrrha, just looking over some things."

  The girl walked over and folded her arms, her eyes concerned but stern. "You've been in here for hours, Jaune. You need to rest."

  Jaune rubbed his eyes again, the scar over his left one sore from looking at the screen for so long. He hadn't gotten a solid nights sleep all week, his mind constantly running. He turned back to the map. "I'm fine, Pyrrha. I have to keep working." He sighed as he leaned on the display again. "I don't understand it. We had such a good lead on the Grimm Walker operation and all of a sudden it just goes cold? I've searched high and low but its no use. How could it just die like that?"

  Pyrrha walked up beside him and turned the map off. "I'm sure its not lost Jaune, you just need to rest. Look at it with renewed eyes."

  He sighed again. "I suppose you're right." His expression turned sorrowful. "Its just...I wish Nix were here. He would know what to do." His partner put a hand on his shoulder. "I know. But we can't change the past, and its our role to keep moving forward. He would be proud of all the progress you've made."

  "...You think so?"

  She smiled warmly. "I know so."

  Jaune rubbed his eyes again with a defeated sigh, realizing she was right. After Nix's death he had pushed himself really hard, doing everything he could to spearhead the Grimm Walker threat. He even rose into the top ten in Combat Class ranking and built quite a reputation for himself. While the memory of the final throw still ran through his mind he had managed to come out stronger. He smiled and put his hand on hers. "Thank you Pyrrha. Really."

  The girls cheeks turned a hint of red and she smiled back while they walked towards the door, the room going dark once again as they left.

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  The others were already in the dorms when the two got back, about to head out for dinner. An orange haired girl jumped up excitedly at their arrival and gave Jaune a big hug.

  "Hey, you're back!" Nora said cheerfully. "We were wondering where you went, thought you may have gone to eat without us." She broke the hug and frowned playfully. "That wouldn't have been very nice, you know."

  Jaune laughed. "I didn't eat yet, don't worry. Just working on a few things."

  Jaunes other team mate walked over to them, his mellow voice contrasting Nora's upbeat and energetic tone. "Still watching the Grimm map?"

  "Yeah, but with no luck." Jaune changed the subject. "We can worry about that later though. Lets just get some food and wind down. I know I could use the break."

  The group nodded and went off to the cafeteria. As they left their dorm the one across from them opened and Ruby stepped out. She smiled as she saw her friends. "Hey guys! Heading to dinner?"

"Yup! You coming?" Nora asked with a cheery tone.

  "Yeah. Yang and the others should already be there." She fell in line with the rest of them, walking alongside Jaune. The blond haired boy looked at her. "Hows Yang doing? She feeling better?"

  The young girl nodded with a small smile. "Actually, shes doing a lot better now. She told me about this guy she meet and that they got to talking. She meets up with him pretty often now, just to chat. It looks like having someone to talk to really helped her mood." Ruby beamed. "I'm just glad shes back to her old self now."

  Jaune nodded. "That's great to hear. How are you holding up?"

  "I'm doing alright. I think about him a lot, but I know that we all have to move on at some point."

  "Yeah..I guess we do, don't we?"

  Ruby gave him a warm smile and nudged his shoulder. "Come on, lets not focus on the sad stuff." Her smile grew sly. "Lets see a smile!" She prodded his side, just below the ribs. Jaune yelped and jumped a bit. "Hey, you know that tickles!" The little girl laughed. "That's why I did it, dummy."

  Jaune rolled his eyes and put her in a playful headlock. "You dork."

  The two friends laughed as they walked through the halls, the stress and sadness of the past few days already melting away.

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  Yang's head perked up as her sister and friends entered, her mood lightening. She gave Ruby a pat on the head as she walked over, smiling at the group. Jaune gave her a hug. "Hey Blondie, how you doing?"

  The girl laughed lightly. "I'm better now, thanks." She led them over to their usual spot, her other two team mates already seated. Weiss and Blake waved and voiced their greetings as the others sat, the table now full. Or almost full, with Nix's seat still empty. It had taken them some time to adjust to the now vacant spot, a constant reminder of what happened, but they had learned to accept it over some time. Yang still sat next to it, her hand unconsciously resting on the seat from time to time. The others doubted she knew that she was even doing it, and maybe the golden haired girl did it on purpose, no one really knew. She smiled nevertheless and it made the group happy to see her back to her old self.

  Nora leaned in excitedly. "So Yang, who's this guy you've been seeing so much?" Her eyes sparkled with curiosity and Yang blushed a bit in embarrassment by being suddenly put on the spot. "You heard about that huh?" She said teasingly while turning to Ruby. "Now who told you that, I wonder?"

  Her sister twittled her fingers shyly, looking away to portray innocence.

  Yang laughed and tussled her sisters hair. "His names Axle, met him in one of the local bars in town." She smiled as she addressed the group. "Hes a really sweet guy, you know? He just listens when you talk, no interruptions or nagging questions."

  Weiss spoke up next. "You didn't tell him to much, did you?"

  "Of course not." Yang replied. "I kept the conversation casual."

  She nodded, satisfied with her answer. "Good." Ospin had given them specific instructions to keep the Grimm Walker story to a select number of people, the less that knew the better. No need to get the public scared of something they knew so little about.

  Ruby leaned in next, a sly smile on her lips. "Now, here's the real question." She dropped her voice low for dramatic effect. "Is he cute?"

  Yang rolled her eyes but smiled anyway. "A little.." The others laughed and continued to talk among themselves, and Yang decided to keep the fact that Axle looked like Nix to herself. It felt good to be back among her friends, and she finally felt like she could move on. Things were finally looking up again.