"I had them!" Jaune snapped. "I almost had them!"

"Calm down, Mr Arc." Headmaster Ozpin was sat behind his desk nursing a cup of coffee. Jaune did not appreciate his relaxed manner.

"Calm down? Amber's murderer is here in Beacon, and she's still free!" He slammed his hand down on the man's table. "And I won't rest until she's behind bars or dead!" He held the older man's gaze but felt increasingly silly under Ozpin's patient expression. "Sorry," he mumbled, removing his hand.

"It is quite alright. I am not asking you to accept Amber's killer or ignore her. I am asking you to calm down so that you might have a steady mind from which to tell me the full story. Did you notice any details about them? Anything that I could work off?"

He did his best to tell the scene in as much detail as he possibly could, but he hadn't seen much of the dream. He'd only heard Amber's voice and responded in time to see the person run.

"They were female, I think. Their shape from behind was tall and slim."

"Sadly, that does not narrow down our list of suspects by many." Ozpin's comment had him slumping. "There's no need for despair, Mr Arc. You have entered their dream once and you will likely do so again. We also know the killer is masquerading as a student within Beacon. They're unlikely to be a first year because Amber was a very capable combatant. My personal suspicion is that they might be a transfer team here for the festival. It would have allowed them the chance to finish Amber off and then leave without raising suspicions."

Jaune listened intently and nodded at the right places. He needed to know who this was, and he wanted to have a part in taking them down. Finally, his Semblance was becoming useful for more than just therapy.

"They've got Amber now so they don't need to stay, do they?"

"They don't," said Ozpin. "If even a single one suggests that they want to leave then we shall fall on them quickly and conduct a thorough investigation. I expect they know that however, and I expect they will do their best to keep their heads down and complete the Vytal Festival as they're supposed to, and then leave peacefully after. That means we have a time limit."

Jaune swore.

"Mr Arc," said Ozpin, firmly. "I do not want to hear of you taking this as a sign that you should use your Semblance in a reckless and destructive manner like before. Amber would never want that."

"I know. I won't." Jaune wiped a hand down his face. "That was an accident and I didn't know over-using it could hurt me like that. It won't happen again."

"Good." Ozpin leaned back. "I've called a friend and ally of mine here. He's a huntsman, and the one who rescued Amber from her aggressors. They would have finished her off had he not been there. I want to introduce you both." There was a ding by the elevator door. "Ah, that must be him."

The door opened to reveal a tall man with grey-black hair and a faint amount of stubble. The way he walked was halfway between a stagger and a stumble, and yet he also looked perfectly poised and ready for action. He took a long swig from a metallic hipflask, eyed Jaune, and then sauntered over to the desk.

"So," he said, in a gravelly voice. "This is the kid peeping on my nieces, huh."

Jaune spluttered.

"Qrow Branwen, Jaune Arc. Jaune Arc, Qrow Branwen." Ozpin smiled. "He is also the uncle of Ruby Rose and Yang Xiao Long. And Qrow, I'd advise saving the heavy-handed talk until later. Mr Arc is also dating Miss Xiao Long, so I'm sure you'll have opportunity aplenty to threaten him."

The man chuckled, while Jaune balked. "H-Hey, I didn't ask to invade their dreams."

"Not gotten up to any funny business, have you? Indulged in any fantasies?"

"No!" Jaunes face was bright red. "No, I... Honestly, their dreams were more traumatic than that. Dead parents and insecurities and a red trailer filled with chunks of meat."

Qrow's smile died a swift death. "Ah," he said, voice flat. "Damn it, Yang. That never happened." He ran a hand through his hair. "You keep her away from that, you hear?" Jaune nodded. "Good. But yeah, Ozpin has filled me in on the details. Unconscious dream walking, and an ability to use aura to influence dreams, right?"

"Yes."

"Perfect. I'm going to be hanging around Beacon, kid, and you're going to keep an eye out for my dream." It was one of the few times someone had invited him into their dream, and he looked to Ozpin for answers.

"Qrow arrived in time to save Amber but was more focused on her protection than he was on unveiling her attackers." That bumped him up a few notches in Jaune's opinion. "Like many people, his recollection of a scene is not perfect. Time muddies the waters, and the human memory is fickle. I've heard it said – and Bart agrees with me – that the subconscious keeps much more accurate records. That is why we sometimes dream with such clarity that it is as if we are there again."

Jaune caught on. "You're hoping I can pay attention where Qrow wasn't able to."

"Got it in one, kid," said Qrow, pointing the hip flask at him. "We want to see if you can stop time in my dream and give them a good look over or failing that just help me look at them more. I swear the main one wasn't even disguised when I hit, but it was dark, and I was too focused on Amber. There were three of them and I had to get us out safely."

"Qrow did not realise Amber had been dealt a wound that would eventually kill her, so identifying her attackers simply wasn't important at the time," said Ozpin. "Now, we need to know who they are before they have a chance to slip away from Beacon. Qrow may have the answers in his head."

"Though it's gonna be a lottery as to whether we can match up as dream buddies."

Jaune piped up. "It doesn't have to be."

Both of the men paused, and looked at him intently. "What do you mean?" asked Ozpin.

"Doctor Oobleck and I think my dream wandering is a case of distance, hence why I'm not in the heads of people in Vale, and a second case of who else is asleep at the time. There's nothing to indicate familiarity is important. Most of my most involved dreams have been with people I know, but I've had just as many nights in the heads of random people."

He just didn't pay as much attention to them, and he usually didn't interfere as much. Harsh as it sounded, he wasn't going to use up all his aura improving the dream of a stranger, while he absolutely would to make Yang, Ruby, Pyrrha or his other friends a good night's sleep.

"If you could take Qrow and I away from Beacon a bit and make sure we were the only two people in range when we fell asleep, then I'd only be able to enter his dream. It'd be even more likely if we both fell asleep in the middle of the day when everyone else is awake."

The two men exchanged looks, and Qrow was smiling. "Sounds like a plan. What do you think, Oz? You can give the kid a day off lesson for this, right?"

"I shall speak with General Ironwood. One of his airships would be a prime location to conduct this little experiment, especially if it were to fly out over an uninhabited part of the Emerald Forest a good distance from Beacon."

Jaune felt like saying they could just walk and have people protect them, but he let the issue go. It probably wouldn't take much longer this way, and he was just trying to rush things along. Having an airship where they were literally the only two people asleep would be just as good. There was only one issue.

"Ironwood won't try and arrest me once I'm on his ship, will he?"

Ozpin sighed.

Qrow grinned. "Invading dreams and being charged by Old Jimmy Irondick? Maybe you're not so bad, kid, but don't think we won't be having that friendly chat about what you can and can't get away with doing to my nieces."

/-/

It was explaining his impending sojourn to his team that was the hard part, and Team RWBY were there to hear it as well. Predictably, Yang and Ruby were not thrilled to learn their uncle – or Drunkle as Ruby put it – was at Beacon.

"Right, so, you're telling me you're going on a private trip with my uncle out into a Grimm-infested forest." Yang pointed both fingers at Jaune. "And you don't find this suspicious in any way. Nothing suspicious about your girlfriend's uncle, who has a history of being an overprotective nutjob, inviting you out to a place where no one can hear you scream."

Jaune laughed. He appreciated the concern, but they didn't know the real story. "It'll be fine. He seems like a cool guy."

"Jaune, no."

"Jaune, no."

Ruby and Yang spoke at the exact same time. Yang waved for Ruby to continue.

"Drunkle Qrow is not a cool guy and he's not someone you should be trying to be like."

"Listen to her, Jaune," said Yang. "Your liver wouldn't survive the training anyway. Uncle Qrow is the most reliably unreliable person you've ever met. He once told me he was going to pick me up from school and forgot. I was sat in an abandoned playground until two in the morning. I was ten years old!"

Huh. That must have been the nightmare he saw in her dreams. It had seemed fine at the time, but he could imagine it being a lot more frightening at that age. Ten was the age where you were told to sit and wait if you were lost, so that explained why Yang had just stayed there all night and not tried to find help.

"He sounds like a character," said Pyrrha.

"That's a polite way of saying he sounds like a bit of a failure," translated Nora. Pyrrha blushed but didn't deny it, and neither Yang nor Ruby criticised her for it.

"Yep. That's Drunkle Qrow in a nutshell," said Ruby. "He means well, and he's a super strong huntsman, but he's kind of insane. He's a teacher in Signal too, and sometimes he just, like, doesn't show up for lessons. Then other days you get there and you think he isn't going to show up then you realise he's asleep under his desk."

"Does he not have his own place to live?"

Yang and Ruby exchanged looks. "You know, I really don't know. I mean, he must have somewhere to stay but he's never invited me or Ruby there. Ever. I assume it's just some apartment that is a filthy mess, like the world's worst bachelor pad. He crashes at our house a lot." She grinned suddenly. "And last time, he was so drunk he snuggled into bed with dad. That was a fun morning."

"How are you both sane?" asked Blake.

"Asks you? You're the most mentally unstable person at this table."

Blake's ears flattened and she hissed at Yang. No one really came to her defence however, least of all Jaune, but then he knew that everyone at this table was messed up in one way or another. He'd seen it all.

Once they'd eaten, Jaune excused himself to visit Doctor Oobleck. On the way, someone bumped into Jaune from behind, their hip striking his back. He grunted and looked over one shoulder to see Cinder Fall watching him. There was a sharpness to her gaze that quickly eased on seeing him. "Oops. My bad," she said.

"No worries. Sorry if I was in the way."

"No. No. I'm just clumsy this morning. I didn't get much sleep last night."

"Sorry to hear that. I slept like a baby."

Cinder smiled, visibly relaxing. "Is that so? I suppose knowing what it is your Semblance does has me paranoid now. Every embarrassing dream has me worried you'll be there to witness it. You haven't been in my dreams since, have you?"

"Not that I'm aware of."

"Good. A woman enjoys her privacy. If you do, for whatever reason, then I won't be angry so long as you make me aware at the earliest opportunity." Her lips quirked up slightly. "In fact, if you end up in my dream why not do me a favour and change it to a beach scene. I could use a holiday."

Jaune laughed. "I'll keep that in mind, Cinder, but I can't control where I go and who I end up spending the night with." That sounded wrong. "In their dreams, I mean."

"I did gather. I'll leave you to it then. I just wanted to ask if you'd been in my dreams since the first time. Call it curiosity. It's quite the interesting Semblance you have. Dreams are misunderstood things."

"It's an interesting experience but not as fun as it sounds."

"I'm sure." Cinder took a step back, turned, and waved. "I'll leave you be, then."

As he walked away, Cinder watched him go, then took a deep breath and let it go. He hadn't reacted to her, negatively or positively, so her cover was secure for now. Adjusting her sleeping patterns to stay awake whenever Jaune Arc slept was going to be problematic, but she would cope.

An accident could be arranged once the Vytal Festival started. It wouldn't be difficult to have Emerald tweak someone's perceptions so that they failed to hear Arc's disqualification and hospitalised or even killed him when his aura was low. Even hospitalising him would put him in a hospital in the city, surrounding him with tens of thousands of people and reducing the odds of him finding out the truth drastically.

"Ma'am?" said Emerald, stepping out from behind a pillar. "Is it all clear?"

"For now, Emerald. For now. But we can't rely on him remaining ignorant forever. His Semblance is the perfect tool for gathering information, and he's laser-focused on Amber's death. He needs to be taken out the picture."

"Neo might not like that. She's been protective of him."

"I know but removed does not need to mean killed. If Neo likes him so much, perhaps she can be convinced to abduct him. If he's in the city then he isn't here invading our dreams." She had the maiden's powers, and her plans were in position. "We don't strictly need to kill him. We just need to avoid his attention until after the tournament. Incapacitating him for that time would be enough."

Emerald sucked on her teeth. "Mercury has been looking for a chance to let loose in a spar."

Cinder hummed. "A fair idea."

/-/

General Ironwood was, in fact, happy to take them out on an airship, and he was also seemingly happy to shelve the "not-quite-sorted" issue between them. Apparently, he was a man who could both dislike a person and work with them for the greater good, so while the espionage charges wouldn't be going away, he was still happy to work with Jaune to locate Amber's killer.

Was this a "bigger picture" mentality?

Jaune couldn't tell.

There were no special facilities set up for them. They simply flew out in a sizable ship with some ten crew, along with Ozpin, and hovered over the forest several kilometres from Beacon.

"Our current distance is a full kilometre further from Beacon than Beacon is from Vale," said General Ironwood, "so if Arc's Semblance cannot reach Vale, it also shouldn't be able to reach Beacon from here."

"Excellent work," said Ozpin. "Even if this fails, I'm sure Mr Arc will be happy to know his range."

"Yeah," said Jaune. "So I can decide how far away I need to live from human habitation to get a good night's sleep." He paused. "Wait, what does happen if I can't invade someone's dream? Would I be lost in the void?"

Ozpin chuckled, leaning on his cane. "I expect you would just have a pleasant night's sleep, Mr Arc. Speaking of, I hope you are sufficiently tired today."

He certainly was. Their meeting had been the day before and both he and Qrow had been told to get no sleep last night, to make for an easier time here. Apparently, the use of anaesthesia had been considered, but Doctor Oobleck had warned that drugs had been known to interact unpredictably with Semblances before, and that any which might "dull the mind" might make Qrow's dream bizarre, uncontrollable or just indecipherable to Jaune.

The phrase "psychedelic mind trip" had been used, and that had been enough to convince them the old-fashioned way was best. They realistically needed Qrow's mind clear so he could influence the dream, and while anaesthesia wasn't meth or crack cocaine, it would probably still have a profound impact on his mental faculties.

He'd love to say there was a professional set up with monitoring equipment for this, but there wasn't. They'd borrowed a military aircraft and what they had were two hastily-erected beds on the bridge along with some clamps to keep them in place, and a couple of chairs for people to sit at.

"Sleeping with an audience," said Qrow. "No pressure. How long are we doing this for?"

"For as long as you can sleep," said Ironwood. "There's no point interrupting you after two hours just to find we stopped Arc seeing the perpetrator."

"You're going to sit there for eight hours?"

"If we must," said Ozpin, smiling faintly. "Though Mr Arc is welcome to end the dream prematurely once he has the required information."

Jaune mumbled his agreement and climbed into one of the beds. It was just as awkward as Qrow had implied to be laid down in front of so many watching people, and it took an obnoxious amount of time to fall asleep. Once it caught him however, exhaustion set in and wiped him out.

/-/

There was a bag over his head.

Jaune was jostled forward by people who had a hold of each of his arms, and he was forced down onto his knees. Suddenly the bag was ripped free, and Jaune found himself surrounded on all sides by ragged looking men and women, jeering and shouting and hooting while a village burned in the background.

"Time for the blooding!" shouted a man, throwing his arms in the air. "Bring forth the younglings!"

Several children, as young as fourteen, were pushed out. They weren't prisoners, though. They had weapons, and some of them were smiling nervously, others with excitement. That same mood spread among the others, who began to clap and chant.

This wasn't the dream he wanted. Jaune let a little aura trickle out.

Only to feel it rubber-band back into him with a snap.

What? That's never happened before! The dream was fighting him. Jaune concentrated some more and poured aura out. Almost. Almost. Got it! The chains around his wrists snapped and he surged up, but that had only freed him. The nightmare continued.

Qrow's nightmare was unusually focused. Maybe it would be better for him to ride it out a bit, let it settle, then try and change it to the night of Amber's death. They had time, at least eight hours, and he didn't want to use up all his aura now.

The first of the children approached who Jaune realised were captured people forced down with bags over their heads. They were men for the most part, with women and children being bundled into cages. Jaune watched, disturbed, until he spotted a younger version of Qrow. His hair was black, and shorter, and he was shaking visibly as he held a sword.

Beside him was a girl with long, black hair that reminded him so much of Yang that he instantly knew it was her mother. Qrow had mentioned being an uncle, and he knew Yang's father was Taiyang, which mean this had to be Qrow's sister, and Taiyang's first wife.

"Bran's kids first!" shouted a man. "Show 'em how it's done!"

The two of them were pushed forward. Qrow looked horrified, but Raven gripped his hand in hers and pulled him along, exuding more confidence but refusing to leave her brother behind. She whispered something to him, and he nodded back, closing his eyes and gripping his sword tight.

They stood before two bound men on their knees and the bags were removed. Qrow closed his eyes, refusing to see the man even as he begged for his life. Raven spared no such thought, and lashed out swiftly, slicing the man's throat open before he could get out a single word.

Jaune couldn't tell if she did it quick because she didn't care, or if she wanted to get it over with, but this was Qrow's nightmare so this might all be make-believe. Jaune watched Qrow struggle, and he tried to leak out a little more aura to change things.

Not this. We want Amber. Amber and the forest. Ignore this. We're done with it.

The scene blurred and shifted, twisting like clay putty being moulded into one indistinct shape. Before it went entirely, Qrow screamed and lashed out with his sword, hacking with both hands but, thankfully, striking nothing. The victim and the scene shifted and vanished, replaced by a forest.

But it was not the forest Amber had died in. Jaune knew that because of the burning village in front of him, and the screaming people running around. Jaune had a sword in his hand, but he tossed it away, turning instead to search for Qrow as everyone ran past and ignored him.

It didn't take him long to find Qrow, and Raven again, the two of them hunkered down on their knees. Qrow was wounded, his left leg sporting a nasty hole and bleeding badly. Raven was caked with blood but it didn't appear to be her own, nor his.

"Come on!" she hissed. "We have to move."

"I—I can't! Agh! It hurts so bad!"

"Damn it, Qrow. We're going to be captured if we stay here. Do you know what they do to people like us!?"

"Then go!" he spat. "Get away."

Raven growled and began pulling on his shoulders. "Not without you! I promised you, didn't I? When mom and dad died. I'd look after your useless ass. Well I ain't going back on that, so move your fucking legs!"

"Well," said a familiar voice. Jaune turned, his eyes widening as he took in Ozpin – but younger. Brown hair with only the slightest flecks of grey, and he was walking on two good legs. He had his cane, but it was strapped to his back while he wielded a silver rapier. "What have we here? You seem a little young for a life of such brutal murder. You could do so much more with it."

"Can it, old man!" Raven leapt in front of Qrow. "I'm Raven Branwen! Back off or die!"

Ozpin chuckled. "I rather think I shall do neither."

Jaune shook his head.

This wasn't it either. He poured out more aura and twisted the scene away, but, again, Qrow's subconscious grabbed the mass of colours and took control of it, ripping it out from Jaune's hands and creating a new scene entirely.

Qrow and Jaune were running through a forest. The trees were dark, and he hoped for a second that this might be it. There was a scream ahead, feminine, and Jaune's entire body locked up. Amber.

It was not Amber.

They burst from the trees just in time to hear a horrific crunch and to see a childlike head snapped at a ninety degree angle. Yang Xiao Long, in cute little pigtails, hung limp in the hands of an Ursa, her feet dangling below her.

Nearby, a Beowolf was slashing down into a small red trailer that Jaune recognising, tearing great chunks out of something and spraying blood everywhere. A child's crying reached Jaune's ears, drowning out the sounds of carnage, and of Qrow falling to his knees, clasping his head and screaming.

More aura.

Change it.

They weren't dead. Jaune pulled on the dream.

But it pulled back.

"Summer is dead, Qrow!" shouted Raven. "And it's his fault! You all trusted him, and now she's dead and gone! Well, guess what! I'm gone, too! I refuse to be used and thrown away like she was!"

More aura.

A giant hawk, twice the size of a house, lunged down at him as he was flying through the air. Its talons ripped into Jaune and Qrow's backs, twisting into their insides as they shrieked and flapped their wings.

More aura.

They burst from the trees in time to see that the battle was already over, and that the village had been annihilated. Kuroyuri had fallen, and the dead and dying littered the floor from one end to the other.

More aura.

The bottle of beer has smashed, and the shards had embedded themselves into his hand, tearing through flesh and sparkling like little diamonds. He looked down at them, finding them so pretty in his muddled mind. He took a bandage and wrapped it up, grunting as the material pushed the shards of glass deeper into his skin.

It felt good.

More aura.

"You're an ill-omen, Qrow! You killed your mother, and then your father died because of you, and now your teammate as well. How many will you kill before you realise the truth? How many have to die before you do the right thing?" A hand caught his jaw and knocked him back. He didn't try and defend himself. "How many, Qrow? How many!? You're a walking disaster! Summer shouldn't have died! It should have been you!"

More—

The world exploded into whiteness.

/-/

Jaune lurched up, coming face-to-face with General Ironwood. It was not a welcome sight to wake up to and he gasped in horror. Only once he caught himself and remembered where he was did he let himself relax.

"That... That can't have been eight hours," he said.

"It wasn't. You were asleep for no more than ninety minutes." The man let him go, and indicated the still sleeping Qrow. He was tossing and turning, wracked by nightmares. "We had to wake you up. In no more than ninety minutes, you've spent over 60% of your aura."

Jaune's eyes widened. "What!?"

"It's true," said Ozpin. "You were burning through it so fast that we decided it would be safer to wake you up. You can go back to sleep and into his dream again, but whatever you were doing will have to stop."

"I... I was trying to force his nightmare to Amber's death like we said. He had too many others!"

Ozpin sighed. "The life of a huntsman is rarely without trauma. Tell us nothing of what you saw."

"Agreed," said Ironwood. "But, Arc, you must understand that this does not have to be the only time we do this. There's no point in you passing out or running out of aura here. By all means try again, we'll be here for hours yet, but stop pushing him. If he does not take you where you want to go then we can try again another time."

Jaune nodded. If he'd used over half his aura already then it was probably for the best they'd woken him up to warn him. He still had hours to go yet. Speaking his agreement, they let him lay back down again. Jaune closed his eyes.

/-/

They were in a camp of some sort, but it was not the violent one Jaune had seen before. There were high walls of concrete topped with barbed wire, and pale blue banners with the snowflake symbol he recognised from Weiss. There were long, wooden huts that looked like barracks, and a big, stone entrance to what appeared to be a mineshaft.

But that was not what drew his attention. There were a crowd of people watching several large men in uniform holding down a child. The child was no older than fourteen, but it wasn't Qrow.

His hair was bright red.

"This is what refusing to work gets you animals!" screamed a fat man in a suit. "This is what assaulting a foreman gets you!"

The boy was held down, his arms and legs spread apart by four armed men, as the fat one in the suit approached with a long, iron stick. The end was bright orange, glowing. Jaune's eyes widened, and he elbowed his way through the crowd, fighting his way to the front. The crowd was too large however, and they didn't once fight. They kept their heads down, teeth gritted and eyes clenched shut.

They didn't fight because there was no fight left in them.

And as the brand touched the boy's face, his scream tore into Jaune's body. Flesh sizzled and melted, and the sky itself turned dark, as if he was seeing the world dim as the boy's eye was damaged. In the sky, across it, the word SDC now blocked out the sunlight.

This was not Qrow.

This was not Qrow's nightmare.

So, the question was, in the middle of the Emerald Forest, far away from Beacon...

Whose was it...?