Jaune handed off the necklace to Oswald as proof of Trivia's breaking away from Roman. He offered to go and hand it to Roman himself as proof, but he was told to stay on Amity or at Beacon – whichever he needed to be at – and keep out of trouble. Jaune got the feeling it was General Ironwood not trusting him, or maybe they wanted to ask Roman things that they didn't want him hearing.

Whatever the case, something good must have happened because there was a notable shift in the security forces from Atlas. Suddenly, there were many more on Amity – and a bunch at Beacon as well. Returned even though Ozpin had as good as thrown them out before. In a sense, they had an excuse now that "Ozpin" had retired. The official story was that Glynda had rescinded the order as the new headmistress, on the promise that Ironwood and his people would be on their best behaviour.

And hey, his team didn't get nearly gunned down when they came out for breakfast so that was an improvement.

Not that his team were overly thrilled when he told them.

"I can't believe you met with her again," groaned Pyrrha. "She's a criminal!"

"Not by choice," he defended. "Cinder forced her."

"Jaune, she wasn't a saint before that either from what you've told us."

"Yeah, well, she had a rough upbringing."

"They had none!" Pyrrha argued, pointing at Ren and Nora.

Ren chuckled, while Nora tried to look offended but couldn't quite manage it. She was too busy holding the black bra from Trivia, that Nora had found and stolen from him, against her own chest. Nora was bigger, but not by much, which seemed to shock her given how short the other girl was.

At least none of them had actually believed he'd slept with her.

Though it was a little insulting to have them discard the possibility so quickly. Like, he hadn't, but he could have. Maybe. It was a possibility, okay? They didn't have to look like the idea was so unlikely!

"This is a girl who was able to sneak onto Amity despite security and corner you in a restricted area, Jaune. A girl who has by your own admission snuck into our dorm more than once."

"And harmed no one, I'll add."

"Yet!"

"Are you jealous?"

"Of what!?" Pyrrha growled. "I can walk in on you in a shower and throw a used bra at you if I want to. It doesn't mean anything!"

"A smaller bra," Nora just had to comment.

Pyrrha fixed her with a death stare worthy of Weiss Schnee.

"I'm just saying, like, this girl is stacked for how small she is. There's a word for that, isn't there?"

"Shortstack," said Ren.

"That's it. Short— Wait..." Nora eyed Ren. "How do you know that?"

"I am a man, Nora. I know these things."

"..."

"There's nothing suspicious with me knowing about girls, Nora. Stop giving me that look! Jaune, defend me!"

"I'm a little busy here, pal." Jaune was backed into a corner by an increasingly irate Pyrrha. "Look, it's not like I let my guard down. I had my aura up. But I know her. I know her better than almost anyone else does. And if she wanted to hurt me, she's had plenty of opportunities before. Trivia is misunderstood."

"That's the same excuse Blake uses for the White Fang!"

"Yeah, but that's Blake. She'd call blue red if the White Fang were involved."

"You're no more sensible than her, Jaune!"

"Okay. That stings."

"You came to Beacon without aura!"

"I... well..."

"You allowed yourself to be thrown off a cliff without aura!"

"You caught me..."

"With a spear, Jaune. One inch, one errant twitch and I'd have murdered you faster than Nora murders a plate of pancakes!"

"Objection!" cried Nora. "That's hearsay!"

"Overruled," said Ren.

"Okay, okay, I'm an idiot. We all know this." Jaune edged away from her. "But I've improved a lot and I've been totally open with you all ever since coming clean on my Semblance. And this was at the suggestion of General Ironwood and Ozpin before he retired. I also have Mr Oswald on my side saying it was safe."

"Oh, he did?" Pyrrha did an about-face, biting her lip nervously. "Well, if Mr Oswald thinks it's okay..."

"Girl, are you crushing on Jaune or the teacher?"

"Jaune!" Pyrrha defended, then blushed as Jaune raised an eyebrow. "I... I mean, oh, you know what I mean. I just think Professor Oswald is a very wise and skilled man. He's one of the few people who doesn't treat me as if I'm special. Outside the team, I mean."

"Pyrrha, he treats you – and us – like garbage."

"I know! Isn't it great!?"

Nora's face fell into her hands. Ren patted her back as she groaned.

/-/

Jaune was eventually invited to a meeting with Ozpin in private to discuss the findings from Roman Torchwick. It was a relief to know and not have to guess from the movements of others, and that was probably why Ozpin thought he should be in the know – because he'd only put himself in danger otherwise.

"The good news is that Roman Torchwick has accepted a plea deal and spilled what he knows," said Ozpin. "The downside is that he doesn't know as much as we would like."

"Is it enough to have his sentence reduced?"

Trivia would be upset otherwise.

"We'd have stuck to that regardless. His testimony paints him as an unwilling accomplice, which we're sure is a mixture of the truth and his own self-preservation instincts. Either way, we were able to confirm that Cinder intended, and perhaps still intends, a two-pronged attack both on Amity and on Beacon."

Jaune blinked. "But why?"

"Amity was to serve as a distraction in Torchwick's opinion and grant her greater access to Beacon."

"I don't get that, though. Cinder was in Beacon. Why does she need Amity as well? I can see why the White Fang would want Amity, but does – or did – Cinder really need it?"

"That is hard to answer at this time. It involves Amber, and you're right that her death should have meant Cinder could retreat in success. The fact that she carried on despite that victory tells us she wants more than Amber. I suspect that it is involved in a centuries old conflict involving myself." Oswald smiled. "But I also suspect you will not believe me when I say that, as you've yet to really accept what you saw in my dream."

Jaune shifted awkwardly. "Forgive me for saying it, sir, but it sounds like nonsense."

"I'm sure it does. Alas, I can't really explain without you believing me. Perhaps the only way you'll be able to is to get into Cinder's dreams once more and find the person she answers to – for I do not believe she is doing this on her own. There, you might find the proof you're looking for."

That was all well and good but it'd involve finding Cinder first. Jaune said so, then noticed the man's slow smile.

"You've caught her!?"

"Not quite, but Roman was able to provide us a list of safehouses in Vale and we've found evidence that she and her companions have been at some of them. We're closing the net and cutting her off. And we also know where Roman was keeping the dust. Cinder had him steal a huge amount, more than she could hope to carry with her. We've seized much of it already, and a fair number of White Fang members guarding it."

Jaune pumped his fist. "Yes!"

"Indeed. There will be no great explosion at Amity now. At best, they could try and smuggle on firearms, but we're taking steps against that as well. That doesn't mean we're safe. In fact, it may mean Beacon is in more danger as they'll likely shift priority away from Amity. However, Beacon is a school of huntsmen. Better we are attacked than a colosseum filled with helpless civilians."

"I'll need you to keep this to yourself, even from your team." Jaune made to protest but Ozpin held up a hand. "Beacon and its students will be warned of a discovered attack by the White Fang and measures will be put in place, but specific details about Cinder could lead to sympathisers or informants in Beacon passing the message back. We are bound to have White Fang sympathisers here, or those who have friends or family who might be involved. I doubt your team is among them, but your team will be in the spotlight if Cinder has any spies here. If you act differently then she will suspect."

"Fine. How much can I tell them?"

"That Beacon may be under threat but the teachers are aware and acting. That Cinder is a terrorist we believe to be aligned with the White Fang. No more. Do not mention anything about the safehouses or the dust. Qrow is leading a team to try and find her at this very moment."

"And me?"

"Attend Amity, support your friends and carry on as normal. You've done more than enough to get us this far, and this matter should be handled by professional huntsmen. Not you and your teammates."

"And if they get through you?"

"Then they will run into Ironwood and Atlas. And if they get through that, then yes, I obviously expect you to defend yourselves – but Cinder is on the backfoot and her support is dwindling fast. A wise person knows when to back off and take the victory they have. It is up to her whether she makes the intelligent decision or gambles everything."

"I've been in her head, sir. That woman believes she can achieve anything she puts her mind to."

Ozpin smiled. "Good. Then she will walk right into our trap."

/-/

Jaune did keep his eye on the news for the next few days, hoping to see that Cinder had been arrested. It never happened, though. The tournament fights continued, with Pyrrha and Nora going into the doubles rounds and winning, and Pyrrha being elected to fight in the singles. She was a favourite to win the whole thing, and since General Ironwood had withdrawn Penny Polendina, there didn't seem to be anyone to stand in her way.

Of the actual security, there had been no incidents whatsoever. Several White Fang stashes had been raided and dust had been recovered, sparking a wave of optimism in the city at what they saw as the authorities finally getting on top of the issue. Atlas earned a lot of kudos for being involved, even if they kept Roman's assistance in that hidden from the general public. Without dust, Cinder had lost one of her key weapons, and the White Fang had also lost a lot of their civilian operators. Not all of them, of course, since most of them took off masks and melted back into normal life, but the raids had found and confiscated weapons stashes, which would make it a lot harder for those civilian recruits to become a problem.

The benefit of being able to melt into normal society was staying hidden, but a downside was that you had to store all your equipment elsewhere. Now that said equipment had been found and taken, those terrorists-in-hiding must have been spooked. Jaune couldn't help but imagine they were reassessing their choices and thinking they were lucky to not be arrested. With any luck, a majority of them would be spooked into hanging up their masks once and for all.

Cinder wouldn't be. He knew that, Ozpin knew that, Ironwood knew that, but as the days went by and neither Beacon nor Amity faced attack, the question of whether Cinder even could pose an attack rose in their minds. They knew she was arrogant, but arrogance alone wouldn't storm Beacon, and they were taking away a little too much from her.

It was hard to feel bad about that, and yet it did make him worry. If Ozpin wanted her to spring the trap and be caught, then there needed to be some bait. Not that he was going to go and offer himself up as it – that was the kind of thing Team RWBY would do, and he had no desire to earn a reputation like them for finding trouble.

Instead, he carried on as he was told to while worrying that Cinder would go to ground and take her time. Technically, Amber was dead and so Cinder no longer was in any rush, and while striking during the Vytal Festival would do the most damage, there was nothing to say she couldn't patiently wait until after when Atlas and its military had left.

Beacon would be much less defended at that point.

"You need to stop stressing about this," Pyrrha said, watching him stalk about the inside of their dorm. "What will happen will happen. Spending every waking day thinking of every angle is only stressing you out – and that's making your sleep worse."

"My sleep has been terrible already," he replied. "Too many people are anxious about the fights and having nightmares. They're waking up several times a night, and that keeps throwing me out their dreams to wakefulness as well."

There had been no dramatic dreams, no terrifying or impactful ones, just a whole lot of people failing at the Vytal Festival. It made sense, seeing as how every student in Beacon was currently obsessing over it night and day, but he'd be lying if he said it wasn't getting old. He didn't even have to fight in it anymore and couldn't get a good night's sleep for worrying. Worse yet, Oobleck was too busy to have their usual sessions. The man was stuck commentating and prepping every day.

"I wonder if your Semblance will become easier to control once there are less people here."

"Huh. It might. I'll still end up in dreams every night, but at least they'll be more relaxed."

"At least you won't have to worry about Atlas arresting you at that point."

"True. I'll be happy to see them gone, but also worried because it means less security."

"More White Fang have been caught," Ren piped up, reading his scroll from his bed. "Looks like they staged an ambush at one of those sites, pretended it hadn't been found, then rounded up a group of terrorists who thought it safe to go there."

"Blake will be happy," Jaune said.

"Will she?" asked Nora, smiling jokingly. "I think she's only happy if she's the one to catch them. One moment it's all 'the authorities aren't doing enough' and the next it's 'why aren't the authorities letting us get involved'. Sheesh."

"Be nice," said Pyrrha. "They're our friends."

"This is me being nice. You think I'd only be saying 'sheesh' if I didn't like her? If this was Cardin trying to drag everyone into a fight with the White Fang, I'd serve him to them myself."

"Cardin isn't that bad," said Jaune, automatically.

"Ah, ah, ah." Nora held up a hand. "If this is you being nice, don't. If this is you knowing more about him because of super-secret dream trauma, then also don't. I like my simple life where I like some people and dislike other people. I don't need it complicating."

"Yeah, well, welcome to having my Semblance."

Pyrrha giggled. "At least you haven't run into any students who are secretly serial killers or something." She paused. "Other than Cinder. She doesn't count."

Jaune snorted, but he knew what she meant. Discovering trauma and understanding more about people was unfair to them and difficult for him, but at least he hadn't run into anything that should really worry him. The thought of seeing someone in the cafeteria and knowing they were a cannibal or into illegal content online was enough to make him shudder. Or, hell, having to relive someone's abuse at the hands of someone else, and then bite his tongue as he spent time with them, knowing their deepest secret even as they tried to move on with their lives.

Not that he didn't know a lot of dark secrets, but few were that bad.

He'd take Ruby's insecurity over failing to live up to her sister over, say, finding out Ruby had been abused by said sister. One was adorable and made him want to hug her and tell her she was a great person on her own, and the other would have him walking around on glass shards.

"Yeah. Yeah, you definitely have a point there. Though part of me thinks it's only a matter of time until something like that happens. It makes me realise I should put a lot of thought into where I live in the future." The others looked a little confused, so he elaborated. "Imagine if I bought a home close to a prison or a hospice."

They all winced. The dreams of those incarcerated would be filled with terrible memories and crimes, while those dying would be pure agony – especially if they were young. Even living close to an orphanage might force him to relive the moments they became such, or close to a police station might have him seeing crime scenes and investigative details he wasn't legally allowed to know.

His Semblance really would have been perfect for someone like Cinder, and also useful to Ironwood as a spy. All he'd need to do was be shipped around as an ambassador to various embassies and go to sleep, then glean secrets from the minds of politicians and diplomats from other countries. All things considered, he was probably lucky it manifested in Beacon. Dreams here were often violent given their nature as huntsmen, but they were also dreams from teenagers who hadn't had such long lives as to run into so many traumatic events. On average, anyway.

Older huntsmen like Port and Oobleck had the worst dreams by far – too many failures, too many scenes of dead bodies, too many instances where they'd been slower than the Grimm.

A pillow struck his face. "Stop it!" Pyrrha snapped. "You're stressing out again."

"Sorry. And thanks. I guess this Cinder thing is bugging me."

"It's bugging us all but thinking of all the terrible things you might see isn't helping you stay calm." That much was true. "Let's go spar on the roof. I can help clear your mind."

"You mean attack me with such ferocity that I can't possibly think of anything else?"

"That's what I said."

"It really isn't." Jaune smiled and pushed himself up. "But it sounds like an idea. I'd rather be too exhausted to stay awake than too worried to fall asleep."

/-/

Cinder had never liked her colleagues, and even that term was used lightly. Salem might have referred to them as her peers, but she did not see them that way. It wasn't solely arrogance, either. A peer was someone who shared a common goal, and she really couldn't see her goals aligning with Tyrian's fanaticism or Hazel's bizarre obsession with avenging his sister's death by siding with the Grimm that killed her.

But at least Watts wasn't here. She'd take what she could get on that front.

"We've been sent to clean up your mess," Tyrian giggled.

"Ahem." Hazel cleared his throat. "We have been sent to assist in cleaning up this mess." Far from diplomatic, he could more realistically be called non-confrontational. Odd for a man who was so capable in a fight. "The situation has expanded far beyond what was expected. You should see this as a good thing, Cinder. It means the blame for this won't fall squarely on your shoulders."

Hmph. It would fall adjacent, though. It would clip her shoulder, and that was bad enough where Salem was concerned. "This isn't my fault," she insisted. "How could I have possibly expected someone to unlock a Semblance capable of returning Ozpin to his former strength?"

"You could not have, but that's why the plan has to change. Salem does not want the boy killed, that's a waste. Instead, she wants him to bolster her as well. Even the playing field, or even give her an advantage."

"He would sooner kill her."

"One can't kill a god!" Tyrian cackled.

Normally, Cinder would have agreed, but Jaune Arc's Semblance defied the laws of reality. Who was to say it couldn't slay Salem in this case? Even if not, he might be able to use it to weaken or change her. Leave her immortal but remove her limbs so she was an ambling torso rolling on the ground. All those thoughts and more flashed through her mind, but she dismissed them.

She was not being asked what to do, she was being told.

Her opinion didn't matter here.

And, in a way, it was better like that. Salem couldn't fault her for something she had no choice over.

"Very well. I won't be able to win him over, though. He hates me for killing a woman he never met. I can help capture him if that's to be the plan, but how would we transport him? He'll have to sleep eventually, as will we, and he'll kill us in our own dreams if he's within range. If he so much as catches a whiff of mine, he'll hunt me down and butcher me. And it's not like I can get anywhere near Beacon, either."

"The plan for Beacon and Amity will have to be dropped. It's unachievable now the White Fang are being rounded up.

"What of Adam Taurus?"

"What of him?" asked Tyrian. "Let him show his devotion to the cause by dying for it." The faunus cackled madly. "It's no matter to us."

"He could still be useful. The man is capable, if reckless—"

"Reckless is the last thing we need right now, Cinder." Hazel said, firmly. "This requires a steady hand. With that in mind, this will be our last meeting for some time. The less time we spend together, the less chance the boy will stumble upon you in our dreams and discover the connection."

"What am I to do, then?"

"Do what you do best," said Tyrian. "Crawl around in the dark like a rat and avoid capture."

Cinder sneered. "I'm not useless. I have Roman—"

"He's caved," said Hazel, shocking her. "Watts hacked their systems and found it. He's told everyone your plans and accepted a plea deal." Cinder's body burned with fury. "It turns out he was only loyal so long as you had his little accomplice as a bargaining chip. With her gone, Torchwick couldn't turn on you fast enough."

"I'll kill him."

"You'll stay out of trouble and not give the maiden's powers back to Ozpin," Hazel snapped. "Those are the orders from above. He's as powerful as he was before he distributed them, and he's unlikely to make that mistake again."

A shame. Having eight maidens to hunt down might have given her even more power.

"Are we understood, Cinder?"

She bit back a snarl. "I understand, Hazel. But you had better understand that my ultimate goal is to bring down Beacon and prove to Salem that it can be done. Once the boy is taken, Beacon will fall. Even if that can't happen with the Vytal Festival here to see it."

Hazel grunted. "Do as you wish. As long as you don't jeopardise our plans."