---

Jasper threw her stuff on the ground by the end of the couch, followed by her swords and quivers before she jumped on the couch, landing lying on it the long way on her back. She let out a sigh as she stretched out her body. "Ahh finally we got here. Nice of them to give us a place like this to stay while we are here." The pinkette commented to no one in particular as she folded her arms behind her head.

The team had to walk to the town from the school, it wasn't that bad of a walk. Only about a days walk, so they had left yesterday and camped out overnight and arrived to Clearwyn about midday. The town's mayor had given them more information on Grimm attacks and sightings before showing them to a small house in the town that the team would be staying in during their mission. That's where they were now. The small house had a small kitchen, small living room, a bathroom, and one room that usually only had two twin beds but the town had switched them with bunk beds seeing as the team had four people.

"Soo... What's the plan for the rest of the day?" Jazz asked glancing up at her teammates with her green eyes, "I personally vote the bar since there is no club." She joked with smirk and a wink at her teammates. It was half a joke and also half serious, she was definitely probably the most 'immature' in general of the bunch when it came to that stuff. Although she would argue it really made her more mature. The pinkette loved her team though, they made an interesting bunch... that was for sure true.

Bran sighed as he carefully withdrew his clothing taking a moment to press each and then hang it up in the closet. Upon arriving he'd started to unpack and try to make the place feel like home, even finding a desk in the living room to drop off his sewing supplies. "No Jasper we are not going to spend the day acting like we're on vacation. We're here to work." Bran spoke pushing back his hair as he fixed it looking over at her.

"We should try to gather information on the gang and scout around, then we can set guard shifts. After that, we can work on finding out what this gang is up to and keep the people here safe." Bran sighed as he found a hole in his cloak, deciding to patch it later he began to fiddle with Needle, checking the scope.

Bran was normally not so assertive with the team preferring democracy to orders outside of combat, however with was the first real mission they had been given. He wanted all of them to excel and prove how great a team they were. "However after all that's set up Jasper, we can start to rotate free time... Which means you can start drinking if you must." Bran rolled his eyes as he tugged on his gloves slightly starting to disassemble the rifle on the floor as he sat down on the floor as he worked. The redhead was usually a little more businesslike and official when he wanted to impress people. "Before we see too anything else, are you guys hungry at all? It was a long trip and a hot meal would be pretty good.

Zeke placed his own bag down neatly against one of the walls of the living area, looking around at what he and the others would be calling home for the duration of their mission. It was hard to believe that only shortly before he had been in school and now he was on his first mission with a team.

Beacon had been a nice change, with few trying try to cause him trouble due to being a faunas, but did little to ease his distrust of humans. When he had been paired with three of them he had nearly lost his mind and took him a day to regain his composure to be presentable to his fellow teammates. Since then he had come to feel that they were not bad. He wouldn't go as far as call them friends but they were closer to him then any other human had met. There was still some distrust and he kept expecting that somehow they would stab him in the back. He would have to get around that however if they were going to work well as a team.

"While relaxation would be liberating after our trip, especially libations, I concur with Bran," Zeke spoke up ",The sooner we get the information we need, the better. It would be wise indeed to refuel on food as well."

---

As Aurelia walked into the bedroom, she could hear Jasper make the suggestion to go drinking. Someone was certainly relaxed, though Bran would make sure to shut that idea down rather quickly. It was likely she was joking, though Aurelia was slightly more concerned about the mission. It was common knowledge that the Grimm were attracted to negative emotion, so to think one gang was causing enough issues to make the entire town attract their attention was troubling. The world clearly had enough on its plate, to think people would go out of their way to make things worse was simply despicable.

The thought was put aside as she heard both Bran and Ezekiel speak. Deciding that she would like to join the conversation, she placed her bag on one of the higher bunks. Reentering the living room, Aurelia placed a hand on her hip as she looked around."A meal sounds like a good idea," Aurelia murmured a response as she let out a sigh, pushing her bangs off her eyes. "We're a ways from Beacon, better to be on our toes just in case, right?"

Jasper pushed herself up on the couch and made her way to be sitting on the side next to where she threw her stuff down. Following in a similar direction of what Bran did, she pulled her quiver up and placed it between her knees before pulling out all the arrows to check them over and make sure they were still in fighting condition while Bran finished informing the team of what their plans would consist of for the rest of the day. When the idea of a warm meal was mentioned, she nodded as she placed arrows back into the quiver.

"A nice warm meal sounds good to me." Jazz hoped back up onto her feet, throwing the quiver over her shoulder at the same time. "If we pick right, we may be able to get more information on the gang wherever we choose to eat. The right food puts you in the gossiping mood." The pink-hair girl smiled at her teammates, finishing putting on her belt and thigh straps that she had picked up while talking. Picking up her swords she spun them a few times before sliding them into their holsters that go from the belt to the thigh straps.

"Ready when you all are."

Bran rose from his spot as he clicked Needle back together, looking over at Jasper. "And you have an idea of where exactly we should eat to get that information?" The redhead asked as he placed the rifle on the magnetic clip on his back. "I'm thinking anywhere that serves dishes from Mistral, I miss home." Bran yawned as stopped a moment grabbing out some thread from his and a needle he could work on patching that hole in his cloak while they were at lunch. "Well at least while we're out here I'll have time to sew up a few garments," Bran spoke gladly about his hobby.

"Well let's head out. Though I would keep a weapon close..." He paused walking towards the door. "I believe we have a secondary objective which is to bond and get to know each other more as a team." He said turning to look at his teammates. "So over lunch, we can all talk a bit about what we did while we were on break? We putting each other lives in each other's hands so whats a little gossip. It's not like our scrolls get decent reception out here, we can't tell anyone what we find out until we go back." Bran shrugged as he waited by the door looking over the squad. They were usually all reserved but he needed to get them talking and trusting each other first way to do that is by making them all more than friends but good friends people they wanted to trust and work.

Zeke dug into his bag and brought out his pair of tonfas, Virtus and Vitium, and placed them on his back, a click signifying that they were not going to go anywhere anytime soon. At the mention of gossiping, Zeke became slightly suspicious. While he had grown accustom with working as teammates and associates, perhaps even willing to call them the closest thing to friends he had, he had yet to decide if he put his trust with them. His past experience with humans left a bitter taste and wasn't a hundred percent certain if these three were not like the others. Even if they were different, would he trust him? He nodded a Bran as he pushed the thoughts to the side.

"It would do us well to get to know one another better," he slightly forced out deciding he could divulge a little bit about himself without to much to fear.

---

That seemed to settle things. Though unanimous, each person seemed to take the idea of getting to know one another in their own way. Jazz was more than happy to indulge, Bran was as serious as ever, and Ezekiel...looked a little hesitant. Aurelia rocked on her feet, slightly going forward and back, though she stood still as everyone went for the door. Taking Rampion into her hands, she twisted it slightly, watching the normally long rod collapse slightly into a shorter, more manageable form. Hanging it off her hip like an odd chakram, she practically bounced towards the door. It was hard to hide her excitement; one of the reasons she wanted to become a huntress in the first place was to explore the world. Considering it was her first time visiting Clearwyn, that meant it ticked off the goal of exploration.

As she walked out, Aurelia's eyes darted this way and that, as if unsure what to look at first. It may not have been as big a deal to anyone else, but she wanted to take it all in as much as she could. Taking in a breath, she spun on her heel, clapping her hands together. "Where shall we go?" She asked, positively giddy. "First place we see? Explore our options? Take a recommendation?"

Team BAJE made their way out into the town, the teammates looking for a good place to eat at and get to know each other. After asking a few of the townspeople and finally finding one willing to answer them without fear of the gang giving them problems, the team headed to the suggested small town restaurant. Upon walking in they would find it was a mix of a bar and restaurant, the group met with a few glares, even fewer looks of hope, and mainly just people giving them a glance then ignoring them.

When the group sat down, in a corner away from everyone else, the owner approached them and told them he was giving them free meals and free drinks as a thank you for what they were doing for the town. Shortly after he informed Team BAJE of this the meals were brought to the four along with glasses of a non-alcoholic version of a drink the restaurant is known for.

---

Thank the man who brought out the food as he quickly walked away Jasper looked down at the food than to her teammates. "Well I don't know about you all but I'm starving and all of this looks delicious. The girl grinned at her teammates before digging into her food, making sure to still try and use proper table manners while eating at the speed she was eating. Jasper did pretty well keeping up her table manners but only to the point that someone shoveling food into the mouth really could.

After finishing over half her meal within a couple minutes she realized she needed to probably slow down, plus the team was supposed to be bonding so she needed to focus more on her teammates now. The pinkette placed her utensils down and took a sip of the drink before putting her hands in her lap looking at her three teammates. She knew a decent amount about the three but still, she knew all of them, including herself, still held back important parts of themselves. Things that could help deepen their bonds and help them grow their friendships along with their teams ability to work in sync with each other. "So.... How was everyone's break?" Jasper drew out the so, not helping with how the question sounded a bit awkward coming out of her mouth as she didn't know what else to ask all of them.

---

Bran sipped his drink, humming delighted as he took small bites of the meal provided trying not to be a glutton. He was starving the same as his teammates, hearing Jaspers question he sighed and figured it best he start by sharing something he hadn't been quiet about. His family, growing up basically considered a half-breed had colored his view, he looked like a human but anyone who knew him thought of him as a Faunus and Faunus he met thought of him as a human. It was a rather interesting dilemma and uncommon however after a year with his team and as the leader, he knew he had to make the effort first. Clearing his throat he began to talk about his vacation, trying to play off his attempts at hiding his heritage in the past.

"Pumpkin damn near drove me mad. Autumn came home as well between sparring with my big sister, helping mom run the inn, and taking care Pumpkin I had a full vacation... And I'm very happy to be back where only Jasper tests my sanity." The short man chuckled offering Jasper a short glance. Then paused a moment. "Ah right... I've never showed you all my family." He reached into his pocket producing his scroll, he opened it and showed them a picture... Two very tall deer Faunus with long antlers stood either side of Bran, elbows leaned on his shoulders the tallest one had auburn hair and the short sister brown. Holding his hands and right in front of him was a young girl with red hair like his own wearing a massive smile.

"My mother was a deer Faunus." He explained simply as he let them all see the picture before turning off the scroll, acting as if this wasn't a big deal when to most people this knowledge could get him into serious trouble.

Zeke ate his food meticulously after it had arrived. Of course his attention shifted once Jasper asked about all their breaks. Bran went first which to Zeke seemed the standard given how he was the team leader. Most of what he regaled seemed unimportant. Not to say that family wasn't important to Zeke just that the information to him was a minor. At least it was until Bran decided to show a photo of his siblings and him together. He had always assumed Bran was a human but here was evidence otherwise that showed not only he was at least part Faunus but even nearly identical to what Zeke was as a Faunus. Zeke could somewhat understand why such information was kept secret.

"My break went well, mostly more training," Zeke stated deciding to go next ",Luckily my odd uncle happened to be around this time. Hard to keep track of him with his wanderings but he has a good tale at least from it every so often. Parents are doing well which is nice." A slight smile crossed his face. The thought of home brought fond memories compared to the usual tormenting nightmares of those that had bullied him in life.

---

Letting out a low whistle as the food arrived, Aurelia chose to listen to the conversation unfold. Jasper had asked how their break went, although the blonde would immediately take a drink of water to avoid talking first. She had taken advantage and gone home, but admittedly, it hadn't been the most pleasant of trips, having returned to the school much earlier than most. Although there was the slightest pang of jealousy that would hit as she listened to both Bran and Ezekiel speak about their families. She was surprised to see Bran's family, but the way he spoke about them was something Aurelia wished she could do. That was all that mattered, right?

As Ezekiel finished speaking, she suddenly felt like it was her turn to speak. Shifting in her chair slightly, she took a second to choose her words carefully. "It was nice to have some time to do some modifications on Rampion," Aurelia perked up considerably, lightly patting her weapon. "Adjusting the amount of Dust it can carry took a lot of trial-and-error, but I believe it was worth the effort." She nodded to herself, though she still felt that she had to say something more. Deciding to take the attention off herself, she instead looked at Jasper. "And how was your break?"