It was perhaps wrong to refer to a day back at Beacon training from sun-up to mid-afternoon as a "day off" but that was how it felt. They woke early, hung-over and tired and grouchy in his and Ruby's cases, while everyone else looked far too bloody satisfied with themselves. They attended morning exercises, breakfast, then more training and weapons practice throughout the day with no mention of Project Terminus or the spore outbreak at the bar. It wasn't a case of them being forgotten either because the XO was there to conduct their training as usual, so she wasn't busy either. He assumed it was a case of PT being forced to halt for the day while all their members were tested for any lingering traces of rot that might have gone unnoticed before.
Their own tests were a little harrowing when the doctor drew blood, saw his drug and alcohol levels and raised an eyebrow. The faunus woman clicked her tongue, whispered a joke to her colleague and told him he was clear. The others tested clear as well, not that they'd expected anyone not to but it didn't hurt to be safe, especially with those at ground zero.
"I told you the doctors don't care," said Ruby. "We only get in trouble if we're caught or too wasted to train."
"I can't believe the XO let us off last night to be honest."
"Yeah, me neither." Ruby laughed embarrassedly. "I mean, she had us dead to rights but I guess even someone like her can feel sorry for us after all the shit we've been through."
"I was always under the impression huntsmen were super professional."
"Really? Is that what infantry thinks?"
To be fair, infantry rarely saw huntsmen or huntress other than on television, parades, and the occasional show they held to wow the civilians and military alike and restore morale. Those often ran in tandem with air shows and army marches where everyone wore their fine regalia and military dress uniforms. Jaune could remember sitting on his sister's shoulders and crying out in joy when he spotted mom and dad among the marching soldiers. Saphron had to hold him back from rushing out to hug them. That had been three years before Saphron was declared MIA with her whole squad on a metal reclamation mission near the great wall.
In the parades, the huntsmen and huntresses had been marching in formation and dancing about gracefully as they sparred for the audience. He supposed it was the same as the military in that they were putting on their best faces, but while the allure and splendour of infantry life had faded somewhat once he'd experienced it, the mystery of the huntsmen hadn't. He imagined it would have if he'd come across them torn in half like Sun had been.
"We saw them as superhuman," said Jaune, rubbing his hair awkwardly. It was a little embarrassing to say this to a huntress, but then he was a huntsman. Technically, anyway. "I guess it was an image we held up to convince ourselves everything would be all right. There was always this superstition that if a squad got in trouble, a huntsman or huntress might swoop in to save them. It never happened of course. If your squad was hit by Grimm then you had seconds to live and it's not like Vale could respond that quickly. It was just something to keep us going."
"What do you think now?" asked Ruby.
"Now? I guess I think they're as human as anyone else – and put under more pressure. The worst part is, I still haven't seen any proper huntsmen. Other than the instructors, I mean. And they're different. They aren't out there fighting and dying."
"Hmmm." Ruby hummed in agreement. It wasn't that he didn't doubt Lieutenant-General Goodwitch couldn't kick all their asses, but she was also sticking to that professional image as an instructor and officer, so they all knew they weren't seeing the real her. "I kind of doubt we'll see all that many now if a lot of them died trying to reclaim PT material from the fall of Atlas. I heard even Qrow Branwen was killed in action. Yang always wanted to meet him."
"Really? How come?"
"Half her genetics come from his sister, or so the people working there told us. There was a lot of talk about whether Yang would be some kind of super-huntress like her genetic uncle when she grew up. Apparently, Qrow's sister was also a big deal before she fell helping people escape from Mistral."
"Wow." It was strange to think of them in terms of genetics when it would have been easier to refer to her as Yang's mother, but he supposed they weren't that. It was just eggs and sperm taken from donors to be grown far away from anyone. "Yang is kind of a badass so I wouldn't be surprised if it works out. She's definitely the strongest of us."
"Yep!" Ruby bounced proudly on her heels. "My sister is awesome!"
"Were your... uh... genetic donors huntsmen too?"
"Uh-huh. One huntsman and one huntress. I didn't get their names but I know my eyes came from my mother because some of the researchers thought it was a genetic defect before they double checked. They thought it might hold me back or turn into a debilitating health problem later on, but she had the same eyes and was a badass huntress so it was decided I'd be allowed to live."
That put a stop to the good mood and the conversation, not that Ruby noticed or understood. She skipped on laughing and talking about huntsmen and huntresses while Jaune struggled to find the words to her saying she'd nearly been killed at birth for her eye colour. In the end he decided he shouldn't say anything, because Ruby wasn't bothered and wouldn't understand why he was trying to offer her sympathy. She'd probably just say that she didn't die, so there was no point getting worked up about it. He couldn't believe her and Yang had come out of the clone vats as relatively normal people and not murderous psychopaths. Presumably because the "psychopaths" had all been weeded out and euthanised as children...
The cafeteria was bustling today. Utterly rammed packed to the point that there was just about no room at all for them with the others. Ruby had to sit in Yang's lap, but only after she'd demanded to know that Yang had showered after last night – and Jaune had to squeeze in between Ren and a guy to her right to the point that he was squashed up with his shoulders hunched at his neck.
"What the hell is going on?" he asked. "I've never seen the place so busy. There must be every single person in Beacon here." Lunch lasted two hours, and that was precisely so people could come and go at different times to make the most of the space and prevent situations like this. "Can't we come back later when there'll be more room?"
"Are you fucking kidding me?" asked Nora. "The bet cuts will be all gone by then!"
"Cuts of what?"
"You don't know?" Ren leaned around from Nora's other side. The boy was often wearing a lazy smile, but today it was manic. He didn't think he'd ever seen Ren look so excited. "I guess no one reminded you. Today is our meat portions."
The word hit Jaune in the stomach and the mouth at once. He struggled to form words around drool. "T-Today? It's today?"
"Yeah, it is," said Yang, rubbing her hands together. "Barely any livestock in the academy but they get processed around the same time and given out to high-ranking officers, governmental officials and the other important schmucks. But because we're so important to the survival of the arcology and all that, we get a quarter of all the meat in the arcology. Real stuff, too. Not that test-tube grown synthetic meat."
Just hearing Yang talk about it had people around them moaning happily, and an excited murmur spreading up and down the tables. It was no wonder everyone had decided to squeeze in for first servings. He might have cried if he came late and found out most of the meat was gone because he hadn't realised what today was.