SAPH: Blue Jay

III - Alone Time

As they walk out of the arena and across the blooming courtyard, the party enters the main building. They enter through the main hall with its brown and black colors and walk to an ID-locked door. Qrow presents his scroll and has his ID scanned. The sealed door opens, revealing an elevator. Everyone gets inside and Qrow presses a button labeled '-1', sending them down. As the dim white lights shine on them, Joan is surprised. "The base is under the academy? Wow." She whistles. "When did this get built?"

Winter puts down her scroll and responds. "A year after the Salem crisis. When the city got new resources from the Kingdoms, they built the academy over an abandoned Dust mine. When the academy was finished, talks came for a Hunter base to be placed here, especially since it's now a must for the major academies." Winter looks from the glass window from behind, showing the scale of the underground base to the others. "With some time and patience, the base became, well, this."

Jay is stunned at the scope of the base. The window peers through, revealing a beautiful cavern, filled with glowing Dust crystals of every color complemented with beautiful waterfalls. As Jay looks down, he sees Schnee Company personnel surveying the area alongside some Hunters, checking some peculiar debris from the water. Before Jay could process this, the elevator stopped, opening the door to the floor. As Jay kept staring into the window, Jaune tapped his shoulder.

"Jay, you okay?"

Jay is winded a bit before standing. "Oh, uh, yeah. Just sightseeing." He gives a light smile.

Jaune nods, and Jay looks around as they walk through the steel halls.

"Uncle Jaune," he says. "Did Aunt Weiss tell you about this place?"

Jaune looks at him, his arms around his waist. "She and Whitley told me some details, but I didn't know it was below the academy. You know them, keeping business and life separate."

Jay looks back. "Huh."

As they continue walking, Joan fangirls over the architecture, her eyes sparkling from seeing the many trophies hanging over the wall. Jay knew how geeky her cousin can sometimes be in contrast to her more deadpan personality, especially when Hunters are involved. When they enter the main room, Jay looks around.

A rectangular, gray-colored room faces them, with an oval table in the middle, and boxes on top of it. The automatic doors lead from the left and right halls and into the kitchen and weaponry halls. As Jay checks the map, he sees that it is a 3-floor complex filled with medical halls, training simulations, research labs, and recreational rooms. Qrow looks over Jay's shoulder, peeking through.

"Interested, Jay?" Jay turns to his dad.

"Yeah." He skims through the touch screen, checking info on the base. "Was the vale base this big?"

Qrow takes his hands out of his pocket and gestures. "Imagine this base, but a tad smaller and without the-"

"The giant Dust cavern."

"Bingo." They look at the map together, Qrow showing Jay the various sections of the base. As Jay sees this, he taps his foot. He looks up and questions his father.

"Dad," he says. "About the match, I had with Joan, I had something-" Qrow waves his hand, putting it on his son's shoulder. "If it's about your semblance Jay, I understand. It sucks, but you'll find it someday. Look at blondie over there." Jay turns his head, watching Jaune and Winter show Joan some functions about the base. Yeah, Jay thought, Uncle Jaune was a late bloomer too. Jay puts his focus back on Qrow. "It's not my semblance, Dad. It's something else."

Qrow raises an eyebrow, lending an ear. "Go on."

Jay hesitates, trying to find the right words, and returns his focus. "You see, during the match, I-".