In no way am I connected to Rooster Teeth
Glynda closed her eyes and counted to ten. This was a tactic she normally used when trying to calm down after her students (mostly half the first years) did something she did not approve of. Recently though, someone else had been trying her patience.
It wasn't that she didn't understand the General's problem. It was that his argument was very short sighted and circular.
"The question James is not whether we can trust this information." Ozpin seemed tired as well. "It is whether we can afford to not trust it."
Zephyr had been the mole in Beacon. However, he had merely vanished into thin air. He had given some information to them and that was where they were having the problem. Not for the first time, Glynda was wishing James had stayed in Atlas.
"This could be a trap." A perfectly valid point, but it was only a possibility.
"And what if it is not? Our record searching hasn't turned up any suspects."
Zephyr's application had not been suspicious. Even James had agreed with that when he read it. There was only one odd thing and that was merely that he had left the 'hometown' box blank. Quite a few did that, normally due to bad memories, and it wasn't a required field. From a certain point of view, the fact there wasn't a guardian listed was another, but again that wasn't abnormal.
"That is assuming he wasn't the only accomplice. We have no evidence of that. If so, then his team are the most likely suspects."
Zephyr and Blake had not been at the temple with the chess pieces with Ren and Nora. They had selected their pieces separately and that was how they were on the same team. Glynda didn't think they had tricked that.
"You may see the footage of their Initiation if you wish," Ozpin offered. "Personally, I think that particular team was formed by accident."
"I'll be the judge of that." Glynda resisted the urge to roll her eyes. "Were there any teams that you know were not formed by accident?"
"RMEY. You could argue CRDL."
"Of course it's RMEY."
"If you wish to discuss them, I suggest we call Qrow," Glynda interrupted. Those two were a very old argument and James knew that Emerald was part Maiden and had been traumatised by them. He was still convinced they were compromised.
With how frustrated he was, James did not want to add a 'discussion' with Qrow on his to do list.
Ozpin decided to move the conversation along. "I have had someone look into CRDL and their families. There was nothing to suggest they are involved in illegal activities."
"So we're back to square one."
In front of Ozpin was a transcript of Mercury's and Zephyr's final conversation, before the latter disappeared. There were also a few letters the two had exchanged after that, though they only really had Mercury's word for this and that was where a lot of the problem was.
Ozpin and Glynda trusted Mercury's word. James did not.
It wasn't surprising, but it did result in many circular conversations, in which nothing was done. That annoyed James even more.
Ozpin brought up the footage from Initiation and allowed James to view it. Save for RMEY, none had even discussed what chess pieces they picked up. He backtracked through all the years and came to the same conclusion: none of the teams had conspired during their Initiation. They probably had before, but those plans had most likely fallen through on execution.
While James was doing this, Glynda examined the transcript on the desk, with focus on one particular section.
'One: I was not the only mole at Beacon now, but I was at the beginning of the year.
Two: the only other ones claim to come from the school they pick for a very good reason and it is only one team.
Three: they are very interested in stories and technology that doesn't exist.'
They were all rather easy to understand. The third point was, by far, the most worrying.
Maidens were the obvious thing and only two were known, one having only a little of the power. Did they know who the Summer and Winter Maidens were?
The prototype aura transfer machine had been stolen just over ten years ago and James had reluctantly admitted he had no idea where it was now. Glynda hadn't known about anything like that until Mercury showed them one of Zephyr's letters. She had known that Atlas was studying aura from a scientific viewpoint, but that machine was several steps too far.
The Relic was also a target.
However, there was much more that the general public were unaware of. Exactly what were they focused on?
With Emerald better, maybe it was time to try to convince Qrow to go off again. They still had eight days before the Vytal Festival Tournament started and they needed to confirm or dispute rumours.
Normally, Ruby didn't pay much attention to Professor Port's class.
Today was different. She could focus a lot easier and found that, in Professor Port's stories, there were mentions of Grimm she had never heard of and you had to be paying attention to catch their weak points.
How had she not noticed that before?
Oh yeah. I found him boring.
Or had she just changed?
Ruby hadn't been the only one. Blake had changed as well and had been willing to tell them that she was a Faunus and even that she was in the White Fang. Ruby may have already known that, but that had been from her Emery and Blake may not have known that. Her teammates and JWMP hadn't known about it at all.
Unfortunately, Weiss didn't take it well. At all.
When she started to rant about Faunus, Ruby hadn't been sure what to do. However, when she started on Faunus in general and not just the ones in the White Fang, Yang had angrily cut her down. Ren and Nora had also argued for Blake. While the rest of Weiss' team tried to calm her down, Weiss had become snippy to Blake.
It had been the first real argument any of her friends had had since their first week.
Maybe that was the reason Yang discouraged Ruby from telling Weiss the full truth about Emery's past for the moment. Blake actually agreed with her on that.
Zephyr hadn't returned to Beacon. It was like he vanished into thin air.
'Zebrina' had been renamed 'Burgundy', with Blake as its leader. It had been Ren to ask Professor Ozpin for that and he had allowed it. While it was very rare for a team to only have three members, it was not unheard of.
Ruby knew there was a White Fang meeting tonight. Mercury went to it in his winged fox aura animal. When he told her it had ended, Ruby went outside to wait for Blake and Sun. Yang went with her while Em stayed with Merc.
Blake seemed trouble. But she hadn't gotten into trouble this time.
"Are you okay Blake?" Ruby asked.
"I'm fine. It's just disappointing. There was no Torchwick this time."
"There were fewer new recruits than last time," Sun chimed in. "So that's a plus."
"It'll work out Blake," Yang encouraged. "Things like this don't sort themselves out overnight." Blake gave her a look. "Yeah, okay. Bad choice of words."
"Besides, since the train they found, there's been no White Fang anywhere except at these meetings."
Sun had a good point. That made Ruby smile. Despite what else had happened, stopping the train had been a mission to be proud of.
"They didn't say where they are now, though," Blake responded. She began to lead the way back to the school.
"Maybe they don't have a plan." Sun got three disbelieving glances. "I mean for a short while. Maybe they're waiting for something and if that something doesn't happen, then they won't do anything."
It took three goes around Ruby's head before that made sense.
Then she agreed with it.
"Exactly." Yang thought so too. "So let's not think much more on that. Matter of interest Blake, are your parents coming to the play?"
"Hang on. Hang on." Sun was almost panicking. "Your parents? Your parents are coming?"
Yang had an evil grin.
"As we're in the play, our parents get the priority tickets." Blake hadn't talked to her parents in a long while. "I haven't messaged them yet, but I expect they'll come."
"Seriously?" Sun's voice actually cracked there.
Blake giggled. "You'll be fine Sun." She turned to Yang. "I'm guessing your Dad and Qrow are coming?"
"Yep! And probably with a camera too, knowing him."
Ruby was still mortified to find out Yang had filmed their dance and, more importantly, sent it to Dad. That was totally uncalled for. Yang still teased her about those lady stilts and tried to get her back in them.
"Filmed?" Blake asked, frowning slightly. "Guys, did Mercury actually read the script before he agreed to be the stage hand?"
All eyes were on Ruby then. She twirled her fingers. "He…um…may have agreed to a different one? He knows we changed it but he hasn't read the new one yet." It was more of a guideline anyway.
Yang and Blake laughed. Sun gave them a very blank look. He looked at Ruby, who shrugged. She could see the joke, but she hadn't meant to be cruel. She thought he would enjoy it, but he would just refuse on principle.
Still, she would have to give him the 'script' tonight. Emerald had been in on it with Ruby and so had told him what they needed for props and the stage. He had never been interested in the 'script' because he thought it didn't affect him. He was a little wrong.
"It is partly his fault Blake," Yang managed out after a while. "What is he expecting from a play written by Ruby and Nora?"
Blake thought about it for a moment. "That first one did seem odd, come to think of it."
"Exactly."
Despite the problems they were having with Weiss, she had agreed to help with the play, though she didn't want to be in it. Then she made a very slight alteration, which just made Nora and Ruby laugh even more, and said she wouldn't mind if there was a spare spot. They were perfectly happy with it.
"So…What kind of play is it?" Sun pressed.
He got three shrugs in unison.
"Do I even want to know?"
Three shakes of the head.
"Now that's getting creepy."
"Only now?" Yang chuckled.
Ruby idly wondered when the fairgrounds would be completed. Hopefully very soon.
Taiyang was now alone in the flat again. Qrow had gone off somewhere, but Tai was sure he would be back before their kids fought in the Tournament.
At the moment, Tai was enjoying the peace.
He had gotten quite a shock when Qrow first mentioned he had visited a different world for two years almost instantly. At first, he thought that Qrow had gone to bed remarkably early and had had a weird dream, despite him knowing better. The pictures he saw through his aura were too bizarre for even Qrow's imagination. He was also far too happy for someone who had woken up from a dream.
It merely took a glance at his kids to be convinced completely. They had changed from that morning. They were more mature, yet more cheerful and carefree. Emerald had gotten over her depression and was back to the calm, yet playful teen.
And Mercury…
Tai had seen through that mask straight away. He wouldn't have needed anyone to point it out. Like the others though, he had missed all the (very few in hindsight) tells that showed Mercury was a Faunus. That itself wasn't an issue; what happened to his animal traits was.
On top of that, their time there had affected Ruby and Yang in a more negative way. They had seemed tenser and almost nervous under their enthusiasm. He wondered exactly why. Hopefully, the Vytal Festival would help them relax.
Not likely though, with everything that's going on.
Tai turned the page.
Qrow had kept a diary. It wasn't about the events that took place there (Qrow gave him a lot that Ruby and Yang didn't know). It was about the four kids. Every prank they had pulled. The first time Ruby burst into rose petals. Emerald's willingness to actually approach people rather than restrict herself to Ruby's and Yang's friends in the second year. Yang was choosing to talk through problems rather than smash her way through them. Mercury had successfully raised a little creature from baby to adulthood and his behaviour at each stage. Little things and everything.
Everything Tai had missed about them growing up.
They may not be physically older, but they were mentally older.
That hadn't stopped Yang and Ruby trying to impress him with their increased power over the weekend. Emerald had been very affectionate towards him and Mercury never even tried to vanish from his sight or maybe he had always been in Mercury's sight.
He did have a good chuckle at Qrow's expense for the name Mercury (only Mercury) had dubbed him. The next time Qrow changed into a crow, Tai was dropping white paint on him.
They fixed his Semblance.
He had also grounded his four kids. Even they didn't argue they had it coming.
If he could have, he would have grounded Qrow as well. He settled for putting a lot of pepper into Qrow's flask when he was sleeping. Nothing too cruel as he had acted more mature than normal when he realised he was one of the more responsible adults.
Qrow. Mature. Boggled the mind.
Tai chuckled as he turned to the next page.
Good grief. They've figured out how to do that? Scratch that. That's possible? Note to self: keep a close eye on the amount of Dust they have at all times. Second note to self: confiscate Dust when they get into a lot of trouble. Third note to self: there is probably nothing too ridiculous they can't do, so at least entertain that they were responsible for whatever impossibility Glynda complains about.
Words may have been what Qrow used, but they weren't the only things in there. Tai had noticed when he picked it up that, starting on the final page and going backwards, were illustrations. They were very good, very detailed and very beautiful. Qrow had no explanation as to why the very first included Taiyang (who this Luna had never met), Zwei (who she had also never met) and Talaria (who didn't exist at the time) along with Qrow and the kids. The ones after were probably from line of sight, such as Ruby dozing in a library, resting against Yang's shoulder as she studied.
Maybe he would find a way to get them framed.
Tai was greatly enjoying the words at the moment. At least, he enjoyed the context if he chose to ignore that someone (Zephyr, one of their friends) decided to stick his son in a deadly tournament that was stopped due to high fatality rates. One training session had been Mercury doing push ups with Ruby (trying to) meditate on his back. Later on that night, Ruby and Yang still sucked at poker.
Maybe in twenty years, Tai would let them gamble properly. Maybe.
He sighed. It angered and saddened him that he hadn't been there for his kids when they needed it.
They came home. All five came home.
Even so, that didn't mean they were out of danger.
Tai would breathe a lot easier when the Vytal Festival was over.
Now…Where was I? Oh yes. Emerald and Mercury had just turned a bunch of kids into canaries after the other two got them the sweets. Another lecture on morals is needed here, though Yang and Ruby should at least know better.
"Jaune?"
Jaune glanced at the door before looking at the floor again. "Hey Pyrrha."
"…Can I come in?"
He wanted to be alone but… "Sure."
Pyrrha quietly closed the door behind her. After a moment, she sat next to him. "Are you okay?"
"Fine. It was just an argument." Mostly from his side too. A very avoidable argument in hindsight.
"Want to talk about it?"
No. Come to think of it… "Shouldn't you be with your parents?"
"We're going out to dinner later." Pyrrha was in her battle attire. She probably wanted to get changed. "But I'm not expected for another twenty minutes. Melody's giving them a tour."
"Oh…Right…My sisters are probably dolling up with HION. No idea about my parents."
"They're being entertained by Ren and Nora."
Why did Pyrrha know that?
"Oh." Jaune hesitated, then sighed. "It was just an argument. It'll work out. Eventually."
"If you're sure…"
"I shouldn't be here Pyrrha." She knew this. She was the only one who knew he forged his way in, even if the others had guessed. He would be surprised if some of them hadn't. "I would have died at Initiation if you hadn't saved me."
"You're welcome. You've improved since then Jaune. Maybe you weren't ready then, but you're doing your best."
"It's not enough Pyrrha. But that's not the problem. I just…They said that I would always be welcome at home. I mean…They said it before I even left but it just didn't occur to me that I might have never seen them again."
"That wouldn't happen now. I know this can be frustrating for you Jaune, but you have come very far. You will be a magnificent Huntsman."
Maybe. But it didn't change the fact it would be based on lying and stealing. That wasn't what a Huntsman stood for.
Jaune shrugged. "Doesn't mean I deserve to be one."
"Jaune." Pyrrha put her hand on his. "It's not about how you start. Remember, a lot of our friends started off for personal reasons. You train; you make yourself strong enough. You never gave up. That is a Huntsman."
That didn't really cheer Jaune up very much.
He had been in a very good mood that morning. He had been in an even better mood during the play itself. For once, it wasn't just him being the idiot. All of them were. Had Ruby or Nora chosen that 'plot'? Pyrrha hadn't stepped onstage, but had used her Semblance to help the set do what they wanted.
Why had he argued with his parents? Something had just made him so angry. He wasn't even sure what.
Pyrrha filled the silence when Jaune didn't say anything.
"Don't worry about it Jaune. Let's just enjoy the Festival. Now isn't the time to worry about anything."
That was something Jaune could agree with. With so many friends, he could avoid his home troubles if he really wanted to.
That would be the coward's way out.
Jaune would think on it. For now, good times lay ahead. The fairgrounds would be finished very soon and he was going to do his best in the Tournament for that person he had heartlessly replaced.
"Thanks Pyrrha. I'll let you get changed. Have fun tonight."
Besides, he would probably make up with his parents very soon anyway. They were far too supportive of him and his dreams.
Weiss was having dinner with Winter. While she hadn't sent any messages to her father in months, she had asked if Winter wanted to come see Ruby's and Nora's 'play'. It wasn't normally something anyone in their family would do, but Weiss had enjoyed it.
"I must say Weiss: that was a very amusing piece of theatre." Winter had enjoyed it as well.
"Thank you. I only made a minor addition but most of it was due to two people. Everyone involved had their own additions too."
"Does that mean everyone who was onstage?"
"And a few that were backstage. They were just as key to the success of the performance." Ironically, the one person who planned to be off stage had been onstage. He had enjoyed the role though.
"It's good to see you getting along with your classmates so well."
Weiss' face fell. "Yeah. Most of them."
"You're having problems with them. That sometimes happens."
"This is…a little more serious."
"Then you need to make a choice Weiss. Is your grievance with this one more important than your friendship with them?"
That had been the main problem.
"It's not that simple."
"Or you are making it too complicated. What exactly is the problem? Was it with someone that was involved in that play?"
Weiss closed her eyes and took a deep breath. "It is with one of them. They're a Faunus and were with the White Fang once. I have known them well since the beginning of the year, but I didn't know that until recently. I don't know what to do."
Winter was quiet, thinking it over.
Then she spoke. "How did you find out about what they didn't tell you before?"
"She told us."
Winter nodded. "And she knew of the Schnee background beforehand?"
"I guess so."
"Are you sure?"
Weiss thought back. "Yes."
"And she still chose to tell you. Did she phrase it merely so that you would know, out of trust, or to try and sever ties with you?"
That was easier to answer. That did not mean Weiss liked the answer. "Just so I would know." Was it a matter of trust? Maybe Blake hadn't known about the full war between the White Fang and the Schnees.
"You were very comfortable with everyone on stage and they were very comfortable with you. Was that an act?"
"Well…It wasn't entirely an act."
"Even with her?"
"…Yes."
"So what is your choice Weiss?"
From those questions and a logical point of view, the choice was obvious. She had known Blake for months and, until recently, had given her no real reason for anger. That also meant she had lied to her for months.
"I'll talk to her."
"That is the best choice."
It was a non-answer. "She was a White Fang member Winter. That makes her an enemy."
"Every time, you have used past tense. Is she still with them?"
"Well…no. She says she's not. She didn't agree with the violence, so she left."
Winter nodded. "Weiss, we are both aware of what Father has done to our Grandfather's company. We both chose to leave." Winter had even been disinherited. "It is your choice Weiss. Just look at everything before you decide."
Weiss frowned as she looked down at her lap. "It's not that simple."
"Is it worth losing your friend over?"
"No."
"She has been honest with you Weiss. Be honest with her and go from there. There's no need to deliberately make enemies. We have enough. Have you made your choice about the Schnee Dust Company?"
Weiss winced. "No."
Weiss had chosen to train to become a Huntress. She had chosen Beacon over Atlas. However, what she did when she graduated, she was unsure of. Winter had entered the Atlas military, which was common in Atlas. Huntsmen and Huntresses graduating from Beacon were significantly more diverse among all of Remnant. Weiss wasn't sure if she would return to Atlas after she graduated.
If she didn't, she was very sure she would be disinherited and Whitely would become the next heir. Weiss did not like that thought, but then she had never really gotten along with Whitely.
"Weiss, you are still young and have so many responsibilities. Take your time thinking through your future."
Weiss returned Winter's smile. "Are you staying long?"
"Only until the end of week. I am needed back in Atlas." Winter leaned back as Weiss' shoulders slumped. "I expect I will soon be stationed in one of the ships around Vale."
Weiss perked up. "Really?"
"I still won't be able to see you often, but I may be able to get some time off." That made Weiss' night. "How has your time at Beacon been?"
Weiss opened her mouth to respond eagerly. Then she struggled with exactly what she wanted to say. "It's…very different from home."
Winter chuckled. "So I had heard. Your group of first years seem to have quite the reputation. How much did you contribute to that?"
"More than I would admit to the others. I am more of a supporter than a planner when it comes to those situations."
"But you enjoy it."
The grin grew much bigger. "Greatly. I originally agreed because it helped train my Semblance, but it was much more fun than I thought."
"That is good to hear. It would have been a waste to go to Beacon if you didn't enjoy it. As much as Father may disagree."
"He is not in charge of me."
"Remember that Weiss."
That smile remained on Weiss' face for the rest of the week, even after Winter had left. She was ready for the Vytal Festival Tournament to begin and was very eager to test herself against her opponents properly, no more holding back for tactics.
This was going to be excellent.
