As he poured his third coffee of the morning, Professor Ozpin gazed from his office at the city of Vale far below. It was his duty as a Huntsman to protect Vale and its people with his life. It was his duty as headmaster of Beacon Academy to prepare others to do so. The recent Breach very nearly saw him fail on both accounts. Even now, days later, smoke still rose from shattered buildings.
Creatures of Grimm had not breached Vale's walls in a century. The Vale Council was still outraged. In a closed-door vote they handed security for the upcoming Vytal Festival Tournament to General Ironwood of Atlas. Ozpin did not agree with that decision, but, all things considered, it could have been worse. His students had acted admirably, and none had been so much as injured. Teams JNPR and CFVY had worked alongside Huntsman and Huntresses, and with the help of the Atlas military, held back and contained the breach until Vale's walls could be repaired. One team in particular had stood out-Team RWBY.
Doctor Oobleck's report was impressive. In extended combat against Grimm, Oobleck reported that team RWBY were the equal of any young Huntresses. He was especially amazed at the team's abilities when facing the White Fang and their discovery of an underground terrorist hideout. Ozpin smiled to himself. His risky decision to allow first year students into the field had payed off. His faith in young Ruby's instincts had led to the discovery of the planned breach, and while RWBY did not stop the attack, they had destroyed a White Fang hideout, cleared most of Mountain Glenn of Grimm, and gained valuable combat experience.
Ozpin returned to his desk. A soft bleep-bloop from his computer alerted him to a new priority message from Glynda, his assistant and second in command. A few key strokes, and it began to play. Glynda's dire voice was punctuated only by the sound of Ozpin's coffee mug as it shattered on the floor. This fight, he realized, was far from over.
Team RWBY had been taking it easy since the Breach. Ms. Goodwitch had given them a long weekend pass, and there was still a day left before they had to return to Beacon's campus. After all the fighting in the rubble of Mountain Glenn, the girls wanted nothing more than a big meal and a day on the town.
Weiss treated the team to a lunch at Vale's most exclusive restaurant, Akuma's Sushi House. After lunch they planned to visit Violet's Weapons Emporium to appease Ruby. Their plans were cut short when their leader's scroll buzzed. "It's a call from Professor Ozpin!" Ruby said.
"What? Why! I didn't hit him that hard, did I?" Yang laughed as she remembered Cardin Winchester's face when he started making Faunus jokes in front of Blake after breakfast that morning-and his face a moment later when her swift left hook knocked him through a rosebush.
"You know, you don't have to defend me from people like him. I've had to deal with lowlifes like him all my life. And that temper of yours is-"
"Come on guys, I need to answer this!" Ruby shushed her team, then took the incoming call from Ozpin. "Uh, Hello Professor! Thanks for giving us that 3 day pass. We've been staying out of trouble." A quick glance at Yang made her reconsider. "For the most part. Hey Professor, you sound a little shaken up. What's wrong?"
Ozpin laughed. "I am fine Ruby. I understand Cardin Winchester tripped into a thorn bush -twice. You wouldn't know anything about that, would you? No, of course not. That's not why I'm interrupting your team's well-earned break. Something has come up. I need you and your team to meet me in my office as soon as possible. I'm sending an airship to pick you up." And with no further explanation, Ozpin ended the call.
With full stomachs and full of questions, the team slowly made their way to the waiting airship a few blocks away. As she walked, Yang thought about that morning. Why did I hit him? I mean, yeah, he's a jerk. But when he said those things in front of Blake I felt so angry-I could have broken him in half. Man, I do have to watch my temper! Why am I so protective of her?
"Are you team RWBY?" The airship's pilot checked his instructions. "I am supposed to have one more passenger. Did you have a man named Zwei with you?" At that moment, a stubby corgi hopped into the empty seat next to the pilot. He glanced at the dog's collar. "Zwei's the dog! No wonder he didn't have a last name on my passenger list." He turned to face Yang. "I need you and your friends to take a seat. Wind's a bit choppy today." Team RWBY quickly found seats in the spacious cabin. With an expert touch, the airship leaped into the sky.
As the airship turned east, Beacon Academy's central spire was haloed by the noon sun. Perched on a cliff high above the city, it was known Remnant-wide as the Shining Beacon of Vale. Weiss Schnee was ignoring the incredible view, instead staring with binoculars from the opposite window. "You all need to take a look at this!" Weiss beckoned her team to the opposite window. She didn't need to explain more. A thick pillar of oily smoke rose from the far corner of the city. On the ground, the team had never had time to see the damage the Breach left behind. A swath of city ten blocks wide lay in ruins. Granite stones were cracked and strewn about like the playthings of a giant. Paladin mechs stood broken and smoking from the battle two days later.
"My god! I didn't know it was that bad." Blake said as she stared at the fresh ruins. Ruby tried to cheer her up.
"Look on the bright side! Torchwick is going to go away for a long time. And the early warning system worked! Oobleck told me that all the locals made it out in time."
"I guess you are right Ruby. It's just- I always thought winning would feel better, you know? That rubble doesn't look like a victory." Blake sighed and readjusted her bow.
" Good afternoon ladies. I apologize for cutting your break short. Here, have some cookies." Ozpin strode across the room and activated a hidden screen on his office wall. A painting of an ornate sword appeared. Ozpin turned to face team RWBY. "The sword you see is an heirloom of Vale. Verdant Reprise was the personal weapon of the Lord Councilor of Vale for nearly a century after the City's founding. According to old legends, the smith who wrought the blade infused the steel with dust crystals- the first and only blade ever to be so empowered." Ozpin took a sip of coffee and continued, "It was hidden during the Great War. Its whereabouts were lost following the destruction of the old Vale Hall of Records. Most scholars have decided it is forever lost to time."
Weiss cut in. "Professor, why do I get the feeling you know where it is?
"Very observant Miss Schnee. A trusted friend of mine recently gave me a lead on a possible resting place for Verdant Reprise. I would like nothing more than to find it in time for the Vytal Festival. It would make a fine symbol for Vale. I am offering you girls the chance to go out to Forever Fall and claim it. But beware-we are not the only ones who seek Verdant Reprise. There will be more than Grimm in your way."
"Why us? Why not send full Huntresses, or an older team like CFVY?" Blake asked.
"All of Vale's active huntsmen and huntresses have been called to patrol in advance of the Vytal Festival. The Council will take no chances that might allow Grimm to disrupt the upcoming tournament. Most of the older teams are shadowing Huntsmen. Your teamwork impressed Doctor Oobleck, whose opinion I highly respect. So what do you say? Are you interested in a little adventure?"
After the meeting with Ozpin, Weiss and Ruby headed for Beacon's library. Except for a training exercise in their first semester, neither had any real knowledge of the woods of eternal autumn. Ruby searched for maps so they could plan their route to the ruined village where Ozpin's source claimed Verdant Reprise had been hidden during the war.
After an hour of searching, Ruby found a dusty old book whose spine read Forever Fall: A Brief History . She eagerly grabbed it and ran to find Weiss. "Weiss! Weiss! Look what I found!" The silver haired girl was ignoring her, typing furiously on a holo-terminal as she glanced between three maps laid out before her. When Ruby called her name again, she turned around.
Weiss's search had turned up nothing. Except for a few old farms at the forest's edge, the only well mapped parts of the forest were the swathes of land adjoining the Schnee Dust Company's railroad, which ran through Forever Fall's central valley. Of the old ruins Ozpin had mentioned, nothing was recorded. Even Ozpin only knew of the general location, somewhere east of the Railroad track and in the shadow of the forests high point, Autumn's Bluff.
"What is it? What did you find?" I hope she had more luck than I did. Ruby set the old leather-bound book on the table before Weiss. Weiss's eyes lit up when she saw the title, and recognized how old the tome must be. Weiss was not disappointed as she flipped through the pages. Maps and sketches filled the pages, as did descriptions of the several small villages that once dotted the region in an ill-planned attempt to expand Vale's settlements past the River Amber.
After a few minutes of reading Weiss found what they were looking for. A map from the decade before the Great War showed only one location meeting Ozpin's criteria. A flip to the index to find an entry on Carnelian sent Weiss to page 684. The entry read "The village of Carnelian was founded in the year PM 1384. For more than two centuries, the small village served as a fortified redoubt against Grimm attacks for those travelling through Forever Fall. It was also the birthplace of legendary weapons smith Georges Aegean, widely regarded as the creator of modern Dust-infused ammunition. A massive assault by Ursai and Nevermores in PM 1721 left the village a ruin. The only structure left standing by the start of the Great War was the tomb of Aegean.
"I think I found it Ruby! It's not so far from my family's railway either." Weiss copied notes from the book's old map to the working copy on her terminal, then printed it. "I think we have all the maps we need. We should catch up with Blake and Yang" Weiss closed the book and returned it to the librarian.
"Not just yet Weiss- I owe Pyrrah a rematch." With that Ruby trod off to the reading lounge, Remnant board-game in hand.
"Hold on Ruby! I want to see this."