Chapter II:

Established on the only third floor building in the entire city of Reyvadin, Weiss had the best view through her two open-air windows that faced east and west with her desk facing north. The government's 'capitol' building sat in the center of the city and could be defended almost as well as the entire city could with a small number of men; it was designed as the last-defense in a siege situation, and built out of stone and at an outwards slant so that it couldn't be burned down nor scaled effectively.

The sun peeked over the hills of the countryside, diligently rising once more, always attending to its duties. The sun's purpose was to provide, to protect; it had come to serve a purpose, and its purpose, it would serve, tirelessly until the end of its time. The sun's light glimmered into the top of the window and reflected off of the marble, gently illuminating the queen's office and giving her hair a lovely, delicate glow.

Weiss enjoyed the mornings. A lot. They were peaceful, quiet, beautiful… and Weiss was able to enjoy her solitude. Her new schedule as the queen frequently interrupted her quiet time.

A knocking sounded at the door.

Like that.

"Do, come in." Weiss called, slightly irritated but nonetheless building up her mask she perennially placed to display to the kingdom that she was deserving, ready and able to be their ruler. The door squeaked open and in peeped the would-be assassin from the previous day, grinning from ear to ear.

"That went well. Didn't it, my dear princess?" Ruby smiled as said royalty huffed and paced over to the other side of the open door-sill. Ruby took a step inside and closed the door while admiring the various decorations of the room.

"Did you really have to undermine my authority by just walking out of there? I mean, really..." An annoyed voice started, slightly muffled from the speaker's orientation in the opposite direction.

"You could've done something, your Highness," Ruby shot back quickly, to which she received another huff. A confident smile slid into place on the brunette's face as she walked towards her Queen. "I did go a little overboard on you after all; I know it wasn't part of the deal, but I figured what better way to prov-"

"Oh please; I didn't want to hurt you." Ruby stopped and stared, slack-jawed, as Weiss made her way back across the space that entailed her office; her white boots' clicking giving off a regal element to the air.

"Yo-you, uh, held back?" Weiss nodded with a smirk and stopped in-front of the slightly taller woman and took in the view. Dressed in a garb designed both for practicality and presentability, (Weiss held multiple morning meetings, much to the dismay of many) Ruby stood garbed in a deep-red sleeveless-halter top, accompanied by a black jacket that was stitched into the inside of her matching color-cloak that had a few splotches of green and brown. In the current season of fall, it would blend in perfectly with its surroundings. Simple black riding pants accompanied a pair of black boots with one pink ribbon tied into the top of the left boot. The same tone of red colored an extension of the hood of her cloak which rested beneath her chin; the mouth-piece of her Rangers' mask.

"If I had really gone all out, you probably would've been arrested and lost your job chance and your head, wouldn't you, Miss Rose?" The addressed gulped; her palms were sweaty and her previous snarky grin had all but disappeared. Ruby let out a nervous laugh.

"Well, heh, uh, are you, uh, saying you don't need me here?" A frown briefly appeared on Weiss' face before evaporating in the time it took Weiss to spin on her heel; the queen launched into a monologue while facing her newest employee.

"Ruby, I still require your assistance here in Maevyn; that much has not changed." The red-streaked-raven haired girl sighed internally and opened her mouth to speak, but was abruptly stopped when a hand clasped over her mouth.

"Do not speak until I am finished." Ruby, wide-eyed and marvelling at how soft her new employer's hands were, merely nodded; the queen set off for the space between the western window and her desk while her counterpart took a step backwards and ended up sprawled in a solitary seat intended for guests like herself. Pacing back and forth, a few moments passed before she began in a forceful yet quiet tone.

"I do not hire bumbling fools; yet, you handled yourself decently yesterday, and I am somewhat pleased with your previous performance." A small smile started to spread across Ruby's face before being abruptly dashed from existence with the queen's next words.

"But do not think that that means I am happy with you. Or approve of you. Or even like you in the slightest. If someone else comes along who I deem to be more qualified than you, you will be replaced in an instant. I need you working to be your very best at every moment of the day." Weiss paused and turned to glare the Ranger down.

"Even though my father respected the Ranger institution and trusted Qrow with his life, you've yet to prove yourself to me. I am not my father, and I do not place my trust easily." Ruby swore she could feel the sweat droplets freezing on her back, neck and in her armpits. Weiss came to a halt and turned to face the now-slightly shivering head Ranger. The grim expression that had set itself into her face softened a little as she continued.

"We seem to suffer the same plight, Ruby. Both of our… mentors have left us in quite the predicament here; not fully trained and yet required to prove ourselves here and now. You know, I…" Weiss cut herself short; she was being much too casual with her subordinate and these times required professionalism.

"You'll start work tomorrow as my bodyguard; you'll learn my habits, learn the people in my life and their habits, and you'll spar with my military commander, Yang. The last was a personal request; be honored, she only fights those outside of war when she deems them worthy." Ruby nodded solemnly and took to her feet when she realized she was being dismissed.

"Anything else, your Highness?" Weiss internally winced; she'd gone and scared both the jovial, confident Ruby and the bumbling, awkward Ruby away; leaving her with a scary mirror image of herself. Shaking the thoughts away, she nodded in acknowledgement.

"Yes; spend tonight familiarizing yourself with the streets nearby the central castle; here is where I spent most of my time, anyways. Do not hesitate to introduce yourself; your presence needs to be felt on a personal level here in Reyvadin." As Ruby nodded and opened the door to leave, Weiss bit her lip and almost decided against saying one more thing.

"Oh, and Ruby?" She froze, but didn't turn around, instead speaking to the slightly ajar door ahead of her.

"Yes, your Highness?"

Damn it all.

"Bring everything you'll need to live for the next six months up here tomorrow by dawn; I'll have someone bring it to your new living quarters immediately." At this, Ruby turned around with genuine surprise lacing her previously emotionless face.

"New living quarters, prin- I mean, uh, your Highness? That wasn't part of the job description." Weiss smiled internally at the jest but bristled externally and snapped back sharply on habit. She stepped up close to Ruby and looked her bodyguard in the eyes fiercely, her posture exuding a challenge.

"From now on, everything I say is part of your job description. You will heed my every command; are we clear?" Ruby gulped, nodded and set her face into its stoic look again.

I hate that look on your face.

"Crystal, your Highness." Ruby turned and slipped out of the door without a word, leaving Weiss to slump into the visitor's chair and slide her face into her hands.

Father… how did you manage this?

An elegantly designed grand hall encompassed an impressive force of fifty of the nation's finest fighters known as the Mavericks.

A lightly armored woman stood proud and tall at the helm of the entirety of the squadron, perched underneath a highly arched entryway. Her incredibly long, blonde mane was currently braided to the back of her thighs, sitting just above the cusp of her knee-high boots. A ceremonial pair of bronze-plated cestus adorned her knuckles and wrapped tightly around her forearms. Above her head, the words Knie Vor Gericht were carved into the arch and plated in gold.

The image of the intimidating commander of the military was almost ethereal; her golden hair gleaming in the sunlight and standing underneath the golden arch, Yang certainly appeared to live up to her nickname: the Golden Lion of Justice.

Out of her mouth poured an excited roar; Yang seemed to not possess any other tone of voice.

"We have a little treat for us today, Mavericks!" The roaring of 48 swords banging into their respective shields answered, filling the hall for a few seconds before stopping abruptly; the closed fist of Yang held high signalled for their silence. Yang took a few more steps into the massive room and out from behind her stepped a young man about her height with armor a tad too large and a shock of a slightly lighter shade of cropped blonde hair. One hand held a rucksack while the other raised up in a wave; out of his mouth came a greeting.

At least, he thought it was going to be a greeting; in reality, it came out closer to a squeak; chuckles and chatter buzzed throughout before he cleared his throat and tried again. His voice managed to project decently over the din of the room.

"Greetings, fellow Mavericks. The name's Jaune Arc." The jokes and laughter died immediately.

Did he just say 'fellow'?

That scrawny kid's one of us?

He won't last a fucking week.

Hell, I got 20 lien saying he'll wash out in less.

You got yourself a b-

"That's enough!" Yang bellowed as she jumped forward and snatched the 20 lien coin from its mid-air flight between the two betting soldiers. Both Mavericks looked up in surprise before suddenly noticing how badly their boots needed polishing.

"He may not look the part, but the kid surpassed my score on the strategy aspect of the test, even if his physical strength might not look up to par. He can handle himself, and if I find out anyone's disrespecting him, you answer to me." Yang yelled the last bit directly into the betting soldier's ear and relished the wince he made as she continued.

"Understood?" The sound of metal-plated fists slamming together punctuated her sentence and 48 voices responded in near-perfect unison.

"Ma'am, yes ma'am!" The Mavericks were trained well and knew, for the most part, when to be serious.

"Good. Cardin, show Jaune to his new room. Dismissed." A grunt was offered in response and the two men went down a hallway as the rest scattered or hung around to talk. Yang sighed as she heard a yelp from their general direction and prayed that Jaune would last longer than a 'fucking week'. Her own strategic prowess wasn't the best and she had personally overseen Jaune's testing; he had led his team to victory by extremely unconventional methods in three of the four mock battles.

In one, he had baited the enemy squad of ten into a narrow corridor that allowed his squad of five to completely crush them; in another, he used the recent rainfall and a hill to create a mudslide, crippling half of the remaining opposing army of twenty. His own army had subsequently destroyed theirs; the large battle of 25v25 was the ultimate test that the Mavericks required you to perform well in for entry to the elite fighting squad that answered to Yang who answered directly to Weiss herself, and Jaune had absolutely aced it.

The physical side was… a little lacking, but nothing a little training couldn't fix. Surely.

You can do it Jaune; I believe in you.

"Noraaaaaaaa!" Ruby called out as she threw open the door to the Remnant Ranger Maevyn HQ; a quaint little cottage with 4 rooms; one was Ruby's, or the field commander at any given time's, room, another was split in two for the next two officers, the third was a living room with 8 orderly cots and the fourth a kitchen with a single table for two and a small bathroom. The house opened into the living room and was entirely empty save for Sophie Tyndall; Ruby's second in command, personal favorite in the Rangers and her partner.

"Second Lieutenant Ranger Nora Valkyrie! Where are y- oof!" Ruby was suddenly impacted in the face by a boot; standard Ranger issue, too. That fucking hurt. And to think, she's about to get a temporary promotion.

"Dammit, Nora, you're about to get promoted; stop throwin' shit at me!" After the second boot flew over a ducking Ruby's head, scuffling was heard from the direction of the secondary officer's' room; shortly thereafter, a disheveled girl with short, curly red hair dressed only in underwear and a deep-blue version of Ruby's Ranger cloak walked out.

"Whaddaya mean, promoted?" Ruby rolled her eyes at her partner's slurring and laid out on one of the cots in the living room, resting her hands behind her head.

"The gig with the queen went through; I'm her full-time personal bodyguard now. You're gonna be in charge of the Rangers while I'm otherwise preoccupied." The scantily clad, sapphire-caped woman suppressed a snicker as she sauntered into the kitchen to grab a cloth sack of coffee beans. As she walked back into the room, Ruby sat up and frowned at her choice of breakfast.

"You wake up an hour past noon and the first thing you eat is a bag of those accursed beans? They can't be good for you, Nora." The curly-haired girl tilted her head sideways to shoot Ruby a quizzical look before widening her eyes and crunching particularly loudly on another bean. Her partner just sighed and laid back down on the cot while Nora crunched noisily on more of the beans. Sophie broke the 'silence' (about as silent as it can get with someone crunching on crunchy shit) with the first words she had spoken without slurring all morn-... afternoon.

"Sooooo… you're gonna be pretty preoccupied with Weiss for a while, aren'tcha?" Ruby sprang up from the cot in an instant, a blush spreading across her face as she leapt across the room to tackle her partner.

"That's Queen Schnee to you, Nora! You'd better respect royalty, woman!" Ruby now had Nora in a headlock; her partner had managed to get one arm between her neck and Ruby's death grip, but was still struggling for air.

"O-okay, R-Ruby, I won't s-say anything a-again!" Ruby released her and calmly walked back over to the cot she was laying on. Before sitting down, she glanced over at her partner who was still gasping for air and busy sweeping her spilt coffee beans into a pile.

She certainly is comfortable in her own skin, Ruby noted, not without a slight note of bitterness; her partner was a little more developed than she was in pretty much everything... and being a good three inches shorter, her curves fit her figure better than they could Ruby's. Noticing the red-themed girl's stare, Nora took a coffee bean and flicked it towards her partner's face. When her attention had been sufficiently caught, she tried Ruby's patience.

"You never denied my accusation, Ruby."

"Nora!"

Blake stood up against a nondescript shop in the market district of Dhirim, one leg bent at the knee, pressing her light sandal into the wall. All black was becoming less conspicuous as the summer heat faded away; for this, the lithe woman was grateful. A window opened about halfway and a low voice spoke from within.

"Do as he commands; you will play a crucial part in what is to unfold in the land, Blake. Once you have completed his task, return here and I will set up the meeting. Then, and only then will you be allowed to take your revenge."

"Yes… sir." The window slammed shut.

A/N: Updated details. Thanks for reading. R/F/F.

-ken