Wow! Thank you all for the interest and support of this story! To be truthful, it was originally going to be a one or two-shot. But now that I've seen people are interested in it, and after thinking about it, I'm going to make this longer. I don't know how long yet, or where the story will stop, but for now, expect a few more chapters at the very least. My update schedule may be a bit sporadic too, and finals and projects are all due within the next few weeks
Sorry for the shorter chapter; I was originally going to make it longer, but I really felt like I should end it here. I will try my best to make the next chapter longer!
If anyone has any comments, concerns, questions, ideas for the story, or helpful advice/constructive criticism, feel free to leave a review! Even if you just read the story and liked it, review it! It keeps me going! Enjoy the story!

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It had been nearly three weeks since Winter had seen Qrow. She had stayed longer than she had hoped in Vale, trying her best to clean the city of Grimm. Vale was nearly empty of people now; most had fled to safe zone being set up right outside of Vale, while some had left for the other kingdoms. Neither was a permanent solution, and Winter couldn't imagine the other kingdoms would want refugees after witnessing the chaos live before the CCT had been destroyed.
Glynda was one of the few Hunters left, and Winter wondered why she stayed. The woman was exhausted from constantly fighting Grimm and slowly rebuilding the houses and stores that had been knocked to the ground. The influx of Grimm had slowed, but it had not stopped. Though the strange, large Grimm was still frozen on top of Beacon, the negativity of the few people left and the other Grimm still drew in others. Winter and her soldiers had fought off a good number, but after a week, she knew they weren't even much of a help anymore. With most people gone, and the Grimm too large in number to put a real dent in, Winter and her troops had retreated.
Winter had flown her ship back to Atlas. The entire kingdom was on high alert, and Winter found that despite the fact that there had been no battle in her kingdom, she was even busier than usual as every soldier was required to be ready for a suspected attack on Atlas. The fall of Vale had made the other kingdoms paranoid and fearful, especially Atlas,who feared the enemy coming for their technology, and who also feared the other two kingdoms, who last saw Atlesian robots attack innocent people and their own allies before the everything shut down.

Now Winter sat in her room. Or at least, the room she called her own since she had joined the military. The room, like most things in Atlas, contained shades of white and grey, and was incredibly clean. She fingered the small, wrinkled piece of paper Qrow had handed her that day. She had only three days until she had to be at the location. She frowned. A part of her didn't want to leave Atlas. As a member of the Specialists of the Atlesian army, she was one of the general's best soldiers, and she was a higher rank than any normal soldier. And if she left now, she would be leaving Weiss. Again. With their father. But the mission Qrow was talking about was important. For the first time in what seemed like forever, Qrow had actually talked to her normally, without mocking her, insulting her, treating her with contempt. He had invited her to help him.
She slipped on her long coat and gloves, and pulled on her boots. Atlas was especially cold most of the year, and parts of Mistral were fairly cool too, so she had to go prepared. Winter paused when looked at her weapon on her belt. She would need Dust. She preferred saving her Dust for situations that really called for it, choosing to rely on her weapon skills and her Semblance more often than Dust. Especially since it had become harder to acquire since she had joined the military. The amount of Dust a soldier could own was regulated, even for the Specialists, and her father, still angry that she had joined the military rather than learn the family trade as heir to the Schnee Dust Company, was not much of a help at all. It was a good thing Weiss and a few employees in the company were still on her side, Winter thought as she pulled a briefcase out of her closet and dumped its contents into her backpack.

"Water, Ice, Earth, Lightning, Fire," she listed, counting the tubes of powdered Dust that dimly shone from her pack. Winter grabbed what Lien she had and threw a couple bottles of water in her backpack before zipping up and leaving her room, locking the door. I don't know how long I'll be gone. That was the thought that had haunted her the most the past few weeks.
She walked down the hallway, trying to appear as composed and calm as she possibly could. She thought back to the conversation she had with General Ironwood a week earlier.

Sir, I'd like to take a leave of absence.

Why is that?

I don't know if I can tell you that, sir.

Schnee, what do you want to leave for?

I'm needed elsewhere, sir.

You're needed here! Where else are you needed? You're not going back to Vale, Schnee.

Not Vale, sir. Mistral.

And why do you want to go to Mistral?

To help someone. To try and fix what has happened. To look for the person who orchestrated the attack of Vale.

If you refuse to tell me anything about this Schnee, I'm not sure I can authorize this. We need every soldier here, in case Atlas is targeted.

Sir, please! I need to do this.

...I'll think about it Schnee.

That had roughly been their conversation a week ago. And though she had persisted in her attempts to be relieved of duty temporarily, the general still hesitated and kept putting off his decision. In one of their meetings, she had almost lost her temper.

"You're refusing to allow my leave of absence!" she had nearly shouted.

"I'm sorry, Winter. But it's not just me," the general had apologized. That had stopped Winter. Of course. The Atlas military, government, and academy were all the same. If the council did not approve of her leave of absence, there was only so much General Ironwood could do. So she had saluted him, apologized for her tone, and left as quickly as possible.

She had no choice but to leave on her own. That had been Winter's hardest decision she had ever made. But there was only a few days left until Qrow was at the location on the paper. If she missed the day, Qrow would leave without her. She was doing the last thing a Schnee was supposed to do. She was breaking the rules. She was going AWOL.
"Ms. Schnee!" two soldiers exclaimed, saluting her as she passed by them. She nodded in their direction, trying to control her breathing so she wouldn't give herself away.

"At ease," she said. The soldiers' arms returned to their sides, and the two kept walking down the hall. Winter waited until they were out of sight before quickening her pace, making it to an elevator and punching the button that would take her to the basement level. From there, she would have to find a way to take one of the airships. It would mean stealing an airship, albeit a tiny one. Winter couldn't help but wince. The list of felonies were piling up.
As she walked through the garage, carrying herself with a collected demeanor, she heard distant footsteps far behind her, and ever so slightly quickened her pace. It's no one. A janitor, or some random soldier, or a mechanic just looking at one of the ships, she mentally reassured herself.

Just as she entered the courtyard filled with airships, small and large, some meant for combat, others for cargo, a voice broke the windy air.

"Schnee!" Winter froze. She knew the voice. Only one people who addressed her that way. She spun on her heel and saluted.

"General Ironwood!" she said evenly. The general walked towards her slowly.

"I'm surprised to find you out here, Schnee," he mentioned. Winter forced a tiny smile onto her face.

"Yes, sir," she said.

"And with your pack," he added.

"Sir, I-,"

"Didn't wait." Winter blinked.

"Pardon me, sir?"

"You didn't wait for me. Were you expecting to leave for your mission without these?" Ironwood held out a hand. In his palm was a piece of paper and a pair of keys. He gestured for her to take them, and Winter cautiously picked them up, looking at the piece of paper, then looking at Ironwood with confusion.

"My mission, sir?"

"I want you to go back to Vale. We do still have some soldiers there, and you wanted to be of help."

"I-,"

"There's no need to deny it. It took me awhile to think about this decision, but after speaking with the council, I think it'd be best to keep some soldiers there. And who better to assist them than you?" Winter felt her cheeks burn, feeling a mixture of relief and guilt.

"Yes, sir. Thank you," she murmured. The general nodded, already turning to leave.

"I know that this mission is important to you, Winter. Good luck," he said, walking away. Winter turned back to the courtyard when she heard him call out one last time. "I hope you find what you're looking for!" Winter's head swung around and she stared at the back of the general for a moment before he entered the elevator, not turning back once to look at her before the doors slid shut behind him. Winter clenched the keys in her hand and took a deep breath. This is it. I've been given the opportunity. I cannot, and will not, go back. Not until I see this through.

Winter wandered the airship yard, no longer bothering with the appearance of staying composed and cool as she raced from one ship to another. Finally her gaze settled upon the ship she was looking for. A smaller ship, one no one would miss hopefully. It was nowhere near the size of some of their largest ships, Blue 1, 2 and 3. It was an airship made for light travel and combat, and could only contain a small crew. Perfect for covert operations, the Atlesian Specialists preferred such ships whenever they left on missions. Just as Winter was doing now. It wouldn't take her too far, but it was enough. Atlas was an island, but Mistral wasn't too far South. The kingdom was to the southeast of Atlas, and the location where she would meet Qrow was on the side closest to the military kingdom.

The door slid open as she slid the key into its slot, watching the inside of the ship come to life. Winter sat down in the main chair, sliding her hand across the control panel and punching in the coordinates Qrow had given her. She gripped the steering wheel as the plane began to rise off the ground.

Thank you, General Ironwood, for giving me the opportunity to do this, Winter thought with a smile. Three more days. She'd probably have to leave the airship somewhere, and then travel to Qrow's location by foot. It wouldn't exactly be easy, but she wasn't used to things being easy.

"Alright Qrow. I'm on my way," she said with a determined expression as the plane shot into the sky, leaving Atlas behind her.

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Looks like Winter is on her way! Sorry this chapter was mainly just her leaving Atlas. You will definitely see more next chapter. Hope you like the story so far! Any ideas you think the story needs? Any questions? Feel free to leave a review!