/s/10509894/21/The-Red-Queen

The above link is a part of the site here and Dravyn said it better than I can.

Earlier that morning - Walter and Finch

Walter was a simple man in his mid-forties. He didn't use fancy fighting methods with his weapons or semblance. He preferred plain clothes, even when on the job. This is why the man wore a simple, plain white button-up shirt with a black bullet-proof vest underneath it. To compliment his appearance further, he wore plain black khaki pants with a brown belt and his shirt tucked in.

To illustrate his simplicity further, he rarely did more than pull his thinning jet black hair in to a ponytail that barely went past his shoulders. Yet, for all his simplicity, his wit and tactical cunning were sharper than any weapon could hope to be.

Finch, on the other hand, was almost the complete opposite. He was in his mid-twenties, impulsive, but still every bit as cunning as Walter. He wore a similar white button-up shirt with a brown leather jacket and brown khaki pants. However, his appearance wasn't neat or clean like Walter's was. His appearance was disheveled and bordered on being the appearance of a slob. Yet, he still managed to keep his rather short auburn hair neatly combed.

The two had been tailing a small group of six faunus that had left one of Hei Xiong's known information brokering sites. Given that one of the faunus dared to wave about their affiliation to the White Fang via tattoo, the duo had deigned it a worthy cause to follow them and intercept whatever possible information that they may have.

Hence, why Walter was now using his semblance, control over gravity, to anchor himself and his partner flat against the ceiling on the third floor of a derelict building in a run-down area of the Industrial section. They were suspended in the air, close to the ceiling, in the middle of a four-way intersection.

He felt the exertion beginning to take it's toll. He used his semblance to force his shoes on the floor to begin moving, as if someone were sneaking up to the barely open door that was just a little ways down the hallway to their right. Neither of the men dared to even breathe, fearing it would ruin their plan. While their opponents clearly lacked aura training, they were still faunus and possessed exceptional hearing well beyond their own. Walter's plan worked perfectly.

The two men could hear scuffles coming from the room as the sound of movement got closer to the door. Walter retracted his shoes back to his spot and then sent them around the corner, out of sight. He could feel himself beginning to sweat as his aura began to falter under the strain of continued use.

Just as he was forced to release the use of his semblance, the door opened and a small ray of light illuminated the hallway. Walter saw a woman's head poke out as they glided to the floor. His partner took the opportunity and splattered the faunus woman's brains all over the wall with a well-placed bullet to the side of her head.

The resulting gunshot was not what Walter and Finch had planned to happen. Neither of the men planned on Walter's aura giving out under the strain of holding two grown men against a ceiling. Still, he had noiselessly landed himself and his partner on the floor. The faunus' death could have potentially been avoided.

"Damn kid. Always so impatient.", thought Walter as he heard the cries of alarm from within the room as the faunus' body dropped to the floor. The sound of wet, ruined flesh hitting the ground made him grimace. "She didn't have to die. None of them did.", grimly thought Walter as he rushed to the door while activating his razor-wire gauntlets. The resulting short-lived hum of them activating could barely be heard.

Walter stopped dead in his tracks just short of reaching the door when he heard the telltale sound of guns being cocked. "The most prevalent weapon of captured White Fang members is an AK47 or AK74U. Both models should be fully automatic.", thought Walter as he began to back-peddle, knowing what was about to happen.

Immediately, the door and corpse in front of him were mauled by the fully automatic gunfire of multiple weapons. Walter felt Finch grab him by his vest and slam him to the ground as gunfire began to rip it's way through the wall to their right. Moments later, the air was filled with only the sound of empty bullet casings rolling on the floor.

"Did we get them?!", cried out a woman's voice from the room. Walter could hear other voices mingling in the room. Finally, a voice was heard over the others.

"Shut up! Make sure they're dead!", bellowed a man's voice. Walter could tell their whereabouts as their feet were knocking aside the empty casings.

"Approximately five more people. That fits the number we tailed and they are panicking. They can only be new members.", thought Walter as he tried to make a new plan. The new plan came when he heard Finch groan in pain. While there wasn't much light in the hallway, Walter could see his partner wasn't injured. Finch was pointing to the ceiling and then the ruined, bullet-hole riddled door.

Walter understood what his partner was trying to silently imply. "Sounds like they aren't going anywhere.", said a cold, deep voice. Walter quickly deduced the approximate space between the ceiling and the door frame to be about two feet in width. It was plenty of room to not be seen.

Walter could only hope that all the occupants of the room came out. Otherwise, he would potentially have more than a few new ways to breathe. Without a sound, he created a gravity pull just barely stronger than that of Remnant. He utilized the pull of his artificial gravity to glide up to ceiling but not high enough to brush against it. He knew the sound of clothing fabric sliding against the ceiling would give him away.

He created a second gravity pull and felt his body being pulled through the air towards the door. Just as he got above the front of the door, he relinquished the second gravity pull and held himself in place, suspended in the air. Moments later, he saw the room occupants slowly filter out of the room. Walter could feel sweat beginning to bead on his forehead as he began to struggle again with maintaining his semblance.

"All five came out? This will easy.", thought Walter as he watched the small group converge on Finch as he feigned having been shot. Finch's performance was believable, though Walter knew it was because Finch had been shot before. Walter felt his body drop a half-inch before returning to it's previous altitude. "I have to make this quick.", thought Walter, still suspended just below the ceiling, as he quickly floated towards the group.

After moving to where he wouldn't be in front of the nearly destroyed doorway, he released his semblance. As he dropped to the ground, he connected his aura to the dust inside his gauntlets. At the sound of his landing, two of the faunus began to turn around. They didn't stand a chance.

Walter flung his left hand forward while retracting his thumb into the palm of his hand, sending five lines of razor wire flying out from the retraction mechanism. Through the use of the grey dust in his gauntlets that transferred his will to the razor wire, he immediately wrapped the razor wire around the necks of his partner's would-be killers, stuck his thumb out, and sharply pulled his left hand back, severing their heads from their shoulders.

To Walter's shock, one head stayed intact to it's body. Though, the faunus was now spattered in the blood of their now-dead allies. Upon closer inspection, Walter realized the faunus was a woman. The faunus woman was laying on the ground, gasping and choking as the razor wire strangled her. "So, she has a weak aura?", pondered Walter when he heard the sound of a pistol being cocked behind him.

"Let her go! RIGHT NOW!", screamed the voice of a child from behind Walter. Walter released the hold that his razor wire had on the woman. "AND YOU! I don't care if you've been shot. Don't move!", bellowed the child.

Over the child's voice, Walter could hear the woman coughing and choking as she tried to get a breath of fresh air. He could also hear the labored, inconsistent breathing of the scared, fearful child behind him. From the sound of the child's voice, Walter figured they were a boy.

"Boy, don't force something we'll both regret.", cautioned Walter as he held his hands up in the air, his back still to the child. Walter didn't fancy the idea of being shot in the back by a child or the possibility of a bullet penetrating his weakened aura.

"Shut up! I said don't move!", yelled the boy. Walter glanced down at the faunus woman as she began to crawl towards the boy, her long and fluffy tail barely moving. After a moment, she stood up and continued haltingly towards the boy. As she moved into better lighting, Walter realized that she couldn't have been more than fifteen or sixteen. Walter then glanced at his partner.

"Finch is going to shoot the boy if I don't do something.", thought Walter anxiously as he kept an eye on his partner. He could see Finch was ever so slowly moving his hand into his leather jacket, towards the gun holster slung around his right shoulder.

"Fili, give me the gun.", begged the teen girl. Walter saw his opportunity and slowly twisted his waist to look over his shoulder to watch the duo. He watched as the child started to hand the pistol over to the girl. Just as the boy was about to hand it over, Walter created a small gravity pull in front of his right hand and took aim at the gun.

Moments later, Walter fully turned around and, with his semblance, pulled on the gun as quickly as he could. With his success and the gun now being in his hand, he was greeted with two cries of surprise. "Finch, don't hurt them. They aren't going anywhere.", instructed Walter in a stern voice as he heard his partner starting to get up from the floor.

Walter studied the two he deemed children as they held one another. The girl he had almost strangled to death had short blonde hair that stopped at her shoulders. She wore a sleeveless white button-up shirt and blue jeans. Her black eyes were piercing in their gaze, similar to Walter's own jet black eyes. However, unlike his eyes, her eyes were filled with fear.

The one that Walter had figured to be a boy was actually a girl. The girl that held him at gun-point had slightly darker blonde hair than the teen holding her. Her hair stopped short of passing her shoulders and framed in the soft hazel eyes that were wide and filled with fear, like the teen holding her. She wore a plain black shirt and blue jean shorts. Her breathing was short and rapid, the same as the girl who held her in their arms.

As Walter ushered the now-defenseless teen and child back into the room they had come from, he idlely pondered the possibility of them being siblings. Inside the room were decrepit walls that had holes in them, the crumbling sheet rock behind the decaying wooden walls openly visible in small sections. One wall had a myriad of bullet holes and a good deal of spent casings laying on the floor near the wall.

In some areas, even the sheet rock had given way to reveal wall studs that bore the weight of the floor above them. The only furniture of any kind in the room was a soft milky white colored desk with a black desktop computer and monitor. There was a chair next to the desk. On the screen, Walter saw a set of words that left him feeling uneasy. The screen read: "File transfer complete."

Walter glanced at the children. They had collapsed to their knees and were still holding each other. "What did you send and where was it sent?", inquired Finch, having read the screen from his position at the doorway. Walter observed how Finch's deep, booming baritone voice only frightened the kids even more, evident only by the small but growing yellow puddle centered around the younger girl.

"Easy Finch, they're frightened as it is.", cautioned Walter, concerned that they wouldn't get any information if the kids were too frightened to speak. The younger child began crying silent tears. Walter unbuttoned and removed his shirt, leaving him wearing only his bullet-proof vest and khaki pants. "Here. Clean yourselves up a bit.", instructed Walter, his voice low and kind, as he offered his shirt to the children.

"It can't be fun being covered in animal blood.", commented Finch as he mocked the children.

"Finch.", warned Walter, knowing prejudice wouldn't yield answers either.

"We're not animals.", vehemently whispered the teen as she tentatively accepted Walter's shirt. Walter said nothing in response as he walked to the desk and sat in the chair.

"We're not going to ask again. What did you send and where did you send it?', inquired Finch, his voice taking on a threatening edge as he started to move away from the door and into the room.

"Finch, stay at the door.", warned Walter, his normally infinite patience starting to run thin. With a few keystrokes and mouse clicks, Walter found what he was looking for in a USB drive and he didn't like what he saw. "Finch, these are weapons and mobile armor schematics. Some of these are new tech from Atlas.", said Walter, his voice carrying just how troubled he was by this revelation. It made everything about the dust robberies make sense.

"Then we don't need the kids.", said Finch, his voice a little too happy for Walter's liking. As Walter turned to face his partner, he heard a girl's fearful scream, buttons breaking free, and the sound of tearing fabric.

"Finch!", bellowed Walter as he whipped around, his partner's actions pushing him well beyond his breaking point. The sight of his partner sitting on top of a teen girl, massaging her bare breasts with one hand while unbuttoning her jeans with a sickening smile on his face was too much. The sight of the teen's tear stained face as she struggled to get out from under and away from Finch as her fluffy red tail twitched and flailed about left Walter feeling sick. The terrified, wide eyed young girl who was paralyzed with fear only furthered the sickening feeling in his stomach.

As Walter took in the scene before him, he began seeing red. It reminded him of his daughter. What happened twenty years ago during the faunus uprising, just days before the war broke out, would forever haunt him. He remembered the horror of finding the form of his battered and broken daughter laying on the living room carpet. Despite the fact she was still alive at the time, it was her lifeless eyes that were seared into Walter's memory. He knew his daughter's soul had been shattered.

Walter drew back both hands and flung them forward with all his might, the weighted tips sending the razor wire flying towards what Walter no longer considered a living person. Walter felt nothing as he tightened the razor wires around the inhumane creature's hands and neck.

What he had once considered his partner of three years was now thrashing around, trying to remove the razor wire from it's neck and arms. Walter flexed his hands to trigger the retraction mechanism and tighten the razor wires. He watched as the creature's aura slowly dried up. When blood began seep from wounds, he pulled his arms back and ended the miserable existence that had once been Finch. Walter didn't stop there.

When Walter's eyesight faded back to normal, he remembered none of what he had done but he remembered what spurred him in action. He saw the destroyed, unrecognizable pieces of the corpse of his partner scattered around a small area and two sobbing, potentially ruined children huddled together in a corner. He removed and cast aside his gauntlets as he slowly walked towards the children.

"Don't hurt us. Please, just don't hurt us.", whimpered the younger girl. Walter wouldn't have hurt them even if it meant saving his own life. Though he was not a pious man, he still prayed to anything and everything that might be listening that the two crying, traumatized girls in his arms would not be broken by this event.

He would find that, in time, his prayers would be answered in more ways than he could have ever anticipated or the role that he would play in their lives. Nor would he ever foresee how they would affect him.

Ozpin sat in the passenger seat, scrolling through the medical reports he had received from Sophia as Qrow paid for their drinks. Meanwhile, Adam was driving the Buick as they followed behind Qrow.

"Do we serve a purpose or does a purpose serve us?", he pondered for the millionth time as he turned his gaze back to Qrow.

Qrow started pulling over to the side of the road. He watched as both his friend and Adam slowed their vehicles to a stop. Qrow motioned for the duo to get out of the car. He got out and shut the door. He shoved aside his pondering as the three began to discuss their plans one last time.

"Just like we planned, right?", asked Adam. Qrow shook his head and looked at Adam.

"Something clicked during the ride. Head for the academy, just in case Hei is buying time for Tessa. Hei always asks for a picture when searching for someone. While Tessa has never been one to let her face be known, it's very possible that Hei knows that but it still doesn't sit well with me.", explained Qrow as he pulled out his scroll. Ozpin mused on Qrow's words and decided they held a good bit of validity.

"Sync your scroll for audio relay. I want you to hear what's going on in there.", commanded Qrow as he held his scroll out towards Adam and pointed to his ear where a small earphone could be seen. Ozpin watched as Adam awkwardly fished his own scroll out of a small pocket in his pants and tapped it against Qrow's scroll. Ozpin heard the distinct beep that signified that they were now synced for audio. Ozpin synced his scroll with the others and tucked his earphone in place.

While he had a spare moment, he sent a message to Glynda. He hoped it wasn't necessary but if Hei had really laid a decoy trap, he could otherwise be returning to a massive body count at the academy. His friends and colleagues were strong, no doubt there. However, it was best to play it safe.

As the duo left, Adam pulled his scroll open and launched the synchronization application. From there, he opened the relay channel. "Testing.", said Adam as he sat back down in the driver's seat of Ozpin's car.

Adam heard Qrow's reply come through the scroll. "I hear you loud and clear. We're about to enter the bar. Maintain silence."

Adam started the engine and did a U-turn. He listened to the soft sound of the engine as he reflected on what Ozpin had said to him about ten years ago. "Am I serving a purpose or is a purpose serving me?", silently pondered Adam, not speaking to avoid being heard by Qrow and Ozpin. As he headed for the academy, he thought back to the last ten years and all that he had done for humanity as a whole.

More specifically, he thought about the innocent lives he had taken to save a numberless amount of lives.

Belthazar had been enjoying the quiet day by resting in the shade of a tree. He even found just the right spot to lean against the tree without being uncomfortable. Sildra was sitting between his legs with his arms wrapped around her waist, gently holding her body against his own. He could hear the soft, subtle sound of her breathing as she slept. For the first time in years, he felt peace until a scroll chimed.

When the scroll chimed, he felt Sildra's body involuntarily twitch at the sound. "Never a dull weekend, is there?", muttered Sildra as she curled up a little tighter.

Qrow followed a little bit ahead of Ozpin, his mind whirling with details as he looked for any possibilities he might have missed. He was shook from his thoughts when he realized the main door of the club was coming up. When he pushed open the door, he noticed several odd details.

The first thing he noticed as he shifted his attention to his surroundings was the lack of sound. He knew Hei always had music of some sort or another playing in the background. Next, he noticed that the club was distinctly empty of people. Not even Hei or his men were around.

More than anything else, what bothered the seasoned hunter was the stillness of the air. He was no stranger to battlefields and, to him, the club reeked of death. Yet, he couldn't put his finger on why the club felt like a battlefield.

"Something is wrong.", stated Ozpin. He watched as Ozpin moved in front of him.

"Hei has a security and surveillance system in place at the bar. We should check there to see what happened.", he stated as he headed down the steps. He noted Ozpin's footsteps resounding behind him as he made his way to the bar.

When he reached the bar, he hopped over the counter. Immediately, he began searching for the surveillance monitors. When he found them, he wasn't surprised to find that they were displaying nothing.

"The system was tampered with.", he stated as he pulled out his rolled-up tool belt. Ozpin gave him an inquiring look, likely curious as to how he knew this. "I personally installed the system for Hei to repay a massive favor that I owed him. He only buys the most reliable hardware. So, the monitors being off is definitely a bad sign.", he replied as he laid out his tools.

It didn't take him long to remove the monitor from the counter. After he set it down, he flipped it over and removed the screws from the back end of the monitor. When he pulled the cover, he was greeted by the sight of blackened components.

"This is bad. The board is fried. Someone sabotaged the system to avoid being traced.", he stated as he gathered his tools and returned them to his tool belt.

"This isn't the doing of our target, is it?", grimly inquired Ozpin. Qrow rolled up his tool belt and returned it to it's holding pouch.

"I doubt it.", he replied before hopping over the counter. "It could be 'them'.", he whispered as he walked to the end of the counter. There, he saw the familiar door that he had gone through numerous times while setting up the security and surveillance systems.

You sure you want to use an off-site back-up? It'll be expensive, using all that bandwidth.

You never know what will happen in my line of work. That's why you carry a small belt of tools, right?

Hey, I never know what will happen with Crescent Moon. Maintenance work could be a necessity at any point.

Qrow pulled himself from the memory as he opened the door, revealing a dark room. The sickly tang of blood rushed out to greet him. With one hand, he covered his mouth and nose with a part of his cloak. With his other hand, he flipped the light switch and illuminated the room. Instantly, he wished he hadn't as he soiled his cloak with a small bit of bile.

He staggered back as the image burned itself into his mind. He used the counter to steady himself. Moments later, he leaned over the counter and emptied his stomach onto the floor. He had seen bloodshed, during the war, but the scene before him was truly disturbing. When he found that his stomach was done emptying itself, he turned his gaze towards the room again.

The room itself had once been a small, plain room with the walls and ceiling were covered by thick steel plates that had been laid over sound dampening material. The steel plates that covered each wall were welded together at each corner of the room. On the right hand wall, there were a few terminals that Hei had used for gathering information from the Dust Net. The only other thing in the room, other than a few air conditioning vents, was the reason that Qrow had retched up his breakfast.

The wall opposite of the door was covered in blood. Laying at the base of the wall, he saw what could have only been described as a severely brutalized corpse. From his vantage point at the door, he had seen pulverized innards spread all across the floor around the corpse. Flesh had been obliterated, leaving shredded muscle and shattered bone to litter the area. To say the corpse was in pieces was an understatement.

"Ozpin, what...what the hell?", he asked as he fumbled to regain his bearings on reality, his face pale from the shock and horror of the room's contents. As he glanced at Ozpin, he saw his long-time friend looking the same as he always did. It took him a moment to register that Ozpin had seemingly shown no reaction at all to the sight before them.

"Before you ask how I can be so unphased, I was at the Battle of Veldstadt Valley. Not many sights bother me any more.", said Ozpin, his voice sounding the same as always.

When he heard Ozpin's statement, he visibly paled further as he fell to one knee. All seasoned hunters of their generation knew of the Battle of Veldstadt Valley from the Faunus War. It was a large scale battle that occurred between human and faunus forces that lasted for just over two hours. He had heard how it ended horribly for both sides when the Grimm joined the battle, drawn by the despair and pain of the combatants.

Both sides were worn down from fighting each other. They had been literally torn apart by the Grimm. By the time the struggle to simply live had been won, very few were left on either side. It served as yet another reminder to all hunters of how dangerous the Grimm could be.

When he came back from memory lane, he saw that Ozpin was saying something. He almost missed what had been said.

"Adam has reached the academy.", stated Ozpin as he entered the room of gore and death. Moments later, he saw Ozpin exit the room. "The terminals seem to be down as well. Whoever did this is thorough.", said Ozpin as he pulled out his scroll. "Though there is no evidence of it being 'them', I believe your earlier assessment is correct.", said Ozpin as he tapped his scroll a few times.

"Qrow, you should leave. Perhaps even go see your nieces? I'll handle the clean up.", said Ozpin as he waited for a reply, his voice neutral as he expected Qrow to refuse. He caught the hint that Ozpin wanted him to take some time off before resuming the hunt for the Queen and Tessa. Ozpin gently rested his hand on Qrow's shoulder.

"To put it kindly, old friend, you look like death warmed up.", stated Ozpin rather bluntly. Qrow thought about accepting the offer for a moment, if that.

"There's an off-site server where all the video feeds are backed up. I remember Hei bragging about it to me once. It automatically migrates and is heavily encrypted.", said Qrow, hearing the weariness in his own voice.

"There are others who can handle the data forensics.", said Ozpin, the lack of emotion in his voice indicating that time off wasn't a kind suggestion. It was an order.

"I teach-", started Qrow before he was cut off.

"Qrow.", said Ozpin, his voice filled with authority. "I will not repeat myself.", he continued.

He gave a hefty sigh and nodded. He cast a glance at the gore-filled room. Then, he locked eyes with Ozpin. He had missed it the first time around but he saw a hint of sorrow and pain in the eyes of his old friend.

"You aren't allowed to 'take time off'. Don't burn out.", he whispered as he walked away towards the exit.

Once outside, he unsynced his scroll from Ozpin. As he walked back to his motorcycle, he pulled up his list of contacts and called a specific contact. After the third ring, the video feed came alive with a familiar face.

He saw the face of a four year old girl with a pale complexion. She had light blue eyes and her face was framed in with red hair so dark that it almost appeared to be black.

"Hi uncle!", called out the little bundle of love and energy that sometimes lived with him and his wife. He felt a smile spread across his face.

"Hello Saphira...did you take your auntie's scroll again?", he asked as he smiled. Seeing the little four year old girl always warmed his heart. He watched as she squirmed.

"You did, didn't you?", he prodded, knowing full well that she did. He watched her face fall for a moment before she perked right back up.

"I talked to Mama!", she said in an attempt to dodge his questions. He gave a small laugh, followed by a smile.

"You didn't answer me.", he said as his smile grew a bit. Again, she began to fidget. "Give your auntie the scroll. I need to talk to her.", he gently commanded, knowing his little niece had a fragile heart of gold. He watched as the video feed shook, his niece taking the scroll to his wife. For a moment, his thoughts turned inward.

"What to do with a little time off?", he pondered, unsure of what to do. He wasn't used to having time off, not even a little. Most of his time was usually spent teaching, fighting Grimm, or tracking dangerous people like the Queen.

"You took my scroll again? Oh child, what am I to do with you?", asked a soft spoken voice. Moments later, he saw the familiar face of his wife.

He studied her face for just a moment. The way her long brown hair framed in her green eyes and her slightly wrinkled face gave her a gentle look. Instantly, he gave his wife a smile.

"Oh dear, sometimes I wonder if you call just to see my face.", joked his wife. Qrow gave a small laugh.

"Bernadette, that's not true. Though, it's still as lovely as the day we met.", replied Qrow as he mounted his motorcycle. He felt a warmth in his heart as he watched his wife of twenty three years break out into a small blush. "Apparently, I can still make you blush as well.", he continued with a broad smile on his face.

"Oh, stop it.", she replied with a light sigh. Then, her face turned serious with worry. "It's not like you to call while you're in the field.", she said, her face scrunching up just a little. He quickly relayed a watered down account of how his day had gone and what he had seen. When he was done, he saw his beloved sigh.

"Dear, you can't save everyone. It's one of the saddest truths of the world we live in.", she said, hoping her reminder would ease his burden. He sighed and used his free hand to rub his temples. She always helped him put things into perspective.

"I know.", he muttered. Even though he wished he could, he knew that his wife was right. He couldn't save everyone and knowing that hurt him deeply.

I'm about to wrap up the first arc and move on to the second arc. The first arc more or less serves to set the stage for the third arc and everything that happens in it.

That leaves the second arc...it is by no means boring in any way. Canon will tie in to the arcs. I promise. I have most of the second arc planned out and a good deal of the third arc as well.

If I didn't have my Systems and Analysis class severely screwing with me, I would be able to actually write more often while doing classes. This class alone takes up roughly 16-20 hours a WEEK and I don't even have a class to attend for it.