Flynt felt himself sway slightly his horse slowed, "c'mon…" he muttered as they left the forest and onto a white washed field, "almost there…" he muttered, patting the horses shuttering side, which was slick with blood from an arrow in it's shoulder"almost there…" he looked back at Neon who was laid up against his back, her right arm nothing but a stump wrapped in bloody bandages, "Neon…Neon?" he felt his heart constrict as he quickly reached over, shaking her shoulder, the cat faunus stirred.

"Hmm?" she mumbled, her head raising up,

"you gotta stay awake Katt," he said, "you gotta…"

"but i'm tired…" she whispered, lying her head back down on his back, "and it's so warm…so…warm…" she faltered as she started to slide off the horse.

"katt? Katt!" Flynt shouted as she fell off into the snow, Flynt jumped down next to her, letting out a strangled cry as his blood soaked leg gave out, he walked/crawled over to her, cradling her in his arms, "C'mon Katt, c'mon." he whispered, "you gotta stay awake."

"do i have to?" she whined softly.

"yes you have to," he stood up, carrying her bridal style and started going back towards his horse, which had collapsed in the snow, it's head hanging."We're almost there."

"Flynt…i can't feel…i can't feel my arm…"

"don't worry, you're fine, probably just the cold." he said, carefully setting her down against the horse and gathering his weapons, he put a hand to the horses shuddering side, he slowly drew his dagger and plunged it into the horses chest; the horse stopped shuddering, it's head falling limply to the ground, Flynt took a moment to collect himself as he put his dagger up and shakily picked Katt up once more, "come on." he said, heading across the field.

"we should head back." Katt mumbled, "back to the legion…"

"we're too far," he muttered, "and we'd probably run into those monsters again…"

"what were they…" katt whispered.

"I don't know…" Flynt looked up, trying to find any landmarks that would hint to where they were, "we have to be close to the border." he winced as he heard howls, "damn it…i thought we got away from them." he set her up against the horse and stood up, stringing his bow and nocking an arrow, looking around. the wind and the snow did little to help him spot any approaching targets.

"let me help." Katt gritted out as she started standing back up.

"no, you stay down Katt, don't need you getting hurt." he said, his eyes narrowing as he saw several shadowy figures burst out of the trees, gigantic werewolves with beady red eyes, twelve in all, watching the two injured rangers carefully.

"come on you ugly bastards." he growled, raising his bow.

one of the wolves howled, making the others charge at them, Flynt loosed arrow after arrow, trying vainly to hit the rampaging monsters, only for them to dodge out of the way.

"Flynt…." Katt whispered.

Flynt said nothing as he stood protectively over her as he pulled out his knife, his leg shaking under the strain, "Come on…come on!"

as the first wolf got close to them, a red blur shot out, slashing it in half and kicking up the powdery snow.

"what the…" Flynt whispered as he heard the sound of fighting but couldn't see exactly what was going on, the attacker was too fast and the snow hid the slaughter from view until the fighting died down and the snow settled, leaving a red cloaked stranger standing in the middle of the now blood stained field.

"you two got lucky." the cloaked figure said, slowly turning around to reveal a young maiden clad in leather and metal armor, leather pants and a skirt made of chainmail, belts criss crossed on her hips, where a knife, a sword, and several pouches hung, her raven hair turned crimson at the tips and her silver eyes looked over the two injured rangers in interest as she slowly lowered the battle scythe in her hand, "well, well, well, two atlesian Rangers, don't see you guys around here much." she carefully put the scythe on her back and walked towards Neon.

"S-stay back!" Flynt growled, raising his dagger.

"i'm not going to hurt you." she said soothingly, raising her hands up placatingly, "i just want to check on your companion there."

Flynt slowly lowered his weapon, "one of those…things got her arm." he mumbled, staying slightly defensive as the woman kneeled down beside the injured Faunus, who had passed out during the fight and was now breathing fast and shallow.

"these bandages are useless." she mumbled, gently taking them off, looking at the tattered remains, "we need to cauterize the wounds."

"there won't be any wood around dry enough to light-" he stopped as she started going through her pouches.

"I know i have on here somewhere…aha!" she pulled out a red stone "this'll do the trick."

"What is that?" Flynt asked, raising his dagger once more as it started to glow.

"a fire crystal." she said, "still has some juice in it." she carefully put it against Neons arm, the cat faunus' eyes shot open and she let out a shriek as the stone seared her flesh, Flynt clenched his dagger and started to move forward, only to stop when the woman pulled the stone away and started wrapping the stump once more, the wound now properly cauterized, "this should hold for now." she said.

Flynt slowly fell to his knee's, "thank…thank you…"

"don't thank me yet," she said, standing back up and pulling her scythe off her back, "i'm still wondering what two Atlesian Rangers are doing here."

Flynt reached up and pulled the dispatch papers he had been given out from behind his chest plate, they were hidden inside a leather bound carrier, which he handed to her as he finally fell back against his dead horse, right next to Neon

she quickly opened the dispatch and started to read it, "wow….wow, wow, wow!" she exclaimed, 'is this real! are you guys-oh wow!" she started to jump up and down giddily.

"those are real." Flynt said wearily, "we were sent by King Jacques Schnee to get this dispatch to someone of high rank within the Valesian and Mistralian militaries so we can start a ceasefire.'

"this is great!" she squealed.

"Ruby!" someone shouted, making Ruby turn around quickly, scythe at the ready, Flynt lifted his dagger once more as another woman ran towards them, her hair was like gold, cascading down her shoulders and back, her armor was made of brown leather. a yellow tunic on underneath, her legs protected from the cold by leather trousers tucked into boots, the only metal armor she wore covered her arms from shoulder to knuckles, the gauntlets were studded and had red stones set into the knuckles,. "what the hell are you thinking! running out of the fort like that! what if it had been a legion!"

"but it wasn't." She said with an uneasy laugh, putting her scythe up, "it was just two rangers in a fix."

the blonde woman turned her lilac gaze to the two injured Atlesian Rangers, "and what are they doing this close to the border?"

"trying to get these dispatches to our superiors." Ruby said, holding up the dispatch papers, "we need to get these to King Ozpin and Emperor Altan as soon as possible…but…we need to take care of these two, they both have extensive injuries, think you can help me get them to the fort Yang?"

she nodded, "lets get them to Velvet." she said, walking up to Flynt, who had collapsed back against the horse once more, his eyes struggling to stay open,"upsie daisy." Yang said as she hauled Flynt up while Ruby picked Neon up, "lets get them some help before we get accused of killing atlesian Rangers."

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"Princess Schnee?"

the timid prodding of the Commander of the Guard made her slowly raise her head from where she held it in her hands, "Yes Captain Bly?" she asked, looking at the nervous man, he was some fourth child of a noble who's name she hadn't cared to remember, Portly and thick, with a wispy moustache, he looked nothing like what a Commander of the Guard should look like, at least in Weiss's mind, it didn't even look like he could wield the sword strapped to his side, and his armor seemed much too bulky to be practical.

"we were…discussing what was to be done about the barbarians?" he asked anxiously, "your father wants to procure peace with them…remember?"

"of course i remember." she said dismissively, standing up and striding to the window in the room; it was the only reason she had to even talk with Bly, "have our scouts returned?"

"they should be back any minute your majesty." Bly said.

"We will continue this when they return then." Weiss muttered. walking towards the door.

"Um…ma'am."

she sighed, stopping just short of the exit, "yes, Commander Bly?" she asked once more.

"I…as acting Captain of the Guard, I must insist that a small security detail be assigned to you," he said, gaining some confidence in his voice, "I leave it to you to choose who they will be…as…i can't…talk with Captain Romanov…may he rest in peace."

Weiss closed her eyes as she thought of the late captain, for three weeks he had held on, his stubbornness seemed to be the only thing that kept him alive, and then one day; while she went to go check on Jaune, she realized she couldn't hear his raspy breathing; the young captain had died in his sleep sometime in the night, he seemed peaceful, except for the forever remaining crease in his eyebrows, as if he was angry that death snuck up on him in the night, "I shall be fine until Sir Arc is fit for duty.' she said, "do not concern yourself with protecting me, especially since we have so few to spare now."

"I-I'm sorry your majesty, but i must insist." he said, losing some confidence, "at least take one guard." he begged.

she sniffed, "I will consider it, Commander Bly." she muttered, walking out and down the hall, without any prompting, one of the guards at the door started to follow her.

"you can stand down," she said to him, "I don't need a guard today."

"Sorry ma'am, Commanders orders." he said dutifully, still following her.

"I do believe I have a higher rank then your Commander," she said, giving him a glare. the guard shrank slightly, but kept a steel bearing.

"i'm sorry ma'am, but until your usual guard is able to take his post once more-"

Weiss turned around with a huff, continuing on towards the infirmary, the guard fell back into step behind her, "You will stay outside the doors of the infirmary unless i call for you." she said as they reached the doors in question.

"yes ma'am." he said, standing at attention, Weiss sighed and opened the door slowly, stepping into the infirmary, "Ren?" she asked as she closed the door. making the healer look up from where he sat beside an injured guard.

"good morning Weiss," he said as he wrapped the injury on the guards arm.

"good morning," she said politely, walking over to where Jaune lay, snoring softly,'how is he today?" she asked.

"better," Ren said as he pat the guards shoulder and motioning for him to leave the infirmary, "the wounds are closed, no signs of infection, and he was able to walk from the bed to the door and back before collapsing."

"is that why he's still asleep." she mused, sitting next to Jaune, "he still looks pale."

"I think that's normal, until he's fully healed at least." Ren said.

"and how long will that be?" Weiss asked.

"I don't know, i've never treated an Arc before, it could be another week, it could be another month…it's hard to say."

Weiss nodded, "if you need anything let me know." she said to Ren, slowly standing, "and…let me know immediately if he needs anything…"

Ren smiled sadly, in all the time Weiss had come in, Jaune was never awake, "of course." he said as she started to leave, "have a good day your majesty."

she nodded and stepped out of the infirmary, her 'guard' turned to her, "Ma'am, we've received word that the rangers have returned."

"very good," she said, "let us go meet them."

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Ren pulled out a small book and opened it, slowly sitting down next to Jaune's bed, "you know you'll have to talk to her eventually." he said, making the warriors eyes open.

"how could I." he muttered, looking up at the ceiling, "I failed her…"

"Jaune-"

"-i couldn't defeat that woman." he interrupted him, "I dropped my guard, let her gain the advantage, and as a result I almost died, and i put Weiss in danger."

"It wasn't your fault Jaune." Ren said, "Weiss was the one who ordered you to stop, had she not then you would have prevailed."

"I can't blame Weiss," Jaune mumbled, "i thought the woman was defeated, that she wouldn't rise again...and because of my negligence…"

Ren shook his head, "you're too hard on yourself." he said, looking back to his book, "you know you'll have to face her again, better it be sooner rather than later."

Jaune sighed and started standing, wincing slightly as he went.

Ren quickly started to push him back down, which was easy considering the wounds he had sustained, "i wasn't lying when i said you weren't entirely healed." Ren said, "you have to take it slow, and walking through the castle is not apart of 'taking it slow'."

Jaune groaned, "then i guess i can wait until she comes back in, she usually comes in in the evening doesn't she?"

"Usually." Ren said, patting him on the shoulder, "guess it's time to show some of that famed Valean patience."

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Weiss walked into her fathers meeting hall, where several guards were congregated around a bloodied fox faunus Ranger, his long black hair was matted with blood and his specked with mud and gore, he had a gash on his lower abdomen, his leather armor and chainmail was mangled and torn around the gash, making her eyes widen.

"Why hasn't this man gotten any medical treatment!" Weiss snapped angrily at the guards, who instantly tensed and stepped back.

"I'll be fine for a few moments m'lady." the faunus slurred out, getting to his feet to salute her, "Ranger Lin-Chu here to give my report."

"Go ahead and sit down Lin," Weiss said, the Faunus gratefully sat down, wincing slightly, "I thought my father sent out three Rangers?"

"The others are dead." he muttered, "damn barbarians realized we were there, attacked as soon as we went to leave, barely got away with my life."

"And how did you?" Commander Bly asked with a sniff.

"My team gave me time to escape," he said, glaring at Bly, "i was the fastest, and we needed to get this info to the keep."

"So you ran like a coward." he sneered, "filthy animal you should have stayed to fight-"

"-That's quite enough Commander Bly." Weiss said sternly, not moving her gaze from the faunus, "Continue."

"After I was ordered back to the keep." he started, still glaring at bly, "one of those things gave chase, tore through my armor and gave me this lovely cut…"

"Do you have their location?" she prodded gently.

"Bring me a map." he muttered, looking at one of the guards. They looked from him to Weiss.

"Go on," Weiss said impatiently, making one of them run off and return in a few seconds with a map, laying it out in front of him, he scanned the map for a few moments before placing a finger on a patch of woods, "eighteen kilometers to the north of Mantle." he said, "their numbers are in the low eight hundreds."

"Low eight hundred?" Bly echoed, making the other guards start to talk amongst themselves.

"Just one slaughtered half the homeguard-"

"What do you think eight hundred of those freaks could do-"

"We're so fucked-"

"Enough!" Weiss snapped, making al of them stop, "what kind of armaments did they have?" she asked, looking at Lin.

"Most were armed with crude weapons," he said, "spears with jagged teeth being used as the tips, swords made from crude iron...almost everyone was armed except for the children, and...and many of them wore no armor...nor clothing."

"Walking around in this cold? Are they wanting death?" Bly asked.

"Some of them walked around in those werewolf forms of theirs." he muttered, "I doubt they're very cold."

Weiss processed this information, "thank you Lin," she said, standing up, "Guards, get him to the infirmary, make sure Lie Ren treats his injuries."

Two guards walked forward and gently helped the man up, "you have a good rest Lin," she said, walking to the head of the table.

"Thank you m'lady." he mumbled as they half escorted/half dragged him away.

"He gave us invaluable information." she muttered, "Now we know where they are and what they're capable of."

"Yes, shame he'll have to be put to death." Bly said.

"Excuse me?" she asked, turning her cold glare to him.

"H-he ran from battle." Bly stuttered, "the law clearly states that anyone who runs from battle must-"

"He was ordered to come back," she said abruptly, "and if he hadn't we wouldn't know where they are."

"But-"

"If anything befalls that man I will be sure to hold you entirely responsible." Weiss said icily, cutting him off once more, "do I make myself clear Commander Bly?"

"But-"

"Do i make myself clear, commander Bly." she said again.

He lowered his head and gave a feeble, "yes ma'am."

"Now, assemble a party of no less then fifty men, and inform my father that I will be riding out to meet with these barbarians. Choose our best, Commander Bly, you'll be leading these men."

"Now wait a second!" he yelped, "Shouldn't i stay at the castle? To better coordinate our guards?"

"Most will be out with me Commander," she said, sitting down, "what will you have to coordinate here but mice?"

"I...I…"

"This isn't up for debate Commander Bly," she said, walking to the door, "Also, i will be down in the armory for the remainder of the day and am not to be disturbed, if you have questions you can relay them through blake, understood commander?"

"Yes ma'am…"

Weiss gave a smile and walked out, her guard falling into step behind her, "you're not needed Guardsman." she said, "take the rest of the day off."

"Sorry ma'am, orders are orders." he said, still following her.

She rolled her eyes, "well, if you're going to be stalking me, why don't you give me a name?"

"Henry, Henry Merigold."

Weiss gave a little sound of acknowledgment and kept walking.

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Jora brought his hammer down on the piece of metal he was working into a blade, mumbling under his breath as he did.

"Jora?"

The calm voice of Weiss made Jora grin as he brought the hammer down once more, "Princess Weiss!" he called out jovially as he quenched the blade, "just the blue blood i wanted to see!"

Weiss smiled as Jora pulled the blade out and showing it to her, "what do ya think?" he asked, "made it out of some Valesian Ore one of the traders found, i never thought i'd get a chance to work with it-"

As Jora went off on a tandent, Weiss looked over the blade, it was about three feet and narrow, diamond shaped and with a twist towards the tang, it was a dull gray at the moment but she knew that once Jora was done with it the blade would practically glowing."

"-so what do you think?" he asked with a smile.

"It's beautiful Jora," she said honestly, "when do you think it will be ready?"

"Hmm...well, i still have to finish the handle, pommel, and the crossguard, it'll take me about a day, should be ready by tomorrow at noon."

"good, " she said, "i will be going out for a peace negotiation tomorrow, i would have liked to leave by noon, but I will happily stall for an extra thirty minutes to recieve and pay for this elegant weapon."

He grinned, "I'll make sure it's perfect for you princess." he said with a bow,he stood up just as a crash sounded from in the back of his forge, "confound it-" he started as he walked around the corner, weiss following.

"WHAT ARE YOU TWO IDIOTS DOING BACK HERE!" Jora roared, making a soot covered Sun and Neptune jump, knocking over yet another rack of finished weapons, "I heard Monkey faunus were light on their feet! It appears i was wrong!"

"Sorry Jora!" Sun said with a nervous chuckle, "Neptune's a clutz."

"I'm not the one who dropped a knife on my foot."

"No but you're the reason it happened!"

Before the two could start fighting Jora lifted them both up and slammed them together, "Enough!" he rumbled, "i agreed to allow you two to work in here so long as you actually worked! But it seems the tasks i've given you have been too tame! So i want you to pick up the mess you two made, and then go and stack the Ore we got from Terra Vista! Understood!"

"Yes sir!" they chorused, getting to work.

"You let them work in here?" Weiss asked him as she moved to stand by his side.

"Hmm yes, it seems the guards around here don't like the idea of letting these boys help guard, so i agreed to let them do grunt work for me." Jora groaned, "and i've had a headache ever since."

"Hi Weiss!" Sun called, waving at her as he restacked the weapons, "long time no see!"

"Good evening Corporal Wukong, Mr. Versailles."

"How's Jaune doing?" Sun asked, while Neptune leant against a spear he had been putting up.

"He's...better." she said.

"That's great, i went to go see him last week, dude looked like someone dropped a cannonball on him-ow!" Sun winced as Neptune elbowed him hard, "dude what the hell?" Sun asked, then saw that Weiss's expression turned solemn and slightly morose.

"We're glad he's making a speedy recover." Neptune said, trying to cover his team leaders blunder.

"Thank you, i'll be sure to let him know." she said.

"Don't you two have some work to do?" Jora asked, saving the two from an awkward conversation.

"Yeah! We gotta get it done." Sun said quickly, running over to where the iron ore was, Neptune quick to follow.

"See ya snow angel." Neptune said with a wink, yelping when Jora threw his still hot hammer at him.

"That's Princess Weiss to you!" he snapped, "try that again and i'll rip your-" he stopped and looked at Weiss, who looked partially amused, "You know what!"

"Yes sir!" Neptune called as he and Sun got to work.

"Come Princess, lets continue to talk about the design for your rapier."

"Yes, lets." she said, following him into the main part of the armory, "and Jora?"

"Yes M'lady?"

"Thank you."

He smiled, "any time.'