I do not own RWBY or the Fate series.

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"So, what do you think of Beacon so far?" Arturia asked, as she led Mordred down the halls of the Huntsmen Academy.

"Eh, it's alright, I suppose" Mordred answered, an unimpressed expression on her face "Shade's better, though. In more ways than one, with the uniforms being one of them"

"Really? Out of all the things you choose to be unimpressed with, the uniform's the first thing that comes to mind?" Arturia deadpanned, looking at her sister.

Shrugging, Mordred replied "What can I say? Never was one for the rules. What do uniforms matter, anyway? Even without one, I can still kick some ass"

"Yeah, about that. Would it kill you to dress a little bit more decent?" Arturia shot back, looking at her sister's wardrobe, which simply consisted of a tube top, a pair of sleeves that reached up to above her elbows, a skirt of medium length, a pair of leggings and on her feet were a pair of high heeled boots and all of them were colored crimson. Her hair was still tied in a messy ponytail. Mordred, in turn, gave her sister a look of confusion, as if the question she asked was something out of the ordinary.

"What? Something wrong with how I dress?"

"Nevermind" Arturia replied, sighing, as the two girls rounded a corner "So, I suppose that's the end of the tour"

"Ugh, finally… Why couldn't we have just done this yesterday?" Mordred asked, an exasperated tone in her voice.

"Well, maybe if somebody hadn't gone and destroyed school property mere minutes after arriving, that somebody wouldn't have been in trouble in the first place" Arturia answered, internally facepalming herself.

"Oh, come on. It wasn't that bad" Mordred said, in an effort to defend herself "I mean, come on, Goodwitch patched it all back together in the end so what's the problem? Also, don't you think it's unfair that I was the only one to be punished?"

"The problem, dear sister, is that you were given two weeks detention every day for the next two weeks" Arturia replied "Also, you were the only one who got detention because your team did not destroy part of Beacon grounds as a greeting"

"What's your point?" Mordred asked, as she nonchalantly leaned on the wall, looking at Arturia with a blank expression on her face.

"Nevermind" Arturia answered, earning a pat on the back as well as some laughter from Mordred.

"You think too much, Arturia. Now that that's out of the way, where's the Ice Queen? It's been a while since we've seen each other and I was thinking of playing catch up, if you know what I mean" Mordred said, as she walked away with a sly smile on her face.

"It worries me that I know exactly what you mean" Arturia answered, a small smile on her face before being replaced with a worried expression "Mordred? What have you been doing for the past year and a half?"

Mordred stopped in her tracks for a moment at the girl's question, before she continued walking, not even bothering to look back "What do you mean? I enrolled into Shade, of course"

"Enrollment doesn't start until six months before a semester starts. That's true for every academy" Arturia replied "Mordred, where were you before you started at Shade?"

"Does it really matter? I mean, I'm here now. Best not to dwell too much on the past" the girl replied, still not willing to look back at Arturia.

"Of course it matters, Mordred. Do you know how worried I was when you just up and left that day? With nothing but a letter pinned to my door?" Arturia replied, not willing to let the topic end just yet.

"Well, I'm fine now so really, your worries were baseless"

"Mordred" Arturia said, trying to get her attention.

"Like I said, I'm fine, sis" the girl replied, as she increased her walking pace.

"Mordred!" Arturia asked again, her voice raised just a little bit higher this time as she caught up to her sister, her hand on her shoulder. Thankfully, there was no other student around at the moment to witness it "Would you stop for a minute and talk to me?!"

At that, Mordred finally turned around and looked her sister in the eye "What do you want me to say?! Because I was fine all on my own for all that time. I didn't need anybody's help to survive out in the world, most certainly not my family's"

"Mordred, why did you leave? Look, if it's because of Ex-"

"It's not that" Mordred answered, interrupting her sister "It's not that. I don't hate you for being worthy of the family sword. I never have. You were always better than me. At everything. Why would you I hate you for that?"

"Then please, tell me. Why did you leave?" Arturia asked once more.

"Heh… When I found out that you were going to be the one who would wield Excalibur, you know what I felt? Admiration. Pure admiration. There was no two ways about it. You were amazing. You were the perfect Pendragon. A far cry from what I am" Mordred replied, as she looked away "But that didn't bother me. I resolved myself that if I couldn't be the Heiress to the Pendragons, then I would do everything in my power to support you. Heck, I was fine with living in your shadow"

"But then, I started to realize something. Slowly, but surely, our old man started to cast me aside. I chalked it up to my imagination at first but I could see it in his eyes that I was slowly becoming nothing to him. Not even worth being looked at. Until one day I confronted him about it. And you know what he told me? He told me that he no longer acknowledged me as his daughter" Mordred spat, a look of pure anger on her face "Do you know what that felt like?! To be thrown away because you weren't good enough?! That's when I made my choice. I didn't need his help. So, I left. Took the other family sword, Clarent, with me and booked first flight out to Vacuo. Found a place to live, made a friend. When I got to Shade, I forged my own armor you saw yesterday"

"Mordred, I don't know what to say" Arturia said, after a few seconds of silence.

"You don't have to say anything" Mordred replied, a grin on her face "Like I said, I don't hate you. It's not your fault that I chose to leave"

"Even so, I should have noticed. Maybe if I did, I could have helped"

"Doesn't matter now, does it? It's all in the past" Mordred shrugged, before turning away from Arturia "Gotta keep looking towards the future, right?"

"I guess you're right" Arturia replied with a smile, though she can't help but feel a bit worried for her sister.

[/]

"Damn kids. What do they keep staring at, anyway?" Mordred spat as she and Arturia entered the library, spotting Team RWBY in the distance.

"Maybe it has something to do with the clothes you're wearing. Ever thought of that?" Arturia countered.

"Like I said, nothing wrong with what I'm wearing. The students here really need to learn to keep themselves, if they know what's good for them" Mordred replied, a sort of murderous gleam in her eyes.

"Hey, ladies. Why's the scraggly blonde kid bowing down to the Ice Queen?" Mordred asked, as the two of them arrived at Team RWBY's table, who was currently in the middle of a Kingdom of Remnants game "Don't tell me. Is he a citizen of the Ice Kingdom?"

"Oh, look, the other Pendragon girl" Weiss replied with a glare, earning a growl from the girl in question "I hope you learned your lesson yesterday. And what are you wearing? This is a school, you do know that, right?"

"Pfft… You're just jealous of my fashion sense. Not everyone can dress so prim and proper like the Heiress of the Schnee Dust Company" Mordred replied in a mocking tone.

"Since yesterday was cut a bit short, let me introduce you to some of my friends" Arturia said, before Weiss could get off her seat to argue "This is Weiss's team. That's Ruby, Blake, and Yang"

"Hey, what's up?" Mordred said with a small wave.

"And the blond guy is Jaune Arc. That's his team over there" Arturia continued, pointing to a table behind Team RWBY "Nora Valkyrie, Lie Ren, and Pyrrha-"

"Pyrrha Nikos. Yeah, I've heard of you. The Invincible Girl. They say you're pretty good. And looking at you now?" Mordred said, walking up to the red-headed champion while looking her up and down, a sly smile on her face "Nice"

"Hello. Always nice to meet a fan" came the champion's reply, as she extended a hand to the blonde, an uncomfortable smile on her face.

"A fan? No, no. You must be mistaken" Mordred replied, taking the champion's hand before pulling her in close, their faces mere inches apart "I'm the one that's gonna beat you the next time we have combat class"

A few moments of silence passed before Arturia spoke up "So, yeah. That's my sister, Mordred. I hope you treat her the same way you'd treat me"

That last bit earned a scoff from Weiss "Doubtful"

"I didn't know you had a sister, Arturia" Ruby spoke up "Why didn't you tell us?"

"You guys never asked" Arturia answered, shrugging.

"We're actually half-sisters, by the way" Mordred said "Same dad, different moms"

"Oh. Kind of like Ruby and I" Yang replied, earning an agreeing hum from Arturia "What were you guys up to?"

"Just showing her around Beacon. Would have done it yesterday but well, you know how that went"

"Certainly won't be the first time we'll hear news about her getting in trouble" Weiss muttered under her breath.

"'Sup losers" came the greeting from the blonde haired monkey Faunus, Sun Wukong. Beside him was a blue-haired boy whom Arturia did not recognize.

"Blue hair, huh? And I thought Chulainn was the only one vain enough to pull it off" Arturia mused to herself.

"Ruby, Yang, Blake, Arturia… Ice Queen" the boy said in greeting, saying that last bit after a small moment of silence.

"Why does everyone keep calling me that?!" Weiss asked, exasperated.

"Hah, see? It's not only me who thinks that. I like you already, blonde monkey" Mordred snorted in amusement.

"I never got a chance to introduce you guys to my friend here, Neptune" Sun said, gesturing to the blue haired teen.

"Uh… Aren't libraries for reading?" the boy asked, looking around the table, earning a shout of thanks from Ren and a shout of pancakes from Nora.

"Shut up. Don't be a nerd"

"An intellectual" Neptune replied in protest.

"So Neptune, where are you from?" Weiss asked, in a softer tone than usual.

"Haven" the boy answered, as he moved closer to the Schnee Heiress "And I don't think I've caught your name, Snow Angel"

"Check out pretty boy over here, putting the moves on the Ice Queen" Mordred whispered to Pyrrha on the side, earning an amused smile from the Champion, who immediately made to cover it up with her hand.

"I never took you for the board game playing type" Sun said, as he leaned in closer to Blake.

"Right. I think I'm done playing, actually. I'll see you guys later" the girl said, as she got up and left the table, earning a confused look from Sun.

"Women" Mordred and Nora muttered at the same time.

[Somewhere in Vale]

"Hey! Careful with that, you idiot. One small mistake and we're all going sky high" Roman shouted from outside. Achilles was currently laying down on a couch inside of an old office room, his scroll in hand. As he was busy playing with in, a sudden call from one of his associates came up.

"Hello?" he answered, scroll to his ear.

"..."

"No, I haven't seen her since that night. But she's slated to start 'enrolling' Beacon a few days from now, though"

"..."

"The paladin? Should be any day now. Yeah, apparently Roman got it from one of his Atlas contacts. Talk about a lax in security"

"..."

"I believe the White Fang recruitment is tomorrow night"

"..."

"Sasaki's here with me right now. Not sure where Jack is, though"

"..."

"Well, you know how she is. She won't rest easy until her bloodlust is sated"

"..."

"Of course. I know just how to keep her under control" With that last statement, the person at the other end of the line ended the call.

"What did he want?" Sasaki asked, as he strolled into the office, taking a seat in front of Achilles.

"Just a boring status report. Nothing much" Achilles replied, as he got up and made towards the exit "What's with the commotion outside?"

"Apparently the paladin's arrived"

Opening the door, Achilles couldn't help but be a little impressed at the piece of machinery that was in front of him at the moment.

"Impressive, isn't it?" Roman said, as he strolled up to Achilles.

"I'll say. You've outdone yourself this time, Roman. Best to not disappoint us now, don't you think?" Achilles replied, before making his way out of the warehouse.

"Hmph. I hate that guy" Roman muttered to his companion, Neo, as Achilles disappeared from their sight

[Back at Beacon, Night]

Arturia, exhaustion written all over her face as a result of having to 'babysit' Mordred all day long, was now ready to just drop down on her bed and sleep until the next day. That sounded like an excellent plan. One her way towards the dorm, she came across her teammate and partner leaving the school's library, who currently had a complicated expression on his face, as he seemed to be lost in his own thoughts.

"Shirou? What's wrong?" the girl asked, staring at the boy.

"Hmm? Oh, Arturia. Didn't see you there" the boy said, stopping in his tracks "It's nothing. I was just thinking about something"

"Oh? What about? Something I can help with?"

"It was those guys we ran into during the camp. Remember?" Arturia nodded, before the boy continued "Chulainn told us that he heard them talking about an operation in Vale and working with the White Fang. So, I was looking into the recent news about anything strange going on in Vale"

"Did you find anything?"

"That's just it, though. The crime in Vale has practically stopped. At least, nothing that was newsworthy. The dust robberies, even the murders that Weiss told us about. The last case was a couple of weeks ago"

"You think something big is coming up?" Arturia asked, as the two teens arrived in front of their dorm room.

"I can't say for sure" Shirou replied, as he opened the door for the both of them.

"Well, why don't we go find out?" Arturia asked, as the two of them were greeted with the sight of Chulainn doing some push-ups and Heracles just leaving the bathroom, all ready to get a good night's rest.

"Oh? Find out what?" The resident spearman of Team ASHC asked, not bothering to look up at them. Chulainn and Heracles both listened attentively as Shirou told them about his recent findings.

"Sounds to me like you're just being paranoid" Chulainn commented, once Shirou was done "Heck, maybe the police are actually doing their job for once. Ever thought of that?"

"Simple-minded as ever" Arturia muttered under her breath, sighing "What if he's not? Those guys didn't exactly seem like small-time crooks when we fought. They were coordinated and they had their Auras unlocked. Heck, the guy with the bow looked like he had Huntsmen training"

"She has a point, Chulainn. You can't just chalk all this up to mere coincidence after hearing all that, can you?" Heracles asked, staring at his partner.

"Alright, alright. Lets assume you're right. That those guys in black are up to something. That they're scheming to take down Vale. The problem now is, what are we gonna do about it? I mean, where do we even start?"

"Well, they mentioned something about working with a White Fang so maybe we could start there?" Shirou suggested, in a tone that was less than confident.

"Okay, that's a start. So, any of you guys know where we can find anyone that's part of the White Fang? Where they meet up or anything?" the boy asked, but the silence from the rest of his team was the answer he needed. Sighing, the boy got up and gave his team a smug look "Just as I though. Fortunately, Cu Chulainn is on your team so fret not, I know how we can possibly find out some stuff about the White Fang"

"I'm definitely going to regret asking this but, how?" Arturia asked, a somewhat worried expression on her face.

"I'm so glad you asked, dear leader of mine. There's this guy in downtown Vale who owes me a favor. I think his name was Gil… Gilles.. Ah, well, the locals call him Bluebeard. Not sure why. He doesn't have a beard nor does he like the color blue that much. Anyway, the short of it is, this guy's a drug lord who buys and sells information on the side. He'll probably tell us what we need to know" Chulainn told his team, only to receive looks of varying disappointment all around.

"A drug lord? I'm not sure if I should be surprised" Arturia said, pinching the bridge of her nose as she processed the information.

"Look, it's not like I'm doing drugs or anything. The details aren't important but last year, I bumped into him telling me that he needed an alibi to escape the police. I helped him out and now he owes me one. A win-win situation, if you ask me" Chulainn replied, in a futile attempt to defend himself.

"Well, it doesn't matter how but at least now we have a lead, right?" Shirou spoke up.

"Agreed. So, how shall we proceed?" Heracles asked. Arturia was about to answer but was interrupted by the door to their dorm room suddenly opening. It was followed a moment later by Mordred nonchalantly strolling into said room, a giant grin on her face.

"Why, of course, we torture the shit out of this Bluebeard guy for information about the White Fang. After that, we storm where ever it is that they're hiding, guns blazing. Or, in my case, swords blazing" Mordred exclaimed, as she looked on at the shocked expressions of Arturia and her team. Even Chulainn seemed to be at a loss for words at her sudden arrival, and that was not a simple thing to accomplish.

"Um… Who are you?" Shirou asked, after a few moments of silence.

Sighing, Arturia answer the boy's question, as a hand covered her face "Guys, I told you about my sister who almost killed me yesterday, right? This is her. Team ASHC, meet Mordred Pendragon. Mordred Pendragon, meet Team ASHC"

"Hey there. How's it going?" Mordred replied, greeting the three boys.

"Mordred, what are you doing here? Also, how did you open the door?" Arturia asked the blonde.

"I'm here to offer up my help, of course. You're obviously going to need it so be grateful. It isn't everyday that Mordred Pendragon helps people out of the goodness of her heart" Mordred exclaimed, a proud look on her face.

"I'm not even surprised by that" Arturia quipped.

"And secondly, I stole your scroll just now. Figured it might come in handy and look, it did" Mordred continued, before taking out her sister's scroll and tossing it to the girl, much to Arturia's displeasure.

"Once again, not even surprised"

"So, when do we start?" Mordred asked, eagerly looking around the room.

"Good question. When do we start?" Shirou asked, looking at his team leader.

"Well, seeing as tomorrow's Friday and we only have classes until twelve, I'd say tomorrow is the best time to do something. Any objections?" Arturia asked, receiving none in return "And so, sorry to burst your bubble, Mordred, but we won't be doing anything tonight. Looks like you'll have to come back tomorrow"

"Actually, about that. It's actually me and Astolfo" Mordred said and before anyone could say anything, another person suddenly barged into their dorm room, this time from the open window, startling everyone present.

"Greetings, everyone. Astolfo, at your service" the boy said, with the brightest smile ever, as his black cat tail swayed back and forth behind him. At this point, none of the members of ASHC even had the energy to comment on the sudden arrival.

"So, is she-"

"He"

"-he part of your team?" Shirou asked, slightly shocked at the sudden news regarding Astolfo's gender but decided not to comment any further on it.

"Yeah, he is. Don't worry about him. He may not be the best fighter but he's got a good mind to back it up" Mordred replied, giving Shirou a reassuring nod.

"Regardless, we won't be doing any investigations tonight so I believe it's best if you two went back to your dorms before curfew is in effect" Arturia said.

"Hmph. Even after all this time, you're still no fun, sis" Mordred replied, as she dragged Astolfo out of the room "We'll see you guys tomorrow, then"

A few moments of silence passed before Chulainn spoke up "I like her"

"Of course you do" Arturia sighed, as she closed the door shut.

[Chapter END]

A/N: And that's that. I actually planned this chapter to go for longer but I thought it would be fitting to end it here. A number of developments this chapter. Looks like the first Caster has been introduced. Don't worry. Right now, he's just a one-time character used for information gathering. Hope you guys like what I did with him, making him a drug lord and all that.

Again, I must apologize for making the edits to chapter 6. It's just I've made a few changes to the overall story since I've started and I find that it could make it better if I do it this way instead of the original way. Hope you guys like it. Anyway, as always, fave and follow if you like.

No XIV signing off