NOTE: So the feels started a bit in the last chapter, but they're even worse in this chapter. I hope some people are cool with it. I think this kind of fluff is actually important, but if you don't think like me, hopefully you will appreciate that I balanced this chapter out and will continue to do my best to balance out the story in general. Also, thanks to everyone who has followed, favorited, and/or reviewed so far or even just read all of the chapters! I really appreciate it

Chapter 12:

"Hey Ren, are you awake yet?" Nora asked as she was lying on the ground, staring up into the trees in the cool air of the early afternoon. She sat up and looked over at her partner and best friend who was still unconscious and sighed to herself. "I didn't think so."

She stood up and looked around at her surroundings, partly to check for Grimm and partly to check to see if Ruby and Jaune had come back yet. After looking and listening and finding only trees and silence, respectively, she let out another sigh and plopped back down on the ground in defeat. She laid back down and began staring up the sky again, hoping that somehow time would suddenly decide to speed up so she could go back to her corner of the forest and try to fall asleep again.

Nora felt so uncomfortable like this. She hated herself for wanting to stay away from Ren, even though he was hurt; even though he had been by her side since either of them could remember. It wasn't that she did not want to be there for him. She was the one who had wiped out the Grimm and White Fang that had hurt him. She was the one who had insisted that Jaune stitch up his side immediately, despite his nervousness. She was the one who had put him in her own sleeping bag to make sure he did not get too cold, fighting to stay alive. Now that there was nothing left to do, she couldn't stand to be near him. Her reflexes had been too slow. She hadn't killed the Ursa in time. The guilt along with all her other emotions regarding him were eating her up inside. To keep her brain from devolving completely, she did what she always did to make herself feel better: talk to Ren.

"Do you remember when we used to play by the river when we were young? It was always my favorite place to go with you. Our parents always said it was too dangerous because the current was too strong and there was never anyone else around to save us if we fell in. I think that's what I liked best about it. It was the one place where we could go to be alone, just the two of us." Nora took a deep breathe, trying to calm herself before she continued.

"I loved jumping around on the rocks, swinging on the tree branches, and making fun of you for telling me to be more careful and stay away from the current. You've always been so cautious and level-headed. I never used to appreciate that about you. I just thought you were acting like an overprotective mother!" She managed a small laugh as she said this.

"Then came the day that the branch broke and I fell in. I thought I was going to die that day, but you saved me. You actually jumped in and saved me. To this day I still don't know how you did it. You didn't even know how to swim yet, but you jumped in without a moment of hesitation and you got me out of there." Nora continued to stare up into the trees, which were beginning to look slightly wet and unclear. "That was the first time you saved my life.

I can't even count the amount of times you've saved me since then. In fact, I'm not sure if I've ever really thanked you properly for all the times you did save my life or even acknowledged everything you've done for me. I just sort of figured you knew... you know? But you don't. You have no idea how much you've done for me, no idea how much I appreciate it, and no idea how much I care about you and how much I need you."

She looked over at Ren again and pleaded with him.

"Don't die on me, Ren. Please. I don't know what I would do without you and I'd never forgive myself for letting you down. Yesterday was the first time I really had a chance to save you and I blew it! I'm sorry. I'm sorry I wasn't there for you when you needed me most. I'm sorry I didn't take care of you or help you the way you've helped me. I need you to save me one last time, though. I need you to pull through for me because if you go, I... I don't think I'll make it."

It was a few minutes before Nora spoke again.

"Do you remember the day we left for Beacon? I was late and you kept asking me where I was, but I wouldn't tell you. Well, that morning, I went back to the tree that I was climbing on when I fell into the river and I wrote our names together in a heart. Ever since then I've dreamed of the day that I bring you back there and show you what I wrote. I want to see you smile the way I did when I wrote it." Nora sniffed again and wiped away the tears from her eyes as her voice broke. "But I'm scared, Ren. I'm scared that if I take you back there, you won't like what I wrote. You'll look at me like I'm an idiot who sees something between us that just isn't there! Then I won't even have you as a best friend anymore. I won't have anyone at all."

She leaned forward and put her head in her hands, unable to control her crying. "And who am I supposed to tell all this to?" She asked, becoming more hysterical. " Whenever I've been sad about anything, I tell you and you always make it better. I mean, look at me now! I'm still telling you my problems, even though you can't hear me! But if... I mean when you do wake up, this might be the one thing you won't be able to make better."

The freezing air beat against Qrow's cape, causing it to flap loudly behind him. From his perch on top of the snowy hill, he surveyed the land below him. Despite the wind, the view was very clear and he could see quite far in front of him. The White Fang camp was larger than he had expected, based on how large the one near Vale was. This troubled him. It meant that their numbers were growing. He wasn't exactly surprised by this, especially after what had happened in the past several months, but that didn't make him feel any better about it.

Deciding to finally take a closer look, Qrow turned around and headed down the back side of the hill that he had just come up. After checking to make sure nobody was around, he transformed into a crow and flew up into the turbulence. Controlling himself in this weather was difficult, but he did manage to steer himself toward the White Fang camp. As he flew closer, he rose higher into the freezing sky, hoping that he would be able to collect as much information as possible without anyone noticing him at all. It was doubtful that any member of the White Fang knew of his disguise, but even so, he did not want to draw any unnecessary attention to himself.

The good news was that because of the fact that the surrounding area was such a barren, icy landscape, there was really no place for the White Fang to hide. Certainly, it had taken Qrow quite a while to find this location, at least by his standards. After leaving Team RNJR and flying north to Atlas, it had taken him an entire day to find their relatively remote hideout. However, now that he had found it, it was quote easy to see. There were no trees, rocks, or any major geographical features to hide behind.

While this did make them very easy to see, the bad news was that it also made Qrow just as easy to see. This was fine if he simply circled above them, but unfortunately, there was not much to notice from this vantage point. His enemy was actually being quite practical and cautious. As he circled, he noticed that very few men stayed outside of the tents for long and there were no weapons, tools, vehicles, or anything else to see outside of the tents aside from a couple of stolen bullheads.

It was no good. He would have to go in for a closer look. He guessed from the beginning that he would have to, especially if he wanted to hear anything that they were saying. He took advantage of the fact that not many people were outside of the tents and headed downward, landing on top of the largest tent. He heard voices emanating from inside and he consequently decided to hop down to the ground and see if he could sneak inside in order to hear better. As cautiously as he could, he poked his beak underneath the flap of the tent, and stuck his head in. He immediately pulled it back out, having poked his head into a very open area of what looked like a decently large planning and meeting room.

Fortunately, he did notice a desk with some drawers in the back left corner of the tent. He hopped over there and was able to sneak underneath and behind the desk with ease. As he hid, he noticed that there were 5 White Fang members huddled around the large map near the desk. Qrow had no idea who 3 of them were, but he assumed that they were fairly important because the other two were a high ranking and startlingly large Lieutenant an Adam Taurus.

"... and we'll be getting more reinforcements from Mystral by tomorrow morning" Qrow heard one of the men say.

"Perfect" replied Adam. "We can add their number to our forces attacking the Schnee compound. Perry, could your unit use more men? What about you, Lieutenant? Your two squads will be leading this attack so we need to make sure they are at full strength."

"I could use about 5 more bodies" replied Perry nonchalantly. "I'm pretty good as is."

"Give the rest to me" added the gravelly voice of the Lieutenant. "The soldiers in my squad are weak. I need more numbers if we're going to storm the front gate."

Adam waited a few moments before answering. "Fine, but Perry gets to choose the 5 that he wants when they arrive. His squad will probably be the one that actually gets into the house because they'll be going through the back, so I want him to have the best of what we have. That will give us the best chance of capturing Schnee."

"I thought we weren't actually going for him" piped up an unfamiliar voice.

"We weren't, idiot. The plan changed when his daughters left" answered another voice.

"It doesn't matter anyway" said Adam, annoyed. If Perry and his squad can actually capture Schnee it's just icing on the cake. My team and I are going after the real target. Without their precious dust factory, the Schnee Company and the entire Atlas military will be crippled and shown to be weak and pathetic. This, coupled with the propaganda were spreading will cause Vacuo and Mystral to rise up against Atlas for their previous transgressions. It's almost too easy" he finished, laughing a small, cold laugh.

"Are you sure you have enough men to destroy the factory, Sir? If I came with you, I'm sure it would be easier" said the Lieutenant.

"No, you're exactly where you need to be. You'll make the attack look much more credible and they'll have to put far more effort into defending the Schnees. Besides. I've got a little secret weapon that will ensure we have no trouble taking the factory."
There was some laughter and grunts of agreement from the men.

"So we're clear then? We move out at 2300 hours tomorrow night. You are all dismissed."

Footsteps began moving toward the door and crow did not waste a second. He jumped out from behind the desk and underneath the tent before Adam could make his way to the desk. He pumped his wings with all of his strength and flew as fast as he could into the freezing wind. He had no time to waste. Knowing them well enough, Ironwood and Schnee would take a lot of convincing to believe this startling discovery.