Hey guys, here is the next update of this fanfic.

Hope you have enjoyed the read so far.

Chapter Twenty-Five

Beacon looked the same as always, Nebula recalled as she was riding through the Gate of the old Fort at the base of the Gate. It had been many years since she herself had walked through these very gates wanting to join the old Order to make something out of her life. The Captain of the White Peaks glanced around herself as she was approaching the Fort finding many tents of the soldiers of the North, their flags dancing within the cold wind that was blowing from the Frozen North. She had caught sight of the golden horse of House Stallion, the Twin Forts of House Port.

The young woman had ridden from the White Peaks at the Lord Commander's summons. It also means that there was a plan underway to do something against the Faunus of the Frozen North. Thinking back to those made her remember how they have attacked her Fort in the dead of the nights and the many Huntsman and Huntresses that she had to bury on that following morning because of how unaware they were about the attack.

They had managed to push them back, of course and as she had promised, she had sent the words to the other Forts and had sent men to hunt the Faunus down throughout the trees, so that they could find exactly where they have been coming from. Nebula had left before she could read the reports of their finding but Octavia will definitely send a raven her way if they had any new information at least, if she was able to get some from her torture of the Bat Faunus they've caught.

Their arrival into the courtyard of Beacon had drawn some attention, Nebula noticed but she barely paid any attention toward them as she descended from her horse with the men that had come along with her. The young woman glanced around herself taking in the place around her for a few moments before catching a familiar figure approaching her.

Glynda Goodwitch had never looked like someone who could crack a smile given her severe expression. Nebula was always under the impression that she was always in a foul mood about something, however the expression upon the Hand of the Lord Commander's face was somber. The piercing eyes stared at her as they approached and Nebula was quick to give the woman a salute.

"Lady Hand,"

"Captain," she said, "Words have reached us of an attack against White Peak. The raven you sent spoke of the Faunus of the Frozen North on this side of the Chains."

Nebula lowered her hand from the salute as the stable boys took the horse from her. She went to walk with Glynda across the courtyard with a light frown upon her features. The attack still weighted heavily within her mind having lost a dear friend to the Faunus that night.

"Aye I did," she answered, "We've managed to push them back and from the bodies I have seen, and the clothing they have, they have come from the Frozen North. There isn't a doubt in my mind about that, however, what puzzle me is how they've managed to cross the Chains. I have soldiers scouring after them before I left and if there is word, Octavia will send a raven."

"Then they didn't try to brave the Chains then," Glynda said.

"No, they did not," Nebula answered, "I doubt they would have gotten us by surprise if they had. White Peak had stood guard there for years. There is no way that the Faunus could have gotten past us. I saw the army as I was riding in, did the negotiation with the Nikos gone as planned?"

"They went as expected," Glynda answered, "From what the Lord Commander says the North will not allow the Faunus into their lands. They still remember all too well their brutality from the war. House Port and House Stallion has come to give us support for the upcoming battle that will come here at the Gate."

The two had reached the building where Ozpin's office was located.

"The other Captains are here already?" Nebula asked.

"We're still waiting for Gyb to arrive," Glynda answered, "But the rest are already here…however, you still need to report to Oz about what is going on along with the lords."

"Not looking forward to see these guys again," Nebula said.

They've reached the door of the room and it opened. The meeting room was quite modest compared to the rest of the place with a large table in the middle of the room and a fire burning in the earth of the wall on their left. Nebula's gaze went through the people that were already seating down within the room. They were only four people within the room, without counting the Lord Commander, herself and Glynda. At their entrance, many eyes turned toward them as they entered.

"You've arrived," the Lord Commander said looking at her, his silver white hair seemingly glowing from the light coming from the window beside him.

"Lord Commander," Nebula said with a light bow of her head.

Nebula entered the room taking in the people that were there. They were two people within the room that were not of the Hunt. One of them was dressed in red leather with a fur coat upon his shoulder. He was a little round in the middle but his frame was quite powerful with an impressive pair of moustaches upon his face. The other was much younger than him and she can see the resemblance to Raze immediately.

Must be his brother, she thought as she took a seat at the table.

"This is Lord Peter Port," Ozpin spoke out indicating the portly looking man, "And this is Lord Stallion," he indicated the younger looking man.

"My lords," she said, greeting them with the respect a lord deserves.

"my lady," Port greeted with a light nod.

Roy didn't say anything but he nodded at her greeting.

"I have brought her up to speed with our situation so far," Glynda announced as she took her place on Ozpin's right, "But Qrow…you said that you had new information from your Scouting."

Nebula noticed the man in the corner of the room. He wasn't seating in his normal chair and for once since she had ever seen him, the man didn't seem to be drunk at all. He was alert and focused, his dark hair falling in front of his face as his eyes which were a dark red seems to flash with some unknown emotions. If Nebula didn't know any better, she would have though, that the man was…frightened somehow.

"Things have changed," the man said, "I saw what the Faunus were afraid of. I still feel the chill down my back just thinking about it. The Grimm are just pawn in this war, not even the real threat."

"What do you mean?" Lord Stallion asked, "I thought the Grimm were the largest threat we have to face."

"And I'm telling you they're not," Qrow answered giving him a look almost glaring at the lord, "There is something else out there in the Frozen North. An enemy that wear the face of man."

He proceeded to tell them his tale of what he had seen in the North. That he saw a figure as pale as death riding upon a Grimm through the woods of the forest around Silas Fort. Nebula can feel the chill upon her back as he described it. Shaped as a woman but it was anything but, eyes as black as the night itself and wore similarly colored armor. The strange…pale woman who rode on a Grimm caused the air around her to still and the world to chill by just being there. She was like something out of a nightmare of a dream, something that shouldn't exist and yet…she was.

"…the thing that is most frightening," Qrow continued, "Is that I knew her face…I recognized it."

"You do?"

"Aye," Qrow said looking at them, "She was a Huntress, stationed at Forn. We knew the Two Forts were abandoned without a trace. I guess the mystery is finally solved as to what happened to the five hundred Huntsmen and Huntresses that were there."

A chilling silence settled within the room as Nebula noticed the ashen looks upon Ozpin's face as well as Glynda. Lord Port looked similarly shocked and Lord Stallion for the first time since she had arrived, found surprise etched upon his features. Ozpin had his hand at his hair as he let out a weary sigh.

"This situation worsens the more news I hear about it," he said.

"Just what could have happened to the Huntsmen that were out there?" Nebula asked, "Surely the Grimm couldn't have done something like this."

"We know too little to make a safe assumption of what had happened out there," Glynda spoke out, "But if what Qrow say is true, then somehow…the enemy had turned our own men against us. The Grimm are things of nightmare that most stories about them are thought to be myths. Most of what I've uncovered in the old archives were passing mentions of them…nothing concrete."

"What of the Faunus?" Lord Stallion asked.

Qrow glanced at him.

"They'll be here soon enough," he said, "Given their first reaction to what happened the first time, they won't be staying in Silas no longer. Winter has ended weeks ago. They know the Frozen North better than anyone, they'll be here in a month or less."

"Then we will do our duty and stop them from advancing further into the Frozen North," Lord Stallion said.

Nebula glanced at him.

"And if the Grimm shows up when we're too busy fighting against each other?" she asked, "If they're already as far as Silas, what's stopping them from coming here at the Gate? I know it won't be the first time for they did come this close the previous year when they killed a Huntsman right at our doorstep."

"The Grimm have not shown any interest of coming here," Port said, "Surely that will give us some time to finish the preparations we have started to make here."

"But the Grimm had never revealed what they've done to our men," Ozpin said, "We can't use the actions of the past to predict how they'll react now. If the Grimm have indeed so many strange abilities as their disposal, we must also prepare for the possibilities of facing them here as well."

He inclined his head toward Nebula.

"My Captain already brought up a good point as well," he said, "If there is a battle here and the Grimm showed up while it is happening, who will we side with? Will we allow the Faunus to die or will we allow them through?"

"You wouldn't," Lord Stallion said looking at him, "That will be treason against the Lord Paramount of the North."

Ozpin raised his hand.

"I'm simply giving an example of what could happen," he said, "The Hunt's duty is to first and foremost, battle against the Grimm. Given these recent events and what Qrow had told us, maybe revising the Lord Paramount refusal of the Faunus's entrance into the North wouldn't be inappropriate given the circumstance."

"Lord Nikos won't change his mind Ozpin," Lord Port said, "You know that better than anyone how much of a stubborn man he is. The order he gave us was to help the Hunt in this upcoming battle and that's what we're going to do. Now if you'll excuse me, I need to go and…help my men."

With that final say, Lord Port gave him a bow of recognition before walking out leaving the room behind. Nebula leaned back into her chair.

This is a disaster, she thought.

"The bastard had tried to help them," Lord Stallion said after a while drawing their gaze toward him, "And they've killed her. Shouldn't that be enough to tell you that they're beyond help. Allowing the Faunus to die out there might be a small mercy compared to what's coming if your man is to be believed."

The young lord stood up from his seat and it was then Nebula noticed that one of his arms was a stump. The man looked at them all for a few moments before speaking again.

"I will leave you to speak to your Captains of your plans," he said, "Unless you have information you'd like to share?"

Nebula only shook her head and when there were no more talks, Lord Stallion turned around and walked out of the room as well. Ozpin was leaning back against his chair with his hand upon his chin, a thoughtful look upon his features.

"Well Oz," Qrow said looking at the man, "You're always a man with a plan. What do we do next?"

Ozpin stayed quiet for a long while. The man looked thoughtful as he sat there before his eyes rose up to meet them.

"We prepare Beacon for war," he said simply.

Nebula let out a sigh.

"Then the battle will come here," she said.

"Nebula," Ozpin said drawing her gaze, "You and Qrow work together on bringing Beacon up to speed with what's going on…."

He was interrupted by the arrival of a man at the entrance. The Huntsman stood there looking at them.

"Pardon the interruption Lord Commander," he said, "But there is a boy at the gate that is asking for you."

Ozpin narrowed his eyes.

"A boy?" he asked.

"Aye," the Huntsman said, "He calls himself Oscar…says he is your son."

A look crossed Ozpin's face at the boy's name. It was like disbelief had crossed his features at the revelation of what had just happened. Nebula was surprised and from how Glynda and Qrow reacted at the revelation they were in the dark about it as well.

"Your son?" Qrow repeated glancing at him, surprised.

"What in Goddess's name is he doing here," Ozpin muttered before standing up, "I'll go and take care of it."

The man walked out of the room all the while muttering to himself as he left. Nebula stayed seated where she was for a moment before looking at the other two that were with her.

"Did either of you know he had a son?" she asked.

"I did," Qrow told her, "Been a while since I've last seen Oscar. DIdn't seen him since some months after the War in the North…must be a young man by now…"

Nebula glanced at the area that the Lord Commander had left the room before turning to face the two in front of her.

"There is something that is puzzling to me," she said, "Lord Stallion mentioned a bastard earlier…what was that about?"

"Weiss vouched to allow the Faunus passage through the Gate," Glynda said, "But she had been killed by the very people that she tried to help."

Nebula remember the white-haired girl from back then. Raze's friend when they came to White Peak some months ago. She also remembers the large white direwolf that followed the girl everywhere during the few days of their stay at White Peak. And now, the girl was dead trying to help the Faunus that ended her life.

"Then we honor her by making all of those damn animals pay," she said.

The animals of the Frozen North have taken someone else that she liked. They've taken Dew, a long-time friend to her a few nights ago and now they've taken Weiss, a young woman who survived against the Grimm along with Raze and she found she had liked the girl's spirit.

Nebula will make sure that she pays them all back…especially that redhead Bull Faunus who killed Dew.

Hope you have enjoyed that bit.

Jacques0 out.

R&R