Before we start with this chapter I thought I should address the guest review from the previous chapter. If you don't have an interest in the explanation of Ironwood's actions last chapter, please skip to the beginning of the chapter, but it might give you an idea of exactly what's going on right now. If you do read the full AN, please give your input on if you think the last part should be what Ruby's forced to deal with now.

In regards to the "how and why" of Ironwood's actions, it's important to remember that he's a glory hound; he personally believes Atlas as the greatest of the four kingdoms and that it has the most advanced and best trained military force in Remnant. This belief was drilled into him during his time training at Atlas and he drilled it into the heads of every student there once he became headmaster.

In his mind, it's Atlas' job to enforce peace throughout Remnant and to remind the other kingdoms of Atlesian military superiority. To him, there's no possible situation that his men can't handle and he's always considered the Rose family unstable and reckless, as many others do. As a result, he's stubbornly against the Rose family and doesn't give any weight to what they say since they're, in his mind, highly undisciplined and refuse to work with others. The fact that Ruby is able to casually pick up information and track down leads that his men couldn't, along with her proving the Mountain Glenn situation could be dealt with more easily by a five-person squad than he expected his entire army to be able to do so, has done nothing but shake his beliefs to the core. It stands as a stark reminder of just how rigid and complacent the Atlesian military has become and how poorly they'd be able to handle a fight with a group like the White Fang in guerrilla warfare.

The result is that Ironwood finds the successes of Ruby and her team to be a threat to the perception of Atlesian military dominance, which, in his mind, means they need to be kept under thumb while he works to reassert Atlesian supremacy. There are four reasons why he convinced the Vale Council to do this. He knows if he's made responsible for the Vytal Festival's security, he can prove that Atlas can still handle the situation. By restricting Team RWBY to taking missions within the city walls, he intends to demoralize the team in hopes that they give up on the search. By forcing them to work under constant surveillance and restricting their movements outside the city to wherever they can convince him to authorize an escort, he hopes to continue demoralizing them and to ensure that they don't interfere or overshadow the Atlesian military any further.

Lastly, by having an Atlesian specialist determine each individual member's mental state, capability, and reliability, he's able to keep them in this situation for as long as he wants until either they agree to back down or do things his way. If they refuse, he'll simply have the specialist say they're unstable and unfit to be a Huntress, something that Ruby is very much aware could happen to her, which is why she was crying in the last chapter.

As for the question of how Ironwood convinced the Council to follow through with this course of action, there's three reasons. The first is that once Ironwood started to become intimidated by Team RWBY's presence, he started watching them carefully for the first mistake they made in an attempt to find something he could blow out of proportions to make at least one member look bad. The Mountain Glenn Incident gave him exactly what he needed, so he contacted the Council before anyone could determine what happened and made certain to plant the seeds of doubt in their mind before the reports reached their desks. Secondly, they did read the reports, which in this case would justify Ironwood's reasoning since they had a member of the Rose family (often viewed as unstable and reckless) claiming that she created a massive crater with a single Burn Dust crystal, on top of almost failing to stop the train according to Ironwood. This makes Team RWBY, especially Ruby herself, look dangerous and possibly unhinged. After all, if Team RWBY and Oobleck are telling the truth, Ruby could cause massive collateral damage if she snapped inside Vale. The third reason for how he got them to support him is probably the most pragmatic; if you had at least five warships hovering over your city and no way to defend against them, you probably wouldn't want to risk angering the person in command too much, would you?

The end result is that the Vale Council didn't have much choice but to accept Ironwood's suggestion and, honestly, if I was trying to be realistic Ruby would probably be under constant surveillance and not allowed to wander around outside her combat class or the Amity Colosseum Arena with Crescent Rose, her knife, or any Dust crystals, with any training having to be approved by either Ironwood or the Vale Council. Even then, Aurelius could find a workaround to let her train without interference or observation. Regardless, please leave a review saying if you think Ruby should have those restrictions on her for the sake of the story or not.

Chapter 25: Introductions and Training

Bastion, Citadel Grounds

The members of Team RWBY looked around in awe as the portal closed behind them. "Y-you mean to tell me this entire thing was built two thousand years ago and it's just sitting in the air east of Beacon right now? It's at least the size of the Amity Colosseum!" Weiss said, waving her arms as she gestured around.

"Actually, the Citadel only covers a small area of Bastion's surface layer and the central region of the entire construction. Overall, the Bastion could hold a population up to twice the size of Vale's without difficulty if need be," a voice said behind them, causing them to turn and jump away from the armored figure behind them.

Aurelius stepped forward, nodding to the figure before turning to face the girls in front of him. "Allow me to introduce you to Janus, the supreme commander of the Draconian constructs." The figure put his fist against his chest, bowing slightly as a group of other Prefects stepped over. Aurelius first pointed to a Prefect with an almost bored posture, a large grin shaped onto the face plate in contrast to its almost bored posture as it casually played with a knife. "This is Loki. While Ironwood was willing to give you some space for the next two or three days, I felt having Loki take our spots in Beacon for the time being would be beneficial in case he decides to change his mind." The Prefect gave a half salute as Aurelius went down the line. "After him we have Artemis, who will be helping with Ruby's training, Odin, and Athena." The remaining three quickly nodded before Ruby spoke up.

"Um, okay, I have two questions… Why is Artemis helping with my training? And why is it Janus is the only one that doesn't have any weapons?"

Janus spoke up. "Adrienne and Aurelius might be training you, but neither of them will be sparring with you. Aurelius is spending his time building up his own speed and strength, while Adrienne is getting her blade redesigned. Artemis is the only one amongst this group besides Loki that has any hope of competing with you should you awake your true potential mid-spar. As for why I don't have a weapon, I don't need one with my abilities."

Weiss sighed. "Is that arrogance or an honest self-assessment?" Janus stared at her momentarily before turning to face Loki, snapping his fingers before the other Prefect fell through a portal in the ground. Once the portal closed, Janus glanced at Weiss, Blake, and Yang.

"Now that the clown is gone, you may explore the Citadel as you wish. We will have a Sentinel escorting you to answer questions or provide assistance in the event you become lost." The three nodded before Aurelius turned to Ruby.

"Now then, I think it's time we got started, don't you, young wolf?" Adrienne grinned while the rest of Team RWBY glanced at their leader nervously. She gave them a reassuring smile before they walked off, leaving the Roses alone with Artemis.

Adrienne sat down with a sigh. "So, Ruby. How much do you know about the Rose family's eyes?"

Ruby blinked. "Um, I know there's something about silver eyes having some kind of power, beyond that…"

Aurelius let out a sigh as he started walking around the clearing. "When humanity was created, the brother gods gave us four gifts: the power of creation, the power of destruction, knowledge, and choice. When the god of light realized that the Grimm his brother had made earlier would one day wipe their combined creation out, he decided to amplify these gifts in a few individuals. Only one survived long enough to learn the truth of these gifts. The gifts of knowledge and creation were combined into a single stone, binding the individual's soul the Remnant for as long as they had the will to continue the fight. The gifts of knowledge and destruction were focused into his eyes, my eyes, to turn us into powerful sages and unparalleled warriors. When we hunt, our prey sees nothing but silver and fears what hides in the shadows. This power is our Vigil."

"When a member of the Rose family first starts to become "Awakened," the first stage of our power, they go into a Rose's Trance, a state where their eyes don't yet glow, but they achieve a tranquility that makes them almost untouchable to many fighters and lesser Grimm. When they become fully Awakened, their eyes start to glow when they enter their Vigil and they regain the ability to interact with others as normal even within a Trance, while being able to make Grimm cower at their presence. The second stage, the "Unrelenting," gains increased endurance and an unbreakable will along with an ability called the "Vengeful Rage," allowing them to petrify even giant Grimm or seriously injure a corrupted Maiden with a glance at the cost of some of their strength. Beyond that is the final stage, the "Enlightened," where a Rose becomes powerful enough that only sheer numbers or a truly powerful Grimm could defeat them if they're in their peak condition. The Enlightened have access to two abilities: the "Silver Tempest," which greatly amplifies the power of the Rose Storm, and the "Reaper's Stare," which allows them to destroy a Grimm with a glance or use the darkness inside a Maiden's heart to destroy her, forcing her power to find a new host or merge with the Rose if they know how to call on it."

Ruby looked on in awe as she heard this. "W-wow…"

Aurelius turned to her with a smile. "Do you remember the fight you had in the Emerald Forest just before you were paired with Weiss?" Ruby thought for a moment before nodding. "I believe you have already slipped into a Trance on at least one occasion, so you are probably close to the first stage of the Vigil's power. We will be spending the next few days trying to get you to the Awakened stage in preparation of the tournament and any incidents that might happen. Meanwhile, I will be instructing you on Dust magic."

Ruby smiled brightly, tail wagging behind her. "This is so cool! When do we start? What are you going to do first?!" Ruby was stopped by Adrienne laughing as she stood up.

"Well, you're eager, aren't you? I'll give you a choice. You can either start training against Artemis, or you can have a practice match with me. No weapons, no Rose Storm, no cloaks."

Ruby grinned before she reached up, removing her cloak before carefully folding it up. "I want to try my luck against you first!" Aurelius laughed quietly as Adrienne stood up.

"That might be the worst mistake ever, pup. I know people that would rather fight against Vulcan than Adrienne, and he's a Templar." Ruby glanced at him in surprise before looking at the Orange Rose sheepishly.

Adrienne spoke up before the Red Rose could say anything. "Nope, you're not getting out of this one, Ruby. Once you challenge an Orange Rose, you don't get to back down until someone loses." Ruby let out a whimper as she got into a fighting stance, waiting to see what her fellow Rose would do. Before the match could start, a breeze pulled out the grass in a ring around them. Aurelius stepped forward.

"The first person to leave the circle loses. If your opponent is on the ground, you have to wait for them to either surrender or stand back up before you may continue the fight. Is this understood?" The two girls nodded. "Then begin."

Ruby and Adrienne circled each other slowly, the Orange Rose's eyes taking on a slight glow. "I'll go easy on you this time, but we still need to see if we can get you to at least the first stage, okay?" Ruby nodded meekly, activating her Analysis before the other girl charged forward, swinging a fist at the wolf's shoulder before she went to sidestep, causing Adrienne to grin as she grabbed the fist going for her stomach. "Nice dodge, but you're going to need to try harder than that!" Ruby let out a yelp as the other girl yanked her off her feet, swinging her into the ground before jumping back.

Ruby got up slowly before Adrienne charged at her, spinning in the air to try and deliver a kick to the side of the Red Rose's head. Ruby took a risk and grabbed on, spinning the girl around before trying to fling her out of the ring. Ruby smiled, thinking she'd won before one of Adrienne's hands touched the ground. The moment this happened, the Orange Rose seemed to split into two copies, one stationary on the ground grabbing onto the other to keep them both in the ring. The two copies glanced at each other with a grin before they stepped back into each other, forming a single copy. "H-how did you…" Ruby whimpered, ears flat against her head.

"It's my secondary Ruby, I can split my body and mind into several instances and fight from multiple angles. I'll let you in on a secret though, any damage one copy of me takes will be applied to any copy it merges with and any time a copy's destroyed or knocked unconscious, it affects me a bit." Ruby nodded quietly, filing the information away for later.

Citadel Spire, With Weiss and Odin

"So, how exactly is it nobody's noticed this place yet?" Weiss asked, glancing down the chasm in the Spire. Odin hummed for a moment before responding.

"Bastion's primary defense, after the Gravity crystals, is a barrier of Shock Dust. With slight adjustments to the barrier's lattice and the climate-control lattices, it's possible to create an artificial storm around it, making it appear to anyone on the outside as nothing more than a collection of storm clouds. So long as the Bastion doesn't remain in one place for too long, nobody would notice its presence."

Weiss nodded before she spoke up. "So, the idea is that since it drifted in from Draconys, nobody would notice anything odd if it just lingered over Vale for a week or two."

"Correct. By taking advantage of an unusual condition of Draconian storms since the fall of Sanctuary, we are able to remain near Vale long enough for the situation to be resolved."

Weiss let out a sigh. "I'm not sure what'll happen to our team when the situation's over…"

Odin glanced at the girl for a moment. "You mean what the general did after Mountain Glenn." When Weiss nodded he let out a sigh. "He might simply have his specialist give you all a clean bill of health to return to your normal responsibilities, or he might try to blackmail you into cooperating with him to continue being Huntresses."

Weiss turned to look at the Prefect. "Y-you don't think he'd have us kicked out of Beacon, do you?"

Odin hummed. "The exact situation is uncertain. Hopefully it wouldn't come to it, but if it did, I doubt Aurelius would take it very well, which might be enough to make the general hesitant to do anything… If he had any common sense. Which reminds me, have any of you been informed of the specifics of the restrictions and surveillance?"

Weiss shook her head. "Not really, no…" Weiss let out a frustrated sigh as she wandered through the tower. "I guess we'll just have to wait and see…"

Bastion Core, Central Arboretum with Yang, Blake, and Athena

"Wow, this place is amazing!" Yang said before she dropped to the ground under the artificial sun overhead, letting out a sigh.

Blake looked around at the buildings around the edge, carefully meshing the exterior look of the massive chamber with the interior structures that surrounded it to make the transition look somewhat realistic. "What is this place?"

Athena hummed. "We're in the Core region's Central Arboretum, encircling the Core Region of the Citadel Spire and located under the parks near the heart of the Surface Region. It's designed to always mimic the exact time of day outside and even simulate weather when need be, regardless of the weather outside."

Yang threw her hands up in the air. "Awesome! So we can have a picnic down here in the middle of winter!"

Blake glanced at the Prefect next to her. "So there's others like this?"

Athena nodded. "There's a smaller arboretum located in every district, an Upper and Lower Arboretum above and below us, and a number of residences, particularly the Rose family's dwellings in the Rose Quarter, have smaller, private arboretums."

Blake sighed. "And here I thought the Roses didn't care about luxuries like private parks."

"I wouldn't be that harsh on them," Yang said as she sat up. "We used to have a small garden at home when Summer was alive. She liked growing flowers and other plants when she had the time and Ruby was pretty passionate about taking care of it while she was away and after she died, up until this incident with a snake. My dad freaked out and had the garden removed. It took Ruby almost a year to forgive him for that. I think that the Roses just enjoy having a small garden to help them relax and unwind, so it might just be a cultural thing with their family."

Athena nodded. "Back when the arboretums were being built, a few members of the Rose family spent decades breeding plants that could flourish in them and grow quickly enough that the interior gardens would be lush and beautiful by the time Bastion was inhabited."

"Well, I mean you can't argue with the results, right Blake? There's even a small lake in here!" Blake let out a sigh before she went to lay down next to her partner, closing her eyes. "Aw, are you going to have a cat nap now?" Blake glared at Yang for a moment before rolling her eyes.

"Just shut up and let me relax…"

Citadel Grounds, with the Roses and Athena

Ruby let out a frustrated sigh as she ducked under another punch from Adrienne before she received a knee to the gut. She let out a whimper before dropping to her knees, arms wrapped around her stomach. She took a deep breath to calm herself before standing up, vaguely aware of how everything looked brighter and sounded clearer as Adrienne smirked. The Orange Rose made one last charge, throwing her fist at Ruby's face as the girl spun to the side, eyes shining slightly. Before Adrienne could recover, the wolf faunus grabbed her wrist and yanked her off her feet, flinging her out of the circle. Ruby blinked in confusion, her eyes returning to normal. "W-what just happened?"

Adrienne grinned as she stood up, her eyes no longer glowing. "Wow, you weren't kidding Grandpa Auri, she'd probably awaken the powers of the Vigil within a week without any help."

Ruby went wide-eyed. "W-wait, you mean I did it?!" Adrienne nodded, causing the wolf to squeal before she tackled the other girl in a hug. "Yes! This is great, thank you so much Adrienne!"

"Don't thank her yet Ruby," Aurelius said, walking up to the two. "Being able to awaken it isn't the same as being able to enter the Vigil at will. We'll still have to focus on teaching you that, but now that you've done it once, it will speed up the process." Ruby nodded before she fell backwards, letting out a tired sigh. Sure, she hurt everywhere from the fight, but she was making progress.

This chapter's done. Considering how much of a difference the question in the AN at the start of the chapter will make on the writing for the next few chapters, I think it'd be a good idea if I gave people a few days to respond. The next chapter will be out in about three days, unless I get too excited to wait and continue earlier or people really want me to keep going sooner. I'm getting to the fun parts, so I'm not really looking forward to a break just yet anyways. Leave a review saying how you feel about the situation.

Also, as the comment Yang made in this chapter might suggest, Tai's obsession with his daughters' safety, particularly Ruby's, has caused a bit of tension between the two in the past. As things become more serious, Tai's probably going to have issues seeing Ruby as a Huntress and warrior that's chosen to put her life on the line to stop Salem instead of as the little girl he thinks she is, which is most likely going to make things tense between them as Ruby starts to connect with Qrow as father and daughter.