Ah the big conclusion to the story's second arc. I can say a handful of plot points will be wrapped up. Build up could have been better but hey, too late to complain about that. After a long wait the White Fang make their true entrnace into the story as well as the primary villains, PESTILENCE. Of course before we get to that there's a little matter from last chapter that must be wrapped up. Onto the story!

I do not own anything save the OCs and made-up locations!

Chapter 26: Just That Time of the Year Pt.1

If Jaune's mind wasn't in the middle of what he believed to be a mental breakdown he might have taken note of the fact he'd completely lost his way. He'd never been all that familiar with the entire layout of the amphitheater so that made wondering off a particularly bad idea. He could have just simply gone to the bathroom but he knew better than that. Jaune Arc, wanna-be hero in training caught having a breakdown in the bathroom right after witnessing one of his classmates going toe to toe with a professional Huntsmen? Forget worrying about his secret getting out, the sheer humiliation of seeing his sobbing face splashed over the school paper would be enough to send him running. What he needed was some place far off and quiet where he could quietly curse himself. Not surprisingly the amphitheater despite being such a hotspot of activity had plenty of those.

Jaune glanced around the hallway to make sure he was alone then his back fell against the wall. "Shit! Shit! Shit! Shit! Shit! Shit! Shit!" he yelled into his trembling hands. If the sweat running down his forehead wasn't bad enough he could feel his entire body shaking. No matter what anyone might have told him, Jaune knew how pathetic he looked. "SHIT!" his fist left a small dent in the metallic wall. Maybe he could have taken some proud in that. In his head Chicahua's battle kept looping in his head; it was a little scary how Jaune could perfectly recall almost every move that was made. His classmate had come at Adelhard with serious intent from the start and only half way through did Adelhard return the sentiment. A boy barely a month or two older than him had gone head to head with the Knight of Brightroar and earned his respect.

While everyone crowded around the two fighters once the match ended Jaune felt like his feet had been chained to the ground. He could hear the voices of his ancestors growling in his ears, Why wasn't that you out there? Why weren't you out there showing the school the strength of the Arc family? Are you that much of a coward? In a span three minutes the voices had turned into a mounting chorus that drowned out the noise of the amphitheater, all of it directed solely on Jaune. Try as he might he couldn't keep his eyes from wondering over to Chicahua, eyes filled with envy and even a little hatred. Why isn't that you? Was what all the voice had collectively ended up saying. There wasn't an answer for that so that left Jaune to mule over the self-hatred currently eating its way through his psyche. If he didn't bail out right then and there he could only imagine how disgraceful he would have looked.

At least no one could see him now.

The blond felt a set of hands rest on his shoulders then he could feel something warm being pressed against him. Immediately he knew the scent and feel of the person now holding him.

He'd spoken too soon.

"I-I-I'm sorry you have to see me like this. I-I j-just had to-"

"I know Jaune." Pyrrha finished for him rubbing the back of his head. "Trust me when I tell you I know what you're going through." In the time they'd known each other Pyrrha hadn't revealed much about her past to her partner. What she did tell her was she'd been in his position once. "The trembling, the envy, and the anger, trust me when I tell you it's natural."

Jaune could only thank God he hadn't shed any terrors though that didn't stop him from registering the fact one of his closest friends had just caught him at his lowest point. Sucking up whatever dignity he had left he pushed himself upward nearly knocking Pyrrha to the side. "S-Sorry." He dismally apologized. "I-I shouldn't be feeling like this Pyrrha. I mean I just sort of had a…I don't have any right to feel this way towards Chicahua." His focus remained on the ground as he was too ashamed to look her in the eye, not even when she brought him into another embrace. "He'd probably hate me."

"No he wouldn't Jaune." Pyrrha comforted. "You may not know it but Chicahua is a very understanding person, just another trait people don't see too often."

"How well do you two know each other? I mean the first minute he saw you he was demanding a rematch with you and I think I heard something about you two fighting each other during the Vytal Festival."

It was to Pyrrha's great joy they were finally able to have eye contact again. One of the few things she hated about Jaune was when he went into his little shell. "We don't know each other as well as I like but on a professional level we're pretty familiar with each other." She said with something resembling longing. "You see back in Sanctum he was one of the highest ranks students, one of the best fighters you'd ever seen. You could almost say he was a Faunus version of myself…give or take a few things." Pyrrha explained with a sad chuckle. Recalling the days of their earlier years always seemed to leave something of a bitter taste in her mouth. Now that she had actually social interaction she was able to look back on those days and curse how she missed out on so many opportunities to have at least one actually friend. "He was forced to endure a lot of racism because he didn't hide what he was, he was proud of his Faunus heritage, most of the people around him found it disgusting. I stepped in once or twice but I kept my distance because I saw he could handle things himself. No matter what happened he always kept his head held up high," the Spartan laughed. "He's a strong person in that regard."

"Yeah," Jaune half-heartedly agreed with a pathetic chuckle. "I kind of got that."

Still smiling Pyrrha gently turned Jaune's head so their eyes were locked with each other. "No Jaune, I mean he's a strong person, not a warrior but he's strong as a person. Sir Adelhard is the same way, and so are you." As expected his face fell. Pyrrha was ready for that, "You tracked through an entire Grimm filled forest, you saved Nora, put your life on the line numerous times for the sake of the innocent, and you bare no ill will to any Faunus I've seen yet."

What Jaune wanted to say was Pyrrha's entire speech sounded like something out of a heroic novel, something that should have uplifted his spirits. The Spartan's words had an unintended side effect on the knight, he realized just how cliché this whole thing looked. "Okay, got it Pyrrha. Thanks for the speech."

She hadn't missed the snark hidden in his comment but since he was on his feet she decided she could let it pass. Still, one thing kept nagging at her mind. Maybe if she clarified the differences between Jaune and Chicahua that would help his self-esteem. "Jaune I'm not trying to be rude but it's ludicrous for you to hold yourself up to Chicahua."

Just as Pyrrha had learned, quite easily, how to read Jaune the J of team JNPR had learned to do the same to his apple haired partner. There was an uneasy in Pyrrha's eyes Jaune jumped on. "You know something about him the rest of us don't." he deduced. Gone was the self-pity he'd been in, now there was a curiosity in his eyes he needed to have soothed. Pyrrha knew a great deal more about team IONC than the rest of them and it was getting a little arrogating having her only reveal bits of pieces of information at a time. "What's this thing I'm missing? I know he comes from a warrior family the same way I do but even that's-"

"No Jaune." She quietly but sternly countered shaking her head. "Make no mistake I have great respect for your family but Chicahua's family, his people are…different."

"Is it because they're Faunus?"

"Close to that but Jaune, you have to understand something," gripping his shoulders Jaune realized there was something unreadable in her green eyes. It was nowhere near fear nor was it admiration, he couldn't quite place it. "Families like ours see war as a duty, Chicahua's…they see war as a calling." She could see her words sink into her teammate. Jaune may have been learning slowly but give him a hint and he could go from there. "We Mistral natives used to tell ghost stories about The Texcoco clan, war stories too because at one point we tried to conquer them."

That came as a shock to Jaune. He tried to picture in his head what that would have looked like, a thousand or so Pyrrhas clashing with an army of avian-winged fight-happy maniacs. Admittedly he trembled a little at the image. "I, uh, take it things didn't work out."

Her firm shaking of the head confirmed his words. "Long before the Delta War we of Mistral called them the Phulé tou Polemos Theoús."

"The what?" Jaune blinked. He'd heard Pyrrha's native language several times yet he couldn't understand one lick of it no matter how hard he tried.

"Tribe of War Gods." The redhead clarified with a deadly serious gaze.

Just from that look Jaune knew she wasn't joking around. Seriously? His family's so badass they get a cool moniker like that? He wanted to roll it off but something in Jaune knew that wasn't the case. Having seen Chicahua in battle several times he began to seriously question exactly what kind of environment his Faunus counterpart had grown up in. Based on the scarring over his body it certainly hadn't been a nice one. Wait a second, is it possible Chicahua's family fought in the Faunus War? Is it possible his dad's a veteran like Izaak's? Jaune suddenly felt the desire to know more about the C of team IONC. Was it possible whatever training Chicahua had been put through would work on him? Would Pyrrha allow it?

"Finally found him?" came the voice of the R of their team. Both teenagers turned to see Ren and Nora jogging towards them. The concern on their faces immediately cleared up upon seeing their leader was okay. "You know you picked a bad time to explore the amphitheater right? Some people say ghosts haunt the hallways of this place."

"Oh please Ren, like that matters to Jaune." Nora snorted marching over to Jaune with something behind her back. "Guess what Jaune?" The Valkyrie asked with a shit eating grin. "He signed it! He actually signed it!" In the blink of an eye Nora shoved a grenade up to his noise.

Naturally he had to wait for Nora to rotate the incendiary device around for Jaune to see what had Nora so excited. In black ink was a name and an insignia he recognized. "He's doing autographs?"

"We came partly out of concern and partly because…we thought you would like one." Ren offered with a comforting smile.

"Me? Seriously guys?" The blond huffed standing up straighter. "You guys really thought I'd turn into some kind of instant fanboy just because the knight of knights is sitting around signing autographs for a dozen moon-eyed fans?" Jaune's three teammates waited a good minute before their leader spoke again. "Where?"

"In the infirmary." Ren answered still wearing that same smile.

In a brilliant display of speed Jaune was running down the hallway leaving his friends behind to stare at the fading dust outline he'd left behind. One by one all three exchange smiles with each other then clasped their hands together. For her part Pyrrha had a look of proud on her face as they chased after Jaune.

There were a handful of things Jaune never expected to see in his tenure at Beacon. These were things so bizarre and out of the way they defied all logic he'd reasoned governed the academy. There had been breaks however. He'd seen one of Yang's rampages stopped with his own two eyes as well as the blond boxer beat down by one of his fellow freshmen. What was standing before him left a similar taste of shock in his mouth.

Cardin stared the blond waiting in line after him with his mouth agape. Lord kill me now. He misally moaned nearly dropping the gauntlet pad he had in his hands. The first interaction he had with Jaune Arc and it's with him caught in a total fanboy moment. He could have dropped the armor piece and walked out, but then he would probably lose the only chance to ever talk with Adelhard Von Blau face to face. Could he stomach it?

Jaune found the strength to work his mouth at the last second. "I didn't know you-"

"Shut it Arc." The Winchester snarled. "One word and I'll-"

"You do know at least fifty other people have seen you right?" Jaune shot in which probably wasn't the wisest thing to do. "You like him just like the rest of us, what's wrong with everyone knowing that?" What he wanted to add was doing so might have helped his attempts at mending his reputation though Jaune wasn't about to give his former bully that much help.

Cardin's mouth opened and shut three times before he just stomped his foot in irritation.

"Score one point for Arc and zero for Winchester."

The two teenagers snapped their heads back to see Neil calmly leaning on a sheathed sword with a half-smile half frown on his face. To make matters worse behind him sitting comfortable on a nursery bed was a smiling Adelhard Von Blau. Seeing the man they admired so much they snapped to attention completely forgetting their previous animosity.

"You guys are lucky, the nurses are just about ready to kick everyone out even though both me and Chicahua are finished up." The older man laughed.

One of the nurses marched passed the boys and angrily shut the door. "They could have at least waited until after you were discharged." She snarled shooting a glare in Jaune, Cardin, and Neil's directions.

The set of blue and indigo eyes traced the small room finding not another soul save for Neil, Adelhard, and Chicahua. Instantly the two teenagers began to have something that would have passed for a panic attack. This was not how they picoted their autograph signing going. For Jaune the set of armor pads he had in his hands suddenly felt ten times heavier. Oh how he wished he could have cracked the door open and weaseled out of the room.

Taking a deep breath Cardin marched up to Adelhard and held out his gauntlet. Once he was finished the remaining eyes in the room fell to Jaune.

What the hell is your problem! Jaune screamed at his fleeing courage. How come you're never around when I need you?

"If it helps any of you, you don't have to call me sir or anything." Adelhard offered with a chuckle.

"Yes sir." Cardin and Jaune said at once before snapping to each other.

Seeing the blond and the orange haired teenagers brought back fond memories for Adelhard. He couldn't contain the laughter building in his chest. When it came out all four young knights trained their eyes on him. "I-I'm sorry about that guys, it's just both of you remind me way too much of your parents."

"W-Wait a second, you knew our parents?" Jaune stuttered out clearly surprised.

Cardin sneered at the boy's shocked expression. "Same graduating class Jauney Boy. What your dad never told you he went to school with a legend?"

"If his father is Julian Arc then I'm sure there's a lot of things Jaune was never told." The Knight of Brightroar chuckled. "How's Julian doing these days? When I heard he'd had seven daughters and a single boy I thought he'd finally lost his mind."

"Hey they're Arcs, what can you say?" The mace wielder snorted rolling his eyes.

"He's doing great." Jaune answered giving his rival an aside glare. "He's been busy though as the head of the family, we really don't get the chance to talk all that much."

"I see," his cobalt blue eyes fell on Cardin. "And what about Griffith? Is he doing alright?"

"My old man's fine." Cardin responded keeping his answer short and simple.

Adelhard knew full well Cardin was half-lying through his teeth. The last time he'd spoken to his father was barely over a month ago, and he may have sounded fine but he knew better than that. It both saddened and amazed just how much of Julian Arc and Griffith Winchester he saw in their sons. In Cardin's case it was a little bit painful considering the family history there. From what he could tell Jaune seemed to be the much more carefree of the two, something he noted to be a great contrast to his father.

"So," he started looking between the two boys. "I'm assuming the old Arc-Winchester rivalry is still going strong?"

In near perfect coordination Jaune and Cardin exchanged a look with each other.

"I'm going to go out on a limb and say the Winchesters are winning?"

In a proud display Cardin puffed his chest up while Jaune's head fell. "You both know that can easily change don't you?" The tone of his voice quickly knocked both boys for a loop. They stood at attention just as the two knights of team IONC stepped over to join them, their bodies carrying the same tension as their peers. "Personally I wanted to speak with all four of you because Glynda's told me out of all the knights coming out of this generation you four have some of the highest potential. Don't let that go to your heads." His stone mask didn't break as he saw the glimmer of hope in Jaune's eyes die. The boy's going to need some serious work if he expects to walk down this road. "Your potential doesn't make you anything more or less than any of the others attending this school; it doesn't give you the right to use your power to bully them into being your personal squire." All of Jaune's nervousness seemed to jump from him to the orange-haired mace-wielder standing beside him. All Adelhard needed was one glace to get his point across. "I can imagine you were all very impressed with the things I did out there and deep down you want to be able to do the same, am I right?"

"Definitely." Chicahua vigorously nodded.

"Well I can kind of already whip up tornadoes capable of demolishing a brick building but hey, there's always room for improvement." Neil shrugged.

Cardin bravely nodded his head signifying he wanted to one day be on the same level as him just like the others. Jaune didn't immediately respond and that worried Adelhard a little. Out of the four young knights he was most definitely the odd one out. Unlike Neil, Chicahua, or Cardin he didn't carry himself with a knight's confidence or pride. He knew self-loathing when he saw it. Adelhard had something of an idea what each of the four were like: Chicahua was every bit the steadfast warrior one would expect a knight to be, Neil may have come off as a slacker but Adelhard knew all too well he took his role as a warrior very seriously just as Cardin seemed to, even if he abused the power it brought with it, and Jaune just seemed like he was trying to find his place in the set up. Looking over Neil and Chicahua he realized they were both sparing aside glances at Jaune, silently nudging him to keep his eyes forward. Adelhard smiled a little at that.

There was a quiet bing on his Scroll that caused him to curse. "As much as I'd laugh the chance to talk to the four of you I've got some very pressing matters to get to. I'm sure you can imagine what they are." He said hopping off the bed and beginning towards the door. "Before I leave though there's something I want to ask each of you. What are your creeds?"

Neil's answer came out so fast Adelhard knew he'd more than likely been asked the question before. "Justice."

"Glory." His Faunus teammate responded before casting his orange eyes on the Arc and Winchester.

It took Cardin a full minute to process the question, once he did his face took on a very harden expression. "For justice, same thing as Liath."

Now that he was all alone Jaune felt smaller than ever. He now had another thing he could add to the list of things his fellow knights had he didn't. It wasn't just Jaune didn't have an answer to the senior Hunter's question he didn't even know what the question meant.

Adelhard decided to give him a hint. "Why do you fight? There's got to be a reason for you to subject yourself to this place for four long years. Every knight has a creed they fight for, sometimes even willing to lay down their lives for. Jaune, what's yours?"

Of course, given his luck it had to be that. Jaune was sweating bullets as each second flew by him. His classmates had their eyes on him, Cardin seemed to be doing his best not to grin at his increasing twitching. Think you idiot! Just tell him the truth! The whole reason why you came here! Why you ran away knowing you were probably going to be disowned! Roared Jaune's inner psyche. His breath was short and his words came out in gobbles the others had to strain to interpret. "P-Pr-Pride! My family pride! That's my creed."

There was a pregnant pauses as Adelhard looked at the four boys. What did the future have in store for these kids? All four of them in some way were crystal reflections of either himself or people he knew in his younger days. Justice, glory, and…He couldn't accept Jaune's answer because he knew deep down the blond didn't believe his own answer. The Arc had no idea why he was at Beacon. You've got maybe five months to change that Jaune. "I see, well thank for your time boys and good luck."

The second the Knight of Brightroar was out of the infirmary Jaune fell back on the bed.

"Smooth Arc." Cardin sneered making his way towards the door. "Maybe next time you'll actually be able to hold a conversation and at least make you look like you know what you're doing."

"Maybe you should take your own advice about holding a conversation Cardin." Neil spoke watching Jaune's trembling legs make the transition from solid to liquid and back again. "I mean it's not like you were able to strike up a hour long conversation with the guy. Not even we could do that."

With a snort Cardin left the infirmary leaving the storm knight and Eagle knight alone with the Arc. Jaune lay there oblivious to everything going on around him. He did hear the word fangasm thrown in his direction but he was too star-struck to focus on it. Is that what this is? Man it feels worried. He stared at the armor piece that had just been signed by one of the strongest Huntsmen in all of Vale, maybe Remnant, someone who'd just spoken face to face with him. And of course he'd made himself look like an idiot while doing it. But why? I told him why I'm here so why did he look like he didn't believe me? Isn't my reason just as good as theirs's?

Jaune probably shouldn't have dwelled on what the encounter had meant but he did; throughout the rest of the week and into the next week.

Up until the day he and his team were given their biggest assignment of their freshmen year, and maybe even their one of the most in their entire lives.

It was a partly sunny, partly cloudy day with the cold air drifting over the city in short bursts. There wasn't a chance of rain though the possibility of it raining the day after today hadn't been rolled out. Word was it was going to be a long wet weekend. Some people would have argued that was a sign some kind of divine sign, others would say it was just bad luck.

As big as Vale City was the anniversary of the Faunus Rights Revolution was always something that could cause city life to grind to a near screeching holt. Certain parts of the city had become ghost towns for all intents and purposes. Only a hand full of business operated normally and even then the air inside of them was ripe with tension. It was…unsettling to say the least.

It wasn't like this rapid shift had come out of the blue, no, it had almost a month of build-up. Every week that passed, every day that drew to a close, heralded this day of almost supreme silence and suspense. First were the whispers, then came the riots, and lastly there was Wittenheim. During the month of November there had been an estimated two-hundred and eight-three reported racially motivated crimes in Vale City. Many of the city's sharper residents knew the actually amount was nearly double that. Nearly every other sizable city in the kingdom was either in the same boat or worse, that goes for the other three kingdoms as well, especially Mistral. There was no known corner of Remnant that hadn't felt the coming winds of the revolution's anniversary. Even small Faunus villages far removed from the mass of human civilization had gone into overtime preparing themselves for the storm they knew was coming. More than a number of these villages had also conveniently disappeared almost overnight leaving few if any survivors.

Collectively if the citizens of the Kingdom of Vale could have wished for one thing they would have had this wretched day skipped over. December 10th, the day one of the bloodiest wars in Remnant's history came to an end. No matter who you were or what side you were on this day was always marked on the calendar. For some this was a day of shame, others honor, and for the rest, well, there were too many to count.

Team JNPR weren't sure how they should have felt about this day for none of them had a truly serious stake in the war fought twenty-one years ago. At most what they knew was because of that war they were no running security in the middle of one of the city's most populated gathering places along with over half of the residents of Beacon Academy, waiting for tragedy to strike, and scared out of their minds.

Jaune's entire mental state could be summed up in a few short words, How the hell did I end up here?

On the outside he and his team looked like just another bunch of faces in an ever growing crowd. That was their duty-act natural despite the adrenaline pumping in their veins. To nail home just how hot the situation was Nora was being anything but her hyperactive bubbly safe. Jaune always knew she was fully capable of taking things seriously, taking into account the world around her. There was no mask she could put up this time to belay the fact she felt the weight of this event just as heavily as the rest of them. In her case she couldn't stop twitching; she didn't hear the speeches from government officials and Faunus rights activists, all she was waiting for was the spark. Jaune would be lying if he said he didn't share her anxiety. This may have been the first time he would be happy to see bullets flying all over the place. Somewhere in the back of his head he wondered if the others were feeling the anxiety like his team was.

It was the first time any of them had ever been at one of the famous gatherings at the Aemon Strip. It was something of a requirement for all visitors to come see the thousand year old park stretching across thirty-miles. Everything of the like had been held at Aemon, political speeches, protests, concerts, rallies, and sporting events. In every traveler's guide Aemon Strip was always on the top ten list, be it for the city or the entire kingdom. There were too many reasons to count as for why that was. First of course there was the abundant amount of greenery that grew around the mirror-like reflecting pool referred to simply as 'the Mirror'. Almost every river in the city- for miles outside the city seemed feed into the pool-like lake then out into the ocean. According to ancient records the lake had an almost magical ability to purify itself of whatever contaminant that plagues it. It wasn't until the early 1500s did it become known this was because the lake had a rather large amount of Dust buried beneath the lake bed; a purifying type of Dust that also provided energy for the plant life around the park to continue to grow year round. At the Mirror's south end lay the city's prized House of Arcimboldo, a must see art gallery for any up incoming artist. At the opposite end of the Mirror was a structure the Kingdom of Vale had listed as a natural landmark since its founding.

Whether one stood from twenty miles or forty it made difference, Conley's Circle was impossible to miss. A ring of eight towering marvels of nature and architecture that had stood strong for almost a hundred years. To describe Conley's Torches in a few short words would have been difficult, sure they were overshadowed by many of the city's ever growing skyscrapers but there was something about them that made them more eye-worthy than everything around them. It might have been the twenty meter sized Dust crystals sitting proudly at the top of each torch. Magnificent paintings of the crystals sitting on top of spiraling trees existed in every history book in the world; they were the only accounts of what the Dust crystals looked like when they were still 'natural'. Gone were the millennia year old rock supporting them and in their place were towering steel cradles that constantly blinked and pulsated with ethereal light. Four of the eight torches were much larger than the rest, these "prime torches" formed a perfect cross right on top of the Mirror. From a bird's eye view it was obvious the whole design was intentional; nature was too wild and chaotic to create such an orderly landscape.

A century of Vale's history could be traced back to the speeches given at the foot of the South Prime Torch. If all went according to plan that history would continue.

Jaune was pretty sure he couldn't count high enough to list the number of people that had turned out for the anniversary of the war. He and his team were nothing but dots in an ever growing sea of people; all of them speaking at once creating a gigantic uniformed noise machine. The blond could barely hear his own thoughts in the maelstrom of voices and faces. At his side Pyrrha looked lax on the surface though that belayed the tension building in her gut. She didn't know the exact number but she was sure in the next ten minutes there was going to be an approximate fight-hundred thousand people gathered in Aemon Strip. Not even the entirety of Beacon's residents, including the noncombat related staff, was enough to cover this many people. She'd arrived at that realization a little over two days ago while watching the news with her teammates.

This is impossible. The rational side of her mind dotted. There's too many people and too few of us. If something happens we won't be able to stop it. There'll be a panic, then a stampede, then-

Smack! Smack! Smack!

The Spartan's wide eyes slowly turned to find Nora, standing almost perfectly still save for her lips. There was a bag of candy in her hands.

H-How? J-Just…how? She questioned watching the movements of Nora's jaws like there were the most interesting things in the world. It took one look in her teammate's turquoise eyes for Pyrrha to get the hint-this was Nora's way of dealing with the stress. Calming down a little she remembered Buruan handing out bags of candy just before they all were deployed. As crazy as it was Pyrrha desperately wished she'd done so as well. Odds are Buruan, Ruby, and everyone else have eaten through whatever they brought with them, and to think the ceremony isn't even half way over.

There was a band playing on the stage; Pyrrha couldn't recall their name or what they were singing. Pulling herself back to reality she was able to remember there were to be four bands playing before the speeches came out and four afterwards. In that time-frame too much could happen.

A sweaty hand clasped hers nearly making Pyrrha jump out of her skin. Jaune's face was shocked at first to see the wild fearful look in his partner's emerald eyes. Needless to say it didn't do much to help his own dwindling confidence. He did his best to give her an encouraging smile to tell her things were going to be alright. Despite the half smile she put up Jaune knew he'd failed.

Pyrrha tore her eyes away from Jaune to take a glance at the sky overhead. Over half a dozen airships quietly hummed above the heads of thousands of people. If the word was given they could empty their entire payloads into the crowd and that would be it. When did I become this much of a nervous wreck? It's unbecoming of a Nikos! She chided herself tightening her fist. Unwilling to continue looking her she pushed upward to get a look at the various buildings that overlooked Aemon Strip. "Ruby," she mouthed to herself. I know what I'm saying is selfish but please, if you spot something don't hesitate.

Ruby could have thought of a hundred places she'd rather have been then sitting on top a rooftop with her beloved Crescent Rose trained on an ever growing crowd of eight hundred-thousand people. The whole thing felt way too similar to a number of action thrillers she'd seen. It didn't help that the radio in her ear was constantly abuzz with reports from the forty-eight other snipers positioned around Aemon Strip. The comfort they could have brought her wasn't possible given that each of them were miles apart from each other; their collective attention focused on the speech being given by Councilwoman Olenska. She was thankful she was too far away to hear any of what was actually being said, she felt she wouldn't be able to understand half of it.

For the past three hours her only company had been Sky Lark of team CRDL and she didn't mind that. As surprising as it was the redhead and blue-haired teenager had managed to strike up something of a friendship. He was the only person she knew in the Hitchcock Program that she could talk to, even if his past record wasn't exactly favorable. To her surprise the halberd-wielder was much smarter than he let everyone believe, enough to earn Ruby's respect. She also found out when he wasn't with his teammates he was fairly civil with everyone he met.

"You ate all the Buttercups?" he questioned digging into their almost empty candy bag.

"Sorry." She muttered. "I-I just kept reaching into the bag and-"

"It's okay." Sky calmly replied. "I get it, you're nervous, hell all of us are."

All he had to do was look at the way Crescent Rose was trembling in her hands to tell that. "That obvious huh?"

He gave a short laugh at her statement. "You don't talk much about the war in your house do you?"

"…I never thought the war was this…that it impacted this many people." The reaper quietly answered not wanting to sound like an idiot. While Sky could be nice enough he didn't hesitate to criticize when he saw a glaring example of stupidity. "Everyone kept talking about how big a turn out the anniversary was going to be but I wasn't expecting almost the entire city to be here. I know it's…stupid to say that but I…"

"There's nothing wrong with that Ruby." The other boy answered in a hollow tone. For a fraction of a second the two teenagers held each other's gaze. "You remember everything we learned in class, do you think parents want their kids growing up learning that? Do you think they want them to know they were a part of that?" Out of the corner of her eye Ruby could have sworn she saw Sky's lips twitch and his own hands begin trembling. "All of us, me, Cardin, Russel, and Dove-all of us lost family during the revolution." He began with a deep breath shocking Ruby. "I lost my grandfather, two aunts, and four cousins. My cousins were…reporters just like the rest of my family. They all went to cover the war from up close…they were barely recognizable after the revolutionaries were through with them." There was a hard edge in his tone that manifested in how he gripped his halberd just a little harder. "Do you know how many of those families down there wish they had something left of their loved ones to bury? Do you know how many of them never found out what happened to their sons and daughters?"

If there was anyone who knew history it was Sky, as Ruby discovered getting closer to the boy. Growing up in a family of reporters and broadcasting barons had given Sky the uncanny ability to absorb history like a sponge. Taking a moment to take in just how massive the crowd was along with Sky's words harsh reality hit her in the face. She remembered how an estimated eighty-percent of Remnant's known population had at least one family member active during the Faunus Rights Revolution; she always considered herself lucky her family fell within the twenty percent that didn't. Would she have thought of things differently if she had a personal stake in the war? Would it have hampered her ability to work with Blake? While they studied the war in class Ruby began to recall earlier pieces of her childhood around the war's anniversary. The whole mess never mattered to her; realizing that her sister, father, nor uncle ever brought the subject up. Maybe her dad and uncle had talked about the war behind closed doors but Ruby was always too young and too tuned out to pay much attention to it.

"You know ever since learning about the war I've felt a little…angry with myself." The redhead began just as a cold wind shuddered through the city. "I didn't know how big the war was or how much of an impact it had on people…including Hunters."

Ordinarily Sky would have snapped up that chance to criticize Ruby's childishness but he didn't. On one hand it was because she was one of the few people outside his team he actually liked and the other was because he could understand her carefree persona being shattered. It was never easy having innocence shattered, Russel knew that better than people thought he did. It's better she learns this stuff now. Knowing you Ruby," the media heir mused watching the racists and OSS fanatics push their way to the front as a Faunus spokesman made his way to the podium. You wouldn't be able to handle racism on the job. A hollow feeling clapped over his throat as the crowd began booing and shouting at the avian Faunus. And in this job that can mean the difference between life and death.

Ruby had done her homework on the crowd currently making the most noise at the anniversary. It turned her stomach these were people she'd been told to lay down her life for if push came to shove. That was extremely hard given the fast they'd kill a handful of her closest friends in a heartbeat just because they either had animal ears or wings. From what she understood the Order of Sapiens Supremacy had existed long before the revolution took place. Apparently it was on the list of structures and institutions that predated the Grandis Victorious calendar. She supposed as long racism against Faunus had existed the group had existed in some ancient form. The group had been sizable at best but after the FRR its memberships had practically exploded. Ruby played with Izaak's words from earlier. Watching the mass of hatred through her scope she realized the Viking's words had held a certain amount of truth to them.

Over a hundred thousand voices were screaming their hatred for Faunus right before her eyes. Thirty years ago and the crowd wouldn't have been strong enough to force their way to the front of the gathering. While Faunus may have 'won' the war so had the OSS for in the shadows of humanity's defeat the group had risen to the top of the pyramid.

"Faunus like to think they scored a victory but the reality is they probably just made things worse for themselves."

"Would things have been different if humans had won?" she whispered low enough she thought no one would hear her.

Sky had in fact heard her. "They sure as hell would have."

Since she'd begun learning how to read the emotional state of those around her Ruby had become a little bit more reserved than usual. Given her motor mouth she was lively to confess whatever it was she had deduced which could spell disaster for if not herself than someone beside her. This was one of those cases she knew if she said the wrong thing she could wreck her friendship with Sky. But she had to do it. "Do you wish humans had won the war Sky?"

Sky's body locked up steadying his halberd. His mouth twitched like he was going to answer but then it all came to a stop. He reached into their bag to grab something else to eat.

Ruby knew that was probably the last they were going to be talking to each other for a while.

Oh action for where art thou? As cowardly as it sounded Yang needed an escape from this torture she'd been sentenced to along with her comrades. Waiting sucked ass, the bigger the wait the bigger the outcome. As the crowd continued to grow Yang became aware of a rather disheartening factor of the battle to come. There were too many people to evacuate in time for them to cut loose, specifically she couldn't fight to her full ability with so many in the crossfire. That went for almost everyone present. The brawler wasn't too idealistic about this whole thing; something somewhere was going to go wrong. Odds were it was going to have something to do with the racist pigs making all the noise they could as a hand full of Faunus representatives were giving their speeches. If she could have she'd have knocked the block off of each and every one of them. If not for her sake then for she'd do it for Blake, Buruan, Chicahua, Ndidi, Sun, and Velvet.

She hated how she had almost no one to talk to despite so many of her friends being close enough to touch. For obvious reasons Blake had locked up for most of the ceremony. Her eyes were glued to the podium with a hooked intensity Yang knew better than to shake. She had a feeling Blake's rarely mentioned parents might have been veterans of the war. Just before they left Beacon she cornered Blake and tried to get a confirmation, the end result was less than favorable. Weiss was an almost worse case than Blake as she and Ruby discovered. Weiss was less than beloved by the academy's Faunus population but that morning you could have sworn she'd suggested skinning each and every Faunus in the school alive for all the animosity she was given. It didn't surprise the boxer in the slightest in how her white haired teammate brushed it all off like the wind. Yang knew on the inside Weiss probably was taking into account just how hated she was by Beacon's Faunus population.

Speaking of which she had to wonder what was happening at Schnee Tower. The way she'd seen it was a stroke of luck they hadn't been assigned to guard the Dust company HQ. Doing so had been likened to spending the night in Forever Falls with no weapons or supplies whatsoever. Then again it wasn't like the Schnee Company needed Beacon's students and instructors; they'd gone to the trouble of hiring a hundred or so professional Hunters and Huntresses for protection. According to Weiss no expense had been spared in drawing in one hundred Huntsmen and Huntresses from all across the kingdom to defend just one building. Blake hadn't been happy hearing that, Yang didn't blame her as found the amount rather excessive.

I guess when you have the money to spend better to be safe than sorry. She mused burying her hands in her pockets to keep them from freezing. Of course it just had to be in the upper thirties today, couldn't be warmer. Yang began searching the crowd for one of her other classmates, someone she could talk to and not risk setting off a powder keg. I honestly wonder if they'd noticed if I left. She thought turning to her teammates. To see the two oppositely clad girls standing frozen like statues while fixated on the same thing was a sight Yang doubted she'd ever forget. She made sure not to wonder too far off from her teammates as well as what had been dubbed their sector she searched the crowd. Faunus and humans, all of them pressed so tightly together, this was the only time of the year such a thing was possible. It was also the time all the racists came out of hiding.

Through a literal wall of shuffling bodies she saw Izaak looking back between the current speaker and something in his hands. Immediately she found her legs carrying her towards him without her knowing it. The close she got the more she focused in on the object in his hands, whatever it was she knew it was important to him based on the tender in his eyes.

Before she could reach out or call him he spoke over the crowd, loud enough for Yang to know he was directing his words at her. "Too boring for you?" Whatever the object was in his right hand was out of sight as he shoved it into one of his pockets.

"No," she responded to his question trying to mask the disappointment she felt. He knew I was coming this whole time. What is it you don't want me to see? "How's your team holding up in all this?"

The Viking shrugged his shoulders. "You know, just a day that affected each of us in a different way. For Chicahua his family marked the war as yet another triumph for the clan, even if they had to share some of the glory with half a dozen other nameless clans. Olivia usually spends this day looking back on how the war might have gone differently if better weapons and tactics were used."

"Let me guess, Neil usually spends the day sleeping?"

"No actually, he looks up how many were held accountable for the war crimes committed overseas." Izaak chuckled. "Did you know that an estimated four thousand and six hundred and eighty-nine war crimes were committed during the war? And out of that less than five percent of them were ever tried? Even less than that got a guilty verdict?"

Yang waited a minute before responding. She took one look around them before focusing on Izaak who had turned away from her. "You hate the war don't you?"

"If by hate you mean think it was a big waste of time and resources then yeah." The bronze haired teen answered.

"No Izaak, I mean you hate the war itself. Everything you told Doctor Oobleck in class…most of it was just you hiding how you really felt wasn't it?"

For a second one of his hazel eyes turned sideways to examine her. "My dad never liked talking about it."

"He was an army doctor right? He helped cure the Sheena Virus right? I'd say that makes him a war hero, especially since he saved lives instead of taking them." She offered hoping that would bring a smile to his face.

He gave her a half smile to let her know she appreciated her words. As cold as he may have felt inside Yang's statement brought just a little of the warmth back. "Thanks Yang."

"You know the speaker up there now?"

"Yeah I do, he's Councilman Aldrich Andersen." Izaak spoke with a hint of fondness in his voice.

Yang tried to narrow her eyes to get a better view of the Councilman but she was too far away to make out anything other than his figure. "Damn it this sucks. Councilmen, elites, and all the big shots are up front but we, whose job it is to protect them, can barely see them."

"Well that's why we have snipers like your sister." He joked.

There was a spark of joy in Izaak's eyes as he listened to the councilman make his speech promising a brighter future for humans and Faunus although Yang was only half-listening to that. Slowly but surely she watched Izaak's face light up with every word Councilman Andersen spoke. I've heard him mention the name Andersen before. It had been a few weeks since the two had been able to seat down and have an honest chat, something she sorely missed. Maybe if they had the chance to talk she'd be able to coax more about his father out him. When she learned his father was a big shot doctor she was promptly stunned, more so when she found out he was a veteran of the war. What was it that go to you? PTSD? Too many operating rooms? She could smell the connection between Izaak's unease around hospitals and his father's legacy; it was too strong for her to ignore it. Expect she didn't want to accidentally hurt Izaak or butt into his private life in her search.

Locking her violet eyes on the podium a tiny voice told her to start paying attention. Maybe she'd get a clue listening to whatever was being said.

Sadly she'd picked a lousy time to do that.

The wave rolled through the crowd as a hush before hitting them in full force. Their faces morphed into serious masks as they faced each other. Something was wrong, their sixth senses were screaming at them. A minute later they turned in the direction of the abnormality.

It was impossible to count the number of airships peacefully hovering above the heads of thousands of people. Airships of countless sizes and forms had maintained their positions in the sky, serving as silent sentinels for the unwitting populace. The idea of any one of them going down had been rolled out as simply ludicrous. Sure the White Fang may have had anti-air weapons but employing them would have been impossible with the lock-down in place. No one could get close enough to target them nor could anything of reasonable strength be used to bring them down. If by some fluke that did happen countless radars would pick up the attack, then said attack would have ran straight into the protective energy shields every ship had employed. The supreme might of Atlas's air corps together with Vale's own admirable air forces, nothing short of a Grimm swarm could have challenged such a thing.

Yet plainly before the eyes of hundreds of thousands one of those airships, a rather large one proudly displaying Vale's crest, was tumbling out of the clearing skies with both its engines engulfed in roaring infernos. And more were beginning to follow suit.

The beginning of the end…NOT! Oh man, been almost a month since I put a chapter out and I apologize for it. A real life crisis came up and had to be mostly resolved before I could get my focus back. To be honest it also took some time to gather some information needed for this chapter, specifically some place where thousands of people could be assembled to give a historic speech. Speaking of which expect to see some of what was said next chapter since it was cut out this chapter.

Etymology and Story Info

Aemon Strip- Basically a story version of National Mall in Washington D.C. It took me almost three days of going back and forth before I decided to use it as inspiration. Watching Olympus Has Fallen and White House Down played a part too.

Conley- An Irish Gaelic name meaning 'purifying fire'

Phulé- Greek word for "tribe"

Tou-Greek word for "of"

Polemos-Greek word meaning "war"

Theoús-Greek word for "gods" or "deities"

In closing...RIP Penny, and good luck Ruby, Yang, Ozpin, and company because boy are you guys going to need it!