Author's Note: I... know that last chapter was a great departure from the lighthearted tone that this story mostly had. It may be a bit before we get back..., if ever.

Read the Author's Note at the end.

Please enjoy the new chapter!

Disclaimer: RWBY is the property of Monty Oum and Rooster Teeth. I do not claim ownership of anything pertaining to RWBY or any related properties. Any other references to non-related things are also not owned by me. This is a nonprofit fan work.

Rated T for: Language, suggestive themes, and the ever-complicating web of lore that I've written myself into fulfilling.

Original Post Date: 6/11/14


"W-What do you mean when you say that..., that...!"

"Exactly what I meant, Miss Schnee. Your father is targeting Ruby Rose, for an as of yet unknown reason."

Weiss had stood there staring at the Headmaster, her face frozen in disbelief; she did not know what to make of the bombshell that had been dropped on her, nor did she want to believe it... Headmaster Ozpin just stood there with his back to the front door, in front of three members of RWBY, the whole of Team JNPR, and the odd hangers-on of Velvet and Sun. Everyone besides Team JNPR had looks of shock, realizing the severity of such a statement.

"S-Sir..., there has to be some sort of mistake! My father would never—!"

"Again, I do not know of the reason why he is here," Ozpin shut his eyes, exhaling through his nose when he opened them up again, a steeled gaze upon his audience, "I can only guess..., but I know enough about the man to realize that he is a danger to my students, and I will not ask for your permission on the matter."

Ozpin's words rang in Weiss' head as she sailed through the air with the help of some well-placed glyphs. The Schnee heiress found it difficult to breathe as she recalled the encounter with Ozpin, not just out of the harsh weather bearing down on her, but that she had been utterly floored in hearing what the man had to say...

"I can sense that you are worried about Ruby, otherwise you would have been quicker to defend him..., but the fact remains that as Headmaster, I cannot let his actions slide. As much as I'd rather not involve the lot of you, your assistance or at least support would be welcome."

She wasn't sure what to do at that point; perhaps she was still scared of what her father was capable of, that he thought little of her as his daughter and more an asset.

Weiss was no idiot, she knew what he was capable of, and anyone who was pro-Faunus would at least hear of his infamous prejudice. In a different time, she would have thought nothing of the skeletons hidden in her father's closet. As reprehensible as his acts were, she still held the belief that she owed her father for her then-current life as the heiress of the Schnee Dust Company and nothing more, that his designs for her to take the helm one day were paramount to everything else... Regardless, she had been rebellious towards the process, never forgetting to voice her harsh opinion at suitors, business partners, and other high-society denizens alike. How she eventually convinced her father that training at Beacon to become a Huntress was nothing short of a miracle, and perhaps it was.

What had her father done for her that made her happy?

'I remember the days we used to have, all joyous and always a reason to celebrate...' As Weiss stood there before everyone, she had lost herself in her own thoughts about her family life and how it started to go so wrong... She paid no attention to the slowly rallying cries of support clearly led by one Yang Xiao Long, drowning out everyone's voices with her inner words. 'It has been a long time since I've seen my father smile alongside my mother...'

"Yo Weiss, are you going to sleep there? You're slowing down."

"Huh?"

Yang couldn't help but be concerned for her teammate. Weiss had been so distracted with herself that she didn't notice her deceleration as well as dropping slowly in altitude. She soon righted herself and pressed forward.

"You need a break you got one, this isn't your ordinary Christmas flurry. Just remember the mission, Princess..."

"Right. Thanks, Yang."

Weiss picked up her slack, but decided to fly lower to the ground. As much as she didn't want to publicly admit it, the moniker "Ice Princess" was very untrue when it came to Weiss and the snow. She needed to warm up as much as the next person, and the only respite she had from the weather was her burning blonde teammate, situated just below her on the ground as she tore away at any snow with her Aura and kept up with the airborne Weiss.

"I'm gonna kill him, Weiss," Yang said with an elevated voice over the snow, coated with murderous intent.

"What are you talking about, Ya—" The white-haired girl's eyes creaked a little more open. "L-Let's not get too hasty, there is no need to—"

"Your dad is a scumbag." interrupted the fiery blonde. Weiss could feel the heat Yang was emanating from her words alone, intensifying as she went on about her father... "I may not know much about him, but the moment he decided to zero in Ruby was the point in time I've decided to show him the business end of my fists! That's what he understands, right? Business?"

Yang cracked a grin at her play on words then quickly changed back to a determined scowl, a sign of her concentrating solely at the task on hand. Weiss, on the other hand, continued to look uncertain as the two of them searched for any signal disruptions on Beacon's grounds.

Beacon was large in terms of total area, but most of the buildings were kept closely clustered around one another, which made the snow a bit of a non-issue in terms of visibility being necessary, but it still presented a health risk should anyone stay out there too long...

"Well, no big deal. The Princess and I should be perfectly fine out here!' Yang turned a corner through the gap between a couple of buildings, Weiss not far behind. 'Still, I couldn't have been more relieved for everyone volunteering to help find Ruby! I'm pleased as punch! Definitely something I'm gonna do to that bastard for all he's done! Even if Weiss ain't gonna be much help...' A quick glance upward and she could see the conflict in the Schnee heiress's face. 'Huh. At least I got plenty of help!'


A few minutes earlier...

"Yeah, I'll do it! No one messes with my Rubles except me," Yang exclaimed, heeding the call put out by her headmaster with no hesitation. "Anyone imposing on my sister's innocence will get their Christmas lights knocked out!" As she pumped her fist in the air, murmurs of agreement came out of the mouths of everyone present, save for Ozpin himself and a reluctant Weiss.

"I agree wholeheartedly." Blake stepped out from the gathering to stand by her partner's side, it was her who had spoken up and now all eyes were on her. "There's no doubt in my mind that the man, Weiss'... father, has nothing good in store for her, and he needs to be stopped."

As Weiss flinched at the mention of her father, the headmaster glanced in the Faunus girl's direction, quickly taking note of a smoldering tone of yellow flickering in and out of Blake's gaze. "You sound very sure of this, Miss Belladonna," he said without skipping a beat, "I expected Miss Xiao Long to come aboard solely on the fact that Ruby is her sister. What stake do you have in all this?"

Blake kept silent as she continued to stare at the headmaster. He was no fool, and she clearly said too much, apparently. Only her teammates knew of her being a Faunus, as well as Sun and maybe Velvet. The girl was uncanny, to say the least. Above all, no one knew of her past involvement with the White Fang. For regular Faunus, they had a reason to gripe when it came to the Schnee Dust Company's practices towards them but only those in the White Fang had a lot less restraint when it came to the name "Schnee", professing an open hatred to all who went by the name.

She knew better than that. Blake had done her best to estrange herself from that life, from that hatred and all of the pain. She was grateful to get to know her current friends..., and Yang, wherever the two of them stood. Even if she wouldn't convince him, she made her decision clear in front of everyone.

"My teamma— Ruby's in trouble, my leader needs me. No matter what is asked of me, I'll worry about her first. She's a friend, after all." 'Even if the man is practically the worst enemy of all Faunus..., I'm not going to lose myself in front of him, for my friends' sake.'

Yang and a few others were in agreement with her, though Ozpin remained steadfast. Blake still hated Mr. Schnee's guts, but she made herself promise to not pass the judgment that many of her kind would wish upon him. That still drew the question of what anyone else would do if he said anything about the subject of Faunus rights that would incite anger, especially from her partner, Yang.

Of course, this left the headmaster himself, his look of subtle scrutiny unchanged as he and Blake continued to stare off...

"It is very admirable of you to have volunteered as such, Miss Belladonna." Ozpin smiled, satisfied with her answer, or perhaps he never had reason to worry, it was difficult to tell. "I'm counting on you to be on the lookout for anything out of the ordinary, all right?"

Blake kept her best smile on. 'Yeah, I can't tell if he knows more about me than I thought. Oh well, it's not like I wasn't going to look for Ruby to begin with.'

With a nod, Blake guaranteed her help.

"Well then," started Ozpin, coffee now back in his hand, "seeing as at least a few of Ruby's teammates have agreed, I shall be off. Professor Goodwitch has been hard at work trying to pinpoint where she might be, and time is of the essence." With that, he turned back around to face the door, giving the confused Weiss a quick glance as he did. Please be careful as you make your way back to the dorms, everyone."

"S-Sir...! Wait a minute!"

Ozpin stopped, turning his upper body as he looked upon the person who bid him to stop.

"Mister Arc, how may I help you?"

Sure enough, the leader of JNPR held a shaky hand up, waiting to be called, and now all eyes were on him. "Um..., hello everyone... I-I'm not very confident with everyone looking right at me...!"

His partner, Pyrrha, had concern in her voice as she said to him, "Jaune, is everything all right? You sound a little shaky..."

"Th-That's all right, thank you, Pyrrha." Jaune regained his composure, taking a few breaths as he finally addressed Headmaster Ozpin. "H-Headmaster...," he began nervously, "I think it's safe to say that the majority of us... have no flipping clue of what's going on. But..." He then clenched his fists by his sides. "I may be talking reckless, but I don't want to stand in the sidelines while one of my friends is being hunted!"

"An excellent point, Mister Arc," responded Ozpin, "and one I would have enlightened on, had I any more details. As it stands, the extraction of Miss Ruby Rose should be the top priority. Although..."

He trailed off, taking a long sip from his coffee as his analytic mind kicked into overdrive.

'For all the danger he poses, he and I are both aware that should he overstep too large a boundary and critically injure anyone on campus, there is no escaping the procession that would follow. Even he is not immune from the law...'

"I believe that the harsh weather is actually a saving grace, as no one should stay out there for long if they wish to remain well, and Miss Rose is smart enough to never leave shelter. All we need to do is find them."

"S-Sir?" This time it was Velvet who spoke up, her ears standing to attention. "If I may interject, just... How do we even know if Ruby is in any danger? How is it you know of what the man is capable of?"

The headmaster sighed, expecting that query to pop up sooner or later. With his mouth straightened and a quieted sigh, he responded, "There are some things in this world that most people have the luxury of being ignorant towards. The world where he and I come from is much more brutal and cutthroat than most of you can imagine." He took a sip of coffee to calm down, finishing the liquid off. "None of you will able to avoid it like most civilians do, so long as you remain on the path to becoming a Hunter..."

Ozpin's unexpectedly chilling words brought everyone to a standstill, seemingly unable to process his warning.

He continued, "I would rather not have to explain myself, Miss Scarlatina, though you are perfectly within your grounds to refuse. You will not be penalized for doing so."

"No thank you, I'd rather do the other thing."

...

"What?"

Velvet bent her neck so one could hear her bones pop, stretching her arms out in front of her in preparation... "You know, Sir, the other thing! Searching, beating up, saving the day... Ruby is my friend too, and I want to help her, same as her sister, Blake, and Jaune!"

Although her actions started to psych the others up in spirit, Ozpin was visually disturbed by the display, not expecting the rabbit Faunus to be so upfront and confident about her abilities.

"Yes, well, I am glad to hear that... you have chosen to help, Miss Scarlatina..."

"Please put in a good word to my team," she excitedly replied, "especially with whoever the one with glasses was! I can't believe I get to finally have some more friends!" Velvet then did a dainty hop, throwing her hands in the air in celebration of the wonderous reveal.

"That's... great for you. I was never in charge of that..."

"Ahem..."

Pyrrha had cleared her throat, now taking the floor before things got a little off-track.

"I'm sorry to interrupt, but I do believe that we are all worried about Ruby, and that we are wasting time just talking away?" She ended her sentence with a questioning tone, a little unsure if she was speaking out of line. Thankfully for her, the headmaster nodded in agreement.

"I agree, Miss Nikos. I should just give you all the mission parameters and be done with it." On cue, Ozpin held up his Scroll and pushed a button on its HUD, making it display a three-dimensional image of Beacon's grounds.

"Now then, the snowstorm that is currently underway is a topic of concern. Do not push your health, if you feel uncomfortably cold, make haste toward any building nearby. I shall have Miss Goodwitch ready your Scrolls to open the locks in place."

"Uh, excuse me?"

This time it was Sun who called out, crouched down and resting an elbow on his leg as he felt a little bored.

"Not to be a downer or anything, buuuut, I don't have a Scroll."

"No matter," Ozpin said in quick succession, "for the time being, you shall be in a group with people who do. I shall place you, for the time being, with Jaune Arc and Pyrrha Nikos. Thank you for your cooperation."

Sun nodded. He glanced over to the two, who as it turned out, also did the same. He looked neutral at the prospect of working with the fledgling knight, until his eyes panned over to Pyrrha...

"Whoa... Glad to make your acquaintance, my Grecian goddess...!" In no time at all, Sun zipped over to the redhead, lifting up her palm in his hand and planted a ki—

Pyrrha withdrew her hand before his lips made contact, looking more confused than anything. "What's 'Grecian', if I may ask?"

The monkey man let his arms drop listlessly by his sides, spurned. "N-Never mind, nice to meet you..."

"Burrrrned~!" Nora loudly voiced her verdict, making a laughing and pointing gesture over at Sun. "Anyway, are you just gonna ig-Nora us? I wanna save Ruby, so she won't be dead when I give her my gift!" Yang guffawed at the cheap pun, while Weiss winced over away from the crowd. Nora wouldn't stay jubilant for long, however, as her smile fell dramatically into a worried frown. "I-I don't want her to be hurt, y'know...? Who's going to to share her donut holes if she's dead?"

A hand was then placed over her left shoulder, belonging to her partner and best friend, Ren.

"Don't write her off just yet, Nora," he said somewhat plainly, "it'd be crazy to think so, although given how this day went... Well, I'd have to be the crazy one to leave her behind."

"Well put, Mister Ren. That... kind of sounds weird, the way everyone, including myself, refers to you by your surname..." Ozpin shook his head. "Oh well, not an issue. Welcome aboard, now down to business." He extended a hand over to the map diagram, pointing as to where the teams should go. "Jaune, Pyrrha, and Sun shall head off to the shuttle area and search for Ruby there. Ren, Nora, and Velvet will search the campus area."

The bouncy Nora bounced over to the other girl, happy to see her. "I can tell we'll be the best of friends," she exclaimed as she rubbed elbows with her.

Velvet wasn't as sure as her temporary teammate, though. "W-We don't know that. Please don't get so clos— Eeep!" She narrowly ducked and avoided a hug from the hammer-wielder.

"Please, girls, calm down..." Ozpin returned to his briefing. "Finally, Weiss, Yang, and Blake will survey the outer buildings. Keep in mind that communications are always open, and that when you encounter a spot where you can't, back off and contact the rest! Do not proceed until you have done so. I shall brief you all with more details in about five minutes, now get moving!"

"YES, SIR!"

"Y-Yes, Sir..."

With that, everyone sprinted out of the main building, all raring to go out and explore the current antithesis of a winter wonderland. For Weiss, however, her thoughts weighed heavily on her as the startling reality came to light in her mind...

Ozpin, in the meantime, let out an open sigh as he pocketed his Scroll, before pulling out an old photo from his inner breast pocket. Three people were smiling brightly as they stood in front of a small clearing, a younger Ozpin with brighter eyes standing beside a couple around his age, who were happily embracing as the guy held a gentle hand over the woman's abdomen. The young mother-to-be wore a pristine, white cape and a hood...

He looked wistful for all of a second.

"I have watched one Rose grow before she withered, and I will not let another become imperiled while I still stand...," he muttered to himself, "I promised her that much..."

Suppressing a choke in his voice, he put the photo away as he headed off to his office. He needed to fetch his coat before he could join in...


Now...

'I should have expected this... Father is trying to separate the two of us, and he may be willing to hurt Ruby to do so...!'

Weiss looked on as Yang ran below her, and Blake had been far off in the distance scouting ahead. The snow whipped across her features as her Aura reflexively kicked into effect when she was sure that nature was about to pelt her good.

'I... never thought things would come to this...! I need to hear the truth from him! I need to know why all this is happening, and if there is any chance that... Ruby might be safe!'

Before she knew it, her eyes began to sting with fresh tears, though thankfully for her, her teammates didn't notice.

'Please don't make me choose...! I don't want to lose either of you...'

The heiress's heart had hitched a beat, almost as if it were in the middle of breaking. She caught herself, slowly transforming her look of hurt into one of determination.

'No... This shouldn't be a choice. I should not have to choose between my family birthright and my... my closest, dearest friend! My father needs to answer for what he is about to do, and maybe we can come to an understanding. I hope. I also hope that that is not all I can do...'

Her mind made up, she quickened the pace which she propelled on her Glyphs, staying airborne as she flew off with her friends in search for their dunce of a leader, and hope to prevent a dramatic confrontation...


A/N: Oh boy, serious time. There's a reason this is shorter, after all. The coming chapters will... definitely need me to really get focused on writing, and instead of being physically fatigued like in the past month, I'm starting to get mentally burnt out with the weekly uploads. I now really need that break I keep telling myself and everyone that I don't need. Seriously.

I kept kind of dangling that possibility in front of you all... Maybe I just don't want this story to end? There's stuff left to tell, that's for sure. Thank you all for sticking with me for one of the longest days ever. I have few regrets with how I led this story up to now, and— Wait, that all sounds like I'm leaving you all forever. THAT'S NOT GONNA HAPPEN, don't you worry!

Not anytime soon, at least...

All right. Time to prepare for that last strenuous leg. The end is soon...ish.

Remember to review! See you in two weeks! Hopefully, I'll listen to myself this time!