Summer Branwen didn't understand what her parents were so concerned about. Aunty Weiss was a big strong general, and Aunty Ruby seemed to be as strong as Aunty Weiss if not more. So why were they so concerned about them?

From what she understood her Aunties went missing, which scared young Summer in a sense. She grew up with her parents and aunt by her side, and knowing that her aunt might be in danger did something to Summer that she couldn't understand.

Summer knew what fear was, it was what made her tense up whenever she saw a spider, but it was some other emotion that she felt, one that she couldn't comprehend.

"I can't believe Yang isn't doing anything about her sister," Summer's mom Winter whispered to her dad Qrow.

"It's not Yang's fault, she wants to find her sister, but Blake is the one not going through with anything she suggests," Qrow answered. Summer was sitting in a separate room, playing with a doll Linette had leant her, but she heard every word her parents wanted to keep hushed.

Winter huffed, and Summer could see her scowl with her arms crossed in her head. "Two very important people suddenly disappear and she doesn't want to find them." Summer knew she shouldn't be hearing this conversation, but something kept her there, listening.

"Winter, I'm sure Blake wants to find them, but she has a lot of other responsibilities," Qrow said softly. "And it's Weiss and Ruby we're talking about, I'm sure they're fine."

"They've been gone weeks Qrow, and it's not like Weiss to just disappear without a word."

"But it's like Ruby to do that."

"You think Ruby convinced my sister to just abandon her troops?"

"It's certainly a possibility."

Summer put the toy down and peered out into the other room where her parents sat. Winter was frustrated, and Qrow was calm, like usual, except for the glass of whiskey her father's hand.

Summer knew her dad had a drinking problem before he and her mother got married. And she knew that Qrow liked having a drink every once in awhile, usually after he thought Summer was asleep. So seeing her father drinking in the middle of the day meant whatever they were talking about was serious.

Qrow sighed, and looked towards Winter. They both knew what was going, the war that was always being secretly fought. They both knew that Ruby was at the center of it, and that Weiss was now right there by her side. "Ruby would never do anything to put Weiss in danger," Qrow said softly taking a sip of his whiskey.

"And Weiss would never put Ruby in danger," Winter added. "But that doesn't help."

"I know it doesn't. They're both adults Winter, they don't need us worrying over them."

"What if my father got them?" There was silence. Summer never met her grandfather on either side of the family. Qrow always claimed he died when he was young, and Winter made a promise to never let her father see her face. She didn't understand why Winter was so against having her meet her grandfather, but Summer never questioned her mother.

"He doesn't have them, I know that much for sure," Qrow said with a small smile as he reached over to touch his wife's hand. Winter accepted the comfort and lightly squeezed Qrow's hand. Qrow glanced over to Summer's door and saw her red eyes peering out. "What'cha doing over there sport?"

Winter looked over to see her daughter watching. "Nothing," Summer answered.

"Are you wanting to go outside and play?" Winter asked gently. Summer nodded and Winter got to her feet. "Are you wanting to go play with Li, or Mai?" Summer nodded. "I suppose you can go play," Winter shot a look towards Qrow who nodded.

Winter waited for Summer to come out of her room and grab her mother's hand before they headed out of the room. Summer liked walking through the White Fang base, it reminded her of the times she visited Weiss at her base. There was the differences of all the people being more welcoming and friendly than the military men that Summer had grown to know, and that there were more places to simply hang out than a military base ever had. But Summer still liked how the White Fang made her feel almost at home.

Winter led Summer down the halls to a commons where she saw Weiss' second in command Bernlak watching Mai and Li play pool. "You're keeping an eye on the girls today?" Winter asked as she walked up to the man. She released Summer's hand and told her that she could go play with the other two while she talked to Bernlak.

"Yeah, Yang had a check-up she had to go to and Blake's busy in a meeting with agriculture and cooking departments," Bernlak answered. "Still nothing from the general?"

"No," Winter answered. She watched her daughter play with the pool stick before hitting the cue ball. She sunk a ball in and laughed as Li tried to do the same and failed. Winter took a seat next to Bernlak and watched the girls play.

In the seat on the other side of Bernlak Alo was silently watching Mai with careful eyes. He had made a full recovery, and was pleased to see his partner was having some sort of fun. His harmless form, as Mai had called it, made the ursa look like a teddy bear.

"Hopefully she comes back soon, the men are starting to believe the White Fang had something to do with it," Bernlak said softly. "I've told them that idea is preposterous, that the general was good friends with Blake and Yang, but they don't care."

"A lot of their friends were killed by the White Fang before they became the leaders," Winter answered. "They probably don't even know that Blake and Yang were personally attack by the White Fang before the fall."

"They don't, General Schnee has requested that that information stays in the small circle."

"Of course she did," Winter said with a sigh. She relaxed into her chair and closed her eyes. "It's just so tiring, I'm so worried about her, especially after what happened with our father."

"Yes, but she has that Ruby with her, so she's not alone, and that grimm too," Bernlak said looking over to Winter.

"That's what Qrow said too."


"How many times do we have to tell you growing sugarcane takes time," one of the agriculture reps nearly shouted in the small office.

"We've been asking for months how long does sugarcane take to grow?" the cooking rep roared back. Blake flattened her ears in frustration and closed her eyes and she leaned onto her desk.

"Well you go through so much refined sugar that we have to constantly cut the stalks we have, making the process longer." Blake knew the argument was a lost cause and was preparing to give her final order on the matter.

"Enough!" Blake said in a stern voice, both of the reps turned to face Blake with fearful eyes. They knew they did wrong by making the boss angry. "The cooking department will wait for agriculture to produce the sugar, until then use the sugar you have carefully. Is that understood." The cooking rep quickly nodded. "Agriculture is to plant more stalks of sugar to accommodate to the cooking department's needs." The other rep nodded. "Now go," Blake waved them off to the door. Both reps fled the room quickly leaving Blake to the left over paper work of the day.

"Boss," a faunus said from the door with a quick knock. Blake looked up to see the security vest on the faunus and quickly stood.

"What is it," Blake asked grabbing Gambol Shroud.

"There's an old woman at the gate, she has one of those grimm with her that don't seem to attack people, and she's asking for some Maiden," the faunus said. Blake narrowed her eyes and nodded before walking out of her office.


Alo knew the scent when it faintly hit his nose. Quickly he got to his feet and looked towards the direction of the gate. "Mai, we have to go," Alo said looking towards the young child.

"But Alo, I'm playing," Mai whined as she glanced over to the grimm. Alo gave her a look that showed that whatever it was was serious. "You need me to translate?" Mai asked walking over to the grimm.

"Yes," Alo said jumping onto her shoulder.

"But I can understand you just fine, why do I have to translate?"

"Because only you can understand me," Alo tried to explain.

"But that doesn't make sense." Alo sighed knowing that the concept of only Mai understanding him escaped her.

"Just trust me okay," Alo answered. "I'll guide you okay," Alo added.

"Okay." Bernlak looked towards Mai, then saw Alo on her shoulder. Bernlak stood and looked towards the other girls.

"Come on girls, looks like we're going on a field trip," Bernlak said with a gentle smile. Li and Summer followed behind Bernlak who was being led by Mai and Alo.


"I need to see the residing maiden of this place," an old woman said sternly. She was tall despite her old age, and the grey hair still held signs of what might have been a deep brown. Behind her stood a tall owl grimm that had it's head cocked to the side.

"I'm sorry ma'am but until boss gets here I can't let you in," Porter said. The grimm cawed making the older woman to place a hand on her forehead.

"Oh hush, the boss might be who we're looking for," the older woman. There was another caw. "You're so pathetic sometimes."

Blake was making her way down the hall and saw the old woman standing near Porter. Blake quickened her pace. Porter looked back and saw Blake and quickly turned to face her completely. "Boss."

"I heard you're looking for a maiden," Blake said looking towards the older woman. The way Blake spoke made the woman narrow her eyes.

"You actually know what I'm talking about."

"And you've come to my base asking for one. Who are you?"

"Natsuki, that's all you're getting from me until I see the maiden that's here."

The sound of more footsteps made both women look to see three young children and an adult walking towards them. "Mom, what's going on," Li asked when she saw her mother standing at the end of the hall. Bernlak quickly stopped Li and Summer from going forward any farther, letting Mai and Alo go forth.

Upon seeing the large grimm standing behind the older woman Alo jumped off of Mai's shoulder and turned into a full size Ursa. Alo growled, and the owl cawed back. Blake didn't understand a word the grimm spoke, but she figured they could understand each other.

"So this is the maiden residing here," Natsuki said looking over to Blake. "She's just a child." Blake glanced over to Mai, she had her suspicions of Mai being a maiden, but she left all of that to Ruby who was actually a maiden.

"I didn't know," Blake answered looking towards Natsuki. Blake glanced to Alo who gave her a nod. "But seeing how the grimm aren't at each other's throats I suppose you're a friend."

"In a sense, yes," she answered. Blake stepped to the side and let the woman in, the owl flapped it's wings and became a regular sized owl that landed on Natsuki's shoulder.

"You're coming with me to my office," Blake added as she walked ahead of Natsuki. The older woman nodded and followed Blake. As the two women passed the younger children Natsuki looked towards them and gave a friendly smile.

Summer was amazed by the liveliness in the old woman's eyes. And as she walked away Summer watched her every step.


PRESENTING THE FINAL TWO CHARACTERS OF IMPORTANCE!

And some other things such as the conclusion to the Cooking v Agriculture Plot. (It was a stupid joke I liked to bring up while writing)

Of course things are getting heated without the Winter Maiden and Ice Queen around, what else is to be expected.

- Nerdz :3