Hey, guys, I'm back again, and this time I bring a chapter of Thorns along with horrible stomach pains! Yay! I'm not kidding, though, every night for the past week has been painful because I think I've finally reached the physical maturity level at which my stomach just cannot handle dairy products, and that's half my diet, so I've been in pain quite a bit andhave not worked on chapters because of that.

But never mind that. Tomorrow is Veteran's Day, and I want anybody who knows a veteran or maybe even if there's a veteran reading this, tell them that you appreciate their years of service for this country (I don't know if this applies to those living outside of America or not, but regardless, show your appreciation) and as a guy who knows more than a few former soldiers and is friends with a guy going into the army rangers, I am greatly appreciative of the sacrifices and the hardships soldiers make to keep us free. Now, without further ado, here's the new chapter!

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The door opened, and Emerald glanced up from her spot on the floor.

"Who are you?" She asked the girl with the white hair. "Oh. You're the heiress."

"No," Winter said, "That's my sister. My name is Winter. I came here to talk to you about some things."

Emerald sighed. "Sure. Whatever."

The girl drew a weapon and handed it to the Atlesian Knight escorting her. "Leave us."

The Knight stepped out of the room and closed the door.

Winter sat down crosslegged across from Emerald, making a show to put Emerald's attention on her prostheses. The thief eyed them with surprise.

"We all lose things here," Winter said, knocking her knuckles against her metal thighs, "I lost my father first. Then I lost my legs."

Emerald just continued to inspect the metal limbs.

"You've lost things, too. Your family. Your friends. Your purpose. I think we've all lost things."

"I never had a family or friends."

"Cinder was both to you. Family. Friend. Maybe even something more. Even Mercury had been family to you."

"How do you know Mercury?"

"Every time you've been arrested, Mercury has been there to help you, even if it got you into deeper trouble."

"I hated him."

"I think he annoyed you, yes," Winter said, setting her elbows on her knees and leaning forward, "But I think you cared for him anyway, even if he seemed irritating."

The rogue didn't respond. She seemed as if she were lost in thought.

"I...don't think you're wrong," Emerald said finally, shaking her head, "I suppose that if I really hated him, I would have left him behind."

Winter smiled. "Yeah, there you go."

Emerald looked at her open hands. "I never had the chance to say goodbye."

The thief sighed, eyes closed. "Sometimes, I wish I didn't have to be alone so much."

Winter put a hand on Emerald's shoulder. "Then call me a friend."

Emerald opened her eyes, meeting Winter's with her own. Winter herself was smiling.

The young Huntress stood up, metal feet clanking on the floor, and headed for the door. She opened it and turned her head to speak to Emerald.

"I'll be back in a little while. Friend."

Emerald smiled as she watched the girl leave the room and disappear from sight.

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Winter lived up to her promise, certainly.

After what surely seemed to be a very difficult decision, Winter convinced the others to allow Emerald her freedom. As a result, the thief was now walking with Winter to the cabins, finding her a place to stay. They found an empty cabin, and the rogue entered, marveling visibly at the luxury of the room.

"Here is your cabin for the next few hours, Emerald," Winter said, smiling in joy as Emerald seemed so amazed by the room's basic luxury.

"Emma."

"Hm?"

"Sometimes, when I had friends, they called me Emma instead of Emerald because it was quicker," Emerald stated, lowering herself to sit on the bed, using her hands to check the plushness of the mattress, "Sometimes, I even let Mercury call me that, and I wished Cinder would call me that."

Winter nodded, enjoying the pure wonderment present on Emerald's face. "Okay...Emma it is. We'll be landing in Mistral in a few hours. Ruby called in to try and get you pardoned, so you may walk into the kingdom a free woman tonight."

Emerald smiled. "Thank you. Please, thank her, too. I don't know how to repay you all."

"Just help us when the time comes, okay, Emma?" Winter said, and Emerald nodded. Winter bowed her head and shut the door, wishing Emerald a good night and shutting the door.

"I hope your plan is effective."

Ruby spoke up, stepping out of her own cabin parallel to the other assassin's.

"It will work, Ruby," Winter said, leaning against the wall, "If we can do it peacefully, then I want to do that."

Ruby looked like she was mad about something, but she huffed anyway. "Fine. Just make sure it works or I take care of the problem myself."

The assassin left the icy aristocrat alone then, re-entering her own room, at which point Winter caught a small glimpse of a shirtless Blake, then the door shut, and Winter sighed.

I hope you learn to lighten up, Ruby, Winter thought, moving to her own cabin again and going to sleep shortly after.

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The massive airship cast a shadow over the valley as it closed in on the manor.

"Finally," Jaune said near Yang's spot in the glass bridge spanning the gap between the two halves of the residential quarters, "Jet lag was killing me."

"I hope everything's alright," Yang said, her fingers tapping her temple, chin resting on her palm, "Blake tried to get ahold of Sapphire earlier. No luck."

"Hm."

"Ruby's worried, too, and Nickelle. Peridot is there, too. I hope for everybody's sake that Peridot is okay."

Jaune nodded, knowing full well how intense Ruby's new temper was and how volatile it could be.

"Estimated time of arrival: two hundred and forty seconds. Please, situate all passengers and non-personnel in their designated cabins."

The loudspeaker echoed from the main sections of the airship, and Yang sighed. She and Jaune left the peaceful glass bridge, and the view it provided, behind.

"So how have you been sleeping, Jaune?" Yang asked the knight.

"I'm...getting over her, now," Jaune said with a small but significant amount of pain in his voice, "But now I've been having trouble sleeping. The way I did that same night she kissed me for the first time."

"One hundred and eighty seconds." The loudspeaker announced.

"Oh, getting angsty, are we?" Yang laughed.

"There've been nights when Weiss was away, haven't there?" Jaune observed, and correctly.

"Yeah. What about them?"

"Don't you ever just feel like...like your second half is just...missing?"

"Yeah," Yang admitted, reminding her that Weiss wasn't with her at the moment, "But I've noticed that, no matter which of the half dozen boyfriends I've had and the other dozen girlfriends I've had, none of my relationships have lasted this long. And never before have I been so...connected, to my significant other, and just...just...I think this is the first time I've been this deeply in love with someone."

"Have you had trouble sleeping? At all?"

"Yeah, but then I discover that her pillow has a bit of her perfume on it, and I like to just cuddle the pillow and inhale her scent and it reminds me that she'll be back. It makes me feel better, knowing I have something of hers to keep and to think of her with."

Jaune smiled dimly, gloom overtaking his features.

"O-oh, I'm sorry, I didn't mean to say something so insensitive," Yang apologized.

"One hundred and twenty seconds."

"It's fine," Jaune said, sighing, "It isn't about Pyrrha, anyway."

Yang fell silent.

"It's...it's Winter."

Yang's surprised expression turned into a grin.

"Well, well, well. The Arc falls in love with a Schnee. Again."

Jaune nodded almost shamefully.

"Luckily for you, I've got her sister in my pocket. And my bed."

Jaune raised an eyebrow. "That's..."

"What, you think that just because we're girls means we don't fool around every once in a while?"

"That's not what I was trying to say. I was just going to say that you shouldn't parade your girlfriend around."

"I'm proud to call myself her girlfriend, and proud to call her mine. All that matters. Anyway, if you want, I can find out from Weiss what Winter likes and enjoys. Be your wingman, so to speak."

"Sixty seconds until arrival and subsequent landing."

"Yes, I would appreciate that. Thank you."

"No prob, bob. I'll be your wingman, for now. Now, I've gotta get to my cabin. See you in a little bit."

"Bye, Yang."

Yang smiled and waved as she walked away, cloak flowing in the air current generated by her movement as she returned to her room.

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As she approached the doors to enter the manor, Blake couldn't help feeling as if something were wrong.

Maybe it was just because she wasn't yet used to wearing a cloak, but she could have sworn the air seemed...very still. It didn't feel right.

"Blake?" Yang asked, putting an arm around the Faunus's shoulders, "What's wrong?"

"I don't know, but something is," Blake said, drawing her pistol and ensuring that it was cocked, "Call it an instinct."

Yang peered at the manor, inspecting it lazily, "I dunno. Maybe. I think we can handle it, though, can't—"

The front door eased open, and the glowing magenta tattoos on Peridot's cheeks became visible.

"See?" Yang said, gesturing to the little girl at the front door, "Peridot's fine, so I think everything else is fine."

The adolescent pushed the heavy door open even more and bounded out, wearing a black coat and a small magenta skirt, and holding an umbrella as she ran. She reached them with a worried expression on her face.

"Blake! Yang!" The little girl cried, and the two Huntresses knelt down next to her.

"What's up, Peri?" Yang asked.

"Where is Ruby?" Peridot asked, almost fearfully.

"Ruby will be here in a second, why?"

"A scary man with a hat came in earlier and scared Mama," the child reported, "He keeps talking to her. He says he's gonna do things to—"

There was a loud crack right behind them, and Peridot went flying.

Blake whipped around.

Ruby stood behind them, rifle aimed at the spot Peridot had been standing.

"What are you doing, Ruby?!" Blake shrieked at her girlfriend.

"That's not Peridot," Ruby snarled, not taking her gaze away from the girl lying on the ground near the door, "Maybe you wouldn't notice immediately, but her ears were rounded and human, Peridot doesn't call me Ruby, she calls me Annie, and I know that umbrella too well for that little bitch to fool me."

Blake looked at Peridot, but she wasn't Peridot anymore. Instead, another girl with half a head of brown hair and the other half pink lay where the little girl had been, dressed in a white tailcoat, pink undershirt, a brown-black leotard, and black jeans with white high-heeled boots up to her knees.

"What...?" Blake switched from furious to surprised the moment she spotted the girl.

"Neopolitan. The only other Fang assassin. Difference between her and I is the fact that I never toyed with my targets. She also has a body count higher than mine by about a few thousand."

Yang growled and moved ahead of Ruby, approaching the girl on the concrete. Neo forced herself to her feet, but she was too dazed to do anything but let Yang turn her around and cross her arms behind her back.

"Not so fun at the other end of the stick, is it, Neo?" Yang hissed, remembering the time that Neo nearly killed her on the train Roman highjacked.

"If Neo is here," Ruby began her hypothesis, "Then Roman won't be far behind."

"Roman is dead. He got killed in the explosion you used to destroy the Vale WF HQ. He couldn't have gotten away, 'cause I remember breaking his legs and ribs myself."

Ruby walked up to Neo and slapped her across the face with her metal hand. "I'm right, aren't I, Neo? Roman is here?"

Neo gritted her teeth and remained silent.

"We'll find out soon enough. C'mon. Let's meet our intruder."

The brunette approached the door and pushed it open with the end of the Mystique. Checking the room, she swept her eyes across and up, analyzing the stairs, finally deeming it safe to enter and taking a step inside.

"Yang, come on," Ruby moved her hand in a throwing motion, and Yang moved inside, the captive Neo not bothering to try and contend with the gargantuan strength of the blonde brawler.

"What about me?" Blake asked.

"I need you, Ren and Winter at each of the windows of the dining room and be prepared to corner Roman should I need you to."

"What makes you so sure he's in there?" Blake asked.

"He's dramatic like that. He'll be sitting at the head of the table. Mark my words."

Blake nodded and ran off to get the individuals Ruby requested for.

The brunette looked at her blonde sister and jerked her head toward the dining room. The pugilist wordlessly pushed Neo along, Ruby taking the lead and entering first, weapon drawn.

"Oh, would you look at that, it's Red!"

Roman Torchwick was exactly where Ruby predicted, at the head of the table, reclined with his feet resting upon the table.

"The little girl show you inside? Tell you the "bad man" was here?"

"She said "the scary man," Roman," Ruby said, gesturing to Yang to come in with Neo, "And for the record, don't try to fool an assassin."

Roman gave a look of expectant acceptance, as if he knew this would happen. He sighed.

"You know, I've been thinking," Roman said, swinging his legs over the table and standing up, cane in the crook of his arm, "Turning over a new leaf doesn't seem like that bad an idea. And I've been considering it for a long while now."

"Did my sister's fists pound the thought into your head?"

"No. Maybe a little bit. But no. I have been in this game long enough, and I've made plenty of enemies, but not many friends. So I was thinking..."

The crime lord looked at Ruby with a gleam of mischievous sincerity in his visible eye.

"If I make some friends out of you, maybe you'll help me a little, too."

"Fat chance, buddy. Right now, the only thing keeping you from being dead is the fact you know where my little sister is."

"I know where Cinder's HQ is."

Ruby lowered the gun sight just a little. "I'm listening."

"But in return for the information, you need to have me pardoned and protected."

Ruby went into analysis mode, weighing the outcomes and possibilities mentally, a skill she learned quickly when she came to be under Cinder's tutelage.

"Ruby, you aren't actually considering this, are you?" Yang asked solemnly.

"We never found anything at the other temple. Roman is the only option we have right now."

The brunette returned her attention to the gangster.

"Fine. I'll let the King know you are to be granted amnesty from your crimes, but the moment you are pardoned, you are to tell me exactly what I want to know. Deal?" She offered her hand.

"Deal." Roman shook Ruby's outstretched hand.

"Where are my friends?" Ruby inquired.

"I had Neo put them in a bedroom upstairs."

"Alive?"

"Yes, alive. I came here for help, too, you know."

Ruby turned and looked at Neo. She wound back and punched her in the face, earning a surprised reaction from the captive girl.

"That's for using my sister against me," Ruby said, and flicked her glance to Yang, who understood the signal and released Neo.

"Now, Roman," Ruby warned, looking the man in his mascara-dressed eyes, "Just because I'm giving you this chance doesn't mean you get free reign. You will obey my rules or I will have you tried and jailed faster than you can say "incarceration." Do you understand me?"

Roman smiled with just a hint of sass in his expression and said, "You underestimate my gentlemanly habits, Red."

"My name is Ruby. Get it right."

The two sisters then left the dining room, with the younger heading upstairs and the eldest heading outside to inform the rest of the others. Behind them, Neo looked up at Roman and said in her high, feather-light voice, "Was this a good idea?"

"I hope so, Neo," Roman said, for the first time in years questioning his decision, "I hope so."

P.S. How wrong was I about both Qrow AND Winter? If I was wrong about them, how wrong am I about Summer and Taiyang? I am quite curious. Can't wait for this week's episode.