Hey guys, sorry it's been awhile. I wanted to see if Volume 7 would change my mind about any of my changes. I intend to be caught up to Volume 7 by the time Volume 8 comes out. (though I'll probably hold off on the last episode/episodes until Volume 8 since the juries out on a few of the decisions made in Volume 7 until then).
AN: So, since I already explained why Team RNJR traveled on foot, I don't have to throw my own writing under the bus and hope people don't roll their eyes. And still some tension in RNJR, and not just the sexual kind for Renora.
It just makes more sense for Tyrian to be the one sent to negotiate with Sienna, being a faunus and all. And she's gonna have a slightly bigger role in this version. And Adam's gonna get some development.
And Team RNJR is actually going to do things! Not always the wisest or smartest things, but they're not going to sit around eating Ramen either.
"You see, ma'am, Qrow Branwen arrived at Haven Academy earlier today. He believes Spring has taken residence with his sister's tribe."
Cinder leaned in "Is... the girl... with him?"
Watts nodded "Yes, Miss Rose was in attendance. As was Ozpin."
Lionheart gave Watts a confused look "Ozpin?"
"Right, you haven't been informed. The Arc boy has become Ozpin's newest flesh suit."
"But… they didn't tell me."
"They must suspect you."
Salem impatiently interrupted "And you know of the tribe's location?"
Lionheart nodded emphatically "Yes ma'am! But you have to hurry! If they suspect me—"
Salem glared as the seers tentacles wrapped around Lionheart's throat.
"Leonardo, do you remember the first time we met? I remember. I remember your fear. But, since that day, you've been extraordinarily brave. I won't forget all that you've done for me. Do not forget everything that I can do to you."
She looked back to Watts as the seer released his throat.
"Cinder, you and your team will meet with Hazel, and together, convince Raven Branwen that the survival of her people depends on her cooperation. Once you have Spring under control, escort her to the Relic and contact Tyrian. He's taken over as Adam's contact. If all goes according to plan, Sienna Kahn will have either joined us, or been dealt with, and The White Fang will destroy Haven."
Ghira eyed Tyrian warily as he entered Sienna's throne room. "Honestly Sienna, I knew the White Fang had strayed, but now I see that you've begun working with known mass murderers."
Sienna glared back at her old friend "His presence here is as much a surprise as yours Ghira. And just as unwelcome."
"My apologies, but when you're protégé attempted to have my daughter kidnapped and my wife and I assassinated, I deemed it necessary to bring the grievance to you personally."
Sienna paled at the accusation and turned to Adam, who quickly threw his hands up. "I have no idea what he's talking about. I know you honor and respect your predecessor."
Blake chose this time to reveal herself ignoring the glare Sienna sent her way "We have a prisoner. Corsac Albain. Both of whom aided in the Fall of Beacon alongside Adam. Interrogate him and learn the truth for yourself."
Sienna gave Adam a suspicious look but turned back to Ghira. "I relieved Adam of his command after the Fall of Beacon, and sent the Albains to your father myself, with orders that they inform him of my stance on the attack. Adam had no authority to order such an attack. These men acted on their own."
Blake shook her head "That's not what Ilia Amitola told me when she tried to capture me."
"Ilia and I haven't spoken in over a year." Adam insisted "She's recently cut all contact with the White Fang."
Sienna stepped forward "If you want me to look into the ones behind this attempt Ghira, leave Corsac with me and I will see what I can do. But I have more pressing matters to deal with then an assassination attempt taking place an ocean away."
Ghira nodded "As do I."
Sienna glared at the implications "You have no authority here. You gave that up when you stepped down as leader."
"A mistake I regret more and more every day." Ghira said sadly "assassinating our own people, meeting with serial killers, attacking academies in the same year they began allowing our children to attend; I feared for the White Fang when I turned it over to you Sienna, but I never imagined it going this far."
Sienna continued to glare "None of those are your concern anymore."
Ghira rose to his full height and snarled at her "As the intended victim of one of those assassinations, the founder of this organization, and your friend, I deserve to be heard. At least before you choose to attack another academy and damage our relations with humans more than you already have."
Tyrian chose that as a time to chip in "And what will you do if she decides not to listen to you Mr. Belladonna? Will you take back control of the White Fang for yourself?"
Ghira's eyes softened as Sienna continued to glare at him. "That is the last thing I want. But if that is what it takes to prevent this organization from siding with monsters like you, I will whatever is necessary."
Sienna clenched her fists in fury "Our friendship is the only thing keeping you alive right now. Get out."
Ghira nodded as he backed away and signaled Blake to follow. "I'll leave Corsac and the address where I'm staying with your men. Learn what you can from him, and come speak to me before you do something you'll regret."
As Ghira and Blake departed, Sienna turned to Tyrian and Adam. "I want you two out as well."
Tyrian smirked "Does the crown grow heavy? Do you seek to give it away?"
"GET OUT!"
Tyrian turned to Adam as the two departed "You're losing her Adam. She's too soft to do what must be done."
Adam shook his head "she'll come around. She knows now she can't sit on the fence any longer."
"And if she chooses Ghira's side of that fence?"
"That will never happen."
"But if she does!?" Tyrian insisted "Are you prepared to do what is necessary?"
Adam glared back at the madman "If she does, the White Fang will need new leadership."
Sun and Blake paced the balcony of their apartment as Blake relayed the events of her father's meeting with Sienna.
"What if she sides with Adam?" Sun asked.
Blake sighed "My father will have to fight her for control of the White Fang. But my father is confident it won't come to that."
"But if, hypothetically, she does side with Adam" he responded tentatively "Will it be one of those duel things, where he can just walk in and demand she fight him for it? Cause I don't see the four of us leading a coup against the entire White Fang."
Blake nodded "We'd need an army to remove all of her allies and change the White Fang as we know it."
Sun groaned "Well we're not gonna get any huntsmen. I dropped by the academy this afternoon, they're all on MIA or KIA. I couldn't even get in contact with Neptune, Sage, or Scarlet.
"What?!" All of them?!"
Sun nodded "I guess things around here have been pretty bad since Beacon fell."
Blake groaned and buried her face in her arms.
"Guess your dad had better be pretty convincing."
Blake perked her head up for a moment "what about mercenaries or criminals. My father is pretty well off, he may be able to buy some help."
Sun shook his head "most of the criminal element is either too scared to take on the White Fang, or already in their pocket, except for..."
Blake looked at him as he seemed to have an idea "… except for the Branwen bandits."
"Branwen?" Blake froze as she recognized that name.
"They're not as big as the White Fang, but their members are full of trained killers. Any one of them could easily beat two of your average White Fang thugs."
Weiss groaned as she woke up, and found herself in a cage with her wrists bound. She quickly shot up and looked around her, relieved to find the ships pilot seated across from her, groaning in pain, his arm in a crude sling.
She turned as chuckling was heard outside the cage. "Well, well, well, look who's awake."
Two bandits smirked at her through the cage.
"You know, I never thought I'd see a Schnee in this camp." A young woman with short hair emerged from a tent with a plate of food and canteen of water in hand.
"Vernal!" The two bandits stood at attention and nodded at the woman. Weiss noticed Myrtenaster at the woman's hip.
"What do you want?"
Vernal smiled "Straight to the point. I like it. We don't normally deal in trafficking people - not really worth our time. But, once we realized we had a Schnee, that changed.
Weiss nodded in understanding, trying not to let the dread she felt become visible "You're going to ransom me back to my father, is that it?"
"It's a shame you're a Schnee. You'd probably do quite well around here."
"I would never sink to your level."
Vernal glared at that, and placed the food and water outside the cage "Just keep quiet and cooperate and you'll be back in your mansion before you know it. Don't make this complicated.
Weiss tried one more tactic to frighten the woman "What's going to make this complicated is when my sister finds out I didn't make it to Mistral. You know my sister, don't you? Winter Schnee? Special Operative of the Atlas Military? She's in Mistral now, and when she hears I'm missing, it won't take her long to find me - and you."
Weiss felt her heart sink further as the bandits began to laugh.
"What's so funny?"
Vernal sent her a vicious smirk "Oh, I don't know if it's more funny or sad, but you're clearly out of the loop. Your sister isn't in Mistral anymore. No Atlas personnel are in Mistral anymore. General Ironwood closed the borders and recalled all his little troops and tin cans. No one is coming to rescue you."
She turned back around and continued to leave as Weiss slumped back down to the bottom of the cage. Resignedly, she picked up the plate and prepared to eat, but paused when she noticed the pilot trying not to eye the food.
"Have they fed you?"
He shrugged "They gave me some water, but I'm not important enough to feed."
Weiss glared, and handed the man her plate. He looked at her in surprise.
"You're injured. You need it more than I do."
He smiled appreciatively and began to eat.
"Hey!" one of the guards called "That's not for you!"
Weiss stood up and glared at the guards. "You need me healthy for your ransom, right? Well I don't eat unless he does."
One of the guards drew his gun and pointed it at the man, only for Weiss to step in front of him "I won't eat if he dies either."
Unbeknownst to Weiss, Vernal and Raven were watching this exchange from behind one of the tents. Vernal looked to Raven with a curious expression.
Raven had a small smile on her face when she turned to Vernal "I believe her. Get them some more food and water."
Vernal returned the smile "Maybe we should let her join us."
Yang surveyed Shay and his three bandit friends. A woman held a rifle, and two men carried machetes, while Shay himself drew a pistol. Yang moved forward as the two machete weilders came to meet her. Yang blocked the first swing and ducked the second, bringing her fist to meet the first wielders chin in a powerful uppercut, then moved around the other, ducking the bullets that whizzed past her head. Getting behind the second weilder, and striking him in the back of the head, sending his face into the dirt.
As the man fell, the second machete wielder leapt over his friend and rushed her, landing one hit on her aura, and driving her back. Yang quickly retreated back, putting some distance between herself and the two swordsmen, only to be clipped by another bullet. She glared at Shay and the riflewoman, and prepared to rush them, only to find her path blocked by the machete men. She took another hit on her side, but brought both her fists around in a brutal clothesline, flooring both the swordsmen, then rushed the ranged warriors. Shay was smart enough to get out of her way, but the riflewoman fired another shot into Yang's shoulder before she was met with a vicious strike which knocked out her aura. Yang weaved through Shay's oncoming fire, attempting to close the distance, only to once again find herself met with a pair of machete's aimed for her head, which she quickly ducked, and gave a sweeping kick to the two men from behind, knocking out both their aura's. Shay fired another bullet into her back, but it was the last one, as she turned on him, and finally closed the distance between them, seizing his gun hand, preparing to crush his skull. Shay ducked the blow, and dropped his gun, attempting to catch it in his left hand, but Yang shoved him back with her left hand and caught the gun in her metallic hand, crushing it like it was cardboard.
Shay stumbled to his feet and Yang prepared to finish him, only to pause as several guns were cocked around her. She looked around, and found herself surrounded by seven more bandits.
A young woman with short hair strolled forward. "Not bad. But we're gonna need you to come with us."
Yang glanced at the aura meter built into her prosthetic, and found that she was dangerously close to the red. She shrugged and raised her hands. "I was headed your way anyway."
Shay laughed at the girl's back as she was led back to the camp. "When Raven finds out what you did, you're DEAD!"
"Possibly" Yang called back with a smirk "But I doubt it. I'm her daughter."
Shay paled and looked to Vernal, who fixed him with a glare.
I'm not here for you. Ruby is somewhere in Mistral. She's with Qrow, and she's going to need my help. I just need you to take me to her, and help us fight.
Raven glared "And why would I help Sumer Rose's brat?"
"Because we're family. And she's my family."
Raven rolled her eyes and muttered "Family. Only coming around when they need something. I have to say, I'm disappointed. After all, you found me, didn't you? Why not take that drive and use it to find and help your little sister if she means that much to you?"
Dad's already looking for her, but can save me time. Ruby was heading to Mistral, but there's no guarantee she's made it there. Looking for her in Anima could take ages. But... Dad told me how your Semblance works.
Raven continued to glare and mutter under her breath. "Tai..."
"You can bond to certain people." Yang continued "And when you do, you could create a portal that takes you straight to them. You've got one for Dad. One for me. And you've got one for Qrow. He promised me he'd watch out for Ruby before he left. And I trust him. So, you can make a portal to my uncle and sister."
Yang turned to observe the bandits around her. "But more importantly, you have resources that can help us. Ruby's fighting something bigger than any of us, and she'll need help. You can't hide from it, so you might as well join forces with us.
Raven nodded "You know, it takes real strength to march in here and demand such a favor of me. I've got to say, I'm impressed. It's very noble to want to help out your sister. But if she's with Qrow and Ozpin, then she's already a lost cause.
Yang frowned "Ozpin? What does that mean?"
"You don't want to get mixed up in all of that, Yang. Ozpin is not the man you think he is. And Qrow is a fool for trusting him. I would know, I trusted him once, too."
"I don't care what you think. Whatever Ozpin may be, he can't be worse than whoever's controlling the Grimm."
Raven shrugged "Your choice is your own. All I'm suggesting is that instead of getting wrapped up with that liar, that maybe you take a moment to wonder if you're already where you belong."
"Save your breath. You can spout off whatever you want, but nothing is going to keep me from my sister."
Raven continued to glare "Well, aren't you stubborn."
Yang shrugged with a small smirk "I get it from my mom."
"Well, if that's how you feel, then it sounds like we're done here. Take her away."
Yang looked around as the bandits began to move in on her.
She turned to Raven's retreating back, her eyes glowing red "If you won't help us, at least send me to Qrow damn it!"
One bandit spoke up "That's enough! You watch your mouth in front of our leader!"
"Make me."
Yang struck the badit and sent him flying into a tent, which collapsed and revealed a cage. Inside the cage was Weiss and an injured pilot.
"Yang?"
"Weiss?"
Weiss shrugged as she was now the center of attention. "Alright, well, subtlety is out."
The Arma Gigas quickly grew to it's full size, shattering the cage around it, marching to the center of the camp, quickly joined by Weiss, supporting the pilot with her shoulder.
Yang looked in awe at the giant suit of armor "What is that?"
"Don't worry about it. What are you doing here?"
Yang pointed to Raven "Well, that's my mom and she can take us to Ruby."
"Your mom kidnapped me?!"
"You kidnapped her?!"
Suddenly, more explosions erupted outside the camp, and several gunshots were heard as an oddly familiar voice came over a loudspeaker.
"ATTENTION! THIS IS THE ATLAS SPECIAL FORCES, HERE TO NEGOTIATE THE RELEASE OF A PRISONER AND A MILITARY ALLIANCE WITH THE BRANWEN TRIBE. A REPRESENTATIVE IS BEING SENT IN TO NEGOTIATE. HE IS NOT TO BE HARMED OR WE WILL MOVE IN AND TAKE THE PRISONERS BACK BY FORCE."
The gate of the camp was blown off it's hinges and Weiss and Yang couldn't help but groan as a figure emerged. He walked with a look of confidence (which he definitely didn't feel) had on a white suit, with a blue vest and tie underneath (probably bought at a thrift store), and his blonde hair was neatly combed (for once), but there was no mistaking the figure of Jaune Arc.
"We're doomed."
