December 17th

Government Offices Of The Atlesian Council

Department Of Foreign Affairs And Military Action

City Of Atlas

Atlas

Security Level: High

Necessary Security Clearance: Maximum

5:34 PM

"So," Elizabeth Morell said, pacing across the room while the rest of the security council watched her. "We, the DLNLE and the DFAMA, have a choice to make. Frankly, I agree with the notion of closing our borders for the sake of security. So, are we going to close the United Kingdom of Atlas' borders, or are we not?"

A tense silence hung over the room for what felt to be the longest time.

"Define closing the borders, Madame Morell," Kiara Davis said calmly, her hands folded primly in front of her. "Would we be shutting out the entire rest of the world – cutting out trade and diplomacy – or would we be increasing our restrictions?"

"That's an excellent point," Tara Sparks, the head of the Department of Local and National Law Enforcement put in. "Some of the poorer cities to the middle-western part of the kingdom – which is a good part of the kingdom once you reach Mantle – would completely crumble without imports. The cities on routes seventy and forty, for instance, would fall apart and they are already poorer than the rest of the kingdom."

"Not to mention the fact that the senators from those regions would be in an uproar if we pass something to that extreme," Blake Adel, the head of the Department of Justice, remarked. "Their constituents already lack faith in the Council and think that we, here in the middle of the eastern seaboard, have long since forgotten about them."

Elizabeth sighed. "I am not proposing that we close out entirely, nor am I suggesting we raise taxes and/or tariffs. What I am suggesting is that we raise security to better control who comes in and who comes out of Atlas. We are not closing international travel; we are simply being precautious. The State Department has already put out a travel advisory against most of Vacuo because of the hostility that has been expressed towards us since the Fall. They have also, as you all should well know, suggested that travel into the kingdom of Vale avoid the capital city, considering that it is still recovering. Menagerie has been marked as the highest risk for travel, as well as the south sea between Menagerie and Mistral. Other than that, we are not closing entirely at this time."

"This is still going to be wildly unpopular outside of the eastern and western seaboards," Tara Sparks countered, echoing Adel. "I understand the concern, but we cannot act in paranoia."

"It is not an act of paranoia," General Ciel informed her. "We have enough internal problems to handle and we should know exactly who's coming in and out of the kingdom. I also feel the need to point out that we aren't talking about a president declaring martial law, even though he could under the National Defense Authorization act of 2007. This isn't much more than what we undertook at the end of 2001."

Sparks shook her head. "And, with all due respect to the people involved, that was a mistake."

"Precedence aside," Elizabeth said shortly. "General Ciel makes a fair point."

"I can't deny that," Blake Adel agreed. "But if we're going to bring up the slim possibility of martial law, the state governors would be in an uproar because of the control it would give President Ciel over the National Guard. That aside, I still, however, am unsure of whether or not restricting our borders is the best choice from a foreign relations standpoint. Our allies –"

"The kingdom of Atlas does not and never has had allies," Karissa Mar, the head of the Department of Foreign Affairs and Military Action sharply told him. "We have interests, not allies, and I think we can all agree that it is in our best interests to proceed with caution."

"She's right," General James Ironwood put in. "We can't take risks right now."

The rest of the room slowly murmured in assent and Elizabeth sighed heavily before nodding. "Then I believe we have our answer. The kingdom of Atlas will restrict its borders beginning on the first of January 2022."

The silence that followed did not bode well for the future in their hands.


December 25th

Anima

9:37 AM

"Vernal, I really don't even know how to thank you for putting up with me for so long," Raven told the young woman who was smiling faintly. "Really, not even my own family will do so. Apart from the tribe, I mean."

"I take it, then, your meeting with your brother went poorly?" Vernal said and the look Raven gave her was more than enough confirmation. "That's a shame. It would really help all of us if he just came back to the tribe."

"His faith in Ozpin is what gets him," Raven commented bitterly, deciding to use her power as the Spring Maiden to light one of the candles in her tent despite not needing to use them to do so. "I just wish he'd understand that. Ozpin was going to fail because he's arrogant and that same arrogance is why Beacon fell. Your precognition or not, that was something any of us could have surmised, although you seeing it certainly helped."

"I'm always glad to help you," Vernal said, sitting down next to Raven who was looking wistfully at a photograph of Tai on her scroll. "If you don't mind me asking, are you still in love with him?"

Raven sighed, turning away as she set her scroll aside. "If he wants to be with that Elizabeth Morell then let him. It's not my problem who we fucks with...but yes, perhaps I am still in love with him. I only left him and our daughter because I needed to lead my people."

"Which is admirable," Vernal told her though Raven didn't respond. "It's admirable that you cared enough about your tribe to lead them even when it came at a serious personal cost."

"Whether it was or wasn't admirable isn't a concern," Raven said, refusing to turn around as tears formed in her eyes. "Because what's said and done is said and done. Things don't change. They don't usually get worse, and they almost never get better."

"Are you worried about what she's going to do to us?" Vernal asked and Raven sighed again, wiping her rogue tears from the corners of her eyes. "Salem, I mean. Do you think that, now that we've expanded our territory to practically the entire northern continent of Anima that she'll leave us alone, recognizing our power?"

Raven laughed dryly before shaking her head. "As much as I wish I could say that our power makes us no longer a target of hers, it doesn't. In some ways, it makes us targets even more so."

"Does that have to do with your powers as the Spring Maiden?" Vernal asked hesitantly and Raven, to her surprise nodded. "Oh."

"Did you really think that I took that girl's powers to enhance myself, to make our position stronger?" Raven questioned and Vernal didn't respond. "No. I knew full well when I took the powers that they would only put a target on my back. She will not rest. Not until the world burns."

"It was still a good thing you became the Spring Maiden," Vernal said and Raven shook her head. "It was. She would never have been able to handle the powers -"

"And yet I still killed her," Raven countered. "I don't have a problem with killing people if it's for the good of the tribe, but that doesn't mean that I think it's good. There's a serious difference between 'good' and 'necessary evil' and the majority of what I do, or have us do, falls under necessary evil."

"I would disagree with that," Vernal said, running her fingers over Raven's grimm mask. "If only because you told all of us that -"

"I know what I've said," Raven snapped, shaking her head again. "I know: 'the weak die, the strong live, those are the rules.' But I also know that we've all got choices to make and, whether or not we make the right ones, that, for the good of the tribe, has to apply. It keeps us alive, that and shifting around our territory constantly so that Salem can't find us."

Vernal nodded though she wanted to protest. "Did you hear about the split between the powers of the Fall Maiden?"

"Yes," Raven said, glancing at her scroll. "Cinder Fall, whose surname is so appropriate, I might add, she must have chosen it herself, has part of it while Glynda Goodwitch has the other."

"Do you think Cinder is going to gain the rest of the power?" Vernal stood up and set Raven's mask aside. "Or do you think that Glynda will?"

Raven started laughing as she turned around and leaned against her desk. "Oh, that's easy. There will be some form of an altercation, but we all know that Glynda will come out on top. I know her well enough to know that she'd kill Cinder in a fight with maiden powers or not."

Vernal hesitated before asking her next question. "Hasn't Cinder been directly trained under Salem?"

Raven rolled her eyes. "There might not be any chance or hope of beating Salem, but that doesn't make her...apprentice, I suppose, competent. Certainly not against us and, presumably, not against Glynda Goodwitch. She leadership of the kingdom of Atlas behind her, too. I would be shocked if she doesn't win."

"That's a fair assessment," Vernal said, knowing what Raven wanted to hear though the leader of the Branwen Tribe only glared at her. "Raven, I -"

"Vernal, for the love of god, don't be a sycophant," Raven told her with finality. "We have enough of those around here and, frankly, you're the single member of this tribe I care about the most and trust the most. So, please, don't start acting like the others and start kissing my feet."

"Well then what would you like me to do," Vernal crossed her arms and shifted her weight as she waited for a response. "Well? Other than being your decoy, I mean?"

Raven turned back away from her and gripped the edge of her desk tightly. "I want you to be someone that I can talk to that won't tell me just what I want to hear. I want to be able to speak with you about something and know that I'm not being given what everyone knows I want to hear. I want to know that I can trust you to tell me the truth even if it's the last thing I want to hear. Can you do that for me?"

Vernal nodded before placing a hand on Raven's shoulder. "Of course I can do that. After all, I only want what's best for our people. It's not easy living in Anima, and especially not in this part of it."

"Especially not with a perpetual target on our backs," Raven stated though she smiled slightly in spite of the seriousness of the situation. Still, we're managing."

"Well you can't just kill the Branwen Tribe," Vernal reminded her. "After all, we always survive. That's, without question, what we do."


January 6th

Atlas Academy

City of Atlas

Atlas

Downtown

1:38 PM

Ivory Ironwood-Goodwitch was alone in the lecture hall, her huntress license still loaded on her scroll. She had set it down on the desk, and she was alone. Classes still hadn't gone back into session, but she had gotten in with the clearance she had gained from receiving her license. Having it made her feel like a fraud. Elizabeth had gone behind everyone's backs to license her team early (including Devin Katt), something that had raised more than a few eyebrows. Elizabeth had done the same for Team SAML, too, but that had been without protest. Ivy knew her parents had been against her recieving her license, reminding her that she was barely twenty, but Elizabeth had refused to back down. In the end, it was approved a few weeks before which, as it happened, had been around the same time the DOJ had cleared her name and dropped the part of the investigation into the Fall that pertained to her. It had never been real; she knew better than anyone that it had been a front, if only because how secret it had been.

And now she was a licensed huntress and would be a mother in May.

The lights to the room turned on suddenly, and Ivy whipped around suddenly in fear, almost falling into the desk behind her. She immediately felt silly when she saw who was in the doorway, however, considering that it was only Spencer. He eyed her curiously for a moment and then shook his head and closed the door behind him. She sat down in one of the many seats in the front row while he paced around the room and looked through a few books and files. It was not nearly as long as she swore it felt, but it was enough to make her feel worse than ever. She began to look through the files on her scroll, and doing so only reminded her of what she had planned. Overnight, everything had changed and, now, she believed it was irreversible.

"I have to ask," Spencer eventually said, pushing up his glasses and running a hand through his shaggy dark hair. "What are you doing here?"

Ivy sighed. "Couldn't I ask you the same thing?"

"You could," Spencer agreed. "But I think that's pretty obvious. I'm a professor, we go back into session a few weeks, and I'm trying to be responsible because Emmett never has been."

Ivy managed a small laugh. "Sorry…I was just…reminiscing."

"At an Academy you never attended?" Spencer asked.

"Yes," Ivy said, staring at her hands.

"In the middle of a cold afternoon in the dead of winter?" He pressed.

"Yes," Ivy said again.

"Sounds about right," Spencer conceded. "How are you doing?"

Ivy looked up at him in surprise. "What?"

"How are you doing?" He patiently repeated.

Ivy bit her lip. "Why do you care?"

Spencer stared at her in surprise. "Well," He started. "I am your godfather and I care about you."

Ivy swallowed hard and didn't say anything for a long time.

"I'm unemployed and going to have a baby in May," She finally said. "I have absolutely no idea what I'm going to do; it's not as if I can just take missions as a huntress when I'll have a kid I need to care for."

Spencer eyed her for a moment, his hands jammed in his pockets.

"I'll tell you what," He said, surprising himself. "I need a TA and, since you're a huntress, I think I can take you on. I'll have to check, but I'm pretty sure the pay for TAs is about fifty-three thousand a year before taxes. I know it's not as much as your sister will make when she graduates law school, but…"

"You can really do that?" Ivy asked, stunned.

"You have a clean record and there is no cogent argument against me hiring you," Spencer replied. "We can get the paperwork started today, if you're interested."

Ivy smiled weakly. "I am."

"Great," Spencer said with a grin that could rival Emmett's. "Now," He said, walking through the halls with her. "Let's get started in pissing off Emmett's self-righteous world view…"

In spite of everything, hearing Spencer's jibe made Ivy laugh more than she had in a long time.


January 15th

Mistral

9:15 AM

"Another day, another adventure!" Ruby declared with a grin as Team RJNR continued their walk through the Republic Of Mistral. "What do you say, Nora?"

Nora perked up considerably with an almost maddening grin. "I would say that this day might be the slightest bit improved by a few grimm wandering in our path! We could then take them out and move along our way!"

"How about no!" Ren dryly replied, taking her hand in his. "Excitement is not really what any of us want."

"So!" Ruby exclaimed, looking at the map that Jaune was pulling out once again. "What's on the agenda today?"

"Walking!" Jaune informed her while Ren peered at the map over his shoulder.

Nora rolled her eyes. "With a side of…"

"Walking," Ren told her and Ruby sighed.

"Haven is a lot farther away than I thought," She muttered.

"Ruby," Ren began seriously, almost amused by her. "How long did you think this journey was going to take?"

"I don't know!" The girl said, pulling her cape closer around her. "I grew up in a small area! I've never been this far away from home!"

"Ruby…" Jaune started, laughing a little. "Be serious."

"It's true!" She told them. "I haven't ever been this far away from home before!"

"Right, but...how long?" Jaune pressed her and she groaned.

"Maybe like...uh..." Ruby suddenly looked rather awkward and widened her eyes precociously. "Two weeks?"

Looking up from the map, Jaune glared at her in shock. "What?"

"Okay, fine! Three or something!" Refusing to make eye contact, she muttered. "Look, whatever."

"Come on," Ren said fairly, looking at Ruby in slight amusement. "Let's give her a break."

"Hey…" Ruby began, noticing something in the distance. "What's that?"

Nora jumped onto one of the fallen fence posts while Jaune checked his map. "That's…strange. I didn't think we'd be hitting another village for a few days."

"Are those buildings…" Nora gasped and her eyes widened as she took in the sight. "Damaged?"

"We should search for survivors!" Jaune told them, dropping his map, and they all began to run towards the village though they found the town to be desolate.

Lifting a plank of wood, Ruby sighed when she found plant growth beneath it. "Anything?"

Nora shook her head as she jumped down from one of the rooftops. "Nothing over here!"

"No one over here, either!" Jaune said and Ren felt his stomach constrict when he and Nora saw some of the other buildings in the terrible state that they were.

"It…" Nora began, clutching her hammer tighter. "This feels wrong…"

Ren nodded. "It almost seems like...the town was abandoned."

Looking around still, Ruby grew increasingly uneasy as the wind blew, drawing her cape closer to her still until Nora shouted.

"Hey, I think I found something!"

Turning and rushing over to her, Ruby stared as Nora pushed the ivy away from the town's sign while Ren shook when he read the name.

"Oni….Oniyuri?" Ruby said softly. "Never heard of it."

Jaune nodded. "Me neither."

"I have," Ren admitted quietly as they all turned to look at him in surprise and he began to walk away from the sign. "You might think of it as Anima's Mountain Glenn, had it never been completed. Years ago, the richest members of Mistral were unhappy with how the kingdom was being run. Frustrated with the council, they pooled their resources to build their own city, with their own laws. They hoped that, one day, it could maybe even become its own kingdom. Many thought it would be the future...I know my parents did…"

"What happened?" Ruby asked gently as Ren brushed some of the dirt off of the lower wall that had claw marks in the stone.

"What always happens," He told them and Jaune stared in horror as he finished the statement.

"The grimm…" He breathed.

"Not just any. One," Ren said, tightening his hands into harsh fists while looking to Nora who stared back at him in concern though Ruby looked at her in confusion.

"One?" She asked though Ren didn't respond.

"Come on," Jaune said, looking to the others as several birds flew off of the trees nearby and over them. "Let's just get through here, this place gives me the creeps."

Quickly, Jaune turned to leave in quick pace. It wasn't long until Nora, after one last look to Ren of concern, followed him with equal drive though Ren let himself linger, lost in thought about his childhood and the particular grimm that had taken it from him. The grimm that had killed his parents and destroyed his village, the one that he used to justify his fight, the one that he and Nora both remembered destroying the village of Kuroyuri when he had been the boy of respected leaders and she an orphan. Forcing himself to follow, Ren tried to let go in the process though nothing came of it. Lastly, and looking over the terrifyingly empty village, Ruby left as the dead leaves blew and there was a sinister whistle to the otherwise normal wind.

"Guys," Ruby said, stopping them just before the exit to the village. "Am I the only one who thinks that there's something wrong with this place?"

"What?" Jaune asked harshly. "Like the fact that we're surrounded by the place where people died, helpless to a grimm? Because -"

"Jaune," Nora hissed. "It's okay. I agree with Ruby. It almost feels like there's an evil spirit here. A demon, for instance."

"Well," Ruby began, nervously looking around. "In that case, we could always exorcise it."

"No," Ren said. "I don't think that's what she meant."

Ruby nodded. "This whole place just feels...off…"