Emmett Schnee could hardly believe what his sister had shown them. Arthur Watts — a major criminal, was conspiring with their mother. Willow couldn't believe it either. She had warned them before hand that she had already sent the tapes to the FBI for review, but that she had been permitted to keep the copies. She knew also that she was only allowed to show them to the immediate family because of how the situation could affect them. Willow was still shocked that her mother could stoop so low, but she knew also that she was unsurprised. Their mother had always been (as Jacques had so scathingly said) a degenerate with no sense of morality. He had called her dangerous, despicable, and a little crazy. Willow had agreed with him for years, having seen what she thought had been the worst of her mother. However, this was new and it was utterly frightening. To be involved in a crime syndicate (which even Nicholas had assumed of his wife) was one thing but what they had seen now was another. It was a shock to all four of them, and none of them liked where they believed it could be headed. If Lillian Schnee were willing to work with someone so despicable — let alone have amicable relations with them as it appeared

— then they were terrified of where she could take it and to what end.

"Damn it," Emmeline muttered. "Yet another problem we have to deal with."

"Her nerve would be impressive if the situation were not so dire," Jacques noted. "I think it's a shame her intellect has to be wasted because of her unsavory personality and accquantices."

"Her intellect?" Emmeline repeated incredulously. "Lillian is a manipulative, psychotic whore!"

Willow raised an eyebrow. "I don't actually think she's psychotic or a whore. She's just incredibly selfish."

"Mom? Selfish?" Emmett shook his head and lit a cigar. "What else is new?"

"Being sarcastic isn't going to solve the issue at hand," Jacques snapped. "And, I would like to point out, if we hadn't found out about this, it's possible we would be on the receiving end of something terrible from your mother who, thankfully, is now incarcerated and awaiting trial because she is too dangerous and considered a public menace."

"We could very well still be in danger because of this," Emmeline scathingly reminded him. "Letting down our guard would be an excellent way to get killed, though. Thanks for the suggestion."

Jacques sent her a disdainful glare. "And you wonder why I've never liked you."

Emmett snorted. "Because my wife could put you in the hospital with one punch?"

Jacques spluttered, uncomfortable with the thought and annoyed with Emmett. "You certainly won't be doing it!" He angrily snapped. "You're a scrawny history professor that smokes so damn much now that —"

"Jacques," Willow started, setting a hand to his shoulder. "Please don't go after my brother."

"Am I wrong?" Jacques gestured to Emmett in exasperation, becoming more annoyed upon seeing the man nonchalantly adjust his glasses, run a hand through his nearly waist length white hair, and start on another cigar. "He's not even 5'7" at least and he looks like a praying mantis!"

"A praying mantis?" Emmett repeated, more confused than insulted.

"Are you high?" Emmeline asked coldly.

"That isn't the problem here!" Willow looked at all of them as if they were crazy. "We found evidence that my mother is working with Arthur Watts of all people although why she is...well, it's beyond me!"

"And she's probably going to spend the rest of her life in prison!" Emmeline countered. "I don't see what you're so worried about!"

"If you think she won't find a way to get off, then you're wrong," Willow forcefully told her. "She plays dirty to the very end."

"You should be handling this instead of talking to me!" Raven shouted. "If you're out of questions, get over there and fight!"

Renné watched in horror, standing alongside the leader of the tribe who had insisted she stay back unless it became absolutely necessary for her to fight. Chilling them both to the bone, the amber eyed girl had attempted to steal resources from the tribe and started a fight when she had been caught. Part of their camp was now on fire, several members of the tribe simply didn't know what to do with themselves, and it was clear, whoever this girl was, the perpetrator knew what they were doing. For Renné, it made her head spin just to consider how many villages or camps or towns this girl had robbed. She had clearly picked up her skills somewhere. To little end, the carnage continued and Raven did nothing but watch and occasionally restrain her protege. The Branden Tribe would not come undone because of one fucking girl, especially one that was so reckless as to try to steal from them. Raven didn't tolerate such madness, and she never would. She also wanted to gauge the trespasser's abilities in the event they cane across her again. Raven refused to be ill-prepared, and this girl could try her hardest but the tribe would ultimately defeat her. She was so young by the looks of it anyways. How much of a threat could she possibly pose?

In the actual skirmish, the amber eyed girl was fighting with an obsidian sword she had summoned through her innate magic. None of the tribe were fooled into thinking she actually had the powers of a maiden, but they did believe she had come to kill Raven in order to obtain them. Every member of the tribe was willing to die for their leader because, even when she could be harsh, Raven Branden had kept them alive and been fair. They knew, too, that she genuinely cared about them staying alive even though she chose to believe that it was fate for the weak to fall. For the most part, because of their conviction, they were holding their own against this fierce opponent. With each slash she took at them, she was met with flurries of kicks, punched, and blades. For every life she took, she was smacked with axes and cut with the blades of swords sharpened even more deadly than her own. It seemed they were coming close to breaking her aura. At the very least, her attacks seemed to be waning in power and she was not as quick to use her magic. The tribe members were relentless, but only about ten of them were actively trying to fight; others had run off to procure resources or to stop grimm from catching their scent.

Ten against one teenager should have been an uneven fight but, somehow, it was not. How this teenager could hold her own against trained mercenaries was absolutely beyond them and, by the sight of it, they were becoming more and more enraged that she wouldn't run away or fall at their might. Punched and kicks seemed to keep missing and even their weapon slices seemed to be weaker. The only reason they seemed to be able to land any marks on her was because there were so many of them. She fought back with stabs that seemed to come out of nowhere. She was almost silent in her movements and was as swift as the wind. It was almost impossible to subdue her. They had rarely come across even grimm this powerful. From where they were observing, it was then Renné and Raven made the shocking realisation that this girl's power was in fact unnatural. It reminded them of someone, too, that Renné had abandoned everything to destroy and that Raven had spent almost her entire life trying to avoid, especially after ascending to the mantle of the Spring Maiden. Having had enough, Raven waited for a member of her tribe to strike the girl with their axe before striking her with a summoned bolt of lightning. She fell to the ground and, believing it was the tribe member that had struck her, used her magic to escape without realising who Raven was or how badly she had underestimated just who she was stealing from.

Though every muscle and bone in her thin frame ached, Glynda Goodwitch was more than happy to be holding her newborn son who was perfectly healthy. James had just brought the girls in (they had been at school) to meet their baby brother. The late afternoon light was fading, something she could hardly believe, but it was a relief to have her husband and kids in the hospital with her. Zoey kept watching her sleepy baby brother in awe, while Caity excitedly waved and talked at him. It felt like nothing short of a miracle, given everything that had happened. James sat beside her, his hand tightly holding her free one. He could hardly believe he was looking at his son. There was nothing that could ever quite compare to a parent meeting their child for the first time, no matter how many children they had. James leaned over and gently kissed his wife's forehead. It was a sweet, if brief, moment. Seconds later, he had to restrain his eight year old from climbing on her mother to give both Glynda and baby Jacin a hug. Zoey giggled, amused by her sister's antics. James set Caity back down in the other chair next to the bed, and uncapped her juice (from the vending machine downstairs). He handed it to her after putting a straw in it.

More than anything, James was glad to see them so happy, even with all of the stress that lay beneath. Everything else seemed to be paused for just a little while, giving them the chance to simply be a family. They had their worries for their kids (Caity's social struggles, low stimulus tolerance, and rigid thinking, Zoey's lack of friends and the dangerous guardian of the one friend she did have, newborn Jacin's health) but things were in order for now. It was nice, too, that he was working so close to home for the time being, too. The girls and their son needed both of their parents and Glynda and James both knew they needed each other. It was not an easy situation to be in, the one they had handled for years, but this was a bright spot. Things were looking up. His son, drifting off after having opened his eyes for a few seconds, wrapped his tiny hand around James' index finger on his gloved hand. Silently, he vowed (just as he had with the girls) that he would do whatever it took to be around for his son. His own father had not, something that had made life difficult, and he refused to make his parents' mistakes. Glynda smiled upon seeing how her son was holding onto his father and she laughed softly when James brushed her hair away from her glasses with his other hand.

"How is it we ended up with two sleepy babies?" James murmured, affectionately ruffling Caity's hair. "You don't think he'll be as awake at night as Zoey always has been, do you?"

Hearing her name, Zoey stopped trying to make herself dizzy and grinned.

"We'll see," Glynda said, glancing to Caity who was happily sipping her juice. "She still sleeps well."

Caity briefly looked around before nodding happily. Zoey climbed up onto the chair next to her and hugged her sister.

"Mommy!" Zoey exclaimed. "Baby!"

James chuckled. "Don't wake up your little brother, Zoe."

Zoey pouted and slouched into the chair before eventually skidding off.

"Hi, Jacin," Caity said, still sipping on her juice. "I'm your big sister! Caity. Can you say that?"

"He's too little to talk, goosie," Glynda told her. "Remember when Zoey was itty bitty?"

Caity nodded. "Ohhhhh."

James smiled. "He'll talk eventually."

"I can talk for him!" Caity insisted. "He can learn!"

Glynda smirked. "How are you going to talk for him, honey?"

Caity shrugged. "I will."

"Baby, baby, baby!" Zoey declared, spinning in a circle. "Fun!"

James softly kissed Glynda for the short second the girls weren't looking.

"You're a strong huntress, but you're a wonderful wife and mother," He whispered, tucking a stray lock of her hair behind her ear. "I love you so much."

Chaos. It was nothing short of chaos.

Alongside Port and Oobleck, Ozpin had ventured out to the city of Mountain Glenn only to find it in absolute disarray. Grimm were everywhere, people were dying in the streets or cowering in their homes or struggling to escape. It was an ugly scene, to be certain. They had known since they had received the urgent mission from the Valerian Department of Homeland Security that something was very wrong but this was even worse than what they had expected. It was unclear what was happening, they could hardly tell friend from foe, and the grimm were all around, destroying everything in sight. Knowing the had to do something, Port charged into the fray and began to smack down grimm with his blunderbuss. He was stronger, the strongest of the three of them, but his sheer strength was slowed by the onslaught of grimm that kept charging. Blood was beginning to dye the streets red, and he was struggling avoid harming innocent civilians in the process of mowing down grimm. Oobleck was having the same problem; he was having trouble controlling the paths of his flames and the grimm seemed to be more resilient to them than he had ever imagined possible. Little could have been worse.

Ozpin, though fighting too, had other objectives. He was trying to find any shred of evidence to find what had happened, but his work was hindered by the grimm pooling out of the tunnels and taking over the streets. Finally seeing no other option, Ozpin pulled out his cane and broke the glass to the Merlot Industrial building's window. He quickly began to run up the stairs to the CEO's office to see if Merlot's computer could provide any insight or if the increased vantage could give him a better strategy. By the time he reached the office, he could see the situation in the streets was getting worse even for the efforts of Port and Oobleck, both of whom were well-trained and heavily disciplined hunters. Ozpin knew better than to use his magic, and he doubted it would do much to end the madness. Using am illegal by-pass function on his scroll, Ozpin broke into the CEO's office and then into Merlot's abandoned computer only to find that it had been wiped clean. There was absolutely nothing to be found, something that horrified Ozpin. He could imagine what had been there was nothing good. He began to tear through the office, but he found nothing. It was clear Merlot had left in a haste, but he had been thorough. There wasn't a damn thing to be found.

Back down below and still in the blood soaked streets, Port was still beating down grimm. He also was, in doing such, providing a few openings for Oobleck to rain down fire in. They were both, however, becoming worried that their actions would not be enough. The Council had said other hunters would arrive soon enough, but it seemed unlikely that any support would be enough. Panting heavily, they kept trying to at least push their enemies back until the reinforcements arrived. Then were losing faith in their ability to win, especially without Ozpin. Then, they heard the sound of aircraft among the grimm. Splitting up, they began to take on other enemies while a small set of the Atlesian military began to join the fight against the creatures and the rampaging citizens. Ozpin even paused his search to observe; it seemed, in an instant, the tide had changed in their favor. Yet blood was still being spilled everywhere. Oobleck could hardly breathe the way he normally would by the time he had resorted to his semblance to empower his attacks. Port, too, felt his heart slamming against his chest. It was gut wrenching, at best, and it was an ugly fight. By the time it was over, they were certain there was little more jarring than this. After all, it was damn confusing to say the least.

On the island of Patch, the air was changing. Every day that went by seemed only to underscore that fact. As the weather conditions continued to be cruel (winter was never kind to the island), the only hope was that soon enough spring would come and end the madness that seemed to pervade their lives. Out in the driveway, Taiyang Xiao Long was shovelling snow once again and seemed particularly annoyed by it. Under his breath, he kept muttering about how Qrow needed to pick up the slack before he decided to kill him. He would never actually harm his teammate, of course, but every so often he considered running Qrow over to make the point clearer, e.g. that he was a pain in the ass. Summer was really the only one stopping him from handing Qrow's ass to him. She was kinder than anyone and had a certain way of making everyone see reason. Ultimately, Tai would do anything for her whether or not they were in agreement. When he had been in Atlas, Emmeline Ciel had scoffed at his "desperation" and remarked that he was only so devoted to Summer because she was one of the few women in the world who would be willing to have sex with him (for free). Tai began muttering to himself again at the thought. He was better than that.

Since he had settled down with Summer, Tai had become certain he was "a catch." He was very proud of how sexy he perceived himself to be and Summer seemed to agree. Qrow, however, had told him to stop being a "disgusting man slut" (it wasn't as if Qrow could be conceivably called nice) in front of his two daughters and nephew. Tai had laughed at her time but, in hindsight, was starting to think it might have been the reason Qrow had refused to get off the couch and help him. Tai rolled his eyes. It was almost hilarious how long Qrow could hold a grudge for, and he knew full well that the only thing that made it worth it were the ways he managed to get revenge every damn time. Qrow played hard, after all. He had been raised by the same people who had raised Raven which Tai privately believed was the only thing the twins had in common. Qrow had been adamantly against Tai getting involved with Raven (saying his sister was dangerous) but Tai knew he had been in love. To this day, he still wanted to know if Raven had ever felt the same way or if their entire relationship had been nothing short of a game for her. There was another part of him, too, that desperately wanted her to come back to him, begging on her knees for a man who had moved on.

He supposed it was a dumb fantasy, but he couldn't set it aside. When Raven had found out she was pregnant, she had been terrified and yet Tai had stayed by her side no matter how scared he was himself. After Yang had been born, she had admitted she didn't think she could handle being a mother that was around and that she needed to take care of her people. Tai remembered how he had begged her to let him join her with Yang, and how willing he had been to give up everything he had ever known in an instant to remain with her. It had been a dilemma, one that, when he had told them about it, Angelica had called foolish, Emmett had said would kill him, James had been certain would end badly, and Glynda had declared would break his heart. Tai hated that they were now proven right. He had spent weeks insisting to Raven that they didn't need to turn their backs on Ozpin, that their family and the tribe didn't have to be mutually exclusive. He had begged her to let their marriage be the first time that she had decided to stay. It hadn't been enough. She had left. In the house, now, he knew their daughter was happy with her half sibling and nephew but Tai couldn't help but wonder how Yang would feel when she found out the only mother she had ever known was not the one who had given her life.

Tai would never admit it but he hated his fear of that one notion even more than he hated Raven for leaving in the first place.