The next day.

It was the weekend. A day of relaxation and excitement, but the mood was somewhat spoiled by the heavy clouds that darkened the sky, threatening to unleash its content upon the land. In response to the distressing weather, the campus was emptier than usual as students limited their activities to the indoor variety. Perhaps because of this fact, Jade's footsteps rang particularly loud as she dashed across the school hall with urgency.

"Is he alright?" She coughed out as she rounded the corner where two of her teammates, Amy and Diamon stood with worried looks. She was still in her exercise clothing, damp with sweat, for she rushed here from the training hall immediately after receiving the news. "Yu, you guys said he passed out in the hallway?"

Amy and Diamon glanced at each other with a bit of hesitance and concern.

"Well," Amy started. Her tone was slightly raised and exaggerated. "I mean technically, Yuyu didn't, like, collapse in the hallway. He just...sorta...you know...fell into the dorm room."

"What Amethyst is trying to say is he went unconscious as he was opening the door and collapsed there. It was quite a startling experience to see a team member just burst through a door unconscious."

"Man, I thought there w as murder." Amy's remark caused Jade to tense a little even though she knew she was exaggerating. Amy noticed the subtle shift in her expression and waved her hand in panic. "I mean that didn't happen, he just passed out."

"That's strange, though," Jade rubbed her chin in thought. "He was training with me and Yin less than an hour ago. He didn't look like he was going to pass out then. Well, more so than the usual fatigue of training. I wonder what happened?"

"Eh, who knows, we're actually waiting for the doctor's diagnosis right now."

Just as she spoke those words, the door softly opened and a comely middle age man with spectacles stepped out. He briefly surveyed the group before him, who looked back with worried anticipation, before letting out a sigh.

"Well, I have good news and bad news." The doctor consulted his notepad as he continued. "Good news is that he's all fine. There aren't any serious effects and a good rest should be enough."

"And the bad news?" Jade asked softly.

"Bad news is the reason he passed out was due to his Aura flickering out. As you may be aware, when your Aura is drained, you'll be hit by a wave of exhaustion. Normally, only large blunt force trauma or already suffering from extreme exhaustion will drain your Aura so completely, but in Yu's case, it seemed his Aura just suddenly vanished momentarily and the sudden change caused him to faint. The problem is I have yet to identify why."

"Is that really bad? That sounds bad." Amy whispered to Diamon, looking for answers.

"It's not bad, per se," the doctor sighed again. "There can be all sorts of reasons for someone's Aura to flicker. Some are harmless, but some can be severe. From the looks of things, there doesn't seem to be any permanent damages so I'm willing to lean on the safer side."

Jade let out a sigh of relief. "Thanks doctor, I really appreciate it."

"No problem. If you have any more questions, I'll be in my office. You kids can visit him now."

With that, he broke off and entered the adjacent room. Now alone, the team was unsure what to say.

"So, now what?" Amy asked with a shrug, a hint of concern still lingering on her face.

Diamon stroked his chin in thought. "The tournament's in two days. Should we drop out just in case?"

"Umm, I think maybe I should talk to him." Jade suggested. "See how he's holding up first, you know?"

"Alright, boss. You need us with you? You know, for moral support."

Jade shook her head, but appreciated Amy's assist. "No, I think I'm fine alone."

That said, she opened the door to the infirmary. The first thing that struck her when stepping inside was the strong smell of medicinal products, much like the smell of a hospital. It was a bit disorienting, but she quickly got over it.

The room wasn't that large. There was a large cabinet full of medicine and first aid on either side of the wall and enough space for four beds, two on each side divided by curtains. Currently, only one of those curtains were pulled forward to cover the bed at the far corner.

Jade walked over to the obscured bed in the back and found her brother staring absentmindedly out the window at the garden courtyard outside. Noticing her presence, he faced her in surprise, then it quickly soured as he let out an annoyed sigh.

"Look, I know what you're going to say, but I'm completely fine."

"Well, that wasn't what I was going to start with, but that's a relief nonetheless."

Yu grunted. He pulled the bed sheets off himself, readying to leave the bed. However, as he shifted his leg off the bed, Jade moved in to stop him.

"What happened?"

Yu just shrugged. "Like I told the doctor, I don't know. One second I was entering the dorm, the next I woke up here."

"And you think you're fine after that?"

Again, another shrug.

"I don't know, but I don't feel like anything is wrong with me. Just a bit sluggish from staying in this stupid bed, but it's nothing out of the norm."

Jade folded her arms in dissatisfaction from her brother's answer. It wasn't that she didn't believe him, but while she was questioning him, she was inspecting his Aura with her semblance. Now that she was more familiar with her own ability, she was able to understand things she previously only had vague ideas about. And one such thing was her brother's Aura.

It was darker again. Just like that night during the first day of school, and even before that, back in their refuge home, when he was still haunted by their parent's death. Before she assumed the color changed by his mood, but it may be something worse than that.

"Are you sure it isn't the stress?" Jade tried to grab her brother's hand, but he subtly shifted to avoid it.

"What are you talking about? I'm not stressed at all."

"Come on, you don't need to lie to me."

"I'm not lying." Yu lashed back in frustration, a bit more aggravated than usual. "I'm fine."

He definitely wasn't lying, of that Jade was sure. But that doesn't necessarily mean he's right. Still, she didn't call him out on it and offered a compromise.

"Ok, then. But just take it easy from now on. We're a team now, we can share the burden, so you don't need to push yourself so hard."

"I'M NOT PUSHING MYSELF THAT HARD!"

Yu's sudden outburst caught her off guard and she took a step back, in surprise, but also in fear. A sudden wave of regret washed over Yu as he realized what he did.

"I'm not pushing myself that hard," Yu repeated, but in a much more docile tone. "We were practicing not that long ago, so you tell me if I was pushing myself."

He was right. Earlier today, there wasn't anything out of the ordinary, but that didn't alleviate her concerns about him. Because she knew. Even if her brother was unaware, she knew. The look he had, the Aura around him, reminded her of their reunion a few years ago, when she saw the despair in his cold, soulless stare. The Yu now is a long way from that, but she has noticed the regression, slowly, little by little each day. Yet, no matter how much she wanted to speak to him about it, no matter how worried she might be, something was holding her back, as if a glass wall formed between them that she was afraid to break.

Why? If there was any indication, his sudden outburst was a justification for this fragile peace she wanted to maintain. She was afraid prodded any further, then the glass would shatter, and the thread between them with it. So, she stayed quiet and simply nodded.

A knock came from the infirmary door a moment later. Apparently, Yu's outcry was heard outside.

"You alright?" Amy's muffled voice came through.

"Yeah! We're fine." Jade shouted back.

She was thankful for the reprieve from her teammates. It helped clear the last dredge of shock from earlier and get all the negative thoughts out of her head. Now, in a better state of mind, she decided to take action instead of offering words. She knelt down so she was eye to eye with her brother and outstretched her hand, her pinky out signalling to him to reciprocate.

"Look. I'm not going to question your words. If you say you're fine, then that's enough for me. I know we've been separated for a while, but the last thing I want now is to lose you. Again. So let this sister of yours worry a little bit, ok?"

Yu had a pained expression, but he nodded and locked pinky with his sister.

Jade smiled as his coarse finger interlocked with her own. She felt her Aura intermingle with his, but that's when her smile dropped. Unlike previous times where their colors slowly match, she noticed their two Aura were resisting each other like oil and water, a barrier that was previously non-existent. She tried forcing through, but as she pushed past it, a sharp pain shot through her head.

"!" Jade flinched back, causing his brother to now wear the worried look.

"Maybe I'm not the only one you should be worried about."

"No, no, I'm fine," Jade waved her hand with a bit of light chuckle. "Just a cramp."

She didn't know why she lied. It was just instinctive. Perhaps she felt a little guilty that - being aware of her Semblance's full capability - her method to calm her brother feels a bit manipulative and on top of it, she has yet to tell her teammates what she learned about abilities. So, she decided to keep it a secret. For now.

Yu gave one more discerning look before giving up. He stood up from the bed, completely normal, as if the whole ordeal, both his fainting episode and the subsequent talk with his sister, was just a dream and headed toward the exit.

"Well, I'm feeling fine now, so if there's nothing else, I like to get out of here. The medicine smell is really annoying."

Jade agreed with him and together they left. Outside, Amy and Diamon let out a relieved sigh when they saw the two siblings exit, looking completely normal.

"Oh god, I'm assuming everything is fine? I heard shouting earlier which got me a little worried."

"It's fine. We got into a little disagreement, but we worked it out. He said he isn't feeling out of shape so I think we are good for now."

Amy gave Yu a suspicious glance trying to confirm Jade's word. He just shrugged, his usual response to anything Amy does, which seemed to indicate to her that he's normal, so she returned to her cheery self.

"Well, then! If we're all good, let's celebrate!"

"Celebrate what?" Yu and Diamon said simultaneously.

"Celebrate the team being completely fine and healthy that's what!"

"You just wanted to eat out, don't you?" Diamon shook his head.

"T-that may be part of it, but don't you think it is still appropriate after what just happened."

No one disagreed with her logic. In fact, in some way, it was the best thing to get their minds off this whole situation.

"Great! So if there's nothing else-"

However, just as she was about to go off, the sudden pitter patter of rain droplets hitting the window interrupted her. It was infrequent at first, but quickly ramped up until the hall was echoing from the berating rain.

"Oh, come on! Really!?"

A chuckle from Diamon. "Looks like we have to make due with something more...local."

"Ugh, fine. I guess dining hall food works, too. Well, what are you guys waiting for? Let's go!"

With that, the team began to head back, but Amy noticed Jade wasn't following. As the two boys kept going, she faced her a bit behind the other members with a concerned expression.

"You coming, boss?"

"No, you guys go ahead. I want to stay here a little bit to collect my thoughts."

Amy was hesitant at first, but trusted her team leader and went to catch up with the others.

When her teammates were finally out of view, she let out a heavy sigh and leaned on the windowsill, staring vacantly out into the storm. The beating rain served as a soothing catalyst for her heavy heart.

There was a lot on her mind. It was mostly about her brother's regression back to how he was before coming to Beacon, but a part of it was also thinking about if she should talk about this with her teammates. Then, there was also her newfound Semblance abilities that she has yet to reveal to them, which would be ideal to tell first before the other thing as it would make it much easier to explain.

Jade's ears grew hot from all brain power mulling over these thoughts, making her just a bit dizzy. She shook her head to clear her mind and with a bit of effort, lifted herself from her slouched position at the window sill. Her mind was not made up yet, but she knew that sitting around here brooding into the rain wasn't the right choice either. With a bit of self motivation, she extracted herself from the window, but a small shadow in the rain suddenly attracted her back to it.

In the beating storm, a lone black bird, a crow, was struggling through the weather. Normally, a bird flying around Beacon is a normal sight, but one flying through the rain? That was an oddity.

Jade returned to the window, mesmerized, and tracked the crow's harried movement as it was violently pummeled by the storm. It was searching for a perch to shelter itself from the elements and seemed to discover one near the large spire at the center of the school, when a sudden shift in the wind tossed it off course and it slammed violently into a nearby window before slowly crumbling out of sight.

"Birdie, no!" Jade couldn't help but cry out at the pitiful sight as her face squished against the glass pane trying to figure out where the bird fell. The curious adventure of that crow has all but replaced her previous worries and she quickly ran down from the second floor and into the rain to see where it fell.

Thankfully, the general location where the crow hit the window wasn't far, and after a few seconds in the pouring rain she found herself in a little awning next to a garden. From the safety of the awning she peered anxiously into the bushes to see if she could see the small creature, but it was fruitless. Instead, after rounding the corner, she found another student, a senior, sitting on a bench, completely drenched, and his shoulders slumped in pure dejection.

"Um, excuse me," Jade meekly called out to him.

His head shot up in surprise, a spray of rain water shot from his raven black hair with the sudden movement. He didn't say anything, just looked at Jade with an intense questioning look which was more than a little scary from Jade's perspective.

"D-did you happen to see a black bird fall in this area? I saw it hit the window just a moment ago and was wondering if it was okay?"

"Oh." The older student's expression lightened after hearing Jade's question. His voice was airy and somewhat hoarse. He looked out into the pouring rain and then back at Jade before waving his hand nonchalantly. "Yeah, the bird, there was a bird. It's fine. Flew right back up and into some hole somewhere. No need to worry about it."

"O-okay." She sighed in relief, but quickly stiffened as she realized she had not planned what to say next. There was an awkward silence as Jade tried to figure out her next words. "And you? Are you okay?"

"Me? Yeah, yeah, no problem. Just got caught out in the rain unprepared."

He sighed and whispered to himself quietly in frustration. "Of course it was going to rain today. Just my luck."

It looked like the senior had his own issues to deal with so Jade decided to not impose on him any further. Jade slowly backed, but just as she turned around to leave, he suddenly called out to her.

"Wait."

It wasn't menacing, more startled at her sudden departure, but it still caused her to freeze mid movement, her joints locked as if a spell of binding was cast upon her. Slowly, she swiveled her head towards him, wondering what he wanted and was presented with a charming smile, enticing, even through his disheveled appearance.

"You going back home in this rain? Why not stay here a bit until it dies down? Have a nice chat with me?"

He was about to pat the open space on the bench beside him, but upon realizing that he left a puddle of water from his soggy clothes, he offered another bench a short distance away. Jade wasn't sure how to take this guys request. On the one hand, he is right about the rain. Her clothes were a little damp from the short trek here and she was not about to risk getting more soaked just to get back. But on the other hand, she was a little nervous hanging around an upperclassmen, especially considering her social awkwardness.

"Come on, I won't bite."

Seeing no other option, Jade slowly wiggled her way to the bench and, almost mechanically, eased herself into the seat. The older student chuckled at her clumsy movement.

"The name's Qrow. What's yours, sweetheart?" Qrow leaned forward, stretching out his hand for a handshake.

"Oh, it's Jade. N-nice to meet you." Jade reached out awkwardly to shake his hand. However, the moment she touched his hand, she couldn't help but flinch from its damp coldness, clearly due to the rain. Nonetheless, she managed to make her recoil not too obvious, but felt the need to point out her concern.

"Aren't you okay like that? Won't you catch a cold?"

Qrow looked down at his clothes, as if surprised by the fact they're wet.

"Me? Nah, I'll be fine. Been through worse, so a little water won't kill me."

He pounded his chest to emphasize his point, but the wet, squishy sound of his hand striking wet shirt did little to alleviate her concerns.

"But enough talk about me. What about you? What's a girl like you doing out in the middle of campus on a rainy day...you know...other than bird watching, apparently?"

"Oh, I wasn't bird watching." Jade shook her head fervently. "I just had a lot on my mind and, well, spaced out while watching the rain. The bird thing, that was a distraction, a welcomed one, however."

"Oh, yeah? What was on your mind?"

Jade hesitated. She wasn't sure if it was appropriate to mention her relationship with her brother with a complete stranger, especially since she barely talked about it with her own teammates. Qrow could sense her reticence and open out his arms placatingly.

"Hey, you can trust me. It's an upperclassmen's duty to help out their juniors and I've got plenty of experience under my belt. Who knows, maybe I got the answers you're looking for."

Jade remained silent, weighing the option to tell him or not. His words make sense and there wasn't any negative consequence to vent her concerns to him. Yet, a part of her remained a little on edge since he exuded an Aura that didn't sit right with her. She couldn't quite put a finger on it, but she could feel something hidden deep within his ash colored Aura that was a bit unsettling, a dark secret, or perhaps some unknown power. It was feeling similar to the one she got from Ace… and Jaq.

Knowing those two, she felt it wasn't anything dangerous, so she chose to ignore the warning bell in the back of her mind.

"I…" Jade started, but paused momentarily trying to figure out how to express the words she has yet to speak to her team. However, in that time, Qrow interjected, a coy smile dancing on his lips.

"Wait, let me guess. It's about boys."

Jade took a moment to process what he just said. "Well, yes, it's about a boy."

...and completely missed the subtext.

Qrow leaned forward with great interest. "Heh, whadya know? I'm a mind reader. Come on, hit me with the details. I am somewhat of an expert when it comes to guys."

Jade gave him an odd look. The way he said it was a little weird, but she ignored it and continued her explanation.

"...um, as I was going to say, I am having a little trouble confronting my twin brother."

Qrow suddenly leaned back, his eyes wide in shock. "Okay, it seems like I completely misread the mood there."

At the same time, his change in attitude broke the comforting atmosphere he was setting. The clatter of rain, which seemed so distant to Jade just a moment ago, came back louder than ever as if someone just cranked up the volume controls.

Qrow rubbed his temple, getting rid of the last few dredges of his shock, before making eye contact again with a different state of mind.

"You know what, that's fine, too. As it turns out, I have a twin as well. A twin sister."

Like a person discovering someone else sharing your niche interests, hearing that this upperclassman was a twin sibling like her loosened all her previous reticence and her eyes lit up brightly. Suddenly, her concerns that, just moments ago, she had trouble forming into words flowed freely from her mouth.

"Really? Then, that's perfect! I'm sure you can understand me. You see, my brother has been acting coldly and distant ever since something bad happened back home. Well, he was cold and distant with me even before that, actually I don't know if he was, but the point is he's been more distant after the incident and I've been trying my best to bridge the gap. He's been doing a lot better now, but recently I feel like he's slowly drifting away again and I don't know why. I wanted to talk to him about it, but every time I try, I am afraid to bring it up in fear that it will only make the gap larger. It feels like I'm being trapped in a corner with no way out and I don't know what to do."

Qrow reeled back at the sudden torrent of words. "Woah there, kid. Slow down."

"Ah...sorry…" Jade realized her own excitement and immediately stopped her fountain of words, embarrassed. "Sorry, I didn't mean to dump all that information at you. I just thought, maybe, you would understand."

Qrow let out a long sigh while he tried to process all the information he was given. Gone was his playful laidback attitude, only to reveal a more solemn one, his gaze lowered in contemplation.

"Well, ya ain't wrong. Our relationship may be a bit different from yours, but the problems between siblings, well, I guess we all go through the same things. Somewhat."

He took a moment to formulate his advice. The stern piercing expression gave the complete opposite feeling to the cool relaxed vibe he gave earlier. While his Aura didn't change much, Jade felt more comfortable and relaxed around this version of him.

"Let me get this straight, there's something that happened to your brother that he doesn't want to talk about, which is driving a rift between you two and you're afraid that trying to bring up the subject will damage your relationship."

Jade nodded, slightly dejected.

Qrow sighed. "Well, I doubt I'm qualified to be giving out advice on healthy family relationships, but if there's one thing I do know, it's that there are times when ripping the bandages off is the best solution."

"What do you mean?"

"What I'm saying is whatever problem your brother is holding onto, the longer you sit on it, the more it will fester. One day it will blow up in your face and it won't be pretty. Take the punch now, before it becomes something worse. Trust me, I've been there."

A long drawn out silence followed as Jade contemplated his advice.

"I guess there's no other choice but to talk to him," Jade mumbled quietly. She knew she had to talk to him about it, but deep down she wished that there would be an easier, less painful method. What Qrow told him only reaffirmed her fears, but it also built conviction to go through with it, knowing that there was someone else who understood her pain, if only in a broad sense.

"Thanks for the advice. I'll think about it," Jade smiled warmly, her mind made up. This, in turn, elicits a chuckle from Qrow. The heavy mood was lifted and everything returned to normal

"Hey, always glad to help. Especially a cutie like you." He gave Jade a charming wink and a click of the tongue. "By the way, I think it's safe for you to head back now."

In shock, Jade turned to look out into the garden. Like he said, the rain had subsided during their little talk, receding to a mere drizzle, leaving only the light taps of water droplets on concrete. Even the clouds, once forebodingly dark, now became an uplifting shade of gray with even small patches of sunshine breaking through.

"Oh, I completely didn't notice!" Jade stood up suddenly. She had sat out here for quite a while and was afraid her teammates might be worried about her whereabouts. "So, um, yeah, thanks for the chat, it was really helpful, but I really need to be going. My teammates are kind of waiting for me."

"Wait," Qrow called out just as Jade took her first step out. She gave him a puzzle look and he took something out of his pocket. It was his scroll. "I enjoyed it too. How about we exchange numbers? You know, in case you need any more advice? Or something less heavy?"

"Ah, of course," Jade responded automatically as she took out her own scroll and aligned it parallel to his. There was a soft beep from both scrolls as their contacts were wirelessly exchanged. However, as she was withdrawing her scroll a sudden revelation hit her. "Oh, is this what you call 'flirting'?"

Her sudden statement took Qrow by surprise, causing him to do a spit take and nearly fumbling his scroll.

"Well, that came out of left field," he heaved out through bated laughter.

"Sorry, I never experienced these kinds of things before so I honestly don't know how to respond. Also, I'm not looking for a relationship right now, so about my number..."

She was genuinely apologetic and distressed by all this, which only made things worse for Qrow.

"Relax," he attempted to mollify the jittery Jade. "I meant what I said about helping you out. Sure, I had some...ulterior motives at the beginning, but hearing what you said, I want things to work out between you guys."

After hearing him talk, Jade stopped fidgeting, convinced enough to understand her concerns were exaggerated. Seeing that their misunderstanding was cleared up, Qrow smiled again, a genuine smile compared to the act he put on earlier, and waved his hand.

"Come on, don't you have somewhere to be?"

Jade perked up again, remembering her previous hastiness. She bowed deeply, partially for the misunderstanding just now and partially in thanks for the advice he gave, before sprinting across the wet pavement, each step creating a blossom of water in its wake.

Qrow couldn't help, but chuckle one last time as he watched Jade's figure shrink into the distance.

"What a strange girl."

He got off from his seat, ready to leave himself. Despite his casual attitude, he actually had important matters to attend to. He squeezed out the remainder of rain water from his soggy sleeves, and was about to venture back into the light shower when a voice, a female voice, called out from the shadows.

"Done with your little side adventure?"

The happy mood Qrow was in from talking to Jade quickly disintegrated as he hunched over in mild disgust.

"How long have you been watching, Raven?"

There was a shift in the shadows as a shape resembling a bird suddenly morphed and a woman with long jet black hair and piercing red eyes emerged. She had a toned build, which contrasted with Qrow's scrawny appearance, but the resemblance faces was uncanny; it was his twin sister, Raven.

"Long enough."

Qrow groaned. It was just like Raven to be cryptic and aloof, but it was clear to him that she won't elaborate further, much less continue the line of conversation.

"All business and no fun with you." He scoffed as he turned to face his sister. "So? You here to tell me off for being late?"

"Oh, so you CAN realize your own mistakes. Wow, I'm impressed."

Sarcasm was practically dripping from her lips, which Qrow did not appreciate. He wanted to retaliate but had to ball his hand tightly to stop himself. An argument right now will get them nowhere as they have more pressing matters to attend to. But at the very least, he wanted to defend himself just to maintain a shred of his dignity.

"Hey, how was I supposed to know it was going to rain today?"

"Should've been prepared."

"Really?" He gave her an unamused look. "You know my Semblance is bad luck. Do you really expect me to be prepared for every shit the world can throw at me?"

"At the very least, I expected you to not lag behind so as to not get caught in the storm." Raven temperament flared for a moment, before simmering back to a collected, albeit slightly agitated, state. There was more she wanted to say, but decided to stop there. "Anyways, enough with the chatter. Let's get going. We don't want to keep the rest of the team waiting."

Without another word, she stepped back into the shadow of the building, her entire body swallowed by the darkness, and a moment later a black raven zoomed out.

Qrow groaned again, letting out all the built up stress from dealing with his sister, before stepping into the shadow as well. Then, following behind the raven, a second black bird emerged and the two soared through the gloomy sky, flying directly towards the iconic clocktower at the center of the school.

"We've checked the place you told us about. There wasn't much activity and the thing you wanted us to look out for was intact."

There were six people present in Ozpin's spacious clocktower office. Ozpin sat at his desk while Glynda stood beside him. Facing them on the other side of the desk was a team of four, two of them being Qrow and Raven, who arrived a few minutes prior, a tall blonde man with fair skin, and a petite woman wearing a white cloak.

It was the hooded woman that spoke. Despite her small stature, she carried herself with confidence and was, in fact, the leader of the team.

"Thank you, Summer," Ozpin responded with a slight smile. After a moment's pause, he addressed the man beside her. "And you too, Tai."

Tai ruffled his hair, a bit embarrassed but definitely happy to be praised.

However, despite Ozpin's calm attitude, hints of concern were bleeding from his gaze. "And you, Raven and Qrow, what of the campsite?"

"There wasn't anything abnormal there," Raven took the initiative. "Other than a few straggling Grimm, which were easy enough to clean up, there hasn't been any sign of life there for a while."

"If you even consider Grimm living," Qrow added, leading to a sharp glare from his sister.

"Hmmm." Ozpin contemplated the information given to him, his elbows planted on the desk and fingers laced. His furrowed brow and restless fidgeting suggest that he did not like the picture painted for him. However, the four students present, officially Team STRQ, were still unaware of the meaning behind the task they were assigned so they could only look on with anxious anticipation as they waited for Ozpin to explain the results.

The moment of silence was agonizing. The only sound was the rhythmic ticking of gears shifting beneath the floors which powered the clock just outside the office window, but somehow it exacerbated the quietness it served to break.

Thankfully, Ozpin didn't deliberate too long. He stood from his seat and approached the glass wall which overlooked the school grounds.

"Increased Grimm activity throughout the wilderness. Civil unrest rising from the cities. And yet, nothing out of place from 'that' place. If that is the case, then it is as I feared."

"Oh? Care to tell us what that might be?" Raven sneered mockingly. Of her teammates, she had been the most against the series of missions Ozpin assigned them since they were told "the truth." However, in consideration for her team leader's propensity to do the "right thing," she stowed her criticism and followed along. But that hasn't stopped her from showing disdain from time to time. "We've been hauling ass for your sake for the last few weeks. The very least you can do is tell us what all this was for."

"Raven…" Summer had a worry look on her face, but Ozpin lifted his hand to reassure her.

"Your concerns are warranted but rest assured, I was planning to divulge the information regardless." Ozpin turned to face the team, much more stern than normal. "However, this information must be kept within this room. Do you understand?"

Team STRQ tensed up at his sudden seriousness and they all nodded. They have been working with him for a while now and seeing him like this was a rare sight so they understood the magnitude of the situation

"Good."

Once Ozpin confirmed their response, he began to explain.

"All the things I've had you investigate, the Grimm activity, hysteria in the rural communities, the Blood Claws, those all fit her modus operandi of ensuing chaos. But if what Summer said is true and nothing has changed from 'that place' then she is not operating by herself. Rather, it is likely that she had sowed the seed of her revolution to willing individuals for a long time and they have moved in the shadows on their own, preparing. We are only now seeing the results of that effort and it is safe to say that whatever she has planned, it will be coming soon."

He paused there, letting the words sink in. Each member of Team STRQ carried a different expression to the news, but they all understood the gravity behind the situation. However, a sudden revelation dawned upon Summer and she raised her hand.

"Yes, Summer?"

"Does that mean the thing the other person is investigating…"

Ozpin nodded. "Very astute. Yes, you are correct to assume that it is very likely that the issue the other member is investigating is related to all this."

This drew concern from Raven. "Then, that means…"

"There is a spy in the school." Qrow finished her sentence.

This time it was Tai who raised his hand. "Isn't that, like, really bad? Shouldn't we close the school?"

"And what about the winter camp? Shouldn't we cancel that, too?" Summer added.

Ozpin shook his head with a pained expression.

"No. While I understand the risks, we should avoid doing things that will alert the spy of our intentions. As the saying goes 'keep your friend close, but your enemies closer'. Until we can ascertain the identity and intentions of the spy, we keep things the way they are. However, keep an eye out for anything suspicious around campus. As for the campout, I'll make sure to beef up the security. If there is a perfect opportunity to make a move, then that will be the place."

He made eye contact with each member of the room, making sure they all understood what's at stake. They all nodded. However, there was one last concern on Qrow's mind.

"What about the other guy? Should we let him know?"

Ozpin turned his gaze towards the school again.

"No, let him do as he pleases for now. He is a bit of an enigma so I have yet to fit his role in all this. But if anything, I know he is not the spy."

But he did have a look of worry on him. And as he gazed out the clocktower window into the receding rain clouds, he couldn't help mutter to himself.

"That being said, knowing his track record, I hope he doesn't overdo it too much."