Hey Guys! I'm finally back with another chapter! I hope you all enjoy the events that happen in this certain chapter and I hope that I didn't disappoint you. I continue to appreciate your support and love for this story and we're nowhere near to done with this story, I just can't wait to continue this adventure with you guys. Anyways, Enjoy the chapter!

Chapter 11

Blake sat across from Ozpin in his office, waiting for him to respond to the information she'd just told him. The grandmaster took a deep breath and looked at the young woman. "You're sure it's those three?" he asked. Blake nodded.

"I saw them myself, they were meeting with Roman Torchwick," she told him. Ozpin sighed and took a drink of his coffee. He was quiet for a moment before he spoke.

"Then we need to inform our best Assassin's about this and discreetly observe Miss Fall, Miss Sustrai, and Mister Black in order to keep our Brotherhood safe," he told her. Blake nodded. "I will call a meeting after dinner tonight, I assume it's alright to bring your former protege into this loop?" he asked. Blake thought for a moment before sighing and nodding.

"As long as Yang and Weiss are brought into the loop as well," she told him, she looked at him. "They're just as good as Ruby, they can handle this," she added. Ozpin sighed.

"Blake… I can be sure that Ruby is qualified as she knows about this mission, but Yang and Weiss don't know what's going on. I can't be certain that they can do what we need to do," he told her. Blake shook her head.

"Oz, you trust me right?" she asked him.

"You're on my council Blake, of course I trust you," he said. Blake looked at him with honesty in her eyes.

"Then trust in Yang and Weiss too, I've spent enough time with them to know that they are true Assassins," she told him. Oz thought for a moment before sighing and nodding.

"Alright Blake, but you will be the one to fill them in," he told her. "You have until dinner to do so," he added. Blake nodded and stood up.

"I will do so right away, you have my word," she told him. Ozpin nodded and dismissed her. He watched her leave and sighed as he thought about the information given to him.

"She's doing the same thing I've been doing for years, using children to fight a war…" he thought. "But unlike her, I will lay down my life for these children," he added.

Blake hurried to find Yang and Weiss, she looked all around and found them in the library with Ruby. She quietly hurried over to them and cleared her throat, making all three women jump. "Jeez Blake, a little warning next time," Yang said, putting a hand over her heart.

"Sorry but I have something important to discuss with you and Weiss, I need you two and Ruby to come to my quarters," she told them. They looked at her nervously before nodding and following her, once in the privacy of her quarters she turned to them. "Sorry about that, but what I have to tell you is something only a few people know," she told them.

"Okay…?" Yang said, crossing her arms. Blake sighed.

"We are on the brink of another war with the Templars, one that will be even more deadly than the Great War and we know there are moles within our Brotherhood," she explained. Weiss and Yang looked at each other in surprise before Weiss looked at Blake.

"Blake… that's impossible, the Templars don't have the numbers to infiltrate us while gearing up for a war," she said. Blake shook her head.

"That's what the councils have wanted everyone to believe for years, but we were wrong to keep you all in the dark," she said. "The Templars started gaining power years ago, my parents were tasked with hunting down infiltrators and keeping the Brotherhoods safe; only it backfired on them," she explained. Ruby looked at her sadly.

"It's what got them killed… wasn't it?" she asked. Blake sighed and nodded, causing Yang and Weiss to frown sadly.

"Since then the Templars have only gained more power, enough to infiltrate and destroy us if we're not careful," she told them sadly. "Lady Salem… the leader of the Templars… she uses children who have been orphaned either directly by her or indirectly by the growing war to fight her battles, it's what she did with Adam and it's what she's doing with Cinder, Mercury, and Emerald. If we don't stop her she's just going to force more children to do her dirty work…" she said, a hand going to her side where her injury was.

"So… what do you need us to do?" Yang asked her. Weiss nodded, both looking at the Master Assassin with determination. Ruby smiled and looked to her old mentor as well, smiling softly. Blake looked between the three young women and smiled.

"The first thing I'm going to need you to do is accompany me to a meeting tonight, there we will get our orders from Ozpin and figure out our next moves," she told them. Weiss brightened.

"You mean, we're actually going to be in the same room as the high council?!" she asked, excited. Blake chuckled.

"Yes, you three will sit in on a council meeting tonight," she said before gaining a serious face. "But there is a few things you must know before the meeting," she told them. The women all nodded and focused on their friend. "While there you are only there to observe and listen, unless you are directly spoken to. You are there on my recommendation so any outburst from you reflects poorly on me, I'm already the youngest Master on the council and I really don't need another thing that could make them dislike me or push aside my ideas," she explained. They nodded and Ruby smiled.

"Don't worry Blake, we won't let you down," she told her. Blake nodded.

"Alright, why don't we go get dinner and I will fetch you once Ozpin calls for the meeting," she suggested. The others nodded and together they left to the mess hall to get dinner.

Ruby, Weiss, and Yang all stood behind Blake's chair in the High Council chambers, listening to Ozpin talk to the others. "Thank you all for meeting so late, we have come across more information regarding the Templars and their plans," he told them. Everyone looked at him intrigued as he looked towards Blake. "Our own Blake Belladonna has uncovered more insight into the Templar's plan of trying to bring us down from the inside," he told them. Everyone looked to Blake.

"In a recent jaunt down to the docks I came across Roman Torchwick who as you all know was in Vacuo when me and Ruby were there trying to prevent it from falling to the Templars, I caught him meeting with his own moles that are implanted right here in our bureau," she said. Everyone became intrigued. "My investigation has turned up that Mercury Black, Emerald Sustrai, and Cinder Fall are all working with the Templars and I can guarantee you that at least one of them has a close connection to Lady Salem," she told them.

"They did transfer from Mistral where we all know that Leonardo Lionhardt was under Templar control for who knows how long," Raven said.

"Hold on, how do we know that they are for sure in league with the Templars?" Tai asked. Qrow chuckled.

"Because they fit the M/O of people who are usually forced to work for them," he told him. "Raven and I know firsthand just how desperate orphans can be and end up trusting the wrong people without realizing they're the bad guys until it's almost too late," he added, glancing at his sister who just looked down.

"Did you see them meeting together or did you just hear them?" Glynda asked.

"I saw them myself, they were meeting on the docks with Roman Torchwick and talking about how Salem is the one letting them live and survive as long as they did what she asked," Blake told her. Glynda nodded and they looked to Ozpin.

"How do you suppose we go about this sir?" Glynda asked him. Oz sighed and leaned forward on his elbows, observing everyone in the room before speaking.

"In the past few hours I believe I have come up with a plan, Miss Belladonna has recommended Miss Rose, Miss Xiao-Long, and Miss Schnee all help with our operations against the Templars and I believe I have come up with a plan that plays to all their strengths and can help turn the tide in the war," he told them. The three young women perked up and focused their attention onto the grandmaster. "Miss Schnee can correspond with our allies in Atlas as her sister is one of the higher ranking members of our brotherhood there, in turn she can give the information on shipping lanes to Miss Xiao-Long who has proven to be an excellent sailor and wayfarer," he explained. "Together they can sabotage the Templars shipments to and from Vale and Atlas causing a disruption amongst their ranks," he told them. Weiss and Yang nodded in understanding, both smiling happily at their tasks. Ozpin then focused on Ruby and Blake. "Miss Rose and Miss Belladonna will continue their mission of weeding out our traitors, try and flush them out to reveal themselves if they can but their main goal will be to continue to observe and prevent them from making any moves towards us," he explained. Blake and Ruby nodded, the cat faunus having an arrogant smirk. "Everyone else will go on as normal, we must not let on that we know who is trying to bring us down from the inside," he told everyone else who nodded in understanding. "Good, we will meet periodically on our progress. Meeting dismissed," he said, standing up.

Everyone shuffled out of the room and the four young women all walked together. "I'll start sending correspondence with Winter right away and gain any information I can on Templar shipping lanes and start getting it to you right away," Weiss told Yang. The blonde nodded and smiled.

"I'll start getting a crew and a ship ready for when your sister sends word on a shipment coming in," she replied. Blake nodded.

"Good, you two need to keep in close contact with each other that way that part of the plan works out," she said. "I have faith that you two can help turn the tide in this war before it even begins," she told them. The young women smiled and nodded, leaving to do their work. Ruby looked at her old mentor.

"What are we going to do?" she asked. Blake smiled.

"Hopefully tomorrow I can challenge one of them to a sparring match and rattle them enough to start to slip up," she said. Ruby frowned.

"Don't you think that's a little irresponsible? They'll catch onto us pretty quickly if we do that, won't they?" she asked. Blake sighed and thought for a moment.

"Maybe… But they might not catch on if you're the one to challenge them," she said. Ruby arched an eyebrow making Blake sigh. "Look, all you need to do is judge how their fighting skills are and maybe rattle them a little," she told her. Ruby sighed and nodded.

"Okay, I'll try to challenge one of them soon," she said. "In the meantime we should probably patrol by the docks to help Yang keep the element of surprise," she added. Blake smiled and nodded, putting her hand on the younger woman's shoulder.

"I taught you well Ruby, we can leave in ten minutes if you wish?" she suggested. Ruby smiled and nodded. "Great, I'll meet you out front then, go ahead and prepare," she told her. Ruby nodded and walked away, Blake watching her before looking down at her hand. "I've got to tell her soon… I may regret it if I don't…" she thought. Ruby rounded the corner and paused once she was out of sight, bringing a hand up to her shoulder and blushing lightly.

"Why can't I bring myself to tell her…? Raven told me that she feels the same but I don't know for sure if I can…" she thought. She shook her head before continuing on her way to her room.

A few weeks later Ruby was sitting eating lunch when Jaune, Pyrrha, Ren, and Nora sat down next to her. She sighed and took a bite of her food before speaking. "I'm not telling you guys anything Jaune, I've already told you this," she told them. Jaune frowned.

"Oh come on Ruby! You were invited into a council meeting and all of a sudden you were going on more campaigns to fight the templars, same with Weiss, and Yang is out sailing every few weeks," he said. "There's obviously something going on and you know it, so just tell us," he begged. Ruby shook her head.

"Sorry, but I was sworn to secrecy," she told him. "Same with Weiss and Yang, I'm sure you'll find out eventually but right now you don't need to worry yourself with it," she explained.

"The Masters have their reasoning Jaune, it's our job to just trust them," Pyrrha told him. The blonde man groaned and slumped against the table. "They'll bring us into the loop when they're ready," she added.

"I bet they're just special missions," Nora said. "Probably super dangerous and exciting missions, but they're probably also the only ones that can handle these missions," she added. Ren nodded.

"In my opinion, Ruby, Weiss, and Yang are all very skilled Assassins in their own right," he said. "It would make sense that Ozpin would trust them with specialized missions that are geared towards their specific abilities," he explained. Jaune huffed.

"Yeah well, not all of us were trained by some of the greatest assassins the order has seen in probably a hundred years," he said offhandedly. Everyone stiffened and glanced towards Ruby who held a calm demeanor, Jaune realized what he'd said and quickly looked at her. "I didn't mean anything by it Ruby! I'm sorry! I just got caught up in my head that I didn't think before speaking!" he apologized. Ruby just stared at him for a moment before smiling softly.

"I'm not mad Jaune, honest," she said, reassuring him. She looked down at her hands that were now folded in front of her on the table and her face softened. "Honestly… being friends with you guys I sometimes forget how skilled I am, how I was trained… I was pretty much born into this life so I've always focused on fighting, but I was lucky to be able to hone those skills by being trained by Blake… I don't blame you for any resentment you hold towards me for that, but I'm never going to get mad when you voice it," she told them. They all looked at her in surprise, not expecting a good reaction to what had been said but they all softened at her words.

"Hey, we don't resent you at all," Jaune said. "In fact, we all look up to you," he told her. Pyrrha nodded.

"We all know how strict Raven is and she was the one to teach Blake, we also know that Blake was also very strict with you," she said. Ruby smiled and nodded.

"I'll be honest, there were times that I hated being her apprentice… But then she always gave me hope with a story about my mom and then I was reminded of why I'm working so hard," she told them.

"Your mother… she was an assassin too, yes?" Ren asked. Ruby nodded.

"Yep, The Silver Rose of Vale… she was the best assassin of her time and even helped turn Qrow and Raven to the side of the Assassins during the Great War," she told them. "She… Was the best mom and an even greater Assassin and I hope that I'll be as good as her one day," she said.

"I've heard of her! Summer Rose was amazing, helped end the Great War with the Masters Branwen and Xiao Long!" Jaune cried. "Together they single handedly took down the biggest Templar Compound the Assassin's had ever seen!" he said excitedly. Ruby laughed softly.

"Yep, that was mom," she said.

"I heard that she was killed during an important undercover mission years ago," Ren said. Ruby sighed and looked down.

"It was a scouting mission…" she said. "Her, Raven, and Blake went to scout out some templar activity in the lower districts… Blake was just promoted and it was her first major assignment and like many of us… she was excited and slightly overconfident," she told them, giving a small laugh. "They all got separated and Blake made her way through the sewers and up to the rooftops, she was trying to get back to either the bureau or meet back up with Raven or my mom… Mom found her and was trying to help her, they got into a scuffle with some templars but easily took them down. Blake didn't see the templar who was taking aim at her and mom pushed her out of the way, taking the killshot that was meant for Blake instead…" she explained to them. Jaune and the others were silent, all trying to process it.

"So… she gave her life to protect Blake…?" the blonde man asked. Ruby nodded.

"She saved Blake's life twice… See, my mom was the one who found her on the streets and brought her here when she was a child," she revealed to them. "In a way, because of my mom, I think Blake feels that she owes mom in some way by keeping me safe whenever we're on assignments together…" she added. "Maybe that's why I'm having a hard time telling her how I feel, because what if the way she acts really is because she feels she owes mom something…" she thought to herself. Jaune was about to say something when the assassin they were talking about walked up to the table.

"Ruby, are you free for a little while?" Blake asked, looking down at the younger woman who smiled softly. Ruby nodded.

"I am, what'cha need Blake?" she asked.

"I was hoping we could spar for a little bit? Then maybe head down to the docks to check in with Yang," she asked. Ruby smiled and nodded, standing up. She turned to her other friends with a smile.

"Sorry guys, duty calls," she told them. Pyrrha smiled.

"It's no problem Ruby, I'm sure we'll find time to catch up later," she said. Ruby nodded and followed Blake out of the mess hall. Jaune and the others watched both of them leave.

"I never knew that Master Belladonna had such a rough time in the Brotherhood…" Ren said softly.

"She lost a parental figure twice… I couldn't imagine going through that," Nora said. "Do you think that's why she's always wearing black robes?" she asked. Ren shrugged.

"I feel bad for Ruby mainly…" Jaune said. They looked at him, confused. "Well, think about it. Blake was careless in her first mission without a mentor, and it got Ruby's mom killed and then when Ruby was training she was placed under Blake? Kind of morbid don't you think? Having to learn from the very person who's the reason your parent was killed…" he explained. Pyrrha sighed.

"The council always has their reasons, perhaps it was Summer's wish for Blake to train Ruby? Or it could have been to help Blake heal from the pain of losing Summer as well. We all need to trust the council, even when we don't necessarily agree with them," she told her friends. They were all silent as they took in her words, all knowing that she spoke the truth.

Roman growled as a messenger again relayed that a shipment from Atlas was intercepted and destroyed by assassins. Cinder and her crew walked in and she chuckled at Roman's frustrations. "Having troubles getting shipments Roman?" she asked. The man growled and glared at the girl.

"What the fuck do you want?" he asked. Cinder smirked.

"I have information that you might want to hear," she said. Roman rolled his eyes.

"I highly doubt that anything you have to say is worth my time," he said.

"Now Roman, that's no way to treat one of our best infiltrators now is it?" a voice from the shadows asked. Everyone tensed as Salem stepped out and they bowed to her.

"Lady Salem, I didn't realize that you would be stopping by," Roman said.

"I had heard rumors that Vale wasn't getting their shipments, now I see that it's the truth and not just a petty rumor," she told him.

"Yes, well, our assassin friends are somehow getting information from us and intercepting our shipments," he told her. Salem nodded.

"And have you tried to defend against the assassins that are going after our ships?" she asked. Roman growled.

"Yes, but it seems they have an even better sailor than that of Qrow Branwen," he said. Salem arched an eyebrow and looked over to Cinder.

"Have you heard of any such assassins?" she asked her. Cinder smirked.

"Yes, it seems that his recent apprentice was promoted and she took to sailing more than the old man," she told her. "I also believe I know how they're getting the information on our shipments," she added. Salem looked at her intrigued.

"Oh? And how are our enemies gaining this information?" she asked her. Cinder and her group smiled.

"A few years ago the Black Cat Assassin and the daughter of the Silver Rose of Vale took a contract to Atlas to meet with the assassins that Blake had helped set up there," Cinder said. "While there they had to rescue the youngest daughter of Jacques Schnee and it was assumed that she was killed that night and they'd failed, except we know that Weiss Schnee didn't die that night and followed the two to Vale," she told them. Roman growled.

"She's using her family connections to give the Assassins our information!" he growled out. Salem sighed.

"Do we know the names of these… children assigned with taking us down aside from Weiss Schnee?" she asked.

"Ruby Rose, and Yang Xiao Long ma'am," Emerald said. Salem looked to Cinder and Mercury for confirmation, they nodded and she took a mental note on their names.

"One more thing my lady," Cinder said. Salem looked at her with a raised eyebrow. "It seems that the Black Cat Assassin has done the impossible by surviving your attack in Vacuo, we have a feeling that she's leading those three in fighting against our operations," she informed her. Salem sighed and thought.

"It seems that fate is on her side… We must step up our tactics, feed them wrong information to save our shipments and act more aggressively towards their campaigns," she told her followers. They all nodded.

"Do you want us to start striking at the assassins?" Mercury asked. Salem looked at the three and shook her head.

"No, keep your cover," she told them. "You will know when the time comes to reveal your true colors," she said. Cinder nodded and the three quickly returned to the assassins bureau. Roman went to send word to their comrades in Atlas, leaving Salem alone to think. "You may think you have the upperhand Ozpin… But you've only just started a war that I'm afraid you're just too weak to win this time," she thought with a smirk.

Again, thank you all for the support and love for this story. I'm also announcing something exciting: As you remember in my one authors note on this story I mentioned artwork about this story, that if you had any to send it to me. Well I'm announcing a contest! If any of you are artists and have artwork for this story, or want to create artwork for this story email it to me (which I will give out via pm only) and I will choose my overall favorites and feature them at the beginning of chapters (on AO3 and Wattpad only, sorry guys). Also! my top 3 favorites will receive the master transcript of not only this story, but the sequel once I finish it through the mail so you'll never lose it! They will also receive some artwork that I am currently planning for this story that will be included in an artbook that I put together of all your beautiful artwork! Don't worry though, everyone who submits artwork will get a copy of the artbook with a personal note by me!. This whole thing is just a thank you for the love and support you've all shown me through this process and I can't wait to see if any of you take up this challenge in doing this contest. Again, thank you so much!