Taking another bite of Pumpkin Pete's Alex sighed in contempt at the very obviously disgusting combination of flavors assaulting her palate. Picking up the box that was sent to her with a lovely little post-it note that read 'boop' she wondered why she ever indulged Nora in the first place, but she knew better to tell her no.

Hearing footsteps approaching from behind Alex set the box done and pushed the bowl away, turning around she watched as her wife walked into the entryway. Stopping just a few feet away from Alex Winter regarded her with a curious expression.

"Why would you eat that sad excuse for food?"

Glancing at the box once again Alex shrugged. "I kinda told Nora I would like a big dumb idiot, it is actually disgusting. It also doesn't help that I'm hungry and I didn't want to bother the cooks this early."

"You couldn't take two minutes to make eggs?" Winter said, shaking her head at Alex's laziness.

Chuckling awkwardly she looked away from the accusatory glance. "It's really early my brain isn't on yet." Alex defended.

"Well, you better make sure it is on, you have a job to do." Winter spoke sternly. "And I expect you to be smart about them."

"Them?" Alex asked with a tilt of her head.

"Another round for the Reclamation Act… Hopefully this one will go better since it took long enough to convince everyone to continue the program."

"Well if they're anything like her I wouldn't count on it." Alex responded sombrely.

"One is in a self imposed exile, and the other has a public laundry list of what he's done." Winter took a deep breath. "It's anyone's guess."

"Got it so tiptoe around one of them and be me around the other." Alex said standing up. "When do I leave?"

"After you turn your brain on."

"It's on its on, that was a joke, I'm just lazy." Alex said with a chuckle.

"Then check your scroll, unless you turned that off as well." Winter said, rolling her eyes.

Patting multiple pockets she eventually pulled her scroll out. "Nope I got it and I remembered to charge it too!" Glancing over the contents that were sent to her Alex looked at Winter in confusion. "You knew one of them?"

"That's not important right now."

"Well if he knows who you are he might ask questions so it's kind of important." Alex said, crossing her arms.

Sighing, Winter looked at Alex. "He was a student at Atlas' huntsmen academy when I took over, so yes I knew him. Other than that, the details regarding why he didn't finish his training aren't a concern for you."

"I guess that's fair but are they being added as team members or…. How are we doing this?"

"It might be better to keep them separated, but considering the others are away on missions, I don't see any other way to handle this."

"Eh, I'll handle them well enough, shouldn't be too bad. I'm assuming there's an airship on stand-by?"

"No, I thought I'd make you swim back to Atlas." Winter said sarcastically. "Of course there is, you dumb boob."

Rolling her eyes at the insult Alex stepped past Winter and stopped. "Do you think he'll be difficult?"

"Potentially."

"Well wish me luck?" Walking away from the conversation she made her way through the halls and past the various rooms in the mansion before making her way out into the courtyard.

Spotting the airship she made her way into it and immediately frowned upon seeing a pilot. "Why are you here?"

"Is that supposed to be a philosophical question, or are you asking me why i'm in the airship when I'm the one with the pilot's license?" The pilot asked looking back from performing the pre-flight check.

"We do this dance every time Winter sends me anywhere, you should know the drill by now. Also I may not have a license but we both know I can fly better than you." Alex replied back with disinterest.

"She's still my bird."

Staring at him she just waited for him to cave like he always did.

"A thousand lien and you can rent her for a trip."

"Thats never worked before so it isn't going to work now, so let's do the usual and you leave."

"I don't know, yokes being squeaky, might need to ground her to look at it…" The pilot said with a smirk. "Could be nothing if you want."

"I'll take my chances, I have enough experience to handle a squeaky yoke. Get out." Alex replied as the pilot stood with his hands up and left the ship.

Taking his seat she went over her own pre-flight check before she deemed the ship ready to go. "Oh it is squeaky, good to know."

Lifting the ship off the ground she took off and checked the ships navigation and made sure she was heading in the right direction, correcting her course accordingly she mentally prepared herself for the long flight ahead.


Running through the forest she kept her eyes open for clearings and or people milling about. She landed a couple of hours ago and she spent the entire time making her way through the forest looking for where her target was located which was proving difficult considering the only intel she had on his whereabouts was rumors and speculations.

Sliding to a stop Alex regarded an intricate mark on one of the trees in front of her. Taking a second to commit it to memory she turned around immediately at the sudden footsteps and voices behind her.

"You've got a lot of nerve stepping foot here uninvited." The dark skinned bandit said aiming his long neck rifle towards the intruder, his gray wolf ears perking up in case she wasn't alone.

"This is going to make my job much easier." She mumbled under her breath as she raised her hands in surrender. "I have no interest in fighting you."

"That works for us." A second bandit said from behind her, before looking at his buddy. "So are we doing catch and release or?"

"Well if she has no intent on fighting us then I'd say we take her to the boss." He said keeping his sights on her.

"Yes, that. I'm okay with that." Alex interrupted.

"I don't know. Could just blindfold and dump her a few miles out." The bandit behind her said as he leaned against a tree. "No need to bother the boss over a lost hiker."

"And risk the chance of her bringing over some huntsmen or hell Atlas personnel." The bandit slightly jutted his head towards his partner.

"He makes a good point you know, I could do that." She said interrupting again.

"Well there is also magical option number three… but that is usually frowned upon."

"And magic option three could attract Grimm. Do you usually think with your weapons?" The bandit said, slight annoyance in his voice.

"We'll only attract Grimm if we do option three here." He responded with a shrug. "Do it a few miles away and it's not our problem."

"How about we choose option one and you take me to your boss, I need to speak to her." Alex replied with a roll of her eyes at their banter.

"Shut it. You don't get a vote."

"I swear to the Gods…" The wolf bandit started. "Bind her hands, we're taking her to the boss."

Sighing in relief Alex stuck out her hands willingly while the other bandit came into view, noticing a tail flicking in irritation. "So is this an all Faunus camp?" Alex asked as the bandit tied her hands together.

"No, but the boss likes to use the Faunus members of our camp as scouts and lookouts." The first bandit said as he continued to escort her further into the frozen thicket.

Nodding along with his answer she followed with no resistance. "So is it a far walk? I've already been running for a while."

"Yeah…. We aren't playing twenty questions the whole way back kid." The second bandit said, pulling out a rag and looking at the other bandit. "Or do you also have a problem with gagging her too?"

"Do whatever you want. It'll end up coming off once we bring her back." The first bandit responded, flicking his fingers unamused.

"I'll be quiet." She said, making a zipping motion against her lips.

"One more word, and you're getting gagged…. Is that clear?"

Nodding Alex gave a thumbs up to not push her luck.

Spending the rest of the walk in silence they eventually came up to the massive gates that led to the interior of the camp, sighing in relief and in trepidation she mentally prepared herself for the coming confrontation.

"Hey! Open the damn gate. Patrol party plus one returning."

Staring up at the massive gates as they opened slowly Alex was escorted through the entrance and was being eyed by the multiple people doing whatever it was that they do when they're not pillaging.

Coming to a stop in front of a large tent she assumed that's where the boss was. Looking at her captors she waited for something to happen. Eventually something did happen as a dark grey haired woman came out of the tent. "Why is it that every time I send you two out on patrol you come back with a plus one?"

"Don't blame them I wanted to be a plus one, I've been looking for your camp for a few hours now. They expedited the process." Alex said stepping forward.

The camp's leader squinted her eyes at the unexpected guest. "And why were you looking for this camp in particular? Who are you with; huntsmen? Atlas? Regardless, why shouldn't I have my men deal with you like any other intruder?"

"To answer your first question, both, and to answer your second I don't think there is any need for a fight or murder." Alex replied calmly.

"I asked three questions." She replied calmly, as if she was trying to read the intruder's motives.

"So you did, my apologies. I was looking for any camp and I found yours first. I'm looking for someone and he was last spotted in the wilds of Solitas."

"Is that so?" She says with a slight smirk. "Do you even have a name for the person you're tracking down?"

Trying to pull out her scroll but frowning when she couldn't she paused to think for a second. "I believe his name is Timber. It's been a long morning."

"Timber huh?" Her smirk disappeared as she motioned one of the scouts to unbind her. "Come inside my tent, I'd rather my men not get antsy over who you're looking for."

After being unbinded by the bandit who initially binded her to begin with she followed the leader into her tent and stood at the entrance while waiting for more direction.

"Please, take a seat." She motioned towards a table set made of some sort of furnished dark wood. "Once you're situated I want to know why you're looking for a dead man. If you truly believe the rumors."

Taking a seat she sighed. "Well if he isn't dead I have a proposal for him from my boss that would grant him amnesty from all of his previous wrongdoings."

"Amnesty huh? Do tell me exactly who sent you." She narrows her eyes as she leans forward.

"Yes amnesty, and Winter Schnee." Alex says putting her hands on the table.

"I think we're done here. There's no way in hell he'd come back to being Atlas' dog." She says sliding away from the table. "Now unless you'd rather deal with the entirety of the camp, I recommend leaving quietly."

Alex smiled and leaned back. "So he is alive and I'm assuming he's here?"

'Oh shit.' The leader thought, realizing her slip up. "I never said he was here, but if it's that important to you then all you need to know is he still lives."

"He's outside isn't he?" Alex asked unfazed by the attempted lie.

"I told you to leave, if you really think he's here then go check for yourself. I will not stop my men from removing you themselves." She replies, making a shoo-ing motion.

"They can try but I don't want that to happen, I just need to speak to him and I'd rather do that in private so could you just call him in here?" Alex asked not moving from her seat.

"He'd never come with you if you're really working for the Schnee. Let the kid enjoy the life he got stuck with because of her." She replies with a tinge of malice seeping through.

"If he comes with me he can enjoy his life and do the job he was meant to do originally before whatever happened to him happened." She replied ignoring the anger.

With a deep sigh she realizes there's no winning with this one. "Fine, since you want to play that way I'll go see if he's around. It'll be on him if he goes with you." After the leader left the tent, Alex could hear her shouting at some of the camp members for her VIP.

After a couple minutes of waiting Alex heard a pair of footsteps approaching, turning around to watch the bandit leader come back into the tent with someone wearing a hoodie over their head.

"What's going on? I'm a little busy listening to Dave bitch and try to tell me his sprained ankle is actually twisted, and I'm getting to the point where I'm willing to prove him right just to shut him up."

"Hello, Timber? I assume." Alex asked politely.

"Who the fuck is she?" The hooded figure said.

"My name is Alex and I am here to speak to you specifically." She replied expecting the tone he exuded.

"Ash, what the hell is going on?" He asked nervously.

"Weren't you listening? She said she wanted to speak to you." Ash gives the figure an annoyed look. "What you do is up to you, but do be quick about it."

"I thought we agreed the dead don't talk to outsiders."

"We did, but the sooner you give her an answer the sooner you can go back to...whatever you were doing." Ash replies, slinking just outside of the tent.

"What do you want?" He asked, putting his hands in his pockets and leaning against one of the poles holding the tent up.

"I have a proposition for you, if you're willing to indulge me?" Alex asked him calmly.

"No."

"How does amnesty sound?" She said pinching the bridge of her nose.

"Sounds like you just said six unnecessary syllables…"

"That's all I have, you get legal freedom back. I don't know what caused you to run but if you agree you'll be granted a huntsmen license." Alex finished with a wave of her hand.

"Sure... Now do you have anything to actually back that up or are these just empty words?" He asked, annoyed at the whole situation.

"Why would I let myself get captured if my goal was to lie to you? That's a death wish." She said, confused at the question.

"Might have thought you could lie your way into a nice vacation." He replied, shifting nervously where he stood.

"I mean if you agree you'll be heading with me to go pick up one more person, so it's kind of like a vacation. My boss picked you specifically." She said standing up.

"Lucky me." He said under his breath.

"Well kind of I'm an optimist so I think so?" Alex shrugged. "So do we have a deal?"

"Still waiting for you to back up anything you've said."

"Fair enough, my boss who is a huntsmen and a high ranking officer in the Atlesian military has asked for you specifically to undo whatever actions caused you to run in the first place." Pausing she took a breath. "It's called the Reformation Act and you have been picked as a candidate."

Pushing off the pole, and taking his hands out of his pockets, and stepping towards Alex. "I'm sorry, how the hell do they plan to undo THAT!" He yelled back. "Unless Atlas tech has skyrocketed in the last couple years, I'm pretty sure they can't 'undo' shit."

"Well lucky you I don't know what THAT is. I don't know your history, I was just told to find you." Alex replied calmly.

"Maybe they should have sent someone who did know what they were getting into… but it wouldn't be the first time they sent someone in blind."

"I know enough. You want the specifics you can talk to my boss when we land." Crossing her arms Alex just stared at him.

"As fun as that sounds, I have a few responsibilities here I can't exactly abandon." He said, turning to leave the tent.

"Ash could probably handle those for a bit while you fix your past mistakes. She seems… capable." she replied with as much honesty as she can summon.

"She's more capable than you, but I'm not dumping more on her plate. She has enough to manage, and doesn't need that level of energy thrown at her to deal with." He said over his shoulder.

Sighing, she facepalmed. "I'm sure she can handle whatever it is if she can handle being the leader of a camp of bandits."

"Someone's persistent."

"You have no idea."

"Well I have nothing to do for the foreseeable future, so I'm willing to find out, but pretty sure you said you had something else you needed to go do, so don't think you can say the same."

"Well good news about that, you'll be helping me retrieve the other candidate!" She said with a smile.

"Services are not currently for sale." He said turning around with a smirk on his face.

"You will not be getting paid until you complete the program, if you complete it, but don't worry where you'll be staying will provide everything you need."

"Pretty sure it is illegal to not pay faunus for working anymore." He said offhandedly.

"You know that's not how this will work so don't pull the race card." Alex said with a frown.

"Well it was against pulling the race card or the pin on this." He says tossing Alex a canister. "Figured you'd rather not have that go off in your face."

"Be aggressive all you want. It's easy to see through. Are you coming with me or not?" She asked impatiently.

"Do I have the right to leave if I change my mind?"

"Yes, but nothing would change for you and it'd be a waste of time." She said stepping past him and opening the tent flap.

"Well what else is new..." He sighed. "Wait by the gate for a minute, I have some stuff I need to get settled real fast." He said walking out of the tent before Alex heard a high pitched whistle.

Turning around she watched as four pups ran up to Timber and playfully frolicked around him. "Oh."

Crouching down to pet them, Timber looked up at Ash. "You think you can look after them for a while?"

"Do I have a choice?" Ash sighs, catching his gaze.

"You do, but you know what I'll do if something happens to them."

"Yeah, yeah. Go do your big boy things and I'll keep the pups safe."

"Awwww that's so cute!" Alex squealed.

"I said wait at the gate!" Timber snapped back.

"I was then I saw puppies! You about ready?" She asked a little impatiently.

"Yeah…" He said looking back down and giving each pup one last pat on the head, mumbling. "Ready as I'll ever be."

"Good, let's go!" She said walking towards the gate.

"So where is this other guy you wanted to find?"

"Who said it was a guy?" Alex said, quirking her eyebrow.

"Who said I care if it is a guy?"

"Nah, it's a guy I believe." Alex said as they made their way through the forest and back towards her airship.


'Shithole, sweet, shithole.' Thought the dark haired man as he pulled up the hood on his light brown cloak while wandering through the alleyways of the Mistrali slums, the chain of his whip on his right hip rattling with every step much unlike the long sword opposite of it. The rain that had come in made the brickwork of the buildings cold and slimy as he lightly grazed the right side of the trash ridden alcove before emerging into streets packed with poors; Human and Faunus alike. A job here, a job there and he'd move on to the next place that needed his help, even if that help was in the form of holding off hordes of Grimm from the town walls. Pay was good though, helped him get by for food, weapons, and the occasional drink. Though the only thing he wanted was to be a wallflower when he was back in town, out in the field was the only time he'd care to interact with whoever was crazy enough to join him on the hunting parties. Even if that was mostly due to not wanting anymore innocent blood on his hands, especially after The Incident. Continuing down the wet cobble roads he found shelter in a nearby tavern, throwing a couple plastic cards onto the bar's counter for the owner to pick up.

"Can I help you?" The man behind the counter asked, confused about the Huntsman's intent.

"That should be enough for me to stay the night and a shot of Deathstalker whiskey." The Huntsman said, taking a seat.

"Okay...can I get a name at least so I can put you on the list?" The barkeep said, his white tail coming into view as he went under the bar to grab the bottle the Huntsman requested.

"I don't see how my name matters, but if you must put me down on the list then just jot down 'A' for me." The Huntsman said as he watched the snow fox Faunus pour the shot of whiskey for him.

"Just 'A' huh? Well it's none of my business what Huntsmen are doing when they come and go." The barkeep said as he proceeded to return the bottle where it belonged and began polishing a stein.

Taking his shot, the Huntsman slid off the bar stool he was on and lifted his arms in a stretch. "Thanks for serving me, I imagine not all the people here are...open minded to say the least."

On his way towards the nearby stairwell he bumped into a young red headed woman, half her head shaved, as well as a hooded figure that smelled of gunpowder. 'More hunters settling in for the night.' He thought. "Sorry, didn't think the whiskey would've settled in that fast. Apologies."

Shrugging off the minor collision the girl smiled at him while the hooded figure looked on indifferently. "Don't worry about it. I may have gotten distracted."

"Right, sorry to bother you. It is quite late and if you're planning on getting a drink show the barkeep some courtesy. Things are bad enough around here as is." The man said as he attempted to make his way past her.

Reaching out and grabbing his arm she quickly let go as he gave her a questioning look. "Maybe you can help us?"

"I guess that depends on the job. Like I said it is late and I have a rather potent alcohol making its way through my system." The man said, gripping onto the rail just in case.

"Well me and my friend here are looking for someone, do you mind?" She asked the stranger.

"We are not friends." The hooded figure clarified.

"Silence you." She bantered back with the hooded figure.

"O...kay? Well if you're looking for someone could I at least get a name?" The man asked, wondering why the pair had so much tension between them.

"Uh yes! I believe it was Augustus Belmondo? Do you know him?" She asked him.

"Erm…" The man said, feeling himself grow pale. "I don't believe so, now if you excuse me I should get some rest before I have to depart tomorrow morning."

Setting his hand on the man's shoulder the hooded figure said. "Wanna explain why your pulse is in the one twenties?"

"Want to explain how you'd be able to know that?" The man asked, shrugging off the figure's hand.

"Not really."

"Listen I'm not looking for trouble and I certainly am not helping look for essentially a dead man." The man said, trying to go up to his room.

"I believe the reports said he is hiding, not dead, sooooo I'm to understand you know of his whereabouts?" She asked stepping forward.

"That's not what I've heard, but you're insistent on this then it can wait until the morning." The man said, irritated over the fact that his long awaited rest was being delayed.

"I'm afraid it can't. It's very urgent, I need to speak to him."

"I see, well then." The man said, tilting his head towards the stair. "Come on then."

Nodding she motioned for the hooded figure to follow as they made their way up the stairs after the stranger and into the room he was occupying.

"So you're looking for someone who's part of the Belmondo bloodline right? Why?" The man asked as he sat upon the foot of the bed.

"Well my boss wants to see if he'd be willing to join a program that restores or grants Huntsmen status to those who have had less than fortunate things happen to them." Pausing she eyed him suspiciously.

"I see." The man sighs before removing his cloak, revealing the white tunic with gold and blue accents underneath. "You might want to take a seat then."

Taking a seat across from the stranger she and her companion occupied two desk chairs and waited for him to speak.

"I am Augustus Belmondo…" The man said with hesitation in his voice and guilt in his eyes. "I have no idea why anyone would want to find me though."

Eyes widening she leaned forward. "We want to give you another chance at getting your license."

"She wants to." The figure said offhandedly.

"I doubt anyone would want to give me a license when I've got innocent blood on my ledger." Augustus said, ruffling his dark blue hair.

"What do you mean?" She asked

"It's something I'd prefer not to talk about." Augustus said, unknowingly reaching for the scar across his cheek.

"Well the way I see it my boss wouldn't have sent for you if you were a murderer." She said.

"Well then, I suppose if I were to go along I would at least want to know who your boss is." Augustus replied. "Better yet, who are you two?"

"My boss is classified but my name I can tell you and his I guess." She replied looking over at her unamused companion. "I am Alexandria White and he is Timber… uh Timber? I don't know his last name, he never told me."

"Your boss sent you to find me without a last name? Oh, this is gonna go great…" Timber mumbled.

Scowling Alex glared at him. "I didn't read that far."

"You didn't…" Augustus pinches the bridge of his nose. "Okay, well you know what I'll entertain you and your boss. Only if I get to help the people on this Gods forsaken rock of a planet."

"Hey, I'll have you know it was really early when I got handed the files for both of you, I didn't read yours either!" Alex exclaimed exasperated.

"Then how the hell did you know where to find me or him?" Timber questioned.

Rubbing the back of her head Alex chuckled nervously. "Well you see we heard rumors of your location in the wilderness of Solitas and I got lucky. For him we had Qrow keep an eye on him."

"You had a bird follow him?" Timber said in disbelief.

"You had a bird follow me!?" Augustus said, concerned.

"His name is Qrow spelled with a 'q', he's not a bird although it'd be cool if he could do that." Alex said thoughtfully.

"Wait...like Branwen?" Augustus' eyes narrowed at the revelation. "You had a bandit tail me?"

Trying to diffuse the tension Alex raised her hands. "I didn't per se, my superior did and he's not a bandit."

"As far as I was aware he was still with his sister in their clan." Augustus said, glaring daggers at the girl. "Plus if you read that case file your superior gave you, you'd know that I prefer to work alone."

"Well apparently you're out of the loop, and so does he but here he is." She said pointing to Timber.

"Don't use me to make a point." Timber said, staring at the bed.

"Well whether you two like it or not you have to work together now, especially if Augustus joins." She said.

"I mean, do I get a choice?" Augustus asked, noticing Timber's staring.

"You do but it'd be in your best interest to accept the offer. If you decide you don't want to we'll leave you alone but I don't think that's what you want."

"Well…if what you're saying is true then I'll entertain the idea." Augustus said, looking back and forth between the two. "What's our mission?"

"Well we don't really have a specific mission, we'll pretty much do what needs to be done and after about a year you guys should be fully fledged huntsmen." Alex said standing up.

"Yay, another year away from home." Timber said under his breath.

"Tell me about it." Augustus mutters, hoping only Timber could hear.

"It won't be that bad, fancy housing, free supplies the whole shebang." She said proudly.

"So home sweet home I guess." Augustus looked slightly disapproving.

"It'll be fine, besides you'll have unlimited resources! What's not to like about that?"

"Define unlimited?" Timber questioned.

"Our boss is rich." Alex replied deadpan.

"I mean I assumed as much." Augustus says slowly easing his way towards the head of the bed.

Motioning Timber to follow her Alex made her way to the door. "We're leaving now if you're coming."

"Is this a got to go now thing or can I use the room I paid for?" Augustus asked as the two attempted to part ways.

"We go now, if the cost is really that important when we get to Vale I'll have boss lady reimburse you." She said opening the door and stepping out into the hallway.

"Guess I'm not sleeping tonight…" Augustus sighs as he grabs his cloak, tailing after his two guests.

"You can sleep on the ship, it's somewhat comfortable." She said.

Stepping outside the trio made their way towards the airship at the nearby landing pad. "It'll be a couple hours and I'll fly us the entire way so just relax as best you can." Alex said as they entered the ship.


As they landed Alex sighed and rubbed her eyes, she really needed a nap but unfortunately that probably wasn't going to happen. Standing up she made her way into the back and woke her new teammates. "Wakey wakey eggs and bacey!"

Laughing at their startled reactions she opened the door to Winter ready to greet them. "Hey, they're waking up, give them a second."

Taking her spot next to her wife they watched as Augustus made his way out first.

"Well good morning, I think?" Augustus said, rubbing his eyes.

"I haven't slept so I guess?" Alex said as Winter stood stoically. Hearing footsteps they looked back at the ship as Timber emerged grumbling about how he should've been woken up earlier.

"Hello Mr. Harou." Winter said politely.

Upon hearing the familiar voice, Timber snapped wide awake. Looking wide eyed at Winter. "You have got to be shitting me."