"Are we really not gonna tell Ironwood about Oz?" Yang inquired of her sister.
Ruby lowered her gaze, not liking the blonde's scepticism, as Oscar's words from earlier washed over.
"Ruby, hiding things from Ironwood, doesn't that feel like what Ozpin did to us?"
Ruby had been unable to answer him there and was unable to answer Yang now. But after a few tense seconds in which she felt her team gazing at her, she blurted out the first thing on her mind.
"We will, eventually," she squeaked, "It's just... you saw how things were when we came in, didn't you?"
Yang nodded, her lilac gaze softening.
"I still trust your leadership, Ruby, and we'll follow you," Weiss muttered, "But, if Ironwood proves himself to be trustworthy, we have to tell him."
Ruby groaned, not liking that prospect at all.
"I'm just worried how he's gonna react!" she exclaimed, "We've lied to him already, he won't take that well. and how do we know he isn't lying to us already!?"
"Ruby's right, I don't like lying to Ironwood, but it's best to be cautious." Yang agreed.
"Not to mention growing up in Atlas, and gaining a position of power here... would require somebody with less moral standing," Blake said.
Weiss's eyes narrowed.
"What's that supposed to mean?" she snapped.
"I mean..." Blake stuttered. "Well, think about the mine we're about to enter. Think of your father, Weiss. Those are the type of men who get powerful here in Atlas. Those that bring others down." the Faunus sighed there, her cat ears dropping in discouragement.
"I wish, more than anything else, I could take back the harm my family have caused the Faunus," Weiss replied, looking at the entrance to the mine in front of them. "But I don't think Ironwood is anything like my father. When I was here last time, he vouched for me at one of my father's parties."
"Yeah, but that doesn't absolve him," Blake said. "He still allows discrimination to go unchecked against Faunus here in Atlas. Over half the recruits we had for the White Fang back in the day we're from this Kingdom," she explained. "Miners, Household servants, those bullied out of their jobs and homes, I've heard so many terrible stories."
"Blake, that sounds awful," Weiss said, "But I really don't think Ironwood is responsible for all of that. He's one of the men that would go against my father! That's why I trust him."
"You're ignoring my point!" Blake shouted, "If he really cared, he'd be putting laws into place to stop the discrimination against Faunus!"
"They are already laws in place to stop discrimination against them!" Weiss yelled, the discussion now becoming heated.
"What would you know about that, Weiss!?" Blake snapped, "You grew up in a mansion! You have no idea what those poor people have been through!"
"I might not know what they've been through! But I know the law! I've studied it well!" Weiss hit back, "I agree that attitude here towards Faunus is appalling, but laws alone can't change people's attitudes! Besides, what do you want Ironwood to do about it!? Police every person in Atlas!?"
"Well, he had no problem doing that at Beacon!" Blake bellowed. "Besides, the police force themselves are corrupt! Systematic discrimination exists that prevents Faunus from gaining power!"
"Weiss, I don't think you're looking at this clearly," Yang added. "It sounds like you're just desperately trying to defend Ironwood because your sister is on his side."
"Hey! That's not true!" Weiss snapped, her face reddening never-the-less. "I just don't think we can demonise him, just to try and justify why we lied."
"We're not demonising him; we just want him to prove that he's trustworthy," Yang explained, "Also, you've no place discussing Faunus rights. You've never been affected by it the way Blake has. So I trust her judgement on this."
The two girls shared a smile.
"Thanks for having my back," Blake said.
"Anytime," she replied with a relaxed smile.
"Ruby, what do you think about all this?" Weiss asked, turning to her leader.
"Well... we shouldn't fight over it. But I'm with Blake and Yang," Ruby said, "After Haven, can we really trust these headmasters so easily? Ozpin lied to us and hasn't bothered to help us since. Leo betrayed us, and you heard that man on the way up here... Ironwood seems tyrannical and overly paranoid. We can't trust him yet."
"Fine," Weiss said stubbornly, "How about we come to a solution that makes us all happy. We give it a week, and if Ironwood has proven himself trustworthy, we'll tell him everything."
"Can we put it to a vote?" Blake asked, "and get Jaune, Nora, Ren, Oscar, and Qrow involved as well?"
"Yes, that's the plan," Weiss said, "Does that sound good to you, Ruby?"
The younger girl grinned at her closest friend.
"That sounds great!" she mused, "Hands up for that plan!"
The four girls shot their hands into the freezing winter air.
"I guess we can finally agree on something," Blake said with a smile.
"Yeah! Team RWBY! Back in action!" Ruby exclaimed.
Weiss heart felt heavier with every step she took into the dreaded mine.
It wasn't because of the Grimm. Or the Geist likely to be lurking at some point in the dark pit ahead of them. It was because she could see where the years of back-breaking labour had occurred.
While following Marrow and Harriet, Weiss became aware that some large caverns had been cleared of all dust. It was here she was lost gazing at the sheer size of these openings; they seemed to reach heights that her eyes couldn't find, and she felt like she'd been walking for hours.
Just how massive were these mines? Did the Faunus have to work in these conditions every day?
The air was stuffy and uncomfortable, even worse so in the thinner passages. Jagged rocks could easily tear through loose clothing or even cut deep into the skin if brushed across.
She was so caught up in her thoughts she didn't hear the Grimm until it was too late.
Knocked to the ground by the snakes, she yelled as they turned their lethal red gaze in her direction. Sensing her fear, a dozen more grim materialised from the shadows and charged at the group.
Blake narrowly avoided a hoof to the heart; from a horse Grimm. Her icy shadow clone absorbed the crushing blow while the Grimm struggled to free itself. A roaring Yang propelled herself into the air and hit the horse between the eyes. Seconds later, it melted into a sludge of black goo on the icy ground.
Harriet dashed off, taking down approaching Grimm with speed matched only by Ruby's own.
Ruby herself had darted to Weiss' rescue beheading the two snakes with Crescent rose in a flurry of red petals. The two snakes' headless body withered wildly as the Weiss ducked, looking up just in time to see another Grimm had slammed into Ruby in mid-air.
Quickly, Weiss produced her glyphs, one of the circular emblems caught her falling teammate, with another flick of her hand, the glyph turned black.
"RUN!" She yelled over to her teammate, realising the speed boost she received. Ruby moved faster than Weiss' eye could follow, but the silver-eyed girl gathered enough momentum to leap off the jagged wall of the cave and slash at the Grimm. Moments later, Weiss turned around to see two more bear Grimm barrelling up to her; swiping her rapier, she used her ice dust to keep them pinned to the ground.
A second later, Ruby landed next to her.
"ICE FLOWER!" She yelled.
Weiss rolled her eyes but once again produced three glyphs in front of both her and Ruby. Turning Crescent rose in the Grimm's direction, she fired ice bolts in rapid succession that kept any approaching Grimm in place.
"BEHIND YOU!" Came a yell.
Whipping around, Ruby fired more shots at some spider Grimm that were descending from the cavern above; before long, the pair found themselves surrounded by a series of frozen Grimm. However, the ice was cracking... they wouldn't be held in place for much longer.
"YANG!" Ruby exclaimed.
"On it!" her sister replied, flinging herself across the cave; one of her hands was locked around the end of Blake's scythe while Blake held onto the other end. Firing her gauntlets to keep her momentum and sliding up the icy cave wall. The fiery blonde yelled out before crashing to the ground below, with a punch that shattered all the nearby Grimm to frozen pieces.
"Bumblebee! Yes!" Ruby exclaimed.
Weiss was caught up in the moment and didn't hear the hiss until it was too late; another pair of snake Grimm had snuck up on her and were seconds away from delivering the killing blow.
She froze on the spot, knowing that no matter how fast she moved, it would be too late. She braced herself for the painful impact that would surely break her aura. Or, in a worst-case scenario, do even more damage.
Yet nothing happened.
Opening her eyes, she looked to see the Grimm were moving in slow motion; she was baffled for a second. Until Marrow walked over and casually decapitated them. After slaying the Grimm so effortlessly, he looked down at Weiss with a knowing smile.
"Pretty handy semblance, don't you think?" he mused.
Weiss grinned.
"Yeah," she muttered, accepting his hand as she got to her feet.
"That's the last of them!" Harriet exclaimed, coming to a halt in front of the wheezing group, "Man, that was a fight! Those team moves were awesome!"
"Really? That's just what we do," Ruby muttered earnestly.
"Noticed you had a speed semblance, just like me!" Harriet raved, and that's all it took for the pair of them to begin gabbling away like overexcited children. Weiss rolled her eyes; Ruby Rose would always be a child at heart no matter what happened.
"Oh boy, here we go, double trouble," she groaned, making Marrow laugh from behind her. She turned to the younger ace operative.
"She always gets like this," he said, "But you fought well just then,"
"I've done better," Weiss said, hating herself for freezing up, "But thank you for saving me. Especially..." she paused there. "In here, it can't have been easy."
"Saving a Schnee in a dust mine where I lost a cousin," Marrow muttered, "Yeah, it's strange. But I don't blame you for it. After all, you can't blame a child for the sins of their father, can you?"
Weiss nodded, grateful towards him and questioning now, more than ever, if it was right to keep the truth from them all. Because it wasn't just Ironwood, they were hiding this information from.
It was everyone else.
Thanks to the combined efforts of Team RWBY, JNR, the ace ops, Qrow and Clover, the Geist was eventually taken care of the bowels of the mine. Emerging hours later, the team were aching, exhausted but exhilarated that the mission had gone perfectly.
While fangirling over the ace-ops and how great friends they must all have been. Harriet dropped the disappointing news that although she got along with her team, she wouldn't classify them as "friends". It was just a job, after all.
Learning of this, however, didn't deter Ruby's spirit. And the eager leader was now keen to do some more sightseeing.
"Oh, come on!" Ruby said, to her exhausted group, "There's so much to see!"
"The only thing I want to see is my bed," Blake groaned.
"But I want to do something fun!"
"How can you still have energy left in you after that!?" Weiss inquired, "It feels like we were stuck in that mine forever!"
"Come on, Weiss, surely..."
"Heads up," came Qrow's sudden growl as he drifted over to them. He jerked his head in the direction of the ace ops, and surely enough, the man of the moment was there, Ironwood himself. Speaking amongst the operatives, he was nodding at whatever Clover was telling him.
"What do you think he wants?" Nora asked as she, Jaune and Ren moved over to join Team RWBY.
"Must be a mission report," Ren replied.
The group watched in silence, unable to make out what Clover said. Weiss decided now was a better time than any if she wanted to let the entire group in on their current plans.
"So... you know how we haven't told Ironwood the whole truth yet?" Weiss asked (albeit quietly, so they wouldn't be overheard); Nora, Ren, Jaune, and Qrow acknowledged this.
"Well, we've agreed to give it a week. and if Ironwood proves himself trustworthy, we'll tell him, but we'll put it to a vote." Weiss explained, "Does that sound good to everyone?"
"Yeah, seems fine," Ren said.
"Seems... okay," Nora added, but with a bit more doubt.
"I'd want a month at least; a week seems too short a time," Jaune muttered.
"Hmm... I'm not sure..." Qrow said, "But if it's what you kids want, I don't see the harm in it."
"So you're all on board?"
Most of the group nodded, but Jaune shook his head.
"I know I'm going to get outvoted, but after everything we've been through, I feel we need more time," he said clearly.
"Y'know, I'm with Jaune actually," Nora agreed, "We've seen what Mantle's like; we can't trust Ironwood that quickly, can we?"
"I think we just tell him as soon as possible," Ren said, "He gave Ruby the lamp back after all; the longer we keep this from him, the more harmful it will be."
"There's no harm in being cautious," Blake said, "Maybe we need a month."
"Or three weeks?" Yang asked, "Find a compromise that suits everyone."
"Three weeks is too long," Ren said simply.
"I don't know, maybe two weeks then?" Qrow said, "Ruby, what do you think?"
"I'm not sure... but I'm leaning towards giving it three weeks, maybe two. Just so we have time to settle in before we make any big choices." She said.
"Okay then, two weeks," Weiss said, clearly feeling frustrated, "Can we agree on that?"
The group mumbled amongst themselves but eventually agreed with Weiss' suggestion. The white-haired Schnee exhaled, trying to contain her frustration; it seemed only Ren shared her concerns at the time being. Everyone else was content with keeping the lie to themselves for a while longer. The former heiress couldn't help but feel as if they were making a mistake, but then again, the vast size of the mines and the passion in Blake's voice when she was describing the horrors that Faunus had been through.
Maybe they were right.
Maybe she was blind to the suffering others had endured due to her privileged position.
As she thought that, Ironwood called them over, holding her breath, she followed the rest of the group to him.
"First of all, I want to congratulate you on your work today," Ironwood said. His eyes scanning one group member after another, "You've proved yourselves capable, and I'm looking forward to your continued service."
It seemed like a mandatory statement, so no one reacted to it.
"However, the reason I want to speak to you comes back to our agreement", Ironwood said. "I want to be open with you about everything, so I'm telling you this now."
Weiss felt tense, and she knew the group were on edge as well. Had he found out the truth on his own? If that wasn't the case, then what was he hiding from them!?
"There have been a series of murders," Ironwood revealed, pulling out a scroll, revealing a familiar face. "Of public speakers against Atlas and me."
"He was the man on the ship with us!" Ruby exclaimed in horror as the group came to realisation and gasped in unison.
"At first, I didn't pay much mind to it. There didn't seem to be a pattern to these crimes. But this has been the third murder in the past week. I can't ignore this anymore."
"Why? Afraid your public image being damaged, James?" Qrow asked.
"What people think of me isn't my concern," Ironwood said clearly, "But I know someone is trying to frame me, and by extension. Atlas, and sadly it's working."
"Well, if it wasn't for the embargo making everyone so mad, people probably wouldn't be so quick to blame you for everything else," Jaune said.
"and why the hell would you keep something like that from us!?" Yang added.
"Why should we trust you!?" Nora added, "Is there anything else you're hiding from us?"
Ironwood sighed.
"Just two things," he admitted, "Firstly, the winter maiden doesn't have much time left, Miss Schnee..." Weiss jumped when she realised she'd be directly addressed by the general, "... I don't know if you been informed yet. But your sister has agreed to the take on the power of the maiden."
Weiss was stunned as she let this bombshell wash over her.
"And for the rest of you," Ironwood continued, before Weiss could process the news, "When we tell the world about Salem, we'll also be telling them about the maidens and the relics. We won't tell them where they are located or who they are. But people deserve to know because if we don't tell them, we're certain Salem will."
He left a heavy silence in his wake after this.
"Does anyone have any questions?"
"This isn't a good look for you, James," Qrow said, shaking his head, "Should've told us this last night."
"Did you pressure Weiss' sister into being a maiden, just like you did with Phyrra!?" Jaune bellowed, barely concealed rage in his voice.
"Winter is well aware of the risks and has agreed to it," Ironwood said, "This was her choice; she had the option to say no. But she understood her duty."
"Her duty... yeah, right..." Jaune snarled under his breath.
"Look, I am truly sorry about all of this," Ironwood muttered. "But we need to work together, I know the situation in Mantle is tough, and it's getting increasingly difficult for me to manage. Which is why I want to ask you something."
"Lemme guess," Qrow said, "You want us to act as good-little-huntsmen down in Mantle. As representatives at Atlas, to give you good PR."
"To give Atlas good PR and protect the citizens down there," Ironwood said, as Qrow laughed.
"Called it!" he exclaimed, "Dress it up all you want, James, but until you clear the embargo, people aren't going to side with you."
"I've explained clearly, why I can't do that," Ironwood said, "Not only do I want you down there, protecting the citizens of Mantle. I want you to get the bottom of whoever is murdering my political rivals and bring them to justice."
"Hmm... I don't know about all of this," Jaune said, looking back at his team, "Qrow is right, we should remove the embargo first, and you should drop some of stricter laws in Mantle."
"Doing that would compromise our kingdom," Ironwood explained calmly, "I know you don't like it, but it's what has to be done."
"It isn't what has to be done!" Yang yelled, "You're just being paranoid! Can't you see that!?"
"I'd rather be paranoid than careless," Ironwood muttered.
"Guys, we should help, for now." Ruby said, stepping in as the leader, "If the people are Mantle are in danger, isn't our job to protect them first and then ask questions later? I'm sure we can come to some sort of agreement in the coming weeks."
Ironwood smiled at her, obviously glad to finally have a supporter.
"I'm with Ruby on this," Ren added, "Let's do our job first before we consider anything else."
The rest of the group fell quiet once again.
"Miss Rose, there's also something I'd like to ask of you," Ironwood added.
"What is it, sir?" she asked.
"I want you to learn how to harness your silver eyes," he said, "I was discussing this with your friend Oscar earlier. They came in useful at Beacon and a few days ago in Argus. I'm not saying you should over-use your power, but if used right, it can be helpful for all of us."
"I understand," Ruby said, "I'll be happy to help!"
Ironwood's smile widened.
"Oscar said, you'd say something like it," he mused. "Now, if we could..." he hesitated there, holding his fingers to his ears; something buzzed on the other side.
"More mantle problems?" Qrow asked.
"No," Ironwood replied, his eyes following an approaching airship, "This is an Atlas problem."
Weiss looked up and felt a growing feeling of dread build in her gut.
She somehow knew she was in for a dreaded reunion any minute now.
"So let me get this straight, James!" Jacques Schnee snarled the second the doors to the airship had opened, "In addition to this nonsensical embargo crippling my business! You've also decided that you have the authority to commandeer private property when the council hears about this...!" Jacques ranted.
"Actually, I've already informed them," Ironwood said calmy. "As this was the site of a classified military operation, it didn't even require a vote."
"Didn't require a vote!" Jacques spluttered, "What are you!? A dictator James!? Most of Mantle seems to think so; this only goes to prove it!" he snarled.
"I would suggest you brush up on council law if you want to win a seat," Ironwood said, "Not that I'm worried about that, of course."
"You...!" Jacques began, ready to scream in general's face when his cold, azure eyes a similar pair amidst the group of huntsmen behind the general.
Father and daughter stared at each other for a few seconds. Weiss held his gaze.
"You," he spat.
Weiss remained silent, but the feeling was mutual.
"You roped my missing daughter into your schemes!" Jacques was now screaming at Ironwood, who didn't even flinch, "You've kept her from me! How long has she been here!? Are you forcing her to do your dirty work!? I'll have you for this, James, if it's the last thing I...!"
"I chose to come here!" Weiss said, raising her voice and taking some bold steps towards her father, "The same way I chose to leave, surely you remember that?"
"If you think..." Jacques snarled, taking some slow steps towards his daughter, "...That I'll ever forget what you've done to me, you've misjudged who I am!"
"I know the type of man you are," Weiss said, disgust evident in her tone.
Jacques scoffed at her before his gaze locked on the rest of Team RWBY. Who had come forward and stood defensively around Weiss, a gesture she appreciated more than she could ever put into words.
"So these are the misfits you threw everything away for?" Jacques inquired, "A degenerate," he snapped, looking at Blake, "The shame of Beacon," he added, gazing at Yang, "and a child..." he concluded, staring at Ruby.
"Hey buddy, you might wanna leave," Yang muttered threateningly.
"Or what, blondie? Going to attack me the same way you attacked that poor boy during the tournament?"
Yang scowled but kept her temper in check.
"Honestly, getting mixed up with these people isn't what I want for you, Weiss," he said, casting a loathsome glare at Ironwood and the rest of Team RWBY. "You should come home. Your poor mother didn't leave her room when she heard that you'd left; you know how she gets."
Weiss ducked her head, tears starting to well in her eyes, was that really true? She knew how her mother got after all.
"Don't let him get to you, Weiss," Ruby said.
"Yes, just listen to your friends!" Jacques exclaimed sarcastically, "I'm sure they're always right."
Weiss gulped nervously, her father having no idea how relevant that comment actually was.
But she was going to be damned, if he of all people, was the one to get to her.
"Are you just going to abandon your family for this rabble!?" he snapped.
Weiss raised her head.
"This is my family now," she replied defiantly, "I'm not coming home, father. I am where I belong."
"Why, you insolent little BRAT!" Jacques suddenly exploded, marching towards her with his hand raised, "I'D HAVE HALF A MIND TO...!"
He stopped there, his wrist caught in Ironwood's vice grip.
"Half a mind, to what?" The general asked dangerously. His voice was as calm as always, but something was menacing about it. Something that silenced everyone, so the only sounds that could be heard was the whistling of the winter winds around them.
"Half a mind, to what!?" Ironwood repeated, his grip on Jacques tightened and his voice lowering even further.
A few tense seconds passed.
"Nothing," Jacques replied, pulling his hand away from the general.
"If that will be all, then leave," Ironwood growled, "I allowed you to land here once as a courtesy, the next time, it won't be a friendly reception."
Jacques took some steps away from Ironwood when he was at a safe distance, he spat on the ground by Ironwood's feet.
"You're done James, I'll see to that," he warned.
Without another word, he boarded his airship and took off. Disappearing just as quickly as he'd come, as soon as the Schnee Dust company CEO was gone. Weiss let out a relieved sigh, feeling all the stress leave her body and her muscles relax.
"Man, your dad is an asshole," Yang muttered.
This got the rest of Team RWBY and JNR laughing; Weiss even swore she saw Ironwood crack a ghost of a smile. But as the laughter subsided, Weiss found herself with another dilemma; she was right that Ironwood wasn't anything like her father. He was the good guy in all this and deserved the truth.
But her friends were now her family. Willing to jump by her side to defend her against anything and anyone.
She had to accept a straightforward fact.
Whatever happened in the future, she knew she was going to end betraying one of them.
Her team?
Or Ironwood and her sister?
A/N: So yeah... some heavy topics brought up in this chapter. Obviously I wanted to give Team RWBY valid reasons to distrust Ironwood. But also act like hyprocrites as well, it's a difficult balance because I want to make them seem unbearable, but not completely villianous. Granted some of them may develop with time, but you'll have to wait and see who will change and when it will happen. If I had a scale at the minute I'd say Ren is the only one fully supporting Ironwood. Then it would Weiss, Ruby and Qrow (he'll get development later) and having Jaune, Nora, Blake and Yang being against him. But the main point of this was to show the group wasn't a collective hivemind, but all have differing viewpoints.
We will also see Atlas is a more negative light, Blake's fears aren't overblown about Atlas. Discrimination will be shown in later chapters. As the show talks about discrimination against faunus a lot but rarely ever shows it. I hope to rectify that so you can understand why the characters feel the way they do.
Anyway, this was challenging but rewarding to write this. Going back to the fight in Volume 2 where the team attacks were used. I wanted to use it here (along with the Jacques scene from Volume 7) to show the unity between Weiss and her team at a time her loyalties are starting to be torn. You'll also notice that scenes here once again overlap with that in Vol 7 but with some differences or additions. The earlier Volume 7 I thought was okay and the parts skimmed over or not mentioned (Qrow and Clover talk and the Geist fight, remain pretty much the same).
Next chapter will be slightly shorter, but we'll get back to Winter, with some Penny and Ironwood interactions :)
Now onto answering your reviews!
warmachine375- Thank you for the mega review! I've already replied to you through PM but just to let you know I appericate you. I hope Team RWBY weren't too insufferable for you this chapter!
Krionik- Glad you're liking the fic so far, hoping to keep you invested!
Axdevilman- Well, I'm glad I made Oscar likeable for you last chapter and I hope I've managed to make a better discussion between Team RWBY and co this chapter on trusting or distrusting Ironwood. Also liked that you pointed out the teacher OC as I had to remind myself Atlas is like Beacon and I expected their to be lessons and stuff going on so I wanted to make it feel like a school rather than a training centre. So I'm happy you noticed that. Thanks again for reviewing!
Q- Agree that the end of the shadow war felt too fast, and sending an entire Kingdom's worth of people to Vacuo? Not a smart move in my eyes but we'll see where it goes in Volume 9. Hope you enjoyed this chapter!
Ramen meister- Thanks for reviewing and I agree that Ironwood's semblance is literally making a desicion and then sticking to it, which is just awful. Suffice to say his semblance is named the same here but the effect will be completely different. I find it to be a simple, yet effective semblance that will match his character and have it downsides and strengths, but yeah I won't say anything more on that.
Also maybe not this chapter, because they still need a bit of humbling, but Team RWBY is still at it's more self-assured here, so they won't reflect just yet and realize that Ironwood isn't the devil but things could be changing... also loved some of your suggestions. As for Clover having a wife and kids, I wasn't planning for that and I'll stick to it. However, I can confirm I'm not shipping him with Qrow this fic. They'll have a bromance as I feel both of them need a friend (not lover, F-R-I-E-N-D!) so if the QrowXClover shippers want to come here and flame my fic for not including that ship, they're more than entitled to read something else. I'm not against same-sex ships (or any ships) at all. It's just not the focus of this fic.
LJDelu- Hello! Glad to have you onboard, yep I noticed that too on the show. Oscar joins the group and no one ever asks him anything about his personal life and it's kinda sad... hence he'll get more development here.
Ravell Aqim- Thanks for reviewing and what do you mean I got Ironwood's side's wrong? (quickly goes to edit last chapter to correct it). See! Nothing wrong there I knew it was the right side all along! But seriously though thanks for pointing out the little things to me, it helps me correct mistakes and make the fic better for everyone. As for your point about the tracker, you'll learn about that next chapter and let's just say it has a lot to do with Ironwood's pyschological condition right now...
merendinoemiliano- Thank you for reviewing once again. Liking your idea for the end of Volume 7, althought it makes me laugh imaging Atlas zooming over Vacuo. Then again having a flying city to escape danger (with help from the staff) is a pretty solid idea. Certainly better than... (Let's send everyone to Vacuo through these portals! But don't fall off the edge!)
Okay thanks again all! Until next chapter!