F3: Hello everyone and welcome back to chapter 7. We left off where Cardin was sort of giving Star a reality check about her teammate. Wonder what other surprises will happen. RWBY is property of Rooster Teeth and Monty Oum. OC characters are owned by me unless otherwise. With that said Let's Roll Out!

Volume 4-7 Blue: Final Preperations.

Elsewhere in the capital of Vacuo, Carmine was obsevering the town without much care in the world but she also had an objective that needed to be done. Thanks to the blood sample that was gathered at Oscuro that was kindly left by that fox she encountered earlier she now knows that fox was none other than a Schnee despite her being a faunus.

Though that also got her wondering if this Star Azure girl knew that she was related to one of the most connected families on the face of Remnant. She quickly shook that out of her head as she approached the Cross Continental Tower that was luckily nearby at Shade Academy which had already let students out for the day. Apparently operating under half days due to the events of Vale City.

That was perfectly fine for her cause that meant most of the staff went home all except the headmistress which normally would be bad but luckily she had an ace in the hole to keep Vanessa at bay for the time being.

Carmine entered the tower without much issue and noticed that it was empty since hardly anyone used it in the first place. Normally Vacuans used it for ordering things from the other cities but for Carmine she's using it for another method that she has in mind.

She sat down at one of the computers and inserted her scroll in the drive. Almost immediately the screen came up and revealed a women in basic business clothing but Carmine knew that it was a simple Ai system reacting.

"Hello. How may help you today?" The Ai questioned.

Carmine simply smiled at this "Connect me to the Schnee Manor. More importantly Jacque Schnee." Carmine ordered.

"Of course. One moment please." The Ai said as the screen went white for a moment.

After about two minutes of waiting the screen came up again revealing Jacque Schnee.

"I'm getting rather tired of random people somehow calling this number. Who are you and what do you want? I'm rather busy at the moment." Jacque said rather rudely.

"Well it would seem you never lost your charm Mr. Schnee. Rather rude to talk to a lady you know." Carmine replied.

"I could care less about how I speak to someone. Man or woman. Now I'll ask again. Who are you and what do you want?" He said rudely.

"Oh just call me Carmine Escalados. I'm sure a certain council women has told you about me." She replied.

"And that concerns me how? Unless you have a reason to having to speak to me then I'll gladly hang up on you right now." He said sternly.

She decided it was time to play her trump card.

"Not even if its information on another heiress to your company." She said as Jacque looked at her rather intriguing at what she has to say.

"Very well. I'm listening." Jacque said as he crossed his fingers together.

"What if I told you I know the identity of your second missing heiress?" She replied.

"And who might that be Carmine? I'm all ears." He said very eagerly.

"Oh no you don't Jacque. Information like this doesn't come free. You know how this work don't you? You don't get what you want till I get what I want." She said with a smirk.

That made him narrow his eyes at the woman as he seemed to lean back as if he was in a chair.

"And what exactly do you want?" He asked knowingly.

"I want you to call another meeting with the council and I want you to convince her to give back what the Vacuian council took from us. Once I make sure everything has been returned then you'll get your information." Carmine said.

"That's a rather tall order for you to say. I'll see what I can do about the meeting and getting what you want back. However you better hold up your end of the bargain Ms. Escalados. Otherwise you won't like how it ends for you." He said.

"Then we have ourselves a deal Mr. Schnee. Pleasure doing business with you." She said as she disconnected her scroll before leaving the CCT. This plan needed to work for her people and for herself.

=RWBY=

After about thirty minutes of cooking and with Cardin helping Star making sure everything was well proportioned everyone sat down to a hardy lunch which seemed to include smoked fish, baked ham sandwiches, and several types of soups for the kids as well.

Everyone seemed to be enjoying themselves as the kids ate their meals while Cardin and the others ate their lunches as well though it seemed like Velvet hasn't touched her food very much as if she's thinking about something with a somber look on her face.

However Star was very much enjoying her meal as she took a bite of the baked ham sandwiches and well cooked fish as she hummed in delight.

"Okay this is probably some of the best fish I've ever tasted. You're cooking is amazing." Star commented her tail swaying showing her enjoyment.

"Well I still have a lot to learn but I think I did alright." Cardin replied.

Though Star noticed that the rabbit faunus hasn't touched her food "Hey Vel... something on your mind?" Star asked.

Velvet however simply shook her head "No... it's nothing." She said somberly but Star could tell that their was something on her mind or more like three certain individuals and it was bothering Velvet to no end though she decided not to pester her not while the children were nearby to listen as Velvet finally took a bite of her meal so that it wouldn't go to waste.

An hour past as the kids finished their meals and had gone outside to play for a bit in which Cardin and Finn decided to watch the kids so that they were behaving themselves. Velvet decided to clean the dirty dishes to keep herself busy alongside Star how wanted to help and maybe get a chance to talk to her as well.

"Man the kids sure know how to dirty enough dishes right." Star said trying to make small talk but Velvet just simply nodded in agreement which really wasn't getting her anywhere. Star tried to think of something else to talk about but she knew that their was something that Velvet was trying to avoid talking about.

Though with a sigh Star decided to at least try and get her to talk about it.

"So... do you know what happen to your team?" Star asked. That was when the rabbit faunus froze and dropped the plate she was cleaning causing it to shatter when it hit the ground. Velvet then began to shake almost as if scared of what she was going to say.

Star at first didn't know what to do as she was not familiar of trying to comfort someone. Though that was when Velvet spoke.

"It... was them...t-they c-caused the attack. T-They got so many p-people hurt and m-many more killed. So... much... blood." Velvet stuttered as she hugged herself visible distraught about the events that happened at Beacon as tears were beginning to form at the edges of her eyes.

Star seeing Velvet distraught decided to help her as she wrapped her arms around Velvet to try and make the rabbit faunus feel better.

The fox faunus made a small shushing sound as if trying to calm her "Hey. It's okay. You're going to be fine." Star said smoothly as she rubbed Velvets back slowly.

It did seem to help Velvet even a little bit as she stopped shaking but still with a look of distraught on her face.

"Feel better?" She asked.

"A l-little bit. It still hurts though. Knowing what happened." Velvet replied still with that somber look on her face.

"Do you want to talk about it?" Star asked.

At first Velvet flinched at her question before debating with herself about talking about that day that everything went to hell when the monsters of grimm ran free.

"It was just after the last round had finished when the grimm attacked. I'm sure you remember that. And when... Yatsu's voice spoke over the intercom about how Vale and Beacon would burn to the ground I didn't know what to think." She started with a shiver.

"I tried to find them after what happened but then I noticed Fox coming out of another room but he had blood on his hands. He noticed me and he...attacked me. I didn't know what was going on but I knew I had to get away from him as quickly as possible. I managed to get away but I still couldn't believe what had happened." Velvet said.

"After I got to the city and found the medical camp that was when Winter found me and I offered my assistance to try and get people out of the city as quickly as possible." She added.

"Then I got myself out as well thanks to a small airship that was heading to the capital. After that I've managed to meet up with Cardin and well... you know the rest." Velvet finished.

"That must've been rather rough. Being attacked by your own teammate. But look on the bright side your still alive and you've managed to help a lot of people get out of the city before anything else happened to them." Star said trying to cheer her up.

"Yeah... I suppose your right on that." Velvet said.

"Though that begs the question. Where are you two even staying? Surely you don't enough lien to stay at the hotel." Star asked as Velvet shook her head.

"Oh no we're actually staying at the dorms at the academy. It's a little better than the ones at Beacon but we get used to it and before you ask we do have separate beds so that nothing would be awkward between us." Velvet informed.

"Well... that's good to hear." Star said.

"Yes... though I'm a little worried about Cardin." Velvet said surprising Star.

"Huh? Why would you be worried about him? He seems okay to me." Star added.

"Yes but I know he's trying to put on a tough act but I can tell that he's worried. More importantly about Rina." Velvet replied though that only made Star snort at this.

"Why would he worried about her? She's a criminal that got caught. From what I could tell she stole dust from businesses that sold dust that was imported from the Schnee Dust Company. Honestly, at this point I wouldn't care less about what they do to her. They could lock her up and throw away the key for all I care." Star voiced her opinion.

However Velvet looked at Star for a moment before slightly chuckling which caught the fox attention.

"What's so funny?" She asked.

"It's so cute when you lie like that you know." Velvet said as Star completely blushed at the statement.

"N-No I'm not!" She said quickly.

"Oh come on. You really think that she's a criminal." Velvet added knowingly.

However that was when Star remembered what Rina told her and the others "I had to fend for myself otherwise the world would eat me alive so... I pretty much had to steal to survive." Rinas voice rang in her mind as Star began to contemplate about her thoughts.

"Now that I think about it... she does have a point... even though she was doing something wrong... she was doing what she can to survive." Star thought before she spoke again.

"I... guess you got a point. Though I'm still rather angry at her." Star replied.

Velvet chuckled a little "Understandable." She said. Star then looked at the clock and noticed the time.

"Whoa! I've been here a little too long. I better get back to the hotel before Mars and May wonder what's been taking me." Star said as it was time for her to leave the orphanage.

"Tell Cardin and Finn bye for me okay?" Star replied.

Velvet nodded "I will. I'm sure you have something that you need to do." She said as Star took her leave and began her way back to the hotel. Finn noticed her leave and he thought to himself as he took out his scroll as a message was on it. It was from Tala Zariel as he looked over the message.

"Keep an eye on Star. I think things are about to happen." Talas message said before putting his scroll away as he watched over the kids as he contemplated of what to do next.

=RWBY=

Twelve minutes past and Star returned to what was downtown Vacuo as people were still buzzing about but it seemed to be getting less crowded as the sun overhead was beginning to descend under the horizon but it was still relatively light out. As Star was about to head to the hotel her ears twitched a moment as if she heard something coming from the direction of the academy their. It sound like someone was in trouble.

So with that she decided to bolt straight toward the academy hopefully finding whoever was in trouble. Star came to the front of the academy looking in both direction trying to pin point the sudden sound.

"H-Hey! Get away from me!" A female voice shouted but it sounded familiar to her.

"Octavia. I thought classes were over for the day." Star thought.

"Oh c'mere girly. We're not going to hurt you." A mans voice said.

"Yeah we just want to talk to you that's all." Another mans voice said almost sounding drunk.

Star looked to her right as that was where the source of the voices were coming from and dashed that way quickly but with her weapons drawn so that way she could defend herself if things got too dicey.

Though she noticed something on the ground as she examined it. It was a teal blue waistcoat and the sleeveless vest both showing some rips in them with dirt on them as well. She also noticed footprints on the ground and their were three sets of footprints. She saw that two sets of them were pair of boots while the third set was a smaller set of prints.

She ran her fingers through the bigger prints almost examining them.

"They just ran through here. Not even five minutes ago." Star thought coming to a conclusion before her ears twitched again.

"Leave me alone! Go away!" The females voice rang out again.

"Oh shut up will yah! It's not like anyone's going to come help you." The males voice said.

"That's what you think." Star thought as she ran directly toward the voices.

It didn't take Star long to find the voices as they seemed to be around the corner as she carefully looked around the corner. Luckily her assumption was right that it was two males and female but who the female was that was shouting was surprising. Backed against a wall was Octavia but without her waistcoat and vest but she only had her dark brown strapless top showing off her stomach and arms while complimenting her chest.

However one of the men had a hold of her arm almost squeezing it painfully. Her long dagger was on the ground behind the men so she couldn't reach it to defend herself.

"So what should we do with this one?" The second guy asked.

The first guy smirked "Let's have some fun with her." He said in which Octavia eyes bulged widely almost knowing what he meant.

That was when Star had heard enough and decided to take action. So without any hesitation she came out from behind the corner, switched to her weapons gun mode and opened fire on the two men. They felt bullets hit them as their aura took the hit for them but her firing at them did catch their attention as they turned around and noticed Star.

"The hell you want kid?" The second guy asked rudely.

Star nose was immediately assaulted by a strange smell but she had a feeling what it was.

"They're drunk. That isn't good." Star thought but still having her weapons pointed at the two.

"I'm going to ask you two to leave her alone before somebody here gets hurt. More accurately you two." She ordered not even flinching.

The first guy only snorted at her before tossing Octavia to the side who which crawled to the corner of the alley.

"You shouldn't have done that girly. Now we're going to have fun with you." He said bringing out a pair of daggers while the other brought out a curved blade.

"We're going to mess you up real good." The second man said as they both charged at her.

"Predictable." She thought quickly switching to her striker mode as she blocked the seconds guys sword attack with ease before side stepping the first guys stab. Using her own momentum she flipped over the two men but during mid flip she switched to a blue dust crystal as she landed on the ground.

The men acted as quickly as they could but given their drunken state they were too slow as Star charged at them but this time her gunbreakers were enveloped in a light blue glow.

"Time for you guy to chill out!" She shouted before striking the ground as hard as she could which unleashed an icy wave at the two guys sending them flying into the wall with enough force to knock them out but also restraining them so they would cause any more harm.

Giving herself a nod she put her weapons away and went to check on Octavia who was curled up in the corner. Star knelt down to her making sure she was alright.

"Hey... you okay?" Star questioned before looking her over. She noticed a red mark on her right wrist probably from being gripped too hard.

Octavia gently nodded though Star can tell she was rather shaking up from the experience.

"How about we get out of here? Sound good." Star added in which Octavia nodded in agreement as she slowly got up and retrieved her long dagger. After leaving the alley of the academy Octavia found the remains of her outfit and grabbed them and despite the amount of rips in them she put them on so she wasn't walking around with just her strapless top.

"I... suppose I should thank you for helping me out of that situation." Octavia thanked.

"Yeah... though how'd this situation start anyway. I don't think this would be normal behavior here in the capital?" Star questioned.

"Well... I was doing some training by myself and I was starting to make progress when I noticed how much time has past and decided to call it a day. Though when I was starting to leave the academy those two were walking by with a drunken look on their faces. They looked toward me like I was fresh meat and tried to flirt with me. Of course I wasn't interested but they wouldn't let me get past them." She began.

"I tried again to get away from them but only to get the same result. So I tried to threaten them but I didn't expect them to respond in kind. The first man knocked my weapon away and the other grabbed me from behind. I was able to escape by shedding my waistcoat and vest but I made a major mistake. Without my weapon I couldn't fight back so I only hoped to outrun them which you know the rest how that ended." Octavia finished as she hugged herself.

"Guess it was a good thing I'd showed up then otherwise... I don't even want to think about what would've happened." Star thought as a chill went up her spine not what to think about what would of happened if she didn't show up in time.

"Who were they anyway?" Star questioned.

"They're part of the Grimm Watch here in the capital. They warn the people if there's any grimm coming toward the capital. You can actually seem them from here." Octavia replied before turning around and pointed upward past the academy.

Star looked toward where she was pointing at and noticed two large buildings that completely tower over the capital itself.

"Whoa! Those are even bigger than the academy. I'm guessing their built that way huh." Star said as Octavia nodded.

"Yes. Though I think we've spend enough time here. I must get back to the hotel and rest for the of the day." Octavia said.

"Oh you're staying at the hotel as well. Me, Mars, and May are staying their too. Why don't we both head their right now?" Star said.

"Sure. Shall we then." Octavia added as the two headed toward the hotel that they were staying in.

=RWBY=

After finally arriving back at the hotel Octavia and Star entered the lobby and given the room number to the room Mars and May were staying. Taking the elevator three floor up the two were mostly silent on the way up as the elevator door opened as they stepped off.

"Though I must thank you again for helping me back their." Octavia thanked.

"Your welcome." Star said.

"Also... I want to apologies for the way I acted toward you at the academy. I guess I was taking my anger out on you for when we lost Gwen. She... was the best friend a girl like me could ever ask for." She said somberly.

"Yeah... I should apologies too. I didn't mean to call you a disgrace before I got to know you." Star added.

"Yeah I suppose we both got off the wrong foot." Octavia replied.

"Maybe we can talk later. I better make sure my friends don't go crazy and wonder what took me so long." Star said as the two went separate ways.

It didn't take Star to find the room where her friends were staying at as she inserted the key card into the door slot. The door clicked meaning that it had unlocked as she turned the knob so she could enter.

Almost immediately Star was assaulted by a sweet smell coming from the room.

"Okay what smells good in here?" Star replied getting their attention.

May was the first to respond "What took you so long? We were starting to worry." She said.

"Sorry I sort of got caught up with what I was doing. Though is Mars cooking again cause it smell delicious in here." Star said.

To answer her question Mars came out of the other room with three steaming bowls on a tray "Mushroom cream soup. Eat up before it gets cold." She said setting it in front of the them on the coffee table. Star took her bowl and spoon before taking a bite of the mushroom soup. She hummed in delight as he tail wagged as well from her delight.

"Oh this is so good. I forgot how good of a cook you were." Star added.

"Well it's going to get cold tonight. So thought my mothers mushroom cream soup would warm us up before we hit the sack." Mars said.

"So this is your mothers recipe. I would almost be tempted to ask about it." May added taking a bite of the soup.

"Sorry that's a trade secret." Mars said which got the three of them laughing.

"Though I also noticed that it's just you back in Corquina. Where's your dad?" May questioned.

"Dads all the way in Atlas. He's a councilmen so he rarely has time to get away to come back to Corquina. Though he does call and make that I'm okay every now and again. Though wished he was actually home so we could spend some time together." Mars said.

Though Star had a thoughtful look on her face almost as if she had something she wanted to say on the matter but she shook her head remembering her promise to Fenix as to not reveal him as her friends real father as she didn't want to risk the friendship that the two share.

Hours went on as the three girls talked as the sun began to descend as the sky turned dark and the stars brightened the sky. Mars and May took one of the beds to share as Star had another bed that at first she wasn't used to it but figured it was better than nothing as Star looked at the window at the sky above as she was still worried about her team wonder how they were.

"Iona, Pepper... hope you girls are doing okay where ever you are. Rina... stay strong." Star thought as she silently prayed that her team and everyone else that she knew was safe and alive as she decided to go to sleep.

=RWBY=

The morning came as the three were already up and dressed into their outfits though Star thought took a little extra time because of her tail needed some brushing that it lacked. After thoroughly brushing her tail Star was now satisfied that it looked better than it was with out any matting or split ends in it.

Grabbing her weapons as she made sure they were loaded before holstering them as she noticed the others doing the same thing with them checking their weapons. With giving a nod that they were good to go they began heading out of the room.

Descending from the elevator as they headed toward the entrance of the hotel as they noticed Sun outside waiting for them.

"Take it you girls had a nice rest. Cause we've got a long climb ahead of us." Sun replied.

"Yeah we're ready. Let's get going." May said.

"Hold on there. Before we get going we need to go over a few things first. Those mountains are steep and dangerous so we need to be careful. One wrong move and you won't be getting off that mountain in one piece." Sun warned.

"That does sound rather dangerous. But we still have a job to do." Mars replied almost eager to get things going.

"Just be glad we're going around it and not straight through but even then it's dangerous." Sun replied as he brought out a map of the mountains and showed it to them.

"From what I understand the water pump is right about here." He said as he pointed to a small section that is near the water but also near the land.

"The best route for us to take is the lower route of the mountains. That way it'll be easier and we won't have to use much energy. Plus it has plenty of cover for us to not be noticed. But even though were traveling the lower route we need to be careful." Sun warned as she rolled up the map before placing it in a pack that he brought.

"Everyone got the idea." Sun said before everyone nodded in agreement.

"Good. Then let's get a move on." He said as the four of them now had a new destination in mind as they made their way toward the mountains.

=RWBY=

Else wheres in the capital Vanessa had woken up and was already looking over paperwork from the other day from the students work ethic and she was rather impressed about them. She continued working for a few more minutes before her office phone rang which made her groan at this as she went to answer it.

"Yes Theodore what is it?" She questioned.

"Pardon the interruption ma'am but I'm afraid something of urgency has occured." Theodore spoke.

"And what is this urgency that you had to call me at nine o'clock in the morning?" Vanessa asks pinching the bridge of her nose feeling the start of a headache.

"I'm afraid Mr. Schnee is calling a meeting with the Vacian council. Though I'm not sure what it's about." He said.

Vanessa only groaned at this again. From what she could tell this was going to be a bad day and that headache she had coming was already here as she rubbed her temple.

"Alright... inform the other members of the council to meet up at the capital building. Also while I'm gone you're in charge till I get back. Understood." Vanessa replied.

"I had a feeling you would say that. I've already called them and they should already be at the capital building." Theodore informed.

"Great thanks." She said before hanging up as she stood up from behind her chair before leaving her office. A few minutes later she was finally out of the academy making the long walk toward the capital building that was in another part of the downtown Vacou.

After some time walking she made it to the capital building as she stood in front it. With a grunt she decided to head inside almost well knowing what she was stepping into.

inside the capital building she made her way toward the meeting room where she knew that the other members of the Vacian council are waiting. Counting herself their were a total of seven people on the council in which four of them are faunus and three humans.

Though out of the seven in total three of the four faunus are female and only one male faunus. Only one of the humans are female and the rest are male. The other members of the council looked at her when she entered the meeting room as she sat at the head of the table.

She took in a breath before letting it out as she folded her arms.

"Now I understand that you all know why we're here. Apparently we we're told that Jacque Schnee called this meeting but we don't know what it is he wants to discuss." Vanessa replied.

That was when one of the faunus council women spoke up. Her distinctive features are chameleon scales along her face and arms.

"Jacque better have a good reason for this little stunt. He can't just summon us like this with a wave of his hand." The female chameleon faunus growled not exactly happy with the situation.

One of the human males spoke up next "Believe me none of us like this as much as you do but for now it's best that we get this over with." He said.

That was when a noise was heard as the hologram system activated as Jacque Schnee appeared on the other side of the table.

"I take it that this is everyone?" He asked as he looked around the table.

"Yes. Now I speak for everyone here that when I say this. Why did you call us here today?" Vanessa questioned.

Jacque simply chuckled "Oh yes of course. There is a simple matter that I wish to discuss. I understand that you've recently acquire some property." Jacque said.

"Yes. Though may I ask. Why are you interested in the property? It's for a future project that we're working on." She said.

"Oh and how is that going along?" Jacque asked almost knowing the answer.

"We're still... working on an idea." She said.

"Ah so you haven't done anything to it. You know if you don't have an idea you could always return it to the rightful owners. And if you would like I could even compensate for your loss lien with no strings attached." Jacque said.

Though that did make Vanessa think a moment about what Jacque said.

"He's being oddly generous today... somethings up." She thought before she spoke again.

"From your silence your thinking about something aren't you. Care to share Mrs. Tora." Jacque said.

"This is completely out of the blue but your being oddly generous today. Are you planning something?" She asked.

Jacque just seemed to chuckle at this "Oh come now what gave you an idea like that." He said.

"Because Jacque I know you far too well. Normally whenever you are generous you're scheming something and whenever you do it only benefits you." Vanessa replied.

"Not all the time. What if I told you I could help you solve your little water issue?"He said which made Vanessa looked at him.

"And just how will you solve that?" One of the male faunus asked.

"I know the capital is currently relying on the Weeping Wall for its water but not enough to water your crops. I'm simply asking for an easy exchange. I help you with your water issue and you return the property that you have and as I said you'll be well compensated." Jacque said.

She contemplated about what to do for a moment.

"Give me some time to think this over with my council and I'll get back to you." Vanessa replied.

"Of course. I'll call again in a half hour." Jacque said before disconnecting.

A half hour was all she was given to come up with a decision by which might take a while as she now had to discuss it with her council.

F3: And that is chapter 7. Looks like Jacque has something up his sleeve but what could it be. Meanwhile Star and company are on a rescue mission. Wonder how it'll go. Like what I'm doing then leave behind a comment and to keep up with future updates make sure to follow. With that said this is Fireuser3 and I'm out.