Two immense circular stone arms embraced Shadeshift. This settlement, leaning against the Hunger Mountains, was located in what was called the Eclipse Gorge.

On a typical hot morning the village welcomed team RWBY together with Oscar. The girls, as soon as they got out of the armored vehicle, were accompanied by Victor Ironwood to that body of metal shacks that was Shadeshift.

The heart of that settlement was a rectangular wooden building with a flat roof. Once inside, Victor said sarcastically:

"This is my castle."

"We thank you for your hospitality" Oscar said, holding out his hand.

"My brother's friends are my friends. And speaking of buddies, I've some who might protest a little if they knew about the Schnee."

"They'll have to get used to it," Weiss replied.

Victor, leaning on the table in the center of the room, explained:

"It's not so easy. It's not that far the mine that your family runs. Many of those who live here were slave miners in the service of the SDC."

"But they can't hold me responsible for something I didn't do."

"I know."

"So?"

"So what do you expect? That I go to every single inhabitant of Shadeshift and say that you're not like the other Schnees? Do you think it would work? I know it may seem unfair to you but I think you'll be able to bear the burden of hiding your identity."

"Are you really sure?" Vidi asked cordially.

"What do you propose?"

"She's a foreigner. We don't know anything about her. Let's not make them go around town. Let's keep them here and see how they behave, so we avoid problems with people."

"So you want to keep us prisoner?" Yang asked suspiciously.

"As a precaution," Vidi clarified.

"And how can we trust you?"

"This is not a valid argument," Vidi countered with abnormal clarity. "In fact, you're unknown to us, and vice versa. We can't trust you and you can't trust us, it goes without saying. So here we are not talking about trust but about pure and simple pragmatism: you're guests in our village and must, therefore, respect our rules. If you refuse, we exile you."

Yang was speechless. She couldn't in any way deny the girl and it made her a little nervous. Victor, however, put it on laughter:

"Forgive her, Vidi is ... quite smart."

"I think with my head, that's all. And ..." she turned to Weiss "... you have a crumb in your teeth."

"What?! No! Damn cake!" she said embarrassed and putting her hands in front of her mouth.

"And she also has excellent eyesight," Victor said, laughing.

"So where are we going to sleep?" Ruby asked puzzled.

"I have cots. I can prepare them for you," Victor replied kindly. "You make yourself comfortable, while I'm going to get food and drink."

Four rooms, two on the left and two on the right, in the center the room that was probably used for assemblies. On the left were the bathroom and also a firearms depot; the cots were located in the rooms on the right. Up to six people could fit in one room. In general, the conditions of the building were very bad, the girls moved among the furniture with the fear of breaking something.

The team gathered in a room to discuss the situation.

"I don't trust them," Yang began brusquely.

"Me neither," Blake followed. "From what we know they are bandits."

"They are," Weiss agreed, then added, "They have the faces of typical marauders who go around plundering villages."

"Maybe," Ruby asserted, "but we can't turn against them. We are in the wolf's lair by now. Now we just have to play by their rules and see what happens."

"I don't recommend antagonizing them" suggested Oscar.

"Why?" Yang asked.

"Because we can't afford to repeat the same mistakes we made at Atlas. We must be cautious but avoid prejudices."

"Oscar is right," Ruby said to the team. "Even if they are marauders, we still need them to reach the capital. So let's play their game for now."

"I don't agree," Blake said, lowering her ears. "Bandits have no rules and no morals. They can commit atrocities without even thinking twice. I don't feel like collaborating with people like that ... again."

"We don't have to help them on their raids, we just have to be… er… friendly," Ruby explained.

"But it won't be easy for me," Weiss said discouraged. "They hate me because I'm a Schnee. Basically I'm a crumb in an anthill."

"I know, Weiss, but you have to trust me. We must reach the capital, the relic. I will do whatever is necessary to prevent Salem from winning this war."

As night fell, Shadeshift lit up with torch fires. Victor was stationed on an iron watchtower. With night vision binoculars he scoured every corner of the desert, anxious about every possible attack from the enemy.

Vidi, climbed the ladder, took the binoculars from the man's hands with kindness and gave him a slice of bread.

"You didn't eat today."

"I'm not very hungry-"

"Eat," she interrupted. "The others have already eaten."

"And you?"

"Me too."

Victor, a little reluctant, took the bread and took a bite of it. The girl sat down next to him.

"I don't like that girl," she said.

"Who?"

"Weiss Schnee. She has the face of the typical spoiled princess. I don't like those like her."

"Curious that a pragmatic person like you lets herself be influenced by these emotions."

"I'm smart not apathetic," she commented brusquely.

"Sorry, I didn't want to offend you. Anyway, you have to trust me."

"I will always trust you, 'Tattered King'." Vidi put her head on Victor's shoulder. "But people like that girl can be dangerous."

"But she can also be an asset."

"An asset?" she asked confused. "An asset ... for what?"

"You'll see."

The next morning the girls ate a meager breakfast and then were crossed by a man with a slender, athletic build and dark skin; lemon eyes and short black hair. He wore only a pair of camouflage pants with boots but he showed off his bare chest with pride. The girls were impressed by that beautiful pair of ibex horns.

The man didn't even make a nod of surprise, he had already been informed about the guests. He calmly approached Blake and asked her:

"White Fang?"

Stunned, she didn't know what to answer.

"Who are you?" Yang inquired.

"Janus. Janus Agosto. I'm Victor Ironwood's advisor and, if you behave well, I will also be your friend."

"Did Victor tell you about us?"

"Of course. He tells me everything." He turned back to Blake. "So, you were from the White Fang?"

"These are not your business," she replied hostile.

"I'll take it as a 'yes'. Many of the faunus found here either come from the mines or are waste from the White Fang."

"Which of the two are you?"

"Miner. Former miner, if we want to be precise."

At that moment Victor arrived together with the two twins, Vidi and Vici. He, after exchanging a hug with Janus, asked him:

"How did it go out there?"

"The Vultures and the Wild Fangs faced off last night. No winner."

"Well. The more they deal with each other, the more they leave us time to deal with much more serious problems."

"Or?" asked Ruby curiously.

"The mine," Janus clarified.

Then Oscar turned to Victor in a polite tone:

"We would like to go to the capital, can you take us there?"

Victor didn't answer. Approaching the table, he breathed a short sigh and, catching Weiss with his gaze, replied gravely:

"We can, but we don't want to."

"You can't keep us here against our will!" Yang exclaimed ready to start a fight.

"We can't, but you will stay here nonetheless."

"How do you assume that?"

"The girl," he replied, pointing to Weiss.

"What do you want from her?" Ruby asked agitatedly.

"Well, if your friend says she's so different from the rest of her family, she will have to prove it with facts. So we want ... your collaboration for an infiltration operation."

Weiss was shocked and hid behind her friends who acted as her shield.

"Forget it," Yang protested. "Weiss won't do anything for you."

"She will!" Vici exclaimed nervously. "You're our guests and you will do what we say, when we say it!"

"Vici," her sister interjected, "don't be rude. If you do that, you get nothing." Vidi, therefore, turned to the girls: "We give to you, if you give to us. Here's how it works. If you want to go to the capital then you will have to help us first."

"You want to involve Weiss in your raids," Blake exclaimed crossly.

"We just want you to help us on a mission to save poor people. It's not too much to ask, I hope."

"Don't deceive me with these speeches. I've heard these words in the mouth of terrible people before."

"Don't compare us to those vulgar White Fang terrorists," Janus protested.

"Okay," Victor began politely, "if you don't want to help us, I'll accept it. However, if Weiss Schnee refuses to help slave miners ... then we have a problem. A serious problem." With a movement of hand he added: "All the inhabitants of Shadeshift have been former miners, former slaves, tortured in an inhuman way by the Schnee family. What do you think they would do, to the princess here, if they knew she's a Schnee?"

They remained in a silence of terror.

Oscar spoke first:

"You cannot do this."

"Why shouldn't I? Justice requires sacrifices. And it's fitting that they take revenge on the Schnee family: the most racist, most slaver, most evil family that has ever set foot in Vacuo."

"But she has nothing to do with it!" Yang exclaimed furiously.

"It's not true. If she refuses to help those miners, she becomes part of the problem and then she must be punished."

"So are you really blackmailing us?!"

"Actually we're leaving the freedom to choose. But… if the princess doesn't want to experience the fury of an angry mob, then she better cooperate."

"Okay," Ruby stepped forward. "But only if you promise us that you will take us to the capital. Weiss will only help you on this mission, and then you will let us go."

"If you want it to be 'one mission' then your friend will have to do an impeccable job. This is my request."

Ruby turned to Weiss.

"Weiss ..."

She didn't answer right away. From her gaze it was clear that she was afraid of Victor, but she was also thinking about what to do. She didn't want to help some criminals, but at the same time she didn't want to be the victim of an angry mob. She had only two choices: either cooperate or risk dying. She went to the forefront. She looked Victor in the eyes and asked:

"What do you want me to do?"

"Two things. The first, you will have to infiltrate your family's mines and send us, through the Scroll, all the information concerning: number of guards, map of the place, possible traps, and possible access routes. We want everything that can be useful to free the faunus that work there."

"And how can she infiltrate?" Oscar asked puzzled.

"I'm a Schnee. They'll let me in without a problem," Weiss answered.

"And what is the other thing you want her to do?" Ruby asked anxiously.

Victor looked Weiss straight in the eyes. His gaze became dark as night. He took a photo of a man and placed it on the table. In that moment of silence the girls looked at each other worried, restless but eager for an answer.

Victor opened his mouth:

"She must kill this man."