Volume 2 Chapter 19: Gearing Up

AN: This is going to be another one of those Author's notes that I come up with some filler just to have something here, then completely forget to edit later to have actually useful information, isn't it?

(Perspective: Glynda)

"So there we have it," James pressed, the moment Miss Rose had left the room. "We send as many troops as we can to the southeast, find out exactly what is going on, and eradicate any forces that stand in our way."

Glynda gaped at him. Yes, they had taken classes together. Yes, they were still good friends. But that still didn't change the fact that what he'd just said was pure lunacy. After taking only the slightest of moments to wonder if yes, this was indeed the man placed in charge of Atlas' military, Glynda wondered aloud, "Why must your answer to everything be a triumphant display of military bravado? You treat every situation like it's a contest of measuring d- "

"Glynda," Ozpin soothed, cutting off the argument there.

"Well, he does," Glynda added petulantly.

Ozpin continued, "She's right. As much as I, too, would love to end this situation once and for all, we must remember that this may go beyond Vale, beyond Beacon. And if this truly is part of some master plan for which we know not the final move, we mustn't be so bold. Nor can we risk the spread of panic."

Ironwood sighed and pinched the bridge of his nose. "I have served you faithfully for years. But if you mean to tell me that your plan is merely to hold the defense and wait –"

"It is not!" Ozpin fired back, suddenly shooting out of his chair. Glynda took a step back involuntarily; it was rare, these days, to see Ozpin's nerves touched so. With more vehemence than the man had displayed any time recently, Ozpin continued, "You're a general, James, so tell me: when you prepare to go to war, which do you send in first? The flag-bearer, or the scout?"

Ironwood took a deep breath, pinched the bridge of his nose again, and then nodded. "Very well, then," he agreed. "I'll see to it that appropriate arrangements are made –"

"As much as I appreciate your enthusiasm," Ozpin interrupted, "I do believe my own scouts will volunteer for this mission themselves."

"Your own scouts?" Ironwood asked. "Qrow hasn't returned, so what other… no." His eyes narrowing even as he started shaking his head, Ironwood denied, "Ozpin, you can't be serious!"

"I am very serious," he countered. "Team Rookie is more than qualified for this mission. Their capability and experience exceed their years, and they each have a vested, personal interest in seeing this done."

"They're dangerous!" Ironwood roared.

Glynda could not hold herself back from the discussion any longer. "Dangerous?! Those are my students you're talking about, James! The only danger they pose is to the Grimm, and to the White Fang. Even when given every reason, and every opportunity to retaliate against the people who seem determined to can them before they even finish their first year, those four girls have shown exemplary restraint and foresight!"

"James…" Ozpin sighed, "Why are you so set against my students?"

"Why am I?" Ironwood asked, jaw dropping even as his eyebrows retreated into his hairline. "Why is nobody addressing them?! Kassidy Smith is a self-admitted ex-terrorist and mass murderer. Yang Xiao Long is the definition of a loose cannon… and don't even get me started on those aggravated assault charges in Junior's Bar that you conveniently swept under the rug before she got here! Weiss Schnee's familial relations and status as heiress to the Schnee Dust Company leave her compromised. Ruby Rose is the only one of them that can even be thought of as normal in any way, and she's young, impressionable, and naïve! If Team Rookie were in my academy, they'd either be thrown out or thrown behind bars!"

"Be… behind bars?!" Glynda spat out. After such callous remarks towards her own students, she was all but seeing red at this point. "They have proved their dedication over and over again to the very principle of being Huntresses! I haven't had students show more promise than those four since I taught their parents, and considering that Pyrrha Nikos is one of their classmates, that is saying something."

"And is that promise one of protection, or of destruction?" Ironwood asked, suddenly speaking far more quietly and calmly. He continued, "Glynda, there's no question as to how much you care about your students. But at some point, we need to ask whether the good of the people outweighs the good to our pupils. Yes: for the time being, they've deigned to focus on the same targets as we have. What happens when they inevitably set their sights on the people of Vale? I can't allow that, and I don't think you can either."

"Inevitably?! Why I –"

"That's enough!" Ozpin shouted, instantly ending the argument. Collapsing suddenly into his seat wearily, he turned to Ironwood. "James, you know I've always valued your input. Team Rookie is not compromised, and they are not dangerous to that which we hold dear. Yes, some of them may have… delicate situations surrounding them, but that is all the more reason to treat it with care and respect. I know that you're concerned about them. Believe me when I say that they are at exactly the points I want them, and that we need them."

Ironwood couldn't help but sigh as he turned around to look out the picture window overlooking Beacon's campus. "I have a bad feeling about those girls, Oz. Mark my words, they are going to be the cause of something terrible."

"If that is the case," Ozpin said, "then we will deal with it when it happens, not before. Presumption of innocence is a key value of our society, after all, and what kind of message would we be sending if we were to prosecute them for crimes that they've yet to commit and might never commit?"

Taking that as her cue to leave, Glynda gave her farewells before retreating to the elevator. Yes, she had been against allowing most of them into Beacon before the year had started, but it didn't change the fact that Team Rookie was her personal favorite among the first-year teams. They were skilled and dedicated. Even if their methods were occasionally dubious at times, they had never shown anything other than proof that they understood what being a Huntress was about. Especially that Smith girl… well, Glynda had offered to sacrifice her evenings to give the poor girl a beginner's crash course into swordplay, after all. And so, she returned to her office to make final preparations for the assembly. She might have agreed with James in that she hoped that they weren't making a grave mistake, but for different reasons.

(Perspective: Kassidy)

"She's taking too long," Kassidy insisted. Fully geared up for combat, she'd been beyond incensed to learn that Ruby had been all but ordered to appear at Ozpin's office for certain actions last night. She couldn't stop kicking herself: not for how she completely failed to notice the raid on the CCT tower last night during the dance, not for how she hasn't been able to determine what exactly happened, and most certainly not for stopping Ruby, or going with her, or something. To her, this just oozed too much of the same slime that had tortured her whenever she'd gone and tried to stop an attack. Finally halting her pacing, Kassidy stared down their dorm room's door. "That's it, I'm getting her back."

"Easy, K, easy," Yang said, grabbing her arm before she could storm out and shoot her way to Ruby. Finally able to pull her back enough to get her to sit on her (their?) bed, Yang reasoned, "Look, I ain't happy about this either. But I trust her, I trust Ozpin, and didn't Bob say that she's doing just fine? She'll be here any minute now –"

Yang was interrupted by the door opening to admit the team leader in question. Immediately, all three of them dashed over to the door. Kassidy was particularly hasty in getting Ruby, and as soon as she was at the door, she started going over Ruby to check for bugs or tracking devices or some such fantasy devices whose existence was fueled solely by her paranoia. The whole time, she was asking, "What took you so long? What did they want? Did they do anything to you? Who all was with them? Why did –"

"That's enough, K," Yang giggled, dragging her away from Ruby. "You're smothering the poor girl. C'mon, that's my job!" Turning to Ruby and letting her smile fall somewhat, Yang added, "Though I'm kinda with K, I'm also a bit curious as to what all happened."

"Well, uh, heh," Ruby stammered. "It was just Ozpin, Goodwitch, and Ironwood. They were kinda stern at first, but they were only asking if I knew anything else about the woman I fought in the CCT. Then they were wondering about who all it was, and if she was with the White Fang, and I maybe kinda took the opportunity to tell them about what we found out from our night in the town?"

Weiss had managed to make her way back to her bunk at this point. "That was a risky move," she commented.

"I don't know," Kassidy argued. "On the one hand, it's good that we got the Headmaster and Professor Goodwitch in the loop. On the other, I don't trust that Ironwood cat any further than I can throw him. Maybe not even. I'm still not convinced he didn't have something to do with making me disappear; those were his robots, after all. Not to mention…"

"Not to mention what?" Yang asked, after a brief bout of silence had shown that Kassidy wasn't going to finish that thought on her own.

Kassidy sighed and buried her head in her hands. "When I went and tried to bust up a terrorist attack, I got arrested, made to disappear, locked in a hole in the wall, and tortured. When Ruby went and tried to bust up a terrorist attack, she gets a pat on the head and a 'good job'? Something's not right, here. Are you sure they didn't do anything to you, Ru- "

She was suddenly interrupted by Yang springing up and, in a move that nobody could have predicted, pried her hands away long enough to kiss her real quick. While Kassidy took a moment to get over the shock, Yang argued, "Relax, partner. They obviously didn't do anything to her."

Kassidy wasn't convinced. "But what if they bugged –"

Yang kissed her again. "Nope."

"Can we really trust –"

Another kiss. "Yup."

Kassidy's brows furrowed as she tried to glare at her girlfriend. "They had to have –"

Another kiss. "Nope."

"But what about –"

Yang kissed her yet again. "Nope."

"Yang! Cut it –"

"Nope!"

With that final kiss, Kassidy felt her will to continue the argument completely evaporate, even as Ruby giggled helplessly at the scene. Burying her head into Yang's shoulder, she balled her fists into the back of Yang's jacket and grumbled, "Cheater."

"Yup!" Yang flashed a wink whenever Kassidy brought her head up enough to glare at her again in a manner that was most definitely not cute, partner! Suddenly springing up and walking over to a desk, Yang announced, "Oh, I know what'll cheer us up!"

"What's that?" Ruby asked.

Yang went and grabbed the mail tube that they'd received earlier this morning. "I don't know yet. Dad sent it to us; I figured we'd open it together."

"Ah! Something from home!" In a flash of rose petals, Ruby had disappeared to hang off Yang, waving frantically at the tube that her older sister was holding just out of reach.

Yang shook the package just once, and a black cylinder fell out of it. Kassidy was a bit perplexed as to what it was, and that feeling only intensified when it bounced. Then it bounced again. Before her mind could sprain itself trying to figure out what was going on, it jumped up into the air, and unrolled into a very familiar shape. Knowing what she was seeing, but unable to justify the fact that the dog in question managed to fit into a tube smaller than it, Kassidy couldn't help but lean closer with the rest of her teammates to stare at it, even as the mutt in question barked at them.

All four of them leapt up at once, with all the girls named 'not Weiss' yelling, "ZWEI!" Ruby, in particular, did a quick little dance that ended with the corgi jumping into her arms.

Weiss, as usual however, was the one to try and ruin any happy moments in the dorm room. "He sent a dog? In the mail?!"

"Oh, don't worry about it," Yang reassured. "He does stuff like this all the time."

"Your father or your dog?" Kassidy asked, sending a smirk Yang's way. Trying to defuse any tension in the room, she put a hand on Weiss' shoulder and tried to reason, "Believe me, Weiss, that's a very nice and well-trained dog they have there. He won't be a problem at all."

Weiss was having none of it, tugging her shoulder out from under Kassidy's touch and storming up to the dog, which decided to turn around so as to stare at her upside down. Weiss began, "You're telling me that this mangy,"

Zwei rolled over in Ruby's arms so as to get a better look at Weiss, and let his tongue hang out in an adorable pant.

"Drooling," Weiss continued.

Zwei continued to stare at her.

"Mutt."

Zwei stopped panting long enough to give a playful bark.

"Is gonna wive with us for eva and eva?! Oh yes he is, yes he is!" Quickly descending into baby babble, Weiss devolved from her tirade into an outpouring of affection and approval for the dog.

"Well, that's a thing," Kassidy commented.

Yang's eyes narrowed, and she shot back, "Hey, get your own line!"

Kassidy was about to snark back at her, but was prevented by doing so by the intercom system in their dorm emitting static. Glynda spoke, "Would all first year students please report to the auditorium?"

That's right, the mission. Can't forget about that. While Weiss and Yang argued the merits of Zwei staying in their dorm while they were out and about, Kassidy threw her backpack over her shoulder and slipped into it. Before she could do more, however, Zwei started licking at her leg. She reached down with a smile to scratch his ears, but Zwei did one better by hopping up into her arm, then scrambling up and perching over her shoulder, balancing on the top of her bag. Kassidy chuckled even as she reached up and pet the ball of fur, looking all the part like a pirate with a furry, four-legged parrot on its shoulder. Noticing that Yang and Weiss must have come to the end of their argument… which somehow involved a small hill of dog food, Kassidy took the moment to hand Ruby her dog and followed them out.

For some reason, Ruby was taking her sweet time to get to them, and by the time she caught up they were nearly late for the assembly. Glynda was calling for quiet whenever they slipped in. Kassidy couldn't help but notice that the room was packed, with what looked like students from all four academies gathered to get ready for missions. She shared a quick greeting with JNPR behind them, then turned back to the front.

Ozpin stepped up to the microphone at the front of the stage. "Today, we stand together, united: Mistral, Atlas, Vacuo, Vale; the four Kingdoms of Remnant. On this day nearly eighty years ago, the largest war in recorded history came to an end. It was a war of ignorance, of greed, and of oppression. A war that was about much more than where borders fell, or who traded with whom, but about the very idea of individualism itself. We fought for countless reasons, one of which being the destruction of all forms of art and self-expression, and as you are well aware that is something many could not stand for. As a result, those who opposed tyranny began naming their children after one of the core aspects of art itself: color. It was their way to demonstrate that not only would they refuse to tolerate this oppression, but neither would the generations to come. It is a trend that is held to this very day. We encourage individuality, expressionism, and unity through diversity."

Kassidy frowned as she thought. History, as they always say, is written by the victors, and the tone of the headmaster's speech implied that Vale was on the victor's side for this conflict. While she didn't do as much studying on the Great War as she probably should have, and promptly forgot most of it once she'd taken the test and Oobleck's class moved on to cover different material, she sincerely doubted that the losers were in it to destroy self-expression of all kinds. There was no such thing as a truly evil person, and comic book villains didn't exist. Everyone has their reasons for doing what they do, and outside of the clinically insane, they all think that it's a good reason. Now, her curiosity was piqued as to the perspectives of the defeated.

Ozpin continued, "As I have said, today we stand together, united. But this bond cannot exist without effort, which is why today, while the rest of the world celebrates peace, Huntsmen and Huntresses will work to uphold it. As first year students, you will be tasked with shadowing a professional Huntsman or Huntress on a mission. Some of you may be taken out of the Kingdom for several days. Others may work within the walls for the rest of the week. But no matter which path you choose, remember to be safe, remember your training, and remember to do your very best."

The assembly gave way to applause, then split up to find missions for their teams. Kassidy was brought out of her train of thought when Ruby exclaimed, "This is perfect! All we have to do is shadow a Huntsman working in the Southeast!"

"Yeah!" Yang affirmed. "We'll follow them around by day and give them the slip at night." Kassidy rolled her eyes at their not-even-a-plan. Even ignoring that 'the Southeast' is a rather large geographic area, I'm pretty sure I'm the only one out of the four of us that can handle extended periods of no sleep. Willing to put money that this whole 'slip away at night' deal would only last for one day, tops.

"Let's check Search and Destroy," Weiss offered.

The four of them wandered across the room, and Ruby spied a particular mission that caught her fancy instantly. "Here we go!" she declared. "Quadrant Five needs Grimm cleared out!"

Kassidy decided to check with her ever-faithful companion. "What's the word, Bob?"

"One moment," her computer replied. "Sector Five, in the southeast, covers the failed expansion area known as Mountain Glenn almost exclusively. The area tends to get rather thick with Grimm, and incursions are routinely carried out by Huntsmen to clear out the rabble before they can evolve into something more dangerous."

"I can work with that. Sound like a plan, guys?" When they all nodded, Kassidy got to work planning. "Failed expansion… we talking about urban ruins, Bob?"

"Indeed."

"Perfect. If there's one area I know even better than forests, it's urban ruins." Going over a quick tally in her head, she turned to Ruby. "We've got supplies the student body can draw from. Go ahead and get us signed up, Rubes, I'll make sure we have everything we need. If you guys need anything, give me a call."

"Will do!" Ruby assured.

Kassidy had just finished packing the last of the bags whenever Bob got a call from Ruby. Sighing, she had her earpiece pick up the call and asked, "What's up, Fearless Leader? Just managed to finish getting everything packed, so we should be good to go over here."

"Yeah, um, that's nice and all. But… our Huntsman, yeah, said that we won't need to be bringing any bags with us, so he kinda wants you to leave them behind and hurry up and join us."

Kassidy could feel her eye twitching, as she struggled to comprehend what she just heard. "Um, just to make sure I didn't hear you wrong or anything: you just said that our Huntsman wants me to leave all the supplies I've packed behind, ensuring that we travel to a bombed-out and Grimm-infested ruin without anything in the form of rations, ammunition, or medical supplies. Okay… what the fuck?! Seriously, who is this guy?"

"That would be me, Miss Smith," a very familiar voice sounded over the Scroll.

"Professor Oobleck?" Kassidy asked, once again failing to keep up with what exactly was happening.

"Yes, as I've already said, I'm afraid you preparations won't be necessary, seeing as you've opted to shadow a Huntsman on what is now essentially a reconnaissance mission. I can assure you we won't be establishing a single base of operations; rather, we will be traversing several miles of hazardous wasteland, and making camp in any available locations we may stumble upon. I've packed all our essentials myself, plotted the air course, and readied our air ship." Just when Kassidy was convinced that the over-the-phone lecture had ended, Oobleck added, "And that's Doctor Oobleck! I did not earn the Ph.D. for fun, thank you very much! Now, if you could get here as soon as you are able, we are now exactly three minutes behind schedule!"

Kassidy couldn't help but pinch the bridge of her nose and release a long, drawn-out sigh. After counting to ten, she replied, "Okay, I can work with this. I think it's probably safe to assume that Doctor Oobleck knows what he's doing, so he's probably got just about everything taken care of. Still bringing my first aid and other specialized equipment. And the extra ammo. Alright, okay, yeah, I'm good then. Meet you guys there in a few."

Fortunately, the airpads were hardly a minute's walk from the supply depot. After passing by Team CFVY as they passed (which included an 'attagirl' by Coco, presumably because of her and Yang stealing the show last night), Kassidy managed to meet up with the rest of her team just in time to see Sun and Ruby share a fistbump, of all things. Honestly, now that the shock had worn off and she'd had time to think it over, Kassidy wasn't opposed to the idea of Sun and Ruby. But, Yang would probably have something to say about it… so who was she to say no to scaring the daylights out of Sun every now and then? And speaking of Yang, Kassidy decided to clap her on the shoulder while her back was turned. "So! What did I miss?"

"Miss Smith!" Prof – Doctor Oobleck shouted. "Did I not say you could leave your bags behind? What could you possibly have to make you burden your load so?"

"Bob's equipment, specialty gear, and extra ammunition," Kassidy recited. "With all due respect, stuff like this is all I did for a good five years or so. I'd like to think I know what I'm doing."

"Hmm, yes, I see," Oobleck answered. "Very well, then. Come on then, children! We're already five minutes behind schedule!"

As the five of them walked up to the waiting Bullhead, Yang mentioned, "You didn't miss much. Just Nora being jealous that they couldn't go with us, and me holding back from breaking Sun's stupid face."

"Yang!" Ruby whined.

Kassidy smiled at the byplay, but unfortunately had to pick this moment to cease participating in the conversation. The Bullhead had taken off, and now she needed to fight her eternal battle with her stomach for the rights to determine what happened to her breakfast. When she finally won that battle, it was to find that they were already most of the way to Mountain Glenn. Yang was evidently asking Oobleck about his combat experience, considering his answer of, "I admit, I fancy myself more of an intellectual, but I can assure you that, as a Huntsman, I have been in my fair share of tussels."

"Like the mushroom?" Ruby asked.

Kassidy had to bite down a snicker as she answered, "Those are truffles."

"Like the sprout?"

Kassidy failed to stifle her giggles this time, and it was up to Yang to inform her, "Those are brussels."

"Besides," Oobleck interrupted, "given my expertise in the field of history as well as my dabblings in the archaeological surveys, our dear headmaster has seen fit to assign me to this particular… assignment!"

"What does history have to do with this?" Weiss asked. Kassidy couldn't help but agree with her on that front, but dared not voice that opinion in front of their history professor.

"Why, what a preposterous question, you silly girl! Why, history is the backbone of our very society! And the liver! And probably the kidneys, if I were to wager!"

"And that means," Weiss prompted.

Suddenly leaning in, Oobleck explained, "The southeast quadrant outside of Vale is home to wild forests and deep caves. But, it is also home to the location of one of the kingdom's greatest failures!"

"Mountain Glenn," Ruby said.

"That's right," Yang input. "It was an expansion of Vale! But in the end… it was overrun by Grimm and fenced off from the rest of the city."

"Correct!" Oobleck announced. "And now it stands abandoned, as a dark reminder."

"Huh," Kassidy wondered aloud. "Abandoned expansion site that nobody's willing to touch with a fifty-foot pole, and overrun with Grimm. Assuming you have the means to not get eaten… I can't think of too many places that'd be a better place for a hideout."

She was interrupted from her musings by Oobleck chuckling. Doctor Oobleck. Chuckling. Kassidy was about to ask what was so funny, but he lowered his glasses enough to give her a quick wink. "Precisely," he said.

Understanding dawned immediately. This mission was a setup, and not the bad kind. Ozpin had very specifically set up this mission as a cover to hunt down the White Fang, and had basically given them free reign to do so. Rogue suddenly felt a lot heavier against her belt – Kassidy got the feeling that her gun would be seeing a lot of use in the near future.

AN 2: Alright, huge question time.

I have the ending for Volume 2 lined up and written to a 'T'… except I'm leery of releasing it as is. It's kinda… weird. I have good reasons for it, and I have good plans for it, but that doesn't change the fact that between Bob and Project Colossus and our new villain, this story already has a decent helping of weird. I can make it less weird if you guys can't stomach it, but I'm not sure if I'd be able to write it as well.

So, question: Do you guys not mind more weirdness if it means more plot, and fluff (oh god the fluff I can do with this)? Or should I go with a tamer version of what I have established so far?

Coming up next: Do you have a moment to talk about death?

AgentDraakis: Glad to hear you enjoyed it so much. I can definitely say I'm happy with how the dance chapter came out, and from the looks of things everyone else enjoyed it too.

SixPerfections: Welcome to the madhouse! Glad that you're giving this fic a try, and here's to hoping that I can continue to entertain. If you're that happy with the Introduction of all things, I'd like to think you'll really enjoy this trippy ride of ours.

Honestly? Yeah, I can completely see where you're coming from with the V1C30 critique. I didn't set that up very well, and TBH it was kinda-sorta-maybe a "spur of the moment" deal so I didn't have a half-length chapter.

Also, yeah, I probably was conservative on the rating. However, in my defense, there are a couple things I really don't want to mess around with. Arguing with other people as to who owns what is one of them, and content ratings another.

FloriteFlower: Sucks about your day, but glad I was able to cheer you up a bit. What's Kassidy doing in Volume 4? Spoilers, and classified. While Neo was initially aiming for Salem's castle, the trade winds blew her off-course. Most recent rumors have her last sighted around Vacuo.

Tykene: Well, here you are. These canon chapters are always a bit of a pain, because I'm literally ripping one of the four main characters out and their entire contribution, and shove in a new character that has a different personality, different motives, and different goals, and yet somehow have basically the same thing happen (for now…).