In no way am I connected to Rooster Teeth

"Welcome to the Vytal Festival Tournament!"

This was it.

"4 Kingdoms. 32 teams. Only one winner!"

The big one.

"The rules are simple. Every team will fight at least once: 4 vs 4. The winners of that round will advance to the second round: the 2 vs 2 round. Then we move on to the one on one finals."

"School year, actual age and experience are all irrelevant. All that matters here is skill."

"And the teams that will be opening up the 40th Vytal Festival Tournament are…Team Apricot from Vacuo and Team Remedy from Beacon!"

Ruby bounced, almost cheering with excitement. A squeal escaped anyway. Yang ruffled her hair. Ruby grinned back and gladly led the way to the centre of the arena.

We're first up!

Emerald caught her before her hopping caused her to hit the roof. Her arms didn't calm her down, but the kiss did. "Deep breaths Ruby."

Ruby was excited. She wasn't nervous.

Mercury rubbed her back. "Easy Ruby. You're going to burn yourself out before we even get out there."

"I won't."

He poked her nose. "Of course you won't."

Ruby stuck her tongue out at him. She pulled it back before they entered the arena. It was big. More to the point, it was awesome!

Everyone was cheering.

Their friends were cheering for them.

Yang grinned at her and gave her a thumbs up.

Ruby had seen APRT around, but she hadn't really spoken to them other than to exchange pleasantries. They tended to keep to themselves, even with others from their school. She knew their names as least: Avis, Pike, Rafa and Tage. She didn't know their surnames though.

Avis had a sword with tiny spikes along the blade. Pike had a curved spear of some kind. Rafa had dual katanas. Tage had a machine gun. If any of the weapons had other forms, Ruby couldn't wait to see what they were.

"Both APRT and RMEY are first years in their respective schools and have yet to fight on the big stage. This is looking to be quite the debut."

Ruby, giddy with anticipation, readied Crescent Rose. She had been looking forward to this all year.

Yang looked just as excited as she did. Her Emery were more relaxed, but Ruby could see they were alert. They were sizing their opponents up, deciding who they were going to focus on. While they could work as a team, four on four matches were very unpredictable and divide and conquer was the common strategy.

Rocky terrain rose behind them and plain grassland in front of them.

"3…2…1…Begin!"

Ruby was off.

She had been aiming to swipe at Avis, but she and Pike had switched positions and there was no one exactly where Ruby was heading. She did managed to catch Pike's side, but he recovered quickly. Ruby blocked the first hit.

His second was interrupted when Tage was literally thrown into him. Ruby backed off. That was a mistake; it took a few seconds for them to get up again.

"Ooh…That's going to leave a mark," Doctor Oobleck announced.

Mercury was now by her side. He had gone for Tage to stop him from being long range.

Tage's machine gun changed into an almost square sword, not unlike Blake's. Mercury tapped her arm twice. Ruby nodded. What was different here was that Tage held it like Cardin did and he usually battered people, not tried to slice them.

Pike and Tage moved first.

Ruby and Mercury slid to opposite sides, causing them to meet in the middle. Ruby aimed low while Mercury went high. Crescent Rose easily took their legs out from under them while Mercury's kick sent them flying across the arena.

A blast from Yang's gauntlets. Ruby turned around as they sounded very close by. Rafa had literally been a few feet behind her and Yang had just knocked her back. They were duelling; sword on fist.

From the fights Ruby had seen, close quarters tended to do better than long swords or whatever when they were close enough to be effective.

"And Emerald takes Avis for a spin. Home run and Avis is eliminated."

Seeing that Mercury and Yang were doing well with the remaining three, Ruby glanced at the scoreboard. Avis had 30 aura, but was out by ring out. Emerald was still on 92 and she had now joined on the three vs three, yet mostly one vs one mess. Yang was on 87 and Mercury was on 93, although Ruby had been warned it wasn't accurate with him and so he had to be fair if it said his aura was gone. She herself was on 90.

Ruby's eyes caught Tage bringing the club towards Emerald's head. She narrowed her eyes, but before she could get there, Em had sidestepped and Yang had blocked it with her gauntlet. She then twisted around and threw him over her shoulder. He landed on his feet.

This left her vulnerable to Pike, but Ruby chose to crash into him and swing when he was disorientated. While she hit him with her tackle, to which he grinned at her, he dodged her swing.

Mercury spotted this, but he also spotted Ruby had slightly lost her balance as she hadn't anticipated Pike's dodge. His vambrace knocked into Crescent Rose, helping Ruby to find her feet.

How does Em do this in heels?

Yang protected them while this was going on.

Then she ducked so Ruby could hit them. Rafa was hit and stumbled. Avis dodged, but she had to step into Emerald's range to do that.

The good thing here was that APRT were now too close for them to be at their best.

Yang and her Emery were perfectly happy to be so close. Ruby would prefer more distance and Crescent Rose was better for her sniper rifle right now rather than the scythe. She was just getting in the way here.

There weren't many good sniping positions though.

They're not going to let anyone target me so…

Ruby dashed back. She wasn't great at close quarters, but she could shoot very well. The rocky terrain wasn't great for sniping, but the rocks were good for hide and seek. If she heard a warning, she had plenty of places to go.

She wasn't a fan of sniping though.

As it happened, she missed more than she hit, but she didn't fire often. She was more interested in stopping them from moving apart too much. If her family missed one, they tended to hit another as they were so close.

Their weapons needed room to swing. Yang and Mercury remained far too close. Emerald had backed off a little and was doing the same thing Ruby was: boxing them in.

APRT didn't allow that for too long.

Avis stabbed her sword into the ground while the others protected her. After a moment, a wave rumbled across the ground.

RMEY might not know what would happen if that hit them, but they knew it wouldn't be good.

And that was before the battlegrounds began to crack.

"That is some serious seismic activity!"

"I would estimate around 5.1."

The bit in the middle of the arena where they started was unaffected. Rocks were getting thrown in the air and there was now more dirt visible than grass.

For Ruby, this wasn't much of an issue; she would just head up, petal style. It wasn't much of a problem for Mercury either; his entire fighting style resulted in him spending a lot of time off the ground and his timing was perfect. Yang and Emerald were struggling though.

Yang solved this by using Mercury as a spring board when he flipped back to avoid a spear swipe.

Then she started to destroy the battlefield.

At least she got Avis to stop.

Then she picked up on what Mercury was doing. He was trying to herd them back together. One glance at Yang and Emerald was all Ruby needed to know about their unspoken plan. She could help with that.

Strike and retreat, though she wasn't trying to get them angry.

Not yet…not yet…not yet…Now!

One final hit from Ruby and they were in the perfect place.

It had taken three weeks for Emerald to manage wrapping multiple opponents with those chains in her weapons (which she still hadn't named). She had had a lot of practice since.

Yang's fist + opponents at high speed from opposite direction = pain.

And the end of the match.

"That's the match and what a way to open up the Vytal Festival Tournament! Team Remedy is victorious! Now we will have a brief interlude as we fix the arena."

We won! We won!

Ruby was bouncing up and down again.

We won!

They just laughed.

Amber had initially planned to watch the Vytal Festival Tournament from the stands. Her concern had brought her to Professor Ozpin's office instead. Until they had an idea about Cinder/Salem's plans, they had to be cautious and Amber had found she wasn't in the mood to pretend everything was fine.

The atmosphere in the office was tense.

As it happened, the three others in the room were just as interested in the tournament. Amber wasn't familiar with APRT at all, though she couldn't say she was surprised that RMEY were, somehow, in the first match. Qrow had only returned that morning. For some reason, he had been in a bad mood after he left the office and not before he entered it.

"What happened to Black's eye?" General Ironwood asked. Amber had forgotten about that. "It wasn't like that for their play."

"It was," Professor Ozpin responded. "His mask is rather special. Most don't register it and so assume that the eye is normal. It would appear it does not work on a camera."

"And what happened to it?"

"The result of a bite from a venomous snake after his aura had been removed."

I'm very sure it was flaring, but same difference.

"And Qrow never mentioned this? I would have thought he would want a replacement."

"Why would Qrow mention it?" Amber asked curiously. As far as she had noticed, they were a very private family and Qrow had some problems with the General. There were other places to get a prosthetic, though they probably wouldn't be as advanced.

"Because Atlas technology is the best on Remnant."

"When I discussed his options with him," Professor Ozpin said as Glynda opened her mouth, "Mercury said he would much rather wait for Emerald to fix it."

Hence all the studying Emerald has been doing in preparation for that.

The General glared before turning back to the battle.

There was no denying the four worked very well together. A glance was all it took for them to communicate and they knew each other well enough not to need to talk to know another's plan.

Amber would not be surprised if they won the whole tournament, especially if it was Emerald and Mercury they put forward.

"Nothing out of the ordinary?" Amber asked. She was flicking through the faces of everyone in the audience, even if she was sure it was a futile gesture.

"Nothing we caught," Glynda replied.

"It is a little soon," Professor Ozpin commented. "I think we won't have problems until the doubles round at the earliest."

"And we aren't prepared for it," General Ironwood growled. "Ozpin-"

"I understand how you feel James, but we cannot do too much." Amber wasn't entirely sure if Professor Ozpin had just been saying that before, but they certainly knew that feeling now. "Remember, to the outside world, we are living in a time of peace. If we are too bold, then we will cause the very panic we are trying to prevent."

"We have two possible suspects."

Glynda groaned. "Back to this again?"

"Suspects?" That was news to Amber. Hang on… "You still think Emerald and Mercury are compromised?"

The General gave her a very suspicious look. "You don't?"

Her honest answer: "No, I don't. I think the incident with the train showed that well enough. They could have sabotaged that and none of us would be any the wiser. Also, Zephyr Solgale clears them and he would not have worked with Marcus Black's son. At least at the time."

"He had no problem exchanging letters."

"And the first three were about what Mercury knew about one of his father's clients, which he didn't know." Doing the math, Mercury would have been around seven at the time. "The rest was information he had gained about the war we were fighting there, not here. That leaves us with the three pieces he gave from the beginning."

"Which we only have Mercury's word on."

That was a fair point. From Glynda's groan, it was also a point brought up often. Amber chose not to comment anymore on what was already a debated topic.

"She's not here."

"Another problem: Sustrai won't show us what Cinder Fall looks like."

"Semblances are linked closely to emotions," Glynda retorted. "Particularly emotional trauma. It is not much of a surprise. Given Emerald's past, I'm sure Cinder was very close to her, at least from her point of view."

Azure had initially been desperate to be useful to her new family before she started acting out to be sure they wouldn't get rid of her. While Amber hadn't known that Emerald hadn't used her Semblance to show them, she couldn't say she was too surprised she couldn't.

Amber didn't think it would make much difference. As long as the three of them (maybe even Ruby) were at the Festival, Cinder was very unlikely to show herself. She had relied heavily on her subordinates for cover in that fight and forced the White Fang to do her work. She would remain in the shadows.

"What about Emerald's Semblance when she's in the audience?" It would be very easy for people to claim she was cheating if they found out. She wasn't the only one that could affect people from the audience, but hers was definitely the most controversial.

"We have an agreement on that," Professor Ozpin smiled.

Emerald and Mercury had a bet going. She was thinking that there were many siblings that looked very similar, but Mercury thought it was the same person that seemed to work in multiple places. Emerald knew both scenarios were ridiculous, but this shopkeeper popped up everywhere.

Where did Yang even find out about this place?

For Emerald, the noodles were good, even if it was maybe a bit too much. For Mercury, they were too salty, though that didn't stop him from finishing them. Both Ruby and Yang looked like they could go for more. How, Emerald wasn't sure.

The match that had been after theirs was CRUZ vs CCNT. As they didn't really know anyone very well and they had already ordered their meals, they didn't rush.

"Hey guys," came a voice behind them.

"Hey Lassie," Ruby replied as she stopped spinning in her seat.

Lassie was, fittingly enough, some kind of domestic dog Faunus but telling which kind from a tail was difficult. Still, if her parents had named Emerald that, she would have had it changed as soon as possible, along with a stern talk with whichever official allowed it.

The rest of team Lightning was with her.

"Food any good?"

"Yep. Care to join us?"

Normally, Emerald wasn't too bothered when Ruby or Yang asked strangers that as they didn't tend to stay too long or were easy to ignore. LGHG were a team she didn't like on principle.

Although, any team that has boys that are dating HION is a 'no'.

At least Galon and Hadrian had stayed away from them for the most part. While Emerald hadn't really spoken to him beforehand, she knew that others shortened 'Hadrian' to 'Harry'. She would not be one of them and she didn't think anyone who met Harry Potter would. He was one of a kind.

She wondered how Harry was getting on now. Shame she had no way of finding out.

"Sure," Ghita answered. To be fair, Ghita was alright. She wasn't one of those types that needed to spend fifty hours of make-up and hair preparation for their tournament match.

Emerald really needed to let that idiocy go.

LGHG made themselves comfortable on the adjoining side. It was mostly small talk about some soap opera Yang liked watching that Lassie and Ghita also watched. Hadrian and Galon were waging war on the noodles and the noodles were winning.

Mercury wrapped his arm around her waist. [Not having fun?]

[I was until they showed up.]

[Just bare it for a little while. We'll be leaving soon enough. Want any popcorn for the next match?]

[Don't think I could manage it.]

[Tell me about it.]

The noodles defeated Hadrian. Galon was victorious. He rolled his eyes at the girls chatting about some show Emerald had miraculously managed to avoid watching and turned to them.

"That was quite a fight. I wouldn't be surprised if you were in the finals."

"Thanks," Mercury replied.

"Are you really first years?"

From a certain point of view: no. "Sure," Emerald answered. "We trained really hard for this and we really didn't want to get knocked out in the first round." That was a lie then a truth.

"Didn't need to worry about that," Hadrian responded. "Doesn't mean we're not going to flatten you, but at least there's some decent competition. If you're the first years, I can't wait to crush a fourth year."

Note to self: laugh very hard when they lose.

"You're rather confident," Mercury noted idly.

Emerald managed not to snigger. Goodwitch had used Mercury for a four vs one match to teach the consequences of underestimating your opponent. Velvet had taken great joy in telling the rest of the team about that fight and apparently, Goodwitch had used him in an exhibition 'match' for the same reason with a fourth year team.

Must have been worried about them killing themselves with overconfidence.

"I have every reason to be."

These are second years, so they weren't in the last tournament.

Galon rolled his eyes and returned his attention to the other girls, although they had no hope for joining that conversation. When Hadrian opened his mouth, Galon elbowed him without looking at him, so he missed the resulting glare.

They had moved onto a different show now and Ruby looked just as confused as Emerald felt.

Emerald felt a scroll vibrate. Thinking it odd, she realised it wasn't hers as hers was in the other pocket. That meant it must be Mercury's. He sensed it too and slipped it out of his pocket. She ignored it.

Until she felt him sigh.

[What's wrong?]

[I'm wanted in Ozpin's office.]

Emerald inaudibly groaned. That was not going to go well.

On the other hand, it would be entertaining.

[I'm coming.]

"Would teams JWMP and RNBW please report to the battlefield? It is still intact from the previous match so the next will start as soon as the contestants show up."

[No you're not. Qrow sent it, so he's going to be there.]

Ruby squealed. "Gotta go!"

"Definitely not missing this!" Yang agreed.

[I'll show you later.]

[You'd better.]

Qrow had already told them 'talking to Ironwood is like talking to a brick wall, except you get more out of a wall'. The argument was usually about them and she really couldn't be bothered with it today. It used to worry her, but now it just annoyed her. Mercury had more patience for this and, quite frankly, she just wanted to be a first year student.

Besides, nothing was going to happen to Silvertongue with Felix there.

[Let me know how well Vomit Boy's doing.]

Emerald, chuckling, followed Ruby and Yang as Mercury headed off in the opposite direction.

The only thing ruining this tournament is Ironwood.

Where Qrow got popcorn, Glynda did not even want to know. James was glaring at him, but didn't seem to grasp exactly what he was doing when he ordered Mercury to show up to 'answer some questions'.

While he didn't have to come, Mercury would and Glynda honestly had no idea what mood he was in and, therefore, had no idea how he would behave. He wasn't one to complain, but his friends were fighting now and he would make his displeasure known somehow. Even with the match being displayed (on mute) on Ozpin's desk, he still wouldn't be happy.

Qrow's actions told her she was about to get a headache.

Amber seemed to realise this as well. She seemed torn between annoyance and interest.

When Mercury showed up, there was no annoyance on his features.

That worried Glynda more.

He was also alone, so no Ruby or Yang to temper him.

I need to start carrying aspirin.

"Mr Black. Apologies for taking time from your busy day." James did not sound sorry in the slightest.

"Hey, no worries," Mercury replied with a shrug and a carefree attitude. "Mind keeping this short though? Unlike you, I have got things to do."

Qrow was grinning. James could see that, but Mercury couldn't.

"Count yourself lucky Black. If it were up to me, I would have you shot."

"Relax. If I worked for you, I would steal your bullet and shoot myself."

This is going swimmingly.

Then Mercury seemed to notice Qrow had popcorn. He immediately headed over and grabbed a handful.

"Mercury," Oz interrupted whatever James was about to say. That was probably just as well if anything was going to be settled today. "Where is Talaria right now?"

"Dorm room." He threw an unpopped piece back into the container. Qrow gave him an affection pat on the shoulder and tipped the container so he could reach it easier. "Tai's in the stands so he can't watch her."

"So no one is watching a highly venomous and highly intelligent animal?"

"Zwei is. Feel free to ask Dr Oobleck for his credentials."

Glynda was very doubtful James knew that Zwei was a dog. If he did, then he would certainly question that more. He still wasn't very happy, but he dropped the topic a bit too quickly. She really hoped he did not try to put a tracker on the dragon. Getting bitten would be the least of his worries.

"Very well."

"There is no sign of Zephyr either," Amber noted. "Am I right in thinking he's not coming back at all?"

"Probably." Mercury went for another handful. Qrow kept tilting the container away from his hand. "He doesn't really have anything to fight for." Qrow did not take into account Mercury had two hands, so he easily snagged another handful.

For some reason, Glynda wondered if that popcorn was a bribe for Mercury as well as for Qrow's amusement.

"His teammates," James responded.

Mercury shrugged. "He's done his part for that."

"That does not qualify."

"You live in a very different world to the rest of us, General."

"I live in reality Black. You don't."

Mercury turned away from the popcorn (and Qrow) then. "That so? Matter of interest, in your world, what is this army supposed to prove? Because there's about fifty conspiracy theories on it online and that was from a casual glance."

"Protection. What else?"

""From what?""

If it was just Mercury asking that, James would answer more angrily. However Ozpin, Glynda, Amber and Qrow had spoken the same words at the same time with him. That wasn't so easy to dismiss.

"Being cautious and discreet wasn't working. With my men here, the public feel safe."

Mercury folded his arms. Qrow put a hand on his shoulder, but it was the younger that spoke.

"Do you know that at least half the public are wondering if this is the first move in an attempt to invade Vale? Maybe instead of wondering if my actions put everyone at risk, you should look a little more at yours. At the rate you're going, Cinder won't need to do anything more to invite the Grimm. You will do it for her."

They had known that bringing an army would raise eyebrows and bring slight fear. That the public would see it as an invasion was something they hadn't considered. Tensions were already high with White Fang activity and that didn't count the other crimes that were not connected to Salem or Cinder.

One spark could catch fire very easily.

"How dare-?!"

"Watch that match between JWMP and RNBW General. That is reality. If you can't see the comparisons, then ask the 'cautious and discreet' protectors to point it out. If you'll listen. Keep this in mind: I don't take orders from you."

Qrow's hand still on Mercury's shoulder as the pair left.

That could have gone much better.

There was no literal blood on the floor, so it could have been worse.

Maybe this time, James would get the message. After all, they were not doing nothing. It was just impossible to physically engage an enemy you couldn't see. Doing too much was endangering the very people they were trying to protect.

Ruby walked around the fairgrounds.

She had skipped the next match and had gone looking for JWMP. The only one she had seen so far was Melody and she was with Nyall, so Ruby had left them be. She hadn't seen Weiss, Pyrrha or Jaune and she had been looking for twenty minutes.

Their match had been going back and forth at first. No one had managed to gain real ground. The issue was a communication breakdown within JWMP. When Jaune tried to have an impromptu meeting to fix that, RNBW hadn't been gentlemen. They had attacked while they were talking. They had taken Pyrrha out first, but Weiss had avoided that and she was the other initial target. Demoralised, Jaune had gone out (as much as Ruby hated to say it) easily. While Weiss and Melody put up a fight, they ended up losing.

They took Nash down though. He really wasn't happy about it when I saw him.

She had missed BRN's match with BRNZ as well, but Em had told her they had won and so she would get the details later.

Ruby had gone to their dorm first. She had gone around the fairgrounds twice (to be fair, the first time she had been using her Semblance).

Emerald did say it was a bad idea to think the opposing team would just stand there and let them plan a strategy. Still, they deserved to go through. I had been looking forward to fighting them.

What eventually stopped her wasn't seeing any of JWP. It was the direction Mercury was in. The only thing that was that way was a dance stage competition and he would never do that, no matter how good he was at it. Never. She was still a little sad at that.

Still, Merc never came back to the colosseum, so maybe he had seen them.

Her jaw dropped when she arrived.

What.

Mercury was on the stage.

Dancing.

The first thing she noticed was how good he was.

The second was that it was Weiss he was competing with.

The third was Jaune and Pyrrha in the audience.

Why is Mercury on the stage?

It was only when the song ended and the score announced that Ruby realised it was a draw. It didn't look like a machine could decide whether break dancing or ballet was better. Both got a perfect score.

The manic chanting became excited cheering.

Both Mercury and Weiss gave a bow before getting down from the stage.

The crowd was still cheering even as the five of them left.

"What were you doing up there?" Ruby giggled from Mercury's side.

He grumbled.

"That's what you get for pushing me on a rollercoaster," Jaune scolded cheerfully.

"It wasn't that bad. It was for ten year olds!"

"It was still a rollercoaster!"

Ruby burst out laughing. She was really having trouble breathing. It took a while for her to realise Mercury was rubbing her back.

"It was much less hassle getting him on the teacups," Mercury muttered.

Pyrrha smiled. "I don't know what you're talking about. That was very easy."

That set Ruby off all over again.

"You are so childish Ruby," Weiss said with a fond smile.

Ruby barely heard that. She was red in the face. "T-Teacups? D-Did you t-try the carousel?"

Mercury patted her back gently. "He was on the horse."

Now she was rolling on the floor, the image of Knight Jaune on a plastic pony dancing through her mind. Who needed to breathe anyway?

AN: If there was one thing I was disappointed about is that we didn't get to see much of the Vytal Festival Tournament. I can understand why, but I wouldn't have minded seeing a few more matches.

To answer a certain question: so far, I don't think Veil of War needs to be read completely, with the only problems being some references not understood.

Thanks for reading.