In no way am I connected to Rooster Teeth

Qrow paced in Ozpin's office. Ozpin himself was sitting behind his desk, muscles taunt. Amber was also tense, eyes narrowed. Glynda was studying the video feed very carefully. James was on one of his three ships, expecting trouble.

"I don't like this," Qrow muttered. It still carried in the silent room. "It's been far too quiet."

"Patience Qrow," Ozpin responded calmly. "Only one more night."

"That's exactly what worries me."

In previous tournaments, tonight would be solely focused on the match between the two finalists (congratulations Ruby). However, this year the public wanted a little more beforehand. This wasn't what they wanted, but telling them that they were trying to get through the night as quickly as possible so the certain individuals that wanted to destroy Remnant would have less chance to do so would be rather counter-productive.

Still, it was a group of dancers and Nyall Dewlight had agreed to sing a song as he had won that competition. Not too much and this was supposed to be a time of festivity.

Qrow really hated this time every other year.

The dancers were good, Qrow would admit that. Nyall had one hell of a voice too and he had an interesting taste in music. Not rock n roll but much softer with far more meaning: 'Meet me on the battlefield'.

Wonder who picked that song.

A brief break before the fight.

Amber moved the camera slightly and zoomed in. It took a few seconds for it to register with Qrow exactly what he was seeing, but when he did there was only one appropriate response.

"Dammit."

The video was off because it was linked to heat sensor technology. This idea had come from one of the games Mercury had played when he was in that house alone with the others at Hogwarts. One thing heat sensors were good at was finding warm-blooded things that were invisible.

There was one figure above the stands, but just under the roof that didn't show up on the normal video. It was fiddling with something that was most likely a gun.

"Pepper," Qrow growled.

"But who's her target?" Amber asked. "Blake or Ruby? The audience maybe?"

"Ruby most likely," Ozpin murmured. "She is very popular with all the students and it is easiest to see her as an innocent child. The most impact."

Now Qrow was really furious. "That's not happening."

"Easy Qrow," Amber cut in, her voice calming. "She could take you down before you got close. Who knows what kind of ammo she has?"

Qrow did recall that Mercury had still had aura when that drug took him down in Glade Town. If Pepper had that, which she almost certainly did, then yes Qrow needed to be careful. He couldn't go in in crow form either because the roof was blocked-

Hang on…

Qrow headed over to the window, pushing one open.

"Qrow-"

He didn't let Ozpin finish. "Talaria Oz. She's our trump card. And she's much faster than me."

Would Salem consider Talaria? Probably not. She had remained in the dorm, out of sight and out of the way. On top of that, why would Cinder even think Talaria came back with them? A mask is one thing; a living creature is another entirely.

On top of that, she operated by scent as well as sight and hearing.

Qrow shifted into the crow and took to the wing. His destination wasn't far and they normally left the window open, trusting Talaria to stay where they told her to and allowing her to leave if she felt threatened.

The little dragon was curled up on Yang's pillow, with Zwei lying next to her. Both heads shot up at the sight and possibly smell of the crow that wasn't a crow.

Talaria hopped to her claws when the crow transformed into Qrow. Zwei barked a welcome.

"Yeah, I'm a crow." He held out his hand so Talaria could get a proper sniff of him. She tilted her head, her way of showing confusion. "McGonagall is a cat way."

Talaria nodded. Mercury had gotten into a little trouble when Talaria was only a few weeks old and decided to chase McGonagall in her cat form.

Qrow found the arena on his scroll, logged in so he could access Ironwood's cameras and found the right spot. He moved it down so the person directly underneath was visible.

"See him?" Talaria studied the image for a moment before nodding. "Above him," he moved the image back to the correct spot, "is someone who can be smelt but not seen." Again, that tilt of the head. Then a nod. "Go to the colosseum. Follow the arrows to this area. Attack the scent that is there that you can't see."

Qrow held his breath. Talaria was intelligent, but this went against quite a few rules they had given her.

Talaria was still for a precious second. She growled and clipped her jaws, choosing this method of Atlesian Code rather than tapping.

{Mother? Pack rules?}

That 'Mother' never ceases to amuse me. Even when she's calling me 'Beta Mother' and Tai 'Alpha Mother'.

"Follow Pepper. You might be able to see her later, but follow her scent. Tell Mercury; he'll help you. When she's out of that area, follow Mercury's orders."

Talaria nodded and shot out of the window at a speed Ruby would be proud of.

Qrow headed to the stadium himself. He had no hope of getting there in time, but if there was a backup plan after Pepper (such as Ginger or their unknown triplet) then he would be in a better place.

Unfortunately, Qrow still had Mercury's scroll, so he couldn't contact him. Tai would be more focussed on his daughter's match and could miss a message. On top of that, by the time Qrow told him the issue, there was little he could do. Sending Talaria was the quickest option available.

Qrow also couldn't use his scroll in crow form. That was his quickest option.

James had received the message that Pepper had been 'spotted' on the heat sensors and was looking at it for himself. Sending his men in wouldn't help as she could take them down before they went anywhere near her and they weren't equipped with sniper rifles.

From her movements, Pepper was.

Qrow's idea of using the little dragon did have merit. However, was it intelligent enough to understand (learning Atlesian Code and understanding Basic would suggest so) and, more importantly, was it obedient?

He sent one of his men to discretely head to a position to fire in case nothing happened.

Within three minutes of receiving the message from Ozpin, James saw one of the doors open slightly. He saw something very small and brownish gold hovering in the air. He zoomed in and studied the little thing. It did look like a dragon from fairy tales, but there were key differences between it and the known Grimm dragons.

So that's Talaria. The normal species grows fifteen feet in length, remarkably fast and venomous. And it belongs to the son of an assassin.

It (did Black refer to it as a 'he' or 'she'?) was very logical. Its head moved slowly, until it stopped in a certain direction. Then it (her, definitely her) flew up and into the construction of the roof.

Unable to track her, James returned his attention to Pepper. She was waiting patiently, still invisible.

Only to knock something away a second later.

The dragon had found her target.

James zoomed out to see how everyone else was taking this. No one seemed to have noticed anything; all focused on the two competitors now stepping into the ring.

"Give a big welcome our finalists! Ruby Rose and Blake Belladonna from Beacon have fought their way into the top two! Who will emerge victorious?!"

All but one.

Black seemed to notice something was off. By chance, he and a few of his friends had been sitting opposite of Pepper, so he could probably see something. He left his seat and headed up towards the tunnels. Nyall and Jaune, who he had been beside, looked at each other before following.

Pepper retreated into the closest tunnel. Talaria followed her.

No one in the audience noticed a thing.

Pyrrha clapped for her friends as Blake and Ruby stepped into the arena.

It was a nice change not to be up there for once. She was proud of her achievements, but she would much rather have her friends than the fame. It was so refreshing to be able to be herself.

The only slight hiccup was that their group was split up a bit again. All of them were sure it wouldn't last long though. Tonight was not the night to worry about worries.

Ruby was grinning. Blake was smiling too.

The crowd were quiet. They were just waiting.

"Now for the main event! The finals of the Vytal Festival Tournament! In one corner, Ruby Rose and in the other corner, Blake Belladonna!"

They deserved a cheer.

Ruby and Blake shook hands and headed to their respected halves. Ruby unfolder her scythe.

Blake reached up and removed the bow from around her ears. She tied the new string around the sheath, so both her sword and sheath had ribbon attached.

Ruby bounced eagerly at the new challenge.

"3…2…1…Begin!"

In all other matches, the competitors immediately headed towards each other. They clashed instantly.

Ruby and Blake didn't. They circled for a few moments. Then they struck.

Blake normally analysed her opponent as she fought them. Ruby normally just went with the flow and adapted quickly.

Right now, they could have been in Combat Class sparring. The pace was slower than their previous matches in the tournament. They knew each other and their movements. So they testing if anything happened to be off about them that day.

This match could go either way.

Two minutes in and there was an immediate change. Pyrrha just knew. So did Ruby and Blake. Simultaneously, they began hitting harder and faster.

Ruby was using her scythe to propel herself as well as attack. It was mainly used to change direction. However, that was the first time Ruby had used that manoeuvre while also using her Semblance. The petals had never gone one way and suddenly return the exact same way.

Blake was taken by surprise and only escaped a heavy hit with the use of her Semblance. She attempted to catch Ruby, but missed. She was too quick.

Ruby became visible as Crescent Rose caught the stage again and she landed near the edge.

Blake's shots were now avoided.

The next time they clashed, Ruby twisted Crescent Rose swiftly. The sword flew out of Blake's hand, but Ruby retreated before Blake could respond with the sheath. She did make sure Blake didn't snag the ribbon and the sword was now on the opposite side of the arena.

Blake had also lost her long range weapon.

For a few seconds, Ruby stayed at a distance and fired her sniper rifle. Blake blocked them easily, so she vanished again, not in petals this time.

In fact, she seemed to have just vanished.

Blake closed her eyes and waited. Her cat ears twitched.

Blake slashed to her left. But Ruby went over her head at the last second and managed to hit her side with a quick swing.

Then she dashed away again. She did remain visible.

There was a brief gap as the two caught their breath. Their aura was at 20 each.

They were smiling.

Again, they moved simultaneously. Again, they clashed.

Ruby leapt up. But Blake didn't go after her. She went after her sword. So Ruby burst into petals and went after her.

For once, Ruby was too slow.

Blake's clone actually touched the sword and flipped it up. Blake herself jumped into the air. The sheath was thrown and, incredibly, was timed perfectly to catch her opponent. Ruby's spinning while she was using her Semblance resulted in the ribbon wrapping around her rather than just hitting the ground.

Blake landed and pulled the ribbon.

Ruby smacked into the ground. Hard.

The buzzer sounded.

Ruby's aura was at 5.

Blake Belladonna was the winner of the Vytal Festival Tournament.

One minute after they left, Jaune and Nyall returned to their seats. Black did not.

"General Ironwood." The intercom flashed. It was Mangrove, the man James had sent to engage Pepper.

"I hear you Mangrove."

"I found one of the competitors in a closet hidden in the southeast tunnel sir. Orion Shard. He's alive, but unconscious and unresponsive. There's no sign of physical injury, but he has no aura and it's not regenerating sir."

This could not be a coincidence.

"Take him to Beacon Infirmary." With Pepper gone, there was no need for Mangrove's previous commands and Beacon infirmary was closest. "Guard the room."

"Understood sir."

Disconnecting, James stood at attention. Leaving the finals on one screen, he started going through the cameras in the southeast hallway. Rewinding it, he focused on the faces.

This was proving to be a long fight between Blake and Ruby.

Orion didn't appear on the camera.

There were two ways into the particular closet, which was used to store large equipment. One was into the southeast hallway. The second was a way that should be for staff only. A recon showed that it was unguarded, which was odd as there should be two Knights stationed there.

There was no record that they were offline or disabled. The others in that group were fine, so those two must be a glitch. They would most likely turn up when everything was dismantled after the tournament was over.

That left the question: who moved them afterwards? Most likely, Orion's attacker. There may be no sign of damage, but James was sure it wasn't a medical condition.

Then there was a call on his scroll. It was Winter.

"Report."

"Sir. There's a dead student in Vale City. Warrick Browning sir." James froze for a second before pulling up Warrick's transcripts. "Cause of death unknown, but the body has been mutilated. There's a symbol drawn in his blood."

Warrick Browning. Second year Haven student. Member of Team Rainbow. No next of kin or family recorded.

"Send the image through."

It was grisly and sickening. The shirt had been ripped off and the chest drawn on. A semi-circle with a mark underneath it. There were several lines connecting them to the shape above, some straight and others squiggly. No line overlapped. Underneath that was a phi symbol with a dot in both sides of the circle.

This meant nothing to James, except that Warrick had not died very long ago, possibly within the hour.

He sent it to Ozpin and returned his attention to Winter.

"Any witnesses that you can see?"

"None. There are no civilians visible and, if the same as last night, there will be none outside for at least four blocks."

Ozpin called. It must be serious.

"Return to your ship Winter and scan for heat signatures."

"Understood sir."

James hung up on her and answered Ozpin. "Do you recognise it Oz?"

"I do. That is the mark that is associated with human Grimm. A mindless monster. What are the details?"

James had never heard of human Grimm. "He was literally just found, already dead. No confirmation on the cause of death and I suspect we'll need an autopsy."

"I cannot see his teammates in the audience. Can you verify this?"

James didn't remember seeing them. He started to look for them. "Orion Shard was found unconscious in the colosseum. I sent him to your infirmary."

"He is in very good hands." Dr Waterbrook was considered one of the best doctors on Remnant. "Mercury seems to be missing too."

James groaned. This was not what he needed right now. "I'll keep an eye out for him." It was possible Black killed Warrick, but he had a knife and the wounds were obviously not consistent with a knife or claws from a creature that size. A sword would be a much better match. "I'm sending Warrick for an autopsy. I'll wait until the match is over before I contact Headmaster Lionheart." Now he was sure. "I can't see the other three."

"I feel they are in Vale at the moment." There was a hesitation there. "James, I hate to ask, but could you send someone to look for them?"

"What are you thinking?"

"…I'm thinking that we never found the other moles in Beacon and it is odd for that mark to crop up again. Only someone who works with Salem is likely to know about it."

Now James understood. "Will do." He did still have some men and Knights around Vale for demonstrations and security. "But what would they have to gain by staying in Vale?"

"I don't know, but I don't think it's a coincidence Warrick was found so close to the colosseum. Almost directly beneath it, in fact."

The match was over. Blake had won.

Nothing had happened.

His scroll vibrated again. He checked it to see Winter was responsible. Hanging up on Ozpin, he waited for her report.

"Has something happened, Winter?"

"A squad of Knights has gone rogue. They are not responding to orders and cannot be remotely shut down."

James recalled that the two guarding the colosseum were missing. Was this deliberate? They were electronically linked to the same squad that Winter reported had 'gone rogue', so a glitch was not impossible. No one would be able to hack into his system.

The scroll buzzed.

Ozpin: Talaria is here. She says RNBW work for Cinder

That was not what James wanted to hear. How the hell did the dragon (or Mercury) know? More importantly, where were they and what were they up to?

"More importantly sir, shots have been fired. There's no evidence of a body, so if there was a hit, they must have their aura unlocked. However, it is unknown who they were targeting, if anyone."

If they couldn't be shut down remotely, then there was a good chance they couldn't be shut down manually either. With the match over, people would be returning to their homes soon, so they needed to get this done now.

"Winter, destroy them and be quick about it."

"Understood sir."

They only had to get through the night. Then James could relax again. Then he saw something that made his mood even worse.

"Winter, start with that building that just came down." It was obviously under construction, so no one should be there. "The Knights are likely there."

Qrow may be under a lot of stress, but that didn't mean he wasn't proud of his niece. So she hadn't won. She had every right to be proud of herself for merely getting this far.

The only reason he wasn't more enthusiastic was that Mercury still hadn't come back.

Then he got the message from Ozpin that RNBW was the compromised team. He had never come across them, but he had seen their pictures. Another fact was that Talaria reported it, going straight to Ozpin's office. No Mercury.

Now he was livid the teen didn't take his scroll. He was going to be in so much trouble for that.

Hang on.

Mercury's name should be between Ozpin's and James' in his scroll. It was gone. Backing up into messages, his previous conversations with that scroll had vanished.

It was as if it never existed.

Qrow ran back the way through the tunnels to the main exit. He was studying Mercury's scroll and had found something interesting and very worrying: it didn't connect to the CCTS. In other words, even if Mercury did have his scroll, he couldn't have called anyone.

Now Qrow was very concerned for Mercury's safety.

Too easy. Pepper backed off too easy. He's not at the colosseum either or I'd have run into him. Where is he?

Something was very wrong here.

Warrick was killed in Vale. Maybe he was there, even if he couldn't have drawn that very familiar symbol. After all, he must have had some reason for thinking RNBW were infiltrators.

Qrow was at the crime scene when he heard the building collapse.

Not five seconds later, he got a panicked message from Emerald. One name only.

He came across Roland on the way, also dead. He had been decapitated. There was a good chance Mercury did that. There was no sign of Nash or Basil.

At least, at first. When he arrived at the rubble, the men with Winter had pulled out Nash. A quick check of him showed he had been crushed to death, most likely by the debris. His aura must have shattered before that though.

"What happened here?" Qrow asked.

Winter glanced back, but dismissed him as she focused on the rubble. For a moment anyway. "The cause of collapse is under investigation. No one else has yet been found."

"Are you expecting anyone else?"

"A female voice was heard, but has not been seen. The words meaning are unknown."

Dealing with these guys was like pulling teeth and Qrow was in no mood for this. "Well, which words did she use?" After all, Winter didn't know everything.

"'It is time to leave. We have what we came for.' However, there was nothing stored in this building."

What we came for? So their target wasn't the tournament at all? Or did something change that? What change-

Five seconds between this building coming down and Emerald's message.

Dammit!

Qrow knew what they had come for now.

And they had practically gift-wrapped him.

Pepper could have caused a panic, but they didn't seem too fussed she hadn't succeeded. There hadn't been a back-up plan.

Because all their effort had been directed elsewhere.

He shifted to a crow and headed up into the sky. It was much easier to find things even with the crow's poor night vision. After all, what he was looking for was pretty big and human night vision wasn't anything to brag about either.

Qrow found it.

The airship doors had just closed, but Qrow had seen inside it. He tried to chase it, but it was fruitless. He knew it would be.

Qrow had seen Mercury inside. He had been unconscious. He couldn't see any more than that; couldn't see how badly he was hurt. Basil next to him, idly wrapping his arm. Cinder was also there, red aura flickering around her body.

The only thing Qrow could do was watch as the airship took his son away.

Only ten minutes ago, Yang had been disappointed but proud of her sister even though she lost the match. She had been proud of Blake being comfortable showing the world she was a Faunus, a fact she had been hiding for so long.

Now…

Yang couldn't describe her mood. She was just numb. She was getting questions, but she just shook her head. Ignoring them.

Ruby and Emerald were curled up next to each other. Yang should be a little worried about them falling. They hadn't moved since they sat down there. Dad was with them now. Yang was struggling to join them.

After all, she was the older sister. It was her job to look after them. With him, she always fell short.

She hadn't even noticed he left the audience.

"Hey firecracker."

"Hi Uncle Qrow." Yang didn't turn around. She picked up Zwei, who gave her a lick on the cheek. She didn't really feel it.

Uncle Qrow barely touched her shoulder. She turned around and buried herself into his chest. He wrapped his arms around her, holding her close. Gently rubbed her back.

He didn't say anything.

There wasn't anything to say.

Yang had lost her little brother.

The spark inside her was willing to do anything to get him back.

The ash inside her was arguing that she had lost him forever.

"Hazel. Is there any news before their return?"

"Tyrian's mission was successful. Pepper's mission was not completed and she was somehow noticed while she was still invisible. She describes a dragon like creature that I cannot find anywhere in previous record. I have a hunch and will confirm or refute it when Cinder returns. Cinder's mission was also a success, but we did lose three in the process."

"That is a very satisfactory result. We expected Pepper to be discovered, but not so soon. A pity. She did manage to regroup?"

"She did. She's with her sister now."

"Very good. Who did we lose?"

"Basil is the only surviving member of team Rainbow. If they guess, we cannot rely on Basil for conspicuous jobs."

"Perhaps. That will also depend on who they tell. However, he will be kept busy. When will the machine be ready?"

"It is estimated between 25 and 35 days. There was more damage from neglect than they thought."

"I see. I would like the boy brought before me first. I am quite curious. It may also be a good opportunity for that potion Cinder kept."

"Understood."

The morning after the final match, Marcus' knife and Mercury's cufflink arrived in the post to Headmaster Ozpin's office.