Edit - some of you will notice that this is an update of chapter 33 of this story.

I felt too dissatisfied with the previous version that I decided to change it. Essentially, I felt like there was too much exposition (some of you have been kind and helpful in pointing this out). This I cut out. I also repurposed Sienna's and Adam's little talk. The chapter dropped from about 8.000 word to about 3.500. Instead, some of the old chapter will be used in the next chapter or so.

I will not lie, I am quite aware of the drop in quality my writing has taken since I finished the events of season 3 as my way of making notes and planning the story began to slip. When I began writing this story I had a proper method for it, neat and clear notes and ideas, written in an orderly manner. As we passed season 3 I tried to force out more stuff and keep up some thing resembling a proper release schedule, but without proper planning it has just gone to shit. (Make no mistake, I do have some overarching ideas for the story, but this current bit keeps besting me)

And I am sorry for making you all read that crap (both this poor excuse for an apology and the bad (well, worse than usual) writing. I will try to do better. Perhaps I will be putting this story on hiatus until I have built up a proper buffer of content before posting again. We will see.

Now onto to the modified chapter (no, I did not bother to cut away the old forewords, only trimming the afterwords)

Well, it's been a while since the last update. I've been busy with stuff and been having problems finding the motivation to write. Writer's block, thou art a pain in my rectum. Other than that, been slowly going through a bit of the Cain Archive and such. And thinking of tearing up the plans I had for the story. Those of you who bother to read these forewords know that I am not too fond of RWBY season 4's timeline. Oh well, soon it should get a bit livelier once we get into the xenos-arc.

Anyhow, I ain't got too much to say about this chapter. Mostly railroading (yeah, I admit that) and addressing some of the activities of some (boring) characters.

Atlas

Weiss carefully lifted her hand to her face. Despite being a pencil pusher, her father had hit her with a surprising amount of force. She had not cried, she had not made a noise, but she had looked Jacques square in the eyes defiantly.

General Ironwood's prediction of her outburst at the party had come to pass. She had been yelled at and then disinherited in short order. Even thought she had prepared herself for it it still stung to see Whitley's smug grin when her father proclaimed him to be the new heir. And just as quickly as she had been left without inheritance, she had also been put under house arrest and had her scroll taken from her.
'They want me out of public sight. They want to limit my agency to cause potential problems for them.' Weiss thought and remembered Ironwood's warnings. 'And Whitley wants me out of the picture for good.'
She glanced at a bowl of fruit on her table. A 'gift' from her brother to make her feel better about the whole thing. Weiss knew better than to try any of the fruit, no matter how tasty the apple looked. Oh, how she wanted to stuff the apple in her brother's mouth and roast him over a slow fire and see how he liked the apple.

She sat alone in her room, pondering on what to do. She had to leave Atlas, that much was clear. But how? She no longer had her money, or the name of the company to back her up. She didn't even have a scroll on her. She needed help and there was only one person she could turn to.

*Knock* *knock*

"Enter."

Klein stepped in, a plate of food in his hand. "I imagine that you will find this a lot more appealing than the fruit basket master Whitley gave you."

"Thank you Klein. That's very thoughtful of you."

Klein nodded and as he put down the plate on her table and producing a plastic bag from his pocket, removed the fruit without missing a beat. "Have you made your decision yet?"

"Yes. I'll leave Atlas as soon as possible."

Klein nodded. "Very well. I shall make arrangements and put a few things in order. In the meantime, pack your things. Pack only what you need. You must travel light. Do not dally."

Somewhere in Mistral

Sienna Khan looked down on Adam Taurus as he was kneeling before her, head bowed low. They were in a large chamber where the throne of the High Leader was located. Benches and seats as well as other platforms had been brought into the chamber for this occasion: the Trial of Taurus.
In truth it was a sham. Sienna Khan had already decided Adam's fate in advance. By the end of this day, Adam would be tied up and on his way to be presented to Vale as a peace offering. This farce was only to show all her other subordinates the price to pay for what Adam had done, the price for deviating from her line. And it would also serve to explain why Adam's action had been wrong. Many already understood this, but she was determined to drive the lesson home.

Yet even now, Adam was trying to convince her, and all the others there, to commit to another of his bouts of madness. He wanted them to attack Haven next.
"High Leader Khan, I besiege you! Reconsider your choice."

"No." The answer was flat and hard. "I am going to say this once more. There will be no attack on Haven. There will not be a repeat of what happened at Beacon's grounds."

"High Leader Khan, I beg you. Give the orde-"

"Silence! If there is anything you should be begging for, it's forgiveness! You may think that you achieved something at Beacon, but you're wrong. Beacon was a colossal failure to the cause! How many of our brothers were lost because of it? How many more will be lost when the Angel's forces come for us? And what has it gained us? Nothing!"

Adam tightened his fist at Sienna's words. The White Fang had gotten something from the attack on Beacon, but Sienna was too blind to see it. But what they had gained could not be counted in coin or measured in support. What they had gotten was blood. Blood for their oppressed kin. Blood for all those who had died in the dust mines. Blood for all the pain and mutilations they had suffered.

"But High Leader, what of the loss of our brothers that fell at Beacon? Are we to let their deaths be for nothing? To let their demise go unpunished?"

"If anyone is to be punished for their deaths it's you. Your lack of judgement is what led to their demise. I see now that I should have reigned you in sooner. Your position in this organization has clearly gotten to your head."

'Reign him in.' As if he was some sort of animal. Adam resisted the urge to lash out at Sienna for this.
"High Leader, I thought that this is what you wanted! For the humans to fear us! To respect us! I and our brothers that fought and died at Beacon were doing what had to be done for the cause! The humans had to be shown that we will not cover before them anymore. The faunus had to be shown that we have the strength to rise up! And we did. Now we just have to show that it was not just a fluke. We must strike at Haven as well. The fires of our uprising must not be doused now that we have gotten momentum!"

"You are a fool, Taurus. Your actions have jeopardized everything we have ever worked for! Whatever support and sympathies that the faunus outside of the Fang might have had for the cause and the humans' campaign against us has been justified because of you! And whatever losses happen because of the CCT being down is sure to be blamed on us. The war your actions would bring to our doorstep is not one that we cannot win. Not even if your supposed human benefactors, that we know nothing about, would be good on their promises. They are using you, Adam. And they will continue using you and those who follow you for as long as you remain so short-sighted. They are not to be trusted."

"They upheld their side of the bargain at Beacon. They will do so aga-"

"No! There will be no bargain with these people. There will be no attack on Haven. And that is final!" Her words echoed across the chamber.

Adam was quiet for a while, taking in the situation. If it wasn't for him bowing his head, Sienna would have seen a dissatisfied snarl on his face. Adam had hoped that Sienna would see reason. He had really hoped so, for he had once looked up to the woman. But now he was growing more and more disappointed in her. Once she had showed that way for the White Fang, showing them the right path to take and rousing them from their complacency and acceptance in their lot in life, but now she had grown complacent herself and become a defeatist. That just wouldn't do for Adam and his plans.

"I see. Then you leave me no choice, Sienna."

"That is High Leader for you." she corrected him, growing evermore tired of this charade.

"Not any more." He raised his hand up from the floor and brought it back down with as much force as he could muster. The thud sounded across the hall, loud and clear. Many of the faunus looked at each other in confusion. What did this mean? Only the ones whose animal traits were ears grew even more nervous when they heard the sound of approaching footsteps. Sienna was one of those who had heard it and realized what it all meant.

"Damn you Adam." she said through gritted teeth and reached for her weapon as she saw several of the attendees rise up from the benches, either with smiles on their faces or looks of grim determination. She did take a small comfort in that her own guards stepped forward and readied their weapons.

The doors swung open, revealing a tall and broad shouldered man followed by a cadre of White Fang, all armed.
"Took you long enough to screw this up." said the man to Adam and tossed him a sheathed sword. Adam drew his weapon and turned towards Sienna, his intentions clear.

Sienna had had enough. She dropped any and all pretense of the sham trail. It was time to cut out this cancer in the White Fang once and for all. Rising up from her throne and brandishing her own weapon she called for her followers to take arm themselves.
"TRAITOR!" she shouted at Adam and his followers, and the whole chamber erupted into mayhem.

Atlas

Weiss opened her door slowly, trying to not make a sound while also looking as casual as possible in case anyone saw her. After making sure she was alone she grabbed her suitcase and Myrtenaster and began making her way to the rendezvous with Klein.
Hearing the sound of someone else's footsteps she quickly ducked into another corridor. Had she been discovered? Had someone learned of her plans? She grabbed the hilt of her weapon. If anyone tried to stop her now she would have no choice but to use force. Hopefully she would be able to take them down without making too much noise.
"Madam? Is that you?" asked Klein's voice and Weiss breathed out a sigh of relief. She picked up her suitcase and stepped out from her hiding spot.
Klein stepped closer and whispered to her. "Let's go. The rest of the staff should have turned in by now and the general is keeping your father busy."

The two moved quickly and quietly through the manor, Klein going a bit ahead of Weiss to keep an eye out for any unexpected troubles.
"Is this the best way? Father's study is up ahead."

"It's the fastest way and Ironwood is keeping Jacques busy. We'll be fine just as long as-"

*BZZZZ*
Klein's Scroll buzzed. The butler swore quietly to himself and took it out of his pocket. "Master Whitley! How may I... um... yes, of course. I'll be with you in a moment." The call ended and the scroll was tucked away. "Dammit! Why now of all times?" muttered the butler, eyes turning red, but he quickly regained his composure. "I have to go and attend the brat. You head to the first floor library. There is a hidden passage there that not many know of. I'll meet you there."

Weiss nodded and watched as Klein headed back the way they had come while she quietly moved on ahead. The empty corridor made her every footstep echo but Klein had assured her that Ironwood was keeping her father occupied so she kept on moving. Weiss didn't really understand why the general deemed her successful escape important enough to intervene himself, but she was not going to complain.

Soon she was right outside her father's study and she could hear the two men argue. She knew she shouldn't, but she leaned closer to the door to listen in for a spell, hoping to get at least some insight to what was going on.

"What on Remnant even made you consider it!?"

"I am acting on information provided to me by Winter in Mistral."

Weiss moved closer to the door to listen. Were they talking about Winter?

"Oh, and since when does she know what is best for Atlas? She barely knew what was best for the SDC before you took her from me!"

'More like saved.' thought Weiss.

"Winter is one of the best Atlas has to offer and her report is quite clear. Something is happening in Mistral and we are seeing similarities between this and what happened before the attack on Beacon."

Another attack? Weiss couldn't let that happen! She had to do something! She had to get to Mistral and warn them. Weiss knew she had lingered long enough and stepped away from the door. It was time to go.

She made her way to the library without incident and peered into the darkness. She couldn't see or hear anybody and that worried her. What she wouldn't give to have Blake with her right now. She could've seen in this dark with no problem.

"Klein! Klein, are you here?"

A creaking sound made her turn her head around and raised her weapon. She followed the sound to its source, her weapon at the ready. The sound seemed to come from a corner of the wall. After a while the wall opened up, revealing Klein. His butler's uniform was ruffled, almost shredded in some places, and his mustache was ruffled. He looked quite annoyed. "I told you I'd be here."

"Klein, what is this?" she whispered and came closer to the now revealed passage.

"Just a little secret. Very good for getting away from noisy quests and getting around your father and brother."

As Klein stepped into the dim light of the library Weiss spotted a body lying motionless behind Klein in the secret passage. She looked questioningly at Klein.
"One of your father's associates, I suppose. No doubt stationed here to prevent you from leaving. I think he stumbled upon the passage by accident and just happened to get in my way. Had he known the passage better, I doubt that I would have been overpower him so easily."

"Is he-"

"Dead? Yes, very dead. And while we're on that subject, may I borrow your weapon for a moment? I need to make the body seem… hm, appropriate for the occasion."

Weiss hesitantly handed Myteneser over to the butler who then proceeded to stab the corpse a few times, making sure that the marks he left on it would be very visible. Once done, Klein wiped the blood of the blade and handed it back to Weiss who was looking at the body nervously. She had seen bodies before. There had been plenty of them during Cinder Fall's attack on Beacon. But this made her uneasy.
"Sorry about that." said Klein remorsefully and pushed the body to the side of the passage to make it easier for Weiss to get past it. "But I had to make sure that suspicions fall on you and not me. Please, do not argue. Once your father learns of this you'll be in Mistral and out of his reach. There are still things I'll have to do here, and I can't do them from a prison cell. Or a shallow grave for that matter."

"I understand." said Weiss and steeled herself. "Klein, I overheard Ironwood and father on my way here. Are you sure Mistral is safe?"

"No, but we wouldn't do this if we didn't think it necessary and it's where you'll find Winter." Klein Sighed and his eyes turned light brown. "I suppose she is the only family you have left now. And if you don't find her, you can find Arc. I can't imagine him being hard to find, what with the wings and all."

"I'll always have you."

"That you will." From his pocket he produced two sealed envelopes, both rather thick due to their contents. "Here. I took the liberty to prepare funds for you. From your father's account of course. Funds for your trip, you see. This one…" he held up the first envelope. "is for the pilot that will take you to Mistral. He is expecting you. The second is for any unforeseen expenses. Spend it wisely."

Weiss took the envelopes and nodded.

"Good. Now go, there is no telling if some of the other staff will show up?"

"Thank you, Klein. And… please look after mother."

"You have my word." He nodded and ushered her into the passage, shutting the door behind her. "Oh, and watch your step. I might have made a mess in there earlier. Just follow the path, but be as quiet at possible. There is no telling if there are more in there."
Klein made sure the door was properly sealed and hidden before he moved on. Making sure no one had seen anything he took out his scroll and messaged Ironwood. "It's done."

A few moments later he got confirmation from the general and then at a leisurely pace, he made his way away from the library, making plans for moving the body. No doubt would the dead 'mans' compatriots notice that he was gone eventually and begin to look for him. It would be for the best if they didn't find him near the hidden entrance, that might give them the idea that Weiss had had help in getting away. After all, Weiss wasn't supposed to know about the passage. But he couldn't dispose of the body either. Weiss would not have had time to hide it properly and escape, and so they would surely suspect that she had help if there was no body.
"Why can't it ever be easy?" he muttered.

A maybe half an hour later Klein got a message from his "master" to see the good general out, the men having tried to make a deal of some sort. More like the general had been stalling for time.
The two men walked in silence for a while, making sure they were out of earshot of anyone or anything. "Well?" asked Ironwood.
"She is on her way. There was one of Jacques' fellows in the passageway but I dealt with him easily enough."

"Will it be a problem for us?"

"No, I made sure that suspicions will not fall on me. Couldn't risk leaving her mother on her own with these bastards."

"But they will suspect Weiss instead."

"Yes, but she will soon be out of their reach. With any luck this will all be over soon. How are things on your end?"

"Bad. Jacques influence has grown stronger than we feared."

"Will he make his move soon?"

"No, he still lacks the support to make a move right now. He and his allies will wait until they are strong enough or wait for a good opportunity to present itself."

"So we will just wait and see? I don't like it?"

"Neither do I, Klein. Neither do I."

As they exited the Schnee manor, a single aircraft could be seen flying off in the night sky. Its heading: south.

EDIT - Well, I like to think this is a better use of the White Fang and Sienna.
Now, I must point out a somewhat important detail. In this story, Sienna is doing this for the sake of faunus rights on Remnant. A war with the humans would jeopardize that to an insane degree. However, Blake is acting to preserve faunuskind's existence.

As for Adam: as I was writing this it occurred to me that I could have given the White Fang, particularly Adam, aspects (or more aspects) of the World Eaters and Angron. Heck, even some very generic Khorne-worship aspects in order to make them a bit more interesting for 40K-fans. I ultimately decided not to as I do not believe Adam to be important or interesting enough for that. And I would also have to explain how it's possible. But if there is demand for it, I can amend it.

And I finish this chapter by informing/recommending you of a new fic. Not by me but by Old Wolf Logan. The fic in question is Wolves of Remnant and while it has similarities to my own Prim-Arc, I dare say it might be better than my own.