Down in the city of Vale, Amaura made her way across the rooftops to an abandoned warehouse in the industrial district. She was going there to meet with Bianca to not only update her on Nero's situation but to discuss the recent attacks on The Family. Once inside she took a spot in the rafters and sat down to wait. As she did her talk with Ozpin lingered in her mind, leaving her a bit annoyed, more with herself than with him. She didn't like keeping him in the dark, but it was the only way to make sure he stayed away. A rustling down below interrupted her thoughts. She pulled out a set of oversized revolvers with a large curved blade that extended from underneath the barrel to the handle and cautiously she jumped down. Peaking around one of the columns, she saw Bianca walking down the pathway and looking around. Amaura smirked and put her mask on, slipping into the shadows. Bianca glanced around scanning the area. Light filtered in through the broken glass of the windows, catching her dual colored eyes and shining off what little of her robotic right arm was polished. Her pure white hair and swept to the right with the left side shaved very short, giving a punk-like appearance. The warehouse was eerily quiet, with the only sound coming from the dirt crunching beneath her feet. She began to feel like she was being watched, gripping the handle of her gun. Amaura appeared behind her silently in a cloud of ash, getting as close as she could.

"Boo!" Bianca whipped around, ready to fire only to see Amaura's mask inches from her face.

"Madre di Dio!" She shouted and she stumbled back. Amaura threw her head back in laughter, fighting the urge to actually slap her knee. Bianca shot her an angry look as she shoved her weapon back in its holster. "Amaura, what the hell?! I almost shot you!"

"I couldn't help it," she said as she finished laughing, removing her mask and hood. "It was too easy."

"Well, I'm not in the fucking mood right now alright." She sighed heavily and crossed her arms. Amaura rolled her eyes, shaking her head a bit. She knew how Bianca could be having trained her a majority of her life.

"Ok, ok let's get down to business then," She said changing her tone to a more serious one, "You said you had something new, show me." Bianca pulled out a small jagged crystal, handing it over.

"I found that at one of the attack sites," she said.

"It's a rock," Amaura said dryly.

"It was pulsing red… like it had a heartbeat," Bianca noted nervously. Amaura glanced at her then continued examining the crystal, turning it over holding it up to the light. Then she dropped it on the ground, pulled out her weapon and shot it, shattering it into a million pieces. A crimson mist rose from them then dissipated with a faint hissing sound. "What the hell was that?"

"Doesn't matter," she replied, "but it's definitely the Cult."

Bianca sighed with a smile, a little relieved. "Then we've got nothing to worry about right? I mean, they're small time right?… Amaura?" She looked to her mentor, hoping for confirmation but got only silence in response. The look on Amaura's face had changed to one of contemplation and concern, like someone trying to figure out their next move in a losing chess match.

"Bianca I want you to go to Beacon, stay there with Nero and your ram friend, whatever her name is until further notice."

"What?! Why? Just because it's the Cult behind the attacks?"

"This is above you now." Bianca took a step back, insulted by her words.

"Above me? What the fuck does that mean?" Amaura looked away knowing that those probably weren't the right words she'd needed and so took a moment to choose her next words carefully. She then looked back at her, staring straight into her eyes.

"...It means what Sable and I have told you about the Cult is a lie." Bianca simply stood there for a moment, stunned. Despite what they did for a living Amaura and her mother, Sable, had always been truthful with their students. Now, to find out that they'd lied to them for so long about something like this made her very uncomfortable. If that wasn't enough she could see that worry in her mentor's eyes, however subtle it was, only adding to her unease.

"So what?" Bianca shrugged, trying to act like it didn't affect her. "How much different could a bunch of religious nut jobs be from any other gang we've taken down?"

"Those other gangs are nothing compared to the Cult."

"Well, how?"

"Because the Cult has faith in something you can't even fathom."

Bianca looked at her with an eyebrow raised. "You are really not helping your case."

Amaura sighed heavily trying not to let her growing irritation show through. "I do not have to explain this to you, Bianca." She stepped uncomfortably close. "You will go to Beacon… or I will drag you there. Understand?" Her eyes seemed to pierce Bianca's soul, rendering her speechless for a moment.

"Y-yes ma'am," she finally chocked out.

"Good." Amaura then turned and began walking away, muttering to herself. "Just gonna have to figure out how to tell Ozzy I'm sending him another one." Bianca clenched her fists, she hated being intimidated, especially by Amaura. The woman gave her the creeps even without the mask. However, now that she wasn't in her face she had a moment to think.

"W-wait," Bianca said, "Why? Aren't we supposed to be getting Nero out of Beacon… with your scroll? Isn't that why we sent Melanie there?" Amaura stopped dead in her tracks, realizing she had a choice to make. She could either lie and say no or she could tell Bianca the truth of why Nero was there. In her worry, she'd neglected to keep up the ruse that Ozpin had somehow stolen her scroll and was using it to keep Nero at Beacon. Since she'd already revealed that they'd been lying about the Cult she saw no reason to hide this information either.

"No. I gave Ozpin my scroll with the information he needed to keep Nero there." Bianca once again looked at her shocked and now angry.

"You're the reason he's stuck there?!"

"He is safer there! And you will be too."

"Safe?! We're criminals! Safe was never part of the job description!" Bianca held out her right arm. "You think this happened because I was safe?" Amaura shot her an angry look that shut her up almost immediately.

"I will not have either of you two getting killed because of my mistakes," Amaura said with a more sinister tone in her voice, then shifted quickly to a softer tone, "Go to Beacon… please. I'll explain things to Ozpin and pray to The Sky that he'll understand."

Bianca opened her mouth to say something but closed it, crossing her arms in a huff. She didn't like being told what to do, especially when her mentor thought something was too dangerous for her. However, Amaura was acting much different than she ever had. Normally she was tough on them, pushing her and Nero even when they were tired, usually with good results. Now that she was sure the Cult was involved, her tune had changed dramatically. She was trying to hide them away, and it made her nervous.

"Alright, fine," Bianca conceded, "But at least give me something about the Cult. A good reason why I should just run away." Amaura took a moment, choosing her words very carefully. Too much information and she be putting her in danger, to little and she'd be watering the seeds of distrust that she knew were now in Bianca's mind.

"There's way more than just the three of them. Each of Azula's children controls their own acolytes, each—" Amaura suddenly turned away and began to glance around the warehouse, pulling out her weapons and putting on her mask. "Weapons out. Now." Bianca unholstered her gun, flipping a switch take off the safety. She turned around, standing back to back with her mentor. The two of them stood still and silent until a fireball flew from out of nowhere towards them. Amaura threw up a shield spell in front of Bianca causing the attack to crash into it. She then turned her body to ash and flew towards where the fireball had come from. Behind one of the large crates, she found a Jackal faunus girl dressed in dark robes with a very district symbol on the chest, a sword set vertically in a compass. The emblem of The Sword Logic. However, the most noticeable thing was the three-eyed mask she wore. The girl launched another attack which Amaura easily dodged, retaliating with a blow to the head, shattering the girl's mask.

"Hypocrite!" she shouted as pulled out a pistol with a curved blade that extended from the front to the bottom of the handle. Flipping the blade outwards, her weapon became a sword that resembled an Egyptian khopesh. Amaura growled transformed her own weapons into sickles, the crescent blade gleaming in the low light of the warehouse.

"Such a big word coming from a little Ember," she retorted. Ember clenched her fist, shouting as each swing of her sword ignited the air, sending slashes of fire that seemed to burn reality when they flew through the air. Each one hissed by Amaura, singeing her cloak. "You should have stayed home with mommy." Sparks flew as their blades clashed together, illuminating the air around them.

Bianca watched with a slight smirk on her face, confident that her mentor would win the fight. She was about to holster her gun when two more cultists came out of the shadows trying to sneak up on Amaura. Taking aim, she opened fire on them, hitting one in the leg. The bullet bounced off his aura but still made him drop to the ground in pain, clutching his leg.

"Get up you pansy," the other cultist said. He then looked up at Bianca and charged her, wielding a very simple sword and shield. Bianca chuckled as she threw off her snow white jacket revealing an icy-blue waistcoat that exposed her shoulders and upper back. With a wave of her hand and a small ping sound, she activated her Semblance causing an explosion of snow to erupt off her back in the shape of wings. Throwing her hand towards to the cultist, she summoned a cascade of ice that traveled along the ground toward him. As he sidestepped the attack she opened fire on him, this time hitting his shield. She sighed heavily as a single-edged sword appeared in her hand, just in time to block his attack.

"You're pathetic for using a gun," he snarled. Bianca scoffed and stomped on the ground, causing a spike of ice to impale him in the leg. He screamed in pain as she kicked him back breaking the spike off. Despite his injury, the cultist got back up and swung at her, which she easily dodged. She then slammed her foot on his wound making him collapse on the ground, his aura crackling around him.

"And you're just plain pathetic," Bianca said, waving her hand, encasing his arms and legs in ice. "I'll be back for you later." She heard a scream and looked up expecting to see Amaura standing victorious over foes. However, what she saw horrified her. Her mentor laid on the ground with a knife in her back, motionless. Ember stood over her about to deliver the final blow when Bianca opened fire on them, only to be greeted by a wall of flames. In retaliation Bianca slammed her hand on the ground, covering it in ice and extinguishing the flames. Ember looked over surprised as Bianca's ice blade flew straight at her. The other cultist, who was wielding a short sword, blocked the attack. Bianca charged at her with a furious scream, throwing down her gun and conjured two more ice blades, holding them upside down. She launched a flurry of attacks that the girl was barely able to block, let alone counter. The cultist started to retreat and slipped on the ice, her arms and legs becoming trapped as it crawled up. Bianca turned her attention to Ember, teeth clenched, anger burning in her eyes.

Ember began to back up, seeing her opponent's display of raw power. However, she couldn't help but feel it was familiar somehow, like seeing an old friend after years apart. Before she could figure it out Bianca launch a blast of ice at her, disorienting the jackal faunus for a moment. Her faunus ears folded back as she launched herself forward. Each clash of their blades permeated the air around them with sparks and mist, making it harder for both fighters to see the longer they fought. Bianca took the opportunity coat her fist in ice and deliver a solid blow to her opponent's chest, knocking her to the ground. She then picked her gun back up, aiming right between Ember's eyes. Now that she had a moment to get a good look at her Ember's expression relaxed, the realization of who stood before her finally clicking.

"B-Bianca?" Her tone was inquisitive, as her heart began to race. Bianca kept her guard up but ignored her question, instead turning her attention to Amaura, who was still laying still. Noticing her eyes, Ember looked over at Amaura as well now a bit concerned. She could see the hate behind her eyes, just begging for a reason to pull the trigger. "Bianca wait. It's me it's Ember. Remember?" Bianca glanced back at her and looked her up and down. She did remember. When the two of them were young Ember and her two brothers had lived with The Family, due to her mother's absence. They had been as close as two girls could be. Then Ember's mother returned and took her best friend away, a piece of her gone too. Bianca shot the ground next to Ember, causing her to jump.

"Start talking," Bianca spat. "Now."

"I'm here looking for Cole," she replied, "he hasn't responded to any attempts of contact in months and mother sent me to find out why." Bianca lowered her gun slightly but kept trained on the jackal faunus.

"That doesn't tell me why you've been attacking us," Bianca said, trying to get the subject off of Cole.

"We haven't," Ember said defensively, "at least not my acolytes. I was instructed to determine Cole's situation and nothing more." Bianca shot the ground next to her again.

"Don't fucking lie to me," she said, raising her voice a little.

"I'm not! I wouldn't lie to you, Bianca!" Ember tossed away her weapon in a display of trust. Bianca looked at her confused. She was trying too hard to get Bianca to trust her, and it made the Snow Angel suspicious. On one hand, if she was telling the truth, they were pretty much back at square one, stuck trying to figure out who was attacking them. On the other hand, they now had a new source of information to draw from. While she was busy contemplating Amaura began to stir.

"Amaura," Bianca called out. The woman in question held up her hand weakly.

"I'm fine it's… it's just a flesh wound," she said, attempting to chuckle. Bianca looked at her then back to Ember. She still didn't trust her and now was not the time to be taking unnecessary risks. With a forceful wave of her hand, she encased Ember's hands and feet in thick blue ice in an attempt to ensure that she stayed put. As she made her way over to her mentor she kept her eyes and gun trained on Ember. The jackal faunus let her ears droop a little, locking eyes with Bianca.

"I can help if you'll—," Ember began.

"No," Bianca said firmly. She knelt down and helped Amaura get to her feet with her free hand.

"Hey, B i-if you wouldn't mind pulling out that'd be great," Amaura said. She tried to chuckle again but this time she coughed up some blood, making Bianca worry even more.

"Amaura, you'll be fine just hang in there," she said. They began to walk away when Amaura stopped her. "What?"

"Just pull the fucking knife out and throw me by that cultist over there," she strained to say, gesturing to the cultist girl whose arms and legs were encased in ice. Bianca stopped for a moment and looked at her confused. In a situation like this pulling a blade out was one of the worst things you could do. However, she trusted her mentor, no matter how weird her solutions were.

"Alright." Bianca reluctantly grabbed the knife and counted down and yanked it out, getting a muffled scream from Amaura. Blood started to gush from her wound and soaked her clothes.

"Ow," Amaura said flatly. Bianca hurried as quickly as she could to follow the second part of her instructions, bringing her over to the female cultist. Amaura nearly collapsed as she knelt down and grabbed the girl by the throat then whispered. "I'm so sorry about this." Amaura's hand began to glow a faint black as the girl's aura began to drain from her body. The cultist gasped for air, struggling to free herself. Then she slowly went limp, a white glaze consuming her eyes. Amaura then stood up, reached back and touched where her wound used to be, feeling nothing be her rough skin. Bianca stared at her for a moment. Uncomfortable. She knew Amaura's abilities but to see them first hand was a different experience, like being in the presence of something otherworldly.

Amaura looked over to Ember, whose hands and feet were still iced, expecting her to be angry about what she'd done. She wasn't. Ember had a glum look on her face, the jackal ears on top of her head drooping. It didn't feel like the look of a hardened killer.

"So, you're the ones who've been attacking The Family," Amaura said, getting back on track.

"No we're not," Ember sighed, "I told Bianca this already."

"She's uh… She's here looking for Cole," Bianca said with a hint of reluctance. Amaura looked back at her then to Ember. She knew she should feel bad for her. The look on her face made it hard not too. But she was one of them. A child of Azula, and one of the most prominent members of the Cult of Fundament, someone Amaura had almost no sympathy for.

"Cole's dead," Amaura stated bluntly. Ember's reaction surprised her. A couple of tears ran down her cheeks, with more welling up in her eyes. She then closed her eyes and took a deep breath, muttering something to herself.

"By whose hand," Ember asked as she looked up. This time Amaura was a bit hesitant to respond. The reaction she'd gotten from the news of Cole's demise had caught her off guard.

"By The Reaper's," she said. Both her and Bianca watched to see what this new would do to the cultist. Ember's expression turned angry for a split second before going back to its previous downcast state. She knew it would be a waste of her energy to be angry at The Reaper when there would be no way of enacting her revenge, at least not with Amaura around.

"Well, then I suppose my time here has been for not," Ember said sullenly, then muttered to herself "mother won't be happy." Amaura crossed her arms, glancing at the two girls, now even more worried about Bianca. The way she was looking at Ember made her think she was almost sympathetic towards her. She knew the history she had with Ember. She knew that is was going to be trouble if the two were allowed to reconnect.

"Bianca, I want you to go now," Amaura said.

"What?! Now that we finally have something to go on you want me to—"

Amaura whipped around and shot Bianca a glare that she could feel, even through the mask, making her shudder internally. "Go… now." Bianca immediately holstered her gun and picked up her coat, walking out of the warehouse in a huff. Once she was gone, Amaura turned back to Ember, who was still trapped in Bianca's blue ice. "Now… you and I have a lot to talk about."