"Uncle Qrow!" Ruby and Yang cried out as they sprinted towards their favorite uncle. The man in question froze at the sight of his two nieces running at full speed towards him and put his hands out to stop them.

As the girls barreled into him, they all let out a laugh of joy while Qrow hugged them close. He gazed up at Beacon Academy behind them, welcoming it's magnificent structure into his sights. Atlas could never compare to this. Pulling away, Qrow grinned down at his nieces to see them beaming back up at him.

"Did you bring us anything?" Ruby feverishly asked, her eyes shining with excitement. She had her hands in fists all the while jumping up and down ecstatically.

"Bring you anything? Now why would I do that?" Qrow mockingly asked as Yang let out a bark of a laugh, punching him in the arm.

"C'mon, Uncle Qrow. Cough 'em up. We know you went to Atlas." Yang pushed as she stretched out her hand expectantly, a wide grin on her lips. Qrow stared at her, appalled, about to ask how she knew when heard voices behind them.

Of course. Weiss.

The younger Schnee and their faunas friend Blake were walking towards them with curious looks in their eyes. Qrow rolled his eyes as he groaned in defeat, fishing his souvenirs from his pocket and dropping them into the hands of his nieces. As their attention moved to the small trinkets, Qrow met Weiss' gaze and approached her, his hand reaching into his coat for the envelope.

"Ice Princess, right?" He said with an arched brow, hearing Ruby's "Uncle Qrow!" from behind.

"It's Weiss." The white haired huntress in training, grumbled back with a cross of her arms.

"I don't really care. Here." Qrow deadpanned as he handed the Schnee the crisp white envelope that had her name so neatly written on the front. At the sight of a letter, Weiss' eyes grew wide as she let out a gasp. With careful hands, Weiss turned the letter over in her hands as she gazed down at it in disbelief.

"Is this from...?"

"From Winter, that's right."

Seeing Weiss break into a wide smile, Qrow grinned as Ruby and Yang flocked to their teammate's side, pestering her to open it. Blake was trying to peep over Weiss' shoulder, unsuccessfully as Weiss kept dodging out of everyone's way with a mocking look of anger on her face.

Qrow had stayed for a few more days in Atlas after the whole warehouse fiasco with Winter. It was there that Winter eventually spilled to him that she had been trying to write back to Weiss, unsure of where to begin. Albeit, how Qrow had gotten to finally get Winter to reveal her problem was simply a manner of invading her personal space and annoying her to no ends to talk to him. So, in the course of the few days he had stayed in Atlas, he "guided" Winter on how to effectively write back to her sister.

"Guided" being more of a yelling match between the two.

Besides that, Winter was able to craft a letter to which she asked Qrow to give to Weiss when he finally returned to Beacon. That was before she had left for yet another mission given by 'ol Jimmy. At the sound of a relieved sigh, Qrow turned his head to see Ruby patting Weiss' back consolingly.

"See? She's okay! There's nothing to worry about, Weiss." Ruby cheerfully said as Yang rubbed the top of her head, Blake patting her shoulder on the side.

"Yeah, that other dream was nothing!" Blake reassured with a nod.

Qrow stilled at the mention of a dream.

"What's going on?" He asked as he faced Team RWBY, a queasy feeling striking his heart as a thought of something dark suddenly began to grow.

"Oh, Weiss said that she had another bad dream about Winter the other day. But since you gave the letter from Winter, I'm sure she's just fine!" Ruby clarified as she most likely saw Qrow's expression shift at her sentence.

"Wait, hold on...a bad dream?"

The ticking sound of the clock filled James Ironwood's ears. He stood there at his desk with a deep frown on his lips, the hand that was gripping his phone turned white. A look of apprehension was in his eyes as he stared off into nowhere, what one of his officers had said to him moments ago still in his ears.

"We've received reports that the cargo ship Ms. Schnee was on has crashed. We're sending a team out to investigate at this moment."

He couldn't believe what he was hearing when he first heard the call. Winter of all people, crashing?

Impossible.

And yet...a part of him wondered why he hadn't received any sort of contact in regards to the crash. Had Winter really been in trouble?

James sighed to himself as he placed a hand to his forehead, the fist of anxiety in his gut refusing to give way. His mind was running a mile a minute at the disappearance of his specialist, only snapping out of it when the phone in his hand vibrated - making him jump.

At the sight of who was calling, the General let out a grumble and picked up the call.

"Qrow?" James gruffly greeted, leaning against the side of his desk. His steel eyed gaze landed on his bookshelves, focusing on nothing in particular.

"Hello to you too, Jimmy." came Qrow's reply.

"What brings you to call, Qrow?"

"Whoa, now hold on. Why the smart tone, Ironwood? Can't I just check in once in a while?"

James rolled his eyes in that moment as he knew the man wasn't calling for a simple hello.

"I just saw you 3 days ago, Branwen. What's the real reason?"

There was a heavy pause on the other line. It made the fist in James' gut only seem to get tighter.

"Well...how's the Schnee doing?"

Winter stared down at her scuffed boots in silence, her sharp gaze inspecting each and every crease present. At the sound of something dripping, she saw the splotch of blood that was slowly growing in the cross of the laces in one of her boots.

Ah, that's right. She was bleeding.

Suddenly a finger rested beneath her chin and abruptly forced her gaze up. When icy blue eyes clashed with the orange embers in front of her, Winter couldn't help but frown. This woman in front of her was something else. With the coy look in her eye and the vibrant red of her dress, Winter knew that this individual was not someone to be reckoned with.

Well, neither was she.

"Had enough yet?" Winter quietly said. She attempted to move her head away but was stopped when the woman's hands held her face still.

"Hmm...you have quite the endurance." The black haired woman with the flaming eyes quietly uttered, examining the various cuts and bruises sprinkled across Winter's face.

"What else can you expect?" Winter dared with a smirk, catching the way Cinder's eyes narrowed.

"We'll see." Cinder said as she stepped away from Winter, a small smile on her lips. She turned her head to the side as she crossed her arms, a glance of her ember eyes sent over her shoulder.

"Emerald. Mercury. You're up."

Winter glowered at the sight of her two lackeys appearing from behind the woman. They both held dark, sinister grins that made Winter's blood run cold, which couldn't be a good sign. The Schnee cursed to herself as she glared at the the retreating back of the woman who held her hostage. A figure clad in a soft green blocked her view, causing Winter to glance up to see the young girl named Emerald sneering down at her.

"Do your worst." Winter stated as she set a frown on her lips, her vision wavering for a moment at the pull fatigue.

Winter had a hunch that those who shot down her carrier had been these people. Once she had prepared to confront them after the crash and witnessed the woman who's name was now Cinder emerge from the brush, did she feel like she had truly stepped into something wrong. They were working with the White Fang, that much Winter knew for certain. But to personally shoot down an aircraft that they somehow knew had the Atlas specialist aboard?

There was more to this than meets the eye.

Winter had thought to go up against Cinder, but was quick to realize how fatal a mistake that would be. With the hole from fragment of shrapnel and the display of Cinder's "magic", Winter easily knew what would happen if she had. She had reached for her scroll in an attempt to silently ping the General, when a hand grabbed her wrist and shoved her to the ground, pinning her arm. She hadn't seen where her scroll had fallen but now, sitting in her small cell room alone, Winter was sure that those of the White Fang had it by now.

The Schnee rubbed the bruised area of her wrists where the ropes once were as she sat against the wall. After another attempt of getting her to talk about her reasoning for presence at that one warehouse, she was thrown the small bleak cell that was her temporary "home". Winter stared at the smear of blood on the tile and recalled how she laid there in silence from the exhaustion and pain she had endured through the first day.

She had been in this cell for a couple days now and had wondered throughout what these people could possibly want from her? Why would they want to know who she and Qrow were? What could they possibly gain by holding her captive?

Winter had wracked her brain for answers, all the while trying to keep the recurring violent illusions that Emerald created of Weiss from seeping into her thoughts.

With the thoughts and questions she'd created over her stay, Winter finally had some faces and names to speak about to the General once she made her return. There had to be someone within their ranks that had revealed the location of her carrier. She needed to make it known to the General of this news, and to break out of here before it was too late.

Letting out a deep breath, Winter opened her eyes and gazed down at her dirtied hands - the gloves long gone. With a furrowed brow of concentration, in her right hand ever so slightly came the familiar blue glow of a glyph beginning to form.

Hey loves! Long time no see huh? Hope you've all been well! Sorry it's taken me a while to get this one out! I've been so busy with classes and dance since the start of the semester oops.

Anyway, enjoy the read! Let me know your thoughts.