AN: I had really wanted to do the Nuckelavee fight, but realized that with the way I had ended the last chapter it really left nothing but that fight for me to make a chapter on and that really didn't make me want to write it so…I ultimately decided to skip it. It feels weird to skip it but I really couldn't think of a way to make a chapter solely around a fight and make it worthwhile. Also, JeepJoop, thanks for the ideas *thumbs up*

Chapter 21: To Gain, To Lose

Haven. An academy just like Beacon. A supposed safe place in Mistral and the destination of Team VRRN (Vermillion) and Qrow. After they made their way to Kuroyuri, Ren and Nora seemed to remain motionless for some time starring at the ruins. Visions and memories played out before them as if they were seeing the past in front of their eyes. Eventually they made their way through the ruins of the town. Soon they could feel and hear it. The Nuckelavee. The Grimm that had wiped out the town and remained here for years. With Qrow not in good condition, the rest were forced to take it on. Pyrrha was trying to utilize her new abilities and though they weren't that strong they did still at least harm the Grimm. Despite this she seemed to propel herself headlong into the battle, almost recklessly at times. Ren however was even worse. The emotions and memories all those years ago had never gone away and made him really reckless. After having all of their auras broken and Nora having to, literally, slap sense into Ren, they pulled together and pinned the Nuckelavee for Ren to finish it off. Afterwards they found transport to Mistral where they also found treatment for Qrow.

"Whose idea was it to walk again?" complained Nora as they made their way through the city.

"It wasn't that bad of a trip Nora. Well, we did face many obstacles. Broken airships, destroyed settlements..." Ren began

"And how many times we could've been killed. Especially by that Tyrian guy. What he said…also still bothers me." Pyrrha stated, worrying about why they were looking for Talon.

"Pfft, we were fine. Only one of us almost died." Ruby said, giving Qrow a look.

"Hey, if anything that was one of the least horrific ways I've almost died." Qrow refuted. Nora puts her hands on her hips and looks at Ren.

"Unlike some people."

"Actually, there was back at Beacon." Ren reminded her. Nora sighed.

"I try not to remember."

"So, how much farther to Haven Academy?" Pyrrha steered the conversation back.

"Almost there. Just figured I'd take you kids on the scenic route." Qrow said as they approached a doorway. Qrow opened to reveal a view of a mountainous valley with buildings along flat areas of the mountains and a scenic waterfall.

"Wow!" Ruby exclaimed "This is amazing!" The others join her in admiring the scenery.

"Yeah, it certainly is a sight every time I come here."

"It certainly seems like they put a lot of thought into how to establish everything, not only for function but in a scenic way." Pyrrha observed.

"Yeah, just stay away from the lower levels. The higher up you go, the nicer it gets." Qrow explained, hinting that even this place had its…less than desirable aspects. They made their way toward the academy to see the headmaster Leonardo Lionheart. However once they got there, it became apparent something was odd. The whole place seemed like it was deserted.

"Hello?!" Ruby yelled out a few times

"There doesn't seem to be anyone here. Like it's been abandoned."

"Something isn't right. Follow me." Qrow says as he takes the lead toward the headmaster's office. Once there, Qrow draws his blade and signals them to be ready, prompting them to pull out their weapons as well. Qrow moves up and kicks the door in. A figure, an older lion faunus screams as he throws his hands up. Startled by the scream Ruby, Nora, and to a lesser extent Pyrrha also scream. Ren just looks confused. Having been frightened quite a bit, the faunas faints. Qrow sighs as Ruby looks at the faunas then back to her uncle.

"Uh…Professor Lionheart?"

"Yup." Qrow says putting his weapon away. He walks over and gently starts patting his face. Lionheart soon starts opening his eyes before registering who is waking him up and quickly sits up.

"Qrow! For crying out loud, you nearly scared me half to death!

"Me? I thought you'd be waiting for us at the entrance." Lionheart seems confused before pulling out a pocket watch.

"Oh. Apologies. I guess time slipped away from me." Qrow just facepalmed. Team VRRN put their weapons away and enter the office.

"Well now that that's over with, where is everybody?"

"Ah, you must be the students Qrow mentioned." Lionheart said, finally noticing them. They introduce themselves to him.

"A pleasure to meet you all. Leonardo Lionheart, at your service. Though, now that I look at it, where is your son Qrow?" Qrow seems slightly tense.

"He's…elsewhere right now. But I'm sure he's fine." It was obvious that Qrow was worried but he wasn't the type to openly express such things.

"Well, I'm afraid most of my staff is currently away until classes resume, but-" Qrow cuts Lionheart off at this.

"Leo, you can't be serious. Who's guarding the Relic?" Lionheart tried to act discreet noting how there were children.

"They already know. I filled them in. What do you mean your staff is away?" Lionheart just seems shocked as he sinks into his chair.

"You... filled them in?" Lionheart takes a moment to adjust and even seems horrified in some small way. "I have to say, Qrow, this all seems very reckless, even for you."

"No, reckless is leaving one of the Relics completely unguarded. It's not checking in with Oz for ages!" Qrow exclaims.

"There was nothing to check in about before the fall of Beacon, but since that day, Mistral has been in chaos!" Lionheart gets up and walks toward a window. "Vale wasn't the only Kingdom to suffer that night. Everyone was watching. Every house in every Kingdom saw that poor girl ripped to pieces, saw monsters crawling over the city, Atlesian Knights attacking citizens...and then nothing." The Team looks troubled, as the memories of that day return once again. "You could feel the dread in the air. With all that negativity, you can imagine what it was like when the Grimm came for us." Lionheart sighs as the stress seems very apparent on his face. "Mistral's territory is the widest reaching in the world, you know, and that makes it infinitely harder to protect. We lost so many great Huntsmen, teachers from this very institution. And it's only gotten worse."

"How?" Pyrrha asks, very concerned. It was true that none of them really thought about how things in the rest of the world became due to that day. They had only really thought about how Beacon and most of Vale was lost. Lionheart placed his hands on the windowsill.

"We may have dealt with the Grimm, but the Mistral council's still at odds with representatives from Atlas. First, it was the Dust embargo, now it's the closing of borders. I'm not sure what happened to James in Vale, but it seems to have only worsened some of his more unfortunate tendencies." Lionheart turns to look at them as he sighs. "And, on top of everything, we still don't know where the Spring Maiden is."

"All the more reason we need the Huntsmen and Huntresses here!" Qrow exclaimed in frustration.

"Okay! Okay. Things are bad; they're bad. But we can figure this out. Why is the Spring Maiden so important?" Ruby exclaimed to prevent any more arguing and wanting to get things worked out. Lionheart looks confused.

"I thought you filled them in." Qrow sighs.

"I quit teaching for a reason. And we had one issue after another on the way here." Lionheart sits back in his chair sighing.

"The four Maidens each have the power to perform incredible feats of magic, and they are the only ones capable of reaching the Relics."

"Wait, but how?" Pyrrha questions. Was…she one of these maidens?

"The Relics are each locked inside a chamber that can only be opened by a specific Maiden. Winter for the gift of Creation, Summer for Destruction, Fall for Choice and Spring for Knowledge." Qrow explains, taking out his flask and looking real tempted to take a drink. "Spring is the problem."

"What happened?" Ren asks, worried about where this might lead.

"She was determined, at first, when she inherited her powers, but the weight of responsibility proved to be too much for the child. She... ran away. Abandoned her training, everyone. That was over a decade ago. There's no telling where she could be now." Lionheart explains

"I... know. At least... I have a pretty good idea." Qrow admits. Lionheart looks up as if in hope. Qrow says that he shouldn't take that as good news.

"What are you talking about? This is incredible news! After all these years! Where?!" Lionheart gets up and approaches Qrow as if demanding to know. Qrow sighs.

"I did some digging around. Looks like, after Spring ran away, she was picked up by bandits, specifically the Branwen tribe." Lionheart immediately deflates.

"Raven." Was all Lionheart gave in response. Ruby gasps

"Wait…isn't that…?" Nora begins to question.

"Yang's mom." Ren finishes. Qrow nods. He pulls up a display on his scroll, explaining that it is the rough location of the tribe's main camp. Lionheart is thankful and seems to assure that in a few weeks they can go on a retrieval mission. Qrow becomes adamant about doing so a lot sooner. Lionheart becomes angered trying to get Qrow to understand that the council won't just hand over Huntsman to go attack a bandit tribe. Eventually it became clear that they wouldn't be getting anywhere.

"There has to be something we can do." Ruby said, feeling hopeless. Pyrrha seemed thoughtful before looking at Lionheart with a little bit of a glare.

"What about Cinder? Her and her teamed claimed to be from Haven if a recall. Did you find anything on them?"

"We pulled their files after the Fall of Beacon. Nothing but lies and forgeries." Lionheart stated. Pyrrha didn't seem satisfied but let it go.

"Well, I can't say this has been a warm reunion, Leo." Qrow said somewhat sarcastically.

"I'm sorry. I know you've all traveled a long way. But I will do everything I can to help."

"Sure. We'll stay in the city for the time being. Keep in touch. Come on kiddos." Qrow said as they filed out, not satisfied with the meeting. And not knowing Lionheart would immediately be having another meeting. A far more important one. Qrow, finally finding the frustration too much heads to a bar. Alone and looking down at a glass, he soon hears someone enter the place behind him.

"Excuse me." Qrow turns around to see a young boy, younger than Ruby, standing there. Tanned skin, black hair and freckles. He looks like he belongs on a ranch.

Later that night, Pyrrha, Ren and Nora are sitting on a pair of red couches in a living room when there's a knock on the door. They tense and look at each other before Pyrrha cautiously goes to open it. The young boy Qrow met earlier is on the other side, looking hesitant and uncomfortable. Pyrrha instantly feels bad for him but knows she has to remain cautious.

"Can we help you?"

"Um... yeah. Is there a Ruby Rose here?" The boy asks. From behind Pyrrha can hear Nora ask why, in a slightly tense tone which Pyrrha doesn't fully appreciate seeing as this boy looks more submissive because of it.

"Well..." He starts before Qrow, who is actually drunk, stumbles into the doorway exclaiming 'I found him!' before trudging into the building. "I think her uncle could use some help." Qrow stumbles onto the nearby couch, muttering to himself.

"What is going on out there?! Can't a girl read her comics in peace?" Ruby yells as she enters the room. She notices Qrow and looks surprised and slightly disappointed.

"Qrow, did you actually get drunk?"

"Maybe." Was all she got. Ruby then looks over and notices the boy standing there. The boy looks at her somewhat mystified.

"You…have silver eyes." He stated. Ruby looks confused but with slightly wide eyes. Looks at the others then at the boy.

"Who... are you?" The boy looks uncomfortable.

"Uh... Well. My name is Oscar Pine." Qrow mutters something like 'wait for it'

"But you probably know me as... Professor Ozpin." He finishes before everyone looks at him with wide eyes and confused stares before Qrow exclaims 'I DID IT!' and falls off the couch.

*Elsewhere*

"Adam. I'm not going to repeat myself, so I want you to listen when I tell you that the White Fang will not attack Haven Academy." Declared Sienna Khan, current leader of the White Fang. She was currently sitting on her throne in the White Fang main headquarters with guards around while talking to Adam Taurus, who was kneeling down before her.

"High Leader Khan, I am begging you." Adam pleaded. Though he was only half meaning it.

"You should beg for forgiveness and nothing else! The assault you led on Beacon was not the great victory you clearly think it was, and you should be more grateful your punishment was not more severe. You are a symbol for many in our organization, but that doesn't make you infallible." Even if she was the one who initially wanted to use violence, she hadn't wanted something like this. Truthfully she didn't want to use such extremes, and losing essentially an entire kingdom to Grimm was not something she would condone.

"I was merely trying to follow your example, High Leader." Adam tried to placate her.

"And what example might that be?"

"Strength. Strength and unwavering conviction. The humans have seen that strength now." Adam explained, seemingly completely sure that nothing he did went against what the White Fang and faunus wanted.

"I was one of the first to suggest violence where violence was necessary. Peace bred complacency and acceptance of our place in the world. I will not allow humanity to push us down without pushing them back. But the destruction of the Huntsman Academies crosses a line! The loss of the CCT has brought global communication to a crawl! And the White Fang is more of a target now than ever before! You have justified humanity's campaign against us, and for what?! Empty promises from a group of humans? Humans we still know nothing about, and come and go as they please! These are not examples of strength, Adam. They are examples of your talents being diminished by shortsightedness!"

"Then if you want to know more about the humans, then why not talk to one of them yourself?" Sienna seemed confused before Adam rose and turned toward the doors shouting 'Hazel!' A large man opened the doors, one who looked like he could win most fights by strength alone.

"Took you long enough." Was all he said. Sienna rose from her seat and the guards pointed their spears at Hazel.

"What is this?!" Sienna demanded.

"Apologies. I don't aim to cause any trouble."

"You've brought a human to this location?" Sienna exclaimed feeling betrayed that Adam would bring a human to their hideout.

"You should hear what he has to say." Adam stated, trying to calm her.

"This is grounds for execution!" It clearly wasn't working. Hazel stated he was just there for a moment of her time, to talk.

"The longer you stay here, the less of a chance you have of leaving alive." Sienna threatened.

"I'll take those chances, if you don't mind." Sienna had to admire his fortitude. She went and sat back down, the guards putting their spears back in 'calm' position.

"You don't like me. You have no reason to like me. But you don't have to like me to get the results you want." Hazel explained, trying to reason and show they she had more to gain by allying with him and his group.

"I'm starting to doubt either of you fully comprehend what it is that I want. I want humanity to fear the Faunus, to know that we demand respect! I do not want to start a war with the humans that we cannot win!" Sienna knew that despite the advantages that faunus had, humanity had far more than they did.

"That's where you're wrong." Sienna looked at Adam confused as he approached her.

"We can win a war against the humans. Not only because we have the support of Hazel's master, but because the Faunus are the dominant species of this planet. We're better than humans. We have everything humans have and more. Humans shouldn't just fear the Faunus, they should serve the Faunus." Adam declared, showing what it is that he wanted.

"I've had enough of this conversation for tonight. Guards, take them away." Sienna demanded. She couldn't deal with this, with how far Adam was willing to take his warpath and believe nothing would go wrong. However, she noticed that the guards weren't moving. "I said, take them away!"

"I will admit, Sienna, you were right about my popularity. My followers in Vale already see me as the true High Leader. And many here in Mistral feel the same." After a moment more White Fang soldiers enter through the main doors, pointing their weapons into the room as Sienna rises to her feet.

"What are you doing?" Hazel asks. This clearly wasn't exactly what he thought would happen.

"What's right for the Faunus. From this day forward, I will be the one to lead the White Fang." Adam declares, propping himself above all. More White Fang enter the room as both the new soldiers and even her own guards point their weapons at Sienna. Sienna knows she has little chance to get out alive. She glares at Adam.

"If you think I'll just step aside and follow beneath you, you're wrong." In that moment, Adam stilled as a memory trudged up. One that he had been trying to forget. One from all those months ago. Back at Beacon Academy when Adam had gone and confronted Blake, he had expected her to be afraid. She was, oh by the Brothers she was afraid, and he loved it. She was trembling and wide eyed in horror at the sight of him, knowing he had come for her. But, a short time before that blonde bimbo had shown up, she stopped. From out of nowhere she halted and clenched her fists, building a look of defiance in her eyes. He had mocked her saying he knew she was afraid, even if she tried to hide it. But then she said something that had bothered him since. Something that wouldn't leave his mind.

"I am afraid. But I've found something that instills far more fear in me than you. I will not let you walk over me."

Through these words he had seen a change. The Blake Belladonna he had come to know, had loved, was not the same. Sure, she had always had a small fire to her. One would have to in order to be a part of a group fighting for change. But this was different. He knew her, and knew that she would fear him and that would allow him to toy with her and either bring her back forcefully, or allow him to toy with her till he eventually killed her. But no, in the span of a few months she had changed to the point she grew determined, said those words to him, and fought back. Oh she was still no match for him, even if she was trying not to let her fear of him out. In the end he still won, but then that bimbo had to show up. At least he showed her not to cross him. But now, here was someone else showing they would not fear him. The memory played just as Sienna's words did until he practically saw Blake in her place. He gritted his teeth, rage building up. Sienna noticed he started seeming tense and shaking just a little. Her sense suddenly started flaring as she seemed to watch in slow motion as Adam drove his sword forward with a growl of rage. It was only thanks to that that Sienna had any warning and was just barely able to dodge. Sienna quickly grabbed Adam's wrist and punched him in the gut before quickly giving an uppercut to his chin. This disoriented Adam and caused him to tumble back, allowing Sienna to quickly grab his sword and pull it out of his grip as he fell onto his side. Adam, once his mind registered what happened quickly ordered his men to shoot. Sienna knew she had to escape or she would be done for. She quickly pulled out her weapon, Cerberus Whip, and spun both it as Adams sword in a diagonal formation in front of her to both block the bullets in front of her and on the side to a degree. She moved around Adam and headed for the doors. Some bullets were starting to hit her from behind on the bottom of her legs and mostly her back. Fortunately she had put up her aura by now but she wouldn't last. Adam called for Hazel to stop her. Hazel waited till she got near enough and threw a punch. Sienna dodged by jumping up and, as Hazel followed her movement, planted her foot in his face and used it to propel herself just over his head. The White Fang guards had stopped firing, not wanting to hit Adam's ally. Angered, Hazel turned around as she landed and began to attack. Sienna did her best to keep dodging as she kept moving toward the door. Sienna knew she couldn't just dodge her way to the door; she had to get some distance. To do so she turned on the offensive. However this proved to be the wrong choice. As she swung Adam's sword, Hazel grabbed it. Sienna was momentarily shocked, which was the wrong thing to do. As Hazel was much stronger than her, he quickly pulled up and hoisted Sienna up before he delivered a hearty punch. This caused Sienna to not only let go of the sword, but fly and hit the door as they were now pretty close to it. Sienna's aura flared and dissipated, as she tried to adjust herself as she had hit the door pretty hard. Once her eyesight adjusted, she saw the nearest guards getting ready to fire. Despite the weakness she felt, she quickly reached to the door knob, not only to open the door but to use it to pull herself up.

"Shoot her!" Adam yelled. Sienna quickly pushed the door open as she had wobbly gotten to her feet and burst through, some bullets nicking her. She ran as fast as she could, using her weapon as a shield. "Go after her. Kill her!" Adam yelled as half the guards ran out. Hazel walked up with Adam's sword, holding it out to him.

"No one needed to die today." Was all he said as Adam grabbed his sword. Adam grit his teeth as his anger simmered.

"Someone should've."