AN: Hey everyone, I have the next chapter here. This one explores a few interesting perspectives and introduces some new characters to the cast here. However, these ones are not as friendly as everyone else we have seen so far. Hope you enjoy this chapter, leave a review with your comments and questions, and have a nice day.

Chapter 6 – Who Needs Enemies

Yang.

At a gas station, Yang just finished refueling her bumblebee, "Damn Gil and his high standards, can't spend one night in a hotel that's less than four stars." The blond brawler thought to herself before yawning. She then looked to see the rest of her group inside the gas station, restocking their supplies, "Still, we're really close now." she said with a small smile forming. Suddenly, her scroll began to ring. In taking it out, she saw the caller ID showing a picture of her white heiress teammate, "Sup Weiss," Yang answered, "Everything good?"

"Y-yeah," Weiss said in a slightly hesitant voice, speaking from inside her room, "Listen, Blake was more comfortable talking about her White Fang past with you than Ruby or I." She said with Yang having a look of concern, "What do you know about a guy she knew called Adam?"

"Oh, that creep," The blond brawler responded, using the word creep to spare the white heiress of any harsher words, "Blake only told me about that guy after he was imprisoned. Adam was her old boyfriend. To keep it short, the way he treated her makes me sick." Yang said as her eyes started to turn red.

"That bad huh," Weiss responded.

"You know the worst part; Blake still blames herself for the way he acted." Yang said as she clenched her left fist, "I swear, if I ever see that creep, I'll send his ass through five walls. No six, screw him."

"Why does Blake think that?" The white heiress asked.

"She told me about his past and the way he was mistreated by…well everyone. How she could have done more to save him from becoming, what she described as, a monster." Yang said as she leaned against her Bumblebee, "I told her that if Adam had any decency at all, he would have known to treat her right. That she made the right call leaving him and the White Fang in general." She then had a small smile return to her face, her eye color back to normal, "Now, Blake's on our team, she has a nice boyfriend, and Adam is rotting in a cell." Yang spoke before only silence was heard on the other end, "Weiss, you still there?"

"Yeah," Weiss said with a sigh, "Just…thanks for talking with me."

"Anytime," Yang responded before her scroll started to ring again. She saw the image of The Club sigh, to caller idea saying Junior, "I got another call coming in, talk to you later." The blond brawler then hung up before answering the new caller, "Hey Junior," Yang said she answered, "Forget something?"

"More like something I just learned." Junior said on the other line, looking on his laptop, "Blondie, someone put a bounty out on you."

Yang's eyes slowly widen as she spoke, "What?" She then had a slight giggle as she continued, "But, I'm just a kid still in training to be a huntress. How can I possibly have a bounty already?"

"Anyone can have a bounty if they piss off the wrong person. Yours was enacted a few days ago with specific conditions." Junior responded, "Your body brought to the Branwen Tribe. However, the job is only open to people in-"

"The part of Apocrypha I'm heading to find my Mother in." Yang finished his sentence, "They're trying to keep me out of her hair." She said before having a single laugh, "Well, bring it on."

"What about your group?" the bartender asked, "You going to let them know?"

"Of course, I'll tell them and give them the chance to leave," Yang responded before seeing them approach, a smile on their face, "But, they're as stubborn as me." She then focused back to her scroll, "Hey, if any bounty hunter calls you about advice on how to take me down."

"I'll cover as best I can," Junior said with a sigh, "But this means you owe me one now, Blondie."

"Fine, you got it." Yang said with a chuckle, "Thank Junior." She said before another question came to her mind, "Also…How much am I worth?"

"More than I thought, but less than you're thinking." Junior answered with another sigh before his eyes focused on his laptop, "One of them is close to your position. I can't give you any detail but watch your back."

"Okay," Yang said before hanging up her scroll. She then turned to see Gilgamesh and the others walking towards her.

However, in the distance on a small hill, a blond boy was laying on his stomach. He wore a dark brown wide-rim hat, the material matching his jacket. His plants were black leather with a holster on her left hip. He wore a red tattered scarf and silver wrist guards. Though a pair of binoculars, he saw Yang talking with her group, "Lucky me," the blond boy said as a smile on his face, seeing the group get on their motorcycles. "I like bright and fun targets." He said before whistling, calling a horse to his side. He then mounted the stallion and road off to tail the group of bikers.

Weiss.

The white heiress clenched her fight fist before opening the door to a room. Inside, Adam sat on the floor. He ran what looked like a red whetstone across the blade of his sword, "What do you want, Schnee?" The White Fang swordsman asked her, but did not remove his gaze from his weapon, "I'm busy."

"You abused Blake." Weiss coldly stated, causing Adam to stop mid-stroke, "I don't care what my sister or anyone else says." She said as Adam put the whetstone on the floor, "You are the worst type of person."

"…" Adam waited before responded, "Is that all you wished to tell me?" He then had a slight smile on his face as he looked up at her, "You think your words cut deep?" he then began to laugh as Weiss gritted her teeth, "Trust me, Schnee, I have been called every foul word by your kind already. But your lack of creativity is amusing."

"You-" Weiss said as she was about to put her hand on her weapon, but held back to ask one more question, "How could you do that to Blake?"

Slowly, Adam ceased his laughter, his expression turning stern, "Despite her nature to help Faunus, Blake could not do what was needed in White Fang anymore. She lacked a heart of hatred, the ability to take a life for the betterment of our kind." He then looked back down to his weapon, returning to his sharpening, "To truly hate someone enough to act on those emotions: without fear, without hesitation, without remorse. I intended to teach her that, even if that meant she would hate me that way as well." Weiss still had a look of anger in her eyes, but noticed Adam's expression growing more sorrowful, "However, it wasn't until after she left that I realized it. That's not who Blake is, nor will that ever be." He said as Weiss moved her hand away from her weapon, "We don't get to choose what we're born into this life as, but we do get to choose what we do with this life." Adam's mind began to wonder to that moment when we saw Blake at the other end of the train cart. The two drifted apart, slowly fading from each other's lives, "She made her choice, and I made mine. But, should our paths ever cross again-"

"Hey!" Musashi came up from behind and hugged Weiss, her interruption cutting off Adam, "Your sister told me to get you to welcome our new guest." She then picked up the white heiress, causing her face to turn red with embarrassment. "Come on, she's landed in the loading dock now."

"Hey, put me down!" Weiss ordered as she was carried out the room by the swordswoman. As the door automatically closed, Adam sighed, returning to his sharpening. After turning the corner, Musashi put the white heiress down, "What was that for?"

"As I said, we have to get going to greet the new girl." Musashi responded, "Your sister said you should do the honors and told me to get you."

"I got that," Weiss said as she brushed herself off, "Why did you interrupt my conversation."

"Well, because your sister told me to get you like ten minutes ago," the swordswoman responded, "But I was eating, so I'm a little late." She then pointed at Weiss, "Which makes you a little late now."

"What!?" Weiss said in a panic.

"Relax, it will be fine." Musashi nonclonally responded, then placed her right hand on her hip, "So, you talked with Adam about his past." She said in a slightly more serious voice, causing Weiss to slightly gasp.

The white heiress scoffed as she walked faster, "How can you associate with someone like him?" She said before focusing on her eye patch, "I heard Nobu mention it, this is the guy who took your eye."

"Am I'm the girl that left a gigantic scar on his chest and got him locked up in a military cell. Where he was beaten near daily by Atlas soldiers for about the eight months, people who had a similar hatred of the White Fang as you do." Musashi responded, "So if you think he's getting off easy because he now works with us. You really don't know what he has already been through." She then looked down the vacant halls, "Think about how empty this big airship is. Way fewer soldiers than there should be. Your sister told me almost nobody accepted the mission knowing Adam was on this airship. Nobody wants to get near the guy."

"Except you," Weiss said with a glare, "What is your relationship to him?"

"A relationship is a bit more than either of us would admit," The swordswoman responded with a smirk, then looked forward down the hall, "We're just products of a world that didn't want us to exist the way we are." She said, Weiss, hearing the familiarity in the words she just heard from Adam, "To that end, I understand him."

"But he's-" Weiss was saying, but Musashi cut her off.

"Also, if I didn't think to save him," the swordswoman said, her voice slightly more sorrowful, "Then his life truly was meaningless." She said with the white heiress not knowing how to respond, "That is a fate he doesn't deserves." Musashi then looked back to her with a smirk, "I'm not saying you have to like him, or even forgive him." Her face then grew a little calmer as she spoke, "Just, don't antagonize him. If you're thinking it will make you feel better, all you're really doing is putting more negative emotions in the world." She said as Weiss slightly gasped, Musashi face slightly more serious, "And you know what that does."

"…" Weiss remined quiet as the two walked the rest of the way in silence.

The two then reached the landing platform, where an airship was about to dock. Near the platform was Nobu, who looked over to see Weiss walking over. Musashi then walked away as placed her hands behind her head, "There you are," Nobu spoke towards the white heiress, "Almost missed our new guest." She said as the hatch opened.

Looking up they noticed a girl with long blond hair, someone no more than fifteen years old. She wore a blue thin winter dress and a black beret with a white rose. She wore black fur warmers on her wrist and neck. Her gloves and boots were brown. She wore black stockings and a deep blue scarf over her shoulders. For a second, Nobu and Weiss through, they were looking at a doll. However, as they looked into the blue eyes of the blond girl, she smirked down with a piercing gaze, "Ufufufu," she chuckled as she walked down the landing platform, "So, they do let children on this vessel."

"Kids?" Nobu responded, "I bet we're both older than you."

"I was not referring to physically, but mentally," the girl clarified before bowing, "Allow me to introduce myself. I am Reines El-Melloi Archisorte, the Princess of El-Melloi." She then looked up at the two, a condescending look in her eyes to accompany her smirk, "But I will accept Major General as my title as well."

"So, you're the one who funded this project," Weiss spoke up.

"Yes, quite the investment." Reines responded as she examined the airship, "And I wish to make sure said investment pays dividends." She then looked back at the white heiress, "You choose not to partake. Aren't you a member of the Schnee family?"

"My father has never been interested in anything to do with Apocrypha," Weiss responded.

"Oh, my mistake," Reines replied with feigned surprise, "I thought you were head of the family."

"That's absurd to assume, I'm-" Weiss responded in the slight offense, but Reines cut her off.

"Just a child, I know." The princess of El-Melloi finished with a condescending voice. Then turned to the Grimm archer, "And what about the Oda clan, I would have thought they'd jump at this opportunity." she said with Nobu glaring back, not saying a word, "Oh, it looks like I'm the only one here who is the head of their wealthy family." She said before having a slight giggle, "How curious?"

"Listen, if we are going to be working together," Nobu spoke up, "You need to work on your personality."

"Hm, I think not." Reines responded as she started to walk away, "If you can't handle my words, then go back home to your parents." She then glanced back at the two, a smirk on her face as her eyes were half open, "After all, that is was children do." She then chuckled before walking down the hall.

Nobu and Weiss focused on the princess of El-Melloi leaving, the two girls hold a gaze of hatred at the new guest, "You know," Nobu spoke up to the white heiress, "You may be an ice queen," she said before pointing over to Reines, "But that girl is a bitch."

"Don't let her, or my sister, hear you say that," Weiss whispered back, then sighed, "But, that is something else we agree on."

Cinder.

At the region between Vale and Apocrypha, a rundown town was crawling with people. However, everyone was avoiding eye contact. In the center of the crowd, a woman and young girl walked together. The bodies covered in brown robes, hiding their identity. The woman took out her scroll, looking to a map with a blinking destination. The woman then turned to see an alley. She and the girl walked down it, noting it as the source of the signal. Upon overlapping with their destination and being away from the crowd, Cinder and Chloe removed their hoods. The red mantel girl then pointed to a heavy steel door. They approached the door with Chloe looking back at Cinder, "You know the password?" She asked her boss.

The Fall Maiden smirked as she placed her right hand just over the doorknob. The metal began to heat up, glowing with white light. Cinder then took her right hand and pushed the door upon, the locking mechanism fully melted away, "That is my password." Cinder responded before entering, Chloe shrouded as she followed, "Stay close to me and don't ask too many questions."

The two made their way through the odd building, discovering it as a rundown hotel. They walked to the front desk, but nobody was there, "You said the meeting was in the dining hall?" Chloe asked.

"Yes," Cinder said before the two entered the room with the sigh, Le Ghiottone. She then stopped as she smiled, crossing her arms, "But we are not the first ones here."

Sitting at the corner table was a woman with long dark grey hair tied into twin-tails that stretched to the ground. She wore a white lab coat like attire over what appeared to be a black long skirt and sweater. She wore black rim glasses, her grey eyes focused on the orange book she was reading. However, she glanced up to look at the two new guests, "You're on time." She said, but her eyes were still on the book.

"Of course," Cinder responded as she crossed her arms, "If the information was correct, your name is Hinako Akuta." She said before smirking, "But that isn't your real name, is it?" She said with the girl taking her eyes away from her book to glare at the Fall Maiden, "Yu Miaoyi, The Consort Beauty."

"Correct, so you may call me Yu." The consort beauty responded in an unamused voice.

"Well, that won't get confusing." Chloe commented to herself before noting something, "Wasn't there supposed to be one more."

"She is the back," Yu replied as she returned to her book, "She wanted to satiate her appetite before the meeting."

Before Chloe could speak up to ask a question, she heard a man screamed from the kitchen. The closed doors could not shield her ears from the cries of pain, the sound of blood splatting, and flesh ripped from the bone. She turned to Cinder in panic, but the Fall Maiden remained stoic. After a few seconds of silence, a woman walked out of the kitchen. Chloe looked at her in confusion, thinking she had seen her before. It was a fox faunus with pink hair tied in a bun. Her tail was fluffy, and animals made a single twitch. She wore a sleeveless black dress with a purple lining, black gloves, and reading glasses. The under half of her chest exposed, a ball bell dangling from under the breast. In her right hand, she held a white cloth to her mouth, wiping away a red substance. Once she finished cleaning, she looked over to Cinder, "Well, if it isn't the Fall Maiden." The killer faunus said before looking down to Chloe, "Oh, and you brought your daughter." She said before putting the cloth away, taking out a black and brown hand fan, "If she this that old already, how ancient are you?"

Chloe was going to clarify but then felt a sudden heatwave. She looked to see Cinder's eyes glowing the killer faunus, who held her fan close to her face, but her eyes showed she was smirking, "You're Tamamo Vitch, correct?" Cinder called the killer faunus, "If you would be so kind, do not bring up my age."

"Oh, and here I was having doubts of you still being one of the four Maidens," Vitch responded as she walked over to Chloe, who glared up at her. Vitch then lowered her right hand to pet the red mantel girl on the head. Chloe had a grimace on her face as she tried to pull her head back.

Suddenly, Cinder grabbed Vitch's left wrist with her left hand, "Do not touch her." The Fall Maiden said, steam radiating from Vitch's wrist, "Or I will show you the terrify power of a Maiden."

"Well, that would help us in a current mission," Vitch responded with a smirk, Cinder tossing her wrist aside, "We will be going up against Maidens in the future." She said before taking a seat at the table Yu sat at, "I cannot wait to acquire one of their powers all for myself."

Yu closed her book as Cinder and Chloe joined at the table, "There are three Maidens remaining; Winter, Summer, and Spring." She then adjusted her glasses, "While we may not know their locations, but I can find them rather quickly now." She said as she looked to Cinder, sliding a cup of water over to her, "All I need is a drop of your blood."

"I trust Salem told you about her semblance, a type of bloodcurdling." Vitch clarified, "She can scene individuals with great power, all thanks to first tasting their blood."

"How does tasting my blood help us find the other maidens." Cinder responded with her arms, crossed, "Wouldn't this only let you find me?"

"The four maidens were cut from the same cloth. While differing in host and season, they each should radiate a similar aura." Yu responded, "This process would not be exact, we would still have to do a bit of searching. But this should point us in the right directions."

"It would be wise to play nice," Vitch said to Cinder, "I would hate to tell our boss you failed to cooperate."

A silence then fell over the group as Chloe looked up at Cinder. The Fall Maiden then looked at her left hand, focusing her dust into a glass needle. She then pricked her right index finger, seeing a small amount of blood build up to a single droplet. The Fall Maiden then placed her right hand over the glass of water, letting the single droplet fall in. Yu took the glass back, swirling the mixture before moving it to her lips. Taking a sip, her eyes flared red for a few seconds. She drank the water in one gulp, then placed the empty glass back on the table, "Yuke…" Chloe thought as Cinder wiped her right finger with a napkin, the spot already healed.

"Well, I can see why you wanted this power," Yu said as she put her right hand to her lips, a small smile forming, "It is quite…. intoxicating."

"Did it work?" Cinder asked, "Can you sense the other maidens now?"

"As I said, it is not a flawless system," Yu said as she took off her glasses, cleaned off some recently formed steam, "I do sense a few interesting auras now." She said before putting her glasses back on a grin on her face, "One of which is fairly close by."

"Really, lucky us," Vitch responded, "Can you tell which one?"

"It is hard to tell, but if I have to guess," the consort beauty responded, "It does remind me of the first day of spring."

"What a coincidence," Vitch responded as she sneered with a smile, "That is my favorite season." She said with Chloe having an uneasy feeling. The red mantle girl then looked back to Cinder, whose gaze remained focused on her two new associates. The Fall Maiden's eyes narrowed as she clenched her right hand.

AN: There you go, things just got a lot more complex now. Yang just had a huge target placed on her, which has now attached the attention of a certain Kid. You hear Adam utter some familiar words to Weiss and Musashi giving her some insight to their situation. We also see Reines here with all her sass. Finally, we return to Cinder and Chloe meeting their new allies: Consort Yu and The Mega Vitch. They are already heading towards who they think is the Spring Maiden, but who will they find? Next chapter, we see the opening ceremony for Clockwork Academy. That is all for now, thanks for reading, and hope to see you in the next chapter.