Adam walked out one of the training rooms with a small smile on his face, Ruby had clearly improved, she still couldn't land a single hit, but she had improved.

"Well if it isn't Adam Taurus," a nearly drunk drawl from behind him. Adam's good mood was suddenly ruined, the fact that he was tackled to the wall didn't help any either. "You're a hard man to get information on."

"Qrow," Adam said to the man who had him up against the wall.

"You know me?" asked the former Branwen tribesman. Adam simply smiled in response, It seems he doesn't remember me.

"Listen here you littte s-"

"Adam," said Emerald who had been scanning the hallways for their team leader, "Principal Ozpin wants to speak with you."

"I'll be there soon," he responded over Qrow, "Just need to deal with something here."

Emerald's eyes narrowed dangerously, {Anything we should be worried about?} Emerald asked using her Semblance, Hallucinations. That was the major reason she was part of this team, her Semblance enabled for seamless, untraceable communication between members, although it was only one-way.

Adam simply shook his head in response.

"You heard the lady, march up to the Principal's office, but we're not finished here." The last part of the sentence was said with viscous killing intent.

Adam simply dusted off his coat and walked swiftly, yet composedly to the elevator leading to the Principal's office.

"Mr. Taurus," Ozpin greeted warmly once he stepped into the office.

Adam hummed a response as he sat comfortably before the grey-haired Principal and his assistant.

"Not surprised?" asked Ozpin lightly.

"Not really," he said as he pulled off his mask, "It's not an elaborate disguise. I'm actually surprised that I wasn't found out sooner." Glynda's gaze shot down suddenly, she was clearly uncomfortable looking at the Faunus' scar even though she had seen it before.

"Well, you haven't much of a reputation outside Menagerie, and too much of one within it."

"Some describe you as an eight-foot-tall brute with horns of fire, some say you look like Inuwa himself." Glynda commented, still subtly avoiding his face.

"Needless to say, neither description is accurate."

"We've actually known for several weeks," Ozpin added, "You've been under very strict surveillance for most of your stay here. As I'm sure you've noticed." He had, but was unbothered by it since the spies drew their boundaries at their dorm rooms.

"Why confront me on it now though?"

"Today," Glynda began, "Is your fieldtrip to Forever Fall. As you know, it will be one with minimal staff supervision. We're not sure what your intentions are, and you have given us no reasons to suspect you thus far."

"However," Ozpin continued with a now hardened gaze, "Just in case your plan is something idiotic like threatening my students, I decided that it'd be best for you to know that we are 'aware' of you."

Glynda's poker face was messed up completely by Adam's response: laughter.

"I apologise," Adam responded after a few seconds, "You need not worry about something like that, despite what you may have heard in some rumours, I'm not some monster who drinks the blood of his enemies. It'd be stupid of me to attack any students especially since any such attempt will probably be unsuccessful."

"I know that much," Ozpin responded, his bespectacled eyes staring straight into Adam's; apparently not even fazed by the ghastly scar.

"You're a soldier, something that is much more troubling. I read some of the reports of the Mena Massacre." This earned him a small flinch from the former White Fang leader who had been rather stoic.

"You already know this, but the victims were mutilated beyond recognition. Apparently out of some deep animus towards the human race," Ozpin inched closer to Adam as he spoke, "Personally, I feel that the perpetrator, whomever he is, didn't do it out of hatred, neither was he deranged. Instead, he wasted dozens of people and devastated their corpses just to send some sort of message. A monster would have simply killed them, but a soldier… is much scarier don't you think?"

"I'd have to agree," Qrow said as he walked into the office.

"You're late," Glynda rebuked.

"Sorry, those br-" the red-eyed Huntsman stopped his sentence midway on seeing Adam.

"Hey Uncle Qrow," Adam said snidely, on noticing that Qrow had now recognised him.

Adam walked briskly out of the elevator, and just nearly ran into Ruby who had been waiting outside for him. "Oh," she yelped, "Neo told me to get you. Or at least told Emerald to tell me to get you. He he."

"Thanks," he responded dryly, "All ready for the fieldtrip?"

"Yup," she said, trying her best to sound cute, "Cou-"

"No, you can't ride with me on the bullhead," he cut in, "You have a team and a partner, you need to interact with them, you can't just keep avoiding them."

"I don't avoid all of them," she responded, kicking the floor.

"The Schnee is your partner, if anything, you need her the most."

"Fine," she shouted poutingly, "I didn't want to go with you anyway."

"Enjoy your trip too," he chuckled after the red blur that was running away from him.

There's something different about him, Ruby thought as she turned her head while she ran away from the bull Faunus. Maybe it's just me, she muses on failing to identify any changes with Adam.

Did she really not notice? Adam asked himself as he ran his hand through his bright, windswept hair that was no longer covered by his mask.

"You mean he's possibly associated with Raven?" Glynda questioned.

"I'm sure you heard me the first time," came Qrow's irritated reply.

"Now, now, play nice you two," Ozpin mediated amusedly as he took a sip from his mug, "Do you think she sent him?"

"Doubt it," he grumbled back, "But of course I'll check him out either way."

On the bullhead, students sat next to their partners comfortably, with the exception of team JNPR because they were missing their team leader, according to Glynda, he was last seen talking with the Principal, so they weren't worried about his absence.

The trip didn't take that long, and the students dropped in the northwestern region of the very expansive forest. The students filed out of the aircraft happily, excited that they'd be able to participate in an activity away from Glynda's oppressive gaze.

"Watch it!" came a shout from the front of the crowd of students.

"I'm sorry," responded a tanned boy with a pair of dog ears, shakily to Cardin Winchester, whom he had just collided with.

"No problem," said Cardin as he bent over to pick him up.

The black-haired broad with a bow took a second to take in the beauty of Forever Fall. This beautiful expanse of red leaves was the start, and end, of so many things. They called it Forever Fall, but wasn't autumn the season of change? Perhaps it was that knowledge that inspired her, gave her the strength to leave that day.

Adam had just been appointed General and his first charge was to establish a branch in Vale. It had been about three years since the White Fang had raised their red flag, and the new face of freedom had spread aggressively throughout the borders of Menagerie.

Remnant saw the White Fang as terrorists, zealots who fought against Human occupation, but the Faunus of Menagerie saw them as heroes, a light of freedom that would deliver the long-yearned-for equality between Humans and Faunus. The White Fang, seen as a Faunus illuminative, decided to spread this light to the rest of Remnant.

Naturally, the organisation already had many imitators, admirers that donned the uniform and went out in protests and rallies and raids in the name of the peace the White Fang sought, but these were mere sects, groups without unity or order, it was Adam's responsibility to bring this order in Vale.

Forever Fall was the base of the White Fang's Vale operations while Adam was still in charge, it was an expansive forest that cut through most of the kingdom. Industrialisation of the great wood was hindered by the abundance of the creatures of Grimm and this made it convenient for the just over a dozen elites of the White Fang led by Adam to operate and slowly penetrate the city with minimum interference. The Grimm were a hassle, but not as much of an issue as nosy Huntsmen.

The thorough preparations that had been made for these were part of the reason that the entire camp was shocked when three humans walked straight in with neigh a warning from the scouts.

Adam cautiously approached the group; they were clearly strong. "No need to bare your fangs gentlemen," the apparent leader of the group, a black-haired lady whose allure was matched only by her dangerous aura said jokingly. Some White Fang members groaned from the lack of creativity of the joke, Adam might've too, but he was too busy observing the group.

"Gonna invite us in?" asked the grey-haired youth that accompanied her.

"Of course," Adam responded tersely as he led them into his tent. The Humans left not long after, although the effect their presence had brought didn't.

"What did they want?" Blake asked, her worry clear even behind her Grimm mask.

"Nothing we need to bother ourselves with," he said dismissively, while signaling two of his subordinates and ordering them to follow the group of humans, "Let's get moving! You all have fifteen minutes to pack up."

"You too," he said to his mentee, "We have an early morning tomorrow."

"Perfect," Adam said, almost sinisterly, after the two had just cleaved through the Atlesian Knights that guarded the SDC shipment they were aboard, "Move up to the next car. I'll set the charges."

"What about the crew members?" Blake's response to Adam's order came in the form of a question, a fearful question.

"What about them?"

"They're not all bad, there's definitely at least one faunus with them, we can't just leave them to die in the explosion."

"What would you have us do?" asked Adam, furiously trying to rub the tiredness out of his eyes from behind his mask, he hadn't gotten any sleep, again. "Cut the car they're in or throw them off the train so that the Grimm, who are most likely already approaching the train due to the crew's negativity, can finish them off? Or perhaps take them back to our camp that isn't equipped to take care of that many hostages."

His tirade had left the already shy cat Faunus mute, regretting her decision to speak up.

"I'm sorry," he said in his softer, 'mentor' voice, "But this is war. People die; innocent, guilty, it doesn't matter. We'll save who we can without jeopardizing our mission, but the mission, the cause our comrades have fought and died for comes first. Move up to the next car, I'll set the charges."

Adam's repetition of the order was a lot gentler than his initial command, perhaps it was the gentleness of his order or the tiredness behind it that gave Blake the courage to speak, when she would usually bottle it up and keep quiet.

"I-"

The SDC had different plans that allowing her pour out her heart apparently, as her sentence was interrupted by a huge mechanical construct that blew the two freedom fighters out of the car they were in and unto another one.

"Buy me some time!" he shouted at his partner who nodded and rushed at the Spider-droid.

She turned towards her teammates and wondered if this was truly the freedom she had set out for; a spoiled racist leader, an apathetic partner and her bumbling sister. She turned towards her mentor, a man who she had both feared and admired since their first meeting, a man… whose horns were no longer hidden under his disguise.

Blake was not the only one who noticed, cementing Ruby's 'oblivious' status. The pair of black horns drew stares from many students, who were surprised that their class rep had suddenly grown them. Adam walked boldly, more boldly than he had in several weeks. It was nice to get some air up there, especially in Forever Fall's cool breeze. Forever Fall, it's been a long time.

The rose petals that blanketed the entire area, replacing the Spider-droid that had been attacking an instant ago, blew away in the wind as Adam sheathed Wilt. He turned around to search for Blake… and found her on the car that the two had just left.

"Bye," Blake said simply, as she cut through the joints, separating the two cars. Adam was shocked, he didn't do anything as watched her quivering amber eyes drift away from him.

Except he did, because it'd be pretty asinine to simply let her go when he could get her pretty easily. He bounded unto the other car easily, landing a few metres away from his partner who was an apparent deserter.

"What're you doing?" he asked sternly his eyes boring into her from behind the Grimm mask.

Blake's mouth opened and closed dumbly as though she was unsure of what to say.

"I asked you a question, soldier!"

"I-I'm not a soldier," she responded, Adam's bark apparently giving her courage to speak, "I'm not ready for this!"

"Your first kill," Adam stated knowingly, frustrated at having not noticed it in her earlier, "It was unavoidable, I already told you, people die in w-"

"I didn't sign up for war," she cut in loudly, before continuing in a near-whisper, "I signed up for protests and handing out fliers. Not for gutting families with a smile on my face."

"You know there are sessions for this, it's a hard thing for everyone to do," he said approaching her gently, "No one expects you to just forget it and keep on like normal. I understand if you want to go back to your former duties for the time being."

"I don't know if what we're doing is right," she whispered, halting Adam's approach towards her, "Before, I was content to watch it and tell myself that I wasn't a part of the bloodshed, but after what happened… what I did, I can no longer lie to myself."

"I understand, you want freedom..." he responded gravely, as he took a battle stance, "…However, freedom must be fought for."

"Freedom must be fought for," Blake echoed his statement, a revered mantra within the White Fang, as she pulled out Gambol shroud.

"You haven't a shot against me."

"We'll see," she said as she charged her mentor before he could even unsheathe his blade. The Faunus general jumped backwards before her blade could hit, but was pulled back when she latched her chain-sickle to his leg.

Pulling his blade out a second before she nailed him with her cleaver, he saved himself from the embarrassment of being one-shot by his student.

"I'd say I have more than a shot against you," she mocked while spinning around her former trainer, "You haven't slept in days. You haven't made time to train since you became General. You're exhausted from the fight we just had… and I have your number."

The wink she punctuated the last part of her sentence with was the last straw for Adam, he sheathed Wilt and landed a flurry of punches on her before propelling the blade into her midriff and sending her flying.

"You're awfully chatty tod-" his stopped his sentence midway to shoot at the Grimm that had been sneaking towards Blake's fallen form.

It was an an Occultum, a reptile-like Grimm that blended into its surroundings. The shot felled the beast, and prompted the rest of its lounge to discard their camouflage. The pair, who had been in the middle of a fray just moments ago, found themselves back-to-back once more.

"You should run," he said to her in a whisper.

"W-what?"

"You were deserting the White Fang and before I could take you in for questioning, we were attacked by a Grimm hoard, serving as enough of a distraction for you to make off with the target."

"I don't understand."

"It's a good story isn't it?"

"It... it is, thank you."

"Keep in mind that if you ever see me again, you should run as I'm likely there to kill you," he stated sinisterly

"Leave your mask behind though," he added, almost as an afterthought, "It's a soldier's mask." With her mask gone, she had nothing to hide the hurt in her amber eyes at his statement, he either didn't notice or didn't care as he charged up his blade with his burning red aura.

Adam walked into the new camp hours later, exhausted and, though he was clearly lighter than he had been on setting out.

"What took you so long?" queried a petit girl with a Grimm-themed cowl, once he stepped into his tent.

"There were… complications," he answered tersely.

"Obviously," commented a huge man who leaned against one of the tent's poles, "Where's the Belladonna girl?"

"That's-"

"Complicated?" suggested the petit girl, earning an annoyed smile from Adam.

The two 'guests' were General Sheena and Banesaw, the leaders of the White Fang's Atlas and Vacuo operations respectively.

"I can't believe that she talked us into this," Sheena stated in frustration.

"Allying with humans is nothing new, so long as they're useful enough."

"Never on this scale though," Banesaw injected, "We're going to lose many men."

Following the grave statement, there were sounds of explosions in the camp that made the three generals storm out of the tent.

"What is this?" Banesaw queried angrily on seeing their soldiers spread out on the floor of the camp beneath a human's feet.

We could've gone to anyone for help," Cinder, the human in question answered, as she strutted towards the trio, "Our plan could be beneficial to both of us, or just one of us."

Her speech evoked a bark of laughter from Adam, a hysterical fit, that earned an 'oh no' look from his two co-generals and a confused one from the humans. He was hardly done chortling his head off when he rushed at Cinder with Wilt. Banesaw and Sheena followed suit, the latter throwing in an exasperated sigh before charging at Emerald with Nerium Thorn.

Adam and Cinder's brawl made its way to the other side of the camp. Adam had the upper hand since he had initiated the fray unexpectedly. Nevertheless, she was a skilled warrior and she would be able to turn the tide, is what she told herself. Despite the protests from his exhausted body and drained aura, the red-haired general pushed his speed to its limits, trying to drown his opponent in the wave of terrifying stabs and slashes.

His plan was effective, as Cinder's graceful parries and blocks grew increasingly frantic with each new kata he engaged. The full stop was a vicious kick the sultry Huntress took straight to her face, causing her to drop her weapons. Adam stalked her fallen body and aimed to land a final blow.

The fray between the other pairs was cut short by Adam's frame being flung towards them, Cinder followed, albeit not as quickly since she was walking not 'flying'. The lady was livid, her eye and body glowing mystically as she aimed for a final shot of her own.

"That's enough, Cinder," came the voice of a giant whose grand physique eclipsed even Banesaw's.

"Hazel… sir," she said responded meekly to the man who was apparently called Hazel, "What are you doing here? I already promised to take of this, you... needn't have bothered yourself with coming."

"She was worried that you would not be able to handle a situation this… delicate," he put his response on hold to exam the destroyed White Fang camp and the combatants who had taken his arrival as an opportunity to regroup.

"It would seem that her worries were not unfounded."

Cinder opened her mouth to object, but had no opportunity to do so as he simply walked past her and towards Adam.

"Young man," he said gently "Your men aren't dead, but they will die if they aren't given appropriate medical care."

"We have access to that care and are willing to offer it as a… peace offering, along with something more," he said as he tilted his head towards the cases of pure dust Cinder had brought grumpily, "As a show of our sincerity in this partnership."

"I'm sure you are averse to the idea of working under us, dying for a cause that isn't yours, but we ensure you that we always keep our partners' best interests in mind. Think about it this way; wouldn't you rather your men die working together with a force that can propel your cause further or die now, having accomplished nothing?"

"You have no reason to fight us, the risk greatly outweighs the reward, the White Fang is strong in Menagerie, but Vale is much different, we have the resources and means through which you can achieve all you seek and more."

"Do we have a deal Mr. Taurus?" Hazel asked finally, smiling slightly as the younger man shook his outstretched hand.

Not long enough, he thought irritably, at both Blake and the humans. He had told her that he understood, but he had been lying; he could understand her doubts and the inner conflict it must have ensued within the young Faunus. He could not however, understand how the conclusion she came to was running away, to do nothing and hope that even if she left her people to perish, she would feel better about herself.

He would have killed her himself or left her to perish in the flood of Grimm, but the complications that would ensue would be too much to handle; the princess of Menagerie perishing on a run of the mill mission wasn't something that would be without consequences.

Taking her in would also be more complicated as he would have to escort her back to Menagerie for a trial that bureaucracy could stretch out infinitely and he could not afford to leave Vale at such a crucial time.

Letting her go had been the only practical course of action, warning her had been merely a courtesy as, if he actually came after her, running wouldn't help any.

I expected the stink eye, but shouldn't she have let up by now? He thought as he stole a glance at Emerald who had been glaring daggers at him since they got on the bullhead, him ignoring the messages she sent using Hallucinations didn't help either.

{Why is he brazenly showing his horns?} The green-haired thief vented through one of her illusions to Mercury, as they harvested sap away from Adam and Neo. {Cinder was very specific about him hiding his identity as a Faunus.}

"This much is to be expected," he responded while discreetly sneaking a taste of the candy-like tree essence.

"What do you mean?" she asked, no longer bothering with using her Semblance.

"Remember when we first met him? He was all about answering to no one, he's a prideful man who was basically bullied into this 'partnership'. Even if he doesn't do anything drastic for the sake of his men, he's bound to rebel from time to time."

"You're surprisingly aware of others."

"Knowing a man is sometimes instrumental to killing him," he whispered to her, as he waved at team SYBR who were walking past them.

"What did you call us out for?" Yang said irritably as the three girls walked behind their small leader. Weiss suddenly turned around with a penitent look towards her teammates.

"I'm sorry," she said to them genuinely, "I know that our team has not been operating as a unit, and I acknowledge my fault in that, I hope that you can forgive me and we can work to overcome our issues together, as a team."

The three girls were suspicious; despite her sincerity, her choice of words were reminiscent of an SDC advertisement. Either way, Yang was the first to give her an olive branch;

"See," she said as she rubbed her knuckle into Weiss' hair, "I told you she was cool. She might be racist and talk like a Dust ad, but she's cool all the same."

"What?" she responded, freeing herself from Yang's armpit, "I'll have you know that all members of the Schnee Dust Company welcome everyone regardless of their race, creed or political inclination."

"Now I know I've seen that ad before," Ruby giggled as she joined Yang beside Weiss. The group of three looked at Blake expectantly, hoping she'd welcome the chance of unity. Before she could speak, her bow twitched, it seemed she heard something.

Deeper in the forest, a tan dog Faunus was on the ground, surrounded by Cardin, Russell and Dove.

"Hey pal," Cardin said as he bent over the Faunus, holding a small vial in his hand, "Know what this is?" The terrified Faunus managed a shake of his head as an answer.

"This," he said like a teacher in class, "Is Slytherin venom. Now, if you paid attention in Grimm Studies, you know that Slytherins are a very small snake-like Grimm related to the King Taijitu, only difference is, it's a venomous snake rather than a constrictor. It can be found in abundance in Forever Fall, exactly why no one will be suspicious when you're bitten by one."

"W-why are you doing this?" he asked in fear, Cardin was usually polite, an easygoing, he couldn't understand what made him so sinister.

"Why?" came Cardin's angry retort, "Perhaps it is an experiment, perhaps it's for fun… but an animal like you has no right to know of my reasons."

The stomp he delivered to the frightened Faunus was interrupted midway.

"No unsanctioned duels between students," Adam, who had blocked his foot with Nerium's sheath, said amusedly.

Cardin's eyes narrowed at Adam, actually noticing his horns for the first time.

"Wait your turn," he said in annoyance, his eyes drifting back to his prey on the floor. Adam noticed something in Cardin's eyes before he had turned away from him; he wasn't the typical racist, there was something there other than ignorant hate or an even more ignorant feeling of superiority. Adam was admittedly piqued.

"Cardin, stop!" shouted Weiss, who had followed behind Blake after she had run off in this direction, she had just arrived, but she understood perfectly what was happening.

"So, you're siding with them," Cardin whispered, "He was your family too, you know."

The whisper caused Weiss' frosty blue eyes to quiver, but she still managed a weak "This isn't the right way to do it."

"You're not wrong," he mumbled, before picking up the dog Faunus gently, giving up since he was outnumbered and couldn't risk the situation escalating.

"I'm terribly sorry for the prank I pulled and I hope there are no hard feelings."

The genuineness with which the apology was made would have convinced even Robyn Hill, even the ones who had witnessed his 'prank' very nearly bought his mock apology.

"Figures you would know racist trash like him," Blake shot at Weiss who was still in a bad state from the encounter.

"Hey," she managed in his defense, "Cardin's just… misguided."

"I can't believe that you're defending him!"

"He's… been through a lot, I know it's no excuse, bu-"

"But nothing! You wanted to know if I forgave you, the answer is no. That's the only thing people like do, you apologize and try to pretend that you're not part of the problem."

"I never proposed that he shouldn't be punished, I'm simply asking that you shouldn't judge him before understanding his reasons."

"Of course, you'd say that!"

"You say it like you know anything about me," Weiss shouted angrily, "You've judged me from the first day you met me. For what? Not because I was rude to Ruby, you don't care about her, you don't care about anyone on this team. Always curled up with some book or another, at least I'm trying to help this team, but you're too busy straddling whatever moral high horse you even imagine you have any justification to be on to see it."

"That's enough," Adam said cutting off Blake's response before she could form it, "Let's rendezvous with Glynda now." Cardin and his teammates were surprisingly unbothered by this idea and fell in line behind the class rep.

"How come?" asked Ruby who ran to his side as though wanting to guard him from the racist bullies.

"We're attracting a fair amount of Grimm," he stated without slowing down, he didn't mention the bad vibe he had been getting of recent.

"What about Cardin?" Weiss asked worriedly, the target of this worry seemed unbothered however.

"I only saw him trying to strike… What's his name again?"

"I'm Shouter Danky," he answered shyly, clinging to Adam as Ruby did.

"I only saw him attempting to hit Dylan, my duty as class rep ends there but if you need me to bear witness if you choose to report him, I'll help out."

"T-thanks," he said meekly.

Adam was infuriated by this… Shouter, he was a Huntsman in training and yet he shook like a leaf whenever his name was called. Even though he was outnumbered, he could have yelled for help, but instead chose to whimper like some type of dog. He would never survive in the White Fang; they accepted weaklings, but never cowards.

Only soldiers get masks, he repeated the White Fang mantra in his head as he walked ahead of the students; Blake's indignation contrasting Yang's apathy, but all their demeanours failing to rival Ruby's attempt to glare at Cardin angrily while staring at his mace in awe.

"Can anyone else hear that?" asked Blake who was tailing the group moodily until she picked up on the sound and alerted her present company of the subtle, yet beautiful melody.

The beautiful tune obviously came from a stringed instrument, maybe a violin. It had been playing for a while, they all suddenly noticed, for almost as long as they'd been in the forest, it simply blended into the ambience of the red wood so well that they had subconsciously accepted it as part of the forest itself. But now, it changed from its natural, assimilative quality to a powerful, jarring timbre that made the russet foliage quake.

"Beautiful isn't it?" asked Cardin as both Russell Thrush and Dove Bronzewing disappeared from the group.

"So," Pyrrha asked when they were done gathering samples and Nora was done gorging herself, "What do you guys want to do?"

"We're okay as we are," Ren said mildly.

"Uh, yeah we're okay," Nora said as she lay on the forest floor.

"Come on, guys, we still have a few hours left, we can do whatever we want!"

"You don't need to do this, you know," Ren responded as he rested up against a tree.

"Don't need to do what?"

"Include us," Nora answered while playing with the leaves, "We're used to being the dynamic duo, we can stand being just a pair. Not to mention that it seems you're only talking to us because Jaune's not here."

"Oh no," Pyrrha responded desperately, "I'll admit that earlier made me realise that I knew not much about you two, but I'm not trying to patronise you. And Jaune, it's not that I prefer talking to him, it's just that he's…"

"Terrible at combat?" offered Ren.

"Really cute?" asked Nora with a devious smile.

Pyrrha's blush at this statement was all the confirmation they needed. "Pay up Ren," Nora declared victoriously.

"We never made a bet," he stated simply.

"Spoilsport."

"Either way," Ren said, turning to the still blushing Pyrrha, "What would you like us to do?"

"Well, I've always wanted to explore Forever Fall," she mused almost dreamily, "I've read about it and seen documentaries, but I never had the opportunity to explore. It's on my top ten locations to visit."

The long chart she pulled out showing different locations across the four kingdoms and beyond, impressed Ren, the dark-haired boy nodding as he scanned some of them.

"I hear that Erin Basil is beautiful this time of year," he commented, "How come you never travelled though?"

"It's… complicated," Pyrrha's sombre tone was quickly replaced by a bright one as she proceeded to ask Nora and Ren about the places they'd travelled to. The pair had travelled throughout Solitas, and had visited many a destination in Sanus.

"You guys have been everywhere!" Pyrrha's energetic voice conveyed her awe- and a small dose of jealousy- vividly, making the pair blush as they had never thought too much of their many adventures and had certainly seen anyone who thought so much of it either.

"Why would you ever leave such an amazing life to study at Beacon? I'd never leave," she said twirling in the ecstasy of imagining such an awesome life; no burden, not even the cell of a roof, untethered, free.

"You're adorable," Ren giggled, "Moving about isn't as romantic as all that, though it is special in its own way."

"Sorry about that," Pyrrha giggled; she couldn't believe she was being so free with this pair. She had honestly started conversation out of courtesy, as she ought to have, being a Mary Sue and whatnot, but she was revealing a part of herself that she had fallen out of touch with.

"I get wanting to settle down," she responded, laying down next to Nora on a bed of leaves, "But why come to Beacon?"

"We actually weren't looking to settle down," Nora answered, apparently ready to chair further discussion, "We kind of met this rich guy and saved him from Grimm. Long story short, he decided to sponsor us since we're pretty good at this already."

"Oh, I didn't peg you two as the sponsorship type. I thought you'd be more used to living life the way you want."

"We do," Ren responded, adamantly against lying down on the dry leaves, "But it's not like we're going to get an opportunity like this ever again. Training at the best Huntsman Academy in Remnant is merely a dream for most."

"For most," Nora sniped.

"We couldn't keep moving about forever," Ren answered evenly despite his surprise, "It was a good opportunity to settle down."

"Because you said so?"

"I'm not having this conversation with you now."

"Why? I'm not some kid, I-"

"Because there's a Black Wave approaching and they're probably not going to wait for us to finish our conversation." Ren's declaration drew the ladies' attention towards the small tremors that shook the entire forest.

"Let's regroup with Mrs. Goodwitch."

"There could be students out there, we should help them out."

"Nora," Pyrrha injected, "If there's a Grimm hoard, the best thing we can do is regroup with Goodwitch, if we get caught in a wave, we'll end up causing more trouble for everyone."

The students were in disarray; some were shouting hysterically while others were on the verge of tears, the scene shocked team JNPR, although the students weren't hardened veterans, they were still more composed than this, they were Huntsmen in training after all. The scene was intensified by the dissolving Grimm cadavers and the scarier, approaching Mrs. Goodwitch.

"Where've you been?" Goodwitch shouted on spotting three-quarters of team JNPR.

"We wer-"

"It doesn't matter," she cut in, "Have you seen teams SYBR, CRDL and Adam?"

"No, they aren't here?"

"No, they went deeper into the forest, and I haven't been able to search for them with all of… this," she punctuated her last statement by waving her hands towards the hysterical students.

"We can form a search party and look for them," Pyrrha and Nora proffered eagerly.

"That's not going to happen. With so much negativity, more Grimm will be on us soon. And I can't leave the students unprotected and I'm certainly not going to allow you to go on your own."

"You're going to leave them behind?"

"Never," she rebuked, "One of the best Huntsmen in all of Vale is looking for them right now and they'll meet us in Beacon."

"I'm flattered," Qrow, the man in question, said as he walked up from behind her.

"What are you doing? You're supposed to b-"

"Don't get your panties in a twist," he said as he wrapped an arm round her shoulder and pulled her to the side, "Adam is there with them, this is the perfect opportunity to observe him."

"Your nieces are there too; they are at risk."

"They're also Huntresses in training," he bit back, "I've told them time without number the risks of this job even as students."

"You're ready to risk their lives for this?"

"Their lives aren't in any danger. As you said, I'm one of the best Huntsmen in Vale."

On a distant cliff, a pale boy with combed back blue hair stood solitarily, furiously bowing on a stringed instrument, absorbed in the world that his music was creating. So much so that he didn't even notice the appearance of his teammates next to him, not until Russell placed a hand on his shoulder.

"Time to go."

Notes:

Either way, I wanted to give Cardin a backstory and dare I say, actual motivations. I was piqued when I read up and found out the character was inspired by the clergy who tried Joan of Arc, one of my favourite historical figures and the inspiration for Jaune's character.
And as much as I love her and believe that being created for simply for the purpose of a character inspired by her is great and all, I still wanted to make him more since he was really a nonentity on the show, so much so that I was going to leave him out entirely since his role could be carried out by more interesting and relevant characters.
So stay tuned to see my attempt at giving a character depth.