Chapter One: A Flight to Pastures New

"Jaune?" Pyrrha raised her head from his shoulder to an inquisitive hum from him. She removed her hand from his, as her thoughts began to race once more. "I don't know what to do."

"What do you mean?" he asked.

She glanced up, trying to order her thoughts, trying to work out what to say without sharing the terrible secrets their teachers had burdened her with.

"Do you believe in destiny?" she asked.

His blue eyes widened in surprise. "Umm… I… I don't know. I guess that depends on how you view it."

Red fall leaves blew past as she collected her words.

"When I think of destiny, I don't think of a predetermined fate you can't escape. But rather… some sort of final goal, something you work towards your entire life."

"Okay," the blond boy said. "Uh, yeah, I can see that. Sure."

She turned her head to look at him. "Well… what would you do if something came along that you… never expected? Something that had the potential to stand between you and your destiny?" Like finally finding friendship and love, on the eve of being asked to give that up?

"Like what?" he asked, puzzled.

She felt panic take hold of her again, and rushed on, almost unable to respond to his question. "Or what if you could suddenly fulfil your destiny in an instant, but at the cost of who you were?"

"Pyrrha," he leaned over and reached towards her shoulder. "You're not making any sense."

She stood up, away from his touch, clutching herself as tears prickling at her eyes. "None of it makes sense! This isn't how things were supposed to happen!"

None of it did. Just a couple of days ago she'd just been a first-year student. A capable one, admittedly, with professional success in combat tournaments and studying at a Huntsman Academy that taught one to fight the monstrous Grimm. But she'd been a student nonetheless, whose principal concern had been for the affairs of her peers and friends.

Until, just a few days ago, her teachers had rolled back the curtain for her. Told her that the magic in fairy tales was real, that her teachers were part of a secret cabal who kept those powers both secret and safe. They'd shown her one of the four maidens of the seasons, comatose under their very school, half her power ripped out by unknown means. And they'd asked her to be the guardian of the remaining power, by stepping into an abomination of a machine to have that girl's remaining aura – that outward manifestation of the soul – transplanted into her, with who knows what effect on her very self and soul.

And, she couldn't help but fear, the cost of losing her feelings for those she's come to love. Love and friendship, things she'd almost come to consider impossible to obtain, until she'd come here. Until she'd met him.

"I'm sorry!" Jaune said, standing up. "Please, I'm just trying to understand what's wrong."

Everything. "I've always felt as though I was destined to become a Huntress, to protect the world," she sighed. That is what she was being asked to do. But why did it feel so bitter? "And it's become increasingly clear to me that my feelings were right." She turned to look at him, torn between that which she felt was her duty, and fear of sacrificing everything she was. "But I don't know if I can."

Jaune looked at her with those deep blue eyes and opened his mouth. But then he paused, as if he was going to say something but thought better of it. He looked away and took several deep breaths, and then turned his gaze upon her again. He took both her hands in his and looked directly into her eyes.

"Pyrrha, something's hurting you. I want to help you, like you've helped me. But I'm not sure what you're talking about with this destiny business. And I really don't want to say the wrong thing. To help you, I think I need to know precisely what you mean. You mean so much to me, and I don't want to get this wrong. As your team leader, as your partner, as your friend, as–" he cut himself off with a blush. "As someone who cares about you. Please tell me."

She paused in her tears. Professor Ozpin, Miss Goodwitch, General Ironwood and that man Qrow… they'd told her not to tell anyone. And she wasn't going to tell anyone. But should she really risk her soul without even telling those she was about to lose, and who'd lose her? Her teachers weren't offering their own souls. How could she not respond to this? She took a breath of her own.

How to even broach this?

She decided to borrow their headmaster's approach.

"Jaune," she began. "What's your favourite fairy tale?"

-000-

Pyrrha Nikos awoke, to find herself once more in the aft cabin of the airship they'd… acquired in Argus. She looked up to see Jaune Arc, dressed in his customary outfit of jeans, hoodie and armour, leaning over her. His blue eyes looked down at her through his shaggy blond hair, as he gently nudged her.

"You okay?" he asked gently, noticing she'd come to.

"I was dreaming," she said, looking up at him, brushing a strand of her own long red hair out of the way.

A flash of concern passed over his face. "Good or bad?"

"A bit of both, I think. I was remembering… that day."

That day. Everything had changed on that day. Well, they'd changed a couple of days earlier for her, what with learning of her teacher's secrets and being asked to take on a terrible burden. But that was the day their comfortable life had unravelled for everybody. The enemies her teachers had feared had been far closer than they realised, far closer than they should, and Beacon Academy and the City of Vale had been attacked by Grimm and terrorists alike.

And her own emotional breakdown in the Vytal tournament, fuelled by the charge her teachers had placed upon her, had taken centre stage in their enemy's plans. They had anticipated and preyed upon her mental state, so as to use her as the final step in causing widespread fear and panic to attract the Grimm. Due to her own poor frame of mind and their illusions, they'd manipulated her using her semblance, that power reflecting her soul, at full strength against her opponent, young Penny Polendina.

She hadn't known that Penny, while possessing a soul, was an android. Nor had Penny known that Pyrrha's semblance was Polarity, the ability to exert magnetic force upon metallic objects. Including young android girls…

"I'm sorry." Jaune cut off her musing in his worry for her dream.

"Don't be," she tried to reassure him. "I was dreaming of one of the better parts."

It'd been her friends who pulled her back from the brink. Who – when she'd frozen in horror at the sight of what she'd done to Penny – had roused her to fight against the attacking Grimm. And again, when that machine's agonizing procedure had been cut short, and the powers taken anyway, it was her friends who ensured she seek help. One friend in particular who held her back from charging off alone and potentially throwing her life away against Cinder Fall.

"Thank you," she said, looking at him with her emerald eyes.

A troubled look crossed his face. "You hardly need to thank me, Pyrrha. I wish I'd known how to do more for you. You've done so much for me."

She'd learned entirely the wrong lesson at what was now dubbed the Fall of Beacon. The long, hard, road to Mistral had been filled with trials and bitter arguments, fuelled by her own guilt and self-recrimination. That'd only been amplified when they discovered her teachers hadn't revealed but a portion of the truth and found themselves on a quixotic quest to save the world. And when they finally met Cinder Fall for a second time, at Haven Academy, she'd nearly lost everything due to her rage.

Nearly lost everything, were it not for the boy before her. His semblance, that reflection of the soul, finally awoke, and it did so in order to save her life. And with a significant dose of luck, they'd managed to save the academy and keep the Relic of Knowledge out of the hands of Cinder and her mistress Salem. That success, her close brush with death, Jaune's sorrow at nearly losing her and her near-miraculous healing… these had begun to persuade her to look at things in a different light. Aided by a lecture or two from one Nora Valkyrie.

"I can tell your mind's wandering," Jaune said with a chuckle.

"Just thinking," she replied.

He took her hand and squeezed it. The relief she felt was all out of proportion to the modicum of touch. I know why I thought it, but I was so foolish to suppose I was stronger without this. Without attachment or feeling. Not that they had quite sorted out what 'this' was. But part of her was simply glad to once more be on surer footing with the man who – whatever else they were to each other – was her closest friend.

"We're approaching Atlas now," he said. "We'll be near enough to see it within a few minutes."

"Why didn't you wake me sooner?"

"You looked like you needed the sleep."

She smiled, grateful for his thoughtfulness. She supposed she did, though she hoped they'd all get the chance for some rest soon. Despite obstacles – including the blow of what they'd learned when Professor Ozpin's secrets were revealed – they were nearly at Atlas, where the Relic of Knowledge could be safely stowed alongside its counterpart of the Staff of Creation. Their dead headmaster may have locked himself away in the head of a farm boy – a concept she'd never imagined she'd have to think about – he may have lacked any plan to fight Salem, and she may be unkillable. But they could leave her no closer in her quest to obtain the four relics.

She saw a pensive look cross Jaune's own face.

"You look like you have something on your mind yourself?" she asked.

"Just thinking about Ren and Nora," he said. "I hope they'll be okay."

"I'm sure they will be," she said. "With any luck, we won't be separated for too long. And they have my mother and your sister to look after them. And part of me feels better for knowing Ren and Nora will be able to protect them in turn, at least for a while."

"You're right," he said with a broad smile. "You usually are."

"What are you two lovebirds talking about?" Both Pyrrha and Jaune blushed and looked awkwardly around as Yang Xiao Long strode into the cabin. The buff blonde rolled her eyes. Pyrrha could catch the unspoken thought. What's holding the two of you back? Yang hadn't travelled with them from Vale, after all.

"We… we were just talking about Ren and Nora," Jaune stammered out. "It feels odd, Team JNPR not being together," he said with more assurance.

"Yeah, I'm sure it does," Yang replied softly, doubtless thinking to when Team RWBY was split. "Why'd they stay behind, anyway?"

Pyrrha found her eyes flicking towards Jaune's, and saw he'd done the same.

"It's not anything bad is it?" Yang said. "You guys didn't fall out or anything?"

"No, no!" Pyrrha said. "It's not anything particularly bad. It's just not really our place to tell."

"Nothing to do with what we learned about Salem?"

"Not directly," Jaune said, hand brushing the back of his head. "Nora thinks we're in the for long haul against Salem, but she's not given up the fight."

"Did you think about staying with them? In Argus?"

"We considered it," Jaune admitted. "Argus could do with more protection, and my sister figured we'd be able to work on getting our huntsman licences there. But even if Nora's right, we also need people in the here and now."

"And we wanted to see this through; get the relic to Atlas," Pyrrha added.

"Fair enough," Yang shrugged. "Well, Atlas is just coming into sight now. Fancy a look?"

"I wouldn't mind," Jaune said with a shrug, and Pyrrha nodded. They followed Yang to the hatch leading to the cockpit.

"Are you going to be okay?" Pyrrha asked Jaune.

He looked at her blankly for a moment.

"With the view? The airsickness?" she prompted.

"Oh right, that," he said. "It's good. Ren's aura techniques help a lot."

The airship briefly shuddered as they passed through some sudden turbulence. Pyrrha looked back at Jaune, who'd paled slightly.

"I said they helped a lot, not perfectly," he said peevishly. She giggled, and he smiled broadly in response. "I'll be fine, I promise."

They squeezed into the cockpit, crowded as it was with the remainder of Team RWBY, Ruby and Yang's uncle Qrow, and Oscar, the aforementioned farm boy who was also host to their former headmaster. Maria, the grey-haired former huntress Team RWBY had picked up on the way to Argus, sat at the controls. Neither her artificial eyes nor the old lady's eccentricity appeared to be impeding her skill.

Yet it was the view through the windows that caught their attention. The vast floating island upon which the city of Atlas was perched could be seen ahead, its size already evident despite the distance and the late hour. Lights glimmered from the top of the mass, revealing the vague shape of the city's larger buildings, towers and skyscrapers dotting the top side of the floating rock.

"It's incredible," Pyrrha breathed. She'd known of it, but seeing it was something else entirely.

"It's odd," Weiss Schnee said, the native Atlesian amongst them. She pointed to the glittering shapes floating around the city. As Pyrrha looked, the nearest resolved into the angular shape of Atlesian Air Cruisers. She could see smaller lights, doubtless smaller craft like Mantas or Bullheads, fluttering around them. "I've never seen so many of our forces in one place before," Weiss added. "Most of the Air Fleet must be here."

"Manta 5-1, this is Atlas ATC," the radio crackled. "Welcome home. Please continue your approach to docking bay Omega-13. A security team will meet you there. Over."

"I don't like this," Qrow growled.

"But this is where we wanted to get to, right?" said Jaune. "So, we land and get some answers."

"But we're in a stolen airship," Weiss pointed out. "A security team may not let us anywhere near General Ironwood. They might just take me back to my father."

Pyrrha saw the members of Team RWBY glance at each other. Weiss's father was apparently more concerned with the state of the family's reputation and wealth than the welfare of its members.

"So…?" asked Blake.

"Winter!" Weiss blurted out. She pulled out her Scroll, intent on calling her sister. "Put some distance between us and that fleet," she said to Maria, as she pulled her device open.

"Will do," the old lady said, turning the airship towards a set of lights lower and offset from Atlas itself. As with Atlas, the lights reflected off the shrouded shapes of buildings around them. This must be Mantle, Pyrrha remembered, the original capital of the kingdom and the city from which Atlas was raised, now its sister city.

"Won't this raise suspicions?" she asked as they approached the older city.

"Manta 5-1," the radio crackled again, "we've noticed a change in your course. Return to your previous heading towards bay Omega-13 immediately. Do you copy? Over."

"You're not wrong," Maria said. "We don't have much time, kids, what do we do?"

They were now flying low over Mantle itself. The group crowded themselves against the windows to look out.

"That's the General!" Ruby said, pointing to a giant screen attached to a skyscraper upon which General Ironwood, clad in the Atlesian white uniform, appeared to be making a statement. His face, now covered with a jet-black beard compared to his clean-shaven appearance when Pyrrha had seen him last, looked down upon the city. "He looks tired," Ruby added.

Or stressed, Pyrrha thought. Certainly more worn than when she'd met him in Professor Ozpin's office, although her attention then had been on other things.

"James, what are you up to?" muttered Qrow. "This ain't right."

They flew past the screen.

Weiss kept trying to call Winter, with no response. "If we can just get through to my sister, she can take us to the General."

"Uh, Weiss?" Blake pointed to a new screen upon which the General's aide, Winter Schnee, appeared. "I'm not sure that's a good idea."

"We should ditch the ship," said Yang, "lose ourselves in Mantle."

"Yeah," said Qrow. "I'm not even sure we should be talking to Ironwood until we figure out exactly what's going on."

"Then what was the point in coming here?" Pyrrha said. "We can't put the relic in Atlas's vault without his help. And it's not safe to keep it on the streets of Mantle."

"And we're not going to find out anything wandering the streets," Weiss added. "If we can just talk to Winter–"

The radio blared again as the Air Traffic Controller spoke again in demanding tones. "Manta 5-1, respond immediately or–"

Maria shut off the radio. "We're out of time, kids. But I think I know someone who can help us with both."

-000-

Marrow Amin joined the rest of his squad by the Manta.

"You're late, Marrow." Harriet Bree griped. She glared at him, the effect of her pink eyes seemingly magnified by her distinctive hairstyle of shaved brown hair, topped by platinum blonde spikes. She strapped her weapons onto her back. "Make sure it doesn't happen again."

"It won't!" he said. "I was delayed by some paperwork."

"The nightclub incident?" asked Vine Zeki, another member of the squad.

"Right," he said, a little abashed. He checked his weapon, fetch, flicking it between its rifle and boomerang modes. He tried to change the subject. "It's a late night for an operation."

"That's what happens in the Ace Ops, Marrow. You'd better get used to it," Elm Ederne chuckled, glancing down at him as she carried a case onto the Manta. Marrow wasn't short, but both Elm and her partner Vine were exceptionally tall. Aside from their height, however, they almost appeared to be opposites: Vine was spindly, whereas Elm was Amazonian in stature; he was almost unnaturally pale whilst she was dusky; he was always calm and collected and she was brash and loud. Yet despite their differences, from the way the two worked it was clear they had a bond.

One Marrow didn't yet have with his new partner.

"Clover's here," Vine voiced softly. The four leapt to attention.

"At ease," Clover ordered just as quickly. While still military, protocol was relaxed in the Ace Ops. He smiled at them. "Glad you could all make it."

Standing in front of them, Clover – tall, broad, and strong-looking – looked like a recruitment poster, as if the Public Relations department had secretly conspired with Atlas's biologists. But he didn't just look the look; each of the Ace Ops looked up to Clover, and Marrow always found himself holding himself a little taller in his presence.

"I'm sorry to call you all out on short notice, but we've got a job to do. Tonight, an unauthorised ship – 'Manta 5-1', last based in Argus, according to the transponder – made an approach to the city. Upon being directed to the proper landing bay, however, it failed to respond to any hails and changed course, heading towards Mantle instead. As far as we can tell, it set down somewhere in one of the dingier quarters of Mantle."

"Smugglers, sir?" asked Harriet.

"We doubt it, smugglers usually try to be more subtle. No, this is different: either they don't know what they're doing… or they do."

Marrow felt a brief spark down his spine, a mix of trepidation and excitement. This was why the Ace Ops were handling this. Because this could be it: actual agents of Salem. He'd almost felt overwhelmed when the General had first briefed them. It had seemed almost crazy. Mankind had always had to fight the Grimm, everyone born on Remnant knew that, but to learn that they had a leader, a queen? One who was smart and clever, who could recruit human and faunus agents, one who'd been conducting a secret war against mankind this whole time, for centuries even? He'd have scarcely believed it, save for the source.

That, and the fact that it explained so much of the turn the world had taken. First had been the fall of Beacon Academy in Vale, in which thousands of casualties had been caused by Grimm and terrorists. One of Atlas's strengths, its automated forces of droids, had likewise been somehow suborned and turned against its masters, a feat still perplexing and terrifying for how it cut through Atlas's cybersecurity. And then, more recently, reports had come of an attack on Haven Academy in Mistral. That had been smaller, by all accounts, and been repulsed. And yet Haven had still been forced to shut its doors for want of staff, something that boded ill for the kingdom of Mistral.

For those 'in' on the secret, it didn't take a genius to know that either Atlas Academy or Shade in Vacuo would be next. And that was the real reason Atlas had instituted the embargo on Dust, and the reason it had closed its borders. The General had a plan, but if their enemy were to get one whiff of it…

Sometimes he felt he was in a little over his head, not that he'd admit that around the others. He was the rookie on the Ace Ops. Indeed, of those in the secret, only Penny could be said to be younger, and she was a special case. Yet Marrow was both humbled and proud to be part of this fight, this effort to protect Remnant.

"However," Clover emphasised, "we don't know for sure who they are. So, we're going for a non-lethal takedown."

He knocked on the cases lying around him open with his foot, before plucking an object out with his hand. He tossed it at Marrow. Marrow caught it, looking to see it was a gravity bolas. One solid object in its inactive state, when activated it would consist of two balls connected by strong wires. The wires would wrap around a target, but more importantly, the gravity dust – the same substance that kept the Air Cruisers aloft – in the two balls would suppress their aura, rendering even the most dangerous huntsman helpless. Provided you could actually catch them with it.

"Isn't that a bit risky?" asked Harriet.

"We may need a little luck," their commander conceded, brushing his thumb against the pin of a four-leaf clover he wore. "Luck and surprise. But if they're not Salem's agents, then we don't want to go all in. And if they are, we'd like to ask them some questions first."

With the assignment given, and no more questions, the Ace Ops resumed checking their gear and loading the Manta. Marrow was almost the last on board, just before Clover himself, and strapped himself in on one of the seats along the fuselage.

"Excited?" Elm asked with a grin, seated across from him.

"Huh?"

She pointedly looked to his left. Marrow turned to see his tail – the trait that revealed that not only was he a faunus, but a dog faunus at that – wagging. He sighed and grabbed hold of it, exasperated at the way it betrayed his emotions, but Elm laughed. "Don't worry about, it's okay to be a little excited for some action. Just keep your head."

"That's okay for you to say, you're not the one babysitting," Harriet muttered.

Elm shot him an apologetic glance, before turning a concerned gaze upon Harriet. In truth, Elm gave him nearly as much stick about being a rookie as Harriet did, but it lacked a certain edge. Marrow looked around, to see Clover looking back at him from the rear of the Manta. Clover silently nodded, indicating he'd seen the interaction and would deal with it.

Marrow tried to push the exchange from his thoughts. They had an operation to carry out.

Author Note: The idea of this story first began from a discussion of potentially broken RWBY teams, without regards to plot. After playing around with a team Arsenic (so named after what their team chemistry would be like – I leave it to others to guess who was in it), I came up with another team, and then it dawned on me that such a team could exist given the right plot, and that right plot began beckoning to me. And so this story begins, in an alternate volume 7 in which there's a couple of differences. Pyrrha being alive is obviously one, Ren and Nora staying in Argus is another. Some others will be touched on in time, although in general most things in volume 4-6 have happened similarly to canon... until now. Some of the beats in these first chapters are similar, but the butterfly nets are about to be removed.

For those familiar with my work Fallen Maiden, this is not a sequel nor is it set in the same universe (as should be evident since Jaune's alive, and FM had diverged significantly from the show by the end). Updates might come a little slower, since I'm also working on my own original work, and it's a little more exploratory, although I do know where the overall plot is going (which I feel is the secret to finishing these sorts of things). It should also be somewhat more light-hearted story than FM, at least at first, although certain events are already in motion and trouble is on the way.