Cinder did not like the current situation at all. As she walked the hallways of Beacon, slighlty darkened by dusk, she kept seeing multitudes of worried students scurrying around towards the nearest windows to watch in either awe or fear the fleet that now stood on their doorstep.

She knew Atlesians were bold and uncaring about anyone other than their own, but this was too much. And Ozpin calling her to his office did not put her at ease.

She reached the antechamber that held the elevators to the headmaster's tower, and saw a familiar face there. She had seen it on television, internet and on the Glass Unicorn. Sporting a white formal suit, was James Ironwood along with his favorite pet; Winter Schnee.

The mere thought of her name made her stomach churn. She had only met her for a few months years ago, and that was enough for a lifetime.

The worst part was, she was the first to notice her arrival. She turned to the 'Ember of Mistral', face impassive, posture uptight and hands behind her back.

"Well, well. It's a pleasure to meet you again, Cinder." That very same expression she carried everywhere, as if she didn't care a single bit about anyone around her. A fitting Ice Queen.

"Likewise. Although not the pleasure part." Cinder stopped towards a second elevator near them, eyeing the Specialist with a glare. It was at this moment that the General turned towards her; smiling with politeness and something akin to warmth.

"Ah, Cinder. I heard a lot about you from Qrow. I'd have preferred to meet under better, more organized circumstances." The huntress arched an eyebrow at his display. It was rehearsed, with the drop of a familiar name to break tensions. Atlesians really were all the same.

"You and Qrow talk?" She asked, crossing her arms.

"Only in regards to important matters, I'm afraid. But he does get loose in Atlas sometimes." At this, Winter growled.

"Which is why I don't understand why that drunk is still… associated with us." The elevator was taking forever, and the longer it took, the closer she was to throwing up.

"He is invaluable, and one of the best huntsmen in Remnant. Ozpin trusts him, and I trust his skills." Before Winter could reply, the elevator made a sound and the doors opened. Only the one the two Atlesians were going to use arrived, leaving Cinder in a painful crossroad.

Being near Winter, or explain to Ozpin why she had been late, which, now that there were two witnesses, would be extremely troublesome.

"Not coming, Cinder?" Asked Ironwood, stopping the door.

"Oh, uh, yeah. Sure." She entered the elevator, going towards the side opposite of Winter. With that, the three of them were on their way up. And Gods it was awkward. The only relief was that the elevator music was catchy.

Cinder wondered why Ozpin needed to be so high up in the sky to run Beacon. It made him look pompous.

"So, Cinder, why are you in Beacon? I doubt you're here to just visit." Snapped out of her thoughts, Cinder gave a direct answer without any snark.

"I'm a professor here." She answered.

"A professor? Those kids must be suffering, then." She ground her teeth internally, trying to suppress her anger.

"Oh, they love me, so don't worry about that."

"Right." It had been a neutral answer, no undertones or sarcasm in her voice, and yet Cinder snapped.

"Like you could do better, Ice Queen." She saw Winter pop her head from behind Ironwood.

"I can do better. Discipline, order, knowledge, all things you always lacked, Cinder, and the quintessential qualities of a teacher." She spat her name, and the huntress fixed the specialist with a glare.

"You sound like you wanna go at it. The simulators are always open." She smirked, and Winter did the same. That was not good.

"If you wanna repeat the Vytal festival, then I'm sure I can make some space in my schedule." Winter had gone for the kill on her ego, and the worst part was the elevator just happened to open up, letting Winter have the final word. The three occupants exited into Ozpin's office. As usual, Glynda Goodwitch was already there, and Cinder was happy to go to her side, if only to get away from the two Atlesians.

"Nice to see you could come, General. You too professor." General Ironwood bowed slightly with a smile, as did Winter. However, Glynda did not seem as jovial as the rest of the occupants.

"Not that it's not good to see you, but why are you here Ironwood? And why did you bring your fleet?" She asked. The accusation and danger of her voice was palpable, but Ironwood was unfazed.

"With the Vytal Festival so near, I thought it was a good idea for the world to see the might of the Atlesian military, to bolster morale." He explained.

"Power is not all that matters. What do you think people will feel when they see an armada at their door?" Ironwood did not drop his smile, which unnerved Cinder.

"When no Grimm even comes near thanks to us, they will feel safe and protected, and they will see that Atlas wants to protect all of Remnant, not just itself." He raised a fist with a smile, obviously to make him seem confident. Cinder scoffed internally. Until they did something, they were as good as useless.

"All right, now. This is not why we are here. There are some things so discuss." Said Ozpin, calling everyone's attention back to him as he sipped from his cup.

"By the way, why am I here? Where are the other teachers?" There was something everyone but her knew, and that made Cinder uncomfortable, especially because she hated not being in the know.

Ozpin took a breath before fixing her with a gaze of iron. "Cinder, as a combat instructor, you have a duty to survey students for exceptional traits. Not only so that they may be trained well, but also guarded." The huntress felt a void in her chest. That sensation, that primal fear that the shock collar of the Madame brought upon her was in her again.

"What do you mean?" She asked. She stopped breathing for a moment.

"A student of ours, who was very important to this school, was hunted down and left catatonic. She had a… special… talent… and…" Cinder raised a hand to stop him. She had enough of his dancing around the issue.

"The truth." She gave him a look mimicking his.

"I cannot tell you that."

"Because of your secret war?" She was now cutting close, she could see Ozpin narrow his eyes.

"You need to understand, Cinder, that unless you join us in our fight, we cannot give you details. Any leak could lead to panic, and catastrophe." The huntress felt cold anger rise in her chest.

"So what is it you want? For me to spy on students?" She asked, spitting venom.

"Keep an eye out. Wether they are from Vale, Mistral, Vacuo or Atlas, we need every exemplary talent. Especially if they are young women." Cinder raised an eyebrow.

"Was Isshin a part of this? Why young women?"

"Yes. Isshin was uninterested in the finer details, but attended to his duty anyways. This is very important Cinder. For the entirety of Remnant." Ironwood's voice was as cold as Ozpin now. Cinder grimaced, something was wrong. Ozpin cared about this 'hidden enemy' yet did not do anything about the White Fang. Was he being blindsided? Was he arrogant?

"Did you know the White Fang are killing people now? Their own deserters? It's almost like a cult." She said, taking a look around the room. Certainly, everyone but Ozpin was surprised, although only in their eyes.

"We've received many reports. But there are not enough hunters…"

"That's bullshit." Cinder was now balling her fist. Ozpin really did think she was stupid.

"Miss Cinder! He is your superior. Whatever he says, I'm sure he has good reason!" Winter objected. She was a little slave; except willingly. Maybe that's why Cinder had such distaste fir her.

"So, are you going to take care of it, or not?" She ignored Winter, still directing her gaze at Ozpin.

"I'll dispatch some forces to increase security. Maybe Winter can also look into it." Ironwood was calm as ever as he looked at Winter, who was surprised for a moment before regaining her icy expression.

"Yes sir. Of course. But I was hoping…"

"As soon as possible."

"Yes, sir."

"Is that all?" Asked Cinder, already tired of this conversation that seemed to go nowhere. At least she had gotten some help against the white fang, even if it was superficial.

"Yes. You may go now." Ozpin waved a hand to dismiss her, and with a nod she went to the elevator. Glynda accompanied her, for some reason she could not discern, although the woman had her brow furrowed more than usual.

She could not blame her. All of this was really putting her mood in a sour place. The White Fang, Atlas forces, an unseen enemy, Ruby and Yang being in potential danger. This was the reason she had gone to Mistral, so she would not get sidetracked by all of this.

Still, she would not let Ozpin manipulate her. If he refused to let her in the know, then she would work with what she had. She just needed to make sure of where to start.

"Glynda." The elevator arrived, and she stepped in. Goodwitch looked at her with an arched eyebrow.

"Are we safe?" She asked. She was not afraid of anything, but she did fear for her step sisters. Especially knowing their current disposition towards the White Fang situation.

"Absolutely." The reply came, and then the doors closed.

Cinder sighed. Perhaps some drinks, and some badly done exams would help calm her some. The only problem was, her favorite drink was only made in Mistral.

Turns out, with the Vytal festival, some bottles of Monkey Booze had been imported into Vale; and Cinder wasted no time in ordering some. The rustic beverage was not as good as the one she had tasted on the other Capital, but it got the job done.

And it had one big job ahead of it that night.

The huntress sat alone in her new apartment, near the bullhead station to Beacon. It was not cheap, but she had the money to spare and the school covered some of the expenses. It was also much more basic than her old one, but was cozy enough and had some furnishings.

She sat on a kitchen table, trying to come up to an answer to her current predicament. She did not want to help neither Ozpin nor Ironwood; she did not want to join their group and be told what to do while no one else had any idea of what was going on. On the other hand, she could not simply leave things as they were. Neither Rhodes, nor Summer would have liked that. The latter would not have stepped away from something like this.

Huntsmen defended the people, and while she did not fully believe that adage, she at least wanted to make her sisters, and her own life, as safe as possible. However, she needed more information. The problem was getting ahold of it. Ozpin's bunch were tightlipped, and would not break under any sort of pressure, not that she would want to do that. Maybe as a last resort.

There was a weak link in them, however. Or more like, that link had another, smaller one connected to it.

With a sigh, she downed another glass of booze, the pinkish red drink burning in her throat.

"I hope Ruby will forgive me."

The next day was hectic to say the least; as at least dozens of foreign students joined every combat class. Students that she did not know the capabilities of, and sometimes either were behind her own pupils or far superior to. They also treated their stay at Beacon as unimportant, and teaching uninterested students was frustrating.

Luckily, the ones present today were mostly calm, save for the members of JNPR who were fighting for their lives in the arena.

Cinder propped her head with one hand while on her desk as she tried her best to get over her hangover and concentrate on their performance. She had drank a bit too much booze that night; and now she feared that she was becoming too much like her uncle.

It was a relief that Jaune had been the one to get knocked out of the fight first. The boy was severely lacking in skill, but made up for it in perseverance. Cinder respected that, even if she was unsure it would get him far.

"Enough!" She said as a siren flared and the holographic Grimm disappeared, leaving two students panting, one standing proudly and one on the ground on his back. "Nikos, Valkyrie, Ren, you all performed very well." She tried her best to sound professional, but her headache prevented her from being fully polite. Her students did not seem to notice.

"Thank you." Said Phyrra with a bow as a few students in the desks around the arena either cheered her on or asked for autographs. With a groan, Cinder turned towards the blonde boy on the ground.

"Arc, you did poorly. In fact, you failed to provide for your team in combat. You were too defensive and could not keep up. I don't know if you're scared or what, but you have to fix that." The boy looked at her, and with a sigh of defeat slumped his head back.

"But… But… he came up with our sick strategy." Cinder looked at the usually bubbly hammer wielder while holding her own head with one hand as if to prevent if from falling off.

"Nora's right. He has come up with all of our combination attacks. I'd say he's provided enough." The green… ninja guy went to Nora's side in a heartbeat, fixing her with a stern stare.

"I'm sorry, but no strategy or plan survives contact with the enemy. And if he can't provide any sort of combat efficiency, no matter how good his plans, he's gonna get targeted, and one of you will have to pull his ass out." Said Cinder, containing her groans. She did not want to sound too harsh, but the down stares of the students made it clear she had failed at that. So she settled for some consolation.

"He has improved, though. Very rapidly. I guess you have to thank Nikos for that." She added. Phyrra blushed slightly as Nora helped Jaune get on his feet. "So, keep at it. And all of you, not just Phyrra. You're a team, remember that."

Cinder looked at the big digital clock on one of the screens. It was almost time, but she would not survive another minute of class. Maybe, today, no one would mind.

"Alright. Class dismissed!" Her voice echoed trough the hall. "Now go. Get out." She heard various students celebrate at that. She observed the door carefully as she packed her belongings. RWBY exited the hall last, as usual, and she used this opportunity along with her teacher privilege to capture her prey.

"Schnee! Come here!" The heiress turned her head as Yang snickered something that made her indignant. Like a petulant child, she strolled towards her before fixing her posture and demeanor.

"Yes, professor?" Now that Cinder could observe her, she was very much like her sister on the surface.

"I have a question for you. Has anyone come to visit you lately?" Weiss raised an eyebrow at the question.

"N-Not at all, why?" Cinder almost smirked. She had hit jackpot. However, she still needed to confirm.

"Really? No family?" Weiss looked away, clearly disappointed by something.

"Again, no. And thank the stars for that, my father would be certainly unbearable if he was here. So… is that all?" The girl was already looking back at the door, seeking to escape. She seemed to be more comfortable around her than around the other teachers, maybe because of Ruby.

"Yes. Sorry, sometimes the students get unexpected visits from family on the Vytal Festival. You can go now." Weiss looked at her with suspicion, but said nothing as she strolled out of the room. Once she was alone, the older huntress smirked.

"Gotcha, Winter."

Night had fallen on the City of Vale. The streets were crowded despite being a weekday, the streets lit up with the festivities. Cinder did not want to run into anyone at that hour, or fear being recognized, so she donned a garnet cloak she kept for rainy days, bearing the marks of Mistral makeshift. Her twin swords 'Midnight' were strapped on her lower back along with a quiver of arrows.

She did not expect things to go south, but a fight was always on the table when it came to information gathering.

She jumped from rooftop to rooftop. Outside of the main streets, Vale had narrow alleys between buildings, which allowed many to sleep unnoticed below; and many others to traverse above.

She reached her objective, the knew the path despite being mildly distracted when getting there the day before. She landed on the ledge of an adjacent building, tall enough to give her a good view of the area. The bookstore where the faunus man had been killed was still surrounded by police tape, but now guarded by Atlesian Knights. White and Black robots with shiny armor and weapons, a new model. This confirmed her hunch.

She dropped down into the rooftop of the store, and saw a convenient skylight that gave view into it.

She peered inside, and indeed, Winter was there, alone with the lights on, examining something that resembled a strongbox in the counter. Her back was turned, it was the perfect opportunity.

She lifted the glass window and dropped down. Not the stealthiest approach, but that was not her intention. The Atlesian Specialist turned her head slightly at the sound as Cinder stood up.

"You work fast." She would try to be friendly at first, and see how it goes from there.

"Of course I do. I was handpicked by Ironwood to be his aide, and got the best training in Atlas Academy. It should not be a surprise to you." The Specialist turned back fully to stare at her, brow furrowed and mouth twisted downwards slightly.

"You really need to learn to take compliments." She said with a smile, but Winter's stare did not change at all, and so the huntress' smile dissipated as well.

"What do you want?" Asked the Schnee.

"Information." Replied Cinder in a casual tone. Winter closed her eyes for a moment, as if trying to suppress something.

"I have none to give."

"Really? You know nothing about the White Fang? That's bullshit. No one knows you are here, not even your own sister. So I'm not buying that."

"You should have accepted Ozpin's offer. Then you would be able to help the cause." Winter's tone was harsh, her stance now more tense as she tried to change topics. Cinder did not move from her position, leaning against a bookshelf casually.

"I have no intention of helping Ozpin, or Ironwood. However, I am concerned about these guys. They are murdering deserters, what's next? I'd rather not have a bomb at my feet one of these days." Cinder's eyes narrowed as she fixed Winter with a hard stare. The specialist did not budge either.

"So you are acting on your own. Then, forgive me if I'm not concerned about you." Winter turned around, aiming to end the conversation. The huntress would not let her.

"Oh, no, you should not be. However, I'm not the only one here with a freelance mentality." At this, the specialist looked at her over her shoulder. Cinder continued.

"You see, my sisters are also concerned about the White Fang, so much that they plan on doing something about it. That is very dangerous, and so I'd rather their problem just disappear so that they don't have to risk their life."

"And this has to do with…"

"Well, Beacon has a very strong focus on teamwork. So it's logical that my sisters would be joined by their teammates in their perilous crusade. And you know exactly who is in their team. So unless you help me do something about the White Fang, you'd be putting your little sister in danger." She finished her proposition, and had to resist laughing at how agitated the Ice Queen became.

The woman turned around, fully facing her with a glare that promised death and a hand on her sword.

"It's one thing to threaten me, but my sister? That's low, even for you." The edge on her voice made the huntress smirk.

"I'm not threatening anyone. I'm just stating facts. And the facts are; if we do nothing, our sisters will. So, you have to choose. Your duty and perfect record, or your family?" Cinder smiled as Winter visibly gritted her teeth. She could see her hand shaking before it relaxed.

"What do you want to know?" The resignation in her voice was palpable.

"The White Fang. Where are they? What are their plans?"

"We don't know yet, but an informant came to us, warning about the White Fang being used in a ploy against Beacon." Cinder's eye widened. While she wasn't involved with Ozpin's group, she knew her uncle was. He had been the one to tell her everything, and the one who gave her an out every time.

"Qrow? Is he here?" She asked, her facade almost falling apart. She didn't want to know how her uncle got that information.

"Not Qrow." Winter answered.

"Then who?" Silence reigned after that question. The specialist took a long breath before the answer came.

"Raven Branwen."

"What?!"

"You know her?" Oh, she knew. Or rather, she heard of her. It was Qrow who told Cinder, after Ruby and Yang almost lost their lives looking for her, about her sisters' estranged mother. He didn't talk fondly of her. Taiyang however, had only good things to say, the one time she managed to make him talk about her.

Cinder's opinion of that woman was formed by those tales, and considering the pain she had caused Yang, she could call what she felt hate.

"Yeah. I thought she vanished." She replied, her tone sour.

"She did go M.I.A. But she resurfaced recently, and warned us. That's why we came, to protect Beacon." Cinder brought a hand to her chin, thinking about the information given.

"And how did she get this info?" Winter fell silent at that, her features strained.

"We don't know. She faded away before answering more questions. But Qrow assured us that, if anything, she's not working for them." Said the Atlesian woman.

"Right, so, back to the topic at hand, you know anything about the White Fang. Anything at all?"

"Unfortunately, our leads are very sparse. However, there has been a marked increase in human criminal activity since the incident between team RWBY and Roman Torchwick at the docks."

"Human criminal activity huh? Think they are using humans to cover their trail?" She asked.

"It's very possible, if they are associated with Torchwick, then working with humans must not be out of the question now."

"I see." If these were Mistral, Cinder would call some contacts, but that was not the case here. She did not have the time to meet anyone other than the academy staff and her sisters. So she was stumped. She would have to search far and wide, and that would take time. But at least she had something to go on.

"Well, thank you Ice Queen. I'll see what I can do. You go back to… whatever you were doing." She said, dismissing Winter with a hand wave as she positioned herself to jump to the skylight.

"Cinder." She turned around to see the Specialist, who had her usual stern expression. "You are a huntress and a professor. Your duty is to Vale; if you find anything, I expect you to inform us." She was not going to do that for the moment, but if everything turned out well, she sure would.

"Okay."

"And please." Now this caught Cinder's full attention. Winter's voice had turned pleading, her eyes narrowed and cheeks strained. Was she… anxious? "Don't involve my sister." Despite everything, Winter still was a sister. On the duty of protecting their siblings, no matter how much she loathed her, she could not help but feel some kinship.

"You have my word." She truly wasn't sure if that was going to be possible. Her sisters were certainly stubborn, but maybe with some force, she could convince them to stay out of it. So, she wasn't really lying to Winter.

She jump out of the building trough the skylight, leaving the Specialist behind. With her cloak back over her head, she made her way to her apartment to get some rest for the night.

Hours later, As she laid on her bed, she looked at her list of contacts. It was… fairly small considering how many places she had been to. And many of those she would need to delete due to being out of touch for months. However, reaching the middle of the list, she saw a name she had almost but forgotten. A little helper she had come in contact with, and had provided her the means to find her human prey back on Anima.

The following day was crazy as well, but Cinder managed to power trough it. She had little time to do anything other than work and train, but she did work something out. A 'little spider' in Mistral had been kind enough to forwards her to a contact of hers in Vale. The price had been a simple favor from a famous huntress.

It would bite her, she knew that for sure, but at the moment she did not care.

She left the school early that day. The Bullhead that carried her touched down and let her out along with a crowd of people. As she was heading out, she saw a yellow mane in a bright orange bike, wearing white and black. And the owner of that bike seemed to notice her as well, waving at her.

"Hey sis!" Yang called out. Cinder headed towards her sister, despite considering the option of just going her own way.

"Yang. What are you doing here? What's with the white?" She eyed her sister's overcoat, a stark departure from her usual color scheme of oranges, browns and yellow.

"Oh this? Let's say I'm trying to be discreet." Cinder crossed her arms, and amused expression on her face.

"You. Discreet. Right." Yang frowned at her.

"I can be when I want to."

"But you like standing out."

"Maybe, but I'm on a mission now. A little huntress work that I can't jeopardize." Upon hearing those words, Cinder's slightly amused expression turned upside down. This is what she wanted to prevent, and she already failed.

"Just you?" She asked.

"All of RWBY. Ruby told us you wouldn't rat us out." Cinder wanted to facepalm. Of course she told her little step sister that.

"I won't. You going at it alone?" She asked.

"You can come with if you like. Two sisters against the world, just like on patch." Said Yang, with a dreamy look on her face while extending one arm as if to draw a horizon. "Unless you are too busy for us." The goad was a good attempt, but it would not work on her. At least, not for that reason. Even if it would put her step sister on some danger, she was also a huntress in training, and one of the strongest people she knew. She could take care of herself.

"Alright. Just take me to my flat so that I can get changed." Cinder hopped on the back of Bumblebee. She was envious that her father had bought Yang a kickass bike, but even Cinder had to admit it meshed nicely with the daredevil brawler.

But what stood out to her the most was Yang's smile. For a moment, it shone like never before.