Hey guys! As promised, Chapter Sixteen is here! I'd like to thank you guys for your continued patience and thank you to everyone for condolences sent, I appreciate it. Hope you guys like it!
Disclaimer: I own nothing!
"Speech"
Thoughts
Chapter Sixteen: Notorious
The aircraft Ruby's group currently were riding in came down for a landing on the landing pad attached to the tallest tower in the center of the city.
"This is Atlas Academy" Weiss told them as they touched down "I guess it's no surprise that General Ironwood would be in his office here over anywhere else"
"Likely busy planning his invasion of Remnant" Qrow glowered.
"You don't have a very high opinion of General Ironwood do you?" Ruby asked surprised.
"With good reason" Slade and Qrow replied, they exchanged a smirk between them "C'mon. Let's not keep him waiting, we still need to secure the relic" Slade added opening the door.
Dozens of armed soldiers met them as the door opened, their weapons trained on the group "Halt!
"Looks like that code didn't do us much good, huh?" Qrow asked concerned.
"I didn't expect them to just roll over and let me in, but this is a bit much" Slade agreed counting at least two dozen men.
"Can you handle this?" Maria asked.
"Easy, boys. We're here to help, not hurt anyone" Slade's hands raised to surrender himself as he approached. He limped slightly as he walked, pain shooting through his body with every step.
"Not another step!" one of the men yelled stopping Slade in his tracks as they moved to surround him.
"C'mon, I already told you-
"On your knees!"
Slade knelt down and placed his hands on his head "I know the drill, is this all really necessary-"
"Quiet!" the soldier lowered his rifle and approached Slade, he placed a pair of handcuffs on him, before doing the same to his legs and attaching them with a chain between each set of cuffs.
"If I was looking to fight, you'd know it. I'm trying to help"
"I'm sure that's a great comfort to the lives you've taken" a commanding voice approached.
"Specialist Schnee!" all the men lowered their weapons and saluted as she came into view through the score of men.
"Keep your weapons trained on him at all times, he's extremely dangerous"
"Yes, Ma'am"
"Winter!" Weiss called excitedly rushing over to hug her sister, Winter stared down at her sister in shock. Not only was she there but she was there with a wanted criminal for heavens sake!
"Weiss?" she was surprised by her lack of proper form as well "What're you doing whit that man?!" she demanded angrily glaring at him.
"Slade?" she asked confused "He's a friend, he helped us get to Atlas. What did he do to warrant this?" she asked curiously looking around at the men never losing composure.
"Us?" Winter asked in surprise.
"Hey, Ice Queen" Qrow greeted with a cocky grin on his face, waving his hand lightly "Long time no see"
"Branwen" she growled "What're you doing here?"
"Just thought I'd drop in and see what's going on" he chuckled.
"We're on an important mission" Ruby answered her question.
"We need to see General Ironwood, it's urgent" Jaune added.
"Yet you not only brought that drunk, but you've also got a wanted criminal with you"
"Criminal?" Yang asked confused looking to Slade "What'd he do?"
"He slaughtered an entire town!" Winter shouted exasperated.
"Hey now! That's not how that went!" Slade defended getting to his feet "Cinder and Taurus killed those people, not me"
"On your knees, scum!" yelled one of the men as he slammed the butt of his rifle into Slade's abdomen, forcing him to the ground painfully. Slade's labored cough, splattered a larger amount of blood on the ground than was normal for such a minimal injury.
"Slade!" Yang called concerned, her eyes flashed red as she turned toward the man who attacked him.
"Stay back citizen! We have this under control"
"Under control?" Maria asked "In my day we called it what it was, sonny. Brutality. He's not even fighting back and you all know damn well he's capable"
"Yeah, hands off!" Nora shouted removing Magnhild from her back, aiming it at the soldiers.
"Lower your weapon" Winter growled.
Yang, Ren, Jaune, Blake, Qrow and Oscar all prepared themselves to attack if necessary "Not until you release Slade" Ruby glared at Winter as she aimed Crescent Rose toward her.
"That's not happening. Weiss, if you want your friends to not be harmed, I suggest you get them to lower their weapons" Winter warned, readying her blade.
Weiss looked between her friends and her sister "I..." she removed Myrtenaster and directed it at Winter "I'm sorry, Winter. But we cannot afford to fail our mission now" she smiled back to her friends "We've come too far"
"Weiss?" Winter was shocked by her decision "Fine then" she sighed "Arrest them. All of them" she looked to her sister in disappointment.
Slade stood up straight "No"
"Get back down-" one soldier swung his fist toward his abdomen once more, Slade caught his fist between both his hands and forced it back painfully over his shoulder, snapping his wrist "Augh!" Slade then moved his hands to each side of the soldiers head, the chain over the back of his neck. Slamming his knee upward into his face, he shattered the chains and the soldier's helmet, throwing him onto his back.
"Stop!" Winter yelled as his hand outstretched toward the soldiers. Every soldier aside from Winter was slammed against the nearby wall, desperately struggling to breathe.
"You can threaten and beat me all you want, I've grown accustomed to such things. But don't for one second think I was going to just let you harm my friends" Slade growled "Lower your weapon, call of your men, and let's talk about this like civilized people"
"You don't even know the meaning of the word, Stroud" she glared.
"I promise to release your men unharmed if you follow my requests"
"And if I refuse?"
"C'mon, I really don't want to hurt anyone" Slade sighed "I just need to speak to General Ironwood. I can assure you once he's heard what we have to say, he'll be happy you allowed us to see him"
"I cannot allow any of you to pass beyond this point. You've all committed several crimes in coming here"
"Like what?" Qrow asked crossing his arms.
"You stole an Atlas Military aircraft, you impersonated a dead officer, and now you've assaulted Atlas Security. Need I say more?" Winter asked cocking her eyebrow.
"We did technically do those things" Ren sighed.
"When did we impersonate a dead officer?" Oscar asked confused.
"Hey, I didn't say where I got the code-" Slade coughed painfully, losing his grip slightly on the men. Winter was about to seize the opportunity to strike at him, but his friends were all protectively standing between her and him by now.
"Enough!" a voice called from the door "Release these men" he was a tall middle-aged man with a slim build and slightly tanned skin. He has short black and gray hair as well as a thick mustache and eyebrows, and green eyes. He wore a gray overcoat with yellow linings, a yellow dress shirt and a black necktie. His pants are the same color as his overcoat. His yellow-buttoned undercoat and fingerless gloves match his cordovan shoes, under which he wears yellow socks
"Professor Watts! What're you doing here!?" Winter asked shocked.
"Taking control of the situation you let get out of hand, Specialist" he answered annoyed.
"Professor, I-"
"Have done enough" he turned to Slade "Release these men. I will order them to stand down and hear you out before taking any further action"
"Make a decision I don't like and we're just gonna be back here" Slade warned releasing the men.
"Men! Return to your posts, I have the situation under control" They quickly followed their orders and rushed inside "Now... why don't you enlighten me to your intentions here"
"We-" Slade coughed painfully once more, stopping himself. Yang turned to him to see if he was alright, he waved her off "We've come to deliver something important to General Ironwood-" he couldn't control his next coughing fit, he dropped to his knees painfully, hacking up more blood into his hands.
"Slade!" Yang called as she knelt down next to him.
"Is he alright?" Watts asked confused.
"No, and your soldier didn't help!" Jaune yelled annoyed, he quickly went to work on Slade with his Semblance. Slade felt too weak to fight back so he resigned himself to it.
"We're delivering something very important to General Ironwood, he needs to secure it immediately before someone else gets their hands on it" Ruby explained.
"What is it that you're delivering?" Watts asked.
"This" Blake answered as Ruby held up the lamp to show them. Watts had a brief glint of recognition cross his features but it was gone as soon as it came.
"A lamp?" Winter cocked her eyebrow.
"It's more than that I'm afraid" Maria sighed.
"It's very important we secure it safely in the academy vault" Oscar added.
"Vault?" Winter asked confused "There is no vault here in the academy, I would be aware of it if there was such a-"
"Trust me, you wouldn't know about it" Nora laughed.
"Every Huntsman Academy has a secret vault for storing things like this" Qrow explained.
"Shade, Beacon, Haven, even Atlas" Ren listed off.
"What makes this lamp so important?" Watts asked.
"It's-" Qrow stopped himself "It's classified" he sighed "I wish I could tell you more, but only the Headmaster's know about this. Very few people outside of the four of them are aware, and not all of them are on our side" Qrow explained.
"That's not good enough, we cannot allow you to see the General on just your word it's important. You stole an airship from Argus and undoubtedly didn't do so without a fight. You're gonna have to give us something better than-" Winter was interrupted.
"Allow me to escort you to the General" Watts smiled warmly.
"Professor! I must insist-" Winter yelled shocked.
"Specialist Schnee!" she stopped at her name "Are you truly so dense to not see they have been through quite enough? How many times have you seen a veteran Huntsman traveling with students from another academy with classified information? Do you think they went through all of the trouble of protecting something across the lands of Mistral and into our great city just to fool us or threaten us? Come now"
"But Professor-"
"That arm there" he pointed to Yang's prosthetic "That was made specially by the order of General Ironwood himself. If he believes she was worth the cost of such a project, then I am willing to believe he'd be interested in what they have to say. Besides, if they're lying to us, we will know. The General will either know of the lamp they have or not, then we shall have our answer on how to proceed"
Winter stared hard at the man but relented nonetheless "Do as you will" she sighed.
"Feel free to accompany us if you wish. Perhaps you'll be able to catch up with your sister you speak so dearly of" he smiled.
"Yes, Professor. Thank you"
"Is Mr. Stroud okay to walk?"
"He's not okay to do anything-" Jaune began to answer.
"I'm fine" Slade sat up, forcing Jaune's hands away.
"You're not fine!" Yang glared in annoyance "You almost keeled over from using your Semblance just once! You need to rest" she insisted.
"I'll rest once we have that safely locked away" he pointed to the lamp "Now are you going to help me up or not?"
"Ugh! You're so infuriating" Yang groaned as Qrow approached.
"C'mon then, we don't have time to waste" Qrow pulled Slade to his feet, slinging his arm over his shoulder "That alright?" he asked concerned.
"Fine" Slade answered with a brief wince in pain "Whenever you're ready, Professor" Yang rolled her eyes as she slung his opposite arm over her shoulder to help carry him.
"Follow me please" Watts motioned for the group to follow after him as he walked inside.
The group walked with everyone taking in the sights with the exclusion of those who had already been to Atlas before. Weiss and Winter conversed amongst themselves as they continued.
"I am glad to see you're well. I was so worried when I had heard you disappeared from the estate" Winter smiled lightly.
"Dad probably wasn't too happy about that" Weiss grimaced.
"Happy? He accused me of kidnapping you!" Winter laughed "Where'd you go anyway?"
"I was going to Mistral. I knew that's where you were stationed but later found out you had been called back before I arrived. I got kidnapped by a bandit tribe led by Yang's mother Raven and that's where I first met Slade.
"What was Slade doing there?" Winter asked already knowing the answer.
"Chasing the bounty on Raven's head" she answered with a small shrug "Yang helped him find her"
"I take it then that Branwen was taken care of?" Winter asked unsurprised.
"Raven's still alive if that's what your asking" Weiss answered "Slade decided to stick around and let Raven go to make sure Yang and I were able to get to Mistral to rejoin Ruby and everyone else. Slade decided to stay when Cinder came calling to recruit him"
"He's hoping you can all protect him" Winter growled.
"Trust me, Winter. Slade can take care of himself just fine, he took down two really strong opponents without even breaking a sweat and barely even used his Semblance"
"Then why is he traveling with you?" Winter asked confused "Money? Did you promise him anything? Did you-"
"I don't know, Winter. Slade left Mistral after he knew everyone was alright and Yang had reunited with us but came back and saved our butts during the attack on Haven. If it wasn't for him, all of us might not be here right now. I had a pretty close call there"
"What?" Winter asked shocked.
"Cinder impaled me on a spear, Jaune's Semblance healed me. Slade kicked their asses while he was busy making sure he had plenty of time to get me back in shape" she smiled looking back at him "Slade almost died back in Argus. He was injured by our fight with Cordovin-"
"Cordovin injured Slade?" Winter asked shocked "Why were you even fighting Cordovin?"
"She was in a mech suit" Weiss shrugged "And she wouldn't let us through to Atlas so we ended up stealing an aircraft, she wasn't too happy about that"
"So how'd Slade almost die then?" she asked curiously.
"Slade fought against Cordovin with us but was thrown into the forest around town and got hurt pretty bad from the fall. Yang and Blake were fighting Adam Taurus in there and he decided to go help them. According to them, he saved their lives yet again. He's dead by the way, Taurus that is"
"Good to know" Winter nodded in approval looking to Yang and Blake impressed "What else happened?"
"Well, when Slade managed to get back to us he was in no condition to fight. A Leviathan showed up and Ruby went to go stop it with her eyes, still not one hundred percent on that yet and he used his Semblance, refusing healing from Jaune so they could both help to keep Ruby safe, stopping the Leviathan in it's tracks. Of course he then passed out afterwards and Jaune healed him as much as he could, but there's still some pretty fresh wounds on him right now. If he'd done anything more in his state, Jaune said he could've died"
"Is that right?" Winter looked back at Slade being carefully being carried by Qrow and Yang with a newfound admiration "I never would've guessed him to be the hero type" she chuckled "Guess people can always surprise you right?" she asked looking to her younger sister.
"You've got that right" Weiss laughed "If you had told me a year ago that I would be friends with all of these weirdos and actually enjoy having them around? I would've laughed in your face and probably publicly shamed you... but I'm not that person anymore either" she smiled back at Ruby "My friends have made me better, they've made me... whole"
Winter smiled proudly at her little sister "You really have changed, Weiss. I'm proud of you... in a way. Just don't ever do anything that can get you arrested again, or so help me-"
"I know, Winter" Weiss smiled back at her "I love you too" Winter rolled her eyes lightly.
"Wait here" Watts called back to the group, knocking on the door. Slade untangled himself from Qrow and Yang's grip and approached the door "Slade?" Yang asked confused. Slade kicked the door open impatiently "Mr. Stroud!" Watts yelled in shock.
"General" Slade called gripping his side painfully "We need to talk"
Ironwood stood up from his desk and reached for his sidearm. Slade tossed a miniature disc onto his arm sending an electric current through the metal temporarily disabling it "Slade?" Ironwood finally realized who he was looking at as his metal arm dropped limp at his side.
"In the flesh" Slade leaned against the nearby wall and slumped to the ground.
"Slade!" Yang rushed inside the room "Stop overdoing it dammit! You're injured, you need to rest!"
"Yeah, yeah, I know" he waved her off "I promise I am taking it easy now alright?"
"Ms. Xiao Long?" Ironwood asked confused, he looked to the rest of the group.
"You held onto that all this time?" Qrow asked with a slight smirk, looking down at Slade.
"Well, you did only have the one" he shrugged.
"Qrow?" Ironwood's metal arm finally became usable again as he peeled the disc off of his arm "What're you doing here? What're you all doing here? How did you even get here?"
"It's... a long story" Qrow waved off "Short version is: Slade's on our side, turns out he's not the horrible criminal we were lead to believe. But that's not important, what is important... is this" he gestured to Ruby entering the room with the Relic of Knowledge in her hands.
Ironwood stared in shock at the relic but remained silent, he sat down at his desk and looked over to Winter "You'd better have a good explanation for all of this" he sighed.
"I wouldn't say it's necessarily good, Sir" Watts stepped forward "But I was the one who made the decision to bring them to you. It seems that was the right one... I would hear what they have to say" Ironwood continued to glare at Winter.
"I... have yet to come to that decision myself" he turned back toward Qrow "Arthur, why don't you fetch Mr. Stroud some painkillers. That should help keep him mobile at least"
"Of course, General" he bowed before leaving the room as the rest of the group situated themselves in his office.
"I'll return to my duties then-" Winter saluted but was stopped by Ironwood's hand raising to stop her.
"Stay, Winter. It's probably for the best you hear what we're going to discuss"
"Are you sure about that?" Qrow asked trying his best not to sound insulting "It's not exactly something just anyone should hear-"
"Yet you have a bunch of first year trainees, a blind old woman, a boy even younger than the others, and a Bounty Hunter all privy to this information?" Winter asked cocking her eyebrow.
"Oz was the one who chose to involve them. Aside from Maria and Slade... that just kind of happened. Though I suppose Oz decided to involve Slade long before the rest of these kids"
"That doesn't sound any better-"
"Enough" Ironwood silenced their argument "I trust Winter more than anyone else in Atlas. If something important is to be shared about that relic or anything involving something like this. I want her to be present for it" he sighed, leaning forward onto his desk intertwining his hands together as he rested his elbows on the desktop "Now... start talking"
Salem sat in her usual chair in her meeting room, the room had been completely restored to it's previous condition. The door opened as Hazel entered the room, he looked around in surprise.
"Like what I've done with the place?" Salem asked with a smirk.
"I'm surprised everything was repaired so quickly" he answered honestly "This room was completely trashed no more than an hour ago"
"My power does a great many things, Hazel. Repairing infrastructure isn't something I normally focus on but given the circumstances... I believed everyone would be more comfortable if I returned things to how they were before"
"Of course" he nodded taking his seat. Mercury and Emerald entered the room as well, standing off to the side where Cinder usually sat but never took a seat.
"Please" Salem gestured to the chairs "Make yourselves comfortable. Cinder isn't here right now and Arthur and Tyrian are on assignment. I'm sure they won't mind you borrowing them" Mercury nodded taking a seat in Tyrian's usual spot, Emerald hesitated but eventually decided to take Cinder's old chair "Good, I'm glad we can all be civilized. I apologize for my earlier display... I was understandably upset"
"Of course, no one blames you for feeling that way. It was a lot of distressing news" Hazel agreed.
"Thank you, Hazel" she smiled lightly.
Mercury cleared his throat gaining her attention "Was... Was there a reason you called for us, Ma'am?" he asked cautiously.
"Of course, to business then" she nodded "Arthur has returned to Atlas with Tyrian as planned. General Ironwood was delighted to finally have him back from his "extended vacation" Salem chuckled lightly "Of course we all know his intentions there are for more sinister than the good General expects"
"Yeah" Mercury nodded, Emerald remained silent. Still greatly fearing getting on Salem's bad side after what she saw her do to Hazel.
"Ozpin and his team are also on their way to Atlas. My Leviathan and the other Grimm I sent to destroy Argus and secure the relic failed. It appears Ms. Rose has begun learning how to control her power much like her mother once did" she explained with a shake of her head.
"That cannot be good" Hazel sighed "If she is to gain complete control over her power, she could prove a threat to your plans. Even Cinder would be greatly affected by her now, considering her Maiden powers and her newly acquired appendage" he surmised.
"That's correct" Salem nodded "However we have a more pressing issue"
"Really?" Mercury asked "What could be more important than that and Ozpin's return?"
"You're aware of Slade's presence among the group... but you're not aware of the full extent of his power. I am the only one who knows"
"Well... what can he do?" Emerald asked cautiously, finally speaking up for the first time.
"Slade has the ability to manipulate anything with his mind, he needn't even see it for him to have control over it. His control is so refined he is able to shape his own body or other objects around each other for short enough of a time to pass through it before placing everything back in it's place. The human mind cannot fathom what it is seeing, so it merely appears as he is simply passing through things, like he's transparent somehow... however..." she paused catching her breath leaving everyone in suspense. Looking up at the group she sighed "This is not limited to physical objects"
Everyone stared at her in confusion "What do you mean?"
Salem sighed "Slade is able to manipulate the incorporeal" she answered "For instance, if he so desired. Slade could removed Ozpin from the body he is now occupying, the same could be said for the Maidens. Slade could steal their power even though he isn't a female, it wouldn't quite be the same as if he had inherited it normally, but the possibility is there. Of course he could also transfer it to someone else, for instance Ruby Rose could potentially become a Maiden through Slade's Semblance"
"That's dangerous" Hazel growled in annoyance "I can see why you've wanted him to work with you for so long now, but how is it that you're connected to his mind as Ozpin is with his hosts? You never fully explained how you could exist within him but also here as well" he asked curiously.
"How astute of you" she chuckled "Perhaps one day I shall even tell you, but for now I would like to keep it my secret"
"I understand" Hazel nodded in disappointment. The doors opened as a Seer Grimm entered the room, quickly making it's way to Salem.
"What is it my dear?" she asked as an image of Arthur Watts appeared.
"Forgive me for the intrusion, your Grace. It's urgent"
"Go ahead" Salem nodded.
"Qrow Branwen and the others have arrived in Atlas and are here at the Academy speaking with Ironwood. They could be securing the relic in the vault any day now and we still don't know who the Winter Maiden is!" he explained in distress "What would you have me do?"
Salem pondered the information he had given her "Is Slade there with them?"
"Yes, though he seems to be injured. I'm not sure what happened but he's in no shape to fight anytime soon" he answered.
Salem grinned back at him "Arthur, I want you to do something for me"
"Anything, you need only ask"
"Good" she laughed.
"What is it you require of me?"
"Nothing" she answered her grin widening.
"Nothing? I don't understand, you don't want me to capture Slade?"
"Slade is in the perfect position for us now. It doesn't matter if they secure the relic in the vault. We still need the Winter Maiden to get the relic beneath Atlas" she explained "Did you find what I asked you for yet?" she asked sternly.
"I did, though I am unsure what use it would do for you" he answered holding up the file in question "Tyrian is on his way back with a copy for you as we speak. I sent him the moment Qrow's team touched down" he explained.
"Which would be right now!" Tyrian called as he entered the room.
"How did you get back here so fast?" Hazel asked confused.
"A gift from me" Salem answered "One you shall all be receiving just as Tyrian and Arthur already have" she took the file from an excited Tyrian.
"I cannot wait to see what you do with that!" he laughed excitedly.
"It does have some interesting developments" she grinned "Go back to Arthur and await further instructions. I will call on you very soon"
"Your Grace" he bowed as a dark oval shaped corridor opened up behind him "It was so nice to see you all again" he called to the rest of the group "Ta!" he waved as he slinked his way into the corridor disappearing from view just before it vanished into thin air.
"What in the hell was that?" Mercury asked shaking somewhat.
"I told you already. A gift" Salem grinned down at the file in front of her "Oh, I can use this" she began laughing "This is going to be FUN!" her voice altered slightly to a deeper, darker tone as her eyes flared with dark black flames for a brief second before returning to normal.
Ironwood stared at the group in front of him, they were all waiting patiently for him to say something after they had finished telling their story. Winter shared the General's amazement at the story she had just heard.
"General?" Nora called nervous at his silence.
"Apologies... it's a lot to take in" he answered.
"That's not even all of it, James" Qrow sighed "Those were just the surface details. I didn't even get to mention Ozpin yet-"
"Ozpin?" Winter and Ironwood asked simultaneously "He died at Beacon didn't he?" Ironwood asked in shock.
"He did" Qrow sighed "But you know how that goes"
"Don't tell me he's already reincarnated"
"Reincarnated?!" Winter asked in shock.
"Ozpin gets reincarnated into another body every time he dies. The only way to end that is to stop Salem permanently. Unfortunately no one has discovered a way to do that yet" Ironwood explained.
"That's because there is no way to do that" Oscar spoke up.
"What was that, boy?" Winter asked "Just because something seems hopeless doesn't mean-"
"Oscar meant what he said, Winter" Weiss sighed "We used the relic to ask what Ozpin was hiding from us and learned everything about his and Salem's past. Salem is not only immortal, but nothing she does kills her. She was cursed by both the Gods we spoke of when they left Remnant"
"So... what did Ozpin plan to do to stop her?" Ironwood asked gaining disappointed looks from the group "I see..." he looked distressed "All this time and we had only been delaying the inevitable" he sighed.
"That's not true" Ruby called out surprising Ironwood "It's not inevitable if we keep fighting. As long as we keep one step ahead of Salem and keep the relics out of her hands she'll never win"
"She's right" Slade smiled lightly, holding his chest in pain with his right hand "It's only inevitable if we give up"
"That's not how that works" Ironwood sighed "Inspiring words and speeches don't help you against an unstoppable enemy. If she cannot be killed then we cannot stop her, this war will go on forever unless she wins"
"Just because something cannot be killed doesn't mean it cannot be stopped" Slade growled.
"Look-"
"No, General! They're right!" Yang yelled in anger as her eyes flashed red "We had our moments of doubt just as you did when we learned this. But Slade and Ruby decided it wasn't worth giving up to let Salem have her way. Eventually we all agreed to not stop fighting no matter what comes"
"Yeah" Jaune agreed with a smile as he and his team joined Ruby's team in proudly standing together.
"I'm not about to let that mad woman ruin my retirement so easily" Maria laughed "We're gonna fight until there's nothing left to fight or until we die"
"Hopefully the first option if you don't mind" Oscar chuckled "I'd rather like to have some time to myself after this is over"
"This may never be over!" Ironwood yelled standing up abruptly "Don't you get that? We could fight our entire lives away, the next hundred generations away and nothing would change! Salem would still be out there plotting against us and Ozpin will just find another damned host-"
"Then so be it" Slade sighed "If we're destined to fight and die so others can live their lives in peace... then I'm prepared to pay that price"
Ironwood stood shocked that none of them were deterred by his words "But..." he looked to Winter who only smiled back at him.
"Don't look at me, General. I'm with them" she took to standing beside her sister "If my Little Sister can muster the courage to fight against Salem. Then so can I"
"Schnee..."
"You heard em, Jimmy" Qrow chuckled "We can't let these kids show us up now can we?" he asked with a lighthearted smile.
Ironwood smiled lightly back at him "No... I suppose we can't" he stepped out from around his desk "What is it you plan to do exactly?"
"First we need to secure the relic in your vault" Blake answered.
"Once that's done we can come up with a plan to defend Atlas from Salem's forces" Ren added.
"Yeah, it's unlikely she's going to ignore both relics being here at once and go after Shade Academy instead, especially if she knows Ozpin is here" Qrow smirked.
"Ozpin is here?" Ironwood asked looking among the group "But who could-" he stopped upon seeing Oscar holding Ozpin's cane. Ironwood stared down at the boy in utter bewilderment "You cannot be serious-"
"Yeah, yeah, we know it's weird but Ozpin isn't exactly here anymore" Slade sighed.
"What do you mean?"
"Ozpin was discouraged by us when we were upset with him for lying to us... some pretty harsh things were said" Qrow answered "I... I made him retreat back into Oscar's mind, locking himself away in there. We don't know how much he can see and hear or if he's just watching us all the time, but when Oscar had to crash land an airship back in Argus, Ozpin guided him before disappearing again" Qrow explained.
"That certainly is something" Ironwood rubbed his chin thoughtfully "There's only one problem"
"What is it?" Qrow asked.
"The Winter Maiden is gone"
Slade limped his way out of the Academy with the help of Yang and Ruby "That did us a whole lot of nothing" Yang sighed.
"Well, at least Ironwood is up to date and still willing to work with us" Slade offered.
"Yeah! And Weiss's sister is going to be helping us too!" Ruby said enthusiastically pumping her fist into the air excitedly, losing her grip on Slade and shaking him violently.
"Ow, ow, ow" he groaned.
"Oops! Sorry" Ruby placed his arm back over her shoulder.
"Now what're we gonna do?" Jaune asked curiously.
"Hunt for the Winter Maiden?" Oscar asked.
"First we need to get some rest" Qrow ordered "You all did pretty good back in Argus but you've still not recovered yet. Slade worst of all" he chuckled.
"I'm fine" Slade laughed "Just give me a cane and I can still kick your ass"
"Oh no, you're not doing anything unless you want to find my boot up yours!" Yang lectured in a motherly tone.
"You're no fun" Slade pouted.
"Regardless, Slade's going to need to get treated again pretty soon" Jaune agreed with Yang "There was only so much I could do after the fight with the Leviathan and Cordovin"
"Yeah. You did a pretty good patch up job considering" Slade called over to him.
"Thanks" he smiled back.
"Well where are we gonna be staying?" Nora asked curiously "It's not like anyone has a house around here... well..."
"No! Not happening!" Weiss shouted.
"You really wouldn't want to meet our father" Winter agreed.
"I don't know... I've heard things about him" Slade smirked "Might want to give him a good thrashing to straighten him out"
"There will be no thrashing" Ren chuckled.
"Ren's right, the last thing we need is to be thrown in jail for beating up a defenseless old man" Blake sighed "As much as I would love to kick his particular ass, we need to keep a low profile"
"So back to the earlier question... where are we staying exactly?" Maria asked curiously.
"Ironwood has a safehouse for Huntsmen from other nations to use when they're visiting the city. Of course no one is using it right now, they're all back at home, fighting their own battles" Qrow explained.
"What do you mean?" Ruby asked confused.
"Think about it, Ruby. Mistral doesn't have a lot of Huntsmen anymore after Lionheart got a lot of them killed, and Vale is still fighting off all the Grimm from the Fall of Beacon. Vacuo is the only nation that spared some Huntsmen to help Mistral defend it's towns from Grimm and bandit attacks" Yang explained.
"Atlas has kept all of it's Huntsmen back at home to prepare for any incoming invasion by Grimm like what happened at in Vale" Winter added "Unfortunately I was hoping he was just paranoid and this would all blow over... guess there's no real hope of that happening now" she sighed.
"Salem is going to attack the city one way or another" Slade grimaced in pain as he spoke "More than likely she's already got someone working for her here in the city preparing for her armies arrival"
"Army?" Winter asked "You know she's attacking with an army?"
"After what I saw back in Argus, you can almost guarantee she is going to be sending an attack force two to three times the size of what she sent there. Not to mention Atlas is in the air, she's gonna need to send a lot of Nevermore's, Manticore's, Sphinx's and any other winged Grimm she has to even have a shot. More than likely she could have a Wyvern or two waiting in the wings to lead the assault"
"You seem to know a lot about Salem" Winter pointed out suspiciously.
"I know how she thinks" Slade sighed.
"How exactly do you know that?"
"Because she's in his head" Qrow answered stopping Winter in her tracks.
"She's what!?"
"Relax, she can't see or hear anything as long as I block her connection to me" Slade waved off dismissively "It's not like with Ozpin where his soul has a physical place in Oscar's body, Salem is still a separate person from me so she can only see and hear what I want her to when I want to. It's something I've picked up after having her in my head for six years" Slade explained.
"So she cannot just take control of you?"
"No, she cannot. If she can she has never exercised it's use even when I had the relic in my possession. I'd say it's a safe bet to go with a definitive no"
"That's good to hear" Winter sighed in relief.
"Relax, Winter" Weiss placed her hand into her own "Slade's on our side, he's more than proven himself on several occasions"
"I know, I know. I'm sorry, I just can't stop seeing you as a criminal, it's the only thing I've ever known you as" she apologized.
"Don't worry about it" Slade chuckled "I'm sure you and I will be friends before you know it"
"I wouldn't count on that, I'm not really a people person"
"Neither am I" Slade laughed.
The group continued on, talking and laughing as they made their way out of the Academy and out into the city of Atlas.
The group stared in absolute shock "This is where we're staying?" Weiss asked disgusted looking at the run down house, boarded up windows and leaking gutters. All around the house looked completely run down and vacant for far too long.
"You're not serious" Yang groaned in annoyance.
"It doesn't quite look how I remember it" Qrow admitted sheepishly.
"We cannot be staying here" Nora agreed, grimacing at the sight.
"It hasn't been used in nearly ten years" Winter replied "Of course, it's outside appearance is just a façade" she unlocked the door with a passcode "After you" she gestured to the group as she held the door open for them.
The interior of the building contrasted with the exterior. The furniture was all beautifully maintained with the floors so clean they could see their own reflection staring back at them.
"Now this is what I'm talking about!" Ruby shouted excitedly zipping around between rooms looking through them curiously with an awed expression on her face.
"This is impressive" Ren agreed.
"Thank you" Winter nodded "Would you like a tour?"
"That'd be great" Blake smiled up at the woman, Winter forced herself to keep a straight face in front of the Faunus girl as she knew about her already from Weiss. She may not have agreed with that particular relationship but at least she knew she could be trusted.
"You okay?" Yang asked as she guided Slade inside with Nora's help.
"I can handle myself well enough from here, thanks. Both of you" he smiled at the two of them.
"Anytime" Nora nodded releasing him, she quickly joined the rest of the group touring the grounds.
"There's six bedrooms, three bathrooms, a living room, a dinning room, a large basement for training purposes and finally a kitchen for preparing food" Winter explained showing the group the rooms.
"Yang?" Slade asked catching her attention from smiling at him.
"Yeah?" she asked barely listening.
"You can let go of me now" Yang's eyes were wide in shock, she released Slade as her face flushed from embarrassment. Slade chuckled lightly as he made his way to one of the nearby pieces of furniture "Lost in my eyes were we?" he asked playfully. Yang punched him in the arm with her prosthetic "Ow!" he winced lightly "Still injured!"
"You asked for it" she shrugged unapologetically as she walked off.
"Rude" Slade narrowed his eyes staring at the back of her head.
"This place is amazing" Oscar stared in awe of the beauty of the place.
"Thank you, Mr. Pine" Winter smiled at the boy "I'm sure you'll get a good nights rest here-"
"I know I will!" Maria made her way up into one of the nearby bedrooms slamming the door behind her.
"Guess we know who's taking that room" Yang laughed as she joined the group.
"You can discuss how you'd like to situate yourselves while I run out to get you all something to eat. Until General Ironwood manages to get some identification together for you all, I wouldn't go anywhere outside the district without me or the General with you"
"I have my license. Shouldn't that count?" Qrow asked surprised.
"That's not going to do you any good during a kingdom wide lockdown. Don't worry, it won't take him very long" Winter nodded to the group making her way out of the hallway and down the stairs back into the room Slade was in.
"Yang and I can share one!" Ruby shouted excitedly.
"Guess that means Blake and I will take the one across the hall from you" Weiss laughed.
"Nora and I shall be bunking together. I assume you'll be by yourself Jaune?" he asked curiously.
"Maria already claimed one of the bedrooms. Everyone else is going to have to share with someone" he chuckled "I'm sure Oscar and I will do just fine together"
"Yeah, that just leaves Qrow and Slade" Oscar pointed out.
"We'll manage" Qrow chuckled "It's not like he'll bother me much anyway"
Winter looked to Slade with a stern expression on her face "Stroud"
"Winter?" he greeted questioningly as she made her way over to him.
"You may have everyone else fooled but I know who you are and I know what you do" she growled earning a small glare from Slade, narrowing his eyes as he did.
"Look, Winter. I don't know who exactly told you about me, but we haven't ever met before today. I would appreciate it if you judge me on my actions and not on rumors surrounding me-"
"Rumors about when you mercilessly slaughtered a town of innocent civilians?" she asked menacingly.
Slade stood abruptly in anger "I had nothing to do with that!" he growled.
"Maybe... maybe not" Winter shrugged "If you even lay a finger on Weiss I'll-" Slade collapsed onto the floor in front of her with a loud thump "... Slade?" she asked confused.
"Everything okay down there?" Qrow called from upstairs.
"Slade just collapsed!" Winter called back as she rolled him onto his back, opening his vest to find several large wounds mixing with the scars on his chest.
"Slade!" Yang called as she rushed down the stairs with Jaune not far behind "Dammit! His wounds have reopened"
"I've got it" Jaune slid to his side next to Winter and went to work using his Semblance.
"How'd he get those?" Winter asked.
"Cordovin's giant mech threw him pretty far and through some trees. Probably broke something on the way down, and helping us fight off Taurus didn't help" Yang sighed.
"Not to mention he overdid it when that Leviathan showed up. Slade stopped it's whole head dead in it's tracks when Ruby was preparing to petrify it" Jaune explained.
"Petrify? How does she do that? Is it her Semblance?" Winter asked in shock.
"It's her Silver Eyes" Yang answered "Somehow it grants her power over the Grimm, lesser Grimm are completely destroyed but large ones like the Leviathan and the Wyvern back at Beacon were both petrified" she explained.
"So that's how it happened..." Winter pondered this for a moment "If Salem ever attacks Atlas with Wyverns or anything remotely as dangerous. Ruby can defeat them for us before they're even a threat!"
"She hasn't exactly mastered it yet" Yang shrugged sheepishly "It seems to only be a one time thing. Once she uses it she can't really use it again too soon"
"How unfortunate, that would come in handy when the hour arises"
Slade suddenly shot up his eyes wide in shock as he struggled to get back up, Yang forced him onto his back "Lay down, Slade! You're gonna hurt yourself even worse. Just let Jaune work"
"I saw something!" Slade gasped in distress "Salem... she's..." he struggled to breathe through the pain.
"Shhh" Yang soothed him "It can wait, just focus on breathing and let Jaune heal you. Once you're all good, you can talk to us alright" she continued to speak in a soothing tone, calming Slade down tremendously.
"Okay... I'll try" he relented.
"Thank you" she smiled down at him.
"No offense to Mr. Arc, but he needs a doctor. Someone to look at his injuries-"
"No doctor" Slade groaned "They'll have to make an official report, if Salem has someone working in Atlas right now it's more than possible they'd have access to those files. Jaune can handle it"
Winter glared but nevertheless agreed "You're probably right, I'm gonna make sure you've got plenty of food to eat by the time he's done so you can stock up on energy" she offered turning toward the door.
"Thank you, Winter" he called genuinely.
"Whatever" she waved dismissively.
"I think I'm growing on her" he coughed.
"Slade!" Yang groaned.
"Alright, alright, no more talking" he laid back with a sigh.
"It does make this a whole lot easier" Jaune offered "One of these days I'm gonna have to read through a medical handbook or something so I have a better understanding of what to heal and where to start"
Yang watched as Slade slept, raggedly breathing in and out as her friends looked concerned "Is he going to be alright?" Ruby asked.
"Jaune did what he could, but Slade's got some broken bones and internal wounds that he's only been able to do so much for... Slade's going to need to take it easy for the next few days, especially if he refuses to see a doctor" Yang answered with a sigh.
"I'm sure he's gonna take that well" Weiss scoffed.
"He's not exactly the type to just lay around" Blake agreed.
"He's gonna have to if he ever wants to fight again" Yang sighed "He's gonna keep pushing himself too hard until something breaks beyond repair" The group stared uneasily as her eyes shifted to them "I feel so helpless sometimes, he's always coming to save me and what have I done for him?"
"Yang, you can't blame yourself for this" Ruby offered gently "You're not responsible for all of Slade's decisions. You should know better than anyone what it's like to fight for those you care about at your expense" she gestured to her arm.
Yang remained silent, staring down at Slade's sleeping form. She stood from her place on the bed next to him, and turned toward her friends "Let's let him rest for now. He's gonna be enough of a pain in the ass when he wakes up on his own, let alone if we disturb him" she laughed lightly.
"Yeah" her team agreed, all nodding with smiles of differing sizes among them.
Team RWBY descended the stairs to the living room with JNPR, Oscar, and Qrow all sat patiently waiting for Winter to return with their dinner "How is he?" Oscar asked as they took open seats around them.
"He's managing... for now" Weiss shrugged.
"If he keeps pushing himself too hard he's just gonna make it worse" Jaune sighed.
"Yeah, we know" Blake shook her head.
"If only we could get through that thick skull of his" Ruby said playfully, gaining a laugh from the group. Yang didn't hear them, she just stared at the floor in front of her.
"Firecracker?" Qrow asked concerned.
"Huh?" Yang looked up "Oh, sorry. Yeah he needs to rest"
Nora and Ren share a look "Is everything alright, Yang?" the latter asked concerned.
"You've been on edge ever since Slade got hurt" Nora added.
"Of course I'm not alright!" she nearly shouted "I asked Slade to get involved in all of this and now he's hurt because of me! Because I'm not strong enough! He's always saving me from something and what have I ever done for him? All I've been able to give him was more pain... if I had been stronger at Beacon, Adam wouldn't have been in Argus and Cordovin wouldn't have ever known we had her airship until it was too late... He never would've gotten hurt"
"Don't blame yourself, Yang" Ruby tried to calm her down.
"Slade chose to fight Cordovin on his own, he chose to fight Adam with us even after his injury" Blake pointed out.
"He wouldn't have been hurt at all if he never came with us at all. I'm the one who talked him into it in the first place... it's on me" a stray tear fell from her eye.
"Slade made his own choice to come with us just like everyone else here" Weiss placed her hand onto Yang's shoulder comfortingly "Slade's a big boy, he can make his own decisions. You didn't force him into anything he didn't want to do"
"He never wanted to be a part of the war against Salem, but I wouldn't let him leave the bar that night. I begged him so many times to..." she let the statement hang as she struggled to hold back a fresh set of tears, her fists shaking in anger.
The group stared in silence "You really care about him don't you?" Jaune asked.
"Of course I care about him, he's my friend-"
"That's not what he meant and you know it, Yang" Weiss interjected.
Yang remained silent as she looked up at the roof thoughtfully "I... I..." she couldn't answer, she wasn't even entirely sure how she felt. Sure she liked Slade, but that was only because he was always there for her, even when he didn't need to be, when he had no reason to be. Slade never had any obligation to help her find Raven or stay with her to find Ruby, he certainly had nothing forcing him to stick around and fight off Cinder and her friends. Adam was her problem, Blake's problem, and yet he rose to the challenge even as injured as he was. Slade was always there, with those eyes, and that damned smile that made her feel like she had butterflies fluttering around in her stomach. Oh god she so had the hots for him she groaned internally.
"Yang?" her sister called.
"Maybe a little" she relented with a deep sigh.
"Yang's in love!" Nora shouted excitedly forcing Yang to cover her mouth from all the noise.
"I will kill you" she warned "And it will be painful" Nora nodded, Yang released her.
"Yang's in love!" she whispered.
"Nora" she groaned with a roll of her eyes and a laugh.
"I can't even remember the last time you had a thing for a boy" Qrow chuckled.
"And how would you know when I had things for boys?" Yang asked accusingly.
"You'd always tell Ruby" he answered.
"Ruby!" she shouted in disbelief.
"I never told him!" she defended in shock.
"I was always listening" he laughed at their annoyed expressions.
"Well you never did have anything for them for too long" Ruby giggled "They were always scared of you, and you really didn't like that"
"Yeah, that's why no one asked me to the dance back at Beacon" Yang sighed "Not that I was the only one but..." she looked over to her prosthetic arm "How intimidating must I be now" she asked revealing her insecurity about her arm.
"Yang" Blake's ears drooped sadly.
"People were scared of me when I was still completely human, how is anyone supposed to look at this arm and see me behind it if I can't even do that myself?" she turned away shamefully.
"People might be scared of anything robotic more than usual because of what happened to Penny and how the world found out about her, but not everyone cares about that sort of thing. I know Slade sure as hell doesn't" Weiss assured.
"Yeah, Yang. You can't just give up because you're scared people aren't going to be able to see past your "Handicap" Ruby made air quotes with her hands.
"Ruby..." Yang looked up at her sister.
"Not everyone thinks of your accident when they look at you, and trust me, no one looks at the arm when they first see you" Jaune assured her.
"They're too busy staring at that hot bod!" Nora shouted causing the group to laugh.
"Nora" Ren sighed.
"What about her face?" Oscar asked "She's absolutely stunning to boot!"
"Oscar!" the girls all stared at him in shock.
"What? I'm a guy, can't I appreciate beauty when I see it?" he asked confused.
"Only if you appreciate all of it" Nora answered gesturing between her and the rest of team RWBY making everyone laugh.
"Thanks everyone for trying to help but... I really don't think there's someone out there who's gonna be able to deal with my... mood swings"
"She admits it!" Ruby shouted triumphantly "Finally!" Yang punched her in the arm "Ow!"
Qrow sat down next to his niece slinging his arm around her shoulder "Listen, kid. If a guy can't get past that arm of yours then you shouldn't even waste your time on him, but anyone who is worth the time of day, won't even care about the arm. It's you they're dating after all, not your arm" he smiled down at her.
"But what about-"
"Yang" Qrow's expression became stern "You've been stopping yourself from pursuing anything because you felt you were too busy raising Ruby, that didn't stop when you both started attending Beacon together. I know things seem a bit hectic right now, but if you really have these types of feelings for someone... you shouldn't keep them to yourself. You never know when they might feel the same way" Yang looked up at him with a small smile on her face.
"Thanks, Uncle Qrow" he smiled back at her.
"That being said, you and Ruby are going to be single forever. I don't think Tai and I could handle the stress of you both dating"
"Uncle Qrow!"
"Not fair!" Ruby and Yang yelled in unison.
"More for Weiss!" Nora shouted causing the girl in question to flush from embarrassment while the rest of the group laughed.
"Hey now!" Weiss shot back in surprise causing the group to laugh harder. Qrow shook his head with a bright smile on his face at their antics.
Once the laughter died down Ruby turned to Yang "I'm sure Slade doesn't care about the arm anymore than we do. He doesn't seem like the judgmental type. As for your temper, it's honestly not as big of a deal as you might think"
Yang smiled lightly "Maybe, but there is always the possibility" she looked down at her arm in disdain.
"Slade has Salem poking around in his head all the time. She invades his dreams and sporadically sends him visions for no foreseeable reason" Qrow listed off on his fingers "No offense, Yang. But Slade's got you beat, I doubt most woman would be interested knowing he's got a she-devil living in his head... well, sometimes occupying" Qrow explained.
"You're probably right" Yang smiled "What's my arm compared to that right?"
"I honestly think he might prefer your arm over his issue"
"If he can handle Salem jabbering in his ear all the time, dealing with an angry Yang must be nothing in comparison"
"He blames himself" Oscar pointed out surprising the group.
"What?" Yang asked curiously.
"He told me in Argus... I ran away after Jaune accused me of being Ozpin. I was scared I wasn't going to be myself anymore so I ran and hid in an alley away from the house. Slade found me by chance and just talked with me, didn't judge me for leaving and didn't yell at me... he just listened" Oscar stopped looking to Jaune who looked away shamefully "It's alright Jaune, I don't blame you for it" he offered with a small smile. Jaune returned it gratefully.
"What does he blame himself for?" Yang prodded.
"Sorry, sorry... as I was saying, I told Slade about what I was scared of and he assured me no matter what happens from here on out that I will always be Oscar Pine. Slade said he wouldn't allow Ozpin to take my identity away from me if it came down to it" he smiled fondly at the memory "He talked about some of his regrets for not being there to stop what Cinder and Salem did, he blames himself for all the bad things that happened to you guys"
"Slade blames himself... for Beacon?" Yang asked in shock "I never knew..."
"He cannot possibly blame himself for everything that's happened. Slade isn't responsible for the actions of others. Cinder made the decision to attack Beacon herself, Slade being there wouldn't have changed that. Slade might be dead if he had stayed" Blake pointed out.
"Maybe, but he doesn't seem to see it that way" Oscar replied.
"That's a heavy burden to bear" Ren sighed.
"It makes sense..." Qrow rubbed his chin thoughtfully.
"Uncle Qrow!" Ruby chastised.
"Woah, hey! I'm not blaming him for what happened, Kiddo. I'm just saying, think of it from his point of view. He left when you all started school instead of sticking around and getting his license. Slade would've been there for the festival tournament because he would've wanted to see you guys fight. There's no way I wouldn't have introduced you guys to my best friend before the tournament after all. Slade would've backed Yang up when Mercury and Emerald tricked you in the finals and he would've been there during the attack. Slade would've been in the perfect position to stop Yang from losing her arm or Pyrrha from getting killed possibly even both. And with how strong he is, he would've been able to stop the Wyvern with his Semblance long enough for someone else to take it down. Slade had the potential to stop it all... at least that's probably how he sees it right now"
"Wow" Ruby stared in shock "You put a lot of thought into that"
"I used to blame him for not helping us, for abandoning us when we needed him the most. I almost lost both of you that day... I don't know what I would've done if I had lost either or both of you"
"That's never going to happen" Slade's voice called from the stairs, the group all looked to him to see Slade limping his way down the stairs "Once I've fully recovered I can get back into action, Salem won't get the chance" he smirked.
"Slade! You're supposed to be taking it easy!" Yang lectured as she quickly stood for him to sit in her place, she was worried he had heard her confessing her feelings about him.
"I'm fine" he waved off "I walked down a flight of stairs, I didn't jump from the rooftop"
"Just-"
"Try and take it easy" Jaune finished interrupting her "I know you want to help as soon as possible, Slade. But none of us want to see you get yourself killed. Take the time you need before trying to do anything too stressful, we're gonna need you in top shape when the time comes after all"
Slade smirked "You'll have me when I'm ready" he nodded in agreement.
"Well, now that that's sorted out. Once Winter get's back with the food, we're going to call up Ironwood and discuss our options for finding the Winter Maiden" Qrow explained "Slade will be staying here to recover, but someone's going to have to stay behind and look after him"
"I can look after myself just fine on my own-" Slade defended.
"Not if one of Salem's people come knocking. We cannot be sure she doesn't know we're in the city and need to act like she does. If she finds out you're here and injured, she might take the opportunity to take you out or capture you" Qrow explained "That being said, we should have no less than two people-"
"I'll do it" Yang offered "I'm the reason he hurt himself this much to begin with. I can stick around for a few days and make sure he gets better"
"Then I'll help" Blake smiled at her friend "Yang's not the only one who needed help back in Argus. It's the least I can do"
"I should stay too then" Ruby offered "Slade really hurt himself buying me enough time to freeze that Leviathan"
"Then it's decided" Qrow chuckled "Yang, Blake, and Ruby will stay behind to make sure Slade recovers properly and isn't harmed while we're away. We could always only be gone for a couple of hours or we could be gone for a few days searching"
"Should I stick around then?" Jaune asked "Slade might need to be seen to while you're gone"
"They're gonna need you in the field, Jaune" Slade waved off "I'll be fine. Especially with the three of them looking after me" he smiled at him "Don't worry about me"
"Agreed. If we run into any trouble, we're gonna need our "Idea guy" Qrow laughed.
"So glad you agree... best friend" Slade smirked in Qrow's direction.
Qrow's hand rose to argue, but he stopped himself with a small shake of his head "How much of that did you hear anyway?"
"Only the tail end of it, something about me being your best friend and how much you loved having me around"
"I'm never gonna live that down am I?"
"Not likely, bird boy" Slade laughed.
The door was suddenly opened with Winter entering with three bags in her hands "I'm back-" she started to call only to notice everyone in the room with her "Oh, I didn't know you were all here"
"Maria isn't" Qrow chuckled.
"I'll get her" Weiss offered standing from her place and going upstairs to fetch her.
"I imagine you've come up with a plan by now?" Winter asked Qrow setting down the bags.
"The start of one, perhaps" he answered "Let's eat first, then we'll talk about it"
The group grabbed boxes of food from the bag, passing each one around so everyone could take what they wanted as Weiss and Maria joined doing the same with their boxes. Everyone settled into place as they ate, talking with one another and laughing as they used to back in Beacon. Qrow and Winter smiled at them fondly while Maria and Oscar joined in. Slade stared down at his food but didn't begin eating until his stomach growled loudly, causing a few laughs from the group.
"Guess you're really hungry" Nora laughed.
"You're going to need a lot of energy to recover from those injuries. Might as well eat up" Ren agreed.
Slade just shook his head with a small smile "Thank you so much for everyone's concern, but I am going to be fine. Just need a good nights rest, a hot meal and possibly some strong pain killers" he listed off as he took food from the many open boxes around the table.
"Hey, Slade" Yang called curiously "What was it you were trying to tell me before, when you woke up on the floor out of breath?" she asked.
Slade looked up at her in mild confusion trying to recall what she was talking about, suddenly an image passed through his mind sparking his memory "Oh!" he looked to Winter and Qrow urgently "I've got some bad news"
"What is it?" Qrow asked curiously.
"Can't be worse than losing the Winter Maiden" Winter shrugged "Lay it on us"
"Salem has a list of names and addresses here in Atlas. They're all Huntsmen"
Qrow stopped midbite to stare in shock "She what!?"
"How would she even have that?" Winter asked confused "There is no such list anywhere in the Atlas database"
"Likely it's been put together by one of her lackeys here in the city" Qrow sighed "What exactly did you see Slade?"
"The list" Slade answered "But it was definitely Salem holding it, there were several more pages behind it but that page seemed out of place in the file in her hand"
"Do you know if this is something that's going to happen or maybe it's already happened?" Ruby asked.
"There's no way to know for sure, but we have to assume she knows where every Huntsman in the city is right now"
"I'll report this to the General right away" Winter stood and walked out of the room.
"You probably just saved us a whole load of trouble" Qrow sighed "It's concerning she'd have that list to begin with"
"Yeah, I'm interested in what the rest of the file had to say in it. That single page didn't match the others lined up behind it, like that page was fresher, newer or something"
"Did you see the file?" Qrow asked.
"It looked like one of those briefings I would get whenever Ironwood hired me for a job, but it didn't have the Atlas symbol on it"
"What did it have?" Weiss asked.
"It was a black heart with a red trim outlining it, the heart popped off the page almost into the shape of a skull inside the heart. The skull had a small white symbol on the base of it, a white cross with daggers for edges and the base was an upside-down heart leading up into the rest of the cross" he explained as he took a nearby napkin to draw the symbol from memory.
"Strange..." Qrow rubbed his chin thoughtfully as he inspected the symbol "I've never heard of a symbol like that before... It's doesn't seem like a very nice symbol though. Maybe some off the books project or criminal organization working here in Atlas?" he wondered aloud.
"Unlikely to be a gang or crime syndicate of any kind here in Atlas, Ironwood had me root out the criminal underworld here four or five months while I was running jobs for Roman and Taurus. If it was any of them, I'd have seen it before"
"Whatever it is, it can't be good if Salem has it" Ruby sighed.
"Yeah, we should start looking for the Maiden as soon as possible. The sooner we lock this relic away the better I'll feel" he agreed.
That's all for now! I'm working on Chapter Seventeen as even now, so keep an eye out for it. Thank you guys once again.