Approaching Break

After the excitement of the raid on the docks the rest of the semester was somewhat boring.

With Torchwick out of the way, even if Ruby wasn't entirely happy about where he was out of the way, the Dust robberies had stopped, at least temporarily.

They had started again, this time with only White Fang operatives involved.

As the attacks picked up the leaders of Menagerie, Kali and Ghira Belladonna (and hadn't that been a surprise, discovering she was friends with the heiress to an unofficial kingdom [which was definitely better than Weiss being heiress to a company, no matter what she said]), denounced the attacks, swiftly followed by the leader of the White Fang, a Sienna Khan, joining them in decrying the actions as those of a splinter group rather than the true White Fang.

With such announcements setting the majority of Faunus in the city against them, the White Fang had been forced to operate mostly outside the city, attacking SDC convoys as they approached the city, which let a lot more Dust through, lowering prices again.

Not only that, but the lack of civilians to hide behind meant that Huntsmen could be mobilised to capture them, those that weren't needed to combat Grimm or busy with the mysterious job that meant her dad had sent Zwei to them (who Blake still wasn't willing to be in the same room as).

Time seemed to crawl by, with just lectures, sparring and the occasional visit to Vale all they had to deal with, even as they tried to keep an eye on Blake as she researched the White Fangs actions, in case she decided to deal with them herself again.

That said the spars had been livened up by the inclusion of professor Callows (who hadn't tried to attack her again, despite the constant worry his presence had caused).

While professor Goodwitch focused on fair fights (one-on-one or four-on-four for the most part) and conventional fighting doctrine, professor Callows had pointed out that it was rare for fights in the real world to be quite so even, and started them on serious mismatches.

This revealed that some people actually had an advantage in fighting groups rather than individuals, like her when using Crescent Roses scythe form.

He also stepped in from time to time, demonstrating that conventional tactics only worked against conventional opponents, which encouraged them to develop their own unconventional fighting styles (even if they weren't convinced they would be using them outside the professors classes).

With all that said, it felt like the end of the semester came much too soon after the start of the year.

With the break came freedom from classes, and the opportunity for students to head back home.

Most students at least, team Rwby having two members with their remaining family on a mission, another who had practically run away from home and wasn't about to head back and a Grimm, who didn't have anywhere to go. As such, they had decided to stay in Beacon over the break.

Team ANVL had likewise stayed in Beacon, with two orphans with nowhere else to go (as Nora had explained when Ruby had asked about their plans), a team leader who hadn't told his family where he was going (although after the docks he had come clean about it, but felt that he needed more time for them to get used to it before visiting them again) and another Grimm.

Team WLDS pretty much all lived in Vale, the exception being the Seer, so they had decided to head back for the break, after a discussion with the staff.

The Seer had ended up staying with team URBN for the break, as Russel was the only member of the group heading home which left space for it to stay.

After all, Blakes family lived in Menagerie, which wasn't the easiest place to visit at the best of times, while Pyrrha, according to herself, had reasons not to head back to Mistral for the week.

Cardin had made vague comments about watching out for the Seer at night, which the rest of his team seemed to agree with, even though none of them seemed willing to explain what he meant.

In any case, school was out, all the teams she had befriended were around, it was time to have fun!

[]

There was always more work when the Vytal Festival came around, Ozma mused to himself, regardless of whether it was picking the teams to compete at the start of the year, or managing the students other academies were sending.

Which was why he was in a meeting with his staff, going over the documentation they had been sent ahead of the students.

After all, no matter how well trained Huntsmen were they could still form rivalries that meant they needed to be kept as far from each other as possible, as Qrow reminded him with each visit.

Normally no matter how many enemies somebody made they would be able to make the occasional visit without running into one, but Qrows Semblance always seemed to interfere.

And so they needed to make sure that each team had accommodations that weren't too close to any other teams that they didn't get on with.

"That's interesting," Salem mused from her pile of documents, one Ozma was irritated to note was much smaller than his. But no, Tyrian was still stuck with the majority of paperwork she should be dealing with.

Granted, he hadn't been causing too many problems since the punishment had been put in place, but if he had to suffer from paperwork life after life surely Salem should be stuck with her own fair share?

"What is it?"

Glynda was also feeling the strain from the paperwork, given how she usually tried to be more polite.

"The transfer papers for Cinder Fall. I suppose I do recall her suggesting a plan wherein she would transfer in to claim the Maidens power," and now Ozma was thankful that he had told all the staff a bit more about Salem and the Maidens than he had originally planned, else this would have been a lot more awkward, "but I definitely made it clear that she was not to act yet."

"We already knew she was working with Torchwick and the White Fang," Ozma protested.

"Yes, yes," she waved his point away, "but that is just preparation. It doesn't mean she is about to actually act. In fact, if I was going to order her to go ahead, I would have preferred her to have completed the setup. But transferring here means she is actually going through with it."

"More concerning is how she got Lionheart to sign off on these papers... as my friend he is sure to tell me if I ask," Ozma declared confidently, already searching his scroll for the headmasters contact.

"Are you sure-" Salem had hesitated for a moment or so before moving to deter Ozma from making the call, which was why, when the call connected, she was in view with Ozma.

"What is it, Ozpin," Lionheart started saying, before he realised who else was on the screen. "My queen," he exclaimed, "you captured Ozpin? But how did you keep it secret?"

"Not exactly, and normally I would be... upset with you revealing our connection quite so easily, but the irony was delicious," Salem responded, as the rest of the staff (except Tyrian who was still digging through his pile of paperwork, lost to the world) were shocked into silence by the revealed treachery of the headmaster of Haven.

"No, neither I nor Oz have managed to capture the other, I am here for another reason."

Leonardo visibly gulped, decidedly failing to live up to his name. "And what would that reason be?"

"None of your concern, however there is a reason we have contacted you."

"And that would be?"

"We have received your papers for a certain Cinder Fall," Ozma stated, attempting to take charge again.

Leonardo hesitated, glancing towards Salem, who sighed.

"I never agreed to her plan, nor did I tell you to help her get into Vale."

"You didn't give her the go ahead? I thought-"

Salem narrowed her eyes. "You know I only give you directions directly."

Leonardos eyes flicked to the side.

"Of course you just caved to the first person who posed a threat. How you became headmaster is beyond me."

Ozma shifted slightly in his chair.

"And the mystery is solved," Salem commented dryly. "Is there a single decision you have ever made that hasn't backfired terribly?"

"I brought miss Rose into Beacon early," Ozma started to defend himself, before coughing and trying to change the subject. "Is there anything else miss Fall told you to do?"

"Aside from covering for her team and sending them to compete in the festival, not really."

He was still looking shifty.

"What else did you do."

Salems voice was icy, a tone Ozma had only heard her use after his revival, and even then only when he had made a mistake and tried to cover it up.

"She wanted the Relic easier to claim," Leonardo caved. "I've been thinning the herd, so to speak, sending Hunstmen on missions that had been deemed too dangerous, letting more students drop out, that sort of thing."

It was clear that everyone listening to the headmaster, until the trial came through at least, condemned his actions, even including Tyrian (though Ozma suspected that in his case it was more the indirect methods than his actual actions).

"And how many of those missions were ones you were supposed to keep people away from?"

Leonardo hesitated. "Uh, oops," he offered.

"And what happened to my orders that you should do nothing to make Ozpin suspect I was going after the Relics?"

"But Cinder assured me-"

Salem pressed the end call button on Ozmas scroll.

"I knew he was a coward, it's how I got him under my thumb, but I had no idea how weak-willed he was," Salem commented. "And it seems Cinder is more ambitious than I thought. I do hope she wasn't planning to try and usurp my control of the Grimm."

"We don't know that for sure-"

"There is no way that Cinder could honestly think I would believe that she received the powers of the Fall Maiden without defying my orders," Salem interrupted, "meaning she wouldn't expect orders to approach the Spring Maiden and collect the Relic. By going after the Fall Maiden and preparing for the Relic in Haven she has made it clear that she's no longer interested in working with me."

"How did you convince her to join you anyway?"

It was the one positive about the age thing for Maidens, that it was rare for those who met the conditions for the power to be willing to join Salem.

"An abusive adoptive 'family'," and Salem even made the quotation gestures with her fingers, "a Hunstman that left her with them while aware of what was happening and tried to kill her when their torture drove her to defend herself."

"That's barbaric," Port exclaimed. "Who was this fiend posing as a defender of the innocent?"

"His name was Rome or something of the sort," Salem replied dismissively.

"I do believe it was Rhodes, my goddess."

"That was it. Thank you Tyrian."

"Rhodes?" Goodwitch turned to face Ozma. "I thought you said you made sure he would 'work off his debt to society productively and without chance to reoffend'."

"When I sent him to Atlas I made sure to tell Ironwood to keep an eye on him. Well, I sent him a message via Qrow seeing as he was heading there anyway,"

"And suddenly it makes sense. Why you trust him with so many important missions I'll never know."

"For all his shortcomings Qrow is a skilled Huntsman."

"So send him on combat missions, don't just use him to deliver messages. We have the CCT for a reason."

"This is all very interesting," Salem interrupted, "but shouldn't we be focusing on the situation with Cinder."

"There isn't much we can do. If we tried to arrest her without valid evidence it would cause a Remnant-wide incident."

Salem glanced at the rest of the staff. "Is this true?"

"But of course! What reason could you have to doubt our headmasters word?"

"Experience," Salem stated dryly. "I assume you will avoid keeping her under observation as well."

"That is something we are able to do without causing an incident."

"And meanwhile the students will be around my treacherous ex-minion without any warning," Salem commented. "It seems your attitude towards child safety is unchanged."

"I wasn't the one who-"

"Enough!"

Ozma and Salem both turned to see Goodwitch, the riding crop she used as a weapon in her hands and bent nearly in two.

"This is not the time or place for the squabbling of a married couple. And quite frankly I'd expected better of you, Salem. Your conduct so far has been almost professional, a distinct change from what I'm used to."

Her glare was enough to keep them quiet.

"Now I suggest you two either set your differences aside or take it outside while the rest of us find a way to sort this out without causing a diplomatic disaster!"

"It isn't like they'll be able to organise matters while stuck in Beacon without scroll access," Tyrian complained, still digging through his pile of paperwork.

There was a pause.

"We do have the ability, not to mention legal right, to limit access to the CCT, and scroll traffic is routed through there by default," Ozma mused, making notes on his scroll. "And we do already require students to notify us ahead of time about using the Bullheads to get to the city. We just have to enforce the rules against students visiting the forest. Nothing we can't use the visiting students to justify."

"Good job Tyrian," Salem commented. "Another of your ideas has shown its merit."

"Indeed," doctor Oobleck was swift to agree, "I doubt any of us would have thought of such a solution. It is good to have you with us, professor Callows."

"Simply blocking them from accessing Vale might not be the best idea," Port mused. "They could get suspicious if we simply blocked them from entering the city, especially with the rest of the festival. Might it not be better to have them followed when they make the trip?"

"And I believe I know the perfect man for the job."

[]

"Right, that's another Nuckelavee down," Qrow announced to the group of less experienced Huntsmen he had been helping. "Where was the next one again?"

It wasn't the first time he'd been sent on an extermination mission, but he was out of practise with such mission after mission situations.

His scroll rang, and as he was already going through the scrolls notes it went through immediately.

"Qrow, I have another job for you."

"First you send me out to check on these ancient ruins, then you pull me off that to hunt down the Nuckelavee you had given strict orders to avoid confronting if possible," Qrow complained. "What is it now, I have to search Vacuo for some secret Grimm labs?"

"Nothing like that. We have a few... trouble students arriving for the festival and feel it would be best if we had someone to keep an eye on them."

"My nieces won't be happy if I come back to Vale but don't get to visit them," Qrow noted.

"You won't be trailing them the whole time, students need to notify us about visiting Vale," Ozpin commented. "You'll have plenty of time with your nieces."

"Okay, sure. What sort of trouble am I supposed to look out for? A sideline in protection scams?"

"White Fang."

Qrow paused.

"Is it too late to return to the tribe?"


Omake

Raven took one look at the tribes visitor and turned away.

"Whatever Ozpin wants forget it."

"That's why I'm here. He sent me after Nuckelavee and now I'm supposed to deal with terrorists in Vale. Do you have any idea how long it is since he's given me a proper break?"

Raven shrugged. "I don't hear any reason I should care about what you're saying."

"I want to rejoin the tribe."

Ravens laughter kept the nearby villages awake for days.


AN: I was expecting to miss a week before updating, due to a holiday, but was misinformed of the day it started and lost two weeks to the holiday. The third week was work messing things up again. So while it was not directly my fault, I apologise for the delay in updates.

As for the story, it should be starting to become apparent who the big bad is. That's right, Lionheart! Using the opportunity granted by Salem and Cinder to eliminate the local Huntsmen so nobody stands in his way of taking over Mistral!

Actually, that would be an interesting story for someone to write. Feel free to borrow the idea.

As a further outside, this was an annoying chapter to name. You will no doubt notice that it is without any relation to Grimm. It is not that I have run out of Grimm-related chapter names, merely that none fit. It is much easier with Namikaze Harry and will be much easier with Shadows and Dust, the story I plan to replace this one with, when it is finished.

Feel free to guess what the crossover for that will be.