Ok so this is going to be a quick update. I have finals this week so hopefully I can make up for this slight filler chapter once I am done. I just wanted to try and hold up my promise to update on the weekends.

Just a small note: I am not too sure if Tai was more or less involved with the protection of the Fall Maiden like Qrow, Ironwood, and Glynda were. It didn't really seem like it. I know Winter wasn't; but if I am wrong I apologize for the inaccuracy in advance.

Thank you all again for the support and now onward tally ho!

New Divide

Cursing, God, why? Falling for every lie
Survivors' guilt in us forevermore

Fifteen candles; redeemers of this world
Dwell in hypocrisy:
"How were we supposed to know?"

-Nightwish 'Kinslayer'

This really is troubling, Ozpin thought as he stared at the scroll in his hand. Ironwood, Glynda, Tai, and Winter stood in a half circle around him; watching him like Beowolves to prey. Their faces were darkened and slightly unnerving. Reflecting, in all honesty, how he was feeling at this very moment.

He sighed and handed the scroll back to Ironwood, "What do you make of it?" Ironwood asked eventually, breaking the heavy silence that settled in his office.

He thought for a moment before getting up and facing away from them to look out his window; the full view of Vale greeting him. Ozpin imagines that the citizens of Vale are much like how the students were in this moment: blissfully naïve to the lurking sense of danger he was receiving. He shook his head, tonight was supposed to be fun and relaxing. The dance had been a means for students and faculty to relax and have a bit of fun before the tournament next week, clearly that was not in the cards for him, "I am not sure." He said eventually, "The security cameras did not give us very much to go on either."

On the scroll, Ironwood had showed him a photo of the main computer console: a large black queen chess piece. He then was shown the security footage and all that showed was what seemed to be a young woman dressed in black before there was shouting and the camera being destroyed from the scuffle that had occurred between her and one of the guards; based on the other information the woman had seemingly vanished, "The maiden…" Glynda started to say but then paused. She sighed and asked her question, "Do we move her?"

"We can't." Ironwood said before Ozpin could respond, "The only thing keeping her alive is what that pod is connected to."

"Can we not just have the lab create a portable stabilizer for her?" Winter asks crisply, "Surely that is possible if they were able to make that massive one?"

"Her aura is too unstable to be messed with right now." Ironwood explained, "When Qrow brought her in, she was already critical."

Tai nods, following along, "So by moving her, we risk her powers going to the woman that attacked her."

"Precisely." Ozpin said before Ironwood could respond, "Which is something your daughter knew about." He watched through the window's reflection for Tai's reaction.

While Qrow was out of reach, Ozpin had talked with Ironwood and Glynda about getting backup into their inner circle; and so it was agreed that Winter would be brought in since she works with Ironwood and Tai since it was Ruby that had given him the warning, "I do not know how she knew any of this." Tai said quickly.

"I am not saying you did." Ozpin stated as he faced them once more, "I am just making a point of fact that Ms. Rose seemed to have known something like this was bound to happen."

"So then what do we do?" Glynda asked trying to get the conversation back on track.

Ozpin leaned against his cane and looked down for a moment. He wished he knew the definitive answer. However in order to get that, he would need Ms. Rose. As it stands, he did not have her here to answer his questions, and they were in need of an immediate and pressing solution, "Nothing." He eventually answers.

"Sir?" Tai asks confused, "Nothing?"

"Nothing." Ozpin confirms, "We do nothing. Just go about things as regularly as possible per protocol of this break in." He motions to Ironwood's pocket where the general had stored his scroll.

Ironwood looks red in the face, "You cannot be serious? This is a military matter. I think we need to at least increase our security. The tournament is only a week away, I can still get our Peace Keepers here." He then looks at the rest and says, "Clearly the people of Vale need someone to protect them; someone who would act. When they look to the sky and see my fleet, they feel safe, and our enemies will feel our strength."

Winter nods as if agreeing, but Glynda and Tai look less than thrilled, "Honestly I think Ozpin's idea of discretion is better." Glynda said tactfully.

"If the people see the fleet, I think that would instill fear. Fear that there is something wrong." Tai said looking at Ozpin.

Ozpin sighs and nods, "And fear will bring the Grimm. A guardianis a symbol of comfort; but an armyis a symbol of conflict." He shakes his head and then walks around behind his desk, "No there is too much of a risk. We need to handle this quietly. At least for the time being, let whoever was behind this think they are in the clear."

Ironwood glares, as did Winter at the headmaster's remark, "You are risking peoples' lives."

"We want to keep them safe. When that White Fang base was demolished, we were spared from what could have been a catastrophe from those tunnels. Why would we risk having a panic and attract Grimm now?" Tai argued.

"He had told us Qrow's message. He revealed what your daughter's warning to him was." Winter pointed out, "I think Ironwood is correct. We need to be prepared." Then she added when they were in silent contemplation, "And from what Qrow revealed to us further, we will need to have as much time as we can."

Glynda sighs and states, "It's the Vytal Festival. A time to celebrate unity and peace. So I suggest that you not scare people by transporting hundreds of soldiers halfway across the continent."

"It's called being cautious. We just had a break in, I think the time for peace is over. Especially if you are so worried about the maiden." Ironwood pointed out. He then looks at Ozpin, "If you are hoping a bunch of children can win a war, I think you need a reality check. I am sorry, but as I said, this is a military matter."

Something was tightening in Ozpin's stomach. The hairs on his neck were standing and his aura was high as if on alert. Then there was a small pull, something in the back of his mind telling him to not allow this, "If you have to let them in, place extra security and move FALLas far away from this place as possible." Ruby's warning comes to him now. He recalls the look in her eyes, something dark and cold.

Somehow he instinctively knows that the extra security she was talking about had nothing to do with the Peace Keepers Ironwood was wanting to bring in, "We both made the same deal, I just intend to cut off the head of the snake much sooner than you did so that I may prevent what is about to come." Her voice once again echoes in his mind. Closing his eyes he again sees her cold haunted silver eyes imploring him almost to believe in what she was saying.

Reading between the lines, he knows now that she was telling him she had been in contact with the Brothers at some point, but to what extent exactly? Reopening his eyes, he sees them staring at him. Looking at Ironwood he says, "Ironwood please reconsider bringing in the Peace Keepers."

Ironwood gives him a disappointed look and turns towards the door and Winter was following after him, "Anticipate my Peace Keepers to be here by noon the latest tomorrow. It is my duty to keep Vale safe from any and all intruders. Let me take care of this, and you find yourself a guardian." He opened the door and they left.

"Well that went well." Glynda commented darkly, "I do not like this."

"Neither do I;" Tai stated just as darkly. However he looked back at his former headmaster and asked, "What do we do now?"

Ozpin was silent, it was as if someone or something had died within him. A sense of dread. He sat down at his desk and clasped his hands, resting his chin on him, "We do as he said; find ourselves a new guardian." This led to another problem. The ideal guardian he had in mind was on a mission with a scythe wielding huntress-in-training. The ball of dread now weighed even more on him as Tai and Glynda left him alone in his office.

-SNOOPYKID-

"How much further?" Jaune asked as they continued walking at a brisk pace.

They had been traveling for a good four hours since their impromptu lunch at the store. Ruby sighed and looked down at the map. She stopped and could hear her team sigh in relief. I could have been there by now, she thought annoyed; however as quickly as that came to her, it left and in its place was guilt. They were tired, she had kept them at a fast pace in hopes of making it to the tribe's camp by nightfall. Looking at the sky she saw that they had more or less two hours before they lost the sunlight. Realizing this fact, she looked at them and noticed just how tired they were, "Let's stop here for tonight. If we can get an early start tomorrow we should make it before noon."

Relief at this, they all took a bit of reprieve and sat down, "Thank goodness." Weiss breathed out.

"Yea sis, thought you were going to slave drive us all the way there." Yang said as Ruby set her stuff down and made her way a bit further down the trail, "Where you going?"

"Going to get wood, you guys set up. I'll be back."

As she left they all sighed, "Somehow something changed in her." Pyrrha said as she got started.

Jaune groaned as he now fought to get up, "Yea, she was quiet throughout that whole walk."

"Walk?" Nora asked in disbelief, "Try sprinting. I mean we all cannot have super speed as our semblance."

"There is a sense of urgency though." Ren commented defending their leader just a bit, "Clearly Ruby believes that your mother has this information that she needs." He added looking at Yang.

Yang said nothing to this as she set up her and Ruby's things. She reached into her sister's bag and pulled out her sleeping bag and out with it came a black book. She had seen Ruby with it a few times, writing in it and reading through it when they had taken breaks. Curiosity got the better of her and she opened it to see what Ruby was doing with it, "Huh? What's this?"

"It's called a book." Blake said feeling like her friend could use a distraction, "It is something that people write in or read."

"Being a smart ass is my thing." Yang commented dryly to her teammate as they came over, and she showed them what was inside, "I was wondering about this. It's not a language I recognize."

Weiss cocked an eyebrow and took the book from Yang and started to flip through some of the already worn pages, "I want to say it is semi-familiar to me, but I do not know why…"

Blake nodded, "Same here."

"Maybe we shouldn't be looking at this." Pyrrha said warily as she looked over her shoulder, expecting Ruby to be coming back.

"Hey look! It's drawings." Nora said taking the book from Weiss and flipped to the pages that showed some sceneries and even some schematics for buildings, "I didn't know Ruby knew how to draw."

"As she pointed out to us, blue prints for weapons are roughly the same as drawing." Yang said taking the book back and flipped through it some more, "This language though has me concerned."

Ren stared at a page Yang had opened and said, "If I had to guess it looks like some kind of code."

"Code?" Weiss asked slowly and looked back at the page and instantly knew why it looked so familiar, "Yes you are right! Now I know why this looks a bit familiar. On the rare cases when my sister would be home, she would have papers and they were written in some kind of code!"

"Why would your sister have coded papers?" Jaune asked looking at her.

Weiss smiled sadly, "She is a Special Operative with Atlas Military; and now I can see it. Some of this is in a severely outdated language from Atlas. I cannot read it, I just know of it. However these other symbols and words," Weiss pointed them out to them, "I am not so sure."

Blake looked harder at the paper and shared, "When I was with the White Fang, we would encrypt messages all the time." She gently moved Weiss's finger off the page and stared at the symbols and letters that Weiss pointed out, "This little bit is from Menagerie, a really old version of our written language but I do recognize it; just do not ask me to read it either."

"Why the hell would my sister know this?" Yang wondered out loud as she flipped through some more pages.

Pyrrha saw the deep concern in the brawler's eyes and once more looked over her shoulder, "We can try asking her when she comes back, but we may want to finish setting up. I doubt Ruby will be happy we've been snooping around."

"I do not care about whether or not she is happy with us looking. I want to know how deep my sister is in this and how deep we are being sucked in." Yang commented, but never the less placed the book back in the bag as they parted away from each other.

"She won't share with us." Blake commented bluntly, "She already made it clear in not so many ways that the less we know the better."

Surprisingly it was Weiss that answered back, "I still think that is crap."

"Well we agreed to her terms." Ren said diplomatically, "It doesn't exactly matter what we think. Besides Ruby will tell us when she is ready to I think."

Yang was about to comment on this when Ruby came back over to them. Jaune went over to help relieve her of her burden, "Thanks." Ruby said gratefully as they placed their load down and she started to build the fire.

"Are you going to take the first watch tonight?" Pyrrha asked glad that she had something else to talk about.

"I was planning on it." Ruby said lightly, "Unless you guys have a better idea."

They looked at one another and came to an agreement, "How about we take care of the watch tonight?" Weiss offered.

Ruby stopped preparing the fire for a moment or two and looked at her team, "What do you mean?"

"We mean that you always take the longest watch and really only get one of us up when it is almost time to pack up." Jaune explained, "So why not let us take over for tonight and you get some extra sleep."

Ruby shifted uncomfortably. The reason why she had been doing that was to avoid the nightmarish memories that plagued her. It didn't matter so much when she been on her own, really only allowing herself a power nap; now though she had her team back. She needed to be at the top of her game. Seeing them watching her, she sighs, just another thing to add to the list. A watch schedule.

Although now that Jaune mentioned it, she now noticed how tired she actually felt and perhaps that was the reason she felt so unbalanced in her moods. Add to the fact that Ruby also knew that once they reached Raven's tribe, they were not in for a warm welcome, "Alright, but if any of you feel that something isn't right, then I do want to be woken up. Deal?" They nodded eagerly. Yang was grateful for Jaune's tact, now this gives her a reason to watch over her sister and start to piece together the enigma that she had become.

Ruby and Jaune went to gather more firewood, while the others continued setting up the camp. In the process of doing that, Weiss started to come up with a watch schedule with the others putting in their input here and there for the order, duration, and whether or not they thought that being in pairs was better or single handedly. Granted before they had met up with Ruby, they had been doing single watches; now though they picked up that they were in slightly more hostile territory if the bartender's warning was anything to go by.

In the end, when Ruby and Jaune had returned, the camp was set up, the fire was going, and a schedule was made, "Here we came up with a paired watch." Pyrrha said handing the schedule to Jaune as he placed his stack down, "You are my partner and we are taking the first watch."

He looked it over and handed it to Ruby next. She looked at it closely, "Why in pairs?" She asked curiously.

"Well we figured we were in hostile territory so we thought an extra set of eyes couldn't hurt." Ren answered as he and Blake started preparing the food.

"Besides it would be more even on the times. We made you and Weiss last. I know we said we would give you a break, but we figured this way everything would be even." Nora said happily.

"And technically you do get some extra rest." Yang added.

Ruby nodded at their thought and handed it back over to Pyrrha, "Good plan."

"So we have the almighty leader's approval?" Weiss asked sarcastically.

Ruby rolled her eyes, and went over to her sleeping bag and sat on it, "Yes Ice Queen, you have my approval."

Weiss narrowed her eyes, "So we are back to name calling Crater Face?"

Ruby narrowed her eyes at her partner, she was about to retort when she heard Jaune burst out laughing, "Oh man I nearly forgot about that one."

"Hark what was that Vomit Boy?" Ruby stated mockingly.

This got everyone laughing even harder, "Hey! Air sickness is a real thing you know!"

"Oh we know." Yang stated, "When we flew over here we learned that lesson again."

Ruby now looked up from her book and stared at them, "You know you never did tell me how you knew where to find me…" She trailed off.

Last time (at least in her original timeline), when she had traveled with the remnants of team JNPR, she had been in snail mail contact with Yang and her father due to the CCT being destroyed across Remnant. She had told Yang essentially where to find her; however it was also Yang that had ended up finding Raven and forcing the tribal leader into using her semblance to get to Qrow and therein finding her. It was also by happenchance that Weiss ended up being captured and held prisoner by the tribe that had those two meeting up…as for Blake…well it was just by her looking for Adam and the extremist of the White Fang that had brought them all together at Haven once more.

Now though none of that happened. Ruby had left for Anima after taking out the White Fang at Mountain Glenn once she knew how to find Raven; and as far as she knew she hadn't left a breadcrumb trail for them to find her, "Oh I guess we didn't…" Nora said slowly and thoughtfully thinking on their conversations.

They looked at one another and Weiss sighed, "Honestly it wasn't really all that hard. We just heard rumors about a scythe wielder in a red cloak that was traveling and taking out Grimm in villages."

Ruby blinked once, twice, and three times before touching her cloak, "Really? That was it? You just followed the word of mouth from people saying that someone wearing a red cloak and wielding a scythe had passed through and they told you what direction this person had taken?"

"Yea pretty much." Ren commented as now the food was being served. He passed a bowl to Ruby, "Also while they couldn't remember the name of who you were looking for; the name Anima came up every few towns. So we knew you had to be coming here."

Jaune nodded and swallowed his spoonful of stew before saying, "Honestly our next step was just to find Raven because wherever she was, we knew you would be there."

"You know anyone could wear a red cloak right?" Ruby asked scooping up a bit of stew and munching on it.

Blake cocked an eyebrow and deadpanned, "Really? Can they also wield a high power sniper rifle too?"

"Touché." Ruby admitted and frowned deeply into her bowl before taking another bite. All because of her signature cloak and her weapon gave her away. Then she shrugged, at least they were here with her and not wandering the woods anymore.

"So anyway what is the plan for tomorrow?" Pyrrha asked, "You said you wanted to leave early right?"

Ruby nodded and set her now empty bowl aside, "Yes, I want to start to get ready by day break." She leaned back on her hands and stared up the purple and pink sky. The shattered moon overhead shining a bit more brightly now, "I am going to make this perfectly clear too, we are more than likely going to meet resistance getting in." She now looked at Yang, "It is not going to be a warm welcome."

Yang frowned at the look Ruby was giving her. It was almost eerie how without even meeting this woman that Ruby looked so certain that her mother was going to try and harm them, and she voiced her opinion too, "What? You think there is going to be some type of fight or something. I mean I know I haven't seen my mother in a long while, but I doubt she'd try and harm us."

"Especially if we tell her that Yang is with us." Weiss pointed out, "I mean I cannot see why a parent would attack their child."

They started talking and speculating now. No one really noticing Ruby's glare darkening at each theory. In fact it was Blake and Nora who sensed a dark shift and looked towards the source did they now notice how Ruby had gone dead quiet, and how her eyes got this gleam to them, "Uh guys…" Nora stated poking Ren and then Jaune.

They stopped talking and now looked at Ruby. Yang saw her sister's eyes this time and said, "Ok now I know this isn't a trick of the fire or lighting of any kind. How the hell do you have that silver eyed glowing thing and the red eyed thing going on? Red is my thing."

Ruby closed her eyes and pinched the bridge of her nose, trying to calm herself down and think of an excuse. Sure she knew the answer to both questions, but she didn't want to say anything…at least not until she talked to Raven first, "I do not know." She lied, "Maybe it had something to do with my aura from that whole thing with the Ursa; but can we get back to the topic at hand." She opened her eyes and now just simply glared at them, "That bartender was not trying to be funny when he said that this was dangerous. If you cannot take me seriously then I am keeping you all here and I will go on myself."

"Alright, alright we get it." Jaune said, "Sheesh somehow I liked you better when you would joke about and be hyperactive. I do not know how to feel about this Ruby."

"Same." Nora stated frowning, "What crawled up your panties and died?"

Ruby sighed again, "I just don't want to see you all get hurt. Ok?" Biting her lip, she looks away and admits rather softly, "I just feel like I got you all back and I don't want you all taken away from me again…" This was the truth essentially, and she didn't really want to admit this, but felt as if she had to just to get them to understand.

They looked at her rather sadly, "You are not going to lose us." Yang said softly resting a hand on her sister's shoulder, "It's not going to happen."

Ruby snorted, "Don't say things like that."

"Too bad because it isn't going to happen. Nothing will keep us a part." Weiss commented, "You taught us that." Ruby looked at her, "You taught me that. We can rely on each other, we can handle anything thrown at us…you just have to trust us."

"It's not a matter of trust." Ruby explained shaking her head, "It is never a matter of whether or not I can trust you all, because I can."

"Then have faith." Pyrrha said softly as they looked at her, "We can handle this. Right?" They all nodded vigorously.

Ruby smiled sadly, wishing she still had her optimism. However she knew that this was an argument that she couldn't exactly win right now; besides she didn't want to break their sense of hope and optimism, "Alright. Well anyway that is the plan. We get up at sunrise, eat, and leave. Hopefully we make it there with no problems."

"Alright, well let's get cleaned up and Pyrrha and I will take the first watch." Jaune said clapping his hands together. Ruby nodded and started to help clean up the food and their mess; all the while she felt a sudden tightness in her stomach and a sense of dread in the back of her mind; almost like she was missing something crucial.

Once things were cleaned up, it was late and Jaune and Pyrrha went to the area Ruby had pointed out that seemed like a good spot to observe their surroundings. Ruby went into her sleeping bag and pulled out her book from her backpack. She read her previous entries, unable to shake the feeling that something was terribly wrong or was about to go wrong. Looking around, she saw Yang and Weiss on their scrolls, Blake was reading a book, and Nora and Ren were playing a card game. Ruby laid back down and made quick notes about today's events, before putting it back in her bag. She stared up at the shattered moon and felt her eyes close…still reeling in the turmoil of dread.