Hello…
So I am sorry. I am a major turdlet I know. I was going to job interviews and working and this took a back burner.
Good news is that I got my full time job that I wanted! I am so happy there. I promise though that this story will be either finished or at the very least I will try to keep updating it as much as possible. I will do my best to not abandon this story.
Updates may be slow, and once the time starts to get closer to start studying for my VTNE, it will definitely be slow. So for right now here is the next chapter!
New Divide
The future doesn't pass and the past won't overtake the present.
All that remains is an obsolete illusion.
We are afraid of all the things that could not be: A phantom agony.
Do we dream at night or do we share the same old fantasy?
I am a silhouette of the person wandering in my dreams
-Epica 'The Phantom Agony'
This is gonna suck, was Ruby's first bitter thought as she lay low in the trees overlooking the vast prison complex. She looked down at the crude schematic that she had drawn with Junior before finally ending their 'business' agreement. Of course she had given him a bit of information that would be 'useful' to him, that is if he took her words seriously.
The reason being for her act of kindness to him was that in the future she had never really considered him a personal enemy. Just someone who operated in a 'grey' domain. In fact he had become of some use to her the more she had gone down the rabbit hole of hell. In any case what she had told him was nothing all that major, just a general warning to watch his back…look out for number one and if things start going south for his other well-known 'associates' then run for the hills.
The more she stared at seemingly abandoned vast complex in the middle of nowhere on the outskirts of the main habitual areas of Vale, the more she disliked it. It was definitely more than just an ordinary former Atlas Prison that was for sure, and the sick feeling grew in her stomach the more she looked on, "Hey Red, you going in or what?" A voice came through the small microphone in her ear.
"Yea I am. Keep your pants on." Ruby responded in a low and dark tone.
"Well hurry it up." The voice said unfazed in the slightest, "I haven't got all day."
Ruby shook her head, and didn't dignify the man with a response. As part of their 'agreement', Junior had given her a quick way out. Just an example of how Junior's usefulness worked out in her favor. Turns out his connections came in handy and she had gotten an aircraft carrier to take her and team SSSN out of Vale. However she was still undecided if she was really going to trust the man to take them away or not; after all she did have a bit of solo piloting time under her belt. Thank you Maria, Ruby thought as she lowered her creature of Grimm mask and raised her black hood from the cloak she was currently wearing. If this was going to go the way she thought it was, she didn't want to be recognized just yet, so for this particular mission she had forgone her traditional red cloak. Taking a deep breath, she slowly pulled Crescent Rose out in front of her with it already in sniper mode and took aim at the patrolling robots. Yup, this was most definitely going to suck, and she pulled the trigger.
Just a ten precious minutes before the trigger was pulled, another mini battle was going inside the prison, "Hey! We have rights! Where the hell is our one phone call?!"
"Sun, knock it off." Neptune sighed as he rolled his head to look at his team leader. This had been going on for a few weeks now. Ever since they had been captured at the cluster fuck of a tournament. They had managed to escape briefly once the Grimm started to invade Beacon, but of course honor had overcame them and they stayed to help rather than take one of the escape aircrafts to safety.
Then once the Atlas robots started attacking civilians, everything changed; not to mention the White Fang invasion on top of that. They had been surrounded and recaptured once the robot situation was under control and rather than make matters worse for themselves, they surrendered peacefully and had been in this prison ever since.
The monkey faunus huffed, "Fuck no! We have god damn inalienable rights! We have a right to liberty and these ass-hats have taken that from us!" He yelled out of his cell towards where they knew the guards were hanging out.
"Yea those so called rights only apply if we had not committed a crime against public safety." Scarlet said in response.
His leader kicked the cell door, "And we haven't! I've been trying to say that for the past few…how long have we been here?"
"A while." Sage stated, "However I agree with Sun on this. This is bull."
Neptune leaned against the door with his arms crossed and looked over his shoulder at his team, "Definitely a load of shit not disagreeing on that; however clearly yelling and raving isn't doing anyone any good."
"It will when they finally give us the time of day." Sun commented angrily. He had been calling and trying to get the guards' attention now since they have been brought in; however no one was telling them anything. If there was any crime that was committed, it was for his stowaway stunt to get into Vale; not being associated with White Fang.
Scarlet draped his arms over the bars, "They are not going to. Clearly in their minds we do not have any rights. We are being suspected of terrorism here. Therefore terrorists have no rights at all. So we do not get a phone call, a lawyer, or any type of aid." He then turned his back on them and sighed, "We are fucked. That's it."
"With that attitude perhaps." Sage retorted, "They do have to talk to us eventually."
Neptune watched as Sun slid down the side wall and hid his face in his hands, "Hey this isn't your fault." Now they looked at the faunus, "We'll figure something out."
"Yea we've been saying that for a while too. This all started with that damn fight! I swear I was defending myself! That asshole came at me! Not the other way around." Sun stood up again and sighed. He looked at his team, they were in here because of him, "Look you all do not deserve to be in here. Why not let me-?"
"You suggested that idea once and we said no." Scarlet stated firmly.
"You suggested it again and again we said no." Sage reminded him.
"And then you suggested it many more times and we said no." Neptune commented, "So suggest it again, and do you think our answer will change?" Sun sighed and shook his head, "Good but for the record, the answer is still no. We are not letting you go down for trumped up shit charges that they cannot prove. You are not a terrorist; we are not terrorists; we do not have any affiliation with the White Fang and were not part of that damned conspiracy at Beacon."
Before Sun could argue with them, sirens started going off and over the speaker system they hear, "Intruder alert! Intruder alert! Security breach at gate three!"
"What the hell?" Neptune called over the loud sirens.
"Intruder has been located in the north quadrant and is moving in the direction of the underground base! All units prepare to engage!"
"Oh I hope this isn't about us." Sage commented, "We are in enough trouble as it is."
Scarlet shook his head, "Somehow I do not think we are going to be that lucky." They watched as the guards scramble all around and they hear many gates closing around the complex, including both sides of their area.
"Emergency battle formations! Standard battle procedure initiated! Locate and stop the intruder from entering the security area!" Scarlet nodded as if saying 'I told you so', "This is not a drill! Repeat, this is not a drill!"
"Well at least maybe we'll see some action." Sun said lightly as the sirens still blared around them.
"The question is, do we really want to." Neptune retorted. No one answered him as the already uneasy feeling they've had since they arrived at the prison complex, grew a bit more along with another relevant question coming to their minds, 'Was this intruder an ally coming to rescue them, or a foe with an agenda?'
In another part of the prison, Ruby tried to hold back on her semblance and rely on her own speed and agility as she dodged and slashed her way through the barrage of Atlas guard robots. Ok perhaps this doesn't suck so much, she thought briefly as Crescent Rose slices through the arms of the Atlesian Paladin 290. There was no time to stop and admire the feeling as she once more bolts into the shadows as the armed guards themselves arrive on scene to meet the 'Shadow Demon' as she overheard on their radios when she had made it to level three of the prison complex.
Switching Crescent Rose to sniper mode, she starts to fire stun dust bullets at the guards while simultaneously utilizing different hiding areas of the room she was currently in before finally switching to a controlled explosion dust at the iron door in front of her. The door was blown inwards and Ruby dashed through the hallways, making her way towards the lower levels.
The more wings she went down and the more robots she took out, it was starting to become much clearer to her that this was definitely more than a prison at one point. There was too much advanced technology than was needed for a prison, even with the supposed updates the kingdom discreetly made to it over the years. She dodged the bullets and blasters and switched quickly between scythe mode and sniper mode. Based on the attitudes of the regular guards and the amount of robots in the levels, she was getting closer, "Level five security door breach! Switch to final security defense mode! Lockdown final security door!"
Ruby sighed through her mask and prepared herself. It wasn't like she was tired or anything; in all honesty she expected more from a security prison. Clearly though she needed to have a word with Ironwood about his guards and how they needed more training; not just relying on the robots. She blasted the door open and raced down the hallway to hopefully meet up with Sun and his team.
In the meantime the boys were wincing with each blast and explosion that had echoed their way. Somehow they knew that who or whatever had decided to take this suicidal mission to break into the prison was close by; and now they saw more guards appear around them, "Hey are you going to like move us or something?" Sun demanded to know.
The one guard actually looked at him and grunted as he prepared his weapon, along with his small troop of ten men, "Even if we wanted to, we couldn't. Everything is in lockdown and besides how stupid do you think we are?"
"Excuse me?" Neptune demanded, "Our safety is at stake here too you know."
"Yes well, how do we know you won't riot against us if we let you out and begin the process to relocate you?" The guard responded.
Scarlet scoffed, "Maybe because you've had our aura mostly suppressed since we got here and took our weapons."
"So really trying to overpower you would be a pathetic desperation on our part." Sage said sarcastically.
"There is an idea." Sun commented brightly.
Before the guard had a chance to retort, the iron door blew inward and a lot of smoke and debris settled around them, "Halt! Surrender peacefully and-" there was a blast and the guard that had been talking to team SSSN fell to the ground. The rest of the guards open fired.
Ruby decided to throw caution in the wind and activated her semblance, leaving black petals in her wake. Bullets flew and the boys ducked to the side. They watched as the black tornado of petals flew all around them, gunshots firing and the soldiers dropping to the floor. Once they were down, Ruby appeared in front of them, "Stand back!" And she fired at the door's locking mechanism.
The doors came open and Ruby waited for them to move, "Well come on let's go!"
"Who the hell are you?" Neptune demanded as they just stood there.
Ruby was about to retort that they knew who she was, then she remembered they didn't meet in this timeline…and she was in a black cloak and Grimm mask. Still not wanting to show herself to them while in a prison she just said, "A friend. You can trust me. I am breaking you out of here."
"Why the hell should we trust you?" Sun asked suspiciously.
"Look come with me if you want to live and have a chance to clear your name; or stay here and rot. Your choice." Ruby came back with, her tone menacing and leaving no room for argument. Although she was hoping that they would choose to come with her.
They looked at each other and there was suddenly a much louder explosion that made their heads turn, "We don't have our weapons." Scarlet said quickly, "And they have been suppressing the majority of our aura somehow."
"Scarlet!" The other three yelled at him.
"What? We've been arguing about having a chance at freedom and liberty. Honestly this is our chance. Want to stay here and be blamed for this too?" No one commented and he was instantly satisfied.
Quickly Ruby noticed their bowls of half eaten food and shook her head, "You've been fed well, but I think that is the problem. They may have somehow laced your food with drugs that suppress aura. Once you are out of here, your levels should be normal; for now though we got to go. I think I know where your weapons are located but we have to be quick. Think you can still fight?" Looking at one another they sighed, what did they really have to lose?
Nodding they knelt down and took the guard's weapons and followed Ruby out of the holding area and down another hallway. Once more they were ambushed by soldiers and paladins alike. Despite their limited aura, Ruby was glad to have team SSSN with her. They managed to hold their own fairly well as she once more blasted the iron doors.
It seemed like forever, but finally they made it to what seemed to be an armory, "Our weapons!" Sun exclaimed happily as he set the gun to the side and reached for Ruyi Bang and Jungu Bang.
Scarlet reached for his pistol and cutlass, Sage grabbed his long sword, and Neptune grabbed his gun and inspected it closely before turning into a trident, "Still works." He sighed in relief.
"Ok so is that everything?" Ruby asked, "If anything is damaged we can fix it later, but we have to move."
The boys nodded, "We are ready." Sun commented, "Just one thing. How the hell are we going to get out of here?"
Ruby just smirked and gave Crescent Rose a mini spin, "Leave that to me. Just stick close."
There was a sudden loud explosion and debris flew through the area. Out of the dust were two sets of red eyes and loud mechanical groaning, "What the hell is that?" Sage demanded.
The dust cleared and standing before them were two Spider Droids, "Fugitives, prepare to be annihilated." They spoke in unison.
"So what's the plan oh mighty leader?" Sun stated sarcastically as the demonic red eyes started glowing.
"Feel like dividing and conquering?" Ruby asked springing into her semblance.
As they watched her battling with the one droid, they exchanged looks, "Anyone else feel like we should have stayed in the cells?" Scarlet asked.
"Too late for that now." Neptune said as the droid started firing a barrage of bullets at them.
They dodged out of the way and Sun twirled around his staff, "So let's get this overgrown bug!"
"Spiders are actually in the phylum arthropoda and their higher classification is arachnids. In this case these are actually droids-" Sage started commenting.
"So not the time for a science lesson right now." Sun said cutting him off as they started attacking the droid as it started forming a much larger cannon; just as Ruby's droid exploded from the impact on her scythe as she sliced its large cannon off its body.
Later in the day in Atlas-
Under the icy cold demeanor, there was a frigid rage building inside Specialist Winter Schnee, "Ma'am?" The timid man on the screen choked out.
The majority of communication across Remnant may have been down, but there was still some lines of communication open within the Atlas military. Such a prominent force couldn't exactly run on the same network, it needed to have some type of limited backup system in place. Of course this system was only for these types of conversations; ones that were private for specialized operations.
Winter took a deep breath and called forth the years of training she had both in the military and under her father's thumb to keep her face expressionless and tone even, "Colonel Rothborne, tell me again," the man flinched as he saw her ice blue eyes flash, "how a maximum security prison and research facility gets overpowered by one person-"
"Uhm it was-"
"And," she continued dangerously causing Rothborne to nearly cower, "how a group of suspected terrorists can easily escape two spider droids on top of it, nearly destroying a multi-billion lien facility in the process."
The colonel starts to stutter and finally manages to spit out, "The video-"
"Ah yes, the video let's also talk about that too shall we?" Winter once more pulls up the video and the both of them watch. The colonel's face pales as he watches the beginning of destruction from one lone insurgent to the very end where the suspected terrorists and the insurgent takes down the massive spider droids. When it was over as the video shows their escape, Winter looks back at him and says, "You should thank your lucky stars that I am not fully in charge of your little operation in Vale otherwise I would have your rank and you would be court-martialed for your lack of preparedness and inadequate defense."
"Yes ma'am." He eventually said.
Winter took another deep breath and stood up from her chair to look out the window of the private conference room, "Make no mistake, I will be putting this down in your file and having a talk with your superiors about this act of gross incompetence." He gulped once more as her blazing icy eyes turned to him again, "As such you better hope we track down this 'Shadow Demon' as you called her otherwise it really will be your future on the line."
"Yes ma'am." With that she terminated communication. Sighing through her nose, she sits back down, "Fuck my life." She hardly uses foul language, but in this case with everything that has happened, it was called for. Due to the events at Beacon, Atlas has been vilified in the worse ways. From what they have been able to hear, protests around Remnant were happening just outside their small bases. A force that had been trusted to keep the kingdoms safe was now seen as an enemy of the people. Even in her own kingdom, there was backlash from those terrible events; Ironwood taking on the brunt of this devastation and disgrace. As his second, she too has been under pressure trying to figure out how everything had gone wrong, and working with different teams of the intelligence division to find the female that had hacked their systems to begin with.
Sitting back in her chair, she sighs one more time attempting to regain some of her impassive composure before getting up and exiting the conference room. Striding down the hallway of the main Atlas base towards her office. Making a mental list, she starts with the easiest and straightforward thing, keeping true to her word to Colonel Rothborne, "Specialist Schnee?" Counting to five, she turns to see Major Jones coming towards her, "There-"
"I need you to obtain Colonel Rothborne's file, the files about that prison in Vale, and get me General Ironwood." Winter ordered not even letting Jones get a word in.
He nodded and saluted her, "Yes right away ma'am." He pauses for a moment as she continues on her way towards her office, and that is when he is startled out of his reviver about his new assignment and starts towards her once more, "Oh wait! There is something-" She opens her door and pauses as she sees someone in her office. He stops just behind her, "I needed to tell you." He finishes defeated. He was so getting fired…or worse, reassigned.
Winter closes her eyes and takes a deep breath. Re-opening them, she sees that the…person…in her office is still there, "Major Jones?"
"Yes ma'am."
"Why is there someone in my office with confidential and state secret files on my desk unsupervised?"
"He wouldn't take no for an answer." Jones replied glaring at the man.
The man in question just waves lightly and pulls a flask out of his jacket, "Give the kid a break Ice Queen; I am pretty intimidating." He smiles at her and gives her a mini toast with his flask before taking a swig of whatever foul liquid that resided in that damn flask.
Winter stares Qrow down, but he doesn't flinch away. Not taking her piercing icy gaze off the intruder, she says to Jones, "Why are you still here? Go get me those files. We'll talk about this later." Jones gulps and sprints off. Winter enters her office and slams the door shut, "As for you there better be a good reason-"
"Chill Snowy." Winter growls, "I come in peace."
"Like hell you do."
"No really. I come bearing you gifts. That is…if you've been a good girl this year." He drawls out.
In a flash Winter pulls her saber and summons a glyph. Qrow is instantly slammed into the other side of her office wall with the glyph holding him in place, and her sword going to his throat, "I've had a long day. I do not appreciate this unannounced, inappropriate visit. Now quickly state your business or leave."
"Fine, fine. You are no fun at all today." She lets him go and he brushes himself off, "Normally you don't get so wound up so easily."
Winter went behind her desk and sat down, not offering Qrow a seat, "As I said, it's been a long day."
Qrow gives her a look that she couldn't place as he sits down in the chair across from her and offered her his flask, "Need something for the edge?"
Winter gave him a look of disgust, "No." Then she paused, "Thank you though."
Qrow shrugged and took another swig of his drink and then placed it back in his pocket before pulling out three envelopes. Seeing the two he needed, he placed the one back in his other pocket. Seeing Weiss's handwriting on the one, he sighed, "I have these two messages for you; however I think I'll give you this one first." He offers her the envelope.
Winter eyes it suspiciously for a moment before she sees the handwriting on the paper. Recognizing it immediately, she uncharacteristically snatches it out of Qrow's hand and tears it open. Qrow waits patiently as she reads it, awkwardly playing with the other one in his hand. He wanted to drink right now, but decides that perhaps it is best to play nice for the time being. He knew from word of mouth in Atlas about the military's troubles. Small protests, and the public outcry from the disastrous tournament. The once prestigious and trusted form of defense, now being vilified and the human soldiers being discriminated against everywhere they go.
It was disgusting in Qrow's opinion. Don't these morons know what exactly happened to them? How it wasn't even Ironwood's fault? Sure he was an idiot for just relying on the robots, but who the hell would have thought that a top secret advanced military system could be compromised the way it was? Not only that, didn't these idiots understand that they were still there trying to protect their sorry ungrateful asses? "Qrow?" He was jarred out of his dark thoughts, and caught something in Winter's icy blue eyes as she watched him carefully, "Are you…I mean that is…" She took a deep breath and recomposed herself, "Are you alright?"
He coughed, "Yes of course. Just thinking is all."
"Right. Is your mind clear enough for that purpose?" There we go, that was better. Winter prided herself on regaining her crispness.
Qrow smirked lightly, "For now, but after this meeting…well that will be determined. Anyway," he motioned to the letter, "anything good in there?"
Winter scoffed and folded the letter and placed it in her desk before taking out another sheet of paper and her own envelope, "That is none of your concern. However, do you plan on seeing her again?" She asked as she took out a pen and was going to start writing.
He got up from his chair and went over to her window and looked outside. He had been planning on staying in Atlas for a few days to catch his breath and recharge his aura. Using his crow form this often made him lose most of it fairly quickly, especially dodging Nevermore that tried to kill him, "I have to finish up this mission first, but I can find her again if you'd like to respond."
"What mission? Ozpin is dead from what I heard." Winter commented not helping the tone of curiosity that had laced her tone.
He looks at her now and then to the door, "Never said it was from Oz." Qrow hands her the other envelope and says, "This is who gave me the mission. You are to play a big part in it from my understanding."
Winter is now intrigued as she takes the other one. Looking at him she opens this one with much more caution. The handwriting she doesn't recognize, but as she reads the letter her eyes widen despite herself. Once she is done, she looks at him, "Are you serious? You are taking missions from someone who made my sister runaway and a traitor-"
"Hey! My niece is not a traitor!" Qrow said angrily, "She came back to Beacon. She told me how to free those monstrosities of your military's creation! She has been through something you cannot even imagine!" His eyes flashed and Winter noted that this was the first time he had ever shown something akin to true anger towards her, "So I suggest you watch yourself Ice Queen. I will tolerate many things, but insulting and slandering Ruby's name is not one of them; especially since she nearly died that day on top of Beacon Tower."
"What?" She whispered out any trace of a retort or contraindication of his claims gone from her mind.
Qrow was still glaring at her and after a moment he sighed. Re-taking his seat, he told her everything he told the kids about what happened that day. He also included what he understood from Ruby as to what happened at the bandit camp and how in a 'misguided' way she ended up protecting the others. Winter wasn't too happy to hear that part, but she still listened to him and the events that had unfolded. Once he was done, she sighed, "I may have misjudged your niece. I am sorry." She said eventually, "I am glad Weiss was away from that mess. No doubt our father would have dragged her back to Atlas if she was at Beacon had the attack happened."
"I take it he doesn't approve of her choice to be a huntress?"
Winter scoffed, "That is an understatement. I supported her decision and helped her prove that she would do well at Beacon. Clearly it sounds like she has surpassed my expectation to an extent; but…"
"You do not approve of her being involved in this."
"She is allowing emotion to cloud her judgement." Winter motioned to her sister's letter she had read, "She is willing to stand with your niece."
Qrow looked at her, "She is loyal to her team leader. As you are to Jimmy."
"How many times must I correct you? It's General Ironwood."
"Why do you bother if you know I am not going to listen to you?" Qrow countered back with a cocky smirk.
Winter rolled her eyes and simply said, "We are getting off topic. Your niece's letter." Qrow leaned forward a bit, giving Winter his attention, "I do not know how I am able to help. Borders are closed. Even between Atlas bases it is difficult. There is limited amount of communication as it is."
"Well you get…General Ironwood…to sign some sort of military permission slip and let her and the rest of them come freely to Atlas when the time comes. How difficult can that be?" He then stated as an afterthought, "Hell your sister is the freaking heiress to your family's company!"
Winter shook her head and pushed Ruby's letter aside, "Was."
"What?"
"Weiss was the heiress to the company. I know communications have been down, but assuming you've been in Atlas for more than a day, I am surprised you didn't hear." Winter pulls out her scroll and finds the article. Handing it to Qrow to read, she says, "Due to Weiss's…impulsiveness to go after her team leader; father had her stripped of her title and gave it to our brother Whitely."
Qrow's eyes widened at this knowledge. Ruby had told him and Tai about Weiss losing the title in her timeline, but he didn't think that this would happen to the younger Schnee sister now, "Well…I guess that also explains something I just realized."
"What is that?" Winter asked accepting her scroll back.
"Why your father hadn't sent a manhunt after her when she left or tried to find her at all."
Winter scoffed, "She is no longer of use to him. As far as he is concerned, she made her bed. I, on the other hand, would have searched for her myself had it not been for General Ironwood and Ozpin giving that task to you."
"So it's obvious that Weiss doesn't know any of this." He motioned to the scroll again.
Winter sighed, "No. The towers are down, there is no interconnecting communication across Remnant. Only local news in whatever kingdom you are in; and that is at best. At worse? Everything is given by word of mouth or primitive form of communication." She motions to the paper, pen, and envelope.
"So you gonna tell her the news?" Qrow asked.
"I-" she paused. Was this something that she could simply write down on paper or maybe wait until they are face to face? Then again would they be able to see each other? Not liking the unfamiliar feeling of indecisiveness, she says, "I am going to regret this, but what would you do?"
Qrow scratches the back of his head, "Ideally? This is a face to face discussion. However the way things are? The sooner she finds out the better for her to come to terms."
Winter shook her head, but began to pen her letter. As she does so, she returns to the previous conversation, "About you niece's request;" he listens again, "I can't make promises. When are you planning on leaving?"
He sat in thought, "A few days. I need a break."
Winter pauses in her writing and sighs. Before she can speak, there is a knock on the door, "Enter." She calls out.
The door opens to reveal Jones, he places a stack of files on her desk and says, "Here are those files you asked for. General Ironwood is out right now, but I left a message with his secretary to get in contact with you as soon as he is back." He glares at Qrow, but the hunter brushes him off, "Will that be all?" He asks looking at his superior.
Winter nods, "Yes." Jones gives Qrow one more dirty look and leaves, closing the door behind him. Winter looks back at Qrow, "Give me two days and I may have your answer."
He nods, "Alright. Fair enough."
Winter looks at him again and then asks, "What else are you not telling me? What else has my sister's team leader gotten herself in?"
Qrow looks at her. He recalls Ruby telling him about Winter's involvement in the future and how she essentially replaces Ironwood as General over the remains of the Atlas citizens which led to her forming the resistance and assigning Ruby as a Sargent since it was her team that had seen what Salem's army had been capable of and gave the civilians and remaining soldiers the thorough training they needed to help in combat.
Looking out the window again and seeing the marvelous scenery, he is found that a feeling of sadness comes over him, which made him hope Ruby knew what she was doing. Better yet should he tell Winter what he knew? "Qrow."
He sighs as her voice breaks his thoughts again, "You wouldn't believe me if I told you."
"Try me. The things I've heard recently…I don't think anything could top that." She then adds as an afterthought, "If you cannot tell me, then perhaps come with me to meet General Ironwood and tell him."
"No. I am sorry, but no. Definitely not." Qrow stated quickly. Seeing her raised eyebrow silently inquiring more of an explanation of him, he says, "Look just please talk to Ironwood for me. Show him Ruby's letter of what she needs and get back to me."
Winter rose from her seat, "What could possibly be worse than what Ms. Rose has already gotten my sister involved in?"
Groaning, Qrow looks around and knowing how this would be a losing battle he sighs, "Not here. Meet me at this address." He takes a piece of scrap paper and writes down the address of the motel he was staying at for the next few days, "I'll try telling you what I can." Before she could argue with him, Qrow turns towards the door, gives her a wink, and leaves closing the door behind him.
Winter sits back down and leans back to stare up at the ceiling, "Fuck my life." She says again wondering what else Weiss had gotten herself into with this team leader of hers.
AUTHOR NOTE:
So just an update from the announcement in the beginning of this chapter, I did sign up for the VTNE. For those that want to know what it is exactly it stands for: Veterinary Technician National Exam. It's a test I have to take in order to get my license through the state.
That being said, I am going to have buckle down and start studying again. As I said, I am not giving up on this story; but between working full time, and now having to study updates will be sporadic. I AM NOT GIVING UP! I will try and update but after paying 325.00 to take this test…well I am sorry but I am not wasting 325.00.
