A/N: Hello again. I apologize if this chapter is a bit choppy. I didn't have enough stuff to make it a full chapter, but also didn't have so little to make it a diet chapter, so it turned into this chapter which is some mesh of the two.

The next issue I'm covering in the conflict/clarifying of RWBY lore is the faunus. World of Remnant that faunus existed longer than humanity but during D'jinn's big exposition dump in Vol 6, it shows a thriving human civilization existing and being destroyed without the faunus at all. Since no one knew about humanity's first time around except Oz, Qrow as a teacher at Signal would have taught based on the information he had. (Humans exist god of darkness wipes them out faunus humanity 2.0)

Some people theorize that faunus are creations of Salem, some think they're the genetic ancestors of humanity as a whole, while Adam seemed to think them genetically superior. Since D'jinn doesn't explain how humanity came about the second time around, any of the answers are valid until disproven, but I personally think they're evolutionarily different not a predecessor or successor of the other, especially because I doubt anyone would want to call the faunus "less evolved" than humans because in no world would that be ok, especially with the faunus being stand in for racial minorities.

So yes, faunus does predate humanity, at least the only humanity the world at large knows of.

Most of the White Fang was awake by the gray of dawn; Weiss awoke to the morning bustle outside her tent. Her shoulders and neck were stiff from sleeping on the hard ground, but to her surprise, Adam was still sleeping peacefully, his arms folded above his head as his bare chest rose and fell with his breathing. Like her, he was still covered in streaks of gray and black soot, his clothes had spots that had either singed or melted the fabric, and admittedly they both smelled of sweat and smoke.

The thought crossed her mind that she could make a run for it: pretend she was running some errand for Adam so they wouldn't try to stop her and give herself a head start. With her aura full, she might have a decent chance at escape, but she didn't even know where she was, much less how long it would be before she could get to safety or how long it would take them to track her down when Adam found out. If only she knew if she were close enough to a village or outpost or something.

As she contemplated, Adam stirred, pushing himself up and immediately reaching for his cloth mask. He squinted at his scroll, noting the early hour.

"Well, we're up, we might as well see what we can do." He stood and pulled his black undershirt over his head. Weiss followed him outside, hoping they'd be offered some food; she was hungry.

Ilia was standing near the bonfire in deep discussion with some of the other faunus when Adam approached her to ask for a report.

"Scouts went looking for a place to relocate, and we've found an abandoned that's further north than we'd like, but it's the closest place to where we are now while still isolated enough to not catch attention from other villages or travelers."

One of the scouts removed his scroll to show pictures to Adam. "It backs up against a mountain on the east and has mostly stone buildings that need new interiors, but the exteriors have mostly been well preserved. The wall would have to be the first thing we repair, but it's big enough, it's close enough and it seems easily defensible."

"Any drawbacks?" Adam asked when he returned the scroll.

"The well is dry, so a water source would have to be found. Either drilling for a new well or diverting part of the river."

"Speaking of river, we're sending everyone to the river in shifts to wash up," Ilia interjected. "If you'd like to take some of the supplies from the transports, you can go wash up. We just don't want everyone to go at once and change the color of the water. People downstream might get curious and come looking." She nodded to the group of four men coming up the path who looked cold, albeit refreshed with towels wrapped around their necks. "If you want, you can go now."

"I'd like that: I at least want to look presentable to see the chapter leaders and Hazel off. Go ahead and start making arrangements to relocate as soon as possible."

Towels were in his hands and they were on the path to the river in no time, Weiss silently grateful that Adam was as devoted to hygiene as she was. It didn't dawn on her until he started disrobing that they'd be bathing…together. The apprehension must have been written all over her face as Adam sighed in exasperation.

"We've seen each other naked and we both know neither of us is anything special to look at," he said as he pulled his shirt off.

Weiss found it odd for him to say such a thing, not only because of his pride, but because it flatly wasn't true. Adam was a paragon of male fitness: tall, athletically built with muscles that were toned but still looked natural, and just enough scars to look sexy without looking grotesque. The scar on his ribcage was healing well, the line where the blade had punctured his side barely a slit, thin and fine enough it could have been a surgical scar. His horns were a trait that humans and faunus alike would both find attractive, as opposed to other faunus traits like gills or webbed hands that humans would find more visually off-putting. By all accounts, even with the scar on his face, he was handsome.

"Speak for yourself," she replied, choosing to deny his assertion without outright admitting she found him attractive. That is the last thing his ego needed to hear. But, he was right: they had already seen each other naked and in worse positions. It wasn't like her dress that was backless and had slits up either side halfway up her thighs didn't leave much to the imagination anyway. By the time she'd undone her dress and folded it by her shoes, Adam was already easing his first foot off the river bank and into the river. She stayed upstream from him, far enough to give herself at least some modicum of privacy, especially if any of Adam's underlings came looking for him, but still within his line if vision. It was cool and clean, and while not necessarily refreshing, it was still a relief to get clean.

The water in the river had turned into an opaque light gray color as it carried the remains of the fire downstream. Weiss tried running her fingers through her hair to get the knots out of it to find sections of her hair either singed off or melted into knotted hard patches and would break off if she tugged too hard. She left it down to dry, only giving it the gentlest squeeze to get the water out as she picked her way through the rocks back to shore. Adam was already dressed when she returned, and even handed her the smaller towel to dry herself off.

As they walked back up to camp, the trees suddenly emptied of all the birds, fleeing further east, followed by a slight rumble that grew louder and louder while remaining out of view.

"An airfleet?" the high leader asked more out of curiosity than shock.

"They sound Atlesean," Weiss mused. She'd lived long enough directly under them to tell the difference between their distinctly airy hums from the more mechanical whirrs of the ships from Vale and Mistral. She was proven to be correct when they returned to camp.

Five ships had landed, all advanced Atlesean models, and were opening their cargo bays to reveal crates filled to the tops.

Adam sighed in disbelief. "Supplies."

The pilot of one of the ships disembarked and approached Atlas' chapter head and saluted, inaudibly explaining the contents to his superior as he pointed from ship to ship. The she-bear nodded, seeming very satisfied, listening until he was finished before sending him to speak with Adam directly while she went to oversee the off-loading. He approached and saluted.

"High Leader, our chapter head, Artis, contacted us yesterday about what happened. We're sorry for your loss, and the loss of our brothers. May they rest in peace."

"Did you fly straight through?"

The pilot nodded. "Yes, sir. We came as soon as we could get everything packed and loaded. The Atlas HQ was able to spare medical supplies," he pointed at the smallest ship, "clothes, towels and toiletries," to the next largest up, "bedding and cooking supplies," he directed his attention to the closest ship,"and all the food we could spare. It should last about six weeks."

"She is too kind," Adam said, genuinely moved.

"I was also instructed to bring our largest cargo ship to loan to you."

Adam furrowed his brow. "For what purpose?"

"To loot Haven, sir."

With the wave of a hand he summoned Artis away from the ships and confirmed that was indeed what she was suggesting: the sacking of the huntsman academy.

"Of course," Artis replied. "Why would we destroy an entire campus full of weapons, supplies, and probably tech when we can just take it?"

Hazel did not seem pleased with the suggestion. He shook his head and scowled. "The attack was supposed to be swift and efficient. Stealing is time consuming and leaves your soldiers open to attack. Lionheart says the school is empty now, but there's a huntsman, Qrow Branwen, who is trying to marshal a defense force."

The mention of Qrow's name caught both Weiss and Mercury's attention. They looked first at Hazel and then at Adam. Mercury said aloud what they were both thinking:

"If that's the same huntsman I saw in the courtyard at Beacon, then he'll have at least two huntresses with him: Yang and Ruby are his nieces."

Adam's lip twitched, conveying an emotion Weiss could not describe: something akin to both satisfaction and anticipation but not exactly pleasure.

"And typically, wherever Little Red goes, Pyrrha Nikos' team usually goes, too."

"It's Jaune's team, and they're called Team JNPR." Weiss corrected him, not fearing any trouble she might get in with sassing the emissaries from one of his allies.

"Whatever, they're down their best teammate." Mercury said with a flippant hand gesture.

"Because you murdered her." Weiss snarled back.

"Enough," Adam chided. He turned back to Mercury. "You say there's at least five of them, then?"

Mercury nodded. "Possibly six with Ruby's other teammate, the cat faunus."

Adam shook his head. "Blake is back in Menagerie."

"And the heiress is obviously here," Mercury said gesturing to Weiss who was still shooting him death glares about the Pyrrha comment. "So, with the actual huntsman, there's at least six of them."

"Six doesn't sound like much of a force," Artis said, "If the huntsman is able to get more to help, there might be a problem, but for now, I think it's safe to say we'll be good to sack the buildings before burning them down without fear of much resistance."

Hazel put a hand on Adam's shoulder. "If it helps you make a decision, I'll becoming with a handful of my own and we can handle the entirety of the Great Hall. We're also expecting an additional…business partner that may also be sending in some reinforcements."

The high leader thought it over. The chapter heads became silent, waiting for his answer.

"We'll bring the ship, but we won't be looting until we have secured the area," Adam finally said aloud. "I want a chance to seize the opportunity, but I also refuse to put my men in danger."

The other chapter leaders, Artis included, agreed with his assessment.

"As for the cargo we have now, we may as well unload it at the new location." He called for Ilia who stepped forward. "Take two ships: scouting crew and a large enough group to unload and defend until we can move the entire camp there."

The chameleon nodded dutifully before bowing and going her way. He would have liked to accompany her to see the village for himself before relocating the headquarters, but he was pressed for time and trusted her judgement.

It was rudimentary, but the camp served the guest leaders and Hazel lunch before they departed. As per usual, Weiss was called on to serve every aspect of the meal, and when Mercury figured out no one was assisting, he'd wait until she was finished and just about to sit and eat her own food before magically requiring something else: salt, another drink, a second helping. Adam noticed, but it wasn't until Hazel caught on that anyone put a stop to it.

"Stop antagonizing her," Hazel said as Mercury held his cup up for the fourth time in less than half a hour. It was too late to stop this refill, but he got the hint and didn't try it again.

"It's a pity," Weiss said to him as she filled his drink for the last time. "Yang used to talk about you when we were back at Beacon. She thought you were hot."

"Yang wasn't my type," he retorted, taking a drink before setting his cup down. "Too bad Pyrrha's gone. She probably would have been worth my time. But, Ozpin tried to pressure her into becoming a maiden and Cinder couldn't let that happen so…" he pantomimed drawing and shooting an arrow.

It was the first she'd heard of this. Sienna had told her about the maidens, and about how Cinder had taken the Fall Maiden's power, as well Salem's existence, but Ozpin had never been mentioned before, and now Pyrrha's death made more sense. It took several seconds for her to process everything, but he spoke about it so casually as if seeing the kind of devastation he'd helped create didn't faze him at all. Calmly, she poured the entirety of the pitcher's contents into his lap. He jumped, swearing and sputtering even took a step toward her.

"I'm sorry," Weiss quietly recoiled. She wasn't sorry at all, but knew if she at least feigned remorse, no one would condone it if he got physical with her, least of all, Adam.

"Get him a towel," the high leader ordered.

Weiss scurried off, empty pitcher in hand and found a drying towel in the makeshift kitchen. She returned and handed it to Adam who threw it haphazardly at Mercury, who could only glare at her with profound indignation as he dabbed at his crotch. He looked like he'd peed his pants and Weiss was secretly satisfied with herself she was able to exact even such a small amount of vengeance.

When the meal was finished, the individual chapter heads and their entourages departed on various ships, promising to send aid when possible and agreeing to meet at the appointed time for the assault on Haven. The only participant who did not make such promises was Hazel, who merely wished him goodbye and good luck.

Weiss was happy to see them go.

If she walked fast and looked like she had somewhere she needed to be, everyone stayed out of her way. All Winter had to do was look confident in what she was doing.

It had taken almost two weeks of listening carefully and asking the right questions, but she'd finally found where Ironwood was keeping all the intelligence files they had on members (present and former) of the White Fang. His espionage in every corner of the globe knew no bounds and could prove fatal if any of the other nations knew exactly how much intel Atlas had on their government, military and lucrative corporations. She had full security clearance for everything in the system, but if she spent too much time snooping it would draw attention to herself and the last thing she needed right now was General Ironwood's suspicion.

Ozpin's death and the fall of Beacon were a blow to him, but it seemed to get worse with time rather than better. They never found the cause of the virus that had turned the AK's against humans, nor had closing their borders done anything to improve foreign relations. Whatever goodwill had been in the works over the past decade was wiped away by the Vytal Festival and the Fall of Beacon. He didn't know who he could trust and events in Mantle and Atlas weren't helping with that either. Domestic terrorism was on the rise with Robyn Hill deciding that robbing from the state military that kept everyone safe was a good idea, her own father had continuously raised his prices on dust and dared Ironwood to nationalize his mines, and worse, Jacques had just announced he was running for a seat on the council.

The archive room in the second basement proved to be a treasure trove of information. The current leader of the White Fang, Sienna Khan had little information but seemed exclusively interested in making political statements. The assassinations, riots, and robberies she'd orchestrated were specifically targeted at corporations that had a reputation of exploiting the faunus and governments both national and local that favored humanity over faunus or caused injustice to the faunus in some way, but Sienna Khan wasn't the one holding her sister captive. She continued scrolling through the blue screen of names until she found Adam's.

He was a chapter head in Vale and was at the fall of Beacon working with Salem…how she'd managed to rope the faunus into this was still a mystery but it's possible she promised them some kind of immunity if Adam agreed to help put humanity under her rule. His history was much more ruthless than Sienna's. Wanton destruction, every incident in which he was known to be involved had a death count. Every single one. Why he'd seen fit to take Weiss and keep her was beyond what Winter could imagine his motives. She looked further into his file, discovering his connection with the SDC, and theorizing that he was probably just going to keep her alive until he was able to make her death public, unless he had something more sinister in mind, but if that were the case, he'd definitely have publicized it by now, right?

Maybe not. She continued scrolling through the available information until she came to a section that was simply labelled: coordinates. She pressed the icon and another menu appeared.

It was the location of every national and local chapter of the White Fang that the Atlesean Military could find. She could feel her heart begin racing as she looked up the Vale headquarters, pulling up the coordinates, overhead photos as well as live satellite feed over the region. It was in Mountain Glenn but the site looked abandoned. She looked next at the Mistral HQ, which was the headquarters for the entire organization. The coordinates pulled up photos of a forest region of the middle of Mistral. It was secluded and provided coverage due to all the foliage, she couldn't even see the buildings from the satellite photos. She selected the live-feed imaging and watched the images switch from the dense green forest to gray and black.

The headquarters was/or had been on fire. The water of the nearby river looked like dishwater from the ash and the satellite could only zoom in so far, not nearly close enough to make out individual people, but there was a fire still burning as well as a series of white squares. Camps?

What had happened? Why had the headquarters burned down and was Adam involved in it? Something in her gut told her Weiss was there, but if she had contributed or if she was even still safe she couldn't even imagined.

She closed out of the archives and slipped out into the main corridor, tired and frustrated. She'd looked for some trace of hope she could at least find Weiss, but it only left her more concerned, more confused, and she felt more helpless than ever before.

Weiss would have to look after herself a little longer.

He'd just wanted a small band of huntsmen to help him out with his task.

Instead, Qrow found his group of teenage wards growing from four to six to now twenty-one, with the promise of four more by the end of the week. The loitered about their guest home, eating finger foods Ren and Nora had prepped and mingling, most joyously catching up on the past couple months of separation with Haven being out of session.

Yang had suggested calling Neptune, who brought the rest of his team except Sun, but that had quickly spiraled out of control. The three of them suggested a senior team, GLRD who lived in town and GLRD hand invited two more teams CHFN and XXIV.

"They're too young," he muttered before taking a sip from his flask. He'd been hiding from the noise in the kitchen, when Ozpin's new vessel joined him.

"I suspect Professor Lionheart is not as forthcoming about what he knows, but I doubt he would lead an attack on his own students. Perhaps seeing his own will re-inspire his loyalty," Oscar said looking out the open door at the Haven students. It was so odd to hear his voice again: the exact words and cadence Ozpin always used but with the voice of a fourteen-year-old. "Besides, the huntsmen in training were the ones that fought off the grimm at Beacon. Heroes are forged in crises like this."

Qrow scowled. "Some kids were forged into heroes. Some died meaningless deaths. Like that girl you liked for the Fall Maiden."

"Miss Nikos' death affects all of us still, Qrow. But you can't use her as your only example…"

"My niece lost an arm," he growled.

"I died." Oz retorted. "Again. Salem won again. I know it seems like we're sitting idly by sacrificing the lives of children, but we both have suffered loss from this war as well, and we'll continue to lose until someone is willing to stand up to her. That's what those huntsmen are doing now, whether they know that it or not."

"Sacrificing yourself is one thing, Oz. But you'd better know what you're doing if you're going to start sacrificing the lives of others," Qrow put his flask away, picked up the notepad he'd been scribbling on and sauntered out to the main room, locating Nora and putting a hand on her shoulder. "Can you…?" he made a circular motion with his finger.

Nora gave him the thumbs up before inhaling deeply and shouting, "EVERYBODY LISTEN UP!"

The room hushed and looked at Nora who pointed at Qrow.

Close enough.

"Alright, let me make sure I have this straight," Qrow said trying to keep track of everyone on the list as the address the horde of students. A hush fell over the group and they all gathered into the main room to hear better. "I have RNJR, which is four of you, team SSSN, which is three of you, but I'll give you Yang for now just to keep your team full. Then, team GLRD?" He looked up to see if Goldenrod was indeed how it was pronounced. The all-boys team nodded gravely. "Next is team Chiffon, Saffron?"

"Chiffon," the team leader reassured him. They were an all-girls team that looked to be about first year, but all of them looked far to young to be killing monsters in Qrow's opinion.

"Goldenrod, Chiffon…and?" the huntsman looked at the last string of letters in abject horror.

"It's pronounced twenty-four," The last team leader said.

"Alrighty then. And you say ABRN is coming by the end of the week?"

Neptune held up his scroll. "They messaged saying they're trying to get transportation in, but as soon as they can, they'll be here."

"At any rate, I'd like to thank you all for coming and being willing to help us defend your academy." Qrow continued. He wasn't good at speeches at all. Oz should have been the one to give some kind of rousing call to action, but Ozpin hadn't wanted to reveal himself to anyone unnecessarily, so the task fell to slightly inebriated huntsman, struggling for the right words. "Look, I know you're still just kids, but the world we live in now means you're going to have to grow up fast. It's hard to believe that there's scarier things out there than grimm, but we've vowed to defend our countries and their citizens from whatever dangers may present themselves, from both without and within. And I'd like to thank you for that, and I'm sure Professor Lionheart will be proud as well. I suggest you all go to bed at reasonable hours and don't strain yourselves when you train. We need you at your best."

The teams all nodded or saluted.

"Enjoy tonight, but be ready for anything starting tomorrow."