A/N: Hello again. This is probably the first chapter that's going to cause major plot differences, as you'll probably see for yourself. I feel like the last chapter was kinda weird, and this one is a little choppy too, but I found it hard to tell the series of events in a way that flowed well. This chapter is at least more coherent.

For the lore discussion, I noticed a couple conflicting stories about Ozpin's reincarnation cycle. Ozpin in Oscar's body tells the kids that his reincarnation cycle was a curse for not stopping Salem, but Jinn reveals that the cycle was already in place before Ozpin was ever tasked with stopping Salem in the first place. Perhaps Oz came to think of it as a curse, but in this case, I'm more likely to believe the exposition spewing naked genie lady than Ozpin because the man lies to cover for himself. As to why he'd lie about this, I can only assume it was to hid his previous romantic relationship with Salem, but I can't really be sure. I just kinda hope when this is all over Ozpin's consciousness will pass on so Oscar can go back to being himself.

That's all for that. Hope you enjoy the chapter.

As soon as the guests were off, the camp wasted no time packing up everything that wasn't a necessity. They'd have to leave early in the morning to reach their new location and they'd have little time from there to move in on Mistral proper. The next few days would be busy.

New uniforms and shoes were provided to the humans who were worked tirelessly. Most of the supplies were originally from the transport ships or hovercrafts and were returned, leaving only the cooking tent and the sleeping tents for the morning. Weiss was assigned to help the humans load, but when the work was finished, accompanied Adam in the air-conditioned compartment of the hover craft as they flew directly to Mistral to prepare for the impending siege, albeit she had to sit on the floor to make room for the other officers.

"You don't think it's unwise to let the girl have some of her old luxuries?" Ilia asked Adam. "The other leaders might think you're going soft on her."

"I think it's wise to reward the one human who didn't take part in burning down our livelihoods. She knows her place, and I am going to reward it." He leaned down and ruffled her hair like she was some kind of loyal pet.

Weiss said nothing, looking at floor. This wasn't her place: sitting at the feet of her abductor, nothing more than a glorified prize of war. She was a huntress, she was supposed to be a protector of the people, not a servant of some angsty terrorist. Had being in captivity for so long weakened her? Should she have tried to escape the morning before? Was she a coward for not at least trying? Was a life of servitude more important to her now than her own freedom and agency? She tried justifying in her mind that she did what she had to do to survive, but her justification was met with the other voice in her head chastising her for being so weak minded. As the officers around her talked, she made up her mind: she was going to find a way to get the collar off and make another escape plan.

The rendezvous point was not so much a campsite as it was a hovercraft park. Vehicles from all four nations were concealed easily in the forests that overlooked the city. Outside the window, Weiss was able to take in the beauty of the city for herself.

Within minutes of landing, Adam was inspecting his force. About 120 had come to attack the school, a nice sized force with a dozen or so designated to stay behind and prepare for immediate extraction and relocation. The vast majority were faunus that lent themselves to a night time attack: nocturnal faunus such as bats, moles, and owls or others like Ilia who were most suited to stealth. She took in everything: searching for a chance to warn the academy of an impending attack or sabotage this one undetected.

"Reconnaissance has bad news," Ilia approached him and bowed, still greeting in the traditional method used in Menagerie. "The academy has been abandoned, but we put a tail on the huntsman Hazel's little friend mentioned. He has over two dozen teenagers at his house. Constant coming and going and he's still regularly seeking out huntsmen and huntresses. He's trying to amass a force.

Adam furrowed his brow. "Such young recruits."

"Our guess its it's huntsmen in training from the academy. Our man counted 25 of them but there could be more. It's not a force to be sneezed at, but they are huntsmen, and we were expecting no one at all."

"Is it possible they found out we were coming?"

Ilia shrugged. "It's possible we could have been compromised. It's also possible Hazel was compromised and the huntsmen are here to defend whatever secret they're going after in the Great Hall. If that's the case, Hazel's men will have to absorb the bulk of the force and will make it easier on us."

At least Qrow was prepared. They'd have a chance, especially if Adam was more intent on looting the place than wreaking havoc.

"Don't concern yourselves with the huntsmen unless they engaged us. For now, follow the plan: set up a perimeter, set the charges and then assign teams to sweep and raid the buildings. We still outnumber them almost four to one. How long until we expect to receive word from Hazel?"

"Hazel wants to attack well after dark, so we have at least six hours if you want to eat and get a few hours' sleep to prepare."

Adam agreed, returning to the hovercraft that had been cleared of weapons and made room for the White Fang to sit in the shade and lounge. The provisions on board were dry and barely tasted like food, but they were nourishment nonetheless. Adam offered Weiss both a blanket and a seat cushion for her head, which she gratefully accepted.

She must have been more tired than she initially thought, because she fell asleep withing just a few minutes, and awoke disoriented as to where she was and how long she'd slept.

It was already dark. Adam sat in one of the armed chairs of the hovercraft with his back turned to her. He'd taken his outer mask off and his gloves, engrossed by whatever activity he was engaged in. Weiss rubbed her eyes and blinked to clear her vision.

By the bluish light of a small overhead lamp, he was using the fold out tray as a writing surface, scribbling words on a page, folding it neatly and setting it aside when he was finished before beginning again. He looked over when he heard her stir.

"You didn't sleep?" she asked.

"There wouldn't be a point. There's too much adrenaline and planning, I might as well stay up and get some work done."

"What are you doing?" She sat up, sitting cross legged with her blanked wrapped around her.

"I'm writing letters to the families of the men we lost in the fire. Thanking them for their service and informing them how they died."

"Do you do that with all the faunus under you?"

"Everyone under my direct command. Even if their families disown or disapprove of them joining the White Fang, if something happens to them, the family deserves to know…and to be thanked for their service."

It seemed out of character for him. He seemed so willing to put his own people at risk for what he perceived their more noble or more effective cause would be. Such a personal touch was something she'd rarely seen in him, even in all their hours together. She knew he cared about his goal; it was nice to know that he also cared about his people.

"Have you written Bran's yet?" she asked.

"Not yet."

She wanted so badly to ask if she could be given permission to write something in Bran's letter: about the kindness he'd shown her, and tried to show his enemies, about how much he'd grown. But there was no way Adam would let her. If anything, he'd try and conceal his kindness to humans as some kind of weakness.

Adam interrupted her thoughts with a question. "Can I ask you a question about Pyrrha Nikos?"

"Yes?" Weiss seemed unsure as such a question came from out of nowhere.

"You mentioned her before, and when that little brat tagging along with Hazelbrought up her up again you got defensive. It seems like there was a special attention given to her at Beacon. I remember Cinder talking about her as well. Who was she?"

"She had the highest ranks at Sanctum before she came to Beacon, and always made top grades, top marks, and won every mock battle she'd been in until her death. She was a superior marksman combat fighter…and she was my friend, but…" Weiss had to take a moment to collect her thoughts. "We all knew she was destined for something great, something bigger than all of us. None of us knew how, or when, but she was just one of those people who was special, and everyone knew it…except maybe her. And if anyone was going to get a maiden power, it deserved to be Pyrrha. If anyone deserved to survive…it would have been her."

"You two were close?"

Weiss shook her head. "Not really. Not the way I was close with my team. My team and hers worked together a lot, but I couldn't compare my relationship with her to her own team's."

"Why do humans feel the need to take innocent people who die young and turn them into heroes?"

"Pyrrha wasn't just a bystander, she tried to fight Cinder, and she tried to buy her team enough time to get out safely. Yes, she was innocent, but she deserved the statue they erected for her in Argus. It's how we remember our history. Do the faunus not do the same?"

"We don't have statues and plaques for our heroes. We don't really see a point in glorifying people who just do their duty." He folded his hands behind his head. "We're not really prone to celebrate a lot anyway. We usually don't have the luxuries of time and resources to devote to them: just too worried about or survival."

"I doubt that." Weiss retorted. "You have plenty of time to organize riots, train robberies, attacks on academies that produce people that actually fight grimm. You have time to do those things but not celebrate holidays or build memorials to your own accomplishments?"

"Maybe when we finally do put down humanity, we will feel at ease enough to celebrate that victory." He spoke of conquering her people so calmly as if it were merely a business pursuit.

"You can try that, but it will never work," Weiss almost smiled. "There's something you can't ever account for or beat out of humankind and that's our tenacity. Surviving isn't enough for us, we are determined to thrive: in arctic tundra, in deserts, and in steep mountains. We have survived war and tragedy, and the grimm, and on top of that we've excelled. We figured out how to use dust, we've built communication towers and floating islands and trains that span hundreds of miles. What have the faunus done?"

Adam pushed up the fold up tray and turned to face her fully. "What have we done? We've done everything we could to survive because of your human tenacity. We were put in cages, we were forced into slave labor, stripped of our dignity and our rights." In the dim lighting, she could see him squinting at her trying to determine if she was being serious or just playing devil's advocate. "Are you going to act like humans aren't responsible for the plight of the faunus? Are you really going to deny not just your people's systemic abuse, but your own father's?"

"I'm not denying any of what happened in your past," Weiss met his eyes, studying his face. He wasn't looking for a fight. He was listening. She knew she really didn't have authority of herself to speak, but sincerely hoped he listened. "I'm criticizing what you're choosing to do with your present and the kind future you are forging for the faunus that come after you. You have a chance to make something of yourselves and what you made was a group of half-assed terrorists who are now bowing at the mercy of a mistress who is a combination of your two worst enemies. You are putting your people in the servitude of the humans and the grimm. How does that make you any different from the previous generation of Mistral and Mantle?"

"Listen, whether you agree with it or not, this is the path I've chosen to fight for my people. The generation before us took a barren rock on the outskirts of the kingdom as reparation for centuries of exploitation and abuse, but for my generation? For our future? That's not good enough. Men like Ghira Belladonna were willing to settle, but they can't be upset we don't. You want to forge your own future. Let me forge mine."

Metal creaked and Ilia stormed into the ship, her face and spots cycling through shades of red.

"Lionheart moved up the meeting. He called the huntsmen into the school. He plans to ambush them with Hazel's men."

"Why would he call them in if the buildings weren't even occupied?!" Adam was displeased, but the only visible sign of his ire was the slight bulge in his jaw when he clenched it.

Ilia threw up her hands. "I don't know! Lionheart was literally the only one at the school! We could have gone it, looted, blown it up, let Hazel do whatever he needs to do and gotten out with literally zero resistance if he'd just kept his mouth shut!"

Adam let out an exasperated sigh. "It doesn't matter now. We have to go." He stood, working purposefully, though refusing to rush as he put his stationary away and put on his grimm mask. As he took up his sword, he looked to Weiss. "You're here as leverage if anything with the huntsmen goes wrong. If you try to escape, the guards we've left behind will track you down and I'll break both your legs." The warmth in his voice when he spoke so candidly with her vanished, replaced with the cold exterior of the White Fang High Leader the faunus had come to either fear or follow. He left with Ilia, disappearing into the tree as other gathered White Fang fell into formation behind him.

Everything was falling apart quickly: Hazel and his associates were barely holding their own against the huntresses, the fight trickling out into the great hall. Adam found himself and his small attaché surrounded by the citizens of Menagerie, and the Mistral police overhead. And in the midst of it all was Blake. The Belladonnas undoubtedly were behind the force coming against them.

"This is your problem, deal with it." Were Hazel's only instructions before returning to the Great Hall.

"Do we set off the charges?" one of them asked.

Ilia shook her head. "We can't set them off without killing dozens, even hundreds of our own."

"The humans have to pay for what they've done!" Adam growled.

Cries came from the faunus pressing forward. Dressed in civilian clothing and carrying weapons made of wood or old weapons that still bore the White Fang logo before the sect had been radicalized. Pleas for them to stop, to see reason.

"The humans aren't going to reward you for standing up for them now!" Adam called to them.

"You don't speak for us!" a member of the crowd called. "Not anymore."

His own men raised their weapons, but were remiss to fire.

"What do we do?" one asked.

Adam held up an arm, ready to signal his men to attack, but something inside held him back.

Blake took a step toward him. "Adam, it's over. You have nowhere to go."

He thought for a moment before giving out a command. "All units back to the rendezvous point; take what you can and move fast. Fall back and we'll detonate the bombs once we're clear."

They had to fight their way out of the quad, leaving their looting and destruction half completed. It was a calculated risk, but his assumption was that the faunus were there to stop the White Fang and the White Fang exclusively. If they remained and interfered with Salem's faction, he'd hear no end if it from Hazel. But for now, the goal was to escape alive and with the respect of his men intact.

He'd have to wait for his shot at Blake until it was more convenient.

The splintered wood of the Great Hall strewn across the quad as the common faunus pursued the White Fang, chasing them into the woods to the east where the Mistral police quickly lost sight of them. Through the opening blown out by Nora's royal thrashing of Hazel, Blake and Sun saw the battle going on inside. Teams Sun recognized from school were taking on Cinder, Hazel and their underlings as Nora tended to Ren and Jaune tried to recover. Yang's eyes met Blake.

"Yang?"

"Blake?"

"Sun?" Neptune looked away for a moment before taking an uppercut from Emerald.

"Guys?" Sun seemed genuinely surprised to see the rest of his team. For a moment, they merely locked eyes before Ruby's voice pierced the bedlam.

"Yang, go!"

Breaking eye contact, her sister ran for the vault, leaving the rest of the battle behind.

Sun placed a hand on her shoulder, trying to catch his breath. "Blake, if Adam's here, it might mean…"

Blake looked at Sun. "It might mean Weiss is here, too. We have to at least try." She turned back to Ruby and gave a knowing nod, silently promising she'd be back, but had something she had to do first.

Most of the stolen goods were already loaded and the hovercrafts already started and readied for takeoff when the White Fang returned in full force. It was an odd mix of order performed in the most chaotic of manners as they hurriedly stuffed the remaining supplies they'd stolen onto the special airship they'd been lent by Artis and boarded. From what little information she could gather, they'd met with much more resistance than a few dozen teenagers. Weiss watched from one of the glass portholes as the ships filled and the camp broke and was emptied in record speed. Once everything was loaded and the stragglers were accounted for, the last task to be done was to extinguish the small fires dotted throughout the camping area.

Adam and his crew arrived later than the others, out of breath, out of ammunition, and out of dust. The guards left behind were putting out the last fire when another set of guards called for the high leader. They dragged two figures to the fire, forcing them on their knees, their hands behind their backs. Weiss suppressed a gasp: it was Blake and Sun. She scrambled over the officers who had already strapped in. The muscular officer sitting next to the door gripped her upper arm.

"Where do you think you're going?"

"Adam wants me, he motioned for me to come through the window," she lied, pointing to the window as if it were proof. He released her arm and she hurried out the door, scrambling to find her footing in the shadow of the craft as the guards explained the situation.

"We found them trying to infiltrate the camp," one explained. "We thought you'd like to deal with them yourself."

It was written all over Ilia's face; she was afraid for Blake, but too afraid to stand up to Adam. She stood, looking between to two, to unsure of what move to make.

"You have to let them go," Weiss said, tugging at Adam's sleeve.

"Get back on the ship," he ordered. He jerked his arm free, but refused to look in her direction, focusing solely on Blake. He stalked toward them slowly, unsheathing his sword. "Perhaps this mission wasn't such a waste after all," he said quietly, his lips twitching to suppress a smile."

In a split second, she made a decision. He had said before that he wanted to capture Blake and 'make her see reason', meaning he was still loth to kill her. Ducking around him, she ran and threw her arms around Sun's neck, shielding him from Adam's blow.

"Move." His voice was sharp and authoritative.

"No, Weiss, don't!" Blake cried.

"I'm not moving," Weiss said, clinging to Sun even more. "If you kill them, the White Fang and the rest of the faunus are only going to see you as a tyrant who kills anyone who disagrees with you, and not a hero of the faunus. I know you don't care about being a hero, but you do care about your people, don't you?"

"Weiss you don't have to do this," Sun said.

Adam raised his sword again. "I'm not in the mood, Weiss." He snarled.

"You won't kill me," Weiss snapped back, "And I'm not letting go. No one will respect you if you keep killing other faunus. How are your people going to unite under you if they fear for their lives?"

For the second time that evening, Adam hesitated. Faces were staring at him from the camp, and from the widows of the already loaded ship. For the fist time, he became pointedly aware of exactly how much scrutiny he was under, by his underlings and even by his enemies. He looked to Blake who was staring him down defiantly, but looking to Ilia her face showed genuine fear of what he would do.

"They're not worth the time it'd take to clean the blood off my sword." He said finally. "Cut them loose; send them back to the Belladonnas." He lowered his katana and sheathed it.

"Sir, are you sure?" one of his guards asked.

"I said cut them loose," Adam snarled. "I didn't ask for your input."

Nervously, the guards bent down, cutting the ropes on Sun's wrists first, then Blakes. Adam stood in front of her, grabbed her by the collar and yanked her to her feet.

"Send your mother my regards, and tell your father to stay out of my way. He may be the chieftain of Menagerie, but he doesn't speak for the whole of the faunus either. And neither do you. Get in my way again, and I won't send you back to your friends and family." He pushed her away.

As Adam made his threats, Weiss helped Sun to stand. He wrapped his arms around her and hugged her tightly. "We've been looking for you." He whispered into her ear. "We found the locker on Menagerie and told Winter."

"Tell my sister I'm ok. And tell her Arthur Watts is still alive," she said, tears running down her face. "You have to remember his name. He was a computer scientist for Ironwood."

"Arthur Watts," I got it. I promise."

"Thank you." She kissed his cheek as she was pulled away from him and ushered back onto the ship.

"Weiss!" Blake called after her. The huntress turned to see the guards pulling Blake away. "We'll get you out! I promise!"

Adam turned to Ilia who was blinking back tears as her skin flushed a pale blue, her eyes following Blake's every movement as they were hauled out of sight. Even without her chameleonic attributes, her feelings were clearly visible, written all over her face.

"You want to go with her? Fine, go!" he shouted.

Ilia used her hand to brush the tears of her eyes. "I…what, sir?"

"You don't want to be here! I saw how you looked at her in the quad, and how you didn't want to set off the charges. If you don't want to be part of the White Fang, then go! We don't need you!" He pointed in the direction Blake and Sun were released into the woods. "If you'd rather follow them, then fine, but don't stay here if you're not fully committed to our cause."

"But…"

"Go!" he roared, "Before I change my mind!"

She ran; phasing her coloring to help her blend in the with the trees she was out of sight within seconds.

"The rest of you, onto the ship!" he shouted. The last remaining guards scrambled aboard and they took off within a matter of minutes.

The Mistral police gave pursuit to the edge of the city, but turned back once they were out side of their own airspace. At first, the cabin of officers was quiet, a little shaken up by Ilia leaving but with time, conversations gradually emerged, exchanging stories and listing out all the loot they'd managed to compile while the others were distracted. Only Adam remained silent and pensive, Weiss seated on the floor between his legs, knowing full well she was in trouble and shouldn't talk or make contact with anyone right now.

"I think you did the right thing, High Leader." One of his officers said eventually. "A lot of us had friends and family in that crowd from Menagerie. They need to know we're not against them, we're trying to advocate for them."

"You're right." Adam said, shifting himself to sit fully upright. "And if we're going to keep fighting for the faunus, I think it's time we cut off our association with Hazel. He and his master don't seem to align with our interests as much as we initially thought, but we can discuss this more when we have the other chapter heads present. For now, we can at least celebrate the success of plundering their resources, however minor a victory it may be."

His men heartily agreed and liquor was produced from the galley. They drank and toasted the rest of the ride home, falling asleep one by one as the adrenaline wore off and fatigue set in. The pilot turned off the overhead lights, letting the officers enjoy a few hours rest as the ship navigated just over the tree line to their new makeshift headquarters. Weiss, who had slept during the afternoon was still wide awake, leaving her and Adam the only two awake in the cabin for the last hour of their flight, which they spent in relative silence. As the ship slowed to land, Adam finally spoke:

"When we land, I want you to find out where our quarters will be and wait up for me. We need to talk."