"...so now we move the flanking force in to finally launch an attack on the caravan itself."

Jaune shook his head as he traced the path his captor's fingers illustrated in the dust. "But... that would leave you exposed from their lead and rear patrol? They'll come in together and take you out for sure?"

But his captor, Vernal, she'd introduced herself as, just smiled. "You're still thinking too much like a Huntsman, greenie. Battles aren't in a fancy ring with rules out here. They're part of a whole chain of events. Think operationally, not tactically. So..."

Jaune, a little miffed at his new nickname of "greenie," tried to think it through tactically. Vernal had a point: Huntsmen tended to learn to fight Grimm, who weren't much on long term strategy. Just individual fights and long-term "management." Fighting humans, particularly how the bandit tribes fought them, was more about the mid-range of a fight, more concerned with the operation than waging a campaign against someone passing through their territory. "You're..." he began, slowly putting the words together, "Because you've been stressing the security out on their trip through your territory, you want them to catch you in a pincer, because they'll overcommit… seeing it as a chance to finally put an end to the threat, which..."

"Which means they don't expect a full broadside from the ambushers," Vernal finished for him, "Classic bait and switch."

Jaune nodded, putting it together in his head.

Kidnapping hadn't been a good experience, obviously, but Jaune was making the most of it. And Vernal was a good teacher, and a pretty cool person… for a bandit who was, again, kidnapping him. It was also possible he had Argus Syndrome, but Jaune wasn't exactly feeling empathy for his captors so much as being bored, so-

"Excuse me," an icy voice cut in, "but what are you doing with the prisoner, Vernal?"

Ah yes, the low point of his kidnapping. Raven Branwen. Easily the biggest bitch Jaune had ever encountered and so thoroughly unpleasant to be around that Jaune was seriously debating an escape attempt just to not have to hear any more of her withering hostility towards him and also everyone.

"Just chatting with the prisoner, ma'am," Vernal said, a little embarrassed to be called out like this. "He's not as dumb as most Huntsmen, and he might even-"

"He is Salem's nephew."

"Wait, what?" Vernal asked, shocked, "He was- He's that target? I thought you just- I thought we kidnapped him because he was dating your daughter!" Wait, what? "I didn't know he was the priority hostage! He doesn't look..." her voice turned softer as she gave Jaune a guilty glance, "No offense, but… you're kind of a huge wimp, and you sure don't look like you're related to Salem."

That was also news to Jaune, who had always clearly seen how Salem looked 100% like an Arc, with the blonde hair and general Arc-ness of his family members. As impossible as it might be, perhaps there were two Salems, one of whom was the Queen of the Grimm and the other was his aunt? Though there being two obviously supernatural women of the same name...

Also, it stung that Vernal thought he was weak. Even with all the craziness and the revelation-upon-revelation he'd gotten slammed with, it made him, if anything, more sensitive about his pride.

"He is who I said he is," Raven said, briskly, "And fraternizing with him is highly unwise, particularly for you, Vernal."

Vernal cringed, and Jaune honestly felt bad for getting her in trouble. It might have been the conditions of his captivity, but he found Vernal to be very likable for a bandit. Plus, she knew a ton about tactics and Jaune really enjoyed talking shop with her. But in terms of tactics, the other issue of losing her company was that she was Jaune's best bet to get some answers.

So he had to take the initiative to ask the question he'd been holding back ever since he'd entered his captivity right now.

"Hey," he said, trying to keep his courage up as Raven looked at him with her terrifyingly red eyes, "If my aunt is Queen of the Grimm… which is crazy, but apparently, it's true, somehow, then… it still doesn't make sense why you're antagonizing her? Isn't she... obviously going to smash you to pieces?"

Raven just rolled her eyes. It wasn't the first time he'd brought this up, but this time, there was no battlefield bravado—which meant he hoped he'd get actual answers.

And for once, he seemed lucky. Raven gave him a contemptuous look as she explained, "Because your aunt will never even learn you've gone missing, not unless you decide to tell her yourself. Tell me," she smirked with obvious pride in her own deductions, "do you think your little bodyguard will tell the Queen that she failed to protect you? No. Instead, she'll try to solve it herself, probably with one of her rivals trying to steal the glory and further embarrass her. Ozpin will send someone, of course, as will Atlas and Mistral, if they find out. And after all those bumblers have tripped over each other enough to do the work for me, they'll discover that they can't get you back… and I'm going to find whichever faction seems like the most fun to put over a barrel and then I start writing zeros on a paper until I find a number I like." She cracked a sinister smile. "And that is how a Bandit Queen works. Consider that lesson gratis."

Jaune had to admit, it was pretty impressive.

...And it worryingly reminded him of some of the lessons he'd learned on Aunt Salem's knee as a little boy. Jaune really didn't want to imagine what it might be like if Raven and his aunt somehow ended up cooperating, or worse, enjoying each other's company. Raven, smirking down at him with a look of supreme smugness, was definitely living up to her self-proclaimed title of "Queen Bitch of Remnant." With a flourish, she turned and left the tent, content that she… got whatever it was she wanted out of him.

"She's usually nicer," Vernal, about to follow her leader, said apologetically, then thought about it some more. "Well, actually, no, she isn't. If anything, she's often meaner, so… hey, things could be worse!"

With that, he was once again alone in his captivity, a situation he had learned meant a lot of free time.

Plenty of time to think more about his aunt. It was… still hard to think of her as someone that powerful, even if, rationally, Jaune knew it was silly to deny it. Auntie was a woman of strange and supernatural power who moved through the world like a Queen of all she surveyed, whether at family dinners or little league games. No Grimm ever truly threatened his family, even if they seemed poised to do just that. And his sisters used to tease him, saying she could command a Beowulf to hide under his bed…

But… why would she let him become a Huntsman if they were her sworn enemies? Why was there-

Jaune stopped himself. These questions would lead him nowhere until he had a way to get answers. His mind would only lead him down treacherous paths as his doubts and fears overtook him in lieu of actual facts. He wasn't… he wasn't allowing himself to even think about Pyrrha, Ren, and Nora, nothing more than the certainty that they were coming to rescue him. He could ask them all he wanted to know then, and thinking of it now wouldn't... like thinking about why Weiss suddenly changed her mind about…

No, Jaune wasn't going to go down that road. He just had to be patient and wait for rescue.

Because if Raven was right, and his aunt did command the army of monsters that ruled the planet, his rescue might be extremely messy, but it was surely coming soon.

They were lost.

They were extremely lost.

Fox had figured that this was the logical outcome of their little rally—actually, he figured they'd have gotten stopped before they left Vale, if not Beacon, but hey, it wasn't like there were "regulations" or "policies" when one of your party is the richest girl in the world. But money could only get you so far, and now they had gotten out of Vale and into the woods… the woods they would, hopefully, one day, leave.

Fortunately—for a given value of fortunate—they had a team of three terrifying lunatics backing them up, and they were out for blood, and that made them scary efficient. Oh, did he say three lunatics? Ha, how silly to forget that Blake Belladonna turned out to be an ex-terrorist! Who, somehow, of course, worked excellently with Miss 1%, Weiss Schnee, who had her own network of resources and contacts as they ruthlessly searched the continent. When Blake had handed Coco a set of forged passports for Team CFVY, it only made sense that her or Weiss or any one of their party was experienced with forging documents. Oh! And then it turned out that Yang Xiao Long's obvious parental issues were much more terrifying than hot girls normally had? Or that Velvet's little cult thing had become a wedge movement in an actual cult that, oh look, Velvet, Coco, and Ruby were now a part of.

Ruby was the one that surprised him. Even after all of this, learning that sweet, innocent Ruby Rose was part of this… insanity surprised him.

With a sigh, he tossed another branch on the fire, hearing the sparks and embers soaring into the night sky. Why was this really how he was spending his time?

Once they reached Mistral, it became extremely obvious that their "guide's" knowledge of bandit encampments was a lot more vague than he might have let on. So after heading North for a while, now they were trying to figure out where they were actually going. And that meant they were stopped now, making camp, as everyone else apparently had their own network of contacts in Mistral to work while he sat in front of the campfire with Yatsuhashi. Yep, even Velvet had some people she was getting in touch with to help track down…

Seriously, had he missed something? Was he just extremely impressive visually? Because Fox had no idea why literally everyone he knew was so invested in Arc.

"Heavy thoughts?" Yats asked him.

With a rueful laugh, Fox tossed another stick into the fire. "What makes you think that?"

"It's not uncommon with you," the big guy said, "Also, you might not be aware that you've been messaging us 'dammit, dammit, dammit' on and off all day."

Shit. "Well..." he drawled, "I mean, it's not wrong..."

Yats laughed at that as he put another log on the fire.

He heard someone join them. Since they were both quiet and didn't make a whole production out of their arrival, it was either Ren or Blake, a question confirmed as their visitor spoke up. "We may have a lead on Raven's location, but it's… uncertain." He sighed, heavily. Fox actually felt a little bad for him—it was easy to be annoyed at the tornado of insanity that had plucked him up from Vale and hurled him into the wilderness, but only at a distance. In person, Fox could tell that Ren really worried for his Team Leader for… some reason.

"Hey man," he said, sympathetically, "We'll find him. Between Weiss and Blake and you guys, plus, Velvet's extended family means she's got relatives everywhere," he laughed at his weak joke, "We'll definitely get a lead soon."

"Thanks..." Ren said. It was more politeness than anything, but Fox was good at hearing the underlying meaning of things—benefits of a Semblance built around telepathy, not because he was blind—so he knew that Ren actually did appreciate the sympathy. He was stressed, overtaxed, and very much in need of good news… but even if all Fox could offer was some false hope, at least it was something to cling to.

Damn, now he felt like a dick for bagging on all of them.

"We need to keep searching."

Oh, yes. Pyrrha. Her voice cut in like jagged steel, no longer the soft voice of the reserved Mistralian celebrity who stammered whenever Coco teased her.

Fox had learned to be afraid of Pyrrha Nikos. As she took her seat around the fire, Fox felt the gravity of the conversation just get pulled into her orbit. Fox had seen this before—any time CFVY hung out with JNPR, Fox felt the pull on her celebrity—but this time, it had nothing to do with her fame. No, it had to do with the single minded purpose she had begun to exhibit for her partner once he went missing. And it was a little… scary.

Not that Fox was any less jealous for it that some random guy fresh off the farm had Weiss Schnee for a girlfriend, Pyrrha Nikos as his devoted bodyguard, Yang Xiao Long openly offering herself however he'd have her, and Velvet—their Velvet, sweetest girl in Beacon—Scarlatina thought of him as a demigod. Seriously! What was his deal? Was this actually a sighted thing he just wasn't getting?

"We will," Yats said, the big guy being ever the reassuring voice, "But for now, the best thing you can do for yourself—and for him—is to rest."

She didn't seem to take his advice that well. But Fox could hear that familiar hitch in her breath, the little hiccup… the sound of a woman who would not be caught crying. Not here. Not in public.

Damn, they were good at making him feel like an asshole.

"Come on, Yatsuhashi!" Ah good, Coco was here to make him seem better in comparison. He heard his partner slap Pyrrha on the back as she cheered, "We don't need to be so down! What we need to be doing right now is figuring out how Jauney boy's harem is going to be organiz-"

"Coco!" Velvet wailed from behind him, as though a year and a half's experience had taught her nothing about how to get Coco to stop, "Don't make it weird! It's- It's a matter of faith, not- not that!"

But her cries attracted more people to the fire. In no time, Yang was chiming in, "If there's a harem, my girl Weiss is top girl, Team RWBY ain't rolling over-"

"I will fight for Velvet-"

"RENNY! Defend my honor and place in this harem!"

Welp, it was a whole thing now, wasn't it. But… Fox couldn't deny it, it did seem to lift the spirits around the fire. Even Pyrrha's murderous aura seemed more… playful than-

Nope, very murderous, very scary, Fox was gonna keep things quiet for now. But at least, the group seemed optimistic and cheerful instead of that mix of desperation and vengeance he'd been so familiar with. He could even-

"Guys!" Sun's excited voice suddenly burst into the conversation, "I just heard from Headmaster Lionheart! And he says that-"

"Wait," Ren cut in, "You- you told the Headmaster about our mission? And he- what did he say, Sun?"

"Yeah..." Sun said, oblivious to Ren's tone, "I told him we were going after, wassername, uh, Slalom's? Son? Nephew? Whatever the deal is, but he got really pale or something and told me that it was extremely important that we get him back, but the important thing is: I'm not expelled for going AWOL! Also! We have a location to rescue our guy! So everyone's a winner!"

Oh yes, a location, meaning they were no longer lost just… heading straight to the lair of a legendarily fearsome bandit. Fox… sure felt like they were in a better situation now!

Winter knew there were many problems with this rescue plan.

First, there was the matter of the still-unknown connection between Mr. Arc and Queen Salem. For Branwen to so directly antagonize Salem herself, he couldn't be that important, but at the same time, why would she bother, when she was much better off staying off the Grimm Queen's radar? Then there was the matter of her striking while the students were on a school trip. Yes, they were more vulnerable away from the school, but they were together, in a unit that was prepared for an ambush, even if Grimm, not human—a kidnapper would be much better served striking while they were on a recreational trip to Vale.

And finally… there was the issue of how Winter would explain to Headmaster Ozpin and General Ironwood why she had murdered Qrow while in the field.

She glared at him, obliviously chewing on his greasy diner burger with his mouth open, and concluded that no one would judge her for doing it. Not after all she endured, the crassness, the unprofessionalism, the endless stream of seasonal puns! If anything, people would thank her. He was, at least, sober—Winter couldn't stand drunkards—so thank heaven for small mercies, but Qrow had far more ways to annoy her in his repertoire.

"Hey, Win," he asked, food still in his mouth, "You sure you're not hungry? This place has the best burger n' fries you can get this far North in Mistral."

"I'm fine," Winter answered, icily, "Something has made me… lose my appetite."

A glance to the grill, in full view of the customers, where the "chef" was scratching his armpit reconfirmed exactly how little Winter wanted to sample the cuisine here. If this was the "best" option this far North… Winter didn't want to imagine what they might encounter as they went further into the Mistralian interior.

"Let's just focus on business," she said, quietly wondering if it would really be so bad if Atlas, and its aggressive food handling regulations, simply ruled the entire world instead of just one continent.

"Well, the good news is," Qrow said, pushing a map towards Winter, "I've heard back from some of my contacts, and I can narrow down which area Rae's probably setting her camp at. Can't know the location for sure, but I can narrow it down to here," he gestured to a square drawn over a sparsely-inhabited region of forest, "and the X's are where I think she'd put a camp. At least, where our old man always taught us made for good campsites."

Looking at the grimy map, Winter had to admit… Branwen knew what he was talking about. Seeing the regions he'd highlighted, she could quickly piece together from the terrain how it might make a good spot to conceal a camp, many of them being not intuitive if Qrow hadn't pointed it out to her first.

Fortunately, she didn't have to give a begrudging compliment as Qrow was distracted by a brawl breaking out between two Mistralians—loggers from the looks of things. Burly, but inexperienced with actual fighting and mostly just throwing drunken haymakers at one another. She had thought Qrow was going to intervene and prevent any further damage or disruption to the establishment… but no, he was instead joining the rapidly forming crowd to hoot and cheer as they watched mindless brawn bash against itself.

But with Qrow out of the way, though, Winter could activate her scroll and patch it through to the Atlas CCT network… and to her team up in Argus. No time for pleasantries, she had orders to relay.

"I need you to get to these coordinates fast," she hissed into the receiver, snapping a quick photo of the map, "We may have an unprecedented opportunity for Atlas so long as we recover the package."

"Fast is what I do, Ma'am," the voice replied.

All the confirmation she needed. Winter smiled as she hung up her scroll. Atlas had been busy under General Ironwood's leadership, putting together a new force for order in this world and against Salem. It was top secret so far, but it looked like this would be the perfect time to introduce the world to the name… Ace-Ops.

Raven Branwen wouldn't even know what hit her.

They had a location. Seemed Yang's mom was on the radar of Mistralian intelligence, albeit in more of a "avoid these areas" sense, but Blake knew that they were really only a day away from closing in on where they could find the Branwen gang. It was a time where the smart thing to do was rest up, even Pyrrha knew to put aside her vengeance for now and go to bed, but Blake was still up. Blake was still up because someone else was still up.

The fire had burned down to embers, most of their ad-hoc rescue group having gone to sleep. But there was one person still sitting there, still staring at the fire. One person who never let anyone see her pain.

Weiss.

Carefully approaching the fire, Blake made her presence known with a quiet "Still up?"

Weiss blinked in surprise, drawn from her thoughts and back into the real world. "Oh, um, yes, yes I am..."

Taking a seat right by her teammate, Blake got right to the point. "Wanted to check in on you," she said, "You've been through a lot."

"It's so weird, isn't it?" she said, staring into the fire, "Traveling across continents to rescue my boyfriend and also… he's worshiped as a god now? I mean, I knew something was up with him and his team—I told you, I thought it was organized crime, then I found out it was a cult when I found a hymnbook Nora'd left behind- you don't want to know," she cut off Blake's interest before she could even ask, "But… I still just figured Jaune was just… a High Priest's son or something and not… whatever Pyrrha thinks he is!"

Blake gave Weiss an encouraging smile. "You know, if she makes a move on your man… Team RWBY has your back. We won't let her-"

"She'd kill you."

"Doubtlessly. But we're here for you."

Weiss couldn't hold back her smile after that. Blake leaned back in her seat, hearing the logs spark and crack. "And… even if it's not fighting the teenage queen of bloodsport, we're here for you."

Her smile seemed to droop a little. "Thanks, you and Yang have been great...," she sighed, "I mean, Ruby's been… she's been great, but..."

"But she's 15?"

Weiss shook her head. "It's actually the opposite," she said with an almost disbelieving laugh, "But it's… she's almost too responsible. She's being as supportive as she can, way more supportive than I ever thought I could ever..." her voice grew wispy and strained, childhood memories certainly playing out in her mind, "But she's busy. She's a leader, and that's what she's been doing this trip. She has to coordinate between all of our contacts and make a marching plan, and she needs my help in knowing how much food we need to not starve… she's trying to keep us all together as best she can and I..."

"You need somebody else you can lean on," Blake said with a smile, "Somebody who isn't taking on all the responsibilities of the world."

Weiss nodded, giving Blake a tired smile. "I never thought… I really never thought I'd meet so many good people at Beacon. I'm… I'm very lucky to have you all, as friends."

It was hard not to be touched. She might be the Ice Queen and the Princess of the SDC, but Blake… Blake found that she rather did like Weiss as a person.

"Okay," she sighed, although she'd already made up her mind to allow this before even sitting down at the fire, "I know what you've been wanting since forever, so… If it'll help you feel better, yes, you may pet my ears."

Weiss's eyes went wide, as though she didn't believe what her ears were hearing… then they darted upwards to where Blake twitched from the sudden attention. Leaning forward, she lowered her head as Weiss's uncertain, trembling hand reached forward… and ran her fingers along the furry ridge.

"So… so soft..." Weiss gasped as she gently stroked Blake's ears. Blake smiled. It was good to help Weiss out and—though she would never admit this to any human ever, under pain of death—she really did love getting her ears pet.

Thanks to Renarde for feedback on this chapter!

Raven's plan is revealed and can be summarized as "Everyone's an idiot but me," and she's got some logic there. Cinder is out to get Pyrrha and Tyrian to secure her place under Salem and get her Maiden plan back on track, Winter and the Ace Ops want Jaune for Atlas, which Qrow and the Fellowship might have some objection to, plus Winter is this close to murdering Qrow already, and Lionheart is terrified out of his mind about what might happen if Salem's nephew gets hurt on his continent. It's a war of all against all, and Raven's content to sit back, let them fight it out, and reap the rewards...

But at the same time, it's not really "all against all" as the Fellowship strengthens their bonds as they pursue their missing demigod. But with everyone heading to the showdown, we'll see how the bonds of friendship and ear petting fare when the blades come out.

Also, Vernal really thinks Jaune has the making of a great bandit, even before getting to the fact that he's already got a team of skilled Huntsmen fanatically devoted to his cult of personality, and she's really disappointed that they're losing him once the ransom's paid. Always a shame to meet a promising recruit and then lose them to another industry.