Chapter 17: The Weary General

The first thing that hit him, as he exited the airship with the others, was the cold. The other passengers didn't seem to mind, and he drew several breaths of the Atlasian air. He shivered. "Thank goodness I brought my Pumpkin Pete's hoodie," he said. The two agents approached to lead him to his destination.

"Mr. Arc," one said, "you are to attend a meeting with the General; however, until then you are to be escorted to one of the spare dorms at Atlas Academy." They're offering free room and board? Jaune thought, that's nice of them. They boarded a bullhead and flew to the academy, per Atlasian fashion.

Minutes later, Jaune was shown his dorm. As soon as he flopped onto the bed, sleep overtook him. Dreams of Pyrrha and Blake plagued him. Before he knew it, he was awakened early the next morning. His scroll had a message, and was buzzing in his pocket: "Mister Arc, the meeting will be held at 08:30 hrs. Do not be late." He checked the time in his scroll, "8:12" he said to himself, suddenly he realized what that meant.

"Oh no!"


They were escorted directly to the academy. On the way there Yang opened up her scroll and read that message from Blake. Then she reread it; and again a third time. She wanted to be angry, to be furious at her partner; but no matter how hard she tried, she just felt… alone.

Yang, it began, I'm sorry I couldn't tell you this in person. I know I left you without saying goodbye last time, and that was selfish of me. But seeing you with your family made me miss mine; so now I'm leaving to go see them. I suppose this is goodbye, for now at least.

It took a moment for Yang to realize that someone had a hand on hers. "Yang," Ruby tentatively asked, "What's wrong?" she closed her scroll, "Nothing, don't worry about It." she turned away, trying to hide her tears.

Fortunately, only Ruby noticed.

They landed after a moment. And they were ushered into the school. Ruby noticed that through the trip, Weiss not only hadn't spoken, but seemed sullen, even anxious… and not in a good way. A cloud of dread seemed to hang over her.

Before they knew it, they were out of the cold and into a warm waiting room. The first person they saw there took them by surprise. "JAUNE?!" Ruby burst, nearly running him over, "What are you doing here? Are Ren and Nora here too?" He stood up and groaned, "Ruby, I'm not having a good morning."

The receptionist called Qrow, Nick, and Winter; and they entered an office door as the others sat down. "What happened?" Ruby asked. Jaune sighed and said, "Well, when I woke up this morning there was a message for me to be here at eight-thirty. My scroll said it was about eight-fifteen or so. I rushed to get dressed and skipped breakfast, but I didn't know my scroll was ahead a couple hours." Ruby giggled, but Jaune continued, "I didn't know where to go, so I asked a passing guy –he had red hair– if he knew the way to General Ironwood's office. I didn't think he understood me, because all he did was start clicking his tongue. Thankfully, his partner –I think her name was Kelp– told me how to get there. I still got lost a few times though." He ran a hand through his hair.

"I see you have found your way, yellow haired man," a deep, heavily accented voice suddenly boomed. They all turned to it, seeing a spiky red-haired man wearing a leather vest, torn shorts, white running shoes, and a smirk on his face. He chuckled and walked on. "But you do not know de way." They looked on in bewilderment as he stopped and spit on the floor.

"Awkward," Ruby said, to everyone's agreement


When they entered the office, one of the things Nick took notice of was the book on the Generals desk. Another was the General himself, whose white uniform was offset by his five o'clock shadow and weary eyes. The book gave Nick an eerie feeling. Alistair's Adventures, Nick thought, I don't like where this is going. There are a lot of things in that book, things I'd rather not do again. Places I've visited, places not meant for beings like us.

Ironwood rose from his seat. Qrow spoke up first. "Alright Ironwood, what's all this about?" chagrin showed on his face, but Ironwood said, "Please, have a seat. There are some things that we need to discuss." There are also things that should stay secret, buried in myth and legend, Nick said as he sat. Qrow remained standing, leaning on the General's desk.

"Why did you drag The Ace of Spades here?" Qrow threateningly asked. Ironwood calmly answered, "I wanted him to provide assistance concerning Atlasian safety and security, a private matter." Private matter," Qrow grumbled as he took a seat. "With your permission, sir," Winter spoke up, "I'd like to remain and learn the reason of fetching this Wildsman." Nick merely glanced over at her with an 'is that so!?' look on his face, eyebrows raised. Ironwood said, "Granted," but his face showed that he didn't really care. He turned to Qrow, "you may as well be here, Qrow. I know you want to know what this security matter is." He rose and addressed the three, "part of it concerns our Fall Maiden candidate." Qrow said under his breath, "our late candidate." All Nick did was slowly blink; Winter furrowed her brows. "General, I don't understand, are you implying–" Qrow interrupted her, "Yup, the maidens are real too." "Too?!" she said.

Qrow and Ironwood filled them in on the recent events. One thought that prevailed in Nick's mind was, What makes you think that Pyrrha Nikos was a future Maiden? He knew full well that the Maiden Powers transferred to the Person in their thoughts, and also couldn't be easily forced into another. "Readings taken from the top of Beacon tower," Ironwood said, lowering the lights and displaying a hologram above his desk, "revealed an unknown energy signature. At first, our scientists were baffled, saying, 'that this energy exists is astonishing' but a mathematician pinpointed the origin of the energy. From what she found, the energy came from and exists within another dimension." Nick really paid attention to that, and he put two and two together… getting a lot more than just five. Ironwood paced back behind his desk, putting his hand on the book. "From what we could gather, from both the energy readings, the Silver Maiden's rupture, and several witness accounts, I have concluded this certain fact: our fall maiden is not dead; she has been removed from our dimension, and has ended up in the Other… and only one of us in this room has passed from here to there and back again." He looked at Nick, and the others turned in kind. Nick simply sighed, "Gentlemen, I've been sitting here quietly for some time, and now I have something to say." He got up off the chair and drew a breath.

"Goodbye."

He turned and walked away, leaving the rest a bit stunned for a moment. The General called after before he reached the door. "So if you are the Traveler, then tell us what you've seen on your travels." Nick halted in his tracks, turned around and replied, "What I've seen? I've seen a lot: wood, water, stock and stone…

"I've seen the treasure that waits for a man to find. I've seen the consequence when the sun and the moon combine. I've seen the peaks of mountains that reach out and touch the sky; the struggle to survive in the desert where dreams have died. I've seen the best and worst that we try to hide: the salt of the earth, and the evil of humankind. I've seen the wrecked and ravaged and scavengers rummage through debris, and those who've searched in hope finding meaning where none seems to be. And some that stormed the beaches, some that pledged allegiance, some that scorched the earth for motives that they don't agree with; since some get lost among the current of their grievance, for the tide of death and birth left them speechless. I've seen love bring some to their knees and some lift hearts when they smile for no reason. I've seen fairy tale endings to believe in, and now I see a man who'd see the same if he'd but seize it."

They all stood in silence. "You want me to go back –there– and find this girl," Nick stated. Ironwood answered, "Yes, but not alone." He buzzed his receptionist, "Send in Mr. Arc." He turned to Winter, "Miss Schnee, you will accompany him." She saluted, "Yes sir."

A moment later, Jaune stepped through the doors. Nick merely glanced at him. "General Ironwood," Jaune nervously said, "you wanted to see me… sir?" "Mr. Arc," he replied, "there's an expedition underway, and I'd like you to be a part of it." "Mister Ironwood," Nick said, playing one of his last cards, "Right now I'm a guardian, I have a charge to watch over." Qrow's eyebrows rose. After a moment's thought, the General concluded, "Well, I suppose they will join you." "Will?!" Qrow interjected, getting even more cross, "the only way she'll go with him is if she chooses to." "I don't think you're getting this through your head," Nick said, "I'm not going back to the Nightmare."


By the time Nick got out, he found the girls gone. He decided to take a walk. I've been marshalled into this op, he thought as he passed through the halls. Finally, he walked to the parade grounds, and looked up into the sky. His mind drifted.

"So, how'd it go?"

He looked down at the red-and-black dressed girl suddenly beside him. "Oh, that bad, huh?" She said, perceiving from his eyes. Nick, at this point, didn't mind Ruby's company, "that meeting got worse than Hogan's goat." He watched the rose petals drift away, "That General seems to have turned me into, at this point, a regular stooge." She replied, "You mean like Ren?" He looked at her, thinking, What? Does she need a dictionary or something? After a pause, he said, in a funny voice with a smirk, "Nyuk nyuk." She sputtered and giggled, saying, "Wha?! What is that?!" he looked at her and said, "Don't worry about it, Potshot." He turned up to the CCT tower, and she followed his gaze. They stayed there for a moment, not saying a word, and then the two walked on.

"N-Nick," Ruby nervously said as they walked to the assigned dorms, "Weiss and I've been talking… about you and Yang." He looked over at her inquisitively, "Me and Yang?" "Um, yeah," she said with a nervous chuckle, "well, she said that you had, a 'Special Gaze' for my sister, and that Yang seemed to–" "you better stop there," Nick said, raising a hand, "Gossip can be a poison." "Oh," she blanched. "well…" she sighed, wanting to get this off her chest, "All I know is when we talk to her, and we bring you up, she changes… she acts like she's hiding something… I've never seen her like that." Uh oh, Nick thought, It's gonna get a whole lot harder now, I better not be startin' this too.

I don't want her to get hurt.

A/N: Lately I seem to have fallen into the fallacy of prepping Nick for the series (an unlikely scenario, to be sure). thing is, he'd be different; much different...

And, along with the fact that I feel I should state my RoosterTeeth membership (I'M NOT A FIRST MEMBER) I haven't been on there since I joined, back in 20-bacon. and I can't load the site, I 'm lucky I can post here.

the review:

KnightSpark: Well, at least she said goodbye... and why she had to go. Although a simple text message isn't quite as personable and heartfelt to Yang as a face-to-face talk would be.
But if you're worried about bad feelings, It's just gonna get worse from here. I'll be doing things that you may not like, that people may not like.