RWBY: Destiny of Remnant

by UGX7

In the wake of the fall Team RNJR sets out to bring Cinder Fall to justice while the new Fall Maiden overlooks her master's plan in Haven City. Meanwhile Weiss tries to help a friend, Yang struggles with the loss of her arm, and Blake deals with guilt over the White Fang. Meanwhile someone from Cinder's past returns and Salem's newest pawn rises. Arkos, WhiteRose, SunnyBees, Renora

3. The City of Haven

RWBY is owned by Rooster Teeth and created by the late and great Monty Oum.

Read, review, and tell me how I can improve, what you liked and what you didn't. Your feedback is appreciated, thank you!

RWBY: Destiny of Remnant

Chapter 3: The City of Haven

The city of Haven was not Mistral's capital, but it was its biggest city. Ten miles long and nine miles wide, this monstrosity of a city could be very intimidating for those who had lived in the country or any of the other solitary environments of Remnant for most of their lives. Some had even described it as hell bursting through the sidewalks and reaching to grab the sky.

Over five dozen skyscrapers towered over the smaller buildings, dwarfing everything, one or two of them even making Beacon Academy look diminutive in comparison. One of these in particular, the Seras Kalifa Building, had become a popular tourist attraction along with its usual business affairs as it stood at over three thousand feet, making it the tallest structure in all of Remnant.

Below these gigantic obelisks stood other buildings of various shapes and sizes and purposes; there were banks, movie theaters, entertainment centers, malls, recording studios, pharmaceutical companies, hospitals, police stations, business buildings, book publishers, construction sites, iron works, science labs, factories, clubs, bars, stadiums, parks, schools, restaurants, and of course churches and other places of worship. But the biggest and most common sight in the city was statues. Many, many statues.

There were so many statues in Haven that it had been nicknamed the 'City of Stone', but the amount of angel statues had also garnered it the moniker of 'City of Angels'. These huge statues were seen as historical landmarks as one of the chief designers of the city had been adamant in their placement. These statues, be they of angels, gargoyles, famous Huntsmen or Huntresses, or even a general from a war long over, helped to paint a picture of the city's spirit in the minds of its visitors.

Many modes of transportation covered the city, be they car, train, boat, or airship. Highways and roads, for cars and buses that were the primary way of transportation for most, save for the ones who could not afford vehicles. Bridges and yards and long stretches of track covered the railways and monorails that served as ways for people without cars to get around the huge city, sadly though it was a common place to get mugged or attacked. There were also the airships, ways for people across the planet to get to and from the city and its ten or so airports, as well as a few abandoned ones. Boats were mainly for recreational purposes but they were still used by the fishermen who lived in the city as workplaces.

Many slums, caused by bad economic situations or the occasional Grimm attack, covered the city, home to the homeless, drug addicts, runaways, and criminals who did not wish to be found. There were also many legends in this city, such as Grimm mutations in the sewers or even a pack of hyper-intelligent Beowolves that hid in the slums and alleyways and killed and feasted upon the homeless and those who wandered too close to their territory. All the legends were just that of course, even if they were inspired by fact.

The city was but a mere shadow of what it once was, it had been meant to be a new place for one to start a life, be you human or Faunus, man or woman, young or old, this city was named from what it was supposed to be; a haven.

However, not everything goes according to plan. Like many cities it had attracted many criminals and murderers, with them came organized crime and police brutality, with them came assassins and protests and civil unrest. Gangs, mobs, racial tensions, thieves, homeless people, vigilantes, anything that could go wrong with a city had gone wrong.

And yet its people still loved it.

While there were many good people in Haven, who wanted to live good and peaceful lives in the city, no matter how hard it seemed, there were also many people who came to the city as a place to commit crimes that had a good chance of going unnoticed. A city as large as this was a haven for criminals. Both shared this city, both ruled it, both made this city what it was.

The group consisting of Ruby Rose, Jaune Arc, Lie Ren, and Nora Valkyrie, along with their friend, a guerrilla Huntsman known simply as Ashe had finally arrived at this metropolis for the sole purpose of finding Cinder Fall.

Ruby, Jaune, Nora, Ren, and Ashe departed the monorail the group had entered the city in and looked around in amazement at the impressive feat of technology and architecture. There was not much snow in the city, partly because of the heat it generated, however there was still the occasional white heap or slick patch.

"This is amazing! No wonder Uncle Qrow always talked about this place so much!" Ruby said as her eyes sparkled in wonder.

"Ren, I think I'd like to live here someday." Nora said as calmly as she could, which was still rather cheerful.

"I don't think that would be wise Nora, considering the cities' crime rates I've read about. Although I do admit it is an impressive looking city." Ren agreed.

Jaune did not really care about the impressive looking city, as he had been here years ago; he cared about finding Cinder Fall.

They felt safer from being spotted by either law enforcement or those that could be under Cinder's employ as they had made sure their heads were covered with hoodies, Ren's face was covered by sunglasses, and their weapons were concealed within travel bags they had bought at a store nearby the train station outside the city.

"Alright, follow me; we'll have to be careful if you guys are sure you have to avoid being seen." Ashe said.

"Most definitely." Ren confirmed.

"I'd prefer not being caught." Nora agreed.

"Let's just go." Jaune said as the group walked down the metal staircase and onto a sidewalk.

"Okay, I'm gonna call Sun and ask him for help." Ruby said as she took out her scroll.

"Won't the Atlas Military or something like that be listening to our calls? I heard they monitor us and stuff like that." Jaune said, remembering an old conspiracy theory he once heard from Russel Thrush.

"If that were true Cinder and everyone who works for her would have been caught months ago." Ruby said pointed out.

"Should we stay to the ground or go atop the roofs? It would probably be faster if we jump, and in the dark we won't be noticed as easily." Ren suggested, Ashe nodded.

"Not a bad idea, it would be a good way to get by, plus given Haven Academy people are used to kids jumping across rooftops, you kids good at jumping?" Ashe asked.

"Everyone but me, I'll need some help getting across large gaps and streets." Jaune said.

"Don't worry me and Ren can carry you if we have to." Nora said.

"Okay, let's head to high ground." Ruby said.

"Into an alleyway, we can climb up a fire escape." Ashe said as he led the kids into the city.

Ruby looked up at the many buildings; the highest she had ever been was on General Ironwood's flagship when she fought Torchwick and his henchgirl Neo. She even saw a few airships hovering besides the skyscrapers, as if they were flies buzzing around a person. She had never really been afraid of heights, well except for when she was hanging off the flagship with Torchwick about to throw her off, so the sight of the huge buildings made her want to climb them, get to the top, and look out and see the whole of Remnant. She knew that it would be impossible to see the whole world from that height, but it would be the same wonderful feeling.

Ruby took out her scroll and looked up Sun's number and called him. 'Please still be here...' she muttered, hoping he did not return to Vacuo.

Soon a familiar voice answered the call, "Ruby! Where are you? I spoke to your dad the other day; he said you went out to stop that Cinder witch! Tell me you're not doing that on your own." Sun pleaded.

"No! Of course I'm not on my own, I've got Jaune, Nora, Ren and a new friend called Ashe with me!" Ruby assured him innocently.

"That's not exactly what I meant but it is better. Where are you anyway?" Sun asked.

"We're in Haven."

"WHAT?!"

Ruby flinched "We're in Haven..." she repeated.

"... Blake was not joking when she said you're a little nutty. What the heck are you doing in Haven?" Sun asked.

"Okay, hear me out. Remember Cinder, Mercury, and Emerald?" she asked.

"Of course I do, they're the ones responsible for what happened at Vale along with the White Fang." Sun answered grimly.

"Exactly, well before we found out how evil they are, they told us they came from Haven, so that's where we're looking." Ruby explained.

"You do realize they were probably lying, right?" Sun pointed out.

"Yeah, but so far it's the only lead we have, plus the criminal element in this city is so bad there will have to be rumors about where Cinder is if she's not here." Ruby said.

"Okay, where are you right now?" Sun asked.

Ruby looked around as Ashe led the group into an alleyway where a fire escape was. "We're heading to some rooftops on the city's east side... can you meet us at..." Ruby looked around for a building that would be easily accessible and noticeable enough. She looked and she saw a building that she thought was good enough a few blocks away, "Okay, meet us at this building that's like a normal long-sided one but it has a big cylinder thing coming out of it in the middle, like a tower." She said.

"I know where that is, wait for us, I'm bringing my team with me." He said.

"Okay then." Ruby said as she hung up and followed the others up the fire escape.

"Sun and his team will meet us over at that building." She said, pointing to the building's cylinder tower which was tall enough to see over the wall as they walked up the fire escape.

As they got to the top of the building and walked to the other side Ashe jumped across a small gap between that building and the next. "Come on, we'll start with the small gaps, sounds like Jaune could use some practice." Ashe said.

Jaune went first, easily landing on his feet and Ruby, Ren, and Nora followed. "Okay, when we get to the big gaps Jaune you need to think about making it over to the other side. Think about how much you need to get over there, imagine that your friends are in trouble and will be hurt if you don't make the jumps, imagine Pyrrha being on the other side, waiting for you." Ashe said, provoking shocked reactions from the four teens.

"What?!" cried Ruby.

"What is wrong with you?" asked Ren is disbelief.

"You're crazy, and trust me, I'm an expert in crazy!" cried Nora.

"It sounds like a mean thing to say, but Jaune's Semblance is emotion, that means if he is confident enough and wants something enough, he can get it. If he wants to make that jump badly enough, his emotions will kinda take over his body and he will make the jump. Trust me; it's how I was trained." Ashe justified.

They looked at the man, unsure, but Jaune got a determined look on his face. "I'll do it, if I look like I'm gonna fall though, please have Nora catch me." He said.

"You got it!" Nora promised. They jumped their way across multiple building mostly with ease, going unnoticed by most and those who did notice them assumed they were but students of Haven Academy.

Soon enough, however, they came to a gap created by a street. "Okay... I got this." Jaune muttered to himself, trying to feel desperate enough to make it over to the other side.

"I'll be there for you if you can't make it." Nora swore to her leader as she jumped across the large gap with the others.

Jaune looked at the gap, over a hundred feet. How could he make this? 'Your Semblance! You have to try to take advantage of it now that you know what it is.' He told himself. He got ready to jump, walked back and began running to gain momentum. He ran as fast as he could, he closed his eyes and imagined Ren, Nora, and Ruby in danger, imagined that they would be hurt if he didn't help them. He imagined Pyrrha, standing on the other side, waiting for him, smiling at him with that beautiful smile of hers and her wonderful green eyes.

He ran, he jumped.

'You can do it. I'll always be with you.'

'What the...?'

Jaune couldn't continue that thought as he crashed into the roof on his hands and knees and was greeted with Ruby and Nora's cheers and Ashe helping him up. "Way to go kid! You're better than you made yourself out to be." He praised.

"I... I did it..." Jaune said.

"On your first try too! I am so proud of you!" Ruby said as she high fived Jaune.

"Congratulations, Pyrrha would be proud." Ren said to his leader.

"Yeah... Pyrrha..." Jaune said. The others saw the distant look on his face.

"Are you okay?" Ruby asked.

"Huh? Oh, yeah. Just thinking about Pyrrha." He admitted, getting looks of sympathy from the others.

"Come on, let's get to the building and wait for Sun." Ruby said. As they all followed her Jaune could only think of the voice he heard in his head.

'Pyrrha? Can you hear me?' he said in his mind.

No answer.

Jaune shook his head and continued on with the others.

---

Weiss sat across from her father at the Schnee family dinner table. In spite of the extravagantly made chicken dinner with various assorted vegetables, Weiss had to admit she had gotten used to the school food or the food of 'commoners' in her time at Beacon. She would have honestly preferred them to this, not that she would tell her father that.

"Ah, a marvelous meal! Weiss my dear how is your training coming along?" he asked.

"Fine father. Ms. Baur is an excellent teacher. My fencing has improved greatly thanks to her lessons. However we have yet to make progress on my Semblance." Weiss admitted to her father.

She was still rather embarrassed that a common part of her family's Semblance, the Glyphs, was seemingly still out of her reach. She could not summon the way her sister Winter could and at times that made her feel like a failure.

"Don't worry, your sister's day off is tomorrow, General Ironwood has commanded her to take a day off after all the hard work she has been doing, I know she can aid you with the summoning." Her father suggested.

This made Weiss feel a little better, as her sister was one of the most talented users of Glyphs and Summoning in Remnant and they had made some progress in their previous training session in Vale.

Thinking of those days made Weiss feel depressed, it had been months since she had seen or spoken to Ruby, that dense and wonderful leader of hers. She didn't even get to see her before she had awakened from her coma. She had heard that Ruby had gone off with what was left of Team JNPR to find Cinder Fall and avenge their friends, but Weiss hoped that Ruby didn't do anything stupid, no matter how impossible that was. Winter had implored Weiss to inform her if she received any contact from her friends, so they could have a way of finding them and bringing them in safely, but so far Ruby had not contacted her at all.

Weiss finished her dinner and excused herself from the table and retired to her room. She needed to make a call.

When she approached her luxurious room she took out her scroll and typed in Ruby's number, praying she would answer. She briefly wondered why she was just now doing this? It had been months since their forced separation and she hadn't made any real attempt to contact her partner. Maybe the guilt was just now getting to her? Maybe she was missing Ruby more than she'd like to admit? Why hadn't Ruby called for that matter? Was she angry that her partner hadn't called her to check in on her after her experience during the Fall? Did she not trust Weiss enough?

Whatever the case, the Schnee girl prayed Ruby would answer, and sure enough, she did.

"Weiss! Is it really you?!" the familiar excited voice cried out.

"Of course it's me you dolt! Why would someone else have my scroll?" Weiss asked, but she was happy to hear from her former leader again.

"Guys, it's Weiss!" Ruby said to the others. Ruby was so ecstatic to see her old teammate again, even if it was on a scroll screen.

"Why don't you just yell it out for the entire world to hear? Ruby are you okay?" Weiss asked.

"Yeah, I'm fine. Why wouldn't I be?" Ruby asked, a tad confused.

"Let's just say there's a list, a very long one, but I'm glad you're alright Ruby." Weiss stated.

"Thanks Weiss, I knew you cared way more then you let on." Ruby voiced cheerfully.

"Oh hush, are Jaune and the others with you?" the heiress asked.

"Yep." Ruby answered simply.

"Ruby, I say this to you as a friend, as a teammate with as much respect for you as I can muster... give up this insane mission to find Cinder." Weiss said.

"What? But... but Weiss..."

"We tried to stop them ourselves Ruby, and let's face reality; we failed every time. I've been thinking about the events leading up to the Vytal Festival and in retrospect it seems so obvious now; the breach, the White Fang's involvement, the Grimm attacks, the weird match-ups at the tournament, it was all her. She played us like we were chess pieces Ruby. She used us, all of us. We can't stop her, we are just children. Let General Ironwood handle it Ruby, please! As much as I hate to admit it I don't know what I'd do if I lost you." Weiss admitted sadly.

Ruby and the others listened to Weiss speech, took in the logic. While Weiss' reasoning was sound and very much correct, it didn't stop a few facts. Jaune spoke up "I'm sorry Weiss, but we can't do that. Pyrrha and Penny are dead because of Cinder, we need to take her down, I don't care if I die in the process, as long as Cinder and her two cronies get what's coming to them I'll be happy, even in death. At least I'll be with Pyrrha."

Everyone looked to Jaune, not expecting such brave, or suicidal, words from the boy. His three fellow Hunters-in-training looked at him with concern, however Ashe nodded in a mixture of approval and understanding.

"Was that... Jaune?" Weiss asked in disbelief.

"Uh yeah." Ruby said.

"Put him on." Weiss demanded. Ruby handed the scroll to Jaune. Jaune looked at the girl he once had a crush on and regretted said crush to no end, the crush that had blinded him to Pyrrha's feelings for him.

For her part Weiss was amazed by the new addition to Jaune's face. "You grew a beard?" she asked in disbelief.

Jaune chucked and nodded, "Get rid of it, it makes you look like a vagabond." She said.

Jaune shook his head and said "I haven't been able to shave as often as I used to, plus it'll be a disguise for me I guess." He said as he rubbed the small collection of hair on his cheeks.

Weiss groaned and said "Whatever, listen Jaune... I wanted to say something to you I didn't have the courage to say before, even when I visited you in the hospital."

Now Jaune found these words very enticing. "What is it?" he asked.

"I'm sorry." She answered simply.

There was a silence between the two.

"Sorry for what?" he asked, "Sorry for everything you idiot!" she scolded before she continued, "I'm sorry I always treated you so harshly, I'm sorry I always shot you down, and I'm sorry I left you in that tree all those months ago." Jaune remembered being held in a tree by Miló, being discovered by Weiss and then immediately left behind, only to be found and 'rescued' by Pyrrha soon afterwards. "If a Grimm had found you before Pyrrha had your blood would have been on my hands so as a Schnee I apologize." She said.

Jaune smiled and said "It may have been a harsh move, but honestly Ice Queen?" he said with a smirk, knowing she hated the nickname, "It was the best thing to ever happen to me. I got to be with Pyrrha, even if I didn't realize how special she was to me until it was too late. I owe you everything Weiss." He said, now wearing a sad smile.

Weiss looked away in shame, thinking 'If only we had been faster she might still be here, all of us may still be together.' "Put Ruby back on." She said to him.

"Sure thing." And with that he handed the scroll back to Ruby.

"Ruby, where are you?" she asked.

"In Haven, that's where they said they came from." Ruby answered.

"You'll most likely find nothing, but if you do call me. I will find a way to assist you by any means necessary. I promise I won't tell my sister or General Ironwood about this, but please do not get yourselves killed." Weiss pleaded with her former leader.

"Oh don't worry, it's not just the four of us, I called Sun and his team, they're on their way to meet us and we aren't even alone now, we got a new friend on the way, his name is Ashe." Ruby said as she pointed the scroll to Ashe, who gave Weiss a friendly wave.

"Who is he?" Weiss asked.

"He's a Huntsman, he said he'll help us if we help him find his sister later." Ruby explained, not being entirely truthful.

"Just promise me you will do your hardest not to do the Ruby thing." Weiss said.

"Ruby thing?"

"You know, like riding a rocket-locker up to a flagship, or wandering off with your dog in a Grimm infested area, or riding a Nevermore, or..."

"Okay Weiss! I get it, I'll try not to do anything too crazy. I promise we'll see each other in person again, and that us, Yang, and Blake will be one whole team again. By the way, why are you just now calling me?" The silver-eyed girl inquired.

Weiss sighed and answered, "Maybe I didn't want to risk my sister finding out I've spoken with you. Maybe I miss you and have become worried sick about you. Whatever the reason, I needed to hear your voice, alright?"

Ruby smiled at her and said "Thanks Weiss, it's great to hear from you. See you later."

"Goodbye and stay safe." Weiss said as she hung up. She shook her head and muttered "That girl will give me a heart attack."

She saw her weapon, the beautiful blade known as Myrtenaster which had been placed upon a mantel after her day's training had ended. She grabbed it off the mantel and then closed her eyes and concentrated.

A glowing white circle appeared on the floor. Weiss put every ounce of aura she had into it and a figure began to slowly fade in and out of existence.

"I will do it." She swore.

---

"Your friend seems a bit out of place amongst kids like you." Ashe commented.

"She was at first, but she gave into us after a while." Ruby joked.

"Think she'll keep her promise about not telling Ironwood?" Jaune asked.

"Of course she will! Weiss is a lot of things, but she won't stop us, and you heard her say she'd help us if we needed it." Ruby said before asking "Hey Jaune, you didn't really mean you don't care if you die right? I mean, that's not healthy."

Jaune looked at her and carefully answered, "I don't know."

"Here comes Sun." said Ren as the Monkey Faunus jumped his way effortlessly up the building and landed on the roof.

"Long time no see! You guys are doing pretty good for yourselves." Said Sun as Neptune, Scarlet, and Sage climbed their way up the tower.

"Maybe... wait up for us... next time?!" Scarlet cried.

"Can't help it that you guys are so slow." Sun teased.

As Sun's team took a minute to catch their breath and as Sun introduced the team to Ashe, Neptune noticed Jaune's new beard. "Okay, Jaune, buddy... I consider myself to be your friend, so do us a favor and shave the beard." He said.

"Again! What is it that people have against my beard?!" demanded Jaune.

"Well it does look a little weird on you." Sun admitted.

"And it's rather out of your character." Agreed Ren.

"And it's..." Ruby tried to say before Jaune relented.

"Okay, I get it; it doesn't look good on me! I'm keeping it until we don't need to disguise ourselves anymore okay?!" he snapped.

"Alright, no need to get all mad about it." Neptune said.

"...I think it looks good." Scarlet admitted.

"Okay, now that we're gone critiquing Jaune's facial hair, we should get down to business. Since you guys live in this town do you know who is currently on top of the proverbial food chain." Ashe said to Team SSSN.

The four teen boys looked at each other. "Damien Ante." Neptune said.

"Yeah, that dick, rumor has it he's been taking over every other gang in town and killing anyone who won't pledge loyalty to him." Sun added.

"Damien Ante, I heard about him the last few times I was here, looks like he's moved up in the world." Ashe said as he looked out to the city.

"Why do you want to know about this guy? Aren't you after Cinder Fall?" Sage asked.

"Cinder used to work with Roman Torchwick before he was turned into a snack for a Griffon, chances are she'll be working with someone else like Torchwick here too." Ruby explained.

"Torchwick's dead?" Sun asked to which Ruby nodded. "There goes a potential rematch." he joked, remembering the time he fought Torchwick on the docks with Blake.

That reminded him, "Oh and by the way Ruby, we were planning a little mission of our own." Sun said.

"What mission?" Ruby asked.

"Love monkey here wants us to go out and find Blake and probably take down the White Fang while we're at it." Sage told them.

"Strange minds think alike I suppose." Ren said.

"Well I think it's a great idea! You guys can go off and find Blake after you help us find Cinder!" Ruby said.

"No offense Ruby, but I think 'Let's hunt down Cinder Fall and bring her to justice' is just a way of saying 'suicide' with nine more words." Scarlet said, not impressed with Ruby's simplistic goal.

"Maybe, but we have to try. I think we've come closer to stopping her so far than the army has or even Professor Ozpin." She said, remembering her old Headmaster's vanishing. "I remember after I saw Pyrrha get..." Ruby couldn't continue. She couldn't bear to describe to Jaune and the others what she had seen on that tower.

"After Cinder killed her something weird happened. I felt a huge power overtake me; I remember hearing Cinder cry out like she was scared or confused. Whatever my eyes did it killed or paralyzed that dragon on top of the tower. Cinder wasn't there, so she might be afraid of me. Maybe if I see her again my eye thingy will happen again and we'll beat her." Ruby said hopefully.

"Sounds like a plan, and even if your eyes don't work the five of us may be enough to at least tire Cinder out enough that one of us can go in for a kill." Ashe suggested. While Jaune looked okay with the idea Ruby, Nora, and Ren didn't look so sure.

"That is highly unlikely, especially with her Maiden powers." Ren pointed out.

"But if you got a chance you should take it. Killing her might not be the right thing to do, but it may be the only way to stop her." Sun pointed out.

"Okay, so let's get down to business; we need to find this Damien Ante and you guys need to find something that'll lead you to Blake and the White Fang. Any ideas where we should start?" Jaune asked.

"I have one, big club down town called Haven's Hell, really popular with the scumbags of the city. Tons of 'em hang out there and rumor has it Damien Ante is a frequent customer." Neptune said.

"Then that's where we'll look, but first we could use a base, a place where we can hide and live until this is over." Said Ruby.

"There are some warehouses on the edge of town by the waterfront, most of 'em haven't been used in years. We go there to train sometimes when things get too intense for our teachers' liking." Scarlet said.

"Sounds good to me, let's check it out." Ashe said, and with that they made their way across the city.

It took them an hour to make it, occasionally with Scarlet helping Jaune across the bigger street gaps with his grappling hook on his pistol or Nora giving him a proper boost, but for the most part Jaune was able to make it on his own.

They came to the waterfront warehouses, a part of the docks that was rarely used anymore. "Over there!" Sun said, pointing to a large and long building that had once been used for storage but had fallen into disrepair. "That's where we go. Together we were able to fix it up a bit, put in a fridge, get the water, power, and plumbing working, a TV, the basics. Scarlet got shocked so many times." He continued as he jumped off the building they were on and onto the ground. Everyone followed Sun's example and made their way to the warehouse on foot.

Sun unlocked the heavy door and with some help from Sage and Ashe pushed it open and everyone walked inside. The warehouse looked about as big as one would expect, with the additions of a few old chairs and couches, a TV, and a kitchen area that Team SSSN had managed to create.

Ruby looked around and nodded in approval, "This'll do." She said, happy with it.

"It could use some cleaning, the kitchen could use some work it seems, and there are no beds, but it will have to do for now." Ren said.

Nora dropped her backpack as everyone else did and she "Finally! Thought I'd have to carry that forever."

"We can't stay for long right now, we need to get to this club and find this Damien Ante guy." Jaune said.

"Any idea how we can get close enough to him?" Ruby asked Team SSSN.

"His enforcers, the last two years he's been taking in punks off the street or mercenaries to do his dirty work and he's always on the look out for more." Sun said.

"Then I'll pose as a guy interested in a job." Ashe said as he put two gun holsters on either side of his belt, loading them with one gun each and also arming himself with an odd looking shotgun and an old sword. He had put his own backpack away and had made sure it was closed tight and that no one was interested in it.

"Then you can lure him out to a place where we can jump him and make him talk!" Nora said eagerly.

"Exactly and with us outnumbering him nine to one he won't have a choice." Sun said, grinning.

"Wait, what if he has one of his enforcers with him?" asked Ren.

"Unless he has more than a couple of them they still won't stand a chance against all of us." Jaune said as he took out Crocea Mors.

Ruby smiled, nodded, and said "We can do it."

"While you go inside I'll take a look around for any Faunus who seems like they're the type of person who'd hook up with or know anything about the White Fang." Sun added.

"Sounds like a good plan to me, now let's move out." Nora said as she led the way out of the building.

Ashe saw Jaune looking at his sword. "It looks like a good blade, it will do you good." Ashe said as he sheathed his sword.

"I know it will." Jaune said as the sword entered the shield's sheath mode. Ashe said no more about Jaune's sword; although he did think it was weird there were two emblems on it. One was two yellow arcs, like a double sunrise on the horizon and the other one that appeared to be recently added was a red arrow through a red circle.

---

Another hour later the group of nine arrived at a building that was across from a large structure filled with people. This was the club known as 'Haven's Hell'.

"Okay, Sun and I will go in and look around. If Damien's not there we'll at least try to find out about the White Fang, if he is there I'll lure him out to that alleyway" Ashe said pointing to an empty alley that was far enough away from the club so that a battle would not be noticed, "and you guys will ambush him once I get him in place."

"Good plan." Ruby said as she took out her beloved weapon, Crescent Rose.

Ashe looked at the weapon with wide eyes and said "That makes the stuff I got look pretty mundane."

Ashe and Sun got off the roof and made their way to the club while Ruby and the others made their way to the ambush position.

The two entered the loud club and Ashe had to admit while he didn't really care for clubs it was an impressive sight. Inside over two hundred people danced, drank, flirted, talked, or committed crimes that were too subtle to catch in a loud and crowded place. A rock band performed a song with a blonde woman in her twenties singing in the lead as people danced and cheered to the song.

"This is actually pretty freaking sweet." Sun said as he looked around at the flashing lights and the high up rafters that looked like very tempting swing and jump practice.

"I'll go to the bar and ask for Ante, you look around for anyone who could be connected to the White Fang." Ashe said, Sun nodded to the older man and went off further into the club while Ashe made his way to the bar.

Ashe sat on a barstool and whistled to the bartender who came over and asked a gruff "What'll ya have?"

"I'll have a shot of whisky and info on Damien Ante." Ashe said. The bartender looked at him.

"What are ya, a cop trying to make a name for himself? Have to warn ya kid, the water in the port is filled with guys like you... but you didn't hear it from me." The bartender warned.

Ashe smiled and said "That's okay, I'm looking for a job, heard he's the guy to go to for a man with my talents."

The bartender eyed him warily as he got Ashe the drink he ordered, the older man then hesitantly said "He's... in the back. Can't miss him, he's with a couple of his boys, uh... Tom-Tom and Lao I think." Ashe nodded the older man, took his shot glass and downed the whisky in one gulp. Ashe left the bartender a single lien and made his way into and vanished in the crowd.

Ashe went towards the back and got a glimpse of the target. He had seen the guy's picture on TV last time he was in town, a suspect in a murder case. Obviously didn't get convicted. He went back behind a wall so they would not see him and he made his way to an empty booth and saw Sun who was talking with another Faunus who had the features of a mouse or some kind of rodent. He saw Sun get up, look in his direction and shake his head, not connected to the White Fang.

Ashe waited, taking occasional and careful looks at Damien and noticed Damien's weapons included his bandoliers full of knives and a single gun. Despite the music Ashe was able to hear what they were saying, the most frequent was something about a shipment. It was about twenty minutes before Sun came and sat down. "Okay, I got a tip off on a location for the White Fang, old train yard on the outside of town." He said.

"Good, how'd you get it?" Ashe asked.

"A detective I worked with about six months ago taught me people will tell you stuff and not think much of it if you act like you're drunk. So I spotted this weasel-looking guy, and I think he literally had a weasel looking nose, I acted drunk, gave him some sob story about a human girl tricking me into going on a fake date, he gave me some info about the White Fang." Sun explained.

"Not bad kid, I got a good look at Ante, he's got two thugs with him; the guy with the sword looks like he could be trouble but the street punk looks easy enough." Ashe said.

"They'll still be outnumbered three to one, heck even more with my Semblance." Sun said.

"Good, wait a minute I think Damien's about to leave." Ashe said as he listened as closely as he could, which was hard because of the music, but he could still hear.

"9:30, Okay boys I'm gone. Gotta meet up with Trooper and the others and get the shipment delivered to the factory, see you tomorrow. Damien said.

"Night boss." Lao said simply as he took a sip from his drink.

"Yeah, night..." said the slurred voice of a drunken Tom-Tom.

Ashe and Sun waited for Damien to walk by them and after he was out of sight they made their way to the entrance of the building. As they exited they saw Damien walk down the sidewalk and away from the club. "Stay back, I'll talk to him, once we get in the alley you block it." Ashe whispered as he looked up and nodded to Ren who was watching them.

"Got it." Sun said as he slowed down.

Ashe quickened his pace as he followed the man. "Yo! You Damien Ante?" he asked. Ante stopped in his tracks and he yanked out a dagger.

"Who wants to know?" the crime boss asked.

"Name's Ashe, used to be a Huntsman, I quit because... well the thing is the Grimm, they just don't do it for me anymore, you know?" Ashe said to the man.

Damien turned around and looked at Ashe with smart, judging eyes that were somewhat clouded by alcohol. "I can respect that. I've killed a few dozen Grimm, kill one and they don't leave a body. Human and Faunus on the other hand..."

Ashe nodded, "You see Mr. Ante, I recently got my Huntsman licence stripped from me and I hear you're always on the lookout for men of my skills."

"I need to get somewhere, but if you can show me what you got I can have a more professional meeting tomorrow." Damien said.

"Then how about we take to one of these alleyways and let me show you what I'm capable of." Ashe said.

"Okay then." Damien said, he was a bit drunk and not thinking clearly but he was smart enough to be a little suspicious and he was not afraid that this stranger would try anything because Damien was capable of protecting himself from most threats.

Ashe led him into the chosen alleyway and noticed he didn't see any of the seven teenagers hiding atop the buildings. Good.

Once they got well enough into the alleyway Damien said "Okay Ashe, so what do you really want?" Damien asked as Ashe took out his strange shotgun.

"In a few words or less? A resurrection spell that works and a map to world peace, but that's just me." Ashe said as he pointed the gun at Damien. Damien shook his head and whipped out his own gun.

"You want to go? Okay by me." He said.

"I'll take some of the action." Said the voice of Sun who now blocked the only way into the alleyway holding his weapons Ruyi Bang and Jingu Bang in their combined bo-staff form.

"Two on one? I'll take those odds." Damien said, smirking.

"Then how about nine on one?" asked Jaune as he jumped down. Within seconds Damien was surrounded by Ruby, Ashe, the remains of Team JNPR, and all of Team SSSN.

Damien looked around, completely outnumbered and outgunned.

He chuckled and said "Fuck me, this just ain't my lucky night." He then looked around at the group that had surrounded him and noticed Ruby. The Crescent Rose, the Silver Eyes, the face and hair... this was the girl Cinder was looking for.

"You!" he cried as he pointed at her, "You're Ruby Rose! You're the one she's looking for!" he blurted out.

"Well, at least we know he's working for Cinder." Ren said as he aimed his StormFlowers at the criminal.

Jaune charged forward with Crocea Mors and the sheath's shield form and rammed Damien into a brick wall. "Where is she?!" he demanded to know.

"I'm not telling! Do whatever you want to me, whatever you can come up with in the next hour is nothing compared to what she can do to me in a minute." Damien said.

"Oh I don't know, Cinder's not Nora." Jaune said with a smirk as Nora grinned wickedly, clutching Magnhild to her chest. Damien saw said war hammer and got a little nervous.

"So you must be Jaune Arc, look a little different from the picture with that lame beard." Damien said. Jaune groaned and pressed forward with his shield, crushing Damien into the wall.

"Give her up Ante, and maybe we'll let you walk away." Ruby said.

"No we won't! This guy is one of the most wanted criminals in the city! If we get a confession out of him we'll be heroes." Neptune objected.

"And I wouldn't give Cinder up, I am way too smart to cross her." Damien added.

"Why?! She's a murderer!" yelled Jaune, his anger making him sloppy as Damien managed to push himself free, slide beside Jaune and get back into the middle of everyone.

"It's obvious you haven't enjoyed the experience of killing someone else so let me tell you a little something about murder, boy..." Damien said as he took out two of his daggers and prepared to fight, "it's fun, it's easy, and it's better than sex! Trust me, I've tried it with both genders!" he said.

"Well you're insane." Ashe muttered.

"You brought a bunch of knives to a gun-scythe-hammer-sword-shield-nunchuck-staff-trident-etc... fight, you really think you can win?" Ruby asked with her confident smile.

"Maybe not, but..." Damien said as he threw his daggers to the ground, grabbed the detonator and pushed the button, the resulting explosion knocked Ruby, Ashe, Sun, Jaune, and Neptune off their feet.

Damien jumped overhead and landed behind Nora, who tried to hit him with Magnhild, but he managed to duck. He tried to stab Nora with another Dagger only for Ren to open fire with the StormFlowers and force Damien to retreat.

Sage charged him with his sword and Damien met him head on with a dagger, which was a poor match-up since it only took one mighty swing with the large sword and Damien's dagger was only the hilt. "Oh come on!" cried Damien.

Sage smirked, but it vanished when Damien jumped over Sage and got on his back, holding another dagger to Sage's neck.

"Come another step closer and big boy here gets it!" Damien yelled. Scarlet aimed his flintlock at Damien's head and fired his grappling hook. It missed him by a few inches and became embedded into the brick wall behind him. Damien smirked and called "Ha! Missed!."

Now it was Scarlet's turn to smirk as Sun and Neptune jumped up, grabbed hold of the gun as well and all three pulled together, pulling out several bricks from the wall and hitting Damien in the back of the head. "Ow!" he cried as Sage threw him onto the pavement and put his blade against Damien's neck.

"Okay, I give. You kids are good." Damien relented. Ashe grabbed Damien and slammed him into the wall.

"Tell us where she is and I may consider letting you live." He yelled.

"Like I said, whatever you can do she can do much worse!" Damien said.

"Wait a minute." Said Ruby as she approached Ashe and Damien, "You said she was looking for us, why?" she demanded as she held up Crescent Rose's blade to him, trying her best to be intimidating.

"I don't know, maybe it's because you froze a freaking Wyvern! She also wants the Arc kid. Why, I don't really know but she wants you two alive and I intend to deliver." Damien said through clenched teeth.

Ashe glared and said "No you won't. You die here and now." Ruby and the others all looked at Ashe in disbelief.

"Are you nuts?! We can't just kill him!" Ruby objected, grabbing Ashes arm with a strong grip.

"We should turn him into the police and let them handle him." Ren agreed.

"I don't know, this guy's the one in charge of all the criminals in Haven, we take him out it could all topple over." Sun pointed out, unsure.

"If we let him go you know he'll report to Cinder! We have no choice but to kill him." Ashe said.

"No, let him tell her." Ruby said, glaring at Ashe.

"Why?" Ashe asked.

"Because it wasn't just Pyrrha who died that night, or Penny, but hundreds of other innocent people whether they were civilians or soldiers or students." Jaune said, getting everyone's attention. Jaune glared at Damien and began to yell "The line must be drawn there! Go and tell Cinder and whoever's working with that we are coming and that we will make them pay for what they have done! For all those people, for our friends, for Penny, for Ozpin, and for Pyrrha!" Jaune's rant ended and he began to pant, emotionally drained by the outburst.

They all looked at Jaune with a mixture of admiration and sympathy and then back to Damien. Ashe let him drop to the ground and he said "You heard the kid. Get going."

Damien looked to the alleyway's entrance and grinned. "No, you get going."

They all turned around to see Lao and a drunken Tom-Tom armed with a katana and gun respectively. "Boss, you just keep making mistakes when you get drunk." Lao said. Damien smirked, took out one of his daggers quick as a flash and tried to stab Ashe but Ashe managed to sidestep it as he fired back

Nora fired a grenade from Magnhild and that gave them enough cover to jump to the rooftops, with Jaune getting help from Scarlet, and make their getaway as Damien and his men fired at them.

"Should we go after 'em?" Tom-Tom asked.

"No, we get to the others and get those shipments to the factory. We gotta tell Cinder." Damien said, wondering how Cinder would react to this.

---

The group of nine Hunters kept running and jumping across rooftops until they were a block away and were sure they weren't being followed. "We had him, we could have done what the cops in this city have been trying to do for months or even years and we let him slip through. I know he wasn't who we were after but it still feels like a bad idea to let him go." Ashe said scornfully.

"We need someone to tell Cinder we're here. That way we'll have a way of finding her." Ruby said.

"Yeah, but at what cost? They'll be hunting us from now on Ruby and we don't even know where Cinder is." Ashe pointed out.

"Well, back at the club I heard them say something about a factory thanks to my enhanced hearing and they also mentioned a factory after he got away."

"How did you...?" Ren began to ask only for Sun to answer him.

"My ears might not be as good as a cat's or a rabbit's but they do the job." he said proudly.

"There are hundreds of factories in this city, where would we even start?" Ashe asked.

"We'll worry about that tomorrow; right now I think we should get back to the warehouse and rest up." Ruby suggested. They all agreed with her and made their way back to the warehouse.

Later as they arrived back at the safety of the warehouse Sun told everyone what he heard about the White Fang. "This is the only chance we got to find the sack of crap that hurt Blake and Yang, maybe if we find him we can find Blake and together we can take the White Fang down." Sun said.

"It's a possibility and those old train yards would make for a good hiding place." Neptune agreed.

"Then it's settled, we'll stay in Haven and try to find Cinder while you guys go and try to find Blake and stop the White Fang." Ruby said.

"Okay then, best of luck to you guys, you'll need it. Call us if you need help." Jaune said.

"Same to you." Neptune returned.

Before they left Sun felt like he had to talk to Ruby about his conversation with Yang the other night, he knew she wasn't thinking clearly so he felt bad about swearing at her.

"Ruby about Yang... I talked to her the other night." He began.

"You did?! Is she okay? Is she back on her feet?" Ruby asked hopefully as she hadn't called her sister in the month they had been on this mission, fearing Yang would tell their father or uncle where Ruby was.

"She's not doing so good. She's really bitter at both herself and Blake. She was... she was really mad at Blake for running off, she told me that if I found Blake to..." Sun didn't want to repeat what had been said, knowing it would break the younger girl's heart that the team she led had fallen apart so badly. "Well she said something pretty nasty about Blake." He said.

"And what did you say?" Ruby asked, her eyes noticeably betraying her emotions.

"I told her off, I called her because I wanted her help in finding Blake but she turned me down pretty harshly. I'm worried about her Ruby, I don't know Yang that well but Blake told me so much about her and the girl I talked to on my scroll wasn't anything like the girl I had met or what Blake had told me about. Do you really think she can recover from this?" Sun asked.

Ruby held back her tears and nodded, "She doesn't need her little sister worrying about her. She's always gotten out of stuff like this! When Uncle Qrow had to go away for a whole year, when we thought we'd be going to different academies, when..." she paused, "when our mom died. She's always gotten through it. I'm worried Sun, my team fell apart so easily during the battle... do you think we can ever go back to how it was?"

Sun sighed and said "I don't know, but if we try hard enough, if Yang does get better, if we find Blake, and if Weiss gets away from her snooty family then maybe Team RWBY will ride again. Don't lose hope kid because that means Cinder wins and I don't think you want that." Ruby smiled and shook her head.

"Good, see you around Ruby Rose." Sun said. Ruby used her Semblance and launched herself at Sun and gave him a bone crushing hug.

"Bring Blake back." Ruby said to the Monkey Faunus.

"I'll tr... I will. I promise." Sun said, and with that he and his team left.

Team SSSN made their way back to Haven Academy, tomorrow they would launch their attack on the White Fang.

"So what are we gonna do to stop Cinder anyway? We only found out about these Maiden powers after everything went south, can we really beat her without killing her?" Nora asked. No one had a solid answer.

Ashe sighed and said "Even if we do kill Cinder it won't matter, I've seen things like this before and there's always someone else in charge, someone who plays everyone else like puppets or chess pieces, hell even Saul Jude, the drug lord who killed Mila, didn't leave his base of operations until he had no choice but to fight me head on. From what I've heard and what you guys told me Cinder's been out in the playing field way too much for her to be anything more than an agent."

The idea that Cinder was just another pawn in a grand game gave all four teenagers a feeling of dread. If someone as powerful as Cinder was just a follower, then who was the leader?

"I'll show you safe ways to get around the city in the morning and after that Jaune, your Semblance training begins." Ashe said.

The four teens all went to sleep with Ruby and Nora on the two couches, Jaune and Ren on the old recliner chairs while Ashe would sleep in a sleeping bag. As all the teens fell asleep Ashe went over to his backpack and opened it. He took out the case that Ren had gotten a glimpse of and opened it after he pressed his thumb on the scanner lock.

He looked at the object inside and said "Well my friend what are we to do? Do these kids really trust me? I don't know, nothing's simple anymore, my life hasn't been for twenty years." He muttered as he took hold of the two items her wore around his neck, the ring and the whistle.

Then Ashe's ears perked up, he could swear he heard something that sounded like a roar up above... probably just an airship.

---

Cinder Fall stood at the platform of a giant factory in Haven with Emerald, Dr. Victor Giger, a third doctor who acted as an assistant to both Giger and Sherizawa known as Yiro West, and the third Grimm Commander known as Ziz.

West was a young man in his mid-twenties with messy brown hair and tan skin who had been kicked out of several science academies for his questionable theories and practices. Salem had discovered him and had given him a position in her scientist ranks. He also served as a healer for Cinder and her team as he held the Semblance of healing.

Ziz had been a Huntress several years ago who was left for dead after a particularly hard battle with a flock of Nevermore and her team thought she had perished. She had been discovered by Salem like the others and given a new life as a Grimm Commander, since she was one of the few who survived Giger's experiments and operations. She had spiky brownish-red hair and a revealing shirt that showed off her midriff. She stood proud with the black wings of an adolescent Nevermore that had been grafted onto her body and made a part of her bone and muscle structure. Her skin, like the other Grimm Commanders, was bone white with the occasional black line as well as the blood red eyes. Her weapon, currently hitched on her back was a battle ax that doubled as a scattergun,

"Our new commander seems to have mastered flight with the Wyvern." West said as he jotted down notes. Up in the sky the new Grimm Commander, Fotia Drakos flew the only Wyvern Salem had sent them.

It was not going to be spotted by the citizens of Haven because there was another rider on the beast, Neo who used her illusion Semblance on the beast to hide it from the public eye.

"Eh, she's rough but she'll improve." Ziz said as the Wyvern descended. The beast landed in front of them and kneeled down as its two riders disembarked off its back. Neo looked a little nervous as she wasn't to sure about riding a creature as powerful as a Wyvern but she seemed to be steady.

Fotia Drakos pulled off her helmet and revealed her pale face with bright red eyes with a few black lines going down her eyelids to mark her eyes. She was a tall and muscular girl with short scarlet hair. She was dressed in a black and white armor suit that made her appear to be part of the Grimm and she was armed with her weapon that served as a hybrid of a spear, mace, and rifle. She had been trained well in the last four months since Mistress Salem had found her, taught vigorously in various martial arts and fighting styles, taught how to use her weapon, and most importantly she had bonded with and learned how to fly her partner, the Wyvern.

"Wyvern does marvels. It is too bad he must remain hidden from the people, he is such a wonderful sight to behold." She said as she affectionately rubbed the beast, which did not seem to take notice of the young woman's affection.

"For you maybe, he won't try to eat you." Emerald muttered as she nervously eyed the dragon.

"Calm yourself Emerald, Fotia has done well with the Wyvern. Soon you will be good enough to ride into battle with it." Cinder promised the newest Grimm Commander as Neo wandered off.

"That is wonderful news; all those who oppose Mistress Salem will fear us." Fotia said proudly.

"How has your chest been doing?" Dr. Giger asked, as she had been complaining about chest pains earlier.

"Better thanks to the medication you gave me, dear doctor." Fotia said.

"Eh, I had 'em too kid. They'll go away in a few months, its just part of the surgery that makes you a Grimm Commander." Said Ziz as she pointed to her chest where a noticeable scar marked her otherwise pale body.

Shield generators were around the platform were activated, creating a shield over the Wyvern and the platform they were on descended into the underground. "I see, thank you for the reassurance Miss Ziz. Goodnight everyone, it has been a long day and I must retire to my room." Fotia said as the platform came to a stop in a giant underground lair where several giant cages filled with Grimm were put.

Fotia carefully pressed a calming hand on the Wyvern's muzzle as Matilda, the head Grimm Keeper, led a dozen handlers in leading away the shield generators that imprisoned the dragon Grimm, leading it to a pen where it was to be placed, Giger followed them to make sure it was secured.

Fotia was about to follow them and make sure the Wyvern was calmed when Cinder spoke up, "Before you retire for the night Fotia I must warn you, tomorrow you are going to pledge your allegiance to Salem and prove your loyalty to her. You know what that entails."

Fotia stopped and nodded. It meant taking the life of a person. She was ready to do anything for Mistress Salem, after she had saved her from the terrible life she had lived prior to this, on a terrible rundown farm with cruel and abusive parents. She had witnessed some of the dark depths man could sink to. She was willing to do anything for Mistress Salem, just so they could rid the world of evil like her now dead parents that were slaughtered when some Ursa attacked their farm. That was when Salem discovered her, half-dead and consumed by anger at life Salem had given her life again and Fotia would repay the debt.

"I will do whatever is necessary Lady Cinder." Fotia said, and with that she followed the others into the large cavernous area.

"Kid's got some baggage, huh?" Ziz joked as she flew up.

"No more so than the rest of us." Cinder told the winged woman.

"I like the kid, her parents and my team both left us behind and both groups are already dead so we can't take sweet revenge on 'em." Ziz muttered, annoyed with the fact that her old team had been killed in a skirmish with terrorists some two years ago, preventing her from taking her revenge.

"You'll get to express your rage when the time is right." Cinder said to the Grimm Commander.

"Fn, whatever Maiden, later." Ziz said as she rocketed away, her speed amplified by her Semblance which was similar to Ruby's.

Cinder and Emerald exited the large underground area where the Grimm were contained via an elevator and when they arrived to their destination they were met by Mercury. "Ante's here and he has something he needs to tell you." Mercury reported.

"What could he want? He wasn't supposed to make the delivery in person so this must be important." Emerald said.

"I don't know what it is, he won't speak to me, only to you Cinder. He's got all the goods but he seems to be hiding something special." Mercury said.

"Very well, let us indulge him." Cinder said as she walked away and her students followed her.

---

In a large factory floor where workers unloaded the crates filled with weapons and Dust from Damien's trucks Damien and his eight men stood by and waited for Cinder.

"What does she want with these kids anyway?" asked Trooper.

"Don't know, don't really care. They got the jump on me. Drunk or not, that's just humiliating and I intend to get orders from Cinder right away." Damien said.

"I believe we have company." Zhan spoke up as he noticed they had a guest in their presence, one that Damien recognized.

Neo.

She looked at him with unsure eyes, twirling her umbrella in circles around her back. "Hey there Neo, the kids said you were with 'em but I haven't seen you around till now. My condolences on Torchwick's passing, he was a great asshole and a great thief." Damien said to the petite, silent girl.

Neo simply glared at Damien until Cinder, Emerald, and Mercury arrived.

"Damien, to what do we owe the displeasure?" Emerald asked.

"Cute." Damien growled at Emerald before returning his attention to the woman in charge. "Cinder, remember how earlier today you asked me if I had seen those kids?" he asked.

"They're in the city, aren't they?" Cinder asked, hiding her excitement as she thought, 'Finally, something to do that's worthy of my powers.'

"Ding, ding, ding! Give the girl a prize! They jumped me in alleyway a few hours ago, along with another team with come Monkey Faunus, a blue haired kid with a trident, some pirate looking brat, and a guy with a big sword." Damien said.

"Looks like they've hooked up with Team SSSN, makes sense since they're from here." Emerald stated.

"We'll pull up their files; do you know where they went?" Cinder asked.

"Nope, if they went to the academy with their buddies then we'll have to lay waste to the place, but they might try something a little less obvious." Damien said.

Cinder nodded and asked "Anything else?"

"Yeah, there was this other guy with 'em, called himself Ashe. Older than them, 'bout my age" Damien said.

"Was he a Huntsman?" Cinder asked again.

"Maybe, didn't have some crazy looking weapon like they usually do although he did have this odd looking gun I've never seen before." Damien added.

"I got a glimpse at his gun and I know what type it was." Lao said, "It was a special type of rapid-fire shotgun used by the Atlesian military for a brief period thirteen, fourteen years ago and few crates were reported stolen by a Guerrilla Hunters Unit."

"So whoever this Ashe guy is he's a guerrilla huntsman, you said he was your age, right?" Mercury asked and Ante nodded. "He must be good then, those guys don't tend to last long, a few years at the most before they either give in or get killed." Mercury finished. Cinder knew what he meant, most Guerrilla Hunters didn't last more than a few years; most of them either quit or were killed, but there were exceptions, as Salem had several agents who were from Guerrilla Hunting Schools.

"The kid's right, you know what they say; if something lasts that long there must be something there." Trooper agreed.

"Whoever this man is, he doesn't matter, what does matter however is capturing Ruby Rose and Jaune Arc. Tomorrow you will all report here, it will do you no good to start looking for them tonight but in the by tomorrow you will begin hunting them down." Cinder said.

Damien smirked and said "Cinder, it would be my honor, what about the others?"

"I leave that up to your, very disturbed, imagination." Cinder said as she allowed herself a small grin.

"Oh and one more thing, the Arc kid said to tell you that he's coming for you and that he will make you and everyone who works for you pay for what you did to the Nikos girl and the other poor fools at Beacon." Damien said, remembering Jaune's harsh words.

Cinder smiled as her eyes glowed a dark yellow and said "Let him come. He will try, he will fail, and he will be ours."

---

At the Atlas Military Headquarters James Ironwood was not having a good day.

He had been having headaches for hours, Winter had left earlier for a day off, there were various reports of Grimm and White Fang activity, rumors about Cinder Fall's whereabouts (all of them wrong), and various trivial things of no real importance that aggravated Ironwood to the point where he was ready to hand it off to the next person he saw.

There was a knock on his door, "Come in." he said. Ulysses Cy and Jackson Chamberlain entered his office and saluted him. "At ease men, what is it?" Ironwood asked, noticing the uneasy look on both their faces.

"Sir, about an hour ago we received a report from Vacuo. An entire village along with the team assigned to protect it has been killed." Cy reported grimly.

"What? What the hell happened?" Ironwood demanded.

"That's just it sir, we don't really know. It appears that it was a Grimm attack sir because there are signs of Beowolves, Death Stalkers, Creeps, but it doesn't make any sense sir. Different species of Grimm rarely attack together and there are no survivors at all, which is odd because they usually leave at least a few alive. It's out in the middle of nowhere sir, right in a desert." Chamberlain said, obviously disturbed as he had seen a few images of the attack site.

"Is it usual for Beowolves to be out in the desert?" Ironwood asked.

"No sir, there are a few packs but they usually work alone because the Vacuo Beowulf is a mostly solitary creature who sticks with its own kind." Chamberlain answered.

"Is it possible that this was an attack by someone else made to look like a Grimm attack?" Ironwood speculated.

"Possibly sir, the Huntsmen and Huntresses in the village showed signs of being stabbed and slashed by a blade and in places that Grimm wouldn't know to attack unless they were ancient enough to get that smart." Cy said.

"And I don't think Death Stalker tails or Beowulf claws grow to be as long and thin as a sword." Chamberlain added.

"Was the village in a place of strategic importance?" Ironwood asked.

"No sir, it was right in the middle of a desert, little over a hundred people lived in the town. We've gotten patrols going with Vacuo's desert patrol guard but it doesn't look like anything is out there." Cy reported.

Ironwood massaged his temples and said "Tell them to double the patrols in all populated areas in Vacuo; we can't have a repeat of this."

The two men looked to each other and Chamberlain said "The Vacuo desert patrol will be reluctant. They are suggesting moving the senior students out the academies and into the field to double the power of a village's Hunters..."

"No! I will not have the possibility of those kids' deaths on my conscience!" Ironwood burst out, slamming his robotic fist on his desk.

Ironwood took a moment to calm himself; he stood up and looked out his window. "Pyrrha Nikos died because of a mistake I made. Many people died because we couldn't see Cinder Fall for what she was until it was too damn late. Over three dozen students from other counties died in the Grimm attack. I will not allow more. Double the patrols." He ordered.

Cy nodded but Chamberlain wasn't so sure. "Sir, they are already wary of us because we placed patrols and bases in every county and every major island, this move has already sparked controversy so I think we should let the people in charge of Vacuo decide." He said.

Ironwood glared at the man and simply said "You are dismissed."

The two men left Ironwood's office and walked down the hall. "I'm getting worried about him, he isn't thinking clearly." Chamberlain said.

"After everything that's happened, Ozpin disappearing, all those killed in the last few months, Cinder Fall obtaining the Fall Maiden powers do you really think he'd be making rational decisions?" Cy asked.

Chamberlain sighed and answered with "No."

---

"I'll always be with you." The voice said.

"Pyrrha? Please, tell me if that's you!" Jaune yelled into the void.

"For it is in passing that we achieve immortality." The voice said again, that wonderful and terrible saying that Pyrrha told him in the Emerald Forest.

"I know it's you Pyrrha. I don't know what's going on. Maybe you're a ghost or I'm just going crazy or something but I know it's you!" Jaune called as he ran nowhere and everywhere at once.

"Cities can be destroyed, land can be devastated, bodies can die, but our souls are forever. I love you Jaune and love is eternal, Love never dies." Her voice said.

"Pyrrha! Please answer me! Please! I love you!" he yelled.

"And I love you, my knight." She said to him.

"Pyrrha, what should I do?! I want to find Cinder and make her pay but I don't want to give into hatred! I don't want to be like her or that criminal I fought today! What should I do?!" he called.

"Trust your heart. Trust Ruby. Trust Ren. Trust Nora. Trust Ashe. Trust yourself. And trust me."

"I want to hurt her Pyrrha. I want to kill her so damn bad like I did in my dreams months ago! I... I'm so sorry." He sobbed out.

"Do not give into the darkness Jaune and you have nothing to be sorry for."

"Yes I do. I went after Weiss instead of after you, I let Cardin blackmail me, I... I was so weak I just held you back. I didn't even notice the obvious until you grabbed my head and kissed me. I don't know how you could ever stand to be around me."

"Because I saw something in you. Something wonderful. I saw someone who treated me for me, didn't shy away or try to use me to their own ends. You saw me as just another girl. It was then that I knew you were someone special and the more time we spent together the more certain I became that you were the one I wanted to spend my life with."

"... I would have died for you. I was your leader, I was beginning to have feelings for you! I would have died a thousand times for you." Jaune cried.

"I made my choice. If it was right or wrong I can not say, but it was destiny."

"Destiny is bullshit Pyrrha. I spat destiny in the face. I faked my way into Beacon, I survived the Emerald Forest against all odds, I took out an Ursa when I should have died, I... I made it this far. Destiny would never have allowed that. You know, my parents love me but they were sure I wouldn't last a single semester at Beacon. There is no such thing as destiny Pyrrha."

Silence.

"How do I know this is real? It's just a dream." he asked.

"Turn around."

He did so.

He felt her hands on his, he felt her skin, saw her face, her wonderful eyes, her flowing red hair.

He felt her lips on his.

Not dreamed he felt them, actually felt them.

"I'll always be with you."

Jaune woke up. The sun had risen.

---

The Schnee Mansion, which resided in the capital of Atlas of course, was receiving a visit from one of its former occupants, the eldest daughter known as Winter.

"Hello Father, Weiss." Winter greeted as she arrived.

"It is good to see you Winter, have you been doing well?" her father asked.

"I have indeed father, General Ironwood and the rest of us have been living through stressful situations but we manage just fine." Winter said.

"Ah excellent, I'm sorry I cannot stay, I have business to attend to and all but we shall speak when I return this afternoon since I will leave work early today." Her father said.

"It is alright father; I understand the company needs you." Winter said before she looked to Weiss and added, "I feel like I need to spend time with my sister anyway."

She approached her sibling and hugged her. "How have you been?" she asked.

"I have been recovering well, I still miss my friends and wish that everything could go back to normal, but I know I can't make it so." Weiss said.

Winter looked at her sister with a small smile and said "At least you understand that better than your teammates did." She said. She noticed Weiss' subtle scowl.

After their father had departed for work at the main building of the Schnee Dust Company Winter decided she needed to speak to her sister more personally now.

"Weiss, I know you have changed since you went to Beacon. We have all changed and I can tell that you want to help your friends." Winter said.

Weiss looked at her sister and said "Am I that obvious?"

Winter smiled and said "No, or father would have done something about it by now. How is summoning coming along?"

"Better. Last night I tried it... I felt something, I felt so close but I fell short. I could feel how close I was Winter. I need your help." Weiss said.

Winter said "I will give you the additional training you require but I need you to agree to something first."

Weiss was hesitant, but she trusted her sister. "What is it?" she asked.

"Help. You are the only member of Team RWBY or JNPR that we currently know the whereabouts of, aside from Yang Xiao Long who is still in seclusion. Both of your teams clashed with the forces of Cinder Fall regularly whether you knew it or not. You have an idea of how they move, how they operate, and maybe even how they think. Blake Belladonna is MIA, Pyrrha Nikos is gone, and Ruby Rose, Jaune Arc, Lie Ren, and Nora Valkyrie are all off on some foolish mission to stop Cinder by themselves. As of now you are our best bet. We need you to consult for us." Winter finished.

Weiss was a little stunned that her sister, her perfect, older sister was actually asking for help. She knew where Ruby and the remains of Team JNPR, were, but she knew she couldn't tell her sister that.

"Do we have an agreement?" Winter asked. Weiss looked up and nodded.

"I will do it for my team and for my friends." She said.

Winter and Weiss made their way to the large training room used by the Schnee family, it was decorated with exercise equipment, training blades, and things the Schnee family had used in the past to bring themselves to what they considered physical perfection.

Weiss and Winter stood in the center of the room as Weiss created the Glyph symbol on the floor below, pointing Myrtenaster at the symbol below her.

"Concentrate. Your form is perfect; channel your aura into it, as much of as you can." Winter ordered as Weiss followed her instructions.

"Remember, do not doubt yourself, that leads to defeat caused by you and you alone. Think about fallen enemies, ones you have vanquished. Think about them as they come to your aid, now servants who serve you with artificial life. Do not let emotions cloud your mind. They can be powerful and helpful, but they can also sabotage you. Concentrate, you control them, they do not control you." Winter said as Weiss channeled everything she had into the Glyph on the floor.

A figure began to appear, a large, tall, armored figure.

The one that gave Weiss the scar across her left eye.

The robotic knight that Weiss had destroyed over a year ago. Weiss had suspected that this thing was her summon after its hand appeared when she helped battle the Paladin Robot with Velvet.

It stood before them and then it bowed, like a knight to a queen.

"Excellent, sister. Now disperse it." Winter commanded.

Weiss concentrated again and the Knight faded out of existence and aura flew back into Weiss, giving her a rush of power.

Weiss looked to Winter and said "Thank you."

Winter hugged her little sister and said "I knew you could do it. You are ready. Tomorrow you will come with me and we will speak to General Ironwood. You will help us stop these terrorists."

---

Later that day, Ashe, Ruby, Jaune, Ren, and Nora returned to the warehouse after hours of running around the city's roofs and alleyways and occasionally the small urban street or busy main road. They had been planning out pathways and routes to avoid being spotted and found some good hiding places along the way. Making their way across the massive city filled with statues was no easy task, made harder by the fact that they had to run and jump most of the time and they were understandably tired.

"Finally! So good to be back!" Nora said.

"Hold off on celebrating Nora, we still gotta get food." Ruby reminded her.

"Can't it wait until tomorrow?" Nora whined.

"I'd rather we do it today, I prefer to have a stocked refrigerator opposed to an empty one and it will also be dark in a few hours so we should do it while the sun is out." Ren said.

Nora sighed and said "Can I get a candy bar? She asked.

"Yes." Ren said, smiling a bit.

"Yay!" Nora cheered.

"Aren't you guys tired?" Ashe asked.

"A bit, but I think we can handle a trip to a grocery store." Ruby said, smiling.

"Jaune and I will stay here. His Semblance training needs to begin." Ashe said.

Jaune nodded, "I'm ready." He said confidently.

"Jaune I won't lie to you, the emotion Semblance can take a lot out of you and it will require me to do and say things I don't want to do, but I promise you it will be worth it." Ashe said to the younger man.

Jaune looked down, took a deep breath and said "I'll do whatever it takes." He said.

"Good luck!" Nora called as she galloped out of the warehouse followed by Ruby and Ren.

Ren gave a calm wish for luck and Ruby simply smiled and waved. "You can do it Jaune!" she said, and with that Ashe and Jaune were left alone.

"Do you have anything that belonged to Pyrrha with you? Anything at all from her that you hold dear to you? A necklace or something" Ashe asked.

Jaune sighed. There was one thing.

He went to his backpack and took something out. Her circlet, the one Glynda had given him. The only thing left of her.

"Would you protect that thing with your life?" Ashe asked his student.

"It's the only thing they found of her. I'd demolish anyone who'd try to damage it." Jaune said, not liking where this was going.

"Place it on that table in the center." Ashe said and Jaune did so.

"There are seven main abilities of the Emotion Semblance; attack, defense, speed, jumping, endurance, strength, and finally the ultimate attack of this Semblance." Ashe said.

"What's the attack called?" Jaune asked.

"There is no name for it, I'll tell you about it later. Now since you've gotten speed and jumping down so far with how we've ran ourselves ragged today we'll focus on the first two." Ashe said, remaining a bit cryptic about what he was planning.

He pointed to Pyrrha's circlet and said "I will try to destroy her headpiece and you will stop me."

---

Ozpin was brought up in chains. He looked up with a glare at Salem, his enemy, the greatest threat there had ever been.

"Hello Ozpin, good to see you. Sorry I couldn't do this earlier but I had more important matters to attend, although I did want you to meet your roommate." Salem said as she gave a small, dark smile.

"How is he alive? I killed him myself." Ozpin said.

"Oh Ozpin, you never truly saw him die. You merely saw him fall, you have to make sure your enemy is dead and not just assume it." Salem retorted.

"Why? Why did you save Norvik?" Ozpin demanded.

"Because he avenged my children for me. He is a danger to all but myself and my children, so I keep him locked up for the protection of my other servants. Something you wouldn't know about." Salem said with her smile growing ever more sinister.

"What do you mean?" Ozpin asked, not sure he wanted to know the answer.

Salem waved her arm and a screen appeared above and behind her throne, showing the ruins of Beacon Academy and the city of Vale with the dead Wyvern atop the tower.

"This was taken a few days ago; this is what has become of your precious Academy four months ago." Salem taunted.

"Four months?! I was out for..."

"A third of a year, yes. Oh and speaking of your Academy I know you will be saddened by the loss of several of your students, this one in particular." Salem said as one of her servants came forth with a shield that Ozpin recognized all too well.

The servant threw it to Ozpin's feet and the old wizard collapsed in shock and grief.

It was the ruined shield of Akouo.

"Pyrrha... no..." Ozpin whispered in horror.

"I am afraid the 'Invincible Girl' did not live up to her name. I had plans for her, but alas it was not to be. The moment you chose her as the new Fall Maiden you sealed her fate. You sent her to her death. She died a hero trying to stop my disciple Cinder Fall, the true Fall Maiden. She was a stupid girl who refused to run and wasted her life, but it was her destiny to do so. Her death as well as the death of so many others has inspired so much fear, distrust, grief, and anger that my children grow stronger everyday. There is nothing you can do to stop us, especially with the children you thought you could use a soldiers in a hidden war they never even knew existed until recently." Salem said to her rival.

She got off her throne and walked down to the fallen form of William Ozpin.

"We will stop you, they will stop you. Those children will defeat you, they will drive your darkness away and the light will prevail for Remnant." Ozpin swore.

Salem laughed and said "Ozpin you fool! These children of yours are scattered across Remnant, some do try to stop us, but their teams and friendships are broken and these children hide in their homes in fear and defeat and some run away to save themselves. The children who will stand and fight us will not be enough to defeat the darkness, nor will Qrow Branwen, who has taken up your position as Headmaster. Headmaster of what I'm not sure, but he will fail just as you failed. All of those children will either fall or become mine, I swear on it. The ones that only you saw power and potential in will become my servants, slaves to the darkness. You have failed them Ozpin just like you failed your team all those years ago! I will turn both Ruby Rose and Jaune Arc into my children, my weapons, they will be mine Ozpin." She said as her blood red eyes glowed with satisfaction.

Ozpin looked up at her, his eyes were those of a broken and tired old man, but he spoke to her as if she was just another annoyance. "They won't. They'll never join you. You see, you made one mistake. You killed their friend, someone they loved. When your disciple killed Pyrrha Nikos she sealed your fate. I know Ruby and Jaune and their friends. They will rest at nothing until Cinder is defeated and once they find out about you they will hunt you down like the beast that you are and end you. Ruby will reunite her team and mend their relationships no matter what you have done to them. Jaune Arc will lead his team in a quest to avenge Pyrrha Nikos, because she loved him and I knew that towards the end he loved her as well. Love will stop you Salem, it will be your undoing."

Salem smiled and shook her head. "Oh Ozpin you pathetic old fool. The darkness will win in the end. Darkness gives us more power than the light ever could. You see, darkness gives us concealment of ourselves; our true faces, our hearts, and our desires. It gives us illusions and gives you dreams. Illusions fool you so easily and dreams grant you the imaginary idea that the light will vanquish the dark and all will live 'happily ever after.' Our greatest illusion however is day itself. Everyday is a new day because it is temporary. The night always pushes it away. Even when the light seemingly wins there will always be a shadow behind the light. The dark has already poisoned your society and culture; cruelty and prejudice have bled into what was to be justice and law, it sows seeds of doubt and contempt in love that continue to grow with each lover's quarrel. The dark is patient and its patience is eternal. Darkness is everywhere. It is all around us. The light you cling to creates shadows of darkness. That is why we will win and you will lose William Ozpin. Even if your child warriors do pose a threat to it they will fall into my hands, their souls are bright as stars, but even the brightest star casts a shadow. Even stars die out Ozpin." Salem said, smiling in triumph.

Ozpin's eyes were hidden by his hair and shadows, preventing Salem from seeing how utterly broken he was. Then he did something Salem did not expect.

He smiled.

"The darkness is not yours to command Salem and you overestimate it greatly. It may conceal you from the world, but it also conceals the world from you and conceals truths and secrets that you fear. It conceals threats from you that you are unaware of and some will be able to see through your illusions. While justice does indeed fail at times it works to uphold the law and protect the people no matter what race, lovers will forgive each other and kill these weeds of hate the darkness sows, patience can cause one to grow old and slow, and the darkness has two weaknesses that you have foolishly overlooked." Ozpin said with a calm and serene look on his face.

Salem grew furious, her nails digging into her clenched fist and her eyes now glowing with fury.

"And what are those two weaknesses, pray tell?" she asked.

"I will only tell you one for now. The first weakness is that a single small candle can hold the darkness back, the bigger the light the further the darkness is driven. I will tell you the other weakness some other time."

Ozpin was thrown against the wall as his body writhed in immense pain and agony; it was so overwhelming that he slipped back into unconsciousness.

Salem was panting with fury, so much power thrown into that Aura-Blast. She calmed herself and looked at her guards and servants who were now cowering before her. They had never seen their mistress so filled with wrath.

"Take him back to his cell." She ordered as she sat back down on her throne.

Haven city is made up of a abominable combination of New York City, Detroit, and Los Angeles with a bit of Hong Kong thrown in for good measure, also, points to you if you recognized what movie the intelligent Beowolves legend was inspired by.

No Blake or Yang in this chapter and there won't be any Yang in the next chapter because I felt her scenes would get too angsty and repetitive, but she'll be in Chapter 5 a lot. There was also going to be a big fight between Team SSSN and the White Fang here, but I decided to save it for next chapter. The first scene of Ashe training Jaune was also going to be in this chapter but I decided not to make this chapter too long and save it for next time as well and finally the speeches about light and dark were inspired by Matthew Stover's novelization of Revenge of the Sith.