(A/N) First off, I just want to thank everyone for being not only extremely understanding of the delay, but also encouraging. You guys are great, and, honestly, knowing how kind you guys are makes me want to write even more.

Things are a bit smoother now, so hopefully I can return to my normal upload schedule. Though they aren't smooth enough to where I can run two stories simultaneously, so I'll be alternating the uploads between this and ASH.

One last thing, I now have a beta reader! Thanks to shadowstorm17 for putting up with my incompetence!

With that out of the way, on with the chapter!


Volume Two

Chapter Three – Necessity


/-\ Ruby Rose /-\

Belladonna Residence


I sat in the Belladonna's armory idly raking my knife against one of their whetstones, the rain still pitter-pattering against the roof.

I had originally planned for any slow people to join me in this somewhat tedious exercise, though I'd have them maintain the Belladonna's weaponry. I'd obviously abandoned that idea when Weiss, being the only slow one, told me what happened.

She was absolutely devastated by what she'd done, even if the dead man was a terrorist. I sighed, remembering my own first kill.

His death, and the three others that were necessary to complete the mission, weighed on me fairly heavily, but Lisette was there, and I eventually worked through it.

I nodded to no one in particular. My partner just needed time; time and her sister. She is strong, she'll pull through. I'd check up on her later; she is my partner, after all.

Just as that thought left my mind, I heard a light knock come from behind me. Quirking an eyebrow, I turned to the door. "Come in."

It slowly opened, revealing our resident Atlesian Specialist clad in one of Blake's yukatas. She closed the door behind her and hesitantly entered.

"Didn't expect you to swing by." I commented, eliciting a sad sigh from her. "What's wrong?"

"Its Weiss…" She said. "She's been almost catatonic ever since she got back."

I nodded. "Yeah, sounds about right."

"What happened?" She asked, eliciting a raised eyebrow from me. "The only reaction I can get out of her are tears. She hasn't even managed to get a word out yet."

I sighed. "Winter," I addressed in a serious tone. "have you killed anyone yet?"

She blinked. "What? Why would you even ask tha-" Her words died on her lips when she finally put the pieces together. "Oh my gods…" She let out, a look of pure horror on her face. "That's what happened, isn't it?"

I nodded. "Yeah, now answer the question."

"…No." She said.

I raised an eyebrow. "'No, I won't answer' or 'No, I haven't killed anyone'?"

"The latter." She clarified. I sighed, leaving my knife sheathed on the table before betting up. "Where are you going?" She asked.

"She's been in that funk for almost six hours now, and believe me, the last thing she needs right now is to be alone." I said, deciding to move up my visit as I entered the hallway.

"Alright." She said, sorrow in her voice. We rounded a corner and started up the stairs. "I suppose you had to have a first kill then." She noted, half-questioning and half-icy.

I shrugged. "You always remember your first." I said shortly before we reached their door. I reached for the doorknob, but paused for a moment, realizing that she may want to see her sister first.

I stood aside, looking at Winter before jerking my head towards the door.

She nodded, reaching to knock but pulling back, instead opting to slowly turn the handle. My enhanced hearing picked up a faint sob coming from inside, though Winter was obstructing my view.

"Hello, Weiss." She said, slowly striding into the room.

My partner glanced up at her sister, revealing her tear-stricken face. They locked eyes for a moment before hers trailed back down onto the bed.

Winter slowly strode inside before sitting on the bed opposite her. I raised an eyebrow and motioned for her to join Weiss on her bed, drawing only a confused look from the Elder Schnee.

I rolled my eyes and plopped down next to my partner. As I expected, she immediately latched onto me and started sobbing into the crook of my neck.

I held her, giving my partner some much-needed comfort, before motioning for Winter, again, to join us on the bed.

She seemed apprehensive, but finally understood where I was going with this.

A few moments after she sat down, she hesitantly raised her hand towards Weiss's back, a tilt of her head and a worried look gave me the impression that she was asking permission.

I nodded, and she began to slowly rub circles into her sister's back.

I felt my partner's grip slightly slacken, and her pained sobs subside. Her occasional movement signified she was still awake, but she was far more subdued than she'd been when I first sat down.

A few minutes later, I heard a knock on the door. I slowly turned my head as to not disturb my partner and got my eyes on the door just before it opened.

On the other side stood Blake and Yang, the former holding a several plates with silverware and the latter carrying a large platter laden with food.

"…Weiss?" Blake asked as she opened the door, not registering our presence yet. As the two entered the room, the black and yellow duo gave us both appreciative nods.

"Uhh… Kali said you haven't left your room since you got back, so we uhh… we figured we could all eat together." Yang said.

Her head lifted up for a moment, just long enough to say- "…not hungry…" -in a very quiet tone before settling back down.

They both gave me a worried look, and I motioned for them to set their stuff down on a nearby desk.

I gave her a reassuring squeeze. "Weiss…" I addressed in a soft tone. "I know you don't want to, but talking about it really does help." I said. "I know from experience."

She stayed silent for several moments and, just as I was about to prompt her again, she spoke up, albeit, quietly. "…I'm a monster…"

I resisted my usual, harsh, methods of voicing my disagreement, and instead, idly played with her hair. "How?" I asked.

"I killed someone." She spat out.

I tisked. "The world isn't black and white, Weiss." I said. "Can you tell us what happened?" I asked, my tone still soft.

She hesitated. "…I just needed a vantage point…" She said. "I… I couldn't see w- where I was going. Found a guard tower," Blake's eyes widened. "he was sleeping on top. He woke up, p- pointed a gun at me, and I shot him." She said, her voice quivering near the end. "I- I tried to reason with him, aimed for his hand." She paused to collect herself. "Hit his neck." She said, shivering. "Th- There was just… so much blood."

I held her tight, a sad smile on my face, as she began to sob once more. "That's it." I said. "Just let it out."

Winter looked at us with apprehension for a moment, her eyes longing. I motioned her over, and she hesitantly joined the embrace. Moments later, Yang joined; her partner not far behind.

Our group hug session didn't feel like it'd lasted very long, but a cursory glance to the now-unattended food revealed that it was visibly cold, signifying just how long we'd been at it.

Despite this action being to comfort my partner, I felt… at ease; as if I'd been carrying the burden of the world upon my shoulders and the weight had been lifted.

Weiss still clung to me, occasionally quivering, but I could tell that this was helping her. A genuine smile crawled its way onto my face as I realized that fact.

prrrrrr

I blinked, feeling the rumbling in my chest, as everyone backed off.

"Did you just… purr?" Blake asked, confusedly.

"Huh." I let out. "Guess I did get something from mom after all."

They all sat completely still, completely unsure of how to respond.

Suddenly, Weiss lets out a couple near-silent chuckles. She tries to restrain herself, but eventually, she erupts into full-blown laughter, taking us with her.

They were still tinged with sadness, but I'd take anything I could get at this point. And I was happy to see my teamma- no, my friend laughing again.


/-\ Emanuel Witherson /-\

Uncharted planet – Beacon Academy


"The kid's staring…" I heard one of my ODSTs say over comms as I finished up with the receptionist.

Moments later, I heard a faint yelp and, out of the corner of my eye, saw a blonde kid exited the room. I payed him no mention and thanked the young woman for granting me an audience with this… 'Ozpin'.

As we neared the elevator, I told my men to stay behind. No sense in potentially antagonizing a powerful leader during what was technically a first contact scenario, even if he is Human. Somehow.

I began my ascent and idly began to wonder what this man was like. The two men that had shown up after the kids left told us this man was very powerful on this world's stage but left us with very little else.

A moment later, I arrived, bringing me out of my ruminations. Stepping out, I briefly glanced at my surroundings. 'Man, this guy has a thing for gears…' I thought as I walked across the spacious room.

On the far side of the room, a green-suited man stood behind his desk, a sharply-dressed bespectacled woman at his side.

I stopped a few meters in front of them. "Professor Ozpin, I presume?"

The man nodded. "Indeed I am." He said. "Beside me is my deputy headmistress, Professor Goodwitch."

She tapped a few buttons on the datapad she held, her gaze not leaving me. "Greetings." She said, an air of professionalism in her voice. "I believe you have us at a disadvantage, mister…?" She trailed off.

"Commander Witherson, CO of the UNSC Odinsdottir and acting-commander of all UNSC forces in this sector."

Ozpin gave a slight smile. "It is a pleasure to meet the man who intervened when the Covenant attacked. Had it not been for your dreadnought, I have no doubt that very few people would have made it out of Atlas."

"We were merely doing our duty; they were slaughtering civilians, as usual, and we acted." I responded. "But my ship cannot be called something as grandiose as a dreadnought, I'm afraid. The Odinsdottir is merely a Charon-class light frigate."

Professor Goodwitch was completely and utterly unable to hide her shock. "You call something dozens of meters larger than anything we've built a light frigate?!"

I nodded. "It would seem so." Just then, my commlink started buzzing in my ear. I raised an eyebrow. "It would seem there is someone at the door; claims to be a 'General Ironwood'."

"Send him up." Ozpin said. "He is an associate of mine, and it would be beneficial if he were present."

I relayed his command to my troops, and, moments later, the elevator dinged and disgorged an absolute bear of a man. My eyes widened when I saw just how massive he was. His figure was so imposing, I briefly wondered if he was an ex-Spartan.

His cold, calculating gaze certainly lent credence to that theory, but his uniform said otherwise. It wasn't simply because said uniform was of a different nationality, but instead, all its decorations showed just how extensive his military service would have been.

He strode forward, hands clasped behind his back, and stopped a few feet shy of me. "James Ironwood, General of the Atlesian Armed Forces." He introduced, offering a handshake.

I accepted his gesture. "Emanuel Witherson, acting Commander of all UNSC forces on and around this world." As my gloved hand met his, I felt a stiffness that only a prosthetic could produce. I gave him a respectful nod and rolled up my sleeve, exposing the titanium appendage that had replaced my old one.

He gave it a cursory glance before exposing his own for a moment; mutual respect preventing any further discussion of our 'souvenirs' as we let our respective sleeves back down.

We turned back to the other two in the room just in time for Ozpin to speak up. "It seems we won't have any trouble with you two getting along." He cheekily commented.

"We share a common enemy." Ironwood said. "One greater than Remnant has ever faced."

I nodded. "Agreed. The Covenant are already responsible for tens of billions of deaths, no need to add to that pile ourselves."

All three had their expressions completely wiped off their faces, all replaced with complete and utter shock at the figure I'd given.

After a few moments of them staring off into space, I cleared my throat, bringing them back to the real world. "As a representative of the United Nations Space Command," I began, trying to distract them from the extreme shock I'd accidentally given them. ", I would first like to know why you ignored all attempts at communication with us."

Ozpin raised an eyebrow. "I was not aware such an attempt had been made, though I am very much curious as to why you ignored ours as well."

"All channels were completely clear; be it laser-based or radio waves." I said. "Despite the inclement solar weather, the lasers were unaffected."

"Laser communication?" Ironwood said. "No one on Remnant uses such technology."

"Well, that explains my question." I said. "For your information, all UNSC vessels are outfitted with lasers in the ultraviolet-range for secure communication within the fleet. The specific frequency is classified, however."

"Understandable." He said. "For now, I must ask what your intentions are on Remnant. Why are you here, Commander Witherson?"

I hummed. "Honestly, we were just running." I said, earning a raised eyebrow. "In UNSC space, we have various protocols to prevent us accidentally leading the Covenant to one of our worlds, one of which, is that we must make a random slipspace jump." I shrugged. "It was a complete coincidence that said random jump led here."

The general's face morphed into one of anger. "So you're telling me that millions of people; my entire nation died because someone got unlucky on a-"

I sighed. "Listen, I know how it is." I said, cutting off his protests. "I have seen entire worlds burned and turned to glass at their hands. My own home was lost just last year, along with my entire family and twenty million souls." They were silenced. "This is not a war for glory, or political gains. No, this is a war for survival. And Mankind is losing; we have been for almost thirty yearsnow."

I paused to let that fact sink in. "We'll be staying at least until we salvage anything of worth, and have everyone accounted for. If you don't want us here, then so be it. We'll leave." My eyes narrowed. "But the Covenant know where you're at now, and mark my words, they'll be back. And in greater numbers."

I clasped my hands behind my back. "You'll need every ship you can get, and even though we're just a light frigate, we'll put up one hell of a fight if you'd have us."

Ozpin narrowed his eyes. "You make some good points, Commander, but I couldn't help but notice you seem to be pushing for us to accept your assistance." He observed. "Surely you could go back to your comrades in the UNSC."

"Under normal circumstances, yes." I admitted. "But our jump spat us out where it shouldn't've. We're lost." I paused. "Yesterday, I held a vote on what to do in our situation. We voted to stay if we were welcome."

He hummed in thought. "Consider us interested." He said. "But it, unfortunately, is not up to me. Along with the good General, here, you shall need to submit your case to the Vale council; considering your ship crashed in Valerian territory. I can have Professor Goodwitch assist you in this matter, as I highly doubt you are familiar with our legal process."

I nodded. "That would be much appreciated, Mister Ozpin."

"It is my pleasure." He said. "But there is one thing that you may help me with."

I raised an eyebrow. "Very well, if I can be of assistance, then I will."

"Thank you." He said, a diplomatic smile on his face. "We are still searching for one of our teams reported engaged in combat during the invasion." He motioned to his assistant, who began fiddling with her datapad.

"And one insubordinate Specialist…" Ironwood mumbled.

"All five were last seen boarding your ship, Commander." He said as Professor Goodwitch handed me her device. On it were five very familiar faces.

"I recognize four of them." I said, gesturing to everyone save for the silver-eyed girl. "They, along with Spartan-B312 engaged in a boarding action against the Covenant carrier in orbit. While the operation was successful, we haven't managed to reestablish contact after they went dark before boarding." I paused. "We've got search and rescue birds combing the planetside debris, but there's a lot of ground to cover, and we can only spare two Pelicans."

"…I see…" He said. "Thank you for this information, is there anything else I can do for you?"

I shook my head. "This meeting was mainly to establish first contact." I said. "I have things to attend to back on my ship, if you'll excuse me."

He nodded. "Of course." He said. "We will discuss the communications issue at a later date. For now, we shall adjourn."

I gave a respectful nod and headed towards the elevator, mission accomplished…

…somewhat…


/-\ Penny Polendina /-\

Vale CCT – Administrator's office


Its been hours since I'd run from Team JNPR.

Hours since I'd plugged myself into the CCT's mainframe.

Hours for an Android such as myself were akin to entire days for living beings.

Only now did I find what I was looking for after searching for so long.

There was so frighteningly little that was recoverable from the ruins of the Atlas CCT; for hours before it went offline, the connection was spotty at best.

A megabyte here, a megabyte there, but no context on where they went.

I'd guessed on what data was relevant to what; throwing random bits together that looked close.

Now, after hours of work, I finally had 3.54 seconds of video, 85 whole frames.

I played the clip again for the one-hundred-twenty-first time, still disbelieving of its contents.

My father bolted around his laboratory, frantically typing at multiple computers as the lights flickered and the ground shook.

At the 1.23 second mark, he pulled a hard drive from one of his machines and frantically stashed it into a secret compartment behind a bookcase.

He then looked up to the camera and said - "I love you, Penny." – before a roar emanated from offscreen.

He drew a pistol and fired off a few rounds before blue bolts impacted his chest.

At the 3 second mark, he slumped over, fourth-degree burns covering his entire torso, and exhaled his last breath.

For the remainder of the video, he remained unmoving on the ground.

My hands began to shake as the reality finally set in.

'Father-Geppetto is dead.' I realized. 'Friend-Weiss is dead. Friend-Ruby status unknown.'

Those lines took up clock cycle after clock cycle as I desperately tried to figure out what to do with this information. If I could cry, I have no doubt I would be flooding the room with my tears.

I sat there for minutes, trying to make sense of anything in this situation.

Eventually, I reached a conclusion and finally unplugged myself from the mainframe.

I stood and marched out of the CCT.

3e 4e 65 77 20 6f 62 6a 65 63 74 69 76 65 3a 20 52 65 63 6f 76 65 72 20 46 61 74 68 65 72 2d 47 65 70 70 65 74 74 6f 27 73 20 42 6f 64 79 2e

3e 4e 65 77 20 6f 62 6a 65 63 74 69 76 65 3a 20 53 65 61 72 63 68 20 4b 69 6e 67 64 6f 6d 2d 41 74 6c 61 73 20 66 6f 72 20 54 65 61 6d 20 52 57 42 59 2e


/-\ Blake Belladonna /-\

Belladonna Residence


"Yang?" I asked as we sat in the garden, the afternoon sun blazing above us. "Can I ask you something?"

She looked up from the plant she'd been examining. "Uhh, sure. What's up?"

My ears flattened against my head in shame. "If you… If you looked up to someone who'd been there your entire life, and then suddenly betrayed them… How would you fix it?"

She blinked. "I… I uhh, have no idea." She said. "I guess 'sorry' would be a good place to start, but uhh, I dunno if that would be enough." Her eyes flickered red for a moment. "I know it won't be when I finally find her…" She muttered under her breath.

Knowing she likely didn't want me to hear that, I chose to ignore it. "What if they then helped you, years later, when you really needed it?"

She hummed. "Well, uhh… I think that means they forgive you."

"Maybe, but what if they found out about all the people you hurt while you were away? What if they find out that you betrayed your new friends, too? What if-"

"Stop." She said. "I uhh… I might not be very experienced with… people, but even I know you're overthinking this." She paused. "This is about your parents, isn't it?" I meekly nodded. "Blake, I've seen the way they look at you, how happy they are to have you home." She sighed. "Ever since my mom and Ruby disappeared, I wanted nothing more than to just… talk to them again. Now that the Covenant know about Remnant, your parents… well…" She trailed off, causing my eyes to widen. "Just… Don't have any regrets, okay?"

I shakily nodded. "Yeah…" I paused. "I… I think I need to go."

She gave an understanding nod and went back to examining various plants. Meanwhile, I began to slowly meander towards my father's study, my anxiety growing with each passing step.

After what felt like hours, I finally stood outside my father's study; my enhanced hearing picking up the sounds of him conversing with my mother.

I hesitated before finally knocking on the door. Moments later, my mother opened the door. "Blake? What are you doing up here?"

"I uhh… I wanted to talk to you guys for a bit."

She blinked. "Oh, well, come in then." She said, standing aside.

I shuffled inside and sat down on one of the chairs. I didn't speak for several moments, gathering courage. "…You were right…" I said, a solitary tear rolling down my face. At their confused expressions, I elaborated. "I should've left the White Fang with you two."

"Sweetie, its al-"

"No its not!" I shot up. "I yelled at you, I called you cowards, I even spat in your faces!" I shouted. "And for what?! Five years of running around with Adam! Five years of watching the man I loved turn into a monster no better than a Grimm! Five years of watching my friends go from peaceful protesters, to kidnappers, to full-blown murderers! Five years of watching the White Fang extort Human villages so badly they couldn't even defend themselves from the Grimm! Five years of just standing by and watching. Everything. Burn!"

By the time I'd finished my rant, my speech had degraded so badly I was practically choking on my own sobs. For minutes on end, I just cried.

When I finally started to calm down, I noticed that I was constricted somehow. But it didn't feel like someone was restraining me, instead it felt… warm.

prrrrrr…

prrrrrr…

As I registered their purr, I realized my parents had enveloped me in a hug. When this happened, I had no idea, but I certainly wasn't complaining. Instead, I melted into their embrace for who knows how long.

Eventually, I felt myself start to drift off, my eyelids becoming heavy. I tried to resist it at first, but eventually, I just let it happen.

prrrrrr…


/-\ Sienna Khan /-\

White Fang Headquarters


I sighed before pushing open the door in front of me, entering the meeting room for my inner circle. Upon my entrance, all conversations ceased and the six people in the room stood, bowing their heads.

I took my position at the head of the table. "Sit." I ordered, causing them all to obey immediately. I scanned the faces of my councilmembers, briefly reviewing the position of each.

Adam Taurus; Leader of the Vale branch, Bull Faunus.

Corsac and Fennec Albain; Co-leaders of the Menagerie branch, both Fox Faunus.

Gorm Robertson; Leader of the Vacuo branch, Lion Faunus.

Niles Gyllene; Leader of the Mistral branch, Snake Faunus.

I had to stop myself from physically recoiling in shock as my eyes glanced over the final member. I knew the Penguin Faunus beneath that mask, and I knew her well, but no one could ever know.

I couldn't put her life in danger like that; not again.

Burying my urge to run up and hug my adoptive sister, I instead gave her a questioning look. "And who might you be?" I asked, already knowing the answer. "I sent for the leader of the Atlesian branch, not one of his lieutenants."

"He is dead, High Leader." She responded. "I am Valkea, and I'm one of the last survivors of the Atlesian branch."

"So it was just as bad as the reports said…" I muttered. "How many of our brothers and sisters survived?"

"Out of twenty thousand men based in Atlas proper, less than two hundred, High Leader."

"…I see…" I said. "Is sister Amitola among them?"

She nodded. "Yes, High Leader."

Adam perked up. "I have a suggestion, High Leader."

I raised an eyebrow. "Speak."

"The creature's attack has left Humanity's spirit broken, and the largest threat to Faunuskind extinguished." He slammed a fist onto the table. "We need to strike while they're vulnerable! Bring them to their knees and prove once and for all that the Faunus are the dominant species on Remnant."

"A sound plan, Brother Adam." Corsac said, causing Fennec to nod.

"In case you've forgotten, they aren't the only enemy anymore." Gorm said.

Valkea nodded. "Agreed. The creatures didn't care whether you were Faunus or Human during their attack. If you weren't with them, you were fair game."

Niles remained silent, a conflicted look on his face.

"Adam." I addressed. "While your proposal is certainly tempting, we are in no position to outright assault the Human Kingdoms, much less win a war with them." I said. "From the Human perspective, if the White Fang attacked every remaining kingdom, we would be no better than those creatures that destroyed Atlas. We need their focus to be elsewhere while we work from the shadows and consolidate strength." I hummed. "'The blood of the covenant is thicker than the water of the womb'…"

"…High Leader?" He questioned.

"It is an old Vacuoan proverb." I explained. "I was one of the first advocates for using violence where it was necessary; not letting them push us down without pushing back. The White Fang stands as the guardians of our people now, but we've never had the numbers to turn it into a blunt instrument. I agree that the creature's invasion has given us an opportunity, but disagree on what that opportunity is." I paused. "When they return and engage the Humans, we will strike at their vulnerable flanks, turn the tide of every battle, then disappear as if we were never there."

"You intend to ally with our oppressors?!" He shouted, shooting up from his seat.

"No." I sternly replied. "I intend to show them what the Faunus are capable of, and teach them to give us the respect we deserve."

"With respect, High Leader," Corsac began. "the warriors of the Faunus War earned that respect long ago."

"Agreed, brother." Fennec echoed. "If the Humans did not learn the first time, why would they this time?"

"Because we will appear to be aiding them, as opposed to being the victors of a war that was never supposed to happen."

"The Humans have never kept their word, Sienna!" He shouted. "After the Great War, we were promised an end to slavery, after the Faunus War, we were promised equality! Where are we now?! Dozens die in the Schnee mines every day!"

"And they will be avenged!" I shouted. "When we have achieved our goals, we will put the Schnees through every bit of misery we ourselves have experienced." I said. "But thatis after we have achieved our goal. And I will get us there." I paused. "However, you're right to mistrust the Humans; we need a contingency plan."

"My men stand ready to fight the Humans on every front." Niles said, finally speaking up.

"As do mine, High Leader." Adam agreed.

I raised an eyebrow. "Last I heard, the Vale branch was being decimated by Human huntsmen." He made to protest, but I cut him off with a wave of my hand. "That is their primary threat." I said. "We need to counter their huntsmen." I glanced at Valkea. "How old are you, girl?" I asked, already knowing the answer.

"Just a month shy of eighteen, High Leader."

I smirked. "Perfect." I said. "You will infiltrate Beacon Academy and become a huntress. Take your next best man with you."

"Your will be done, High Leader." She said, nodding.

"Is she the best candidate for this mission, High Leader?" Corsac asked.

"Yes, surely Sister Amitola would be a better choice." Fennec said.

I shook my head. "I have something else in mind for her." I said. "Besides, the late leader of the Atlesian branch filed multiple reports on her skill with a sniper rifle." I half-lied, instead having personally overseen her training. "She is perfectly capable of this task."

"With respect, High Leader, Sister Amitola was who I had in mind for my partner." She said. "What is her mission?"

"We have yet to reestablish contact with the Mantle branch, correct?" I asked, causing her to nod. "Then she shall continue her mission from before the creatures invaded; contacting the Mantle branch."

"Understood, High Leader."

I turned to the rest of the circle. "You are dismissed. I shall brief Sister Valkea personally."

They nodded and left, Adam giving me a slight glare as he exited.

The moment the door shut, I practically tackled her in an embrace. "I was so worried…" I said, the mask finally slipping.

She clutched me as if her life depended on it. "I almost didn't make it, Sienna…" She sobbed. "If… If Ilia hadn't been there…" She trailed off.

I stroked the back of her head. "Shh…" I said. "Its okay, you're safe now."

She muffled her cries into my shoulder, her mask creating an awkward feeling as it dug into my skin. After several minutes, she calmed down and removed her mask.

I internally winced when I saw her malformed jaw, just as I'd always done after the incident. Her eyes shone like mirrors, but held an immense amount of uncertainty within them.

"You'd best be going soon." I said. "Write down the person you'd like to have with you, I'll have them meet you there." I handed her a notebook. "A ship will be anchoring at Lán Guānkou in a few days, it's the quickest one to Vale after the Mistralian council grounded all extra-kingdom flights. Once you're in Vale, make your way to Beacon and pose as a survivor of Atlas. They won't have their paperwork in order yet, and you'll slip right through."

She nodded, donning her mask once more. "…I'll miss you."

"And so will I." I said before she handed me her note and headed out the door.

I sighed, hoping I didn't just send my sister to her death.


/-\ Weiss Schnee /-\

Approaching Lán Guānkou


We'd been at sea for almost a week now. Day in and day out, I'd sat on the deck of the ship watching the calm ocean waves flow in response to various unseen forces. It was… calming, I guess would be the correct descriptor.

My cloak fluttered in the slight breeze, a slight chill nipping at my face. It was nothing compared to the dead of winter back home, but it still gave me a slight shiver.

So much had happened over the previous few days. To think, when I left Beacon, my greatest concern was avoiding a lecture from father on my armor.

"You know, I'm supposed to be the brooding one…" I heard a familiar voice deadpan.

I rolled my eyes, even though she couldn't see my action. "Oh, har-de-har, Blake."

With cat-like grace, she found her seat next to me on the deck. "Does that mean you're finally ready to talk to us again?"

I sighed, looking down at my Myrtenaster, which lay, unsheathed, on my lap. "I… suppose I've been avoiding you long enough."

She gave an affirmative hum.

"I'm guessing you want to know what I've been thinking about this entire time?" She emitted another hum. "Well… its just… everything." I sighed. "Atlas; the Covenant; that… that man…"

She placed a reassuring hand on my shoulder. "I'm not going to say that it'll just get better, but you can get through this. I know you can." She said.

I rolled my eyes. "Since when did you get so knowledgeable about this stuff?"

"Some of the men in the White Fang used to get like that." She sighed. "A lot of them just… closed themselves off after their first. I don't want you to be like that, okay? We're here for you."

I gave a small, but genuine smile. Just as I was about to speak up, Ruby rounded the corner. "Hey guys!" She started. "The storm's over!"

I blinked. "Wait, so does that mean you can call for help finally?"

She nodded just as the ship was pulling into port. "Yeah, just got off the line with Witherson. He's got a couple Pelicans inbound, ETA 'bout an hour and a half."

I sighed in relief. "Finally."

"You can say that again." Blake replied, dryly.

"Heh, lookin' to get back to your porn stash already, Blake?"

She turned beet red. "I- Its not porn!" She shouted. "It's… fine literature. You wouldn't understand."

Suddenly, a gunshot rang out. I was positively frozen, wondering just what was going on. Meanwhile, Ruby had already sprung into action, drawing her Brute Spiker and scanning the horizon.

Moments later, more gunshots followed, and I shot up, Myrtenaster in hand and aura activated.

"Weiss, go get Winter and Yang; we've got a job to do." She said before taking off with Blake.

I huffed before carrying out my orders. It was as if the universe just had it out for us as of late…


(A/N) Aaaaaand cliffhanger! The best sort of hanger…. Somewhat… okay, maybe not.

The laser comms on UNSC ships is very much fanon; there is nothing to suggest the UNSC has ever used such a method of communication.

I'm guessing the vast majority of people reading this will not have any idea what the string at the end of Penny's scene says, so I'll just say its Hexadecimal and says…

"New objective: Recover Father-Geppetto's body."

"New objective: Search Kingdom-Atlas for Team RWBY."

The Belladonna family scene was by far one of the hardest interactions I've written so far. Emotional shit has always been difficult, but dear god why? I was so fed up with that particular scene that I actually decided to go write a summary. Funnily enough, doing that actually enabled me to write the rest of the scene normally. Who'd'a thought?

Two of the OCs I mentioned in the Sienna scene are not going to be recurring people, just there to fill out the ranks. Gorm Robertson is based on Robert The Bruce (the man who secured Scottish independence around the turn of the 14th century. Gorm is Scottish Gaelic for blue, chosen due to the color of Scottish war paint.) and Niles Gyllene was based on Nils Dacke (the rebel leader of the Dacke War in Sweden, 1542 – 1543. Gyllene is Swedish for golden, chosen due to him fighting for Catholicism, which is associated with a golden color in history.). I briefly considered naming him Niles Dakka and making him into a Gun Faunus. The third OC, Valkea Khan, will be recurring; at least for a bit. She's loosely based on Simo Häyhä, better known as the White Death. He fought on the Finnish side during the Winter War against the Soviets and racked up hundreds of kills with his outdated rifle. For the color relation, the name 'Valkea' translates to 'White' in Finnish. This makes it so there's technically two characters now who's name is just 'White' in another language; the other being Weiss.

Anyways, that's all I had, so on to the reviews! I don't actually remember which ones I responded to (since it's been so long), so I'll just do the guest ones for this chapter. If you had a question and I didn't answer it, either PM me or leave another review.

Wolfman said "Nice chapter i hope that when team rwby and winter return to vale ruby will put in a request for the rest of her team,winter and the rest of the student body including visiting ones for Odst training because they will definitely need it for the possibly reach size covenant invasion to come. Also kinda wondering how salem and her lackeys are reacting to this new foe no doubt they will try to steal some of their technology but that might backfire on them in the long good luck."

I have plans for some better training, don't worry. Salem's cult is, indeed, moving pieces around behind the scenes, and I totally see them (read: Watts) doing that. Thanks!

Guest 001 said "I hope that Weiss plays the recording of her conversation with Jacques for ALL of Remnant to see! And that she makes a deal with the UNSC Forces to start a new company that will introduce ALL THE UNSC TECHNOLOGIES (Fusion Reactors, Slipspace/Space Flight, etc) that will utterly RUIN the Schnee Dust Company! It would be the perfect F$&K YOU to Jacques!"

The recording is certainly a thing I have to take into consideration, though its message will be slow to spread considering the CCT is down. Now there's an idea. A very long term one, but a good idea nonetheless.

Guest 002 said "WTF, Weiss kills a White Fang goon (I thought the white fang don't wear masks in Menagerie)!? Why did Adam have "Schnee Blue Eyes"!?"

Ilia obviously didn't get the memo in canon. I described them as 'Schnee Blue Eyes' because, to me, his canon eyes look like they're from that of a Schnee. Might just be me, but I think it'd be hilarious if Adam was actually Jacques's bastard. Probably not going to actually do that, but it's a funny thought.

Firewyrm said "Hey I just wanted to share an idea I have with you: a crossover between RWBY, Valkaria Chronicles, and Shakugan no Shana (more fandoms will be included they are just the main ones. After going to Xanadu, Yuji and Shana gain the ability to travel to other universes (along with Alastor) which leads to them meeting a 25-year old Ruby who is now the strong silent type and pessimistic (she also had a major growth spurt) because she is the only survivor of Remnant (she basically becomes a tsundere and tends to not show any sign of emotion very often). They also meet her traveling companion Isara Gunther who awoke on the barren remains of Remnant after her death (her personality hasn't changed). Ruby and Isara agree to travel with Yūji, Shana, and Alastor however Ruby tends to act somewhat bitter towards any heroes that potentially threaten the balance between good and evil (this even leads to her trying to kill Bloom from Winx Club at one point). She also (although subtly) enjoys seeing the romance between Yuji and Shana. Basically they help face prevent villains who have also gained this ability (like Makuta-Teridax and Luxu) from conquering other universes."

You sound pretty passionate about this, but I've literally never heard of Valkaria Chronicles or Shakugan no Shana. Sooo… yeah… I don't know half the stuff you're saying, sorry.

Jackknife said "Hope Ruby picks up on cinder's manipulative tactics,gather intel on her,and slits her and her two minion's throats because we don't need the fall of beacon the fall of atlas was enough. The reason why i hope for this is because Ruby B-312 isn't naive as her canon self she will pick up on that bullshit and will investigate those three and report it to the despite her time on remnant she's still a spartan and will follow protocol no matter what much to her family's dismay excluding Yang if they find out about what she through."

I mean, she does do a lot of wetwork, so that would certainly be in her nature. I'm trying to avoid meta-ing this story, though. I was pretty tempted in the Blake scene to say that they found documents basically outlining Adam's plans of world domination, but decided against it.

Guest 003 said "I don't get Weiss' freakout. At the start if the fic she seemed the most pragmatically minded of WBY with regards to killing, she's seen Ruby kill someone and taken potentially lethal action against humans already. She's seen LOTS of death already and sees the white fang as terrorists. Blake has likely killed before, Yang is the one who probably hasn't killed a human yet and would be fazed by it.

Still, I like this fic a lot. Thanks for writing it, seeing a new chapter from you always makes my day better."

The thing is, though, that she's used to seeing people die; not doing the killing herself. In this regard, watching and doing are two very different things. Hell, I'm a hunter irl and even I know that, and my prey are just stupid (yet tasty) deer. If you went and asked any non-sociopathic person about the people they'd killed (don't) they'll tell you just how sickening it is knowing that you personally ended a Human life.

Thanks! I didn't mean to get rant-y with the above part, but that's just what happens with this subject. Hope this chapter is as well received as the last one!

Guest 007 said "You've hinted whiterose (in a really adorable way), but you've tagged winter as a major character. Are you going for crimson blizzard? That's a truly rare ship. Or maybe she's just gonna be a fifth squad member, and penny as number six?

Speaking of penny and her weapons, with dist weapons having enough recoil to launch their wielders through the air, would dust weaponry outclass unsc firearms in atmo or are all the landing odsts suddenly rocketing themselves around?

And would Penny's funnel control and laser weapon make this Rubes nerd out?"

I tagged her because she's a major character, that has no baring on who is shipped with who. I agree CB is an extremely rare ship, so much so that I hadn't even heard of it until your review) but I won't reveal the ships, though I have them planned out already.

Imo, dust-based firearms completely eclipse gunpowder-based ones. It doesn't seem to be a very commonly held belief (probably because of their ineffectiveness in recent volumes) but that's what I've come to expect from them based on the Red Trailer, where, assuming Ruby is using .50BMG, the damage output is roughly equivalent to a 20mm cannon. Y'know, the thing they put on IFVs and aircraft because the recoil would eviscerate a person.

Probably not this Ruby, but canon Ruby would be drooling in a heartbeat. Actually, that might be why she stayed out of the fight at the end of Canon Volume 1, come to think of it. [New Headcanon Acquired]

Guest 009 said "Is Winter going to get a prosthetic limb in this story? I mean, Winter DID lose an arm in Eve Of Consecration, after that Sangheili cut it off."

Yep.


Alright, that's the end of the guest reviews! Thanks for reading and I'll see you in the next chapter; "The Reaper's Due".