Big Issues
AN: Alright, this is a bit of a longer chapter than what I've been delivering lately but it was fairly fun to write.
Vytal Tournament - Family Matters
Ruby chased Weiss across the courtyard of Beacon. The heiress had bolted as fast as her thick legs could carry her and as well as her wide hips could allow her to push through the crowds, with Ruby being able to follow in her wake as she wasn't as horizontally challenged as her teammate. But she did have to issue apologies to some people who were pushed away by her partner, one or two of them being knocked to the floor. The brief stop in the airship down to the ground didn't give her any ability to talk to Weiss as they were separated and were more than a few people than what the ship was supposed to be safely flying with by regulations.
As soon as the doors opened, Weiss had taken off again, leaving Ruby to chase after her again. Neither of them stopped until reaching the main landing pad in front of the school. "Weiss! What is the big deal!" Ruby threw her arms out with her question as she ran after her friend. Then they stopped. "Who is it? Who is she?" The younger girl questions, knowing only that a woman is involved with Weiss' behavior.
The girl stood there with a fond smile, one that Ruby rarely saw on the girls' face. "Winter." Was her simple answer as they watched the ship touch down as its lower wings bent on shoulders at the fuselage to act as landing gear and a ramp lowered from the rear of the ship. Already, there were several Atlas personnel on the pad along with a few Knights providing security. A pair of soldiers emerged first and took positions on either side of the ramp. Following after them, a young woman wearing primarily white and grey with some blue and red for extra color walked down the ramp with her hands clasped behind her back. A pair of Knights followed after her as a soldier was visible at the top of the ramp relaying orders.
Ruby looked between Weiss and the woman and between the startling resemblance and the tidbits that Weiss was willing to share about her family… "Wait, your sister?"
Weiss ignored her partner in favor of cupping her hands over her mouth as she shouted. "Winter!" The woman visibly paused at the shout before turning away from watching another pair of Knights descending the ramp. She turned to see the two tubby girls running up to her, the one in black and red was obviously confused while the one in white is excited.
"Winter! I'm so happy to see you!" Weiss was nearly bouncing where she stood as she spoke. Then she seemed to remember her class. "Oh, your presence honors us." She dips into a curtsey with her head bowed.
Winter took a few steps closer to the pair. "Beacon… it's been a long time. The air feels… different." She comments, not really acknowledging the teammates in front of her.
"I mean it is fall, so… it's probably colder." Ruby put her hand to the back of her head as she looked to the ground, unwilling to look the older woman in the eyes. This unfortunately left the girl open for Weiss to punch her surprisingly hard in the shoulder blade, her padding did little to stop the sharp knuckles from squeezing muscle and tendon against the bone. The shock and pain nearly brought the cloaked girl to her knees.
"So, what are you doing here?" Weiss asks, as if hitting her team leader didn't happen.
"Classified." Was Winter's simple response, though she acted as if the punch never happened either. At the same time, she didn't spare her sister a glance either so she missed the expectant look on her face.
"Oh, right." The younger sister straightens up and folds her hands in front of herself. "Well, how long are you staying?" She asks with a smile.
This time, Winter looked at her eldest sibling when she answered. "Classified."
"Of course." Weiss took it with a smile and a bow of her head. Next to her, Ruby stood up and watched the interaction with confusion, wondering if this was the norm for family interactions in Atlas.
"Well… this is nice." The Rose attempts to break the silence. "I think?" She couldn't imagine things being this tense between herself and Yang.
The dam broke in Weiss and her excitement spilled forth in the same way that got her here so quickly. "Oh! You're gonna love it here! I know you traveled a lot but so much of Beacon is different from Atlas!" She flung her arms out to emphasize her point, nearly hitting Ruby in her chubby cheek. "Vale too." She holds up her fingers as if doing a presentation. "The government and school are completely separate. Can you believe it!" She nearly squeezed herself with her fists up by her face and arms tucked as tight as possible as she practically shivered in place with a smile and her eyes closed.
"I am well aware of how this kingdom handles its bureaucracy." Winter responds with a shrug and a rather unimpressed tone. "That is not why I came." She gave her sister a direct look.
"Right." Weiss stands at attention, though her wide hips made keeping her arms to her sides difficult. "I'm sorry." She apologizes with her head bowed.
"Nor did I come here to watch my own blood fail so miserably in battle." The door to the ship closed behind her to keep the contents secure. "It seems that I had no choice in the matter." Winter looked down her nose at the younger girls, though focused on Weiss.
That caught Weiss' attention and pride. "But we won!" She didn't care if she sounded indignant or a bit whiney.
"Only a novice would refer to that as a victory." She still wouldn't look directly at her sister, if anyone was paying attention to that. Few did as the presence of the handful of soldiers and the Knights around the platform served as a deterrent. "I counted at least three strikes missed." It wasn't hard to see the younger sibling flinch and bow her head in shame.
Winter raised her right hand as she glanced back at the mechs. "Leave us." She commands and with a beep, they comply by stepping back away from the woman.
The elder woman on the platform lets out a sigh, visibly relaxing slightly before addressing her sister. "How have you been?" She asks with her hand out, signaling that Weiss had the stage.
"Oh! Splendid, thank you for asking." Weiss waves her hand before settling it over her modest chest. "I'm actually at the very top ranking of our sparring class. The rest of my studies are going wonderfully too."
SLAP!
"Silence you boob!" Winter raised her voice momentarily after smacking her sisters' head. The girl had gotten into the Atlas elite pretentious act that she knew the girl was tired of and the sight of her doing so irritated her enough to strike her. It also brought back memories of their father pushing them to be as 'proper' as possible, with threats and treats included in his training of his children.
She ignored Weiss rubbing her head where she was struck. "I don't recall asking of your ranking, I asked how you've been." Her tone shifted from harsh to gentle. "Are you eating properly? Have you taken up any hobbies? Are you making new friends?" Perfectly acceptable questions from an elder sibling to their younger who they hadn't seen for some time.
"Well, there's Ruby." Weiss motions to the chubby girl next to her, who was wearing a smile.
The team leader snorts before poking the sore spot on her head. "Boob." She says teasingly. Clearly, someone was finding it amusing as Weiss flinched at her touch.
"I see." Winter says slowly as she watched their interaction. She turns to look at the other girl. "So, this is the leader you wrote of? How appropriately… underwhelming." She looked the chubby girl up and down. From her round face to soft belly and thick legs, Ruby Rose hardly looked the part of someone trained in combat but as a girl who would spend her time eating cookies and playing games all day. Yet, she had seen the girl fight during her flight and judging the girl on her appearance alone would only be to one's detriment.
"Ah, thank you." Ruby had no idea what to do being put on the spot so suddenly.
"Greetings, Ruby Rose. I wish to thank you for taking an interest in my sister." Winter was as formal as she spoke as the concrete is hard under their feet.
It was practically expected that the girl would get embarrassed at the attention and her social awkwardness didn't assist her in any way. "Yes! Of course." She puts her hands behind her back as she smiles nervously. "The honor is in my… court." She shifted to trying to salute to a curtsey rapidly and poorly. Neither Schnee were particularly amused, the younger one disappointed, especially when the girl nearly fell over from poor posture when performing the curtsey.
Despite the narrowing of her eyes, Winter decided to change the subject. "I have business with the General and your Headmaster." Then her tone became softer. "Seeing as I'm early, why don't you take me to your quarters?" She finished with a smile to her sister and rubbing her hands together.
"Really?" Weiss' head snapped up in surprise, missing in her excitement that Winter was barely concealing her desire to embarrass her sister in front of her team… as any good elder sibling would.
"Yes." The girls began walking, followed by a pair of Knights. "I wish to inspect them to see that they are up to my personal standards." Winter covers her intent with her professionalism. Sometimes there were perks to being military, such as times like this.
"Of course!" Weiss was quick to agree, though Ruby was content to let the sisters talk so that she didn't have to. "Just so you know, the bunk beds only look unstable."
Winter's eyes widened at the warning. "Bunk beds?" She questions, not giving the extra pair of Knights a thought as they joined the procession just ahead of the organics.
"We needed to make room somehow. Now we have more floor space available to our team than anyone else." Weiss defends the notion. Nearby, Ruby's chest swelled with pride… only to cover her mouth as she let out a small belch from the soda earlier in the stadium.
The sisters continued to make small talk as they walked down the road from the landing pads towards the courtyards. There were far more people as they got closer to the school, plenty of students from various schools, a few Atlas soldiers and their mechs on patrol, a few families of the students who were visiting for the tournament, and a few other festival attendees wandering about. But as they were walking through one of the decorative circles in the walkway with benches built into the walls where people were relaxing in the sunlight with their friends, the pair of mechs in the back had a 'malfunction'.
The sounds of tearing metal caught the attention of the little Atlas parade, they turned in time to see one of the mech's heads come rolling up the road by their feet.
"Hey!" A raspy voice drawls. "I'm talking to you, Ice Queen." The man says as he casually tosses the body of the now headless robot with a single hand.
Winter had her hand on her sword at the first sound of the 'attack' and the intact Knights began approaching the man with their guns raised and aimed at him. "Halt!" She commands the mechs to stop their advance. The man didn't so much as flinch with the guns trained on him in plain view, or from the glare the older woman that was known to freeze Grimm in their tracks.
The younger Schnee marched up to the man who she found reeked of alcohol despite the fact that he was fairly well dressed in a grey button up shirt, black slacks and shoes. The necklace, wristband, and the few rings he wore weren't exactly eye catching nor were they gaudy. The biggest stand out of his appearance, besides his drunken slump, was the red cape on his back which looked like it had seen better days.
"Do you have any idea who I am?" She demanded of him with all of the indignity she could muster in her tone.
Then that indignity was made physical when he placed a hand on her head and face while shushing her. "Not you." He pushed her out of the way and ignored her squawk of surprise as he took a few steps forward. "You." His red eyes narrowed at Winter, who now had an extra pair of mechs joining in the line up with their guns aimed at him, a soldier hanging back to evaluate the situation.
He stood upright, yet his stance was so loose that onlookers wouldn't be surprised if he was a few inches taller, he already was taller than Weiss while slumped over. "Saw that gaudy ship of yours, I guess you're here too."
"I'm standing right before you." Winter retorts after having the mechs stand down. Not far away, Ruby was keeping herself as low and inconspicuous as possible.
The man made a show of leaning forward and squinting. "So, it would seem." He says with a smile to show how lightly he was taking the whole affair.
"You realize that you just destroyed Atlas military property?" It was less of a question than an accusation from Winter. Both adults missed or chose to ignore Weiss as she made her way away from him along the wall to where her partner was watching from behind the robotic soldiers.
"Oh, ohh… I'm sorry." He takes a step back with his hands wide as he looks at the ruined Knights that he'd torn apart with his bare hands. "See, I mistook this for some sort of… sentient garbage." His tone and gestures made it clear that he was being sarcastic.
"I don't have time for your immature games, Qrow." Winter tells him, the warning clear in her voice as she takes a step closer to the now identified man.
"Wait, you two know each other?" Weiss asks as she passes her sister to get to Ruby.
"Geez, you Atlas Specialists think you're so special, don't you?" For once, Qrow sounded serious, or at least serious as compared to his sarcasm up to this point.
"It's in the title." Winter retorts as if stating as simple fact, which she was.
"Well, you know what you really are?" Qrow asks without expecting an answer as he squared off to face the Schnee properly. He was more than willing to provide the answer for the increasingly irritated woman. "A bunch of sell outs. Just like your boss."
"I'm not sure what you think you're implying, but I've heard enough." Winter tone was firm and carried an edge of warning.
Qrow holds his hands up placatingly. "Oh, I heard too. Old Ironwood finally turned his back on Ozpin." He accuses and his eyes narrowed, as if that was a personal insult.
"Ozpin?" Weiss asks aloud from her place to the side with Ruby, the rounder girl being unusually quiet.
"Weiss, it's time for you to go." Winter waves her hand as if to shoo the girls away.
"Listen to big sister, Weiss." Qrow calls out mockingly. "She'll protect you." The Specialists eyes narrowed as her right hand rested on the hilt of her sword. "Just like how Atlas is gonna protect all of us. Huh?" Qrow throws his arms wide and stumbles back a step.
Winter finally heard enough and drew her blade. "If you won't hold your tongue, I will gladly remove it for you!" Her voice indicated that this was her final warning.
"Alright then…" He pauses to slick his bangs back to ensure his eyes were clear. "Come take it. Might be better than seeing how many MRE's you can eat at one time."
Winter's eyes widened at the insinuation as red colored her pale, full cheeks. The Atlesian Specialist's grip on her sword tightened, the glove creaking slightly from the stress. But if there was stress on her outfit, it was on the clasp holding her coat closed. It was pulled so tightly across her middle that it created a slight fold in her stomach and her vest was already holding her bloated middle back with strain on the buttons. Her white pants were tight on her legs and it was probably a very good thing that her coat had tails to cover her behind with how tight the white fabric was pulled taut across her hips and rear. The belts that helped to keep the cuffs of her boots above her knees squished into her soft flesh a little. The slits in the upper arms of her sleeves were loose enough to freely expose her thick arms without being strained. Needless to say, she was a pear-shaped woman squeezed into a custom-made uniform who outweighed her sister by a fair margin and not simply because she was taller or had the easily larger bust.
Without a word, the irritated woman dashed at the man nearly too fast to be seen. Even Weiss' hair blew a bit from the wind in her wake as she practically appeared in front of Qrow as if she teleported and stabbed at his face. The man easily swayed to the side to dodge, as he did for the next two trusts at his head and the slash over his shoulders, all with an amused smirk on his lips. Two more stabs were just as successful and the next slash missed thanks to his mocking bow. Winter brought her blade down from above but Qrow unfastened the thick but short sword from his waist to hold against his back over his tattered cape just in time for her steel to meet it rather than his flesh.
A slight squeeze of the guard/trigger and the short sword extended to twice its former length and a flick of his wrist pushed her blade away and made his sword flip through the air with a flourish for him to catch it easily with his left hand and slip into a battle-ready stance. Without the smile leaving his face for a moment.
Winter had taken a step or two back as the man prepared himself, looking as though she were second guessing her choice to attack the older man, before schooling her face and their swords crossed tips. It was almost funny in the differences between them. The tall and lanky man in a wide and loose stance holding a single edged broadsword squaring off with a very thick woman in a rigid upright stance holding a thin saber.
A few twitches of their wrists were all they needed to move their sharpened steel into a few slightly different poses, testing the reflexed and reactions of the other. Then Qrow spun himself into a low slash that Winter stopped easily. Yet a twist of his wrist and Qrow's blade whistled by her ear as it arced towards the sky, making her retreat. It was a wise choice for her to back away as he spun again for a higher slash that she ducked under.
Qrow continued to use powerful and wide swings at the woman in white who started using handsprings backwards to retreat and dodge at the same time. If it wasn't nearly commonplace thanks to the Issue, it would have been surprising to see a woman of her girth moving as she was. Yet the students watching the fight wished they could move with as much grace and precision as Winter was. The pattern was ended when Schnee brought up her blade to catch his in a deadlock, reinforced by her free hand on the spine of her saber to match his strength and the weight of his weapon.
She pushed the massive blade away and the two fell into a deadly dance of flashing steel. For those with sharp eyes, they could see the slight trails of their aura from the tips of their weapons, his being red and hers white. Slashes that were ducked under and dodged, sidestepped, solid blocks, deflections, Qrow at one point even turning fully backwards with Harbinger along his spine to take a hit.
Just off to the side, there was another confrontation of sorts happening. "Just who is that crazy guy attacking my sister?" Weiss asks aloud but to nobody in particular.
"That is my Uncle!" Ruby squeals as she bounces in place with excitement. "Kick her butt Uncle Qrow!" She shouts with joy.
Weiss' eyes widen at the revelation that it was her partners family engaged in combat with her own. At the same time, the girls' love of a fight was almost infectious, though the heiress controlled hers far better. "Teach him respect, Winter!"
Not far away, outside of the crowd that was forming along the walkway, Mercury Black was strolling along and not paying the fight any mind. It was yet another distraction that drew attention from him and his team as far as he was concerned but then through a gap in the numerous hefty bodies, he saw who was fighting. His face paled as his eyes grew wide with fear. He lingered only for a few seconds before backing away and running off to find Cinder and report what he'd just seen.
Back in the impromptu combat ring, the two swords continued to ring as they clashed. Qrow's powerful and sweeping attacks were able to be dodged and blocked. Meanwhile, Winter's far smaller blade could arc towards her target far faster and make the tight space between them dangerous. Yet the man used his larger blade to great effect to block her slashes and stabs like a shield when needed and she continued to move in ways to make women half her size jealous to avoid his strikes.
A slash meant to cut into her shoulder missed as Winter bent backwards at the waist and she rose to upright even more irritated than before and she retaliated with a pommel strike that landed on his face. But aside from making him grunt as his head twisted with the blow, he seemed unfazed… if him snapping his head back with a grin and a glint in his eye that screamed danger was any indication.
Winter obeyed the instinct by forming a glyph under her feet to boost her jump away just in time as Qrow slammed his sword down where she once stood, the impact shattering the stones like a meteor thanks to the pulse of aura he released through his weapon. The onlookers covered their eyes as debris showered them, their own auras protecting them from what did hit. Didn't stop more than a few from the crowd from gasping in shock at the display of power from a full-fledged Huntsman.
Qrow looked up to see Winter giving him a smirk of superiority before performing several flips as she fell over the side of the walkway to the ground below them all. A smile nearly split his face before Qrow rushed over the side to follow the Specialist, the crowd rushing to the railings to watch the fight continue on the ground. The biggest fans of the fight in their distinctive red and white color schemes were quick to make sure they had the best places to view the match as they supported their family members.
Easily landing on the ground, despite her weight and wearing heeled boots in the grass, her confident smile was replaced by shock as Qrow was already charging and swinging at her, the twisting duck she performed saved her from meeting the fate of the light post next to her that was cleaved in half. Winter recovered quickly and used the new stump to assist in jumping over the drunkard with a flip that swung her blade at his head which he was able to block. The woman landed behind him with a smile on her face once more only to jump immediately, dodging the backhanded slash from Qrow in the process.
His follow through brought his sword behind him, just in time for Winter to land on the broad side of the blade and drive the tip into the soil with her weight and pulling the man off balance as he fought to maintain his grip. That was put to the test as Winter backflipped off the weapon to land on the lamppost stump, kicking Qrow on the chin in the process. She had to abandon her perch quickly as the man threw his sword as he stumbled, which stuck blade first in the stump.
A brief flash of a glyph assisted Winter in reaching an intact lamppost that would soon help to illuminate the courtyard as the sun set. Qrow recovered his weapon as he got closer and hopped the rail to get back on the walkway, a fingering of the trigger converted it to its ranged mode, the blade dropping as he held the hilt up and the twin barrels were now unobstructed by the blade between them before one of them fired a shotgun shell. The round impacted where her feet once were before the woman had taken off, making Qrow drop his smile for the first time since the confrontation began as he made the blade snap back up into position as he watched Winter climb to a higher level of arches that added some grandeur to the schools' image.
He ran after her, keeping to the ground for now and converting Harbinger back to ranged mode in the process. Just as the living snowball reached the peak of the support, he fired but missed the woman narrowly. Two more shots impacted the archway as she ran just behind her before Qrow closed the distance a bit by leaping up onto an archway himself. Four more shots fired as he ran impacted behind Winter, though the last one raised a large cloud of smoke that she never emerged through and made him pause his running, switching his sword back up as he waited for a clear view of his opponent. Then again, looking for a woman with white hair, pale skin, and wearing primarily white herself within a white dust cloud from a distance would test anyone's eyesight.
A bright flash emanated from within the cloud and Winter shot out like from a cannon with a yell of determination mixed with some rage. The smile returned to Qrow's face as he readied his sword in front of him with both hands. As she flew across the gap, Winter held her sword in front of her and squeezed a small trigger that opened the hilt as it slid into itself. Once the opening was wide enough a short sword sprung out into her waiting left hand and the hilt closed once more. Now her larger blade was hollow from hilt to some length up the weapons blade.
Winter gave herself a quick spin to add centrifugal force to her already impressive mass and velocity to make contact with Qrow's sword with both of hers. The result might as well have turned her into a cannonball, as her impact shattered the concrete arches he was standing on as she drove him through it with her mass. That force continued all the way to the ground where Qrow landed on his back with Winter on top of him hard enough to create a crater large enough to match the one he created earlier.
Qrow managed to push through the pain of the impact and kicked Winter off of him while she had some momentum yet, causing her to roll up and over the edge of the crater. He managed to jump out in time to raise his blade to catch her pair coming down at his head. They moved back to the walkway as they sprung apart from that clash only to continue the fight there, avoiding any onlookers in the process while being completely focused on each other. They finally had a break when Winter caught an overhead strike from Qrow with her crossed swords and pushed him back by sweeping them outward with a yell.
Qrow slid across the walkway on his feet for a fair distance before driving his weapon into the stones to slow himself, by some stroke of luck stopping not far from where the fight had started and with his first crater behind him. Once he stopped, he withdrew his sword and held it in a reverse grip behind him, smile on his face eager for more. Clearly, this was fun and he wanted more. The cheers from the gathered crowd only encouraged him further.
Winter was too eager to upstage the man and with a twisting flourish of her larger blade, stabbed it into the ground where a large white glyph sprung into existence under her feet. Small, white and blue Nevermore flew from the glyph that created them, flying in a circle around their summoner before several dozen had joined the flock, at which point Winter used her other sword to point at her target and they charged him.
The Nevermore flew by the man keeping him ducked down to protect his face with one arm, the other hand swinging his sword to kill a few of the birds. Winter smirked as the Nevermore began to circle the man, with a few more around herself as reinforcements if needed. The crowd was in awe of the summons and her control of them, giving the younger fighter more confidence to continue.
But the smirk was wiped from her face when Qrow released an arc of aura that cut a line through the stone walkway on its way to her, forcing the woman to jump back and to the side to dodge and watching as the aura projectile sliced her glyph and ending her summons. She glared at the man who in turn wasn't looking happy, just more annoyed than angry. A large glyph appeared behind Winter as she readied the blades in her hands. Her face shifted to grim determination as she lowered herself for a final charge and a small smile came to Qrow's lips as he twitched his trigger and the gears began to turn within the hilt of his weapon.
The five segments of his blade separated a small distance apart from each other, lengthening the sword considerably while revealing some of the inner components of the weapon hidden beneath the steel. The blade lifted up towards the sky and at the gaps began to bend into an odd shape that nobody could figure out what it was doing.
Winter shifted her position once more as her glyph was pulsing with readiness to launch her. But something seemed to Qrow's mind as he shifted from getting serious to almost playful once more and he ended the transformation to the crowds' disappointment, even going so far as to collapse it into travel mode and holster it on the back of his waist once more. Winter's eyes widened with confusion as she thought the man could possibly be giving up but the fact that her returned to his slouch, his smirk grew, and beckoned her on with a finger enraged her.
She shot off like a large white bullet with an angry yell with her main blade held high and aimed at his throat, his confident smirk never wavering. Her steel drew closer to skin but just as she was close enough for him to shave his stubble with a commanding voice pierced the fog of battle.
"SCHNEE!"
Winter stopped dead in her tracks, though her body jiggled at the abrupt stop. Her eyes went wide at the voice she recognized and she turned her head to look behind her like a child who had just been caught doing what they weren't supposed to. "General Ironwood, sir!" She snaps to attention as the man begins to step towards her, Penny not far behind him
"What in the world do you think you're doing?" He questions his subordinate. Penny watched from behind with her hands clasped over her chest as she leaned to see around the much larger man.
"He started the altercation, sir." Winter states quickly, with a touch of fear on her face from being caught.
"That's actually not true." Qrow leans out from behind the wider woman with his hands behind his head. Though he couldn't see it, Winter's face twisted in irritation at his comments. "She attacked first."
Ironwood's face remained as hard and unreadable as ever at the revelation as his eyes turned to the Specialist. "Is that right?" He asks slowly.
Winter couldn't come up with anything to say in her defense and hung her head in shame and wordless admission of guilt. Behind her, Qrow was pointedly looking around at the tall buildings of the campus as if he were a tourist. James looked around at the crowd of students and visiting families and saw that no one was raising opposition to Qrow's claim. A few had their scrolls out and had been recording the fight from multiple angles. He could always retrieve the memories of the Knights standing at the ready nearby if he wanted yet another viewpoint.
"And you." Ironwood turns his attention to Qrow, who dramatically acts innocent and points at himself. "What are you doing here?" He asks the man quietly after taking a few steps closer, now standing next to his subordinate.
"I could be asking you the same thing." Qrow responds with a small hand wave and a smirk. Next to the General, Winter turned to face her boss, if only out of respect or to keep her widened hips out of his path.
"Now, now everyone." Ozpin calls out calmly as he approaches with his usual mug of hot chocolate in hand. Glynda marching next to him and looking more stern than normal. "Sanctioned fights are just around the corner at the colosseum that I can assure you has better seats… and popcorn."
Glynda's eye twitched at the poor joke before she took control of the situation by stepping forward. "Break it up everyone!" She yells out with a sweep of her arm. "We will take care of this mess." She adds but glares at the two who created so much damage to the schoolyard.
"Let's go." Was all James says and Winter falls in step behind him, the Knights recognizing him as the superior officer and obeying. Penny was at the rear of the Atlesian procession and saw a familiar chubby girl in a red cloak and waved to her with a wide smile at Ruby waving back before hurrying to keep up.
"Uncle Qrow!" Ruby cheers as she jumps at the man and latches onto his right arm, making him stumble a step to compensate for his nieces' weight slamming into him. She looks up to him with a cheerful smile. "Hi!"
The man proceeds to lift her up with the arm that she was holding onto, though there was some strain in holding a two hundred- and seventy-five-pound squirming girl, obviously. "Oh! It's so good to see you! Did you miss me? Did you miss me?!"
"Nope!" He smirks back at the girl before pulling her in a bit to ruffle her hair, something he could only really do with this niece without risking a fist to the gut.
"Qrow!" Ozpin calls the man, who drops his arms as he looks to the Headmaster. Which in turn, made Ruby lose her grip on his arm and fall to the ground with a grunt at his feet. "A word if you please." Behind Ozpin, Glynda was using her semblance to draw back all of the debris into the nearest crater before turning her attention to the thin trenches. She was able to repair that with little more than a flick of her wrist before sighing at the sight of the second crater off the walkway. Her trained eyes were able to estimate how it was made and saw the destruction of the archways, leading to her eyebrow twitching as she repaired them both, cursing under her breath.
"I think I'm in trouble." Qrow says quietly to Ruby as she rises to her feet and dusts herself off.
The girl shrugs. "You did kinda tear up our courtyard."
"Yeah, I did." He admits with a wink. "Catch ya later kid." He delivers a fist bump with the young girl before walking off… careful to keep Oz between himself and Glynda.
Weiss walks over to stand by her partner, crossing her arms as she spoke. "And suddenly, your recklessness makes sense."
"You're just mad because he whooped butt." Ruby teases her, emphasized by elbowing Weiss' arm.
"That was a draw at best." Weiss counters indignantly, complete with fists at her sides. Ruby's grin not leaving her round face didn't help her feel better.
Ruby's stomach growled, something that Weiss' echoed. "C'mon! Let's get something to eat!" The excitable girl drags her friend by the wrist in the direction of the cafeteria.
Up in Ozpin's office, General James Ironwood leaned against the desk as Winter paced in front of him. Penny had been left to wait at the bottom with the Knights as her guards. The steps of the Specialist didn't bother him much, as it was a better way of letting out her frustration than what Winter had done earlier when dealing with Qrow. At the same time, he knew from experience the man was as reliable at his job and skilled as a Huntsman as he was at annoying people, with a particular dislike for Atlas as a whole… which meant that he was always someone you wanted on your side and the headaches from dealing with him were a price you paid for his help.
James had seen small bits of the fight as students had shared it across their scrolls and he happened to watch enough to identify who was fighting and where. Apparently, with as fast as Ozpin and Glynda arrived on the scene, they had found out in a similar manner. But the fact that Qrow was here at all was something that worried him as the man was a trusted field agent for Ozpin, one that was sent on the highest difficulty missions that one could think of and could complete them almost exclusively alone. The fact that he was here to report in person meant that he found something that he didn't trust to be relayed through the CCT network.
The ticking gears of the clock above them didn't hide the ding of the elevator that made them turn their attention to the opening doors. Qrow was in front with his hands on his hips and a smirk on his face. Ozpin was as calm as ever though his mug was gone and he was leaning on his cane. Glynda was pointedly looking away from the men with her arms crossed. The wandering drunkard had pointed at the weight limit printed on the control panel and was smacked in the shoulder for his little joke despite they weren't at half the capacity yet. As soon as Qrow saw the Atlesian military members waiting for them, he wiggled his eyebrows to tease them.
"What were you thinking?!" Winter's raised voice cut through the din of the gears above them as the elevator emptied.
"If you were one of my men, I would have you shot." Ironwood declares with a fist raised in front of him.
"If I were one of your men, I'd shoot myself." Qrow drawls as he withdraws his flask.
Glynda gave the taller man a slight glare as she walked by. "While I wouldn't condone his actions, retaliating like you did certainly didn't help the situation." The blonde turned her glare to the youngest in the room as she crossed her arms, clearly not wanting to deal with the problem any more than she had to.
"He was drunk!" Winter tries to defend herself.
"He's always drunk!" Goodwitch fires back immediately, not really sure herself if that was a defense of the man or an insult. Either way, it was a fact about Qrow Branwen.
A series of loud gulps drew the attention of four people in the office to Qrow, who was drinking from the flask in his hand. He had the decency to look ashamed, though it was probably more for being caught drinking than that he was at all. Still, he capped the container and put it away.
"Ah, Qrow." Ozpin sits down in his chair with his head held in his hands. He looks up at the informant and asks the question that they all wanted to know. "Why are you here?"
"You've been out of contact for weeks; you can't just go dark like that in the field!" James jumps into the conversation.
"I'm not one of your Special Operatives, Jimmy." Qrow fires back with equal parts irritation and sarcasm.
"General." Winter tries to correct how the man addressed her superior, even taking a step or two closer.
"Whatever." Qrow dismisses the hefty young woman's attempts before turning back to the other three. "You sent me to get intel on our enemies and I'm telling you our enemy is here."
"We know." James says slowly as he leans against the desk and crosses his arms. The positioning wasn't particularly flattering for the General as it showed off the weight he'd gained during the Issue and it wasn't even across his body.
"Oh! Oh, you know." The sarcasm was heavy in Qrow's voice and demeanor as he raises his hands and even backs up a step as if he were stunned by the news himself. But the lightest person in the room wasn't going to take the situation lightly. "Well thank goodness I'm out there risking my life to keep you all informed!"
"Qrow!" James tries to calm the man.
The Huntsman raises a hand to stop him as he reaches into his pocket with the other. "Communication is a two-way street, pal." He holds up his scroll and activates the holographic screen. "You see this? It's the send button." As angry as he was, his sarcasm was still fully intact and in use.
"They had reason to believe you were compromised." Winter says calmly, subtly trying to defuse the situation.
Qrow stood up and dropped his arms as he focused on the snowball Specialist. "And I have reason to believe that you don't belong here." He looks to Ozpin and Glynda as he points at Winter with his free hand. "Seriously, who invited her?"
A pause told him all that he needed, that they had forgot to dismiss Winter so the Circle could speak freely. "Schnee, we'll discuss this matter on my ship." Ironwood tells the young woman.
"But sir?" She tries to object, not understanding the secrecy that the others needed.
"Winter, leave." While James did not move from where he leaned on the desk, he got the desired effect from his tone.
Winter snapped to attention and saluted. "Yes sir." With that she spun on her heel and walked towards the elevator, though she paused to glare at Qrow as she passed him, who in turn gave her a smile and a wink. He continued to watch until the doors closed behind her before turning back to Ozpin, though he was amused as he could feel his Misfortune flare but not see anything happen in the office.
RRRIIIPPPP!
"What the!" Winter felt stitching giving way and instantly reached behind her to feel the seat of her pants had split to allow cool air reach her skin.
The Specialist grumbled under her breath as she remembered that she had a spare uniform on her ship that she could change into. This one was dirtied from the fight and now had a hole that needed to be repaired. She was just simply glad that she had taken the serum to end the weight gain. Atlas had been hit the hardest of all of the Kingdoms of Remnant due to the nature of them combining their military and Huntsman Academy as one entity. The promising Huntsmen and Huntresses had their own wing of the very extensive military base for their dorms and another for their classes but they shared many of the same training facilities. That also meant that they shared the same water supplies and thus the chemicals spread through the Huntsmen, Huntresses, and soldiers alike.
It was a harsh blow to the General, who as the Headmaster of the Huntsman Academy and the commander of all of Atlas' military forces and thus had two seats on the Atlas Council, had a hard time shaking. He did manage to garner some sympathy as he had been afflicted with everyone else. But the full Council had agreed to funding research to help fix the Issue. In the end, it was almost a perfect harmony with the Kingdoms as it was a plant expert from Vale that discovered the basis of the serum, Vacuoan teams had tracked down and collected the plants within their desert home and it was Atlas that processed and created the final serum that was distributed around the world by Mistralian couriers for those suffering from the chemical attacks.
Still, she wished that she would have not gained the last couple of pounds that made her uniform a bit tight… or now that she had the hole, too tight. At least the gains were expected to stop soon and her intense training regimen would have her shedding the weight, hopefully as fast as it came on. Thankfully, there were few between the tower and her ship at this time of night and her coat covered her exposure.
"Go on." James waves a hand to Qrow now that Winter was gone.
Qrow finally turned serious as he spoke. "Your little infiltrator wasn't just another pawn… they're the one responsible for Autumn's condition." He explains before turning around and taking a swig from his flask again. He had been the one to rescue the Maiden from her attackers and had seen the damage done to the road by one of those who assaulted her. Even at a glance of the situation as he ran up and severed the connection between the women, he could tell that the extensive damage was done by the leader of the little group. In the short time he'd been at Beacon, he dug up information on the attack in the CCT and saw similar damage.
"What?" Glynda wasn't quite sure what to make of the information. Ozpin was remaining silent, nothing new in situations like this.
As much as he didn't like doing so, Qrow found himself slipping back into teacher mode from his time at Signal. "Despite what the world thinks, we're not just teachers or Generals or Headmasters. The people in this room, the leaders of the other two academies… We're the ones who keep the world safe from the evils that the world doesn't even know about." He stops to be face to face with Ironwood. "It's why we meet behind closed doors and work in the shadows." His voice took a harder edge now. "So, you tell me, James. When you brought your army to Vale, did you think you were being discrete or did you just not give a damn!"
To his credit, the General remained calm in the face of the accusation. Instead, he reached into his coat and withdrew his scroll and sat it on Ozpin's desk. "Discrete wasn't working." He says simply and inputs a command through his scroll to use the desk to project a hologram of the Vale skyline with a few of his ships flying overhead.
"I'm here because this is what was necessary." James stands in front of the projection and waves his left hand to it.
"You're here because Ozpin wanted you here!" Qrow raises his voice as he points to the Headmaster behind his desk. "He made you a part of this Inner Circle and opened your eyes to the real fight that's right in front of us."
"And I am grateful." James interjects.
"Oh? Well, you have a real funny way of showing it." Qrow's sarcasm was mixing into his anger at the man who was tossing aside most of their plans for decades so casually because he thought he knew better because he had a lot of followers with guns behind him.
"The people of Vale needed someone to protect them." The General tries to explain his reasoning behind his actions. "Someone who would act. When they look up to the sky and see my fleet, they feel safe. And our enemies will fear our strength."
There were a few moments of silence before laughter broke it. Qrow was laughing out of disbelief that James knew so much yet was so shortsighted. "You think they're scared of your little ships?" He turned serious once more as he gestured to himself again. "I've been out there and seen the things she's made and let me tell you, they are fear."
"And fear will bring the Grimm." Ozpin finally speaks, even standing up to show how seriously he's taking this discussion. "A guardian is a symbol of comfort; an army is a symbol of conflict. There's an energy in the air now. A question in the back of everyone's mind." He points to his own head for emphasis before gesturing to the hologram. If this is the size of our defenses, what is it we're expecting to fight?"
James looks around the room to gauge the reactions. Qrow already made his contempt clear while Ozpin explained things more eloquently. Glynda hadn't said anything but given that she hadn't moved away from the other two and had a stern look on her face with a touch of disappointment… it told him everything he needed. The General let out a sigh and walks back to his desk to collect his scroll, giving Qrow a glare as he did that was casually ignored with practiced ease. His ungloved hand covering the screen made him miss the chess piece flashing into existence briefly before it was removed from the desk and pocketed.
He takes a few steps away with his hands behind him, facing the wall. "So then, what would you suggest we do?" He asks as he turns halfway to look at Ozpin.
The man in green gave him a hard look in return, as understanding of the mans nature as he was frustrated by it. "I suggest we find our Guardian."
"And, you're sure?" Cinder asks as she paces in the dorm room wearing her tournament combat gear yet.
Mercury sat in a chair in the middle of the room as if in an interrogation, which this pretty much was. "Bad hair, used a big sword, and smelled like my dad after a long day… It was him." The teen was serious, even if some sarcasm slipped through.
"What do we do?" Emerald asks from her place on a nearby bed where she was watching the questioning.
Cinder stops her pacing. "Nothing. We stay the course. They have no idea who we are." She smiles a bit at the last part. "So, we have no reason to worry." A flashing from her scroll on the desk caught her eye and she walks over to investigate, leaning against the desk to check. "Besides, the last of the heavy lifting is being taken care of thanks to our clever little friend."
Mercury continued to sit in the chair while Emerald sat on the bed. In the corner, Neo sat in a comfy chair that she had no doubt stolen from somewhere while eating ice cream out of the tub. The short girl had filled out impressively fast in a short amount of time, possibly thanks to her love of the calorie laden treat but it was to assist in her disguises for the tournament as her Semblance could disguise her appearance with ease but couldn't do anything for her actual size. So, the girl had been 'forced' to bulk up in order to maintain appearances with the rest of the team who had all gained weight but not as much as the others from Haven thanks to their records claiming they were on a long mission until the final days before the Issue was truly uncovered and the water turned off for the school.
"Oh? It appears we have a new access point." Cinder informs her team as Ironwood's face pops up in a corner of the screen.
"Anywhere good?" Emerald asks, suddenly interested.
"You could say that." Cinder was interested in what she could find. "Go to bed and I'll figure everything out for tomorrow."
"Yes madam."
"Got it."
The more vocal subordinates obeyed and moved to get themselves ready for a night's rest. Neo simply smiled as she finished her tub and tossed it easily in the trash to stack on the three other containers that were already there from earlier in the day. She skipped to the bathroom to brush her teeth, her growing curves bouncing all the way, particularly her chest and rear with a soft belly to equal things out a bit on her tiny frame.
"Let's give the crowd a good fight." Was the last thing the trio heard from Cinder as they moved around. The boss had found that she could override the randomization process for selecting the fights and began to match up her team with another pair for the next day.
Itazura was slightly amused as the sisters crashed on their beds almost as soon as they entered the dorm. Apparently, from the mumbled comments she was able to translate, the stand had gotten swamped. Vacuoan natives knew of the skills of Bonelli and came for the meals she could whip up. Their talk had gotten others interested, especially when rumors had spread that she had come up with new recipes.
The orders had come fast and often, to the point where they had run out of some ingredients that were kept in the stand. From there, the menu kept getting limited yet people continued to come. Bonelli eventually had to close up shop just so they could restock and clean up. The girls had been out of practice for a few months with cooking so much and were feeling the strain. They loved to cook but that love withered as their physical exhaustion mounted.
A certain ringtone snapped her from her amusement and she whipped out her scroll. Apparently, her little program had made a big jump. Looking at the progress, she found that it had broken through the final firewall and piggybacked on the infiltrators program, allowing her to see what they were accessing. A little exploration and she may be able to change a few things as she watched as the random selection of the fights were tampered with. But given that only one matchup was fixed, she was willing to let that one go, if only to give the other person a feeling of superiority.
Then again, given that it was the scroll of Atlesian General James Ironwood that was accessed, she couldn't help herself from poking around to see what he had there. She would be up most of the night exploring the files he had, more than a few she found extremely interesting, a few others she already knew but it was nice to see more details. Then there was a picture of someone familiar… a friend of Ruby. That file was copied before she switched to see what the infiltrator had on theirs. The fact that she could tell the user wasn't using their devise at the moment made it easier to poke around since the chance of detection was minimal.
The things she found were interesting at a glance, but they were also hidden behind more security. They could be cracked later. She had enough to satisfy her for now, yet it raised more questions that she would spend the next day or two trying to answer.
AN: I hope you all enjoyed the fight. Yes, Neo has filled out a bit to help her maintain her cover as a 'student' of Haven. And Winter had been hit hard by the same attack that hit all of the students, though being older also tends to mean ones metabolism slows a bit, even if they are an active duty Huntress and military Specialist. Next time, we get another fight and sisters spend some quality time together!
And if anyone is interested, art for this story is on my DA. The newest are for chapter five with Blake/Sun vs Yang/Denko in the chicken fight and the other is the Yang vs Neo stare down before their fight on the train in chapter 28.