Looking around at the school Ruby felt a sense of familiarity, the buildings were similar to many other high end houses around here
"Welcome to Haven." Qrow said drawing her from thought, he was leading them along, Akame was following beside him, Ren Nora and Jaune were in front of her "... You feel that too right?" Qrow asked looking over to Akame
"Yes, it shouldn't be this quiet. I felt that the first time I came here too." Akame answered neutrally, it seemed that she had completely relapsed into her old personality, she had asked about that but Akame just waved it off as a precaution and dropped the subject
"Come on." Qrow ordered running off towards the administrative building, Akame kept up with him and Ruby kept up with her, JNR had a much harder time keeping up with Qrow and Akame, but they were able to keep close to her, reaching the building Qrow shoved the door open and bolted down the nearby hallway, upon reaching the end of the hall Qrow kicked the door open and drew Harbinger, Akame drew Due Process and scanned the room, the only sign of combat was Qrow and Akame, the yelp of fear told them everything else
"What the- QROW!?" An elderly voice shouted, it was a tired voice but one that held a weak flame within, standing up from behind his desk was an old man, he had long gray hair and a large beard, his brown eyes seemed to hold years of experience and they were currently focused on Qrow "You nearly scared me half to death! Why are you here!?"
"What the hell do you mean? Why weren't you waiting for us by the entrance?!" Qrow questioned placing Harbinger on his belt, Akame held Due Process in her hand but dropped out of her combat stance
"Good work guys." Ruby congratulated earning a sarcastic laugh from Qrow
"The entrance?... oh, OH! Sorry, I completely lost track of time." Leonardo apologized as he used the desk to push himself into a standing position, a brown large coat covered most of his body, he hid his shaking hands within it, most likely shaking from shock
"Are you kidding me?" Qrow sighed and face palmed, after a few moments he spoke again "Where the hell is everyone else?"
"The students have gone home for the break, and the staff are helping around the kingdom." Leonardo answered earning a shocked look from Qrow and Ruby
"You're leaving the relic completely unguarded! What the hell is-" Qrow began but was cut off by Leonardo
"Qrow the kids!" he said trying to stop any irreparable damage
"They already know, some knew before the attack on Beacon." Qrow waved off causing Leonardo to quickly start to wrack his brain on the complications that presented
"Qrow this is very reckless, even for you." Leonardo berated
"No, reckless is being the only person guarding the relic, reckless is not reporting in for months-" Qrow began to list but was cut off by Leonardo
"There was nothing to report!" Leonardo shouted he then sat back down be began to speak in a resigned tone "Until the incident at Beacon everything was quite. But ever since then Mistral has been in pure chaos; everyone was watching, in every kingdom, everywhere. That poor girl getting ripped to pieces, Atlas holding back while people died. I don't know what happened but James has been going crazy; the Dust embargo, then the closing of borders, the withdrawal of all military aide, he has done nothing to help calm the panic. Mistral controls more territory than any other kingdom, but it also suffers from massive manpower shortages, we don't have nearly enough people to defend our borders, and even fewer huntsman. We've been struggling, the refuges from the outer territories haven't stopped coming in, we are struggling to find shelter for the displaced. Add in the fact that the spring maiden is still missing things could barely get worse." Leonardo explained in a clearly tired voice, he was clearly very saddened because he was incapable of helping
"All the more reason to keep the staff here!" Qrow reasoned slamming his hands on the desk, Leonardo sighed clearly getting tired of dealing with Qrow
"OKAY! Things are bad! Now then what happened to the spring maiden, why didn't you keep her here?" Ruby questioned pulling Qrow away from the desk, with a sigh he began to pace behind her
"She was... determined at first, when she inherited her powers. But the weight of responsibility became too much for her, she... ran. Who knows where she could be now." he said looking down, he seemed far older now
"I... know. I at least have a pretty good idea." Qrow said earning looks from everyone
"Are you serious?" Leonardo asked looking extremely excited
"Before you get all uppity its not good news, after running away she was picked up by tribal bandits, specifically the Branwen tribe." Qrow explained causing Leonardo to immediately lose all excitement
"Raven..." Leonardo trailed off with a sigh, earning a nod from Qrow
"Yangs' mom right?" Jaune asked earning a nod from Qrow as he drew his flask from his coat
"Yep." he added as he tossed his scroll on the table causing it to transmit an image of the outskirts of Mistral "That's about where they've set up. With what few raids they've been going on that's where they retreat to. Ever since Raven went back to the tribe she got a huge amount of following, add in the spring maiden onto that and her leadership of the tribe was probably way easier." Qrow explained as Leonardo copied the map
"I guess I was wrong about you Qrow, with this we can mount a retrieval force and head out in a few weeks." Leonardo said earning a double take from Qrow
"What? A few weeks, didn't you hear me?! Raven has the spring maiden and I know where she is! We need to move now." Qrow said completely outraged slamming his hands on the desk as Leonardo sat down
"Did you hear me? The kingdom is in complete shambles, we cant move until we are certain we can both defeat Raven and capture the maiden, who has no doubt had years of training. I need to convince the rest of the council that I need huntsman more than they do." Leonardo countered earning a sigh from Qrow
"You know Oz wouldn't be happy with any of this." Qrow finally said rubbing his eyes
"I know... but I'm doing the best that I can." Leonardo agreed doing the same
"What do you have on Cinder and her team?" Ruby asked as she pushed off the wall
"We pulled their records as soon as we could. Nothing but lies and forgeries." he answered looking at his desk, Ruby sighed and muttered something to herself
"Well... I cant say this was a warm reunion. Leo." Qrow commented as he ran his hand through his hair
"I know, and I'm sorry. I know you all must have traveled a very long way." Leonardo apologized
"Sure, we'll stay around the city for now, keep in touch." Qrow commented as he walked out of the room followed by everyone but Ruby
"Again I'm very sorry." Leonardo apologized leaning on his hand
"Is there nothing else you want to say professor?" Ruby asked in a tired voice, he looked like he wanted to say something but held paused for a few moments
"Nothing... that would be of help." he finally said looked down at his desk, Ruby also looked down at the ground
"Alright, just wanted to make sure, uncle Qrow isn't the nicest of people." Ruby explained as she left him to his sulking
(o)
With a sigh Blake reentered the house, Sun and her father have been raging ever since they left the White Fang HQ
"This is total bull!" Sun shouted, Blake closed her eyes and began to think back to her time with Akame but with all the talking she couldn't focus
"Sun, can you be quite? I need to focus." Blake said causing him to quickly apologize for his noise, Blake closed her eyes and focused
(\_/)
Opening her eyes Blake looked around the circular room it was a large room with bookshelves lining the walls, all were filled with books of different shapes and sizes, in the center of the room was a table with one chair pushed into it, walking up to the bookshelf she began to look through one of the books, it was a part of her childhood
"Too early." Blake commented as she placed the book back where it belonged, walking along the bookshelves of the dimly lit room she placed her hand on the books each one was a piece of her, her memories. This was no special power or semblance, this was focus. She grabbed another book and opened it, it was a book about her final days in the white fang, flipping through the book she found that it ended once she left Adam on the SDC train
"Almost." Blake said placing the book back, sitting down on the ground Blake grabbed one of the lower books and pulled it open she read a bit, it was when Akame murdered those men on the docks, fingering through the books a bit she finally found it
"Never reveal all your cards, as long as your foe thinks you have something on them they have to be far more cautious." was Akames' statement, Blake let out a sigh and closed her eyes
(o)
Looking around Blake let out a sigh
"We may have made a misstep. With Corsac and Fennec now knowing we have information on them they can act far more recklessly when dealing with us." Blake said sitting down at the kitchen table along with the others
"What do you mean? They cant-"
"They don't care, Akame taught me a lot... the White Fang stopped caring about the faunus a long time ago, all they care about now is their own... corrupted ideology." Blake quickly said interrupting her father "Akame told me of her childhood, it was hell to put it lightly, and if we leave the White Fang the way it is... it will be history repeated." Blake added sounding a little conflicted
"Then what do you suggest we do?" her father asked leaning on the table
"We need to prepare. Sun, isn't there a list of White Fang spies operating in Menagerie?" Blake asked looking over to him
"Yeah."
"Good, we'll begin hunting them down tomorrow, kill them if you have to, but we need them alive." Blake said looking at her hands
"How would that be any different to them?" Ghira asked earning a sigh from Blake
"It wont, but I trust myself more than Adam to keep our people safe." Blake said slamming her fist on the table
"Then why do it? Why follow their lead if it clearly isn't kind."
"Because kindness doesn't work! I want it to, but we have to reform the Fang again before we can allow kindness to lead." Blake explained "You created the White Fang but now it has dipped into darkness. Pulling it back out requires sacrifice, sacrifices that we need to make."
"We cant fight our own in such a way." Ghira reasoned "I created the Fang to protect those who didn't want to fight and give those who did want to fight someone to protect." Ghira explained
"We cant let anyone stand in our way. If we let our own people oppress us, then we cant do anything but watch us destroy ourselves." Blake countered "This is the only way we can help, besides, murder isn't our first option. We need to capture the spies so we can question them."
(o)
Yang sighed as she looked over the map she had, her brown leather trench coat she had been wearing was hanging on a nearby tree branch, looking over the map again, most of the areas she had searched provided no evidence of Ravens' tribe
"If we can make it through that mountain pass before the rain, that should put us in the next sector for our search." Yang explained with a chuckle "I need to stop talking like there are more people here than just me." she said folding up the map and putting it in her pocket
"Well maybe I should have talked to someone on that train." Yang added as she pulled her coat off the tree and continued walking "Being crazy doesn't suit me." Yang commented again rubbing her eyes "But we've been on our own for WEEKS!" Yang said loudly as she walked towards two large mountains
(o)
It was quiet, Akame was relaxing just a bit, after that meeting she really needed it. It was clear to her that Leonardo wasn't telling them everything, they had to wait and be patient, he isn't a good liar so they'll just have to catch him in a lie to properly act against him
"Excuse me." a voice came to her right, looking over she saw a young boy with short brown hair and hazel eyes, he seemed very out of place in the city
"Yes?" Akame asked neutrally, he seemed intimidated by her, if his struggle to get any solid words out was anything to go by. Akame shrugged, stood then began to walk away
"W- Wait!" he quickly said moving in front of her "I... was suppose to say... 'I'd like my cane back.'" he awkwardly relayed, Akame felt Ozpins' final words finally click and she reached into her coat
"You have a lot of explaining to do." Akame said holding his cane out to him "I promised father that I would hear you out, but that is all I promised." Akame added as the boy took the cane from her hand
"Do you also feel... strange when you hold this?" he asked, she knew what he was feeling, she felt the same way when she held Murasame for the first few times
"Not with the cane, but with my weapon, yes." Akame answered as she stepped past him "Now follow me, we need to go collect father and head home."
(o)
Entering a near empty bar Akame found Qrow sitting at the bar drinking quite heavily
"Father. We need to get home." Akame said placing her hand on his shoulder
Spinning around Qrow swayed a bit "Sure, sure... who's the pipsqueak?" Qrow asked taking another sip from his glass
"Ozpin." Akame answered earning a double take from Qrow
"Right... lets go." Qrow said sounding extremely relieved, standing up he tossed some cash on the bar
"Um... my name is Oscar Pine, nice to meet you." Oscar greeted as Akame walked ahead of the both of them
"You too kid, don't worry 'bout Akame, she's a little cold at first but she'll eventually grow on ya... unless she doesn't like you, in which case she wont change." Qrow said earning a noise of confirmation from the boy
"Why doesn't she like me? I haven't done anything to her." Oscar reasoned uncomfortably
"I don't know, you'll need to ask her 'bout that." Qrow waved off as they reached the train station
(o)
Ruby leaned on the railing of the training ground and let out a sigh
"So you've finally met with him? How did that go?" Anna asked kneeling behind her
"About as well as you'd expect... he's lying about something." Ruby answered
"You are as perceptive as a hawk master." Anna complimented earning a sigh from Ruby
"Why haven't you made yourself known to everyone else?" Ruby asked turning towards her
"I hold no value to anyone but you master. My purpose here is in service to you and you alone." Anna answered unmoving from her position
"I want you to at least introduce yourself to Qrow." Ruby ordered
"If you want me to, but master Esdeath ordered me to remain hidden from him specifically." Anna said sounding slightly fearful "But for you I will do so."
"You don't have to if-"
"I obey your every order, I will do as commanded." Anna explained, it was the way she explained it that stuck with Ruby, Anna placed all her faith and even her life into her hands
"You shouldn't put so much faith in me." Ruby said sitting down on the ground
"I place my self in your hands because compared to me you are a god." Anna said prostrating herself to Ruby "You have done something that Raven failed to do, something I knew I could never do, and what hundreds of men and woman have attempted and failed. You are a god because you have captured master Esdeaths' heart and mind." Anna explained Ruby couldn't help but feel guilty
"How many people feel that way?"
"Nearly the entirety of master Esdeaths' army. They are all obedient to her and by such the person who success where they failed." Anna answered "Roughly five thousand seven hundred twenty three people. Give or take a few, master Esdeath usually has me read the minds of our soldiers so we can properly provide for them. Lots of them dream of being with her. She has looked at them to see if they were worthy, and found all of them wanting. You are beyond one in a million you are the only person on this planet that master Esdeath will sacrifice everything for." Anna explained happily, Ruby couldn't help but feel... special, dad and uncle Qrow always taught her that actions are what make a person special but... Esdeath picked her out of not only six thousand people but everyone on this planet
"That's... flattering." Ruby said trying to take the complement and not sound awkward about it
"There's no reason for you to feel awkward about this, your thoughts are correct. Your not only special to her, with the power of your eyes you are a beacon of hope for millions of people." Anna said as she stood and held her hand down to Ruby
"I don't know if I can meet all those expectations..." Ruby commented taking her hand
"You are like master Esdeath, you don't need to meet any expectations, you create the expectation. It is our duty to meet your expectations." Anna corrected pulling Ruby to her feet, leaning on the railing Anna spoke again
"Having my semblance no one wanted me around. I invade peoples minds and read their thoughts." Anna explained "My father was a security guard in an SDC mine and my mother was a worker, that's all I know apart from the fact that they died in a cave in."
"Don't you hate the SDC then?"
"No, I learned that humans are all different. Master Esdeath showed me that she is the pinnacle of what humanity can be." Anna explained "Humans are human, they all act how they will and faunus will do the same. There are no differences between the two species, we kill ourselves because of what we think, we kill ourselves because of what we feel, and we kill ourselves over what we believe." Anna said "I don't care if the poor mining conditions served to end my parents, I never knew them... hell, Anna isn't even my real name, its just the name that I chose for myself while I was in the orphanage." Anna explained with a sigh, she pulled her legs to her chest and rested her head on her knees, Ruby rapped her arm around her shoulder
"I thought everyone were fools, and that all people were evil. Until I met Esdeath, I thought I could use my semblance to control and blackmail my team, so I could lie and cheat my way to a high rank in the military and a comfy life with it... then Esdeath corrected me. Taught me who the real leaders of this world are. All I knew from our first year at Atlas to now, is that ambition is a door open to a chosen few. You and Esdeath are the only two that I believe are capable of running this world." Anna explained happily, Ruby had no idea how to react again Anna raised her up on a pedestal made her seem far more important that she actually was
"Stop that... please, I'm not that special, I'm just... me... Ruby Rose... trying to help everyone." Ruby said trying to ignore the swelling feeling in her chest
"Who else can you think of want nothing more than to help?"
"Jaune."
"He wants to prove that he isn't useless. Ren wants to kill Grimm for what they did to his family. Nora wants to spend her life with Ren." Anna explained "Akame wants to protect you and her 'father'." Anna added sounding a little disgusted "Qrow... selfishly wanted to learn how to kill huntsman so he and Raven could run off into the woods and kill civilians-" Anna raged but quickly recovered from it seeming terrified by her own words "I'm sorry! I don't know what came over me!" Anna quickly apologized bowing her head to Ruby who sighed
"I don't care..." Ruby said sounding a little disgusted, but mainly with herself "I don't know why but..."
"If you want I can take a look." Anna offered earning a raised eyebrow from Ruby "My semblance, if you want I can look through your mind and try and see if I can find the issue." Anna offered earning a nod from Ruby, placing her hands on either side of Rubys head and activated her semblance, Ruby felt her memories flow into Anna and back again, but it wasn't memories of Esdeath it was her childhood
(-/)
Ruby ran along side Yang through the- Zwei was leading them to-, Yang tripped and- causing Ruby to laugh
"Are you okay?" she asked through-
"Ow-" Yang groaned looking at her knee which had- on it "Go get dad." Yang said as Zwei-, Ruby ran away towards- intent on getting-
(\_/)
Exiting the tent Ruby looked around the snow covered camp, the dark sky above had lights dancing in it, it looked beautiful but she felt nothing towards it, like it wasn't important
"Ruby." a voice came from her right looking to her right she saw a woman who had short brown hair and dark blue eyes "What are you doing out here? It's freezing."
"I... don't-" Ruby- "I wanted to see what the hunters are bringing home." Ruby answer earning a sigh from the woman
"You can see the hunters tomorrow. It looks like it was a brutal hunt, I don't think that's a good thing for you to see." she warned
"Yea-" Ruby bega- "I don't care what you think, I heard the shrieks, I want to see them carve it up-"
(o)
Ruby shoved Anna off of her
"What the hell did you just do?!" Ruby shouted summoning a blade and grabbed Anna by the throat
"I... should have... told you- gah" Anna tried to answer but Ruby squeezed harder, Anna reached up and tried to pull Rubys hand off her throat, Realizing that she couldn't answer her if she didn't let go she loosened her grip
"I forgot to mention while your mind flows into mine, mine flows into yours." Anna answered "I figured you wouldn't want to see mine so I focused on masters' memories."
"Don't try to fool me! I can feel the difference, return my memories or I will bleed you dry!" Ruby growled placing pressure on Annas' throat, reaching up Anna placed her hands on either side of Rubys' head after a seconds or two the collapsed falling unconscious, Anna rolled her off of her and sighed
"Dammit..." she then got to work erasing the event from Rubys' mind, this was far more complex than she expected it to be, Rubys' mind was a minefield to say the least, but master Esdeath wanted her to become a trusted confidant to her, and if possible the only confidant to the young girl.
Picking up the girl she began to debate on how to do this, if she took the girl she could rewrite her memories to get her to think the way she wanted but that might destroy the person that master Esdeath wanted, if she left her here it left the possibility that she would make a misstep that was irreparable
(o)
Walking down the hall of the base Leone looked around at the banners lining the walls, they were all marked with the symbol of the White Fang
"Man... this place is quiet." she commented as she walked looking around at a few of the small groups of faunus talking among themselves, reaching a large set of doors at the other end of the long hallway Leone knocked on it then pushed the door open
"Hello hello." She said leaning into the room, it was a long room with a throne sitting at the top of a short flight of stairs, in terms of occupancy it was nearly empty with the exception of a few people
"What do you want?" one of the guards by the door asked
"Hi, I'm Leone, I got a message from Vacuo for the Highleader." Leone answered earning a sigh from the man
"Give it here, I'll deliver it." the man said as she entered the room
"Cant do that, it's sensitive information. Her eyes only." Leone denied crossing her arms earning a growl from the man
"We cant just let anyone go and see the Highleader, what if you were an assassin." He reasoned earning a sigh from Leone, she began to take off her sleeves "wait what are you-"
"If I were an assassin I'd carry some weapon on me, so if I'm naked I cant really hide a weapon right." Leone reasoned, most people were extremely against nudity around here so as soon as she started stripping they usually just gave her what she wanted, it was funny at first but now it was just getting annoying
"Okay okay, you can go see the Highleader. Just keep your clothes on." the man quickly said as he turned red when she undid her belt, redoing her belt Leone rolled her eyes, none of these guys were worth a hunt much less their position, following the man towards a side door which he knocked on then spoke
"Messenger for Highleader Khan." he said and the door opened, Leone walked into the room and the door shut behind her, sitting at a large dark brown desk was a dark skinned woman with amber eyes and black hair, her ears flicked when the door shut
"Hello Sienna!" Leone greeted earning the eyes of the woman
"You're the messenger?" she commented looking her up and down
"Yep." Leone answered as she looked around the room for anyone else, it seemed empty but she was certain there was someone else there
"Usually my people know not to send someone so... memorable." Sienna commented earning a laugh from Leone
"Yeah... so I'm assuming you heard our conversation." Leone commented gesturing to the door
"Of course, what does Vacuo have to say?"
"No idea, that was a lie." Leone answered causing Siennas' eyes to narrow at her "I'm telling you that so you know I'm being honest with you. I'm from Menagerie, I got a message from Ghira Belladonna to get to you. As well as proof of said message." Leone explained as she reached into her top and drew out a scroll then placed it on the desk
"This is a copy of all the information we got from a White Fang spies scroll. The most interesting document is in the folder titled 'Douche McFuckwit'." Leone added earning a snort from the woman, as she opened the folder she began to read and her expression dropped as she began to read more intently
"What kind of faunus are you?" Sienna asked as she closed the scroll and looked at her
"Truth or lie?" Leone asked
"What?"
"Do you want the truth, or the lie I've been telling every White Fang assassin I've run into on my way here?" Leone clarified earning a raised eyebrow from Sienna
"Obviously I want the truth."
"I'm a human that grew up on Menagerie. Pretty close friends with Kali and I'm her masseuse." Leone said causing Sienna to stand and grab her whip
"Give me one good reason I shouldn't kill you." Sienna ordered earning a hum from Leone as she casually began to pace around a bit
"Well for one, I just admitted to being a human in the middle of one of the most well guarded places on Remnant that hate humans, and I gave you information to save your life... that and I am very good lookin'." Leone listed with a toothy grin
"Your right on one account... tell me then human, why should I trust your word?" Sienna questioned again, her temper clearly leading her questions
"Its not my word, it's Ghiras'." Leone answered her smile dropping into a serious look, Sienna walked around her desk and looked Leone dead in the eyes, then leaned onto her neck and smelled her
"Are you sure you aren't one of us?" Sienna asked as she began to check each of her fingers trying to get claws to pop out
"Certain... well... I used to be able to turn lion... using... magic, but not anymore. I do miss it." Leone shook her head and spoke again "But that's besides the point. The point is Adam plans to stage a coup, you need to be ready." Leone looked over her shoulder at the corner of the room then gestured at the dark corner "Friend of yours?"
"Yes, she's one of my bodyguards, I trust her with my life." Sienna answered and snapped her fingers causing said bodyguard to exit the shadows and return to her normal color
"Alright. I don't know how involved you want me to be with this so... I'll make my exit." Leone commented backing towards the door earning a laugh from Sienna
"No you aren't leaving, you are a human who knows where our main base is." Sienna said unfurling her whip "You can either surrender peacefully, or we can do things the hard way." she added grinning at her
"Aw come on, I got all the way here, gave you something to save your life and didn't kill a single faunus and you repay me with prison time... this deal blows." Leone complained raising her hands
"Aiko, go get restraints and a few guards." Sienna ordered, her bodyguard saluted her then exited the room "... We have about three minutes." Sienna said drawing a key card from her pocket as she copied the files from Leones' scroll to her own then turned to Leone "This will unlock any door in this place, including cells, Adam is coming in two days, you need to wait until then to break out. Come to the throne room and cause a distraction, that will cause enough chaos to allow us to escape. I'm trusting you on this." Sienna said looking for a place to hide the key card on Leone
"Just put it in my pants, they'll probably just take most of my baggy clothes." Leone advised, this was the main purpose of her outfit, she covered everything she needed to with tight clothes so it'd be 'impossible' to hide anything, nodding along with that Sienna followed the order and awkwardly concealed the key, Leone smiled at her
"I'll be sure to help when I can." Leone added as the door was flung open and a few elite guards entered and tied Leones' hands behind her back
"Take her to the upper dungeons." Sienna ordered shoving Leone into the guardsmen
"This is bullshit!" Leone shout struggling against their grip
"Aiko, get rid of this we don't know what traps could be on it." Sienna added handing Leones' scroll to her
"With pleasure ma'am." Aiko said following after the guards a grin on her face
A/N Chapter has quite a bit of... forward steps in it. I should say that the battle for Haven wont be at the very end of the Volume it'd take place a little over half way through. So we can get a bit of relaxation after the... violent battle that I have planed.