Blake was rudely awakened by air turbulence, "Wh-where am I?" she looked at her surroundings, disheartened by the metal cage she was in.
"Welcome to Atlas," an Atlesian soldier replied, sitting in front of her cage, "We should be arriving at our destination soon."
Blake sat against the wall, glaring at the soldier, "Our destination? What would it be?"
The soldier seemed to hesitate, "House of Schnee."
Blake shuddered, her golden eyes growing bigger, "You might as well have taken me to hell," she took off her bow, her ears shaking in the cold.
The soldier's mouth opened wide, "HEY! WE! WE CAPTURED A FAUNUS!"
"WHAT!?" the pilot, "OH GOD! SCHNEE IS GOING TO KILL US!"
Blake sneered at the Atlesians, "When he finds out who I am, you won't be so worried about him anymore."
Yang looked at her scroll, waiting for her uncle to show up, "It's been two hours, Qrow! You'd think he would have shown up by now," she turned to Ruby and Weiss sitting against the alley walls, "Are you alright, Weiss?"
Weiss nodded, "I'm fine," speaking in a hoarse croak.
"What happened to you and Blake?" Ruby put her arm around Weiss to comfort her.
The heiress leaned into Ruby, finally speaking, "When we were looking for a room last night, my father sent some of his men to get us," she recounted what she didn't want to remember, "They tried taking me, but we fought them off. But, there were so many of them," she held Ruby tighter, "Blake. She. She threw me out of harm's way and," she buried herself into Ruby's shoulder, hiding her tears from the two sisters, "AND ALL I DID WAS RUN! And now Blake is on her way to my father! And god knows what he will do to her once he finds out she's a Faunus!"
Finally crumbling, she cried in Ruby's arms, the only thing she knew what to do in that moment.
"Well," all three girls looked back at the open, "What are you gonna do about it?"
"Finally you showed up," Yang complained.
"Hey, I'm trying to be a mentor-like figure, you know?" Qrow slurred through his words.
"Sorry, Uncle Qrow, but you're still drunk," Ruby shrugged, "Oh, and this is Weiss Schnee!"
Weiss wiped away her tears and offered her hand to Ruby's uncle, "It's a pleasure to meet a relative of Ruby and Yang."
Qrow looked at Weiss' hand and nodded, "Your dad hates my guts. He put a restraining order on me the last time I met him," he turned away from Weiss to Ruby and Yang, "So tell me what happened? And what our plan is?"
Yang glared at her uncle and groaned, "Weiss' dad kidnapped Blake," she answered, "And we needed your help getting to Atlas and getting Blake back."
Qrow needed a few moments to process what his niece had told him, followed up with him laughing, "Oh! You want to go all the way to Atlas, and then knock on the door to Schnee's house?"
None of their faces hesitated, surprising Qrow. He stepped back and shook his head, "Look. The House of Schnee is a literal fortress. Blizzard has access to Atlesian military and-
"The entire facility is outfitted with thirty-two anti-aircraft turrets that shoot down anything that comes within range. My father has five hundred men under his command, fifty Atlesian Knights, and twenty giant robot prototypes developed specifically for the purpose of hunting giant Grimm," Weiss spoke of her father's precious defenses.
Taking in the reaction, Qrow could only come up with the astute and very intelligent saying of, "Huh?"
"Not only that," Weiss remained undeterred to his underreaction, "But I was able to obtain the blueprints of my father's home from the Schnee Database in order to strategize our plan to invade House of Schnee."
Qrow blinked at the heiress, and proceeded to pull a bottle of hot sauce from his jacket, and then gulp down two swallows worth before gagging and coughing over the alley wall. Once his coughing fit was over he turned back to Weiss, "So you want to take Schnee and his entire army head on to get your friend back?"
"Girlfriend!" Ruby interjected.
"MY girlfriend," Yang added, "And yeah. That's why we need your help."
Qrow looked at his nieces and sighed, "You know I don't like doing favors. That's one thing I have in common with your mother," he walked out of the alleyway to a motorcycle, pulling out a red helmet from a bag on the bike's side, "Hey, Ruby!"
Ruby caught the helmet her uncle threw at her, "IT'S GOT LADYBUGS ON IT!" she cheered, then running to her uncle while putting it on.
"Yep! I thought of you when I saw it," he admitted as he put on his helmet, "HEY! Are you guys coming or not! I'm still not sober enough to get from Vale to Atlus!" he yelled at Weiss and Yang, and then turned to Ruby, "But I am sober enough to drive this motorcycle."
He revved up his bike's engine, and in the next instant he was gone while Yang and Weiss got on Bumblebee, "Is he always like that?" Weiss groaned.
"Yes," Yang smiled at her girlfriend, "Don't worry, I don't take much from him," she revved up her bike, "BUT RUBY DOES!"
And just before Weiss could ask another question, she held closely to Yang as she rode after her uncle, starting the week long journey to the House of Schnee.
Ozpin and Ironwood were relaxing in the office in Ozpin's Clock Tower, recounting old times and war stories, only to be rudely interrupted by Ozpin's scroll.
*You're My Rescue Girl, You can Save the World*
"Ozpin, here,"
The professor immediately heard a great deal of wind through the scroll, "HEY OZPIN!"
"Qrow? Where are you right now-
"Can't hear you Oz! Just wanted to tell you that I'm gonna be a little late with my rendezvous! I need to make a small errand in Atlus. So I might be a week, or two. Maybe three weeks late," he yelled through his engine and the wind into his scroll.
"What are you going to do in Atlas!?" Ozpin yelled into his scroll, listening intently when he heard a certain voice.
"UNCLE QROW, FOR THE LOVE OF GOD HOLD BOTH HANDLEBARS!"
"Got to go, Oz!" that was the last thing Ozpin heard before the dusty old Qrow hung up.
He exchanged glances with Ironwood and put his coffee mug down, "If you would excuse me, James."
The aging professor opened the window to his office, and after one last smile, Ozpin jumped off the ledge. Ironwood, as a normal person with normal reactions, bolted for the door to see just what the hell his friend was doing, but he calmed down seeing Ozpin running down the clock tower headfirst.
Ozpin, seeing that he was halfway down, absorbed all of the momentum he had gained and leaped across the grounds of Beacon Academy, landing in the center of the grounds, creating a crater at his feet in front of the poor Jaune Arc.
"P-P-PROFESSOR OZPIN?!" Jaune shouted in absolute shock.
"Hello, Mr. Arc. Keep up with your studies," in another instance he was gone, last seen walking into the dorms.
Ozpin reached team RWBY's dorm and knocked on their door, "Ms. Rose? Ms. Schnee?" he called out to them, "I need to speak with you!"
The professor put his ear next to the door, not hearing any sign of life on the other side. Though he swore that he would never enter a student's dorm unless invited, he decided to break that oath now.
Opening the door, confirmed his suspicions; Team RWBY wasn't there. And on a double bed he wasn't sure why was there, was a note written in Ruby's handwriting.
"Dear, Jaune and whoever decides to read this. Team RWBY is taking a little vacation in Atlas. We will be back in a week or two. So don't worry too much. From, Ruby Rose. P.S. Weiss told me that I can't put love on letters, so I had to use from. And now she's mad I wrote this P.S," Ozpin read the letter and rubbed his temple.
"Ruby, what are you doing in Atlas? And why is Qrow going along with this?" Ozpin asked.
Blake felt cold, knowing she was in Atlas and near the North Pole. She saw nothing but the darkness from the tarp covering her cage. She felt herself moving on a cart against the blazing cold. She looked through the tears of the tarp, and saw the snow covering the land.
Then she heard his voice. The voice she grew up learning to hate and to fear, spoke a short distance away. If the cold hadn't made her tremble, it was his presence.
"So is this the mongrel my daughter has chosen to associate with?" Blake turned away from the man that lifted the tarp over her cage, "Where is my daughter?"
The soldiers stood at attention, "We weren't able to retrieve, Miss Schnee! We retreated from Vale when Ironwood's radar picked up our ships!"
"No matter. I'm certain she'll learn her lesson after a phone call," the enigmatic man replied, leaning down to get a better look at Blake, "You must forgive me. I'm what you would consider a," he paused to give a forced laugh, "Over-protective father. You know how we get."
Blake finally turned to face Schnee, looking him in the eye, "I know how you are, Schnee. And what you and your family has done to us ever since you've been alive."
Blizzard squeezed his glove, glaring down at the girl in the cage, "What is your name?"
"Blake Belladonna," she hissed through her words.
The cold wind was the only sound on the grounds of the House of Schnee, "Now, would you be so kind as to remove your bow?"
"No," Blake answered, her ears moving in her bow.
In the next instant he pulled a pistol from his overcoat, opening fire on Blake in her cage. She dodged every bullet, propelling her across the cage with her semblance. Blizzard ran out of bullets and threw his gun at the ground.
"What's wrong, Blizzard?! Have you finally found a faunus you can't get rid of with your money?!" Blake taunted the aging aristocrat.
The old man grabbed one of his soldier's rifles and aimed at Blake, "I refuse to tolerate Faunus, or any filth of the White Fang. And any that get close to my daughter, their only fate is to die."
Blizzard felt the rifle's trigger, ready to squeeze and fire but he was interrupted by a soldier looking through a scroll, "Sir! I'm not sure if this girl is the same one, but there's a warrant for her arrest in Atlas," the soldier reported, "If this is the same Blake Belladonna, then she's the partner of Adam Taurus."
Blizzard stared down at Blake, "Taurus? That bull has been a thorn in my side for too long."
"Well we have one thing in common. I'm not his favorite person in the world anymore," Blake explained.
Blizzard narrowed his eyes on her and returned the rifle to his soldier, "Take her to the dungeons. I need to make a phone call."
Blizzard ordered his men very quickly and turned back to his home. Blake watched him every step of the way into the massive fortress that was the House of Schnee.
In a secluded bunker in Vacuo, numerous Faunus operated radios, answering calls about confirmations of success or failure.
"You are calling Wilfred's Fishing, how may I help you today?" a Faunus spoke in code when receiving a call from an unknown number.
"Listen well, you despicable animal. This is Blizzard Schnee. And I want to speak with Adam Taurus," The faunus heard him speaking through the phone, hesitating on what to do.
As protocol dictated, he began tracing the phone back to its source while answering his worst enemy, "Why do you want to speak to him?"
"That doesn't concern you. Put me through to him,"
Without informing him he put him on hold, the Faunus contacted the White Fang's most loyal lieutenant, "Sir, we've just received a call from Blizzard Schnee!"
"What does a human like him want?" he asked.
"He didn't say! He just wanted to speak with you,"
Adam stood in his training room, eying his sword, "Are you tracing his call?"
"Yes sir! We're locating the call as we speak!"
"Put him on the line," Adam ordered, waiting to finally hear the voice of the man he and his organization declared war on.
"Adam Taurus, I presume?" his voice was every bit as hate and spiteful as he had imagined.
"Blizzard Schnee. You have a lot of nerve contacting us,"
Adam expected him to be flabbergasted by his insult, only to be surprised by the next phrase that came out of Schnee's mouth, "You're more younger than I imagined you were."
"What do you want?" Adam demanded, frustrated with the old man.
"Can I ask you if you know this woman?" Schnee asked, on his end, putting the dungeons phone on the line.
Blake was presented with a phone, "Hello? Who is this?"
A smile curled on Adam's face, "It's been so long since I've heard your voice, my love."
Blake pulled back from the phone, terrified from his voice, "How did you-
She was caught off when the line went back to Blizzard, "I understand you know her? Would you like her to be returned to you?"
Adam Taurus started laughing uncontrollably, "This is rich, Schnee! What's the catch?"
"Come get her yourself and leave my assets alone from your White Fang vitriol. Do we have a deal?"
Adam reached for his Wilt and Blush, putting on his mask, "We have a deal, Schnee! I'll be there in a week's time!" he gleefully promised before hanging up, "Dear, Blake. It's been a long time, but I'm looking forward to seeing my love again!"
Adam picked up a scroll and connected to the base's intercom, "All White Fang! Prepare to move out to Atlas! In a week's time, we will conquer the Schnee Dust Company!"
As he prepared himself, he heard a knock on his door, "Sir, what about Cinder?"
"What about Cinder? She's a human! The plans of a human mean nothing to me. Whatever she has planned pales in comparison to winning this war!" he declared. To him, killing Blake meant more than anything Cinder had ever planned.
On Ironwood's flagship, a despicable criminal sat alone in his cell, waiting for the signal from Cinder. Though he hated her, Tweedledee, and Tweedledum, he knew it was smarter to work with her. That didn't mean he wouldn't spend every minute of every day despising them with every fiber of his being.
And he expected tonight to be like the others, with him sitting alone bored until he finally fell asleep. But tonight, after hearing two bodies fall in front of him, he had the feeling that tonight was going to be different, confirmed once his cell door opened.
"Neo. Didn't expect to see you this early," Roman grinned.
"Enough with Cinder, Roman. We have another contract," Neo signed to him, an equally large grin on her face.
Roman stepped out of his cell and walked with his short accomplice, "Oh really? Well, if I'm anywhere away from Cinder, I'm happy. Now what contract are we talking about?"
Neo handed Roman his hat and Melodic Cudgel, "Adam Taurus contacted me. He wants us to assist in invading Schnee's House."
Roman fitted his bowler hat and twirled his cane, "Taurus wants me to help him?" he asked, "The bull must be desperate for manpower."
"We did bury half of the White Fang in a subway," Neo signed to her boss, "Besides, it will give us a chance to cut ties with Cinder."
Roman smiled, joy overtaking him, "I'd rather be dealing with the devil than working with that Firecrotch."
A/N we're fast approaching the showdown at the House of Schnee. Let me know what you all think.