I'll be hosting a birthday party for a friend in a couple weeks, so that should be fun. I'm making the cake, pizza, snacks, and probably other stuff. Good thing I have vacation during the week leading up to it or I don't know how I'd have time to clean up my apartment and get the food ready. Oh, and get some plates and cups, shuffle around the furniture, and whatever else I'll forget until someone at the party comments on it.

…maybe it wasn't a good idea to volunteer my place for a party.

In any event, I'm still chugging along with this story. I got over half a chapter done in one night, which felt awesome, but I'm still not back to where I'd like to be. Hopefully that'll change in a few weeks.

Chapter Forty-Three: Consequences

A medic came down with blood bags, sloshing a generous amount on each one of the robe-clad students. Another brought the body bags, and the Specialists quickly gathered up the fake corpses, taking staged photos and leaving generous puddles of blood as evidence of the mock battle.

As the body bags were brought up, Winter walked down and went to her sister. She helped another Specialist carry her on board. The cramped confines had no room for a bed, but they laid her along a couple seats and strapped her in place. The Specialists and the remaining students walked up the ramp and took seats along the sides of the aircraft, while the body bags were laid out towards the front. The seats were cramped, but well cushioned, and the climate was pleasantly cool inside the cabin.

Thick belts wrapped around his arms and chest, binding him in place that made him recall the chair in the abandoned house. A hellish landscape of Dust pillars and roiling black liquid appeared before him, and he felt the Bullhead spin around him.

"Despite everything that has happened," Winter said, snapping him out of the reverie, "I can't thank you enough." She took off her coat and laid it over Weiss. "I've already spoken with Klein to confirm what you had said." She smiled and added, "He was in quite a panic over Weiss being scooped up by the White Fang.

"Oops." Cardin shrugged. "Probably best I never told him the plan."

Winter looked down and stroked her sister's hair. "So, what now? There's still that tracker on her, right?"

Cardin glanced at the other Specialists, who watched with open curiosity. "We'll figure it out on board the Defender. If I'm right, Ozpin will have an idea." He glanced at his Scroll, but he didn't have any missed calls. "Speaking of, has Ironwood gotten in touch yet?"

"They're still shut up in the tower," Winter said, "But I sent another Bullhead to get their attention. It shouldn't be more than a few minutes."

As the Bullhead flew up towards the Atlesian flagship, Winter's Scroll rang. Cardin's came a moment later, from a number he didn't recognize.

The moment he answered, Ozpin's voice came from the other end. "What happened?"

Cardin told him what had happened since they had left the elevator. The Headmaster grunted and said, "We'll talk on the Defender."

Before Cardin could ask anything, the line went dead. He saved the Headmaster's contact information and looked around at the rest of the passengers.

"I guess thanks are in order," he said, pitching his voice so it could be heard over the whine of the Bullhead's engines.

"You bet they are!" Sun shouted from one body bag. "Do you have any idea how bad it smells in here!"

"Sorry about that," Winter said. She nodded to the Specialists, and they unzipped the other students. Russell and the others stripped out of the blood-soaked and perforated uniforms, but red spots stained the clothes underneath.

"We'll get fresh clothes from your rooms before you leave," Winter said, "And we can compensate you for whatever was lost."

"Uh, thanks?" Sky said hesitantly, grimacing at the stains on his shirt.

"What now?" Jaune asked. "We're going to fix Weiss, right?" He glanced uncertainly at the Specialists around him. "The thing, you know, right?"

Both Cardin and Winter glared at him, while the Specialists around them pretended not to listen. In a frosty voice, Winter said, "We will arrive at the Defender in a few minutes. Once we are in a secure location, we will discuss what to do next."

"Right." Jaune was turning a brilliant shade of green as turbulence shook the Bullhead. "Is there a bathroom on this thing?"

Winter pointed towards the front. Jaune tore the belts off himself and sprinted over the body bags.

"Does he get air sick every time?" Winter asked.

"Yep." Nora took a brown paper bag out of a pocket. "That's why I never leave home without these. One Bullhead trip covered in vomit is enough for me, thank you very much."

"I still haven't gotten the smell out of those clothes," Ren muttered.

When they arrived at the Defender, the empty body bags were carried off by several Specialists, while the students were escorted to a conference room near the bridge. The Specialists brought protein bars and a pitcher of water before leaving. Winter took a seat near the head of the table, saving two spots. Everyone else took seats and helped themselves to the snacks. Cardin bit into one and nearly popped his jaw trying to chew the tough, stringy bar.

Winter set her Scroll on the table and said, "For the purposes of maintaining appearances, I'm going to have to take a statement from you to corroborate our story." She pressed a button, and the recording began. "Cardin, could you please describe how you and your classmates were abducted by the White Fang?"

Cardin, who had the trip to the warehouse and the flight up to come up with a good cover story, told how he and his companions had left to see Weiss off at the airport. Ambushed after they got off the Bullhead and threatened with a gun to the head at his nose, Cardin claimed he and his companions had no choice but to follow them in the warehouse. While they were distracted by the return of the van, he called Winter, and then they got rescued."

Winter stopped the recording. "Good. I was wondering how you'd explain your lack of resistance. Even one of you would be enough to take out most White Fang."

Jaune stood up and stared down at Cardin, the queasiness he had shown on the Bullhead replaced by a firmly set jaw and piercing gaze. "Right. Now that we're all here, can you please explain what the hell is going on? You dragged us all out to kidnap Weiss, get chased by the police and professional Huntsmen, and now we're waiting on the Atlas flagship for General Ironwood and our Headmaster." He pulled at his hair and strode back and forth behind his chair. "I mean, we just committed a crime, right? We kidnapped Weiss!"

"We rescued her," Cardin insisted, "And you'll know what you need to know once Ozpin gets here."

"Jaune has a point," Ren said. "That was the craziest thing I've ever done, and I live with Nora." Nora nodded enthusiastically at that and put in, "I've never seen him use a door for a skateboard before. Wish I thought of that earlier."

"And let's not forget," Sun said, pulling his leg onto the table, "That I got shot. Broke right through my Aura and everything."

Cardin peered at the hole in his jeans. "Looks fine to me."

Sun snorted. "That's because Jaune fixed me up." He slapped a hand on Jaune's shoulder. "Thanks for that, by the way."

Jaune, who nearly fell over from the slap, stammered, "Uh, anytime."

"Guys, can we focus?" Ruby asked. She cleared her throat and looked awkwardly at the ten pairs of eyes that swiveled towards her. "Uh, Cardin, what we're all trying to say is, we know you had a good reason for doing what you did." Blake crossed her arms and glared at her. "Well, most of us. Anyways, we know you're trying to help, but what happened back there was, well crazy. We had police and Huntsmen shooting at us, and for a second, I was scared those Specialists were actually going to shoot Blake."

Winter frowned at her. "Why would we do that?"

Blake's bow dipped, and she looked away. Ruby hastily continued, "The point is, we need to know what's going on. We can't just go along with whatever you say without knowing why we're doing anything."

"Sometimes," Winter said, "We don't get to know. We're trusted with a mission without being told why we're doing it, and we have to trust our commander in turn. There are secrets that only a few people can know, secrets I know Ironwood has, secrets he won't tell me. He tells me to escort Cardin and protect him, even though I don't know why he's a target or why Ironwood wishes him protected. If I needed to know, he would tell me, otherwise, we have to trust them." She reached over and put a hand on Ruby's shoulder. "It's one of the hardest parts of being a soldier, or a Huntress. We don't get to see the big picture, only the mission."

Ruby wavered under Winter's lecture. "But – but still, what we did was against the law, right?"

Winter sighed and studied Cardin. "Laws exist to protect people. If they must be broken for the greater good, then so be it."

Blake slammed her hands on the table. "Look. I'm tired of getting dragged around by your schemes. If you don't tell us what you're doing, I'm coming clean with all of it."

Cardin snorted. "Who are you going to tell?"

"Whoever would listen." She took out her Scroll and played a recording on it. Everything from the moment he started explaining what had happened to Weiss echoed over the speakers. As Cardin listened, he felt every muscle go tense as a drawn bowstring. When she stopped the recording, she smirked at Cardin. "How does it feel?"

Winter drew a rapier and pointed it at Blake. Glyphs sprang up around both of them, and from them grew tiny silver Nevermore that circled over Blake's head. She went pale and reached for her own weapon, but her hand closed around empty air.

"I can't let you leave with that," Winter said.

"What, are you really going to kill me?"

"We could claim that you were a White Fang agent and had betrayed Beacon. We could even use the same body bag."

At that moment, the door opened. Ozpin walked in first, taking in the rapier and the swirling Nevermore with a glance. Ironwood came in after, with a firm glare at Winter.

"Put that away. We don't draw weapons against children."

Winter obeyed with shaking hands. "Sir, this 'child' was planning to expose the whole operation, including the classified Grimm."

Ozpin raised an eyebrow at Blake, who shrank back into her chair. Ozpin held out his hand. Without a word, she passed her Scroll over to Ozpin, who deleted the offending recording.

"Now that we have that out of the way," Ozpin said, "Why don't we start with a full account of what happened? Cardin, the floor is yours."

Cardin gave a brief outline of his sudden epiphany, his attempts at contacting Ozpin and Ironwood, and his plan to extract Weiss. Once he reached the end of his account, Russell stepped in, providing the details of their operation, down to the Huntsmen that had attacked them and how quickly the police had swarmed in. Both Ozpin and Ironwood listened without a visible gesture.

Ironwood nodded. "About what we expected from the news reports." At the students' shock, he added, "Yes, your little stunt has already made the five-o-clock news. Two damaged Bullheads, one demolished warehouse and other numerous instances of property damage, sixteen injured police officers, and one bruised and bemused Huntsman." He punctuated the last with a wry smile at Ren.

"And let's not forget," Ozpin added, "The increased fear and paranoia in the general public roused by the most recent crime committed by the White Fang, who has already taken credit for your stunt."

"That was fast," Cardin muttered.

"Too fast," Ozpin agreed. "But that's besides the point. My point is, this operation that you have undertaken without my authorization and in full disregard of the law and the consequences of your actions has done far more harm than good."

Cardin started up on his feet. "They knew we would be after her. Why else would they hurry her out of the country? They wanted her in Atlas so they could be sure to take over the SDC."

"Did she have to be in Atlas for that?" Ozpin asked.

"They would need an assassin–"

"And they could use whoever they please."

"Weiss would have the most opportunities," Cardin countered. "Jacques wouldn't expect her to kill him."

"True," Ozpin said, "But we could have warned Jacques of the danger. All it would take is one call at the CCT."

"And if he didn't believe you?"

"He trusts me enough," Ironwood said. "Ozpin is right, Cardin. You should have waited for us before making any moves."

"Do you really think that would've been wise?" Cardin asked. "They were ready for us. They meant to make sure Weiss went to Atlas, do you think they didn't have every move after then already thought out?"

A knock came at the door. A Specialist walked in, holding a steaming mug. Ozpin held out his hand, and the man brought it over. Once they were alone again, Ozpin took a sip and cringed. "James, what is this?"

"Atlesian Black. It's the only coffee we have."

Ozpin set the mug on the table and pushed it away from him. "You owe each and every one of my taste buds an apology. I haven't had a worse cup of coffee in my entire life."

Ironwood's eyebrows rose. "I'll take it into consideration."

Ozpin chugged a glass of water and wiped his mouth on a handkerchief. "Now that that's over, back to your point, Cardin. You are most certainly right, and had she left, it may have sealed the fate of the SDC. However, we don't know that for certain. There would have been plenty of time to form a plan to protect Jacques and/or recover Weiss. By acting in haste, you committed all of us to an irreversible course. The consequences of what had happened today will plague us for years, if not longer, as tensions rise towards the Faunus, as the SDC uses this event as an excuse to commit further atrocities and the White Fang rallies around this blow against the Schnee family."

"You think a Grimm running the SDC would go any better?"

"We could have imposed bans and curtailed the SDC's power," Ironwood said.

Cardin scoffed. "You really think they couldn't bribe their way out of that?"

"We can play this game all day," Ozpin said. "Going back and forth with what-ifs until the world burns around us. The fact remains, you went behind our backs and broke the law."

"We wouldn't have if you had kept your Scrolls on!" Cardin countered. "We tried calling all of you!"

Both Ozpin and Ironwood frowned at that. "We didn't," the General said. "I always keep my Scroll on."

Cardin held up his own Scroll, showing them his call history. Ruby brought her own out, adding her calls to Goodwitch and Qrow to the pile.

"I see," Ozpin said, "But this changes nothing. You will all need to be punished for this. Off the books." He glanced at Sun. "And while I recognize I'm technically not your Headmaster, Mr. Wukong, I would appreciate it if you took responsibility for your actions."

Sun smirked and held his hands behind his head. "Good luck with that."

Ozpin sighed and continued. "I am organizing a soup kitchen in a poor Faunus district. Students from Beacon will be invited to participate." He gave each student a stern stare. "I'm asking all of you to help. Asking, because this incident must remain off the records."

"And if we refuse?" Cardin asked.

"Then I will have no choice but to expel you." To Cardin, he added, "In your case, I will also invite Duke Orgen over to dine."

Cardin felt the blood drain out of his face. "You wouldn't."

The Headmaster smiled at him. "I know the usual methods of discipline will have no effect on you. It's part of the reason why I haven't tried to curb your undesirable behavior thus far. In this instance, however, I am willing to resort to drastic measures for your obedience."

"You realize that's tantamount to murder."

Every pair of eyes in the room darted over to Ozpin. He stood calm in the face of their scrutiny. "Allowing you to do what you wish is also tantamount to murder. I can only imagine the number of Faunus killed in the wake of this incident, and the number of humans killed by the White Fang in retribution. I will do what I have to, Cardin."

Cardin growled under his breath. "Fine. How long and how often?"

"As long as I see fit to run it, or until your graduation, whichever comes first. As to how often, three hours, twice a week, from five to eight."

Cardin wilted under the lost time. Looking around, he saw he wasn't alone in his misery. Russell looked ready to hit someone, and Dove gave both him and the Headmaster sour glares. Jaune looked resigned as well. Ren was apathetic as ever while Nora bounced in her seat, Pyrrha and Ruby gave the Headmaster uneasy smiles, and Blake grinned at him as though she had been given a bathtub full of cream.

"If that's what you want," Sun said, "Then sure, I'll pitch in. Sounds like fun."

Cardin rolled his eyes. "If that's out of the way, can we get to the part where we cure Weiss?"

The Headmaster and the General exchanged glances. "We will do our best," Ironwood said, "But we cannot guarantee success. For now, I ask that all of you return to Beacon. Winter will escort you there and answer any questions the press may have."

Cardin felt his heart sink in his chest. Doubt seized him as he wondered if he had guessed incorrectly, if he had built up the idea of Ruby's ability to petrify Grimm on baseless suspicions. Maybe the assailant had done something and both of them had missed it, or maybe Ozpin didn't really know. But then, why hide the evidence of it from Ironwood?

Maybe he was chasing a fairy tale, but it was the only way to make Jacques Schnee indebted to him.

"All of us?" Cardin asked. His hand brushed against his Scroll, and he started recording. "Including Ruby?"

Cardin watched the Headmaster carefully, looking for any trace of the secret he suspected was kept from them all. Ozpin's eyes narrowed, taking in Cardin with sudden suspicion, but the General seemed confused. "I understand if she would like to remain by her teammate, but we're working with an unknown Grimm. We do not wish any of you to be at risk during the operation."

"And what about Jaune? The whole reason I brought him along was to help Weiss."

Ironwood froze up, but Ozpin took up the slack. "Aura will be of little use in brain surgery, and Jaune's Semblance is too valuable to risk."

Jaune planted his hands on the table and rose. "I don't care. If it will give Weiss even the tiniest chance of living, I'll do it."

Again, Ozpin and Ironwood looked uneasily at each other. "I appreciate your enthusiasm," Ozpin said, "But these are orders. Return to Beacon, have dinner, and get some sleep. We will let you know in the morning how it went."

While the other students exchanged worried mutters, Cardin locked eyes with Ozpin. The Headmaster tensed, expecting his verbal attack.

"You plan to kill Weiss, don't you?"

The students stared at him in shock, his own teammates included. Ironwood flinched, but Ozpin feigned a disgusted expression. "We would never–"

He could sense the tension in the room, the acute alertness of everyone present, Ozpin's preoccupation with his planned murder of Weiss, and Ironwood's hesitation. While Ozpin was busy fending off his accusation, Cardin turned to the General and asked him, "Did Ozpin ever tell you how those Grimm in Mount Glenn were turned to stone?"

Ozpin's expression darkened, proof of Cardin's suspicions that made him breathe easier, and Ironwood studied his colleague with open curiosity. "One of the freight cars carrying Dust exploded in the vicinity."

Cardin nodded significantly to Ruby and Blake. Ruby looked confused, but she said, "There wasn't a Dust car there. They were all gone by the time it happened."

Blake added, "There was a flash of white light, and all the sudden, the Grimm were frozen, including the one that was about to kill me. Its claws were inches away from my back."

Ironwood frowned. "If it wasn't Dust, then what was it?"

Ozpin examined the room's occupants and drummed his fingers on the table. "Mr. Winchester, I don't know what kind of wild speculation you have been spinning in your head, but I assure you, I know nothing beyond what you and Team RWBY have told me."

"If that wasn't the case," Cardin countered, "You wouldn't have lied to General Ironwood about the cause of the Grimm petrification."

Ironwood studied Cardin's words carefully before fixing a steely frown on Ozpin. "He's right. It couldn't be Dust, not with the students so close to the Grimm, and not with the Dust cars well out of sight, as Ruby and Blake testify. It would also appear to me that I never heard their accounts of what happened, except from you."

Ozpin clenched his hands and took a long, deep breath. "Fine. I'll humor you then, Cardin. If it wasn't the Dust, then what happened to those Grimm? I would like to know as much as everyone else in the room."

"You already knew. In fact, you knew at least before this year started, if not even sooner. Perhaps you've been keeping an eye on her for her whole life. Why else would you let her into Beacon two years early?"

Ruby swallowed nervously as she received everyone's attention. "M-me?" she squeaked. "What about me? What did I do?"

Ozpin ground his teeth and adjusted his glasses. "I admitted Ruby two years early on the grounds of how well she composed herself while fending off one of Torchwick's robberies."

"I saw the video on that," Cardin said, "And I wasn't impressed. If Goodwitch hadn't been there, Ruby would've died. Fact is, Ruby was barely ready from a combat perspective, and she was two years behind the other curriculum, yet you let her in anyways."

"That is odd," Ironwood said, his voice laden with suspicion.

Ozpin scowled. "I had full faith in Ruby's abilities, and her grades prove my point."

Cardin smiled and waved his hand dismissively. "Sure, whatever you say. My point still remains."

"I fail to see your point, as you have yet to explain how this relates to Mount Glenn."

Cardin made a show of turning towards Ruby and asked her, "Do you remember what happened precisely before you blacked out?"

Ruby shrank under his gaze, but she said, "Well, there was that girl, and Grimm everywhere, and I saw one about to get Blake. I panicked, and everything went white, then a bunch of rocks hit me."

"What did you feel when everything went white?"

Ozpin looked ready to step in, but he bit back his comment. Ruby thought for a moment and said, "It felt like my eyes were on fire. I – I was scared of losing Blake, more scared than I had ever been in my life. I could feel my hands shaking from it." She looked at her hands and rubbed them on her shirt. "Uh, I think that's it?"

"And afterwards," Cardin pressed, "You had more eye pain and had to wear a blindfold."

"So, you're saying my eyes–" She stopped and stared at the Headmaster, realization dawning on her face. "The first thing you ever said to me. I have silver eyes."

"I don't see why that matters," Ironwood said. "Winter's eyes are silver-"

"Not a true silver, sir," Winter said, "More of a bluish-gray. Ruby's eyes are silver." She put emphasis on the color.

"Why wouldn't I remark on it?" Ozpin said defensively. "It's an uncommon trait."

"Ironwood, could you take me and Ruby to see Weiss?" Cardin asked. "There's something I'd like to try."

Ironwood regarded Ozpin with a grim expression. Ozpin's mouth worked silently for a moment before he said, "You can't possibly buy into this ludicrous story of his, James."

"On the contrary," Ironwood said as he stood. "I don't see the harm in testing Cardin's theory. If it really is just a ludicrous story, then no harm will come of it." He went to the door and opened it. "Weiss is just down the hall. Let's go."

As Ruby and Cardin went towards the door, Ozpin leapt out of his chair. "Wait!" His cry sliced through the air, leaving silence in its wake. Ruby and Cardin froze where they were, Ruby with a look of frightened curiosity, and Cardin with a victorious grin.

"Well?" Cardin asked. "Do you have something to say?"

"You are all making a grave mistake," Ozpin said, his voice as dark and flinty as a shard of obsidian.

"Really? You think it would be a better idea to kill Weiss?"

"Weiss' death would be meaningless compared to the number of lives that could be saved otherwise."

"I wonder what Jacques would think of that." Cardin took his Scroll out of his pocket and held it up for the Headmaster. His face went ashen as he saw the recording in progress. Cardin stopped the recording and tapped Ruby on the shoulder. "Let's go."

As they were about to leave, Ozpin said, "There were many silver-eyed warriors, once."

Changelog:

10/22/2019 - Added details that made Cardin's reveal more a desperate gamble