Ozpin was nervous about everything that was going to happen once Qrow arrived in their office with the team had been assigned to him for their apparently very interesting mission. The news out of the forests had been alarming to say the least, and without hearing from everyone that had been involved directly Ozpin didn't know what they had to look forward to. They were at least in part glad for the fact that their office was empty.

It gave them so much more freedom for the conversation when it would be desperately needed.

The door opened, and soon the team streamed in, with Qrow following close after them. He was looking a bit more than frazzled, and the girls looked like they were excited in the worst possible way. That had to be expected, Ozpin thought sadly. It was probably the first time that any of them had ever gotten so close to any sort of grimm in their entire lives.

"Hello." Ozpin greeted the five of them, leaning against the desk behind them and letting their cane balance in front of them. "I'm glad to see all of you back and intact."

"Thanks, Oz." Qrow said, taking his usual position at one of the pillars towards the back of the room and making himself comfortable there. It seemed that he wanted to stay out of the way and let the girls take the lead on this meeting. That was a good thing, Ozpin thought. The two of them had already talked a little bit about the grimm, but there was always concerns.

Besides, knowing what the students had seen was good. It would give them better perspective on what had happened.

Sure enough, the four girls understood well enough and they fell into a line in front of Ozpin's desk. All four of them waited, gazing towards them, and so Ozpin sighed, shook their head and decided that it was time for them to get started.

"I hear that you all saw something very interesting in the field." Ozpin said calmly. "It would do me a great favor if all of you would explain what happened."

The four girls looked at each other, all nervous. Finally, one of them decided to take the lead and begin to explain. Of course, Ozpin thought as the tiny girl crept forward, staring up at them with silver eyes. Ruby Rose.

"We were walking with Uncle Qrow and we were talking about-" She paused, looking back to her older sister who just gave her a thumbs up. "Classes and stuff." With those words, Ruby brought her attention back forward. "But then we found a pond, but it was all… black. And the water was really thick looking, like sludge almost?"

That detail alone was enough to make the characteristic feeling of dread begin to rise up in Ozpin's chest. While it was true that they and Qrow would both know what it meant, it wasn't necessarily easy to simply accept that what they had seen had indeed been one of Salem's spawning pools. To hear it from students who had never seen such a thing...

Well, it made it more of a reality. It meant that Ozpin was going to have to start having more important meetings left and right. They would need to talk to James for sure, and then they would probably have to reach out to the other two headmasters as soon as they got a chance.

They let out a quiet sigh and nodded slowly.

"Of course." They said quietly. "Did any of you try to touch it?"

The girls all looked amongst each other, but Qrow spoke up before any of them could say something on the matter.

"I told them not to, Oz." Qrow explained, sauntering forward and sliding his hands down into his pockets in the process. "Figured it was best not to take the risk and get any of them hurt."

Ozpin nodded in understanding. "A wise choice, Qrow." They paused, thinking hard on what they needed to say to him. The two of them were going to be left with a situation that was going to require more attention and a more careful hand than would normally be used for the situation. "Why don't you girls tell me about the grimm that you encountered?"

"Oh!" Ruby spoke up, and Ozpin watched as she practically bounced where she was standing. "It was like a big gorilla. I think Uncle Qrow said that it was a beringel? We fought it ourselves but it was really strong. Like, way worse than we have trained against."

"Well, real grimm are nothing like what you would fight in a simulation." Ozpin explained, because they really didn't have much better that they could say. "The simulations try to be the closest to the real thing, but nothing quite matches what a real monster is capable of."

They paused, and another question occurred to them that they would need to deal with. There was always the problem where the girls had surely never seen a proper grimm in the wild before. They wouldn't have any frame of reference for what dealing with one would be like aside from the simulations. "Did you four manage to defeat it without intervention?"

"We did." Weiss spoke up. "And it just... turned into dust. Or smoke."

"Good." Ozpin said. "The four of you may return to your rooms and get some rest. I believe the grand hall will still have food at this time for you to enjoy."

The four girls looked at each other and Ruby shrugged, beginning on her way out of the room with her teammates trailing after her. They were a fine group of students, Qrow thought, but they weren't going to be the most important thing for them to talk about that day.

But now that they were with Qrow alone, then it was time for them to talk to him about everything.

"Did it seem intelligent?" Ozpin asked, once the students were well out of earshot. Even still, they dropped their volume a bit so that they could worry a little bit less. That didn't make it any better. "The beringel."

"Nah," Qrow shrugged, reaching into his pocket and pulling out his flask. Ozpin felt a slight pang of guilt because they'd been expecting that Qrow would be feeling stressed over all of this. "It seemed like the way that they used to be, maybe a bit tougher but an inexperienced team makes it hard to judge." He paused, swirling his flask and staring down into it. "I did a quick survey of the area from the skies during the night and I didn't see any other signs of grimm or spawning sites."

"Good." Ozpin sighed. "That means that she hasn't gotten so powerful that we won't be able to protect the people."

"Yet." Qrow said with a certain sort of snarl in his voice. "Oz, we've got to have plans for how to deal with this stuff sooner than later or we're going to end up with a lot of problems. Dead people, ruined villages, you know how it is."

Ozpin nodded slowly. "I was already planning to have meetings with some of the other headmasters with regard to this. You know just as well as I do that James will find it of great interest."

"So you're going to call a meeting, then?"

"I'll have no choice but to do so." Ozpin sighed, feeling some frustration bubbling up that they weren't going to be able to ignore that easily. "If it will do something to protect the people of Remnant."

Qrow nodded. "I just hope that we're going to be able to handle it all in time, Oz."

"As do I, Qrow." They sighed, reaching for their own mug and bringing it up to their mouth so that they could begin to drink from it. "Have you gone to meet with your sister yet?" Ozpin asked, because that was all that they could really do at that point. Without knowing that information, moving on was going to be completely impossible and Ozpin was sure of it.

Qrow grimaced and drank from his flask again, showing a slight snarl of annoyance when he realized that his flask was completely empty at that point. "Yeah," he grumbled. "I went to see her."

"And?"

"It's Raven so we knew that we weren't going to get anything out of it." Qrow explained with a sigh. "Like every time, it turned into me and her arguing over family and the tribe and..." he paused, and Ozpin wished that they could do do anything to make sure that Qrow was going to be okay. They couldn't do anything to keep Qrow from getting into trouble or hurting himself, and that was one of those major problems that Ozpin couldn't ignore.

"I understand." Ozpin said calmly. "Thank you for going to her, Qrow. I know that it isn't easy for you to make that sort of trip."

"Thanks, Oz." Qrow sighed, capping his flask and putting it away so that he would be less distracted by all of it. "It means a lot."

"Of course." They stepped away from the desk, setting their mug back down and balancing using their cane. "I should be getting to James' office and altering Professor Goodwitch of the situation." Ozpin explained because that was all that they could do at that point.

"I'll come with." Qrow grumbled, falling into step beside Ozpin before the two of them went off towards the wing of the building where James was sure to be. The good thing about the General's stay in Vale was that he wasn't spending so much of his time at work. He would do a guest class or fill in for professors if he was needed, but otherwise James kept to himself and did his own job.

To Ozpin's knowledge, James wouldn't be busy at all. Glynda was sure to still be in classes when they got there.

Ozpin and Qrow walked down to James' office together, and when they were just outside of the door it occurred to Ozpin that there was a second voice coming from inside. It was a woman's voice, one that they had heard a few times before.

Perhaps disturbing James at that time would be a bad idea, but if the situation was as serious as they thought, it wasn't going to matter at the end.

Ozpin stepped up to the door and knocked on it.

They heard James mumble something to the woman before calling that he was on his way.

When James opened the door he was out of his great coat, and looking mostly comfortable in his vest and shirt. He also looked exhausted, but Ozpin wasn't going to read into that too deeply. James tended to exhaust himself and that was anything but a secret.

"Ozpin?" James asked. "What is it?"

"Something has changed." Ozpin said calmly enough. "Is now a bad time to speak?"

James looked back over his shoulder and sighed before pushing the door open. "It's not." He said calmly. "I'll see to it that Specialist Schnee is on her way out."

"Nah," Qrow spoke up, and Ozpin felt the hairs on the back of their neck rise over it. Specialist Schnee meant that they were going to have some problems to deal with in the very near future, and all of them were going to have to do with the fact that Qrow enjoyed causing trouble and running his mouth a little too much. If Qrow was going to go looking for a fight, Ozpin wasn't sure that this was a situation that they wanted to have to go into.

It only left Ozpin feeling more than very sure that they were all going to have a mess to contend with in the very near future. But, if James and themself were going to stay aware of it all, then perhaps the two of them could minimize the damage.

There was an annoyed tension and twitch to James' jaw but the general stepped aside and opened the door wider to invite Ozpin and Qrow both in. Sure enough, Winter Schnee was there, seated by his desk and any relaxation that she'd had in her ebbed out all at once as soon as he saw Qrow.

"Hello, specialist." Ozpin greeted her with a slight bow, and was surprised and pleased to find James getting them a seat. The specialist eyed them suspiciously, but did get up to her feet to give a polite Atlesian bow.

"Professor Ozpin." Winter said, keeping her voice as rigid as ever. "I heard what you did for my sister. You have my gratitude."

"Thank you," Ozpin replied as they carefully lowered themself down into the seat that James had gotten for them. "It was really no trouble. She returned from a mission today, if you plan to see her."

Winter's eyes widened, and if she wanted to act and show how she was feeling more openly, she didn't. Instead it seemed that the girl was just training down everything in a very traditionally Atlesian way. "I was not aware of that." She said, her voice still stilted. "Thank you."

"Yes," James said, going back behind his desk and pouring a fresh cup of coffee that was soon offered to Ozpin. "Thank you. Now-" James paused, staring Qrow down in a way that managed to be rather threatening. Ozpin wished that it was something that they hadn't been expecting. "To what do I owe the honor of having you two here?"

Ozpin was about to begin explaining, but Qrow took the spotlight for himself.

"I just got back from a mission with Princess' little sister and some other girls." Qrow began to explain, perching himself on James' desk in a way that was all but surely meant to irritate. It clearly worked, if the way that the general grit his teeth was an indication. "We ran into some trouble."

"Bandits?" James asked, sounding almost bored but very irritated.

"Nah," Qrow laughed. "If it was bandits, it wouldn't be worth talking about." He hesitated. "A beringel."

James and Winter both went silent and rigid at that. The two of them exchanged a surprised look before James took the lead to further questioning. "How big was it?"

"Normal by pre-fall standards." Qrow said with a shrug that was too nonchalant. "Kids were able to take it down, but since we also found a spawning pool..."

James stared at Qrow and his jaw twitched in concern before he looked at Winter. "Miss Schnee," He started calmly. "Why don't you go and see your little sister?"

"But, sir-"

"Winter." James sighed. "Please."

The Schnee woman stared at him with a look of betrayal on her face. Ozpin couldn't help but feel bad, since this girl clearly understood that she was being held out of a conversation. But, James was her commander and had the right to request her absence.

"Of course, sir." Winter replied, clicking her heels together and giving a salute before marching out the door and closing it behind her.

James watched her go and sighed heavily.

"Too much like her mother, right?" Qrow scoffed. "I swear, Jimmy-"

"Qrow." Ozpin interrupted. "Enough."

James shot Qrow a look that was a little bit more than disapproving, holding his jaw shut and tight. Ozpin had always made a point not to get too deeply involved in the lives of their coworkers, and now this was something that they wanted absolutely no part in. And Qrow was going to make it difficult for everyone, it seemed.

But Qrow looked between the two of them with a sneer on his lips before rolling his eyes. "Yeah," He muttered. "Sure. Why don't you take the lead on this, Oz."

"I would if I had more to do with what happened out in the field, Qrow." Ozpin reprimanded. "Unlike yourself, I didn't have a direct look at what is going on out in the woods."

James nodded and leaned back in his seat, trying to make himself feel a little bit more comfortable. Ozpin figured that this conversation was going to end up being stressful for everyone involved. It was a matter of time before that happened, at the very least.

But James took in a deep breath and looked to Qrow with laser focus. "You said that you saw a spawning pool out in the forest?"

"I did." Qrow responded. "And it's apparently active enough that a beringel was able to climb out of it." He paused, his brow furrowing. "And I wouldn't exactly be surprised to find out that there are more out in the forest like it."

James nodded slowly, and Ozpin watched as he hunched over his desk. He tapped a button on the side of it, and all of them watched as a hologram of the world of remnant appeared over top of it. James peeled off his glove and revealed the metallic hand there before reaching in towards the map and pulling at it.

The map rapidly zoomed in on Vale, and then on the kingdom outside of it. "Did you record coordinates?" James asked, looking to Qrow directly. "Because if you can give that we'll be able to keep track of it more actively."

Qrow just reached for his scroll and tossed it onto the desk. Ozpin watched as the hologram there rippled and shifted before re-stabilizing itself. It only was disturbed again when the General reached in for it with his flesh hand to lift it up.

James plotted Qrow's noted coordinates on the map and added a fast note to the map. "I'll send the map out to you, Ozpin." James explained calmly, looking down at it and pulling back to get a better idea of how far the pool was from the city. Presumably if that was the only pool to worry about, then they wouldn't have too much to be concerned with. A single pool couldn't keep up the output that would be necessary to destroy even a village.

That didn't mean that they couldn't be worrying about it now. It was only a matter of time before it could get out of hand, and once that happened, Vale was going to have hell to pay.

"Good." Ozpin replied, looking to James more directly and staring him in his eyes. The general didn't do anything to try and break the eye contact between the two of them, and that should have been worrying. James was doing his best to keep his composure for now, but Ozpin was sure that as soon as they and Qrow left the room the man was going to begin to scramble to make sure that he was going to be able to go back to Atlas and make sure that the situation was secure.

James looked between Ozpin and Qrow, his jaw still hard. Qrow looked to Ozpin as well, like he was looking for guidance. If Glynda had been in the room then this would have been easier. She would have been able to keep this a little bit more normal. Glynda was good at being one of the more stable heads in the room.

James spoke, though.

"I'll be contacting forces in Atlas to ensure the kingdom's safety. We'll have to hear from Mistral and Vacuo before anyone can move forward."

"And Menagerie?" Qrow asked, his brow furrowed. "They're as much of a part of this as any other kingdom is."

James and Ozpin exchanged a look.

As awful as it was to think, Menagerie's status as being outside of the realm of the actual kingdoms was a problem. It left the island to the south without as many resources as a proper kingdom, and the population issues and general poverty was also an issue. None of which were easily solved.

"We'll see what we can do." Ozpin said finally, with a quiet sigh. "You know just as well as I do that getting in contact with the chieftains is difficult work. Regardless of how we contact them."

James nodded. "We can't necessarily afford to send people that far south to check in on the situation there. And the desert on that island is so dangerous that going out to check even without the threat of grimm would be difficult."

Qrow nodded. "So we'll stay on top of the situation as much as we can."

"Precisely." Ozpin sighed. "I'll do my best to contact Professor Lionheart in the coming days. James, you'll be working with Atlas and I can trust you to contact Shade Academy."

"Of course." James replied, setting a note on his own scroll that was going to go off as an alarm later on. "I'll be sure to report back to you as soon as possible."

Ozpin nodded. "And while I'm here, I'd like to speak to you about the presence of your specialist here in the city."

James sighed. "Miss Schnee is partially here to ensure that her little sister is taken care of." He explained as calmly as he could. Ozpin was fairly certain that there had been more to Qrow's jab than they had originally thought. Regardless, they weren't going to let themselves get pushed to the wayside.

"And I have to thank you for that." Ozpin replied. They looked over to Qrow. "How did Weiss Schnee seem on the mission?"

"Honest?" Qrow grumbled, and he actually managed to look a little bit distressed by the suggestion. "The kid's lagging behind in ability. She's home-taught and it shows. Seems to make up for it in raw talent. Schnee genes and all of that."

"We'll see what we can do." James mumbled, and Ozpin couldn't help but feel like the man was hoping to be able to remove himself from the conversation sooner than later. "I have some familiarity with spending time with Schnees on the battlefield. Winter is also a capable fighter and her presence in Vale can be used to our advantage." James hesitated for a long moment. "Besides, as long as the girl is here in Vale, I believe she will be able to act as a guardian of sorts for Weiss should she be needed to do so. If not-." His voice trailed off, and Ozpin decided not to pry.

Ozpin nodded. "Good." They said, standing up and drinking from the mug of coffee that James had passed them upon their arrival with Qrow. "Thank you for your time, James. I can trust that you will only act in Vale's best interests."

James nodded. "I intend to do as much, but I need to know that I will have the permission to act. If the situation is dire, I will not hesitate to call in another specialist on a more business-oriented basis than Miss Schnee is on."

And that- that was the biggest sign of there being a struggle to contend with later on. Ozpin was going to be able to keep an eye on James, that was something that they were certain of. That didn't mean that they didn't want to be stepped on.

"We'll be in touch." Ozpin said, knowing that they had managed to make themself only sound a little bit more uncomfortable. They needed to keep their head straight, and Ozpin reminded themself of that as they went to the door. They pulled the door open, and Qrow followed after them before the two of them left the General to his own devices.

Regardless, Ozpin was certain that they were going to have to do their best to keep an eye on the general to ensure that everything worked. Every mechanism was going to need watching.

And they had a good watcher at their side.

"Qrow." Ozpin said, as soon as the two of them were well out of earshot of the general's office. "If you could add the spawning location to your daily patrols outside of the city, you would be doing me a great service."

"Figured as much." Qrow said with an arrogant sort of shrug to his shoulders. "Consider it done."

And that was all that Ozpin could really ask him for. Aside for Qrow to stay out of trouble, that was all that they wanted at this point. Someone that could be there at their side to do their best to minimize the workload when it got too heavy.

"Thank you, Qrow." Ozpin said finally. "You may go off and do whatever it is you do."

Qrow eyed them warily and took a few steps away before sighing and heading off on his own. He was probably going to go home, or check up on the team that he'd brought back to Vale and make sure that they were doing okay. Whichever it would be, Ozpin trusted Qrow.

That was going to have to be more than enough for the time being.