Disclaimer: The world of RWBY and it's characters are property of Monty Oum and Rooster Teeth™. The only things that I own are the characters that I make up.

So… Irven "Cookie-Buying-Buddy" is actually Irven "Cookie-Buying-Buddy" Ironwood. That's a surprise…

Ruby sat there in her seat between Weiss and Yang completely dumbstruck. But— wha— Ironwood? How did I not see it sooner!? For most anyone, especially hunters, Irven Ironwood and team LPIS (read lapis) were total celebrities. They were like, Achieve Men levels of famous; they were defenders of the North, protectors of justice. Sure Ruby and her team had defended Vale from an invasion of Grimm; but that was with the help of half the student body of Beacon and the Atlesian military. If the rumors and news stories were anything to go by, LPIS could've all of that themselves and still have been home in time for afternoon cookies! And for Ruby not to recognize their leader, the guy known as the Ace of Atlas, the son of General James Ironwood at first glance...

Irven's speech was drowned out by Ruby's ever increasing mental strain. Some hunter I am, not recognizing the Irven Ironwood. Heh, that's like only recognizing Pyrrha as the person on the front of the Pumpkin Pete's box. I mean, what kind of idiot does that? Three rows behind Ruby, Jaune sneezed quite audibly, with Pyrrha breaking her attention from team LPIS to say 'bless you' to him and ask if he was alright. Now that I think about it though, I've only seen like one or two pictures of those guys, most of what I know about them is stuff I've read in magazines or heard from my friends back at Signal. Ruby groaned out loud without any thought to those around her. Well this is just great! I meet one of the most famous hunters-in-training and all I can do is barrel into him and make him buy me cookies! He must think I'm some kinda loser who lives under a rock. Ruby slumped in her seat as she began to tune into her surroundings again.

"—and that's the basic rundown of what will be happening in the coming months. If you have any further questions about the plan, please do not hesitate to ask me, my teammates, or your professors." With that, Irven bowed and gave the stage to Professor Goodwitch.

"That concludes this assembly, please make your way out in an orderly fashion," she raised her voice to speak over the droves of people as they made their exits from the amphitheater, "also, teams RWBY and JNPR need to report to Professor Ozpin's office immediately; thank you."

"So I wonder what Professor Ozpin wants to talk about," Jaune thought out loud to both his team and team RWBY as they walked through the halls of Beacon to Ozpin's office. "I mean, maybe it has something to do with last week's attack?"

"I don't think so," Blake answered, "we already talked about that to him right after the attack, so I doubt that's what he wants to see us about." No one replied to Blake's response as they all seemed to have their minds focused on different matters altogether, though for most of them, they revolved around a single entity: team LPIS, and more specifically its leader, Irven Ironwood. Ruby was still beating herself up over the thought of not recognizing him right away and made a mental note to thank him and apologize the first chance she got. Weiss seemed to be on cloud nine, as Irven was an old friend of hers due to her father's connection with General Ironwood, and she was very excited to see him again after all this time to show how much she's improved with Myrtenaster. Ren was praying to Oum that Nora wouldn't do anything stupid in front of Professor Ozpin again; he still remembered the last time when Nora decided it was a good idea to replace all the instant coffee packets in the kitchen with hot cocoa mix. He shuddered just at the thought of both Professor Ozpin's and Professor Oobleck's manhunt for the culprit, who thankfully just happened to have put all the incriminating evidence in the locker of one Cardin Winchester, Oum rest his soul. Nora and Jaune, surprisingly were both thinking about methods to make friends with team LPIS if they ever got the chance. While Jaune thought about how nice it would be to have another guy friend to help balance out all the estrogen in his life, Nora thought about how team LPIS could all use a good explosion. You know, because they looked so serious and explosions make everything better, at least in Nora's personal experience they did. Pyrrha was thinking back to her time back home in Mistral, before coming to Beacon. While she was studying at Sanctum, Irven had come as an exchange student for three weeks while his father dealt with some political business. While he was there, he and Pyrrha challenged each other to ten separate duels, with both of them winning back and forth. They were still tied five to five, a fact which Pyrrha hoped to remedy during the Vytal Festival's tournament. Yang herself couldn't care less about what was going on, instead thinking about the dream she had with that Raven woman and what it all meant.

Blake, however, seemed… fearful, though you would never be able to tell just by looking at her. The reason for this was that, like Pyrrha, Blake had met Irven before. But unlike Pyrrha, they had not met under such friendly terms. It had been almost a year now, a few months before she left the White Fang, since that dreaded night. She visibly tensed as she played out the events in her mind…

Blake and Adam had been tasked with infiltrating a warehouse in the shipyards of the Atlesian city of Clymene. Within the snow covered building, a weapon thought to be a prototype Aura Weapon was being constructed by Schnee Dust Company and hidden from the public eye until it was to be put through mass production.

The White Fang, feeling that that kind of weapon could be used to subjugate faunuskind and once again put their people into a life of servitude and slavery, sent a team to investigate and if possible steal or destroy the Aura Weapon. When the first three squads of White Fang operatives didn't respond after being sent into the warehouse half an hour ago, Adam and Blake were forced to take action.

As they made their way through the snow covered shipyards, the only sound that could be heard was that of Blake and Adam's boots crunching through the snow. Because Atlas was located to the far north, on the continent known as Mantle, the weather was constantly at freezing levels. Due to this, Blake and Adam had to don heavier clothing in order to stave off the cold. Adam dressed very much reminiscent of his usual attire, only foregoing his signature trenchcoat for a thicker, black wool overcoat that sported his blood red 'Wilt' emblem along his right arm. Blake also wore a heavy coat which a white parka with black fur lining the inside, as well as a black scarf with her own symbol emblazoned in white on one of the two ends that flowed behind her. Both of them were on full alert in case of a surprise attack as they looked around. Oddly enough, however, was that there was nobody to be found, not even any random security guards or stray shipwrights. Sure, it was the middle of the night, but the whole place seemed to be abandoned. Even with her enhanced senses, Blake could neither see nor hear anything as snow drifted lightly to the ground around her and Adam. It felt as if the whole place had been sealed off by an invisible force, a thought that Blake did not wish to entertain. "Adam—"

"I feel it too," he interjected, his body tense as he tried to look for anyplace a group of people could hide. He checked his scroll once again to confirm the location of the missing White Fang operatives. It showed that they were still by the warehouse where the Aura Weapon was supposed to be hidden, but that instead of being spread out into the three groups of four that they had initially set out in, they were all clustered together towards the entrance. Adam continued to walk forward towards their destination while looking down at his scroll to watch for any sudden movements or developments until a sharp gasp from Blake caused him to look forward.

There, in front of them was the warehouse that contained the Prototype Aura Weapon and in front of the closed doors, tied together on the ground unconscious, were the missing White Fang operatives.

"I've been waiting for you," a voice called out, causing Blake and Adam to look around frantically, searching for the ones who could've done this. "So," the voice began again, "the 'Mad Bull' and the 'Black Cat' decide to finally make their appearance. You know, I wasn't expecting you around here after that stunt the two of you pulled a few months back in Lapetus." Finally pinpointing the source of the voice, Blake and Adam looked up, to the roof of the warehouse, where they saw a figure standing with his arms crossed over his chest, silhouetted against the shattered moon behind him, looking down at them with burning golden eyes. "I've been wanting to speak to you for a while now," he said as he hopped down from the roof, landing on his feet as the snow crunched beneath his boots. No longer with the harsh light of the shattered moon behind him, Blake wondered how he was not freezing to death in this weather as he a black and crimson hooded vest, the hood of which was pulled up over his head, as well as black cargo pants that were stuffed into black combat boots with crimson accents. On his arms were two black, long, fingerless gloves that went up to his elbow and had pearlescent white metal plates strapped to the backs of the hands and the outsides of the forearms. The plates on the back of his hands had the same symbol engraved on them: a lone wisp with a chain encircling it, like a ring around a planet, both the same burning golden color as his eyes.

"Oh?" Adam asked, as he gripped the hilt of his sword, Wilt, "And what would, the Illustrious young prodigy, Irven Ironwood, want to talk to us about?" At the mention of his name, Blake tensed, as she gripped on her own weapon Gambol Shroud, which was currently resting on her back. Blake knew that name as well as the powerful individual associated with it. If he was really who Adam said he was, then she couldn't allow herself to hold back for even a moment if push came to shove.

Irven grimaced at the mention of his own name, frowning at the two as they readied their weapons while he made no signs of hostility. Why is it that every time one of the bad guys mentions my name, everyone jumps the gun and gets ready for a fight? I mean, sure most of the time I charge in head first, but this time I explicitly told them that I just wanted to talk! He sighed, "I literally just told you I wanted to talk to you guys. Since when did that become code for, 'I wish to kick your butt, let's fight!'?" Blake and Adam made no moves to relax their stances. Irven sighed again. "Look, I just wanted to tell you that I know why you're here, I beat it out of your buddies. I also wanted to tell you that your mission is all just a big fat wild goose chase. There's no such thing as your ' Prototype Aura Weapon', at least not here there isn't. And I should know, I've been looking all over these shipyards for any hint of that thing's existence for the past half hour!"

The duo staggered in surprise and confusion at Irven's words. The Aura Weapon didn't exist!? That's couldn't have been possible, they're information was spot on; the White Fang had been monitoring the place for weeks! "That can't be true!" exclaimed Blake, "We've seen Schnee scientists coming in and out of this place for weeks!"

"Exactly," Adam added, "and I bet that you're just trying to lead us astray. If you're so sure that there's no weapon in there, then let us look for ourselves." Adam began to make his way towards the doors of the warehouse when Irven stepped out and into his way.

"I can't let you do that," he said quietly, eyes set in cold determination. "Seeing as how nobody's been seriously hurt, I'm giving you the chance to walk away right now. You can take your comrades and go." When Adam made no signs of stopping, Irven spoke again with an almost pleading tone. "I understand your plight, I really do, but I can't let you in there! What's in that building has nothing to do with the faunus, I swear!" Irven sighed as Adam continued to walk forward and he took up a high kickboxing stance, with his forward knee bent leaving the ball of his foot resting against the ground, "I will fight you if I have to."

This caused Adam to stop and stare at Irven. "I was hoping you'd say that," he smirked as he also took up his fighting stance, his finger on the trigger of his sheath, Blush, ready to fire Wilt out at any moment. "Killing you would show the world just how dangerous the White Fang really is."

Blake just stood there, unsure of what to do. Irven had given them the chance to leave with their missing comrades and cut their losses. They would be able to go home, label the mission as a false lead, and be on their way with no one getting hurt. But what in Remnant is in that warehouse? What is he so adamant about hiding from us? What could be so important, that he, someone who was willing to let us go just seconds before, would fight us just to keep us away? Blake had to know, and so she drew Gambol Shroud from her back and split it into its katana and cleaver combo.

All three waited there, staring at one another for what seemed like hours, as snow slowly drifted to the ground around them. Each combatant knowing that the moment any of them made a move, none of them would be able to walk away.

As if it were rehearsed, Adam and Blake dashed forward at Irven and attacked him on both sides. Adam went high as Blake went low, and the two attacked with their weapons at the same time. Irven quickly rolled backwards into a back handspring to dodge the two attacks, unaware of the third coming down from above. As Blake's clone that had charged in with Adam disappeared, Irven realized his mistake. He looked upwards as the real Blake descended from above, her cleaver and katana held high as she brought them down for an overhead attack. Pivoting on his right foot backwards, he sidestepped the attack and brought his left knee upwards to stomach, lifting her slightly into the air by the sheer speed of the attack. He then quickly spun around her, capitalizing on her stunned state and drove his elbow into her spine, sending her flying into the large metal doors of the warehouse leaving her crumpled form on the ground in front of it. Adam, with Wilt resheathed, charged forward again and pulled the trigger of Blush, causing his blade to launch out in a blindingly fast cut that was too fast for Irven to dodge. While he wasn't fast enough to dodge the blow, Irven was, however, able to bring his right arm up, causing the blade to stop against the metal plate on his forearm. "Not bad," Adam grunted as he jumped back and away from Irven's left roundhouse kick, "but I guess I shouldn't expect so little from such a renowned fighter." Irven decided to use this time to take the offensive as he charged forward, throwing out a right jab, that Adam dodged, and followed it up with a left hook, causing Adam to duck underneath it, leaving him exposed to Irven's right knee that came at his face. Adam reacted quickly and brought up Wilt and Blush in front of him to block the attack, the force of which caused him to skid back a few feet after it connected.

"I guess I shouldn't have expected any less either, Mad Bull." Irven charged in again as the two met in a mutual melee, trading blows with one another. Neither gained nor lost ground as they fought. Where Irven would throw out a cross, Adam would parry it with Blush and riposte with Wilt, a technique that Irven would reciprocate as he would glance the blade off the back of his hand and throw forward his opposite elbow, causing Adam to step back. Adam would then re sheathe his sword and draw it again in a powerful attack that would cause Irven to step back, giving Adam back his lost footing. Their fight continued back and forth like this as Blake slowly got up from her crumpled state in front of the small dent she made in the warehouse's massive door. Shaking away the stars in her vision and allowing her aura to heal the aching in her back, she shifted Gambol Shroud into its pistol form and threw it forward, firing the gun to give a boost in velocity. Irven and Adam broke from their deadlock just in time for Gambol Shroud to pass between them. Blake pulled hard on the ribbon attached to the trigger of her gun, using the recoil to force it to change direction and attack Irven, who quickly ducked underneath it. Blake continued her midrange onslaught as she swung Gambol Shroud on its ribbon and threw it out at Irven again and again, forcing him to dodge her attacks. Adam joined in from a distance as he fired repeated shots at Irven from Blush, putting more pressure on the golden-eyed youth.

Eventually, Irven's defense was penetrated as a bullet from Adam grazed along his calf, causing him to stumble and get his right arm tied up in the ribbon of Gambol Shroud. "I've had enough!" Irven bellowed as a golden orange aura flared up around him. Pulling hard with his right arm, Irven pulled Blake over to him and swung her around and into Adam as he continued to swing both of them into and through the large door of the warehouse.

Picking themselves up, they looked around the large room. It was much warmer in there as they were no longer out in the snow, and it was pitch black in there, save for the eerie green glow coming from a large glass tank in the middle of the room. While the tank itself was relatively uninteresting, what was inside of it really drew the eye. Inside the tank, suspended in the green liquid and hooked up to various cables that came from the top and the bottom of the tank, was a girl. She looked to be unconscious as she floated there. She had to be no older than Blake, with pale, freckled skin and short, orange hair that flowed freely in the liquid. She wore a medical gown, with the opening in the back being where all the cables and cords were hooked up into. Blake walked up to the tank that the girl was in and put her hand up against the glass. "Who, or what, is sh—"

"Don't touch her!" Blake and Adam whipped around to see Irven standing at the entrance that they had created when he threw both of them into the door. His hood had fallen and his hair was shadowing his eyes. "I told you to leave," he said with quiet fury as he visibly shook, "I told you to stay away damn it!" Blake and Adam took up their fighting stances again as Irven's aura swirled around him in a violent tornado of energy and snow, yet he made no move to do so too as ethereal golden chains the same color as his aura appeared around his arms, legs, torso, and head; each individually wrapped and shining with the same intensity as his aura. "I won't let you hurt her," he said as he took hold of the chains around his right arm, "I will protect her!"

As he said that, Irven pulled on the chains, causing them to shatter around his right arm, freeing it from its ghostly bindings. The last thing Blake remembered from that night was a blinding light that enveloped the entire inside of the building, and an immense pain flooding throughout her body before she blacked out. The closest thing she can remember to after that was waking up in the infirmary of the White Fang base in Clymene, only miles away from the shipyards where they fought.

"Hey Blakey, you still in there?" Yang said as she rapped her knuckles on Blake's forehead, knocking her out of her memories. She looked around to see her team and team JNPR looking worriedly at her.

"Yeah, I'm fine," she replied whilst shaking her head free of that night, "what's up? You all look so worried. Did someone die when I wasn't looking or something?"

"Not exactly," Weiss said slowly, "it's just that we kind of lost you there for a bit. I mean the least you can do is acknowledge when somebody's talking to you!" Blake apologized sheepishly as Weiss rolled her eyes at her teammate's antics. "Whatever."

Jaune cleared his throat to get everyone's attention. "Aaaanyway," he drawled, "we're all here now, so let's go finally see what Professor Ozpin wants to talk about." Everyone nodded in agreement and stepped filed into the room to see Ozpin sitting at his desk with his elbows resting on the smooth surface and his fingers folded in front of his face. To the side of the room stood three individuals, two of which were wearing Atlesian Hunter Academy uniforms with the third wearing a black cloak that obscured her face and most of her small frame. One of the people who were standing was guy that was slightly taller than average, but with more of a slim build. He had light skin and black hair that was slicked back like Irven's, but was parted on one side. His eyes were black, making it seem as though he had large irises. The other person was a girl that was around Yang's height with an average build. She had long, pale purple hair that was tied into twintails that hung down to her waist and her eyes were the same color as her hair. Sitting in a chair in front of Ozpin's desk, turning around to see who the new arrivals were, was Irven Ironwood in his uniform and his hair slicked back. His expression, which was earlier cold and hard, was now warm and friendly.

"It's good to see you've finally arrived," Ozpin said as he stood up from his chair and walked towards the newcomers. "Team LPIS," he said as he gestured to Jaune, Nora, Pyrrha, and Ren, "meet team JNPR led by Jaune Arc."

"Hello," Jaune said awkwardly, still confused about why people were so excited to see these guys at the assembly. Irven walked forward to shake Jaune's hand.

"Pleasure to meet you," he said as he released his hand and turned his attention to Pyrrha, "Also, I hope you've been practicing, Pyrrha, as I have no intention of losing to you this time around." Pyrrha only smirked in reply to his challenge.

Ozpin continued on with the introductions. "And this," he said as he motioned his cane towards Ruby's team, "is team RWBY, led by—"

"Ruby!" exclaimed an oddly familiar voice. The cloaked girl dashed over to Ruby and brought her into a bonecrushing hug, which was also familiar, albeit in a quite painful way. "Oh, it's so good to see you again my friend!"

Wait a minute, thought Ruby as she tried to put the pieces together before her lungs ran out of air. "Penny?" she choked out, before the cloaked person let go of Ruby in order to remove her disguise. Penny looked the same as always, with her curled, orange hair and her vibrant green eyes. Unlike the other Atlas students, Penny wore her casual clothing, the only difference being that her overalls were the same dull gray as the vests of the Atlesian uniforms.

"Sorry about the disguise," she said apologetically, "but Irven said that it would be fun if I surprised you." The other two members of LPIS looked over at Irven with deadpan expressions as he looked in any direction but theirs and tried to whistle innocently. Jaune, Yang, and Nora tried to stifle their laughter to varying degrees of success, with Jaune and Yang quietly snickering to themselves and Nora outright laughing. Ren, Pyrrha, and Weiss all shook their heads disapprovingly at the foolishness of their teammates. Blake cautiously examined Irven, wondering if this was really the same burning-eyed person that she fought in Clymene a year ago.

Ruby was, admittedly, confused. But in her defense, today was really laying it on thick with the curveballs. Wait a minute, again, Ruby thought as she tried, once again, to put the pieces together. Penny and Irven are teammates, and Irven told Penny to surprise me by hiding her identity, which means that Irven knew about who I was before we met, which means I now feel really bad for not recognizing him at first! Ruby groaned audibly and sagged her shoulders as another wave of guilt hit her.

Today was seriously not her day!

AN: So, for anyone wondering where the names of the cities came from and why I chose them, the names Lapetus and Clymene are the names of Atlas's parents in mythology. Seeing as how the names were connected to his mythology, I thought they would fit well as cities. Also, for what Irven called Blake and Adam, I thought about how there wouldn't be any record of their identities, so I gave them codenames that would fit with their descriptions (kind of like how Vash the Stampede was sometimes called "The Humanoid Typhoon" in Trigun), thus the names "Mad Bull" because I'm pretty sure Adam is a bull faunus, and "Black Cat" because Blake's a... well... You get the picture!

As always, Reviews are greatly appreciated. Whether it be criticism or advice, I'll take whatever you can give!