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Chapter 3: You're here/You're missing.

All the pieces are on the table and the players have been gathered, the game is about to start.

Everyone looked at the holograms as they showed information about different people associated with the White Fang and the increase of their numbers based on the information gathered from various attacks. But something was odd, the Faunus of the pictures appear to be regular people, none have the characteristic uniform or mask, which could only mean one thing:

"The White Fang is recruiting new members and they're stealing the equipment needed to create an army" Clarified Winter, deadly serious about it. "For the first months they looked for pistols, then various types of the heavy armory. The police and some huntsmen were able to capture most of them but their numbers have increased to the point that we had to start being selective about which places to save, meaning most of their small attacks started being successful. And things changed a few weeks ago: they stopped, at least for a while, and then came back as trained soldiers with the characteristic uniforms and masks, not only showing how serious they are but also making it harder for police investigators to identify and arrest them"

This was too familiar, they were using some of the tactics of Roman Torchwick probably because they proved to be effective. They knew everything had remained under control so far but it was easy to see how fragile the current situation was. Everybody remained silent as the pictures changed, this time showing the map of Mistral, highlighting the train tracks, airports and the routes of the principal ground transportation.

"The attacks have increased here, here and here" she said that pointing to three different locations, one for each type of transportation, "The police is running out of Dust and to make things worse, the political tension with Atlas is complicating things with the Schnee Company, so until the situation improves the last cargoes from Atlas will be delivered tomorrow to the port, from there it'll transport in train to the city and distributed to all of Mistral via air and ground. We expect the White Fang to move most if not all of their forces to obtain this cargo" Everyone held their breath, overwhelmed by the responsibility she was putting on them.

"Eh… you know we're just 6 hunters in training and 2 professional huntsmen… How are we going to stop them?" Inquired Jaune, concern, and defeat in his voice.

"Qrow and I won't be able to join you" She answered, "but worry not, because you won't be the only huntsmen there and I'm taking care of the planning"

"Remind me again, who put you in charge of something this important?" Asked Qrow as he took a sip of his drink. He got everyone's attention and some concern, this wasn't the time to distrust each another.

"The chief of the police department and Ironwood allowed me to assist with the logistic only since I already have a mission which requires my presence here"

"So, did the chief asked you because you were the best option or because you were the last one?" The only response he received was an assertive look from the Ice queen. Was trying to get on her nerves some kind of new tradition for him? She couldn't tell, but she had promised herself not to fall for his provocations again. "Could it be that he was just desperate enough?" He asked.

"For once… could you sit and listen before doing any judgments?"

…

If there's something the cat faunus knew too well is that getting information about the White Fang isn't hard when you look like a formidable warrior, she didn't have to try anything at all since one of their men saw her entering a small dust store and followed her to recruit her directly. The information she obtained from him directed her to a warehouse that didn't appear to be currently in use but was not abandon or in ruins either. They really are desperate to gather as many recruits as they can if they're willing to have this kind of reunions at daylight, a risky move indeed.

A mask would protect her identity and her skills would get her out of trouble if it came to it, and as simple as it seemed, it was a matter of entering the building where the secret reunion was programmed and wait for the host to reveal all the information. This makes her suspicious of the current situation… to make it this easy for someone to sneak in… it could mean that they know the police is aware of their plans and are desperate for numbers, or they believe they're strong enough to not care about the resistant they may encounter.

The host entered the room and everyone remained silent. Blake froze as if she had seen a ghost and tried to step back even further back the crowd. This person…

…

Qrow was the first one to leave the room, staying a while longer in silent and listening to the Schnee would have made him sick. In the meantime the young huntsmen and huntresses were going over the plan mentally, making sure they understood what needed to be done, to remember the order of each step and looking for any kind of flaws that could make it even crazier. Winter sat and reminded quiet, she understood their position perfectly, and for so, she stayed with them in case they have any questions or needed some motivation.

After a minute of pure silence, Winter decided that something had to be said for them to have faith and confidence in the success of this mission when the only thing that could be found in their faces was uncertainty. She stranded up and cleared her throat to say with conviction:

"I don't know what brought you here, and each may have a different reason, but whether that reason was to save people, to fight for what's right or because you're tired of the things as they are and you want to change that. There's one thing we all have in common: we are huntsmen and huntresses, the embodiment of hope for everyone, we hold the defenses so that no one gets hurt or is lost, and we fight for them so that the families can have peace to raise their children. We're everything that's standing between the people we protect and everything that causes destruction. And you are the survivors of Beacon, the heroes Mistral is looking up to, you're the ones that can and will make the difference here, make it clear to our enemies: They won't win here, they had one victory, but they won't get another, because from now on it will be your victories. So look whiting yourselves and find the courage and the confidence you need, polish your weapons and sharpen your minds, because tomorrow we go out there to win this decisive battle"

Her words reached them, they inspired ones more than others, but nonetheless, it helped a lot to simplify things: if they don't win here Mistral might be lost because of all of the equipment and Dust the White Fang would have. It was the truth, as flat as it could get.

Ruby's stomach roared, completely destroying the serious atmosphere. "Sorry, I still haven't eaten anything for lunch" she didn't notice but in a way, everybody got a sense of relief with this change of air.

"Me neither," said Weiss, causing the red-hooded to turn around, and for a moment it seemed as if she was about to ask something, but before she could formulate further she got interrupted by the same girl she was talking to.

"Do you wanna go to the cafeteria?" As she asked this, Jaune and Ren were about to get out of the room, but they stopped as a determine Nora stood up and walked to where the blonde was sitting, they both stared at each other for a moment and then secretly agreed to see what would happen.

"Sure" responded the white-haired and Ruby smiled at her while leading the way to what they hope would be a delicious lunch.

Nora stood in front of Yang, forcing her attention onto her, "Are you ready?" asked the girl who was preparing the grenade launcher.

"I'm always ready"

…

The girl was happy, she knew how everything could be covered in a hellish fire tomorrow but… there was nothing she could do but to feel happy for having her friends back in her life, and the red-hooded girl by her side was probably feeling the same. There was something about her, it could be her smile, her cheerful voice, her optimistic words or simply her presence, but there was something about this girl that would always make her feel at ease even in times like this. Her pride won't ever let her say this but she had missed the childish, optimistic leader… and dearest friend.

"Somehow this is like being in Beacon again" she let out, walking the corridors to the cafeteria was simply too familiar to ignore, not only that, but she was also being accompanied by Ruby, which intensified the feeling of nostalgia for those good days at Beacon.

"So you were thinking the same?" She didn't really expect an answer, "don't worry Weiss, we'll make sure nobody loses Heaven" her words of reassurance weren't needed, the girl of blue eyes was not thinking about tomorrow at all, rather, the girl was lost in the past.

"I'm confident about it, we have most of the teams JNPR and RWBY after all, and Winter has been planning this for who knows how long, and there won't be any surprise Grimm attack this time, there's no way we're losing this"

The red-hooded couldn't hear all of her statement, for the girl had to stop listening after hearing her teams name "Wait, you'll be part of my team again? Really? Aren't you just following your sister's plans?" Cautious joy in her voice.

"Well, of course, you dolt. Here and now there're only two options, and I'd choose you over Jaune any day" she assure without giving it a second thought, from her experience the silver-eyes girl had proven to be a better leader and warrior than most, and it didn't make sense to change teams at this point, seriously, which other team could she probably be part of? Why was Ruby asking this questions?

Ruby couldn't help but giggle, it's true Weiss had chosen her over Jaune before, even considering that they didn't get along too well, and it was flattering to know that she still wouldn't change teams any time soon. She placed a hand on her shoulder to say "welcome back, Weiss" and then smile at her. The thought of Weiss looking for a new team could finally fade away.

"Th-there's no other team I rather be part of"

"Aww, Weiss, and there's no other leader you rather follow?"

"That's up for discussion"

"Ow…" she knew that was the type of answer she could expect from the white-haired but yet she was hoping to hear something else. Realizing that wishful thinking made her smile, knowing her friend, how could she expect something else?

"What is it?" Curiosity in those blue eyes, there was something about that smile, as if it was produced by a feeling of endearment.

"Oh, nothing. I'm just happy that you're here" not the reason why she smiled but not a lie neither. "Being part of team RNJR was awesome but I missed my team. I must be really lucky to find you and Yang the same day, if Blake were here this could be the best day ever"

Weiss nodded a bit then looked down for a second, "Do you know what happened to her?" She's got that question circling in her head from time to time, her father took her to Atlas so quickly she badly had time to say goodbye.

"None of us know" she sighed, "I just hope she's ok" then looked down, "Do you think something happened to-?"

"Ruby, stop, I'm sure she's fine… maybe she went after the White Fang and that's why she hadn't been able to contact you" That's the best possible explanation she could come up with.

"But it's been months" and finally all the concern she had held could be shared with someone.

"I know, but she's smart… let us hope she's doing well" there were no more words of comfort she could think of, and that's where the conversation ended for a few minutes, as they continued to silently walk through the gardens to the building that is the cafeteria.

"So… why hide your scar?" Curiosity couldn't wait any longer.

Weiss looked around to assure no one was close enough to hear her "I… I had to escape from home" she sighed, "my father took away my heiress status and also wanted to command my future, starting by keeping me as a prisoner until I cooperate" this burden… for once in her life she had nothing and taking everything back won't be easy.

Ruby was so shocked she stopped walking just to mentally check if she heard right. "What?!" Goodbye to the 'good father' impressions of mister Schnee, she wished she could slap him right now, nothing made sense to her and the picture of a carrying father was being replaced by a picture of a dictator… then she realized that's how everyone talks about him, but up to today, she thought that was only in the business matter. The red-hooded was so overwhelmed by the questions in her head that she didn't realize all the attention she directed to the both of them.

"Ruby, keep it low," she asked softly, so quietly it was almost a whisper.

"Ops, sorry. But why would he do such a thing?"

"I think is best if we discuss this privately" She decided just before Ruby's stomach roared, "… after lunch" then her stomach roared and Ruby couldn't hold the laugh.

…

The black cat made it to the end of the speech without being discovered. She was terrified of the mass scale of their plans, this was going to be a complete wipeout if accomplished. The person who gave the speech left the stage to lead the new recruits to the ground transportation that was already waiting for them. Blake spotted two guards closing the only other door, if she didn't make it out in time she would be trap in this madness, so while she moved through the crowd as discrete as possible one of the guards notice her, and for seeing this odd behavior he decides to approach her to know what was going on.

"You, stop right there, where are you going?" Blake's heart froze the instant she realized this question was for her.

"Are you feeling ok?" She asked back, this only confused the guard, who tired of playing games placed a hand on Blake's shoulder just to see her figure fade like a shadow, this combined with the question she asked to lead him into thinking he was seeing things.

Unfortunately, this little incident stole the time she had to get away, now the door was closed and she had no option but to follow the rest to the trucks. But for the little luck she had left, the lieutenant was nowhere to be found. The one thing she had to figure out was how to stop them with just a group of huntsmen who never graduated. This operation was way bigger than she originally expected.

…

"It's hammer time!" Exclaimed an enthusiastic Nora.

The group has found a place with what seemed like a sparring area… in the middle of a garden… with benches and decorations… perfect for the occasion. They had agreed on determining the winner with one hit since an actual fight would cause a lot of destruction, so the rules were simple: if Yang can stop the hammer she wins, if not then Nora wins. To avoid destroying the new arm, Nora won't be hitting with her full power at once, but rather she'll star with half her force, then 70% and finally the last hit will be the one that matters, so, she'll go with everything she's got.

The two of the huntresses went to opposite sides and stretched. Naturally, Ren and Jaune were giving advice to Nora, while Yang used the time to clear her head, she was confident but everything Winter said about the White Fang was distracting her.

"Ready when you are" she assured to the other team. Both Jaune and Ren moved aside to take cover behind a stone bench.

"Here I go!" said Nora as she started running towards her target and then shot the ground to jump as high as possible. She was not going to hold back.

Yang smirked, she had expected this from Nora. The orange-haired girl probably thought that hitting her with less than her full force was a terrible idea considering the blondie's semblance. "Not carrying for safety eh? Then I won't hold back either"

Nora shot various bullets at the sky while spinning to take an incredible acceleration down to the girl who seems to enjoy this, unlike their friends who were freaking out behind the bench that suddenly didn't seem protective at all. Yang focused on Nora, recalling what her father said about her semblance being driven by her temper, the only thing she had to do was to get angry, even if she hadn't received a shot yet, sometimes she could pull out more energy she had in herself, like in the emerald forest, an ursa cutting her hair was enough, and in this case, to imagine someone cutting her hair was more than enough. Yang went super saiyan and looked up to Nora, but for less than a second she saw Adam instead of her friend, the thought almost made her step back, but she quickly forced herself to focus in reality. By then, she had no time to do anything other than to receive Nora's blasting hit with her right arm.

The immense power created a hole in the ground, and due to the force of the wind produced by the collision of forces an incredible cloud of dust blinded everyone. The last thing they saw was a great explosion of fire and a pink.

Everyone coughed until the dust dissipated. Revealing not only a damaged garden but also a smiling Yang holding a hammer and an impressed Nora sat on the ground. "Told ya," Said the winner, "It seems Ironwood used good materials, it doesn't even have a scratch!"

"Students!"

Of course, a teacher would see an explosion like that. Needless to say: they were in trouble. At least, that's what they thought, but the teacher simply made everything grow again and then left, maybe he was already used to students destroying the gardens for the sake of fighting. Jaune and Ren came out of the bench to celebrate the winner.

"We should probably find a real sparring arena" suggested Jaune after a short conversation, "tomorrow won't be like anything we encounter on the way here"

"A wise recommendation indeed," said Ren.

"I couldn't agree more," said Yang, "I haven't had a real fight since Beacon. You go on ahead, I'll bring Ruby and Weiss"

"Sure," said Nora, "but you could just call them"

"Nah, I'll go for them," she said as she went back to the cafeteria. In reality, all Yang wanted right now was some time to think and thanks to Jaune she had the chance to do so. The image of Adam she saw earlier meant she's not ready for the mission if they're going to fight the White Fang, her friends will need her, but if she freezes in the battlefield a lot of things are guaranteed to go wrong, especially for her. To be completely honest, she hoped their first mission was something like clearing an area of Grimm or help a village by taking down a big Grimm, but fighting the White Fang was exactly the last thing she wanted to deal with.

The thought of Blake came to her mind and she tried to move it away. Everything was going well, she felt like she was really recovering from this, but learning to deal with something doesn't mean you're ready to face it, or that's what it seems. What if Blake was with them? No, impossible. What if she was fighting them? That's probable, then, does it mean they're going to find each other eventually? Possible but unlikely. The fact that she hadn't tried to communicate felt like a dagger in the back because it meant that after everything they had been through Blake simply doesn't care about them. What if she never left the White Fang and was working undercover to provide them with information about Beacon? Could it be? Could everything have been just a lie? Who is Blake? Were they actual friends?

The questions in her mind were torture, but just one matters: "Why… why did she leave?!" She had to try even harder not to think about it.

…

It was past lunchtime, so no one was in the cafeteria, with the exception of two girls who had eaten already and now were having a simple conversation. Ruby wanted to ask several questions but she wasn't sure if this was the right time or place, especially since anyone could just walk in and-

Yang almost kicked the door open and looked at Weiss "Teach me how to beat a swordsman"

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