Note: I have the first four chapter already typed up so you'll get them in quick installments, basically today, Friday and Saturday. After that as long as work allows I should be posting weekly/biweekly on either Wednesday or Thursday depending on when I finish typing. Anyhow, enjoy.

Dorin Jax, a former huntsman with the Atlesean military and current manager of one of the largest dust mines owned by SDC was surrounded by chaos. He had been enjoying the warm weather, something that was in short supply in Atlas, when the first explosion had gone off. From there everything had descended into madness. People were trampling each other trying to run from the unknown and unseen attackers, having no idea if the direction they were running in was safe or not. Dorin himself had been attacked by a couple of masked men, reminding him of the White Fang he had encountered during the war.

He had found it strange they were wearing the masks the now disbanded group had worn back during the days of Adam Taurus. He had tried to convince himself it hadn't been them, Blake and her family had done all they could to ensure the disbanded terrorist group would remain out of power. Even so, Dorin had wanted to find out for sure but he had been given a mission. Blake and Yang were unreachable. With everything that was happening that was bad, very bad. He glanced over to the faunus next to him.

Sun Wukong had been in Vale attempting to visit the two members of team RWBY when the attack happened. According to him he had been waiting until the afternoon to surprise them, wanting some time to himself in the morning. Now, much like Dorin, he was stuck in the middle of the fray. They had run into each other while trying to help citizens evacuate from the area. Together they had decided to make their way further into town, hoping to run into a huntress or huntsman who could tell them what was going on.

"Dude, that was insane!" Sun's loud voice made Dorin wince. "Where are all these people coming from?"

"Keep it down," Dorin warned. "Do you want them to find us? Cause I sure as hell don't."

"No…" Sun lowered his voice as he continued to speak to his companion. "What did the Ice Queen want?"

"Blake and Yang aren't answering, Weiss wants me to find them," he said. "Communication towers keep going in and out but I doubt they're at home… knowing them they went into the city to see what was wrong."

"Maybe we should split up?"

Dorin thought about it. They would cover much more ground apart and both of them were capable of taking care of themselves. On the other hand if they separated there was no guarantee they would find each other again, even with their scrolls communication was spotty. Then again if Blake and Yang weren't with the kids they should to separate anyway one of them to find the second half of team RWBY and one of them to get the kids. It made sense to him that one of them should go to the house while the other went into town for the Blake and Yang. It was logical but stupid.

"We split up, we'll have better luck finding them that way," Dorin agreed.

"I'll go into town, you take the house."

Dorin nodded, once again hoping that their scrolls would work when they needed them too and that they could contact one another when and if they found the girls and their kids. With their plan set they separated, running in opposite directions. Dorin was careful to take the back streets the entire way, not wanting to run into more White Fang look-alikes. If he showed up covered in blood to the house and only the kids were there things would get bad.

He had spent a fair amount of time at the Belladonna Xiao-Long residence, with Yang being his mechanic and Blake being his contact for faunus related issues. So finding their home wasn't difficult.. He had known them for years, going as far back as the war. When he had first met them it had been in Atlas before the fall and before team RWBY had disappeared into the Ever After. When they returned things had been dire and the team had been different, but with them back everyone had rallied. They had managed to save the world. Since the end of the war Dorin had relied greatly on them for support. He had been there for their wedding and had been around for their kids. To them he was family and considered the girl's uncle. After all that he had lost he couldn't have hoped for more.

Dorin, luckily, didn't run into any opposition on his way to the house. The attacks hadn't made it this far out of the city, much to his relief. Still he needed to know if Yang and Blake had run with the kids or had left them for some reason. The lights were on, but he saw no movement, which meant nothing. If the girls had left the kids they would have given them strict instructions to stay hidden. He tried the front door, unsurprisingly finding it locked. He cursed, stepping back from the door. Slowly he started to make his way around the building, trying multiple windows and the backdoor but wielding no results. Resolved to the fact that no one might be home he made one last attempt on the front door, banging on it as hard as he could, causing the door to shake against the frame.

"Blake, Yang it's Dorin open up!"

He got no response. Which on one hand was concerning to him but on the other it could have also meant that no one was there or they were hiding. They could have already gotten out of town and just hadn't had the chance to contact anyone yet. Still he kept trying in case the kids were there and their parents weren't.

"Kids! It's uncle Dorin! Are you in there?"

Still nothing. Why would they take the kids with them? They had to have known the situation was bad. If they had left without the kids it would have been for a good reason, perhaps to clear a path? Or they knew that the girls were in immediate danger and wanted to ensure they would be safe. Cursing to himself he backed up, lifting his foot and kicked in the door. Blake and Yang could be angry later, and he could fix it later, for now he was mostly concerned about finding the family.

"Rey! Sky!"

He rushed into the house, taking stock of his surroundings. He found a plate of untouched food on the counter. The attacks must have interrupted their breakfast. Aside from that there were no signs of the family or that there had been a struggle. All signs pointed to the family evacuated but that did little to ease his anxoety. Falling back on his training as a huntsman went room to room looking for them, terrified he would find them hurt or worse. His heart was pounding out of his chest and with each passing second he got more worried.

"Kids!"

He threw open the last door the one that lead to the master bedroom and came face to face with his two nieces, both cowering in the doorway to the bathroom. Rey had pushed her sister behind her, doing her best to shield her from him. It took a second but they eventually recognized it was their uncle and he wasn't there to hurt them. They ran to him, jumping into his arms as he collapsed to his knees just happy to see they were okay.

"Thank the Gods you're okay," he hugged both of them tightly. "Are you hurt?"

He looked them over, checking them for any cuts or bruises. It took him a moment but once he was satisfied that they were both uninjured he stood up and glanced around. There was a box on the bed that Dorin recognized as a weapon case. He realized that Blake and Yang must have left them here to ensure a safe passage out, which meant Sun was more likely to find them. Regardless he needed to get them to safety and hope that Sun contacted him soon. He knew Weiss had likely sent an airship to pick them up and that it would be smart to head in the direction of the airfields. His plan made up in his mind he picked up Sky hoping Rey would be alright walking since he couldn't carry both of them.

"Where are we going Uncle Dorin?" Rey asked, taking his hand. "Mom told us to stay here."

"We're going to them," he said, realizing he should try calling Sun before he took the kids towards the airfields.

He paused long enough to pull out his scroll and dial the monkey faunus. He bounced on his heels, knowing the two girls could tell he was anxious. The line kept ringing and ringing with no answer, leaving Dorin more anxious then he had been. He shoved his scroll back in his pocket, taking the hand of his niece again.

"Stay close to me kiddo."

"I'm scared," she gripped his hand, tightening almost painfully for such a small girl.

"I know, I've got you two, nothing is going to happen to you, I promise."

He wouldn't fail them like he had Belko. The loss of his fiance during the war had weighed heavily on him for years, driving him forward and sometimes dragging him down. It wasn't just Belko that pushed him forward, he would much rather fail the man he had loved ove and over then face the wrath of Blake and Yang if something happened to their girls. Determined not to fail his friends he set off with the two girls, ready to defend them with his life.

XXXXX

Sun almost wished he had sent Dorin to find Blake and Yang and he had gone to the house. He was getting bombarded left and right from enemies. Up until he had started into the city looking for his two friends he hadn't seen a single soul that wasn't running away from the explosions. Dorin had definitely gotten the easier of the teo jobs,, at least the house didn't move. Blake and Yang liked to literally throw each other when they were in combat. It wasn't easy to track them down. Coming around the corner he tripped over his own feet, nearly falling into the middle of the street. He was supposed to be on vacation, not working. Even if it was Blake and Yang, who he cared about whole heartedly, it wasn't what he was expecting when he came to Vale.

"Sun? What the hell are you doing here?"

He glanced up, half expecting to see Dorin standing over him. Only it wasn't, it was Yang. To say that she looked annoyed was putting it very, very mildly. Her semblance was active, her hair on fire and eyes a piercing red with an ember tint. She had been fighting, he could tell by the way her jacket set on her shoulders, and how her hair hung in her face. He smiled, glad that he had found them relatively by accident.

"Looking for you!" he said, jumping up to hug her.

He was immediately shoved back. Yang had never been one to show affection to anyone but her wife, sister and Weiss. Sun was not the exception but he was so happy to see her he didn't care. He caught sight of Blake, running up to her wife, looking just as disheveled as Yang, but less out of breath. He jumped, immediately latching on to the other faunus, happy to see his friend of many years looking uninjured.

"Sun, get off me, please."

"Right, sorry," he said, letting her go. "I honestly thought I wasn't going to find you. Dorin and I split up because we thought it would make it easier. Divide and conquer y'know?"

"Wait Dorin is here?" Yang stopped him, glancing at her wife. "Where is he?"

"Well…he went towards your house looking for you, but if you're here then I guess he's getting your kids."

He saw the silent exchange in how the two looked at one another. There was fear in their eyes, something he didn't entirely understand. He didn't have kids, he didn't know how the two of them felt. Their whole world was their girls, they had fought so hard to be happy and suddenly that was all being torn away from them. He hated seeing the two of them so unsure of themselves, as both huntresses and as parents.

He had been there for Blake after the Fall of Beacon, when she had run back to Menagerie to protect Yang. They had always been willing to give up everything for one another, even when they hadn't liked each other all that much. He had been surprised when they had told him they were together he had seen how they looked at one another but he was still suprise. It had been years later when Blake had explained to them exactly how their relationship had changed in the Ever After and when exactly they had confronted their feelings for one another. Sun had seen them at the beginning, had seen how they tiptoed around each other's feelings until it was too late. He wished he didn't have to see them hurting again.

"Where is he going? We were trying to clear a path to the airfield but there's dozens of them," Yang said. "Do you know who they are? What they want?"

"No more than you," he said, "I'm sorry I really wish I had more for you. You can try calling him on my scroll, it was working earlier."

Sun pulled out his scroll, handing it to Yang. She took it, quickly trying Dorin, only to be met with an error, that no connection was available. Blake had to grab her wife's arm to keep her from smashing the scroll. They had been dealing with the outage since the morning. It seemed like it was purposeful. Allowing some communication through, but not all of it, whoever was attacking Vale was coordinated, had planned whatever was happening.

"Regardless, we need to find them," Blake said. "I don't like the idea of Dorin running around trying to find us with the girls in tow."

"Why not? If anyone can keep them safe it's him."

Yang's eyes were still burning red. She was angry, at what Sun wasn't too sure, it could have been at the situation or the fact that Dorin was bringing the kids towards danger. The later Sun wasn't too sure about, he doubted Dorin would put the kids at risk. He knew that neither of them would ever do that knowingly, if they did Yang and Blake would bury them without a second thought.

"We shouldn't have left them," she said, her voice growing dangerously low. "We should have just taken our chances."

"Yang so far our chances have been awful, we've been attacked four times and the last time they nearly killed both of us."

"Fine, fine." Yang shook her head, thinking. "They're headed to the airfield right?"

"As far as I know," Sun said, he hadn't explicitly heard it from Dorin but it made sense that that's what the ex-huntsman would do.

"We just came from there," Blake said, running her hand down Yang's back, trying to calm the brute down. "There's men all over the area, if that's where we're supposed to go we need to stop them before they get there, and hopefully contact Weiss, have her pick us up elsewhere."

"Right, Blake's right," Yang said, her eyes fading back to their natural lilac. "If we cut them off, we can head to the outskirts of Vale, it should be safe for a pick up there."

Yang beckoned Sun to take the lead, he knew which way Dorin had originally gone, he would be the best to lead them back. There were a couple routes Dorin could take from the house to get to the airfields. Yang figured the most logical for him to take would be the back alley's, they were out of the way of the main roads and for the most part safe. She hoped that Dorin would at least be smart when it came to protecting her kids.

Sun had already gone ahead of them and was waving them on. Like them he didn't want to waste any time. They grouped together, allowing Sun to lead with Blake and Yang covering his flank. It had been years since the four of them had worked together as a team, but they all found it easy to fall back into. Slowly they made their way back towards the edge of down, detouring towards the airfield, with the intention of cutting across a few streets up.

"It's quiet," Sun said. "Maybe they left?"

Blake slapped her hand against her forehead. The second those words had left Sun's mouth her ears had picked up movement above them. She knew they would have ambushed them regardless of Sun jinxing them but Blake would much rather blame him then admit she missed hearing them. She glanced up as a shadow descended upon her. Her reflexes kicked in, she shoved Yang out of the way, jumping back as far as she could as the mask figure landed between them. One suddenly became six as his semblance was activated. Blake pulled Gambol Shroud from her back, unsheathing the weapon. Ember Celica had activated on Yang's wrists as the two rotated taking aim at three of the apparitions. Sun had separated his staff into his two gun-chucks focusing on the two apparitions in front of him.

"Reminds me of old times," he said. "I really like our odds."

Once again as he spoke the mask man's six apparitions became twelve, then eighteen. Yang couldn't hold back her groan as they multiplied again. She was really starting to wish that they had just taken their chances with their kids. Blake was even shaking her head, suddenly wondering if Sun hadn't gotten some of Qrow's bad luck.

"I take that back…I know longer like our odds."

"Sun no more talking."

"Yes ma'am."

Blake and Yang nodded at one another, they had done this hundreds of times during their days as huntresses. They were told their fighting styles didn't mesh, that they should try to switch things up. Instead they doubled down, made sure everyone knew there wasn't a better pairing than them. Yang jumped behind Blake, taking hold of the ribbon allowing Blake to pull it taut flinging Yang over her, straight into four of the waiting clones. All hell broke loose, Sun was swarmed, easily holding his own. Blake dodged out of the way as one of the clones swung one of his kukri's at her. She threw Gambol Shroud at him, the blade catching him on the shoulder. The clone shattered, but two more quickly took his place. Yang had landed in between the four clones, using Ember Celica to send a shockwave between the four clones. She grinned, punching one in the chest, sending it into another, shattering both.

"Yang!" Blake shouted, clearing out a few more clones. "Find the original!"

"Uh how there's like sixty of them!"

Sun barely managed to jump out of a group that had closed in on him. He stumbled on his landing, running into Blake nearly knocking her over. She put her hand on his back, stabilizing him. Blake and Yang had always remained in sync over the years, but her ability to fight with others hadn't. She and Sun would have to figure out how to fight together again. Yang was beaten back to them, her back to theirs, a small amount of blood dripping from her arm.

"We can't keep this up," she said panting. "We take one down, he just adds to more."

"That's it," Blake said. "Look for the one who's focusing on making more."

They fell into a rhythm, Blake and Yang seamlessly using one another to take down multiple enemies. Yang rolled over Blake's back, saving her from one of the clones, she grabbed Sun, throwing him into the mix, he took out a couple more clones using his staff to sweep them off their feet. That's when Yang saw him, hiding in the back with a dozen clone's between them. Before she could move the clones were on top of her, bearing down, too many for her to handle at once. Her semblance activated knocking a few off but not enough.

"Yang!"

She reached up just in time to catch Gambol Shroud, using the blade to take out the enemies around her. She heard Blake running, still holding on to the ribbon. Yang knew what to do, she pulled the line taut, exactly as Blake had done for her earlier, throwing the faunus over the rest of the clones. Blake's feet connected with the original's chest, kicking him back a few feet. Yang threw Gambol Shroud back to Blake, never missing a beat. The blade sliced across the man, breaking his aura. Just like that the clones shattered away, leaving the three of them panting but alone.

"Can we please, get out of here before more of them come investigating?" SUn clearly wasn't looking for a second fight, and neither was Blake or Yang.

"Yeah, come on," Yang said, nudging the unconscious man with her foot. "I really don't want to hang around."

"Right," Blake agreed. "We need to find Dorin and the girls. Hopefully he's had an easier time than we have."

XXXXX

Dorin tried not to drag Rey behind him as he retraced his steps back into town where he and Sun had separated. From there he would cross to the airfield and hopefully meet up with the others. The streets were mostly clear now, everyone having either hid or run away. Dorin found himself thanking the Gods there were no bodies and only some minor damages to buildings. He wasn't in a position to explain to the two kids what was happening.

Together they made their way into the city. He quickly found that they would be out in the open for an uncomfortably long time but he hoped his luck would stick with him. They had almost made it through the center of town without getting spotted when two masked figures stepped out of the shadows, blocking Dorin path. The big Atlesean huntsman pushed Rey behind him protectively. He flicked his wrist activating his weapon Kindred Spirit. The blade extended out almost a foot, it's razor sharp blade gleaming in the early morning sun. The two figures glanced at him, then turned their attention to the two faunus children with him. The faces, what little he could see, had been devoid of emotion until then. Their mouths pulled back into a snarl as they raised their weapons. Dorin slowly handed Sky over to her sister, never once letting his eyes leave the two men.

"Girls close your eyes and do not open them until I say."

Sky buried her face in her sister's shoulder as Rey took a couple of steps back. Dorin flicked his other wrist to activate his second blade, this one extending from his prosthetic arm. He kept himself calm not allowing himself to be overcome with emotions, his semblance would serve him no good in protecting the girls.

The first man took a step forward cracking a whip that suddenly was covered in razor sharp blades. Dorin admired the ingenuity although it was a dangerous weapon to use, the chances of hitting oneself was pretty high. The second man had a more traditional weapon, a dual bladed axe, with a barrel just under the blade that housed his dust.

"You're outnumbered, come quietly and we won't hurt them." the first man with the whip said.

Doring realized he was a faunus, his bushy tail barely visible behind him. That had some troubling implications that Dorin wasn't interested in thinking about at the moment.

"I'll pass," Dorin said. "I'm more afraid of their mothers than I am of you."

"So be it," the second man, with scaling on his arms and neck said.

They attacked together, the axe wielding man making it to Dorin first. He side swiped the axe man, jamming his elbow into the man's stomach and slamming him into the wall. He raised his prosthetic, readying for a killing blow when the second man's whip wrapped around his arm, yanking him away from the axeman. Whipman grinned, yanking his weapon tight, trying to tear away at Dorin's skin. His confidence turned into disbelief when he realized Dorin didn't even flinch.

Dorin took the opportunity and grasped the man's whip with his hand. Smirking he pulled the man closed, wrapping the bladed whip around his metal arm. With one last heave Dorin pulled him into Kindred Spirit, impaling the man. He activated the concussive shot sending the man's limp body sailing into a fountain. The axeman was back on his feet swinging his axe at Dorin's head before Dorin even knew what was happening. Dorin blocked the axe with his two blades inches away from his face. For a moment they were locked in a stalemate, neither budging under the pressure of the other. Making a split decision Dorin shoved up with his arms, pushing the axeman off balance. It was just enough time for Dorin to charge, one blade went through the man's chest, causing him to drop his axe. Dorin didn't stop with his other blade; he plunged it into the man's stomach, dropping the axe-wielding faunus to the ground.

He retracted the blades, barely able to breathe. He didn't understand what was happening, who these people were or what they wanted. Or why they had focused so much on the girls. There was something very, very wrong in Vale and once he reunited the girls with their moms he intended to figure out what it was.

"Uncle Dorin?"

He whipped his head around, his heart pounding out of his chest, expecting to see the young faunus looking at him standing over the body of the man he'd just killed. When he saw them with their eyes still closed he allowed himself to exhale in relief. They hadn't seen it. They hadn't seen what he had done.

"Keep your eyes closed. I'm right here."

He picked them both up, grunting with exertion. They weren't particularly heavy but the connection of his prosthetic was hurting. He carefully stepped over the bodies of the two dead faunus before breaking into a sprint. He needed to get the girls safe, call Sun and the others and hope they could get to the airfield before they were attacked again. He kept running, ignoring the buzzing in his pocket, even as the combined weight of the two girls started to slow him down. They held onto him so tightly it was almost painful. He rounded a corner-

-straight into Yang…

"Dorin!" her voice broke through his panic as she caught him and the girls.

"Thank the Gods," he shouted, feeling relief wash over him.

The girls squirmed free from him, anxious to get back to their parents. Yang caught Sky as the girl lept into her arms, Rey right behind her. Blake rushed to them, wrapping her arms around her wife and her two kids. Sun was with them, clearly out of breath. He must have told them Dorin had been sent to the house to grab the girls. Dorin was just happy they had all found each other.

"I hate to cut this reunion short, but we need to go."

"To where," Yang asked, "These people are everywhere, their airfield is under their control and we're trapped."

Dorin held up his scroll. All the buzzing had been from Weiss, sending him the coordinates to the airship she had sent. Yang glanced over the message, seeing that her former teammate had been trying to reach Dorin for a while. Her pilot had seen the situation was bad at the airfield and changed his position. His quick thinking had saved them the headache of formulating a new escape plan.

"We're on the right path," Blake said, taking Sky from Yang. "Two blocks to the north and we'll be safe. Let's move."

There was no argument from anyone. Sun and Dorin took up position at the front and rear, respectively forming a protective barrier around the family. Yang bent down to get Rey onto her back, easily carrying the eight-year-old. All four of them had their weapons ready in case they were attacked again. It would be a much different situation if they did run into trouble, Yang and Blake would be more focused on keeping their kids safe.

Their luck kept with them by some miracle as they reached the coordinates without any incident. Just as promised the airship was there, ready to take off. The pilot was waving frantically towards them. Yang was the first onto the airship with Rey. She reached out to give Blake a hand up with Sky before turning to the two boys. Sun looked at her then back at Dorin. A silent communication went between them as they looked back up at Yang and shook their heads.

"We're staying," Sun said with a determination that Yang hadn't seen from him in years.

"What? Why?" It was Blake who spoke, having set down her daughter to join her wife at the airship door.

"Someone had to figure out what's going on," he said with his usual careless shrug. "Might as well be us."

"Once we know more we'll join you in Atlas," Dorin added. "We won't be too far behind you."

Yang and Blake exchanged worried glances. Leaving the boys behind, whether by choice or not, was something they wanted to entertain. However they knew arguing would get them nowhere. And with the girls… Rey shifted on Yang's back, silently asking to be put down. She slowly let her daughter slide down before meeting Sun's gaze again. She had lost so many friends during the war, she had thought she was done, but she could see in his eyes it was a very real possibility she would be saying goodbye to more. It tore her resolve apart, knowing that no matter what they had all suffered through, that they might be fighting it again.

"Be careful," Yang said, her mind made up. She wouldn't argue with them to stay, but she would try to stay strong as they spoke their parting words, giving them someone to hold on too. They would never fail her and Blake. They had been instrumental during the war. They would prove themselves again, Yang had to believe that.

Sun and Dorin nodded, but refused to move until Yang slid the door to the airship shut. Blake was the one to finger the handle, knowing they would have to make a decision even as the airship started to ascend. She squeezed Yang's elbow, forcing the brawler to look at her. Yang could see it all in her eyes. She needed to let them go, if she didn't their last meeting would be for naught. With a final nod Yang silently asked to slide the airship doors shut, blocking off her image of the two boys. She pictured them running off to town as the airship rose out of the woods. Blake stood close, squeezing her tightly in a comforting hug. But Yang's mind was elsewhere, wondering if she had just signed the boy's death certificates.