Six Months Ago
"Daddy, can I go play with Aunt Yang?"
Sun Wukong looked up from the book he was reading, and into the face of a cat-eared little girl with golden hair.
"Your aunts and your mother are in a very important meeting, Yin. You'll have to wait until it's over to play." Sun explained to his daughter. Yin Wukong, called "Bumblebee" by her mother and "Mini-Me" by her adopted aunt Yang, stamped her foot and glared at her father. She was six years old now, the oldest child of the Wukong-Belladonna family, named to honor her 'Aunt' Yang, and a combination of all three personalities.
"If that meeting is so important," she asked, "why aren't YOU and Uncle Neptune in it?" The question elicited a chuckle from the other man in the room, the blue-haired Neptune Versailles. "Because they needed us to look after little pains in the neck like you!" Neptune jokingly responded to the little girl.
After the jibe, Neptune looked at Sun and said in a more serious tone, "She has a point, though, Sun. Politics has never stopped us from getting involved before. Why the hesitation now?" His wife, Weiss, known to Yin as "Aunt Weicy," was also in the meeting.
"Because of who this meeting deals with, Neptune." Sun responded. No matter how many years had past, the fact that the main conspirators in the Fall of Beacon 'Officially' hailed from Haven Academy had been a black mark on Mistral.
Silence and stillness passed in the room for a few seconds; Yin glaring at her father, Sun and Neptune staring at each other. Outside a Deer chaser tipped, pouring out its water and banging back into the upright with a loud "DONK"
"Fine. I'll go see if they are finished. Stay here, Yin." Sun said to his daughter while slowly standing. He stretched his arms and flexed his tail, then began walking toward the door. Scratching the back of his blond head the entire way.
"I'll go with you." Neptune said, following closely behind. Yin giggled, then returned to the coloring book she had abandoned earlier.
…
Blake and Weiss were arguing. This was not a good sign for either Sun or Neptune. Jaune also looked paler than usual, though he looked…relieved…to see Sun and Neptune enter the room.
"Yang, your little doppelganger wants to spend time with you, if everyone is done here." Sun said. "I would be delighted!" Yang replied happily, then walked out of the room. Blake and Weiss barely noticed Yang's absence.
"The war is over, Weiss! It's been over for more than five years. They aren't gathering forces, they don't plan to do anything. Why reopen an old wound? Let them live in peace."
"Because, Blake, they knew Salem's plans. They had access to both knowledge and resources that are best forgotten. So long as they live, there is a chance it could happen again."
Jaune had slowly moved around the room, and was preparing to leave. As he passed, he put his hand on both Sun and Neptune's shoulders and said, "Both of you are far braver men than I ever was." Considering the events occurring in that room, Sun did not think the comment related to combat.
"Wait just a second, General Jaune Arc!" Weiss said, sarcastically emphasizing Jaune's reluctant rank. Jaune froze, his hand inches from the door. Slowly, he turned around and faced her and Blake.
"Um, Yes?" He asked, sheepishly.
"Who is going to investigate? Surely you have sent a team to assess what is going on." Weiss asked.
"Two of our best," He responded, "old friends of ours..."
…
Seven Years Ago
Nora Valkyrie hurtled toward the ground, grinning from ear-to-ear. Her three grenades had accomplished their intended effect, scattering the unsuspecting criminals below her. Soon the rest of her team, and their Soldiers, would slam into the brigand and cultist's flank and break through. She could already see the troop of cavalry gallop toward their targets, led by two men; one wearing white armor, the other a green coat. Falling beside her was a streak of red and black with silver eyes.
The plan, devised by Ruby and Jaune, was simple and devastating. Taiyang's troops held the enemy's attention as Jaune's knights flanked to the left. Nora and Ruby had the best part of this job, to land first among the enemy's reserve troops and Grimm, then spread havoc.
Ruby, the red streak, made landfall amongst the Grimm. Crescent Rose, her Scythe, broke the fall by cleaving through a Beowulf. From there she began her silver-eyed slaughter, flowing through the Grimm with precision and lethality. Seconds after landing, nearly half of the enemy's Grimm were smoking husks.
Nora barely paid attention to Ruby's movements, focusing instead upon her own targets. She would land close to one of her grenade's impact point. She identified her first target.
Her grin broadened into a full smile. Most, like Jaune and Ren, blocked out fighting, and tried to forget as quickly as possible. Not Nora, Nora lived for the fight. She brought back her Hammer, Magnhild, over her head. Then, directly before reaching the ground, struck down with it onto the legs of one fighter who had been knocked over by the grenade's blast.
The impact shattered the man's tibias, and he screamed in pain. Sand billowed out in a small mushroom cloud where she landed. Nora lifted her hammer again, then swung it at the nearest standing fighter. He went down silently, either concussed or crushed. She continued her swings at others, laughing with each blow as she fought. Jaune and Ren's lancers impacted the line near her, and Taiyang's troops charged. The battle was joined.
…
The battle was lost. Of the Four hundred who fought alongside of Mercury Black that day, only seventy remained. Of that group, and counting Mercury himself, only forty could fight. Mercury carried on his shoulders one of the shattered survivors.
"Why save him?" He asked himself, "He cannot walk, he cannot fight." Both statements were true, the man's legs had been shattered by the Valkyrie's hammer. The cuts in the man's calves were beginning to fester, gangrene would soon set in. If the man was to live, it would be without his legs. Mercury was more than familiar with the dying man's plight.
"Tell me, are you anything like your father?"
Cinder's first question burned in the back of his mind as he carted the wounded man back to safety. He barely remembered his answer to her that day, but everything in him screamed his answer now, "No! I am nothing like him! I am stronger, I am smarter, I am a better man than he ever was!" He shouted his response out loud. His words were greeted by the groans of his burden.
This war was finished, Salem's primary strategy of causing division and chaos would never work in Vacuo now. The desert rebels had been crushed, Salem's involvement found out, Shade Academy would not fall like Beacon did.
"What then?" he thought, as he dragged the wounded man along. "I may be able to save Cinder, if she could see sense." Emerald would follow Cinder. The dark Green-haired held a strong affection for the other woman, Cinder did not necessarily reciprocate her feelings. Roman's purported death at Vale was recently confirmed. Neo had been missing for a long time.
"I'm never going to walk again, am I?" The wounded man said sorrowfully. "Don't worry, we'll get you fixed up." Mercury said, determined.
He needed to begin planning the impossible. He needed to find a way out of this war, for all of them.
…
Lie Ren walked across broken ground. Nearly three hours of close fighting had finally come to a close.
In the cold desert evening air Ren heard the lancers who had ridden with him chant in victory towards their retreating foes. "Nikos! Nikos! Nikos!" It was both an honor to his fallen friend, and the cry "We win! We win! We win!" when translated into his own language.
Horsemen were surprisingly effective in this desert. The sand would seize and clog engines for most vehicles. The beasts and their riders were quieter, making them excellent scouts. The animals did not require Dust, thus increasing the available ammunition. Finally, as living beings each had an Aura that could be activated before a fight. This last detail was not very effective against humans, but was devastating against Grimm.
Mercury Black's forces had been decimated in this fight, but the aftermath was equally grim for the winning side. The sands of the desert had changed their color from light brown to dark rust. Even the sky itself seemed to bleed as the afternoon light faded.
"Broken ground, broken moon, and broken people." Ren thought to himself as he surveyed the landscape. Nearby, Nora and Ruby talked with Yang. She had accompanied her father in the main attack, holding and distracting Black's troops while Jaune and Ren gained the advantage. Tai stood nearby, receiving reports from his Soldiers. Among the many dead, neither of their targets were counted. Intelligence never confirmed Emerald's presence on the field, so no loss there. However, Mercury had been observed in command of the recently defeated enemy. Again, that assassin had eluded capture. "He cannot run forever." Ren thought as he continued to walk. In one of the landscape's many dips Ren could see the outline of his self-adopted brother, Jaune, as he kneeled over a corpse.
Ren walked towards Jaune slowly, finding at the knees of the other man a dead White Fang woman. She was a deer faunus. Her white mask, part of her organization's uniform, had shattered. One eye gazed sightlessly towards the heavens.
"When the gods return, may they find you whole and free." Jaune said softly to the corpse, closing its eyes. While at first the most skeptical of old Qrow Branwen's words about the nature of this fight, Jaune had gained a firm conviction during the intervening years. Ren had never seen Jaune pray, but faith had shown other marks on the man. Nora walked up, stood beside Ren, and made a joke to lighten the mood. It only partially worked.
…
Five Months Ago
Lie Ren and Nora Valkyrie looked down from a hilltop on a quaint village nearly hidden in old growth forest.
"I guess it is time for us to get to work" Ren Said.