Six. Thirty. Six thirty, Nadia! Why the hell are you running laps at six thirty!? Nadia shook her head, but kept running. Might as well just finish your laps now…

It was a little over a week since she'd started training under the Colonel's instruction, and right around day three she'd figured out that the routine would always start with twenty laps around campus. She preferred not to think of herself as so shallow that her subsequent decision to get up early and do her laps before reporting to the Colonel had been motivated by anything less than a strict commitment to self-improvement, but the "well done" she'd gotten when she'd arrived at the gym after her laps certainly hadn't hurt her motivation.

"This is so stupid!" Nadia berated herself as she jogged, "no distractions!"

Unfortunately, Colonel Stahlkreuz could prove very distracting without even trying. The woman could be as stone-faced and strict as she wanted, but that hadn't done much to keep Nadia's eyes from wandering whenever the Colonel demonstrated a new exercise or set of forms. It was stupid and Nadia knew it. She just really hoped that the Colonel didn't notice. She'd actually brought it up at her last appointment with Dr. Edrych-Gwydr, hoping that it didn't mean she was shallow or something to be… focusing on someone other than Mina so soon, but the Dr. had said it was a positive development, if anything, which had left Nadia somewhat confused.

"You're at that age Nadia; physical attractions are perfectly natural and nothing to be ashamed of. If anything, if you're no longer fixating exclusively on Miss Carfax, I would call this progress. Though it does interest me that you've chosen Irena Stahlkreuz; it would seem to me that, save a history with the White Fang, she has all the qualities that you appreciate in Miss Carfax…"

Was that it? Certainly the Colonel was leagues ahead of Nadia herself in terms of strength, and Nadia was certainly appreciative of her willingness to show her how to improve. What she really envied about Stahlkreuz though, a thing that Mina hadn't had despite the pedestal that Nadia had so long put her on, was that bearing that she had – like nothing could touch her, not just physically, but emotionally as well. More than anything, she wanted to emulate that.

"Maybe if I just keep at it-" Nadia's train of thought was abruptly derailed when, somewhere off to her left, a gun went off. Nadia froze. Was Beacon under attack? Was someone trying to shoot her? It seemed a bit early for target practice… The seconds dragged on as the hammering of Nadia's heartbeat gradually slowed, only to jump again when another discharge sounded at some length in the near distance.

What's going on over there? Nadia wondered, slowly moving closer and leaving her course around the campus. From the first few days she'd spent loitering about Beacon before she'd started training, all she remembered being off in that direction was an old memorial on the cliffs overlooking the eastern stretches of the Emerald Forest. Curiosity piqued, Nadia cautiously made her way onto the old cobblestone path that led away from most of the campus proper. She hesitated a few yards along as a third shot was fired after a similarly lengthy interval, but then she let out a sigh of relief; whatever was going on, it wasn't a gunfight. What she did find at the end of the path left her unsure what to say or do.

The old monument to fallen Huntsman and Huntresses stood just as before, a column of granite etched with the crossed axes of the Beacon emblem. It was a testament to the valor of the nameless, but the present supplicant didn't seem content with that state of affairs.

"…Serra Lancer, Otto Schönhausen, Ulrich Hartley, Saki Odajima, Eric Molke…" Irena Stahlkreuz lifted what looked to be a very old-fashioned bolt-action rifle, aimed skyward, and fired into the sunrise. After re-setting the bolt, she lowered the weapon, resting the stock on the ground and her hands on the muzzle, resuming the list of unfamiliar names. "Derek Bonhoeffer, Svetlana Komolova, Nathaniel Barons…"

Nadia didn't know what she was watching at first, but as she observed in complete silence, a pattern emerged. The Colonel was in her full dress uniform, though her officer's cap was set aside, and every ten names, the Colonel raised her rifle and fired, before lowering it again to recite the next ten names. This was a salute. The process repeated for twenty iterations, until the twenty-first came to an end, after a brief, reverent pause. "… Frederik von Bredow." Nadia wasn't sure at first, but squinting in the dim light, she saw that the name "Von Bredow" was also etched onto the rifle's barrel, as well as a sentence in some language sshe didn't understand; Kostet was es wolle. As the words passed her lips, the Colonel fired her twenty-first round and descended to one knee, setting the rifle down at her side. Finally, she rested her hands on her knees and closed her eyes, bowing her head.

"What is it Cadet?" She demanded, though the usual edge was absent from her voice… she just sounded… sad.

"W-well I… I was running my laps like you said and I just her gunfire, so I came to investigate and-"

"Tell me cadet; are you in the habit of investigating occurrences of gunfire while you yourself are unarmed?"

Nadia winced, but again, the rebuke lacked the Colonel's usual critical sting. "Combat is all about risk right…?" It was a weak response and she knew it.

"Not senseless ones," The Colonel refuted without turning her head or opening her eyes, "there are those times when sacrifices are necessary, but one does not win battles by needlessly risking the lives of oneself or others."

"Those names…"

"They are the two-hundred nine men and women who have died under my command," Stahlkreuz elaborated, "and my first commanding officer, also deceased. I have led men and women into battle for nearly ten years, Cadet Undine, and death is an inevitable reality of war. I begin every week by reminding myself of the consequences of the life which I have chosen. You might well do the same before you continue any further."

"War? You mean the Grimm?"

Stahlkreuz nodded just so. "Atlas did not become strong by letting them roam its frontiers unchecked. Unfortunately, fighting them has its price."

"I… see…"

"Do you, Undine?" Stahlkreuz finally stood, turning to face her as she collected her rifle, once more resting the stock on the flagstones as her steel gray eyes stared Nadia down. "This is not a life for those with other dreams to follow. I imagine that you think of yourself as having nothing left to lose, but I suggest you reconsider your assessment."

"No… I want to do something good – to be stronger. I've… done a lot of things that I'm not proud of… not anymore, if I really ever was…. But I want to do something positive-"

"Then write a book," Stahlkreuz interrupted coldly, "scrub floors, or perhaps change your name and seek education elsewhere. A soldier – a huntress – is a piece of armor for the rest of society, and the stronger the armor, the heavier it becomes, as it is less and less useful for any other purpose but to shield the body from harm." She gestured in the direction of Vale. "The strength that carries a society is found there, among its productive citizens. If you wish to contribute positively to society, then this is not the profession for you; romantic as some may find it, ours is simply to hold back the dangers that come from without, and at best to prevent the deterioration of the status quo, but never to improve upon it." She took a deep breath, making a deliberate and surprisingly visible effort to set aside the bitterness that had slipped into her voice. "I advise you to consider what it is you want from your life very carefully-"

"You… don't like me much… do you?" Nadia asked hesitantly, for the first time interrupting the older woman.

Stahlkreuz's eyes narrowed. "You've been made my responsibility."

Not the most flattering assessment, granted, but Nadia still wanted to smack herself for the way it made her heart flutter just a little bit. "I see…"

"What does this career mean to you, Cadet Undine?"

Nadia blinked. "A future… any future… Can I ask you?"

"To be a huntress is to lay down all you are and all you have to defend the powerless from any that would do them harm," the Colonel replied sternly, "should your weapon lay shattered, it is yours to fight on with your hands. Should your arms be broken, then you stand upon your feet and bar the way – only when the whole of your strength fails you do you have license to rest, and the only memorial of which you may be certain is the likes of this." She gestured to the monument before which she had previously been kneeling. "Is that what you want?"

Nadia thought long and hard about that, and about what she had done with her life. Everything that she'd destroyed or helped to destroy, the man she'd killed, what she'd tried to do to Mina – the person that she'd convinced herself that she loved… And then she looked at the etched pillar of granite. "Would… that really be so bad…?"

Stahlkreuz studied her carefully. "Well said."

Nadia's heart skipped a beat. Wait… was that some kind of test? Did I just… pass..?

"Finish your laps," the soldierly huntress ordered, interrupting Nadia's mild flight of fancy, "then report to the practice range."

"Not the weight room today?" Nadia asked, confused.

Stahlkreuz shook her head. "I've taught you what you need to strengthen your body; now you need to learn how to shoot."

.

.

.

Thank you for bringing this to my attention Miss Belladonna, Miss Carfax; rest assured that we are going to all possible lengths to ensure the peaceful and safe conduct of this year's festival. Knowing this though, I would agree that a certain… added degree of vigilance is in order.

That had been it. They'd gone to the Headmaster's office to tell the man what Mina had learned, and that was all he'd had to say. Granted, Ozpin was a busy man, but Blake would have thought the imminent threat would have given the man more pause, but then the man never had been easy to read. The "wait and see" approach had never sat well with Blake, and Mina didn't take much convincing that, at the least, the other members of Team RWBY also needed to know. As a direct result of that knowledge, Ruby had declared, and been met with universal agreement – albeit with varying degrees of eagerness – that the Team should redouble their efforts in training for the Vytal Tournament. It never hurt to be prepared in the event that something went wrong.

"Dearest! Look out!"

Blake's thoughts snapped back to reality as she was forced to dodge Yang's fist and then leap over a low swing from Crescent Rose. I… should probably concentrate…

Blake used her Semblance to take Yang's next hit and give her a moment to get behind the brawler, whereupon she launched into a flurry of strikes, both with her sword proper and the honed edge of her sheath, causing Yang to stumble. Weiss took over from there, darting in from the side and sending Yang sprawling with a hard stroke from Myrtenaster which completed the Blonde's transition from "off balance" to "toppling over." Ruby came to her sister's aid in an instant, spinning up for a buzz-saw attack with her scythe, but Mina threw a spanner in the works – or more accurately, a stake – as several of her wire's wrapped about Crescent Rose's shaft. When Ruby actually began the spin both of them were sent sprawling as the force of the pull aided by Ruby's Semblance heaved Mina over and sent Ruby flailing, her weapon slipping from her grasp.

Weiss and Blake wasted no time in finishing the fight. Blake fell upon Ruby as she tried to steady herself, using Gambol Shroud's ribbon to wrap about the young team leader, pinning her arms to her sides as she fell backwards with a startled squeak, and the Heiress made a rather dramatic show of cooling down their hotheaded blonde teammate rather literally… by encasing her up to the shoulders in a block of ice until her eyes settled back on their usual lilac color.

"O-okay…" Yang said, teeth chattering slightly, "c-can we just agree now t-that the team of three always wins?"

"Yang! Winning isn't the point!" Ruby chided, although her ordinarily lackluster leadership voice was further undermined somewhat by the fact that, still essentially tied up in Gambol Shroud's ribbon, she had rolled over on the ground to address her sister, "we just need the practice!"

Weiss tapped the block of ice, and with some use of her Aura, the whole thing transmuted into snowflakes, setting Yang free. "You didn't seem to have a problem with the three-on-two matches when you were winning…"

"I resent that!"

Blake shook her head, walking over to help Mina to her feet. "The important thing is that we're ready," she asserted as Mina took her hand, "especially with the festival starting next week."

"That's right!" Ruby cheered, as Blake let her go and she collected her prized Crescent Rose once more, "come what may, Team RWBY is ready for action!"

Mina, finally back on her own two feet, dusted herself off. "Although it is perhaps a trifle regrettable that Mr. Torchwick could not be more specific when leaking information…"

"That's probably why Ozpin wants to keep it a secret," Weiss suggested, independently reiterating Blake's own thoughts on the subject before shaking her head, "I understand that he doesn't want to cause a panic, but if something is really afoot here…"

"Then we'll beat their faces in and call it a day," Yang said with a cavalier attitude, "I mean, that's pretty much how we kicked Torchwick's ass when he had a giant robot, so why fix what ain't broke?"

"Honestly Yang, the word is broken…" Weiss shook her head, but smiled faintly. "Though I do wish I had your confidence…"

"Pfft… That's just because you're scared that I'll kick your ass in the tournament~"

The Heiress's eyebrow twitched. "Remind me Yang… Which one of us was just frozen in a block of ice?"

"The teams weren't even!"

Blake sighed, but she turned to look as Mina took her hand. "Easy Dearest, this storm, if a storm it is, will pass like any other."

Blake gave her a chaste little kiss on the cheek. "Right… We can do this."

Author's Note: Hello all, apologies for the wait, and the somewhat shorter than average chapter – I got through writing what I was originally going to post for this entry, but long story short, I decided that I wasn't happy with it and now here we are. For anyone who may be interested, Stahlkreuz's list of names, while fictitious, do contain a few odd historical references, most directly Friedrich-Wilhelm von Bredow, whose 'Death Ride' during the Franco-Prussian War was one of the last successful cavalry deployments of modern warfare, so chosen because the man's last recorded words translate as "It will cost what it will…." For now, make of that what you will. The reason this chapter is so short is because, by this stage in the plot, it's a little late to be padding things out with fluff, and I just needed to get this out of the way before launching the final arc in earnest. The story, as far as I have it planned, has about six or seven chapters to go, and will conclude on or around chapter 90, I'm sad to say. Now, because I love writing Mina so much, I'm not going to definitively state that I won't dabble in fluff afterwards or potentially even another arc if either a). we ever learn more about the Schnees or b). I get a sudden and completely unanticipated bout of inspiration, but for the time being, we are coming down to the wire in terms of the plot… granted, balancing papers and other such things that's still no less than six weeks distant, but I thought it fair to let you know. At any rate, once again, many thanks to KillamriX88 for edits, and have a good one.