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Please DM me, or check yours, for information. I was kicked out of my home by my roommates and out of the Walkers, and so I have a new page. The list is being updated as people move over.

For everyone else-

I was stabbed in the back and kicked out, from the Walkers and my home, over the weekend. Working on fixing it.

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"Gods, you're actually a princess…" Yang murmured as they crested the last hill before the settlement dipped down into a sort of crater, ringed by low, green-topped mountains. In the center, built into a bit of a square, was a big building, the front half covered in tarps, covers and scaffolds that did little to hide how large it was. "That is where you live?"

"Technically, no…" Blake sighed, rolling her eyes while her father rumbled a laugh. Her ears pressing flat to her head, Blake pulled away from her and said, "But I grew up there, at least until my early teens, when I joined the White Fang. And… And Adam."

"Blake…" She took a step but Ghira's hand on her shoulder stopped her before she could reach her partner and pull her into a hug. She gave him a look and he smiled, shaking his head gently to tell her not to do anything. Frowning, she eased back, asking quietly, "Are you okay, Blakey?"

"Not really." She sighed, turning and giving her a little smile, backlit a bit by the sun on her head. "But I will be. And for right now… That's all I need to get by and do what I have to for my friends."

"Blake…" Before Ghira could stop her, or she could think about it, she rocketed forward, strong arms closing around the squeaking Faunus and hoisting her in the air in a tight hug. "Ohhh, Blakey! When you sound like a badass I just wanna give you a big ole' hug, you know that?"

"Ribs… Fracturing!" Blake whined, kicking weakly at her thighs. "Aura… Failing!"

"Oooooh, you're fine!" Yang laughed, setting her Faunus partner down in spite of herself and turning to the Spartans. They were confused, she was sure, but stood stock still regardless. She shrugged and offered a weak, "Adam is, uh…"

"He destroyed Beacon." Blake offered the waiting Spartans simply, brushing a hand over her scarred stomach. "And stabbed me. And… Took Yang's arm from her."

"All in one night, too. The bastard is lucky I haven't gotten hands on him..." Ghira said in an angry, low rumble that made the hairs on the back of Yang's neck stand on edge. He sighed, though, and the sudden onset of anger washed away with a small smile and a huff. "Sorry, but I can be a bit paternal sometimes."

"Tides, Daddy…" Blake sighed, flushing embarrassedly but shuffling forward to give the big man a hug that she vanished inside of. Pulling away from him after a second she smiled and said, "I'm fine, Dad. We ran him off at Haven, so…"

"I know, dear." The big man sighed, patting the back of her head gingerly, avoiding her flicking ears. Smiling he said, to the four of them as much as to her, "I just get so angry, sometimes, when I remember what he's done. To you, to your partner, to the White Fang once we left…"

"We're fixing it as best we can, now, Dad." Blake said, stepping away, one hand seeking out Yang's automated one instinctively. Smiling awkwardly, she added, "I, uh, think we should get going though. The street isn't the… Best place for this."

"I suppose…"

"Wait, I thought a street was the best place for deep, moving moments?" Yang blinked owlishly, smiling at her own joke and going on when Blake shook her head tiredly. "You're telling me my favorite saturday morning cartoons lied to me?! How dare!"

"They're cartoons, Yang... They're supposed to be unrealistic." Yang only put on a confused face and Blake sighed as she turned to move on, her father chuckling and trailing behind her while she went on, murmuring under her breath, "I'm going to kill her. We've been here half an hour, and I am already going to kill her."

"Excuse you!" Yang called, chasing after her while the Spartans trailed along behind silently, "We've been here forty minutes, not half an hour."

"I'm going to kill her, Daddy."

"She's not that tall." The man rumbled good naturedly, "I'm sure she'll fit if we bury her out in the gardens."

"Hey now!" She laughed, wrapping an arm around Blake's shoulders and grinning ear to ear. "Just because I'm hilarious doesn't mean you need to punish me!"

"Oh no…"

"C'mon, Blakey, I'm sure you can Yang in there just fine." Blake's eyes narrowed on her and she smiled, sticking an arm out and asking, "Need something to Yang on right now?"

"Yang, please." The Faunus sighed, lips pressed into a thin little line that told Yang she was fighting very hard not to smile. "For the sake of literally every ounce of my barely remaining sanity, no. Don't. Stop."

"Don't stop, eh?"

"Oh for fuck-"

"Language, Blake." Her father rumbled, laying a massive hand on her back as they neared the burnt out, covered front of the house. "Just because you've been away on adventures for a while doesn't mean you can act the wild child now that your'e black home."

"No, no, no- It can't be!" Blake ranted, fisting her hair like she'd just gotten the worst kind of news imaginable and didn't know how to process it. "These stupid, silly, annoying puns can't be contagious! They can't!"

"Hey, they aren't that bad!" Yang laughed, waving her automated prosthetic about in the air, "I'll remind you I paid an arm for the skills to make jokes this good!"

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"This is ridiculous." Kelly murmured, using their internal comms to speak to her team while they were led around the large manor and the two women… Did whatever this was. "We're here for an important diplomatic meeting, and they're making puns at each other."

"They're civilians."

"I thought they were warriors." Linda countered, "That's what the Arbiter called them, at least."

"Warriors." Frederic reiterated the term purposefully, "Marines are warriors, too. ODSTs are as well, and so are pilots and naval servicemembers. Just because they don't act like Spartans doesn't make them any less warriors."

"If you say so…"

"The Arbiter seems to respect them, at least." Kelly offered quietly, watching a trio of the same lightly armed and armored guards pass them by, on their way to a patrol or a posting but ignoring them either way. "And at least they aren't wearing plated armor."

"Maybe not normally." Linda said, "Arc does, though."

"Yeah, you're right." Frederic grunted, chuckling just under his breath and sighing. "Well, at least no one else does. Or it's not the norm. Whatever the case, the Arbiter respects them and I don't feel like that's something that's just handed out."

"No, it isn't." Frederic grunted as they entered a garden, fenced in on all sides and with a heavy iron gate, flanked by two guards, for entrance. Chieftain Belladonna spoke to them quickly and one nodded, holding the gate open for all of them.

"I thought we could talk out here." Ghira said as they reached the center of the wide, empty garden.

In the center of the garden was a long, metal table, set inside of a sort of ovular pagoda. Around it were rows of neatly organized vegetable fields, separated by thin lines of bright, tropical flowers. A quick once-over showed all kinds of produce, from potatoes to tomates, arranged neatly by what had to be a practiced hand.

Given the apparent wealth of the Chieftain, he assumed it was a gardener.

"It's kind of… Open, isn't it?" Frederic asked as the Chieftain sat at the head of the long, metal table and a serving maid appeared, a tray of drinks in her hands. While she set them out, Frederic explained to the man, "What we need to talk about is a very delicate, classified matter of national importance. Isn't this too exposed for that?"

"Maybe, but my office is full of construction workers." Ghira said simply, waving a hand to get the lightly dressed maid's attention. "Bring us food and order the guards well out of ear shot. Don't return after unless you're called on. Understood?"

"Yes, Chieftain." The woman nodded, shuffling off quickly.

"The house's guards wouldn't talk anyway. They're all loyal to my father, hand-picked to serve here instead of out in the city." Blake said quietly, sitting to one side of her father with the blonde brawler across from her. "But without the office, this is the most private place for this. Or, well, the most private that also has the space."

"She's right." Ghira sighed, waving a hand at the house they were sat beside, "Sadly, we were attacked recently, so everywhere else that could have been appropriate is either burnt out, or flooded with construction crews."

"Is everything alright?"

"It's been dealt with by my forces, and my daughter with them. Don't worry." The Faunus grunted simply with a small smile, gesturing at one of the thick, iron garden chairs and asking, "Please, sit. We need to talk, after all. And it sounds important enough that we probably need to get to it."

"Very well." If they couldn't get somewhere more secure, then they'd just have to deal with it. Turning his head he grunted, "Linda, Kelly, sentry duty. Keep an eye out for anything out of the ordinary."

"That's hardly necessary…"

"You'll change your mind in a few minutes, Chieftain." He assured the great man, standing at the far end of the table and reaching up to undo his helmet, a common move to sow trust in diplomacy, according to Roland. Setting it on the table he turned a cool look on the other Faunus at the table and grunted, "I think your daughter would be better to start the story, though."

"Oh?" The Chieftain looked surprised, turning to the woman as the maid returned to drop off a couple large trays of food and then left without a word. In her wake, he asked, "Well, what other kind of nonsense have you managed to get up to in… Two and a half weeks. Surely nothing to compare with what you've been up to before now…"

"You could say that…"

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As the General had said, an Atlesian shuttle shot up to meet with them less than half-an-hour later, listing around the front of their ship slowly as the pilot searched for its landing point. The pilot hesitated a heartbeat when they saw the gently shimmering shields that separated the small hangar from the open air but, after a moment, the nose tilted down and it pressed forward and into the hangar. Like a great white insect it listed to a stop and spun almost lazily, seeking a place to land while it turned its nose back towards the exit.

Luckily, with the Pelican gone, there was a spot with plenty of space already open, marked out as a landing spot.

It's engines didn't die, even as the door hissed out and then rolled to the side. Three figures stepped out, one as large and burly as Ironwood himself had been, who smiled warmly as their larger group approached.

"Specialist Clover Ebi. General Ironwood sent us to get you and escort you to meet with him." The large man explained, smiling warmly all the while and folding his arms over his chest. Waving a hand to his companions he introduced them both simply, "This is Specialist Marrow Amin, and Specialist Harriet Bree."

"Sir."

"Hi." The Faunus stammered when Bree flicked her gaze to him and grunted, quickly, "Uh, hi, Sir."

"I'm-"

"Ruby Rose." The man smiled knowingly, pointing out each of them in turn as he went on, "Jaune Arc, Nora Valkyrie, Lie Ren, Weiss Schnee, who is currently listed as missing by her father…"

"Well, I suppose you can take me off the missing persons list, then, Specialist Ebi." The Schnee sighed, sounding far more annoyed and, when he looked, looking far more uncaring about her father's worry for her than she should have. "I'm right here, after all."

"You also vanished without saying anything…"

"I'm an adult." She shrugged simply, smiling pleasantly as her partner stepped beside her and crossed her arms, smirking confidently. "I left for my own reasons, Specialist. And I don't owe anyone any explanations as to why. You or my father."

"It also has nothing to do with why we're here." Jaune added quietly from behind him. "We're here to do our jobs, Sir. So can we get to work on maybe doing that?"

"Unless you wanna shoot at us some more…"

"That was a more complicated situation than you are implying, and you were warned, and the General knew you were more than capable of intercepting the missiles even if they were targeted for your vessel." Clover smiled all the while and didn't even seem upset by the girl's attitude, holding up a hand to count the points off simply and then shrugging. "And yeah, you're an adult, you can do what you want. Just maybe next time leave a note?"

"That way you don't waste Atlas resources looking for you…"

"Specialist Bree." The man simply saying her name had her standing straighter and nodding, sufficiently cowed. With that resolved, he turned an appraising look on the Arbiter himself, smile falling ever so slightly. "Arbiter."

"Specialist." He rumbed, nodding in greeting and stepping forward, conscious of the tension in the man's two comrades. Chuckling, he said, "I can tell from the tension falling off of your allies that you know of me."

"Yeah, we do." Specialist Ebi nodded, allowing the smile to fall completely now, his face flat and hard and grave. "General Ironwood said that you'd agreed to disarm to come to Atlas to speak to him."

"I did." He nodded, spreading his arms in a display of peace. "As you can see, all I bear on my person is my armor and my blade. The latter of which your General agreed to allow me, for the purposes of the most basic self-defense."

"I know about that, too. General ironwood forwarded us a dossier on you before we came to get you." The man's eyebrows rose and he smiled, almost challengingly, "I don't suppose you mind if my men search you, then?"

"That's not what-"

"I do not mind, Ruby. I have naught to hide, and so I have no reason to resist." He rumbled, lumbering another slow step forward, away from his comrades and into reach of the three Atlesians. Shrugging his cloak off he handed it to the woman, explaining, "A gift from the young Huntress."

"I'll take it." Ebi grunted, grabbing the light cloak and then grunting, shortly, "Specialists, search him. Cat-5 search protocoles."

"Yes, Sir." The two soldiers grunted, stepping to either side of him and then shoving him forward abruptly, past the other Specialist and into the armored hull of the vessel. He grunted and the Faunus murmured, "Sorry, protocol…"

"Shut it." The woman snarled, roughly running her hand along his armor and growling, "Do your job, Amin."

"It is fine." He sighed, as much for the Specialist's benefit as for the young Huntress whose silver eye she could feel searing hate and indignity into the two soldiers. "Any indignity for the sake of peace."

"But-"

"Leave it, kid." Qrow growled, shuffling forward to lean against the side of the shuttle, flask in hand. Flicking a gaze to it and sighing, he stuffed it into his jacket and turned a glare on the frisking Atlesians, "They're Atlas' little hounds, fresh outta the kennel. When master says to rough someone up, they do it."

"Excuse you-"

"Shut it and don't even pretend I was talkin' about your tail, kid.' Qrow cut the Faunus off, pointing a long finer at the soldier and then flicking it between the two other Humans meaningfully. "Your dogs for what you're doin', not what you are. Fix your shit or own up to it, I don't care-"

"Branwen." The Chief snapped quietly, heavy steps sounding on the hull as he closed on the Atlesians and they let the Arbiter go. As he turned, the Spartan looked to him and then to the two soldiers, growling, "Are we done here?"

"He's clean." The woman snapped, stepping back while Ebi stepped forward, holding the clock out for him to take back.

"Sorry for the rough treatment but eh, orders are orders." The soldier said, smiling pleasantly while he pulled his cloak back on and then holding out a little circlet to him. He looked at it and then at Ebi and the man smiled, "A tracking bracelet. If you get lost, or are attacked, this will let us locate you and come to your support more easily."

"I see." He growled, refraining from taking it to ask, "And why should I wear it?"

"I can't take you to Atlas if you don't." He sighed, smiling pleasantly all the while and holding the little tracker out patiently. "It's standard procedure for all visiting dignitaries, even ones… Like you."

"You'd bar me?"

"Orders are orders." The man sighed jovially, shrugging, "Good soldiers follow orders. Sorry."

"Fine then." He growled, even his patience starting to save by now and allowing his agitation to build. Snatching the circlet he clipped it on and waved a hand at the shuttle. "May we go now, please? I would enjoy actually getting to the matter at hand rather than all this… Time wasting."

"Of course." Specialist Ebi nodded warmly, turning to board the shuttle, "Everyone climb aboard, find a spot to stand or sit wherever you want."

"Finally…" He sighed, boarding and moving to stand at the back of the shuttle, Ruby shuffling forward to stand between him and the Atlesians at the front. Grimacing, he leaned forward to reassure her, "I'm well, Ruby. Do not let the unfortunateness of the last hour cloud your view of the next."

"I won't." She promised as the door sealed shut and the craft began to move, lifting up and listing forward. Under her breath, where even he could barely hear, she added, "I don't have an option except letting it go and moving forward, after all."

"Indeed." He rumbled quietly, "Indeed."

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Some doozies of reviews to respond to, lol. Sorry!

Anyway, a 3K chapter to bridge while I recover from personal stuff. Note that all of this was going to be written anyway, I just initially intended on another scene at the end. Work tomorrow, though, so can't write it then.

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C313st14 :

That's a lotta spoilers~ XD

Zenith Tempest :

It being 'established doctrine' is meaningless. This doctrine was established for a host of reasons but none bear here. Even Thel states he would have intervened had Ruby not. The Spartans aren't diplomats, that they can't engage well with non-Spartans is literally part of their collective psychosis.

As with canon, being older or 'the authority' is irrelevant. Ironwood is both in V7 and look how badly he handled all THAT. Oz is another example of 'the authority' not deserving respect.

Also as with canon, none of these characters are 'subordinates'. This story has an ensemble cast. They're all equal, down to even Roland. Which is… A bitch to manage, lemme tell you, but remains the case.

I don't mind text blocks! XD

Sleeping Moon :

I might look at posting this there, but probably not. I manage a lot of sites. If you like, feel free to post it and just credit me by name. I won't mind!

Kpmh2001 :

Yes, he was justified. But being justified and being wise are different matters.

Fallutman111 :

Yes to both! I just enjoy the former, thus its presence often, but I have and plan to write non-BMBLB or WR fics. This, for fact, isn't WR right now. And may not become WR, either.

Master Chief 1 :

This version calls him Demon as a friendly moniker. Consider it authorial privilege.

Anti-Rose (Guest) :

One, Ruby is of age to fight giant monsters. She can talk back to whoever she likes, imo. Especially when they are being a wee bit daft.

Two, yes. She bucked up because they 'weren't being nice'. Ironwood was wrong and so was the Chief, the former for starting with pre-judgements and demands and opening fire rather than losing face, and the latter for considering shooting back instead of letting literally meaningless attacks go. Atlas couldn't harm the Black Sun, but it cold certainly harm Atlas.

And three, just letting the adults do what they want has worked splendidly thus far in canon, hasn't it? The world on the brink, Pyrrha dead, Beacon fallen, Haven nearly joining it…

I mean no disrespect here, but you seem to be taking a very 'authority deserves respect for being the authority' stance and I just disagree. I hope you enjoy the story, though!

Simply Christian :

Ruby's logic is that Ironwood didn't investigate the incident at the Festival, he simply let it be pinned on Yang and moved on. Simply verifying medically that Mercury's legs had been broken would have thrown up red flags - even if Em used her Semblance, an X-Ray copy would still later have shown him as having cybernetic legs.

The 'you' was based on that logic.

As for Menagerie… You shall see more as we go~

Danilyss :

That would have been cool! But Irondaddy is just Irondaddy. Sorry!

Rook435 :

Yeah, I… Feel like people extra expected an extra twist is what happened. I was playing this one a bit more straight!