Qrow entered Ozpin's office. He found Ironwood and Glynda already there.

"You're late," Ironwood frowned, "You shouldn't keep us waiting, especially when you have important information."

"I'm not one of your special operatives, Jimmy," Qrow snapped.

"Qrow, please," Ozpin gently said, "Your message?"

Qrow pulled out his flask and took a swig, "It's not just the one responsible for autumn's condition. Someone has infiltrated the Association."

"We know," Ironwood crossed his arms.

"Oh, you know?" Qrow said exasperated, clearly under the influence of his alcohol, "Well thank goodness I'm risking my life to keep you all informed."

"Qrow," Glynda snapped.

He sighed before continuing, "Something is about to be set in motion," Qrow said, "It won't happen overnight, but it will happen soon, maybe a couple years."

"And do you know what this will be?" Ozpin asked.

"What it is? No," Qrow took another swig, "But I know who it will target?"

James and Glynda looked at Ozpin. If anyone was to be targeted by her, it would be him.

"Not just Oz," Qrow said, "Izzy is on the chopping block."

"Isaac?" Ozpin asked, worry in his voice.

"That would make sense," Glynda said, "Netero has been working with Ozpin longer than any of us."

"Then we'll have to assign him a security team," Ironwood suggested.

Qrow laughed, "You think Izzy is going to let you assign him a babysitter? I'd love to see that."

"If he's in trouble then…"

"Isaac is not the kind to have a security detail," Ozpin agreed, "We'll have to discuss this with him as soon as the exam is over."

Qrow made a humorless laugh, "I'm gonna need more whisky if I have to deal with the Izzy and Ozzy show."

Ironwood looked at Qrow, "What about the other information you've been looking into. We could-…"

"No," Qrow growled before taking another drink.

"But if what we hear is true then-…"

"If what we hear is true," Qrow slammed the flask on the table, "Then he's useless to us. The power of the silver eyes only works for those who value life. We're talking about a goddamned murderer."

"Qrow," Ironwood said, "I'm not saying we trust him or the rest of the Troupe. I'm suggesting we investigate. It might be possible he'll be a target. We can use him to lure out her pawns. I thought you'd be more inclined since he might be-…"

"He," Qrow looked at Ironwood, his pink eyes bled into burning scarlet, "was nothing to Summer. There's no chance in hell what you're suggesting can possibly be true, because I refuse to believe the universe can be that sick," Qrow got closer as he red eyes looked into Ironwood's, "He is nothing more, than the son of a bitch who had my clan murdered and harvested their eyes. He'd do the same thing to me, to Raven, to Yang, and if he understood anything about the silver eyes, he'd do it to Ruby too."

"But he could still be targeted," Ozpin reminded, "If Salem finds out, then she may go after him."

"Then she'd finally do something good for once," Qrow spat.

Ironwood sighed. He sympathized with Qrow and his loss. Honestly, if Ironwood had their location, he'd see to it the Phantom Troupe was captured and executed. But their leader was clearly a master strategist. The Troupe wasn't always completely together, and they made sure to not leave any evidence behind. Add that to the fact they were from Meteor City, it made it impossible to look up any record of their existence.

"So what now?" Ironwood said, "We can't just sit and wait."

"We're not," Ozpin said, "We'll continue to train the best Hunters we can," Ozpin looked at Qrow, "Do you know where they'll move next?"

"Signs are pointing to York New," Qrow explained, "They're looking for Ging, and that stupid game he made will be up for auction at that big Southern Peace thing."

"They're looking for Ging?" Glynda asked, "Don't you think that's something you should have started with?"

Qrow shrugged, "Ging's a big boy, he can take care of himself."

Everyone knew Qrow didn't care much for Ging. Ging left his son Gon and Qrow views Gon as his nephew. So, he's not to kind to the man who left him and never visited. In fact Qrow punches Ging whenever he has the chance.

"Well, then," Ironwood said, "I'll send as many troops to York New come September."

Glynda sighed, "Why must everything you do be a show of military bravado? You treat everything like it's contest of measuring d-…"

"Glynda!" Ozpin stopped her.

"Well he does," Glynda said.

"She's right though James," Ozpin said, "We need to handle this discretely. Sending a large army will raise too many questions."

Ironwood scowled.

"We have plenty of time until September," Ozpin said, "What we need is to plan."

With that the meeting ended.

"Qrow," Ozpin stopped him, "A word."

Qrow approached the desk after Ironwood and Glynda left, "What? Am I in trouble?"

"No," Ozpin smiled, "I thought you'd like to know how your nieces and nephew are doing during the exam.

Qrow smirked. He did think all three of them had what it took. He honestly wished Tai would let them teach the kids Nen, but he was against them being Hunters to begin with. Ruby, Yang, and Gon were only going to learn Nen if they passed the exam, that was Tai's rule.

"Yeah, are they…"

"All three are alive," Ozpin assured, "And they've made it to the final phase."

"Heh, that's my kids," Qrow said, then his smile dropped, "Wait, don't tell me. Is Izzy…?"

Ozpin just smiled.

"Oh, God," Qrow groaned, "They're all dead now aren't they."

"I don't think Isaac has done anything… to extreme."

"Are you kidding, that old coot's a sadist," Qrow reminded, "Seriously, why did you let him become co-chairman with you? He's done nothing but cause problems."

"I admit Isaac can be a handful," Ozpin said, "But we need strong Nen users. Isaac is able to help find those with strong wills."

"He made the exam a death trap," Qrow reminded.

"And I've added Hunters to rescue those who failed," Ozpin reminded, "Most of the applicants who failed during the first and third phases have survived."

Qrow leaned forward to look Ozpin in the eye, "Pariston Hill!"

Ozpin sighed, "Isaac and I had an agreement. I would choose my cabinet without him interfering and he would choose his without me interfering. I chose you, he chose the zodiac's."

Qrow sighed, "If the kids come out traumatized I'm taking it out of his ass."

"I understand," Ozpin said, "but this exam was very interesting," he pulled out some folders, "There are a lot of undiscovered talent."

Qrow looked at Ozpin confused. What was talking about?

Ozpin handed Qrow a folder, "Like this young man."

Qrow took the folder and opened it. The first thing he saw was a photo of a boy with blonde hair, "A lot of kids taking the exam this year," Qrow noted.

"How about you learn his name?"

His name? Qrow glanced at it.

Kurapika Kurta.

Qrow's breath stilled in his throat. Kurta?

He looked at the boys picture, "Kurta… is he…?"

"He is," Ozpin said, "His eyes had turned red quite a few times during the exam," Qrow stared at the picture, "It seems, you and your family aren't the last ones after all."

Qrow couldn't help but feel a little relieved. So there was another survivor. When he heard what happened to his clan, he went back to where the village was to investigate.

God it was a nightmare. The village was in ruins, either burned down or demolished, and then there was the bodies. Mangled corpse of children found in front of their parents. Friends who have seemed to kill each other. Headless bodies found in front of tortured bodies as if they were forced to watch their loved one being tortured and killed.

Because they were. Whoever did this had the families of the pure bloods tortured, so that their eyes would turn red from grief, fear, and anger. And then they killed them. The Troupe was a sick bunch of bastards.

Qrow left the village as a child, because he didn't want to be cooped up there. He and Raven wanted to see the world. And they did. They became Hunters and found their place.

Yes, Qrow did have some resentment to his old clan for trying to keep him in the village his whole life, but he never wanted the village he came from to be destroyed or his clan tortured and killed.

He knew their fear was justified. They all tried to hide their eyes to protect themselves. Qrow knew he was lucky. He got stronger and was able to protect himself after learning Nen. The rest of the tribe wasn't so lucky.

Worst was, he was considering taking Yang to the village around the time he heard the news. If he took his niece there and the Troupe attacked when they visited…

Qrow knew from the damage, he had no chance against the entire Troupe. One on one maybe, but the entire Troupe?

He shook his head. He shouldn't worry about what-if's. The clan was dead and Yang was alive.

And apparently, this Kurapika kid was alive too. Qrow examined him. He kinda looked like a girl he knew in the village. Maybe he was her son?

"Your nephew seemed to have made a friend," Ozpin handed him a new folder.

Qrow opened it to see a picture of a kid who was actually Gon's age, "I'm starting to think Glynda's right about having an age restriction," Qrow's eyes widened when he saw the boys name, "A Zoldyck? A goddamned Zoldyck?"

"Actually, there are three Zoldyck's taking the exam this year," Ozpin added. That didn't make Qrow feel better.

"Why the hell would you let those snakes into the Association?"

"Everyone is allowed to participate Qrow, and not every Zoldyck is a bloodthirsty monster," Ozpin opened the folders, "Although the oldest one does look like he's a cause for concern."

Qrow looked down at the two files. One of them, looked like a tiny version of the Ice Queen the other was…

"This guy looks nothing like them," Qrow commented. The boy and the girl looked like Winter. White hair blue eyes. This guy had purple skin and a blue mohawk.

"He knows Nen," Ozpin explained, "I believe he changed his appearance before taking part in this exam."

"And you're sure he's a Zoldyck?" Qrow asked.

"I was killed by a Zoldyck once," Ozpin reminded, "I know one when I see one."

Qrow ran his hands through his hair, "And they're taking the exam with Ruby, Yang, and Gon."

"Calm down, one of the rules is killing will lead to disqualification during the final exam," Ozpin tried to defuse the situation, but failed.

"Why the hell would you need to put that rule in place?"

%%%%%%%

Weiss and Blake stood in front of each other. The air was silent for a moment, neither of them moved from their spots as they drew their swords.

Suddenly, Killua yawned loudly.

"Sheesh, don't get too excited, it's just your sister's match," Leorio said.

"Yeah, yeah," Killua shrugged. To everyone, Killua was just being rude, but Weiss knew that Killua was trying to get her attention. She looked at him and he started to blink.

When Weiss was younger, she noticed that Illumi and Winter would look at each other during family meetings. When they did, she would notice that they would blink, move their fingers, move strands of hair out of their faces. When Illumi or Winter were occupied during those meetings, the remaining twin was perfectly still.

Weiss asked Winter once, and she admitted that she and Illumi were sending each other messages. The blinking, the settle movements, all of it was just the twins talking to each other.

Weiss thought the idea was fun, so she created a similar code with Killua. The two could speak frankly during those meetings as well. Make fun of Milluki without him knowing, even talking behind Illumi's back when he was in front of him.

Now, Killua was talking to Weiss.

Blake actually seems tough. Do you want me to keep an eye out for any surprises just in case?

So, Killua could tell that Blake was strong. She might actually be on Weiss's level. Weiss responded to her little brother.

Don't worry. I got it.

Weiss looked back at Blake; the two girls stared each other down.

"You ready?" Blake asked, taking a stance.

Weiss took a stance with her rapier, "Yes."

A split second later, the two vanished then the sound of blades clashing, and sparks flew in the middle of the room.

Weiss kept trying to stab at Blake, while Blake used her sword and bladed sheath to block.

Black was using both sword and bladed sheath. She managed to block Weiss's strike then tried to stab at the white haired girl. But Weiss jumped back.

The group of friends watched but didn't say anything. They didn't know who to root for. Both Weiss and Blake had been friends and allies during the exam. They didn't know who to root for, well, except Killua.

"Come on Weiss, you can do better than that," Killua shouted, "Seriously even Milluki could do better."

"Shut up Killua," Weiss snapped before she attacked again.

Weiss managed to knock Blake's sword from her hand, or so it seemed. Blacked grabbed the ribbon and pulled. Gambol Shroud shifted into its chain sickle mode as she pulled it back.

Weiss back flipped over the weapon and landed on her feet.

Blake swung around her weapon. It was so fast it was like a black dome had appeared around Blake. Weiss was able to block all the attacks, then she dodged when it took off a shot.

Now the sickle swung even faster as it gave shot at Weiss.

Weiss dodged. This was so much more frustrating without Nen.

But Weiss knew she didn't need Nen as Black jumped into the air to swing her blade around.

Weiss stabbed her sword into the floor releasing ice dust. The floor froze over, when Blake landed she fell backwards.

Now was her chance, Weiss skated over the ice, blade in hand.

Blake still managed to block even on her back. Weiss jumped over and Blake rolled back to her feet and the two stabbed their blades towards each other, then… They stopped.

Blake's sword tip was an inch from Weiss's face. But Weiss's sword was at Blake's throat. It wasn't stabbed through her neck or cutting deep into her jugular. The tip was just barely pricking the faunus's neck. A small thread of blood began to trickle down.

Everyone watched in suspense at what they'd do next.

Then… both girls pulled away and put their weapons away.

"I forfeit," Blake called.

The judge nodded, "The winner is Weiss."

Weiss looked at Blake, "You'll win the next one."

Blake nodded, "I'm glad we agreed to not use Nen."

"Good luck at your next match," Weiss didn't know Blake to well. But she did know that Ruby and Gon liked her. And she knew Blake was a Nen user, so she spoke to her at the beginning.

"The first to land a real strike will win?" Blake asked.

"That's right," Weiss said, "You can tell can't you?"

"You're a Nen user," Blake confirmed.

"I am," Weiss said, "And we both seem to be strong. If we both go all out we might accidentally kill someone. We might kill Gon or Killua."

Blake looked down, "I don't want to kill anyone. I'm trying to become a Hunter to save lives."

"Then I think this deal should be good," Weiss suggested, "There are several more matches after ours. We both have plenty of chances to pass."

"And," Blake said, "If show off our skills we might intimidate future opponents into forfeiting if they're paired with us."

"Exactly, so?" Weiss held out her hand.

Blake looked at it for a second before taking it, "No Nen, and first to hit wins."

Weiss was pleased with herself. She passed the exam and got her license.

How do you like me now, Milluki and Illumi?

As she walked back to her friends, she glanced over at Hisoka. The creepy red-haired man was grinning. He must have enjoyed the performance. Then she spotted the man covered in piercings. He was looking at Weiss intently. She gave him a glare before looking ahead. Seriously, what was his problem?

Killua let out a sigh of relief when Weiss was declared winner. He saw Gon looking at him with a grin.

"What?"

"You were worried," Gon sang.

"Shut up, no I wasn't."

"Next up, Gon vs Hanzo."