Just keep your eyes on Pyrrha, eyes forward, one hand on her cloak, and don't get separated.

That was the mantra Ruby repeated as they all waded single file through the veritable sea of stranded people to either side of them through the various terminals of Vale's aerodrome. Even when she wasn't looking she could smell the clustered reek of people who hadn't, no, couldn't get a proper bath for who knows how long. She could hear the low murmur from the crowds around her, which was paradoxically almost deafening yet still disturbingly quiet for the sheer volume of people here. Compared to the nervous excitement of Beacon's auditorium, or the excited ups and downs of the Vytal Arena it was just… low and sad.

Pyrrha stopped to orient herself, looking at what Ruby was guessing were different gate numbers and directions while occasionally looking back down at the letter tightly clenched in one hand. Ruby felt a slight tug on her own cloak from the side and looked to see a little girl, looking up at her with pink eyes and a matching nest of messy hair on top of her head, "You're a Huntress right, d-do you think you could help get us-?"

Before Ruby could respond the girl was scooped by a very apologetic-looking mother, "Carnation, I told you not to run off, don't bother them they're-" Just like that, they withdrew back into the crowd, joining the ocean of voices and faces that were all around them and Ruby sighed, eyes downcast.

"Yeah, this… sucks," Nora said from behind her, brows furrowed into a sad frown while Ruby huffed in agreement.

"Just another reason why we're on this mission," Ren said from behind Nora, his steely gaze focused on the crowd of people. "So this doesn't have to happen again to anyone."

/

"Alright everyone, our contact should be up ahead soon, so keep an eye out." Pyrrha looked back at the group, her tired emerald eyes quickly checking over them, and everyone gave a brief, tired nod of confirmation. From what little Ruby could see the area they were entering was normally used for smaller or private flights that couldn't use airbridges to board.

"I think I found them," Ren said, pointing to the right, as Ruby stood on her toes to see. There was a flight attendant holding a small but visible sign with Pyrrha's name on it. She felt Pyrrha begin pulling her cloak over her shoulders and Ruby let go, frowning as she watched Pyrrha look side to side nervously before she finally made her way over to the woman, with Ruby, Nora, and Ren following behind.

"Miss Nikos, yes?" The woman asked,

"Yes, that's me." Pyrrha handed her the letter, which the woman quickly looked at before nodding and handing it back.

"Follow me." She said, quickly leading them to one of the doors out onto the tarmac and to the airship that was waiting for them and… wow, this was definitely someone's private vessel. It was a sleek, long-bodied, green and silver thing, that tapered slowly outwards in the back. Their guide led the four to the open passenger ramp on the side, where she stopped and asked them to wait while she retrieved the captain to greet them.

Ruby's eyes drifted to the sky as they waited and she couldn't help but gawk at the truly massive flow of airships taking off and landing from the aerodrome. It wasn't just standard passenger ships either, as there were more than a few bulky cargo ships and military vessels of various stripes taking off and landing at various points with people being loaded onto them while orbiting above were Valean and even a few Vacuan and Mistralian warships. Despite the circumstances behind it, Ruby couldn't help but feel her heart warm at the sight of the kingdoms of the world banding together to help.

Looking back to the opulent vehicle slated for them Ruby couldn't help but cringe at the luxury craft they were lucky enough to be slated to ride on while some poor people were stuck getting home on literal dust haulers. And poor Pyrrha probably felt even-

A male voice broke Ruby's reverie "I apologize for the wait Miss Nikos, I hope she fits your expectations so far, the Zephyr looks even better on the inside than on the out, easily the Council's finest."

A middle-aged fellow descended down the ramp to greet them. He had striking green hair and he was presumably the captain from his uh, captainy hat and uniform. Weiss was usually the person who knew this kinda stuff…

Pyrrha grimaced, her posture rigid "I'm glad such… special considerations are being given to me, captain…?"

"Captain Conifer, at your service. If you may ah, I have on records your two teammates, one Lie Ren and one Nora Valkyrie but…" His pale green eyes flashed to Ruby "I was presumably expecting one Jaune Arc not… who are you?."

Ruby shrunk back a little bit, and she noticed her three friends all winced as they looked away from the man at the reminder of their missing leader.

"I-I'm Ruby Rose and Jaune… h-he fought at Beacon and, h-he's not with us anymore..."

The man frowned, "Ah, I apologize for breaching that topic and I'm truly sorry I have to say this Miss Nikos but… Miss Rose doesn't have approval to enter Mistral."

Wait what, nonono-

"That's bullcrap, why can't Ruby come?" Nora growled.

"I'm sorry, Miss Valkyrie, but only Miss Nikos and her teammates were authorized to board this flight. Mistral is on rather high alert when it comes to who may enter and exit the Kingdom."

"Heightened security due to the attacks on Vale?" Ren asked.

The captain nodded "The revelations that some of the perpetrators were Mistralian students has made the Council understandably cautious. I'm not saying she won't be able to come but I'll need to contact the council and with CCT down-"

"That could take weeks! We can't wait that long, especially now that everyone is going to know we're leaving!" Ruby said, her eyes narrowing in frustration.

"Yes, it may be quite a while." He tutted sadly.

Pyrrha's nostrils flared, her fists clenching, "We're all a team now, we fought at Beacon together and-"

"Miss Nikos, that isn't what is in the records," He stared at Pyrrha with a look Ruby just couldn't really make out. It wasn't frustration, it was… expectant?

"I wasn't done yet. I'll compensate you with…" She pulled out a stack of Lien chips, "This much up front, and five times the amount once we get to Mistral as I can wire you from my accounts if you're willing to look past this little informality, and are willing to keep silent about me getting back to anyone that isn't the Council. If anything leaks to the press I'll know it was you, the deal will be off, and the Council will know you tried to extort me."

He looked at the stack of Lien, humming and hawwing for a moment when he finally finished, pulling away from Pyrrha and looking back at Ruby smiling, "Welcome aboard Miss Rose."

/

The interior of the airship was nice, with two couches, a bedroom, a television, and a bunch of other amenities listed off by the flight attendant that Ruby didn't bother remembering, biting her lip as she bounced her leg while she, Ren, and Nora sat on the couches waiting for Pyrrha to exit the cockpit where she was 'clearing up the details' a bit more with the captain. The cabin was silent, and she let out a small yawn. Gods she was tired but… she know she wouldn't be able to sleep if she didn't-

Pyrrha finally entered the cabin, joining Ruby on the sofa as the airship began to gently sway from takeoff. "Sorry about the wait, but on the bright side, we're finally leaving. He said the flight should be about-"

"Pyrrha, d-did you just bribe him?! You're always so honest and-and that's illegal!" Ruby said.

Pyrrha sighed, shoulders falling but it was Ren who spoke up, his brow furrowed in worry, "Ruby… how much do you know about Mistral and just… how things work there?"

"Umm, well I've never really left the kingdom, uh by that I mean Vale! But... I know it has a lotta people and is the biggest kingdom, and they like arts and culture and… Oh oh, I think Uncle Qrow mentioned that it was kinda seedy and had a lotta Torchwick types, and Blake said it was kinda racist and… yeah." She said, cutting herself off before she started just babbling.

"That is all true if rather on the surface level, half of Mistrali culture isn't even theirs…" Pyrrha snorted before continuing, "Anyways, what Ren means is the way the law works in Mistral is far more… fluid in how it's applied than most places. Mistral is very much reliant on 'favors' and well, just what you saw me do."

Nora nodded, "Yeah, Pyrrha's right. When me and Ren came to Vale it took a long time to get used to cops not hassling you just so they could shake some spare Lien out of you because it turns out you were 'jaywalking.'"

"Or the other end of the problem, that someone could shake off legitimate criminal allegations and violations of the law by throwing money at the problem. Two underage orphans shouldn't have been able to legally keep a grenade launcher… but it managed to come with us all the way to Beacon." Ren gave a look to Nora who gave an innocent smile as her eyes looked away.

"B-but we're Huntresses we shouldn't be… doing bad stuff just because everyone else does it! How do things get better?" Ruby said, eyes bouncing between her friends at just how blasé they were about bribery and-and threats!

Pyrrha sagged, "Trust me Ruby, my mother and I come from Argus, and the way most of Mistral works was something that took some… getting used to. She managed to mostly keep my hands clean of such affairs but… it's not that simple."

"Good people have tried to fix things, and they either lose their jobs because of bosses and colleagues who are in on it, or get killed by criminals as a warning." Ren said sharply, before his voice softened, "I don't mean to say there aren't good people, or that Mistral is entirely lawless but… I just don't want you to get hurt."

"When it's either sticking true to yourself and getting bogged down or being able to help people the best we can, I'm okay with parting with some Lien and making a teeny compromise, so I can do what's right. That's why we're taking this airship ride after all." Nora's blue eyes flicked over to Pyrrha

Pyrrha's posture straightened somewhat, "Nora's right. We're getting special treatment that probably skirts more than a few laws and I know I'll owe the Council some sort of favors… but I think we can all agree that it's more important we get to Haven now before the trail runs cold, rather than taking who knows how long otherwise by boat."

Ren and Nora nodded while Ruby just slouched in on herself, drawing her cloak over her shoulders. "I-I wasn't accusing you of anything it just… it still feels wrong is all." All those poor people like that girl and her mom were stranded and they were just… cheating their way past that.

Pyrrha put a hand gently onto Ruby's shoulder and smiled, "There's nothing wrong with feeling bad about this Ruby. While it may be something we have to unfortunately deal with, if everyone felt the way you do, the way we do, about how things work in Mistral it wouldn't be a problem anyone would have to deal with."

Ruby gave them a weak smile in response, "Yeah, I-I know you're just trying to keep me informed and stuff and that's my job as… lead-as a Huntress so I don't get into trouble because I don't know any better, and mess up the mission. So thanks, it… means a lot."

/

After taking off the four had decided to get some shuteye, as having to wake up so early to travel all the way to Vale had been rough on everyone. Nora and Ren took the bed while Pyrrha and Ruby each took a sofa. However, even with the airship they were on being faster than most, travel between Vale all the way to the city of Mistral was still a very very long affair...

"I'm booooored" Nora groaned as she slumped over onto Ren's lap who gently lifted her up back into a sitting position, offering her a small chiding smile… before Nora immediately flopped back into his lap. Pyrrha couldn't help but grin a bit at her two teammates' antics.

"It might not be the most fun thing but it's important and it'll pass the time for sure," Ruby said as she popped off the couch.

Ruby's eyes flashed with inspiration before she popped off the couch, spun around, and began riffling through her backpack. It was surprising how much energy Ruby had especially since Pyrrha knew she hadn't had any coffee. Letting out a loud "Aha!" Ruby pulled out a notebook and SLAMMED it onto the coffee table, causing Pyrrha to pull back in surprise.

Ren looked at the notebook and his eyebrow quirked up in confusion, Your… diary?"

"I haven't been writing diary stuff now for a long time, but it's a good place to hide our adventure plans and all the notes and thoughts I've been taking on the perpetrators of this attack. We couldn't really talk about it before 'cause Dad might catch wind of what we are doing especially since everyone knows everyone on Patch and we were just…" Her eyes softened as she looked away, "Trying to cheer up… But," Her tone raised again and she pointed a finger upward, "Now that we are officially on our mission and stuff we can and should totally talk about it.."

Nora sprung upright, Ren quickly pulling his head out of the way so he didn't get smacked, "Now you're talking! We discuss what's up with these sickos so when we catch em, we know all their weakness and can break their legs!"

"I concur with Nora." Ren said.

"I think that's a wonderful idea Ruby, but… just give me a quick second before we start," Pyrrha said before she closed her eyes, clasping her hands together. She slowly began reaching out with her Polarity, caressing the insides of the airship and the appliances as she searched for any unwanted listeners. After about a solid minute she opened her eyes to the quizzical stares of her friends.

"Ah sorry about zoning out there, I was just making sure no one had any listening devices, just in case," Pyrrha said.

"Ohhhh wow, that's so cool! Did you pick it up because of like, sneaky Mistral uh, shadyness?" Ruby asked.

"I always saw ya doing that in the lockers but I thought it was just you doing some meditation or fiddling with your armor. You were that worried even at Beacon and the Vytal Festival?" Nora added, her blue eyes looking at Pyrrha with a hint of concern.

"No, this was for a different type of 'shadiness' as Ruby put it, that's sadly a problem in every Kingdom. When you're a celebrity there are always unscrupulous parts of the paparazzi who will go to rather extreme lengths to pick up any sort of private conversation and well… pictures."

Ruby's eyes widened for a moment before her face screwed up into a gag, Ren let out a simple "Ah" even as his hands clenched into fists, and Nora looked Pyrrha dead in the eyes "Seriously Pyrrha if you ever have creepers who need their kneecaps busted just tell us."

Pyrrha waved her off, "Thank you Nora, but it's fine. It's definitely not a new problem, and certainly rather small compared to what we're dealing with now. We are alone for now, though, so Ruby, if you could do the honors?

"Oh yeah right, well all righty then let's get started." Ruby picked up her notebook and began reading, "Alright so team ABER are our suspects, which uh, consists of uh, Ash Autumn, Mercury Black, Emerald Sustrai, and we all know that those three were involved for sure but also um, one Renata Plombira? I don't know if anyone saw her but given her team, I wouldn't be surprised if she was in on it and we just didn't see her."

"We do need to consider all of them are coming under false names when we look for them. If they were infiltrating Haven Academy they were likely getting in on with falsified documentation," Ren said.

"Yeah, I mean like, her name is Ash Autumn and she's the Fall Maiden who shoots fireballs? No one's real name could be THAT on the nose." Nora added.

Pyrrha muttered darkly, "And their team name is pronounced Amber." Her friends looked at her with confusion and she explained, "Amber was the name of the previous Fall Maiden, the one whose powers were stolen. It's like she was taunting us, taunting everyone,"

"I didn't really see Ash much in person but what little I saw she seemed kinda quiet and stuff and Emerald said she had social anxiety, but," Ruby deflated "that's probably a lie like everything else about Emerald."

"Yes from my encounter with the witch," Pyrrha's hands grabbed the edges of her sash and squeezed, "She'd be better described as cruel, and arrogant, and evil, and monstrous and-!"

She felt Ruby's hand on her shoulder and Pyrrha's eyes widened as she realized the metal cutlery from their last meal had been crushed by her Polarity. Closing her eyes she just breathed, for a few seconds before opening them again, looking to see Ren and Nora across from her looking at her with concern, and Pyrrha's eyes flicked away from them.

"I-I'm sorry for bringing it up, I shouldn't have- I should have suggested something else. " Ruby stuttered as she closed her journal and began putting it away.

"Yeah, maybe let's do something else more-"

Pyrrha cut Nora off. "Don't worry about me I-I'm not broken like-" she cut herself off before she could mention Ruby's sister, "I'm fine… we can't stop our mission because I-I get a little emotional after all. Let's talk about Mercury, he's next on the list."

Pyrrha's eyes darted between the floor, ceiling, her own legs, anywhere that wasn't her friends so she didn't have to see the pity that'd be on their faces. She prayed they just… took the out she gave and didn't push it.

There was a few seconds of awkward silence before Ruby awkwardly cleared her throat. "Well umm, uh, I know Mercury was uh back on his feet…" There was a very long pause, during which Ruby grumbled something about Yang and 'her stupid puns' before she continued. "Ahem anyways so uh, I know he wasn't crippled despite pretending he was, but I have no clue how! I was thinking he had some sort of enhanced healing semblance that could have him like, heal stuff most people couldn't but we have no clue and-"

"I think I actually have an idea." Pyrrha interjected, "When I fought him in a spar back at Beacon, I noticed a lot of metal beyond just those boots with my Polarity. I didn't think anything of it at the time but now that you mention it…"

\\\

The four had talked about Team ABER for about an hour or so before they decided to call for a break, and while Pyrrha didn't know how much new information they'd genuinely garnered, they at least had a strong idea of what to research once they finally reached Haven Academy.

They'd spent the rest of the day talking, playing a lot of cards (which Ren swept), getting some dinner, and watching a few movies until everyone but Pyrrha had fallen asleep on the sofas. She had retired to the bedroom and while she hoped to get some sleep to avoid the travel lag, she noticed the book that must have been left on the nightstand and well, there's a saying about a good book and time…. Needless to say, Pyrrha didn't get much sleep.

"This is your captain speaking, we should be arriving at Mistral at Haven Academy with an ETA of approximately ten minutes."

Pyrrha slid off the bed, putting down the copy of the dryly named The Decline of Religion After the Great War, making a note to herself to buy her own copy once in Mistral. She should probably go check on her friends, based on the current silence they were probably still asleep in the main lounge. She wanted to make sure they were able to see the view before they landed

Pyrrha entered the lounge and smiled at the sight of her friends. Ren was sprawled across on one couch, while Nora lay on top of him, head resting on his chest with one arm wrapped around him while the other was hanging over the edge of the couch.

Ruby, on the other hand, was curled up on the edge of the other sofa, a small puddle of drool leaking onto her cloak, which was wrapped around her, though as she moved closer to wake Ruby up Pyrrha's smile quickly faded as she noticed the faint trembling, fidgets, and the slight whimpers coming from the sleeping girl.

"Ruby, are you okay? W-we're landing soon." Pyrrha sat next to her, softly laying a hand on Ruby's back,

Ruby gasped and her silver eyes shot open, flailing for something and nearly hitting Pyrrha in the face before stopping, her breath heavy.

"Oh-oh crap I'm sorry Pyrrha. I-"

"It's fine Ruby, even if you did hit me, accidents happen. Are you okay? That looked like a rather fierce nightmare."

Ruby just waved her hand, and brushed Pyrrha off, "Nah, I-I'm good trust me Pyrrha. You said something about us landing soon I think, we should probably wake up Ren and Nora."

Pyrrha sighed as Ruby changed the topic and watched as she walked over to Ren and Nora, gently shaking Pyrrha's teammates awake. After they made sure they had no loose items taken out of their bags during the trip, Pyrrha led the three over to a window.

As Mistral and the twin peaks the city was built into entered closer and closer into view Ruby pulled closer to the window, eyes focused on Haven Academy straddling Mistral's twin peaks, Nora's eyes widened and her breath hitched, and Ren stood behind, eyes flicking between different buildings and locations Pyrrha could only guess at.

"It's actually beautiful from all the way up here," Ren murmured and Pyrrha had to agree. No matter how many times she made the trip by airship and her own feelings on the city it never stopped being beautiful, even when they would be heading into the lion's den soon enough.

/

And here we go Chapter four is finally here wooooo! Sorry about the wait but this one hit the beta and revisions twice which is why it took till Monday and the time I'd slated working on A Rose Blooms in Autumn's next chapter. I hope the wait is worth it and this chapter fits up to y'alls standards, a slower one but still establishing some key plot and character elements. And yes, Cinder is using a fake identity I didn't change her name! Thoughts, criticisms, feedback, and ofc speculation are always loved and appreciated.