"So, there's… Ruby, Weiss, Yang, Jaune… is it… Nina?"

"Nora," Sun corrected automatically as he adjusted Ghira's pauldron atop the deep purple silken fabric of his shirt. "Close, though."

Ilia made a slight face as she followed along, and shook her head. "Nora. Right. Ren… and then obviously Neptune, and… Sage."

"Sage, yeah. He's… coming along with us. It wasn't easy to convince him, but be nice. He can be a good guy," Sun added as he made his way along the cobblestone road.

"And that just leaves the adults. Ozpin is a given, and so is Cinnamon. The guy who owns the house is… shit…"

"Qrow," Sun finished for her. "I still haven't even met him, actually, but not bad. Not bad at all. You'll fit right in… I hope."

"Since when do I ever fit in?" Ilia asked with a weary sigh.

"Since you met me. You fit in perfectly with Blake and I, and Neptune likes you well enough. That's something, right?" Sun asked as the yard of the safe house came into view, with two figures standing near the walkup.

"It's certainly something, yeah. Neptune was honestly a total sweetheart last night, but if you ever tell him I said that, I'll kill you. I'm guessing that's Sage, standing next to him?" Ilia asked as she wrinkled her nose.

"That's Sage, alright. Tall, dark, and annoyed. Regardless of that, he's part of our team, now, so… make the best of it. I'm just glad he showed," Sun admitted as they approached the pair. Neptune gave them a hearty wave and cheesy grin as they walked up.

"Hey, girl! Long time no see!"

"It hasn't even been 24 hours, you turd," Ilia spat as she rolled her eyes. Sage completely ignored Sun as he turned to face Ilia, and offered a massive hand.

"Sage Ayana. You're Ilia, yeah?"

"Yeah," Ilia replied as she grasped his hand. She added a bit more force to the shake than necessary, and Sage let out an amused chuckle.

"I like her already. She's got a spine."

"Yeah, she does," Neptune added. "Welcome back to Team SINS, Ilia. We're glad to have you with us."

Sun brought his bandaged hand to his face and wiped it downward at the statement, before shaking his head. "Still the worst name ever. Anyway, should we wait out here for Cinnamon, or just head inside? I don't want to be the only ones late."

Ilia took out her scroll and checked it, before shaking her head. "She should be here waiting for us, but… I don't know. I guess we should head inside? She knows we're meeting, so if she comes late, she can just walk in, I guess?"

"I guess," Sun agreed. "Ladies first."

Ilia walked up the steps with Sage in tow, while Neptune and Sun remained on the grass for a moment. Neptune tapped Sun twice on the shoulder, before leaning in to whisper in his ear.

"So, did you and Blake have sex last night?"

Sun immediately recoiled away from Neptune as his cheeks began to burn. "What!? No! And I wouldn't tell you if we did!" Sun retorted in a low, breathy whisper.

Neptune's mouth fell open in shock. "You wouldn't? But I'm your wingman!"

"What part of 'boundaries' is so foreign to you? Wingman or not, what Blake and I do and don't do with each other is our business. Not yours," Sun hissed with a sense of finality as he and Neptune began to climb the steps.

"You are… pretty much the least fun person on the planet, right now. Just saying," Neptune accused as they entered the house.

"Give me my medal later. For now, get your head in the game, man. This is big stuff. Really big stuff," Sun warned as they followed Ilia and Sage into the living room. Sun's eyes widened and he blinked several times as he caught sight of not only Cinnamon standing on one side of the room, but another unexpected figure among the throng of people taking up the couches.

"Kali?" he asked with a genuine smile.

"Hey there," she replied with a small wave.

Blake nodded from her place on the couch between her team members. "I thought it would benefit us all to have Mom here, so I invited her."

Sun nodded, and did a visual sweep of the rest of the people present. Team RWBY occupied one couch together, while Qrow stood next to a reclining chair. Oscar Pine was sat within it, looking pensive and holding his cane, as Team JNR had crammed themselves onto a small loveseat across from RWBY. Finally, Kali stood at Ozpin's other side, while Cinnamon faced her, arms folded, from across the coffee table. Team SINS assembled next to her, and Oscar smirked as his eyes flashed a brilliant green and his intonation became businesslike.

"Well, that does indeed seem to be everyone… unexpected, but most welcome company included."

"Now, hold on a minute, here," Qrow said as he looked around the room with a critical eye. "Not only has this gotten to be a pretty cumbersome crew, but I personally don't know a few of you. Issues with the nature of the information we're going to be discussing aside, I doubt I'm the only one."

"He ain't wrong," Sage said as he folded his arms across his chest. "I've met some of you in passing, and some of you… I've got no idea."

"Well, there's a simple fix," Ruby said as she leaned forward. She rested her elbows upon her crossed legs and balled her hands under her chin as her eyes twinkled with enthusiasm. "Let's go around the room and introduce ourselves!"

Cinnamon's mouth quickly turned into a tight line at the girl's voice. "Sure. Then, maybe we can share what we did over summer break, and one interesting fact about ourselves, as well. Does it even matter? We all have a stake in this, and from the sounds of it, we're all in on protecting these relics and keeping them away from Salem."

Qrow blew out a tense breath and reached into his vest to grab for his flask. "Why the hell does she know about not only the relics, but Salem… and who even is that?"

"Why doesn't everyone know about both the relics, and Salem?" Yang seethed as she glared daggers at Oscar.

"Stop. Everyone, stop," Kali commanded as she made a 'T' symbol with her hands. "This isn't going to work if we don't get familiar, and clear the air. I'm with the little one. Team captains, introduce your crews, and then we'll pick up from there?"

Ruby quite literally leapt at the chance, gesturing enthusiastically to each member of her team. "I'm Ruby Rose, and this is Team RWBY! Weiss Schnee! But not in a bad way, in an awesome way! She's pretty cool, despite what some of you might assume by looking at her."

"Hey!"

"Next up is B-"

"Blake Belladonna. I'm pretty sure I'm the only common thread between everyone here, in some small way. We can introduce ourselves, Ruby," she added as she rolled her eyes.

"…aw, you're no fun," Ruby mumbled as she slouched over. After a heavy sigh, she flopped back onto the couch in a huff and crossed her arms.

"Yang Xiao Long. I've got nothing else to say, for now," Yang finished for her team as she gave the unfamiliar people around her a small wave.

"Right," Jaune said as he let out a weary exhale. "I'm Jaune Arc, leader of Team JNR. This here i-"

"Noraaaaaaaaaaaa Valkyrie!" the girl next to Jaune announced as she flung herself off the couch and spread her arms victoriously.

"…Lie Ren. Please, call me Ren," her partner added with the smallest of nods. "And please, Nora, sit down. You're embarrassing us."

Nora did as asked while Sun cracked his neck.

"Sun Wukong, leader of SINS. I… guess you should all know that Blake and I are a thing, if you didn't?"

"Oh my god, they're totally a thing! Called it!" Nora 'whispered' loudly into Ren's ear as he closed his eyes and held his head. Sun blushed as Nora smirked mischievously. "That's hot."

Blake buried her face in her hands as several pairs of eyes trained themselves upon her. "…can we just continue, please?"

"Ilia Amitola. I… knew Blake, growing up. Practically lived with her, after I lost my parents in a dust mining accident. I'm pretty familiar with Adam Taurus, since I used to be a member of the White Fang. Now, I'm on Team SINS," she finished as she gave a hesitant glance over to Cinnamon. The woman narrowed her eyes and glared through Ilia in a silent fury at the words as she crossed her arms.

"Yeah, so, Neptune Vasilias. Sun's wingman. I ride or die for our team… and any cute, single ladies in the room," Neptune said as he shot Weiss a wink. She merely rolled her eyes skyward and huffed, as Sage stepped forward slightly and thumped a fist against his chest.

"Sage Ayana. I'm with Neptune."

Sun scowled at the introduction, though he was silently thankful for the lack of context.

Kali moved to lean over the back of Team RWBY's couch, and ruffled her daughter's hair to get her to stop staring at the floor. Blake scoffed in protest and squirmed out from under the playful hand, only for Kali to smile wickedly.

"Kali Belladonna. Blake's mother, and leader of the Black Claw, a budding organization of faunus focused on peaceful protest, awareness, and progress."

Cinnamon merely shook her head as all eyes fell upon her. She spoke in a venomous tone, and kept her eyes locked on Kali. "…Cinnamon Shoal. High Leader of the White Fang. Things will be different moving forward, and we are no threat to all of you. If I hadn't thrown my lot in with… 'Team SINS', Haven Academy would be in ruins. So, whatever opinions you have about me, or my organization… keep them to yourselves, for tonight. That can be dealt with later."

Qrow turned his skeptical gaze from Cinnamon to Sun. "Is that true, Sun?"

"Completely. She and Ilia working together are what stopped Adam from detonating explosives planted around the school," he answered. "I know 'White Fang' sounds bad, and in some ways, it is, but… Cinnamon's a friend. We need her."

Qrow took a long pull from his flask, and then made a noise of discomfort. "Then that's good enough for me, for one night. Qrow Branwen. Ozpin's right hand man, and owner of this house."

"And that leaves me. I am Professor Ozpin, headmaster of Beacon Academy, though…" he paused and his eyes flickered once again, before the small boy lurched forward in his seat and gasped for breath. "Could you warn me before you do that!?"

Oscar shook his head and looked at the faces around the room. He settled on looking at Kali, who seemed fairly confused and concerned.

"I'm… also Oscar Pine. I used to live on a farm with my aunt, but… Professor Ozpin lives inside of my mind, now. I guess you could say I'm his… host." Without another word, his eyes flared once again, and the cadence of his voice returned to what it had been before. "That should clarify things, somewhat."

"…somewhat," Kali agreed. "How do we even go about discussing things? There are a lot of issues on the table."

"Simple," Cinnamon replied. "No matter what happens, my primary focus is reinventing the White Fang according to my vision. Because of that, I won't be traveling with you, or even interacting with most of you after tonight. Let me tell you all my next steps, and then I'll just listen in before determining how to support your cause from the sidelines."

Qrow took another drink, and looked down to Ozpin, who nodded slowly.

"Very well, Miss Shoal. You have the floor."

"It's pretty simple, really. I, and the Fang in the surrounding areas still loyal to me," she said with an annoyed glance at Kali, "are returning to the White Fang main encampment in Mistral. There, I will formally take the mantle of High Leader, before publicly denouncing Adam Taurus and all of his actions while he was in that position. Given that he and I used to be lovers, I still have his contact information… and I took the liberty of misleading him, after he ran from Haven. I told him that you all were setting out for Vacuo within a matter of days, and he's already begun moving in that direction. I plan to have authorities meet him along the way, and take care of him for us. By that point, it will be far too late for him to do anything about my deception, and he'll be either behind bars or dead, if he's stupid enough to resist. After that, I'll be sending messengers out to all major cities to clarify the new direction for the White Fang, and establish our foothold in the global scale of power."

Ozpin merely nodded as he slowly rotated his cane back and forth. "Removal of Adam Taurus from any position to support Salem is indeed very helpful. I know for a fact that he has had dealings with her, and the now deceased Cinder Fall. While I hesitate to celebrate the continued forward progress of the White Fang… you've done good work thus far, Miss Shoal."

"Is that everything?"

All eyes turned to Yang as she searched Cinnamon's face.

"…what do you mean?" Cinnamon asked.

"Is that everything?" Yang pressed through clenched teeth. "I'm getting really tired of people who think they're better than us 'kids' holding back information and making excuses later. I don't know you, so I'm giving you the benefit of the doubt based on Sun's word alone. If you are hiding something, I'm going to be pissed, later."

"Yes. That's everything. Ball's in your court," Cinnamon said with a nod.

"I know it probably doesn't mean much," Ilia stated, "but I'll vouch for her, too. We can trust Cin."

"Noted," Qrow offered as he gestured his flask outward. "Anyone else wanna say anything, before Oz gets into the specifics of the plan? That's our priority right now."

"Nothing that can't wait," Kali said from behind the couch. "Go ahead."

Oscar stood from his chair and braced his cane against the floor as he looked around the room. "This… is not necessarily something that the majority of you are going to want to hear, but it is the truth. Our safest bet at the moment would be to bring the relic of knowledge to Atlas, and house it within the academy there. Between the Atlesian military, the fighters assembled here, students, and fortifications of the academy itself, the school is the best place to put the relic in order to protect it. However, traveling as a party of fourteen is hardly inconspicuous. Some of you will not be joining us on the road ahead."

"What!?" Nora cried in disbelief. "Professor, we need all the help we can get! Even if it's a lot of people, isn't that a positive? Look at everyone here willing to fight for what's right!"

Weiss shook her head as her expression became melancholy. "While that is nice to see, Professor Ozpin is correct. Traveling with a group of this size, especially while trying to get into Atlas, is going to cause problems. It just isn't practical."

"If I may," Jaune began in a soft voice, "Team JNR may be more useful elsewhere. If you can think of a task for us, Professor, we… maybe we should go."

Nora gave Jaune a furious look of disbelief. "Ren, don't you dare tell me you agree with him."

Ren closed his eyes and exhaled through his nose. "I… don't. I can mask our signatures from oncoming grimm, and our human enemies won't know our location, if we're careful. I think there is another way. A way that involves all of us."

"Listen. Kid," Qrow said as he rattled his flask and frowned as no liquid sloshed around within it. "I like you. I really do, but we need to make some sacrifices here, for the greater good. Team JNR may be better off on the sidelines, especially if your leader is making that offer… and it might sound cold, but we don't need the girl with the broken arm. She's a liability."

"Excuse me?" Ilia fumed. "With Jaune helping me out, my arm will be fine in a matter of a week or so, and I have value outside of just combat! You don't even know me!"

"And you don't know the specifics of our situation. Atlas, the upper half, isn't exactly accepting of faunus to begin with, and the entire city is on lockdown. No civilian airships in, no civilian airships out. We'd be lucky to sneak one or two people in, let alone fourteen. We also might not have an entire week, before we need to move. I'm sorry, but you're the obvious choice to go. Oz?" Qrow asked.

"…Miss Amitola. Please, be reasonable," Oscar said in a sympathetic tone as Sun glared daggers at him and other people around the room began to mumble and whisper amongst themselves.

Ilia grit her teeth, as Neptune put a heavy hand on her shoulder. "Alright, you know what? I'm not usually 'that guy', but I'm not just letting this happen. Ilia comes with us, and it's not up for debate. Team SINS is a package deal. We stood here and fought for you at Haven, without even being asked to have your back. You owe us to let us help you, in a situation this serious. I've been hearing 'fate of the world' literally thrown around the past few days, and you're going to push away volunteers to hold down one of the apocalypse macguffins?"

Sun closed his eyes and focused on breathing calmly as his tail flicked against the floor behind himself. Qrow shook his head as he stored his flask back in his vest, and sighed.

"That's not a decision you get to make. If SINS is a package deal, then you know what? Let's just get rid of all of you. Your help was appreciated, but we made it this far without you," Qrow stated plainly.

"And just like that, three faunus are thrown to the side, despite their contributions that saved your entire operation. How incredibly typical," Cinnamon mused. "If that's how it is, then why don't the three of you come with me, and join the White Fang? I could guide the faunus to secure the relic in Vacuo, while the more important humans deal with the relic of knowledge."

Oscar shook his head as he gave Cinnamon a very serious look. "The Vacuo relic is not yours to protect, Miss Shoal. I don't know you well enough to trust you with a task like that, and Mr. Ayana will not be joining us, either. This is hardly an attack on faunus."

Blake snarled as she stood from the couch. "You know what? If this is how we're going to go about this, then I'm out, too. We've had multiple conflicts over staying together, and suddenly Team RWBY is the only one that's 'useful' to you?"

Qrow put a hand on his forehead and snorted. "That's rich, coming from you. Anyone else want to just duck out, and make this eas-"

"Enough!"

Slowly, everyone turned to look at Sun, who had his eyes on the floor. His hands were balled into fists and shaking slightly as he took a deep breath, and looked up to glare at Oscar.

"This… is bullshit. I don't care about the reasons, and I don't care about what you think is right. Team RWBY is obviously your preferred vehicle for this relic, and you know what? That's pretty damned obvious, even to me. That means it's also obvious to our enemies. You want to split up? Then fine, we'll split up… but we'll do it with the intent of rejoining, and we'll do it in a way that's smart. Giving the relic to RWBY and telling the rest of us to get bent isn't just stupid, it's suicide. The minute they see Ruby headed to Atlas, Salem's crew is going to know what you're doing," Sun said in a commanding tone.

Silence fell over the room, until Yang slowly nodded.

"…he's right. Sun is absolutely right. Ruby's got a trump card in her silver eyes, and yeah, we get results, but we're going to be watched. If we're carving out a small crew to carry that thing to Atlas, it should be anyone but us."

Oscar looked between the two teens, before settling on Sun. "Mr. Wukong… unless I'm mistaken, it sounds like you have something in mind."

Sun took several more breaths, and rubbed at his temples. "…yeah. Give me the relic, and a small crew."

"No," Qrow fired back immediately. "That thing is far too dangerous to put in the hands of someone who hasn't been here f-"

"Shut up!" Sun snapped. "Would you… just shut up and listen to me, before I completely lose my shit, alright!? Your boss asked, so I'm going to lay it out, nice and simple. Give me the relic, and give me Blake, Yang, and Neptune. The four of us will get it to Atlas, a-"

Ilia cleared her throat loudly, only for Sun to whirl on her with a sympathetic look.

"Ilia, as much as I'm starting to hate him, he's got a point- you're not fit for this. Not yet. I have a plan, if you'll just listen for a minute and trust me."

Ilia searched Sun's eyes, before she turned away, looking hurt. "…I trust you. This better be good."

"Kali… you're heading out to try to establish the Black Claw as a legitimate, recognized force in Mistral, right?" Sun asked.

"Right. I don't know where I'll be," she admitted.

"Then Ilia, I want you, Jaune, and Qrow with her."

Qrow leaned forward slightly as he tried to understand the statement. "You wanna run that by me again, kid? Even if we were to follow this, where's the logic?"

"…please let him finish," Ruby said with a shaky voice. "I want to know where this is going. There's something to this."

"There is," Sun reassured. "Yang?"

"Yo?" came the response.

"Your mother. Raven. The Spring Maiden. Her semblance allows her to make portals to people she cares about, right? That's what Weiss told us… and I'm guessing that means she can make a bridge to both you, and Qrow," Sun said.

"That's right, yeah… but we don't know where she is. Why?" Yang asked as she leaned forward.

"Exactly," Sun replied. "Having a known maiden in an unknown location seems really, really bad right now… and think about it. Ruby, Weiss, Ozpin, Sage, Nora, and Ren. Together, you guys should be able to find her, somehow. That's also a sizable crew, and the one that Salem would think is carrying the relic with them. It's a perfect setup to draw fire away from my smaller party."

Oscar nodded in understanding as he began to slowly pace in front of his chair. "…and when Raven is located, and the four of you are safely within Atlas… she can take us to Qrow, Ilia, Jaune, and Kali, and then all of us to Yang, and the rest of you."

"Yes," Sun said with a cathartic exhale. "That's exactly what I'm thinking. A party of four to Atlas, four to establish the Claw and get Ilia back in fighting shape, and the rest to find Raven and then bring us all together again, instantly, while our enemies have no idea what happened."

Qrow mulled over the proposition, before cracking his knuckles. "…alright, I'll admit, that's a solid plan in theory, but it has two big problems, kiddo. One- Raven's not going to cooperate. Two- even with a party of four, we've got no ideas yet for getting past the Atlas lockdown."

Oscar looked up at Qrow, and a sort of unseen conversation seemed to pass between them before Ozpin spoke again. "…leave Raven to me. I can convince her, so long as we find her."

Yang's nostrils flared as her eyes seemed to almost burn crimson for a brief moment. "What the hell is that supposed to mean? What do you have on my mom?"

Oscar didn't reply, and kept his gaze on the floor below.

"…as for Atlas, I can get it done," Cinnamon said. "I can get those four into the lower half of the city, at the very least, without raising any sort of suspicion. I don't even have to be there to do it. I'll supply a boat, and plans for taking down detection systems at the port in Argus. They'll have no idea you're even there."

Weiss stood up with a concerned look. "Excuse me, but how and why do you have access to those things?"

"Simple," Cinnamon replied. "An elaborate plan exists to destroy your family's mansion and knock Upper Atlas out of the sky. That was Adam's endgame. I never intended to let it happen, but traveling to Lower Atlas via Argus was always step one. That much could still prove useful, even now."

Yang was next to stand up and glare at Cinnamon as she threw her hands up. "What happened to you telling us everything!?"

"Those plans were literally headed for a paper shredder! I wasn't going to bring them up, because that was Adam's brainchild, not mine! Destroying Atlas is not something I would endorse, period. Sending a message about the corruption of the SDC by crashing a floating city into a grounded one and killing countless faunus isn't only counterproductive, it's downright insane," Cinnamon clarified.

"Alright, alright!" Qrow interrupted. "Whatever. Fine. Oz, is this really what we're going with?"

Oscar furrowed his brows and slowly rotated his cane against the floor as he considered the notion. "…in all honesty… I think we should give it a shot. Mr. Wukong, you've made some very good points, and the intention to reunite and make a stand at Atlas has me convinced that your heart is in the right place."

Sun let out a massive sigh of relief and held a hand up to his forehead as Kali moved out from behind the couch.

"One last thing, in that case- I know a guy in town who can make counterfeit jewelry, weapons… you name it. Let me borrow the relic for a few days, and he can make a facsimile for the squad going after Raven to carry. That'll give us one more layer of deception to work with, especially if you all keep it out in the open for all to see. Draw the enemy as far from Atlas as you can, once you have Raven located, and then warp away. It'll buy us even more time, as a collective."

Oscar nodded, and returned to his chair. "Very good. I'll be joining you in making the copy, to keep watch over the relic. Everyone… you have your assignments. My team, we will leave the moment the forged relic is complete. Kali- you, Ilia, Qrow, and Jaune will do the same. Mr. Wukong… I want you to wait here for three days, before going to the train station at the edge of town, and heading for Argus. Is that clear?"

"Crystal," Sun replied.

"Good. Then, let us all get some rest, and enjoy what little downtime we have," Ozpin instructed.

Sun nodded and began to walk immediately as he waved a beckoning hand to his crew. "Team SINS, meeting in my room. We need to talk about a few things."

A sudden rush of noise broke out in the main room as several people turned to address each other all at once. Weiss frowned slightly as she rubbed her forehead, and Ruby stood up to look her over with concern.

"You okay, Weiss?"

"I… I'll be fine, but I think I need some fresh air. I'll be right back," she said as she turned and headed for the hall. Weiss pushed through the front door and walked to the porch, before folding her arms atop the railing and hanging her head to sigh. The sound of padded footsteps echoed not far behind her, and she raised her head and turned to see Cinnamon walk out onto the porch.

"…Schnee. I'm going to need that favor."

Author's Note:

Volume 6 is going to be very different… though a few things will indeed remain intact.

Next update on Monday.

-RD