Big Issues
AN: Welcome back everyone, sorry for the wait as I've been a bit busy elsewhere. On the other hand, I'd like to thank splendidd1 for the faves and follows. Not too much to say here besides... enjoy the chapter!
Headmasters
"Are you sure that you had no idea of what we were about to get into?"
The conversation between Qrow and Leonardo had started out well enough, happy greetings, tea and cake, but the latest mission was inevitable.
"I swear on my life I didn't know!" Leo shakes his head. "We both know what the standard response is to a Gluttony."
"Hmph! We should count ourselves lucky that those things are as dangerous to us as it is to other Grimm." Qrow backs off as he leans into the plush chair, letting the cushions help ease his sore body.
"How are the children? I hope they are doing well."
"Honestly… they are doing better than expected." Qrow admits, which made the lion visibly relax. "Probably had something to do with what happened at Beacon and dealing with all the crap during their trip here."
"It's a shame that they've had to go through so much at their age." Leo says, his voice full of regret. Of the four Headmasters, he had always been the one who wore his heart on his sleeve and was most empathetic to his students.
"It is the job they chose and continued to pursue." Qrow says with a mix of pride and regret. "Kinda like the folks who make sure the sewers are working, gotta go through a lotta shit but it's needed to keep society going."
"That's… not a metaphor I would have used but you are correct." Leo admits with a grimace.
"But how did you get the call about the Grimm anyway? With that jammer in it, we couldn't get a message out even with the airship, and we parked well outside the town. And Gluttony aren't exactly fast."
"Unfortunately, we may never know the details. Perhaps she saw it at a distance before that device could interfere. But we do have warning systems, an all clear signal that is turned off until the danger has passed. We monitor those signals and send teams out to check on them after a period of time." Leonardo explains.
"How long?"
"It's a system we've used for years."
"No. How long do you wait?"
His eyes focused on the desk between them. "Forty eight hours."
That understandably made Qrow upset. "Two days?! Leo, those are lives on the line and you wait two days? It was a seven hour flight just to get there!" From there he began to pace the room mumbling curses.
"I know it's not the best but it is what we have to work with!" The lion raised his voice before calming down now that he stopped the ranting. "As I told you when you arrived last week, Mistral has the largest territory of any kingdom. That also makes it harder to protect, not counting when we lost so many after how the Vytal Festival went."
That calmed Qrow down. "Don't have to remind me, I was in the middle of it."
"Then you understand my feelings on the matter as well. It will be years before we train enough new Huntsmen to replace those lost then."
"Alright, I get it. I better get back to the kids before they do something stupid." Qrow stretches before reaching for the door, where he paused. "Oh, by the way."
"Hmm?"
"How's that request with the Council to go after Spring?"
"Hmmm… given the circumstances with that Grimm and the fact that it was your team that took down two major threats to Mistral, they have begun to look into it in earnest."
"So…?"
"I should have an answer for you in a day or two."
"Alright, I'll let them know. Call me as soon as they make a decision." Qrow gives him a small grin as he makes a phone gesture by his ear.
With the door closed and now alone, Leonardo dropped his face into his hands.
—-
Ring ring
RNNJR sat on the couch as the scroll belonging to Jaune was connected to the television. They had decided that they should have a live video call, mostly because they wanted to be seen and to see their old teacher.
Click "Hello?"
And there she was, Glynda Goodwitch, looking almost exactly the same as when they last saw her nearly a year ago. The only real difference was that she looked tired and in need of a few days to relax.
But apparently their pause from seeing her made her worry. "Mr. Arc? Are you there?"
"Y-yeah, we're here, Professor!" The blonde calls out, watching as the woman on the other end of the call widen her eyes.
"Oh, there you are! It took a moment for the video feed to come through." Her eyes swept the assembled teens as her own smile grew. "It is so good to see you all again, even in these circumstances."
"Hey Glynda!" Nora nearly shouts as she waves enthusiastically.
"Haha, I see you haven't lost your spark, Nora."
There was a small snort off to the side of the room but wasn't picked up by the scroll.
"And it looks like the rest of you are doing well. I take it you've completed your mission?"
"Yeah, we got Professor Lionheart to give us copies of the records from Cinder and her gang." Ruby proudly proclaimed, holding the folders up.
"We've also scanned them all, just in case and wrote up our own thoughts." Pyrrha adds on as she opens her scroll. "Here's a copy of everything for you."
A small chime was heard a few seconds later indicating that Glynda had received the information and they saw her eyes move and focus that wasn't them for a short time, presumably giving the documents a brief look herself.
"I see, thank you. I take it that you will be returning soon?"
"Maybe." Jaune saw the raised eyebrow, a silent demand for an explanation. "We've been doing a few missions while we're here and did a lot on our way,"
"Did a lot on your way? Is that why it took so long for you to speak to me? If I hadn't been speaking to Taiyang on occasion, I would have thought you were dead!"
Hehehe…" Ruby rubs the back of her head with a cheesy grin and glances over to her father motioning her to go on. "It's a loooong story."
They watched as Glynda simply leaned back in her chair with a cup of hot tea. "I'm not going anywhere."
And thus the very long story that began after they left Vale was started and would continue for quite some time.
—-
"Sir, what are we going to do?" Clover asks his superior.
James Ironwood sat behind his desk with his hands steepled. He had been sitting like that for a worrying long time as he tried to plan.
"Do you believe Marrow is ready to be made a full member of the Ace Ops?"
"Sir?" Clover blinked in confusion, he didn't expect that question at all given the situation.
"Marrow. Is he ready?" James repeats.
The leader of the Ace Ops rubs the back of his head. "Well… he's got the skills and his Semblance is great for crowd control. Maybe a bit too excitable but he's eager."
"Is he ready?"
"I believe so."
"Very well. We'll hold his promotion soon."
"But sir, what about Farkas? And Weiss?"
"I'll send out some trackers and put out inquiries with the other kingdoms to try to find them." It may have sounded cold but the reality was that not everyone could be saved and often it was best for the whole to give up rather than waste time when others are in need of help.
"Do… do you think that will be enough?"
"You saw the reports as I have. The Manta was stripped of supplies and Weiss taken away. We caught a transmission burst claiming that a group had her and were ready for the exchange before that was canceled."
James remembered how Jacques had burst into his office and demanded for an escort. By the time that it was ready, the transmission canceled the meeting and had remained silent since. But what really got under his skin was catching the father complaining about the waste of time and money instead of being worried for his daughter. Sounding like she was little better than luggage to him.
"Farkas was able to track the group down until his ambush." The General concluded. He wished he had more but he'd have to wait for his tracking specialists to get over to Anima and pick up where the last team left off.
"And what do we tell Winter? She's been worried sick."
"I've given her another task, need to know only."
"I…I see."
"Should something come up with either of them, I'm sending your team for extraction. Until then, standard duties."
"I understand, sir." Clover salutes but stays put.
"Something else on your mind?"
"I was just wondering about… the new girl in Mantle."
"Ah." Ironwood lets out a small chuckle and realizes just how long it's been since he did so last. "You can let her be. She's taking care of the people and raising their spirits."
—-
Several Manticore had just reached the wall of Mantle, the fireballs issued from their maws making the soldiers stationed there scatter. One swooped in and ripped the defensive gun from its mount and dropped it at the homes far below. The others ignored the bullets from the smaller pistols and rifles from the few who managed to keep their bearings.
"No littering!" A voice calls out making the Grimm pause to search for the source.
Turned out that they didn't have to wait for long as the gun that was dropped flew back up and struck the Manticore in the face, sending it for a loop.
"It's her!" The soldiers could be heard shouting as they readied themselves, including turning the nearest mounted guns at the Grimm hovering over the city.
"Salutations officers!" Penny greets them as she rockets back down with the gun in hand, smashing the gun over the Grimm's head again, sending it reeling, before hitting it a third time with a winding spin that gave the improvised club the momentum to snap the neck and shatter the skull.
She didn't even bother to watch it Fall to the ground below, little more but a cloud of black smoke by the time of impact.
Turning to the remaining three, eight swords deployed and unfurled from her backpack, briefly hovering behind her in a ring before rearranging themselves to look like wings over her shoulders.
Green energy blasted brighter from her heels to rocket her at the beasts, one of her 'wings' moving out to slash a Manticore across the chest and the other 'wing' sliced into another Grimm's wing that left it struggling to stay airborne.
The third shot a fireball at her, missing as she spun around the flames. And the Manticore had no time to react as Penny slammed into its chest with her feet and her swords cut through its wings. With a strong push assisted by her jets, smiling as she did so, Penny launched the now flightless beast into the inner side of the wall.
One of the soldiers dropped a pair of grenades to finish it off after it hit the ground. Others aimed their guns at the one struggling to stay in the air and opened fire, interrupting its own fire attack and filling it with holes before Penny turned two of her Floating Array blades on it, reconfiguring them to their blaster mode and shooting the Grimm as it fell to ensure that it was dead.
Then there was one left, one that decided to launch itself at the girl that had killed its pack. Glancing over her shoulder, Penny flicked her hand at the Grimm and the other six blades quickly spread out and converged, skewering the Manticore in various places.
"Bad." With that word, the blades shifted while still in the Grimm and fired at once, green lasers blasting through and killing the beast.
"Alright! You did it!" One of the soldiers shouts over the cheers of the others.
"Sorry about your gun, I hope it can be repaired." Penny says as she flies over to land on the wall with the large weapon in hand, her own weapons returning to her backpack.
"Ha! We'll see what we can do to fix it." One of the two men who she handed it off to says as the two of them moved it away, straining all the way.
"My daughter loves your show!" A woman couldn't help herself from blurting out.
"Why thank you!" Penny happy chirps.
"Umm… if it's not too much trouble…" She draws a wallet with a picture of her family with a young girl in the middle.
"An autograph? I don't see why not!" The android signs the back of the photo in full with her emblem.
"Hehe, this will really make her day and her birthday is next week!"
"Oh, congratulations!"
"Katt! That's enough fangirling!" Apparently her commanding officer had enough and wanted to get repairs done to the wall and guns.
"Sorry sir!"
Penny took that as her cue to leave as well. "Keep up the good work everyone!" She calls out with a wave before flying back into Mantle.
She did have an episode of 'A Betta World' to prepare for tonight and she was sure that she had a fan waiting for her.
—-
Glynda held her head after being told about the Nuckalavee fight. Everything else had made her proud of what they had accomplished after they crashed but having fought Tyrian Callows and survived was nothing more than a miracle. Though having Qrow nearby to help them was definitely a relief.
And the fact that they had dealt with a Grimm of such notoriety while having to care for an envenomated Qrow almost immediately after… she was left wishing that she was there in person.
Then Qrow walked in just as Nora blurted out about the Gluttony.
"What were you thinking?! A Gluttony and you took children with you?! You birdbrain!" To say that she was passed off would be an understatement. No longer sitting, she was pacing in her office with her Disciplinarian in hand and throwing things around with her Telekinesis.
And if one were paying attention to their surroundings, they would have heard a few snorts and heavily suppressed laughter.
"What do you think you are doing?!" Weiss asks as harshly as possible at three snickering blondes and a twin.
"Pffp! Birdbrain!" Yang barely managed to keep her voice low as Glynda continued to rant.
"Do you have any idea how often I called him that when something stupid was done?" Tai points at the caped man as he struggled to calm the Headmistress of Beacon. "Or her, while we're at it." He turned the finger on his first wife, receiving a light jab to the shoulder for that. But the punch only made the blondes laugh harder.
"Is someone else with you?" And apparently Glynda heard them .
"Uh-oh."
"What was that, Miss Rose?" And there was that tone that brought fear into any student.
"Umm… please don't be mad." Silver eyes shimmered with tears as the rest of her face turned into a pout. It was an adorable sight that would make anyone cave.
Anyone but Glynda Goodwitch.
"Come on guys, we can trust her." Qrow crossed his arms as he watched the stern face gain a touch of curiosity. Curiosity that turned into surprise as she watched team DAYT, Weiss, Taiyang, and finally Raven step into view.
Glynda had so many questions but she settled on one in particular. "Miss Schnee! What are you doing there? I thought you were missing!"
"Hehe… technically I am and not." The heiress rocks on her feet. Even with thousands of miles between them, their old sparring class teacher was a force to be reckoned with.
Thus the explanation from her began. And why Raven was there. And why DAYT were there. As for why they were still in hiding…
"Please don't say anything, Glynda." Qrow steps up. "We are treading into territory that we never thought we would have to but we aren't going to jump to accusations without proof."
"Hmm… Leonardo… Ozpin put so much trust and hope into him, trying to heal the racial divide in Mistral." The blonde cups her chin.
"Part of the reason we've been so cautious too." The usually inebriated Huntsman adds. "If he's just a victim of circumstance, we don't want to accidentally push him away to her side."
"I see." The Headmistress rose from her seat and paced as she thought about what to do. "I think you should know, James called not long before you and asked for me to keep an eye out for Ms. Schnee or Agent Farkas."
"Wait! What happened to Farkas? Did he make it back to Atlas? Or Winter?" Weiss pushed her way to the front as she worried about her sister and friend.
"Weiss, your sister and Farkas made it back to Atlas fine. But upon finding that you didn't show, Farkas was sent back to track you down. Apparently he found the remains of a camp and followed the trail to the bandits some time later. His team was found and killed, though it is believed that he was captured." Weiss dropped to her knees, Ruby quickly giving her a hug and holding her close as Yang rubbed her back.
"I'm sorry for the bad news." Glynda apologizes with a small bow of her head.
"But Winter?"
"She's been given an assignment in Atlas of great importance. Not only does it keep her occupied but will be needed in the long run… I just hope that it works and Winter is ready."
"Ready? Ready for what?" Denko asks, not wanting to be left out of the loop.
"Sorry Mr. Mori, as much as I trust you, I can't say what it is. But I'm sure you may be able to guess what it is." Glynda shakes her head, watching as the young man thinks on what information he knows before his eyes went wide and they flicked in Raven's direction. The woman on the screen gave a short nod.
"Okay, that's enough about us, how is Beacon?" Taiyang changes the subject, much to some peoples relief or disappointment.
That made the woman stop her pacing and return to her chair but stood behind it instead. "Beacon Academy will be ready to open for classes on time for the next year, though repairs will be ongoing throughout the year." She delivers proudly. "While some students have transferred to other schools to continue their education and I don't fault them for that, others have remained and assisted greatly with the cleaning and rebuilding efforts."
"And umm… what about us? We didn't exactly get to finish our first year." Yang needed to know. Not only did they not finish but they had also effectively missed this entire year as well, putting them way behind.
"Don't worry too much, Miss Xiao Long, I've taken such situations as yours into account." The woman smiles proudly as she clasps her hands behind her broad back. "A test will need to be taken to evaluate your retention of knowledge from the year you did mostly finish and if you pass that you will be entering your second year."
"Second year? Doesn't our mission help us move to the Third year with the others from our class?" Weiss was astonished that she could essentially be held back a year in any way.
"Miss Schnee, most of your classmates like Team CRDL will be in the same boat, even though they had stayed here and worked hard to get us where we are today. As far as I'm concerned, all of the extra training, missions, and other deeds done this year while the school has been closed will serve as extra credit and raise my expectations for you all."
"Yeah… making me feel really good about graduating early now." Talon sarcastically mutters with her sister nodding in agreement beside her.
"Fine, so we'll be Second years." Yang crosses her arms, not particularly liking the situation but understanding it. At the same time, she glances down at Ruby and figures that her sister would be a bit closer to the normal age for her class if that would happen. "Anything else?"
"I'm sure your team will find some way to get yourselves in and out of trouble, though I will be taking in account the secrets that you are all now privy too. I don't have to reiterate how important it is to keep everything between us and not blab about it for the world to hear?" The last part had the blonde pointedly looking at Nora who tried to hide behind Ren, not something that could really be done considering that she's wider than he is by a fair amount.
"Got it!" Ruby gives Glynda a salute and a smile.
"Very well. Keep me up to date with your mission there in Mistral. I'll… I'll hope that we are simply worried over nothing."
"I hope so too, Glyndy." Raven cheekily agrees, getting under the blonde's skin with that old nickname that she hated so much.
"Don't use that name again, Raven. You have a lot to answer for the next time I see you in person." Glynda was seething, reminding her of how things were when she had to deal with both of the Branwen twins when they were working with her and how they both made it a hobby to annoy her to no end.
"I'll… try to mitigate the damage." Qrow didn't seem too eager to stand between the women, now or then.
"And Taiyang, I suppose she is the reason you are there in Mistral?"
The man crouches to scratch Zwei's ears. "Needed a bit of convincing but I'm with my family again."
"Good to know. I'll let Signal know that you are on a mission from me over there to explain your absence."
"Thanks, hopefully it won't be too long until we're done here. Bad enough that most of us are cooped up in this house."
"Very well." Goodwitch gives him a nod before something on her side caught her attention. "Excuse me but I'll have to end this call now; the Council wants a meeting." Everyone gave her a quick goodbye at once before the call ended.
Silence reigned for a minute before Ren broke it. "Okay, now what?"
"Dinner first, that took longer than expected." Anya sees the time and moves to the kitchen.
—-
While dinner was being made, Yang and Ruby returned downstairs for their sister time. While they did have a few trading of stories of things that happened while they were apart and a short game session, their passion for combat was strong.
"You know I'm bad at hand to hand!"
"All the more reason to help you with it." The blonde huffs, this was far from the first time they had this discussion.
"What if I just use my feet?" Ruby asks in the same tone she uses for an extra cookie.
"C'mon sis. If you can twirl around a giant scythe like it was nothing, you can throw a proper punch."
"But they hurt."
"Hurt your target."
"They hurt my hands."
"Meh, you get used to it." Yang retorts as she cracks her knuckles, not noticing that she went through the motions of doing so with her right hand as well.
"Is… isn't there something else we could do that doesn't involve you punching me?"
That made the elder sister pause and tapped a finger on her lips. "Hmmm…" Then a devious smirk came to her face.
A smirk that Ruby noticed only too late.
In a flash, Yang crossed the short distance between them, grabbed her sister's arm, and twisted her waist to throw the shorter girl onto the floor with a heavy thud, complete with holding a fist over the surprised girls face.
"We can work on your throws." Yang grins.
"Owie."
"C'mon, let's see you do it to me." She holds her arms out and waits.
"But you're too big for me."
That made Yang's smile falter. "Ruby, throwing your opponent isn't about size or strength." That made the younger girl look up. "Yeah, it actually is easier against someone taller than you, lower center of gravity."
She punctuated that by lowering her stance with her feet shoulder width apart and knees bent. "It's all about controlling your opponent's center. Like with what I did for you, I held your wrist so you couldn't get away or rebalance yourself, I turned my hips into yours to throw off your own balance, and from there it doesn't take much to toss them to the ground and do what you want with them from there."
She gives a quick punch at the floor. "You can hit them, leave them, put them in a hold to keep them from going anywhere… but you'd need to be quick or they might slip away."
"Are you sure you aren't too heavy for me to do this with?"
That made the blonde deadpan. "A couple months ago when I was huge, maybe. Now? We're more even in that department." She accentuates that with a sharp poke at Ruby's belly, making her squeal. "Besides, if you want to kick instead of punching, I could show you what I did to that one girl at Junior's before Beacon."
"Okay!"
The rest of the lesson was productive and made anyone who learned of what they did glad that they did it in the basement. Good thing they have aura and padding to cushion their falls.
—-
"Interesting place you got here." Vernal comments as she finds a large rock to sit on. "Real cozy."
"Were you expecting some secret lab or something like that?" Watts gives her an annoyed glare.
"With how this is your place and your plan, I was." The bandit leader was bluntly honest.
"Hmph! I don't keep my equipment where anyone could just wander around and stumble upon them."
"Ah, so you have a secret section hidden in here somewhere? Not a bad idea being right under their noses and having a secret lab."
"I don't have a secret lab in Mistral!" He nearly yells at her, his voice barely covered by the noise made by the dozens of bandits moving cargo. Then he mutters. "At least not anymore, I didn't expect that compound to be so destructive to what sanity the Grimm have."
"Ha! Whatever. How long until we do the job?"
"Give me some time to finish the final preparations. But within the week you'll be free to go."
"Alright, I'll get these idiots set up so we're ready whenever you are." Vernal gets up and moves to her tribe.
"She seems quite eager."
"I could say the same about you, Cinder." His eyes narrowed a touch from having to deal with the Fall Maiden.
"Anyway, Lady Salem is waiting for you in the lab, Tyrian is 'entertaining' her now while she waits."
"Hmm, very well. Keep an eye on the ruffians, will you?" Arthur orders as he walks to his airship, ignoring the one-eyed glare he knew she was giving him. The spike in temperature behind him was more than enough to tell him how she felt.
Inside the airship, Tyrian was speaking to Salem through the Seer Grimm that he kept for just that purpose, though the scorpion was regaling her with the capture of the Atlas Ace Ops hopeful.
"Oh! There you are, Good Doctor!" Tyrian steps to the side with a bow to give the taller man a clear path; he knew what his Goddess wanted.
"Doctor Watts, I presume you are ready to act?" The woman's projection asks courteously but with authority.
"Nearly, Your Grace." He gives a small bow to her. "We have just arrived at our final staging area under Mistral itself and are setting up camp as we await for the White Fang to draw near. Their agents within the city are waiting for the signal to act.
"Very good. I assume you'd like a Grimm attack on the kingdom as we discussed before?"
"If it's not too much trouble."
"It will be done. It has been just over a year since Mistral saw an attack like this… better late than never for the anniversary fireworks." The smile on her lips would not give anyone comfort if they desired peace.
"Thank you, Your Grace." Once again he offers her a bow.
"And your prisoner… is he cooperative at all?" Her changing of the subject made Tyrian perk up a little, possibly hoping to eliminate the Faunus or at least inflict some pain.
"Not yet. He has proven stubborn so far and I lack the equipment here that would allow for greater… extraction of information from him." Watts wasn't particularly fond of torture but he had been dabbling in less abusive methods to get what he wanted.
"Bring him to me."
"My Lady?"
"Bring him to me." Salem repeats. "I have my own methods and I have something I haven't tried in a long time. Perhaps a subject as strong as him will be more successful."
"I'll be on my way once this operation is complete."
"I'd prefer if you returned immediately with the prisoner. He may try to take advantage of your distraction to escape." Her tone was leaving little room for argument.
Yet Arthur balked at the order. "But Your Grace, the mission! My mission! It's so close to completion!"
"And I'm assuming that you've ensured that everything is under your control, as you've repeatedly assured me." Her red eyes narrowed. She anticipated his response and knew that he'd resist.
"Well… yes."
"And your comrades know the plan going forward?"
"Yes." He was afraid of where this was going.
"Then there should be no problem with leaving the mission in their hands." Salem states as if speaking to a child. "Besides, you've also been setting the groundwork for the next target, think of this as your opportunity to focus on that and get the revenge you've been desiring for all these years."
"I have been preparing that for years." Watts strokes his chin as he accepts his orders.
"And that one I promise that you will see through to the end." Salem gives the Doctor a cruel smile.
"Very well, Your Grace, I'll quickly ensure that everything is in place and everyone knows their parts before I leave."
"See that it is done, I'll be waiting." With those final words, the pale visage of Salem became nothing but black mist around a glowing golden center.
"I do hope that one of these days, She'll allow me to study these Grimm in depth for their communication abilities." Arthur muses as he turns to Tyrian. "I take it that I don't need to repeat myself to you about your part?"
"Oh! Do you really need to ask?" The scorpion asks in mock surprise, complete with exaggerated expressions. "No, all of the acts are planned and the important actors know their time and place. The show is due to begin shortly and will be a success!"
As much as the Doctor questioned the man's sanity, for good reason, there was little doubt about his devotion to Salem. And when there was pain to inflict, he would follow the plans precisely, barring unexpected circumstances.
"Good to know. I'll contact Hazel and speak to Cinder shortly."
—-
With the amount of gear and supplies needed, Sienna's ship had little room to spare. Thankfully, a few smaller vessels had been offered to the cause and now traveled with the larger boat.
The ship was never designed to have more than thirty on board at any time, so having more than double that made things rather tight. Even Sienna's private room was quite occupied, having many of the ornamental items removed and replaced by the equipment of the commanding officers for the operation.
Ilia and Itazura effectively shared a cot and everything they had fit underneath. Blake and Sun had their own cots, though pushed together. Sienna, Kali, and the Captain of the Menagerie Guard had their cots on the other side of the room with a large stack of weapons and other equipment between the generations.
Outside of that room, pretty much every bed was first come, first served and everyone else found a spot on the floor somewhere, though for many a rotation system was set in place.
Throughout the journey, the occupants kept themselves busy with cleaning and maintenance of their equipment, light sparring to keep themselves ready, or just otherwise finding some way to amuse each other.
But the tension was palpable for them all. For the Guard and Huntsmen, they had dealt with the pressure before and were comparatively relaxed to those who are civilian volunteers.
A few games, training, and pure comradery were enough to handle most of the nerves. Others… gave chum to the fish.
"What are the chances that they will still be at that camp?" Blake asks the table.
"I'd say slim to none." Itazura answered her. "Not only do they know we have a lot of prisoners with some more willing to talk than others, but they were expecting to leave anyway.
"Targeting Mistral." Kali narrows her eyes at the map.
"Messing with my school? No way." Sun balls a fist as his tail lashes behind him.
"Was it really a good idea to leave early?" The Captain asks the tiger woman.
"Call it a precaution if there were any spies left behind." Sienna responds. "Even if they got word of our departure, they shouldn't have that much time to disappear."
"Sun." Blake sets her hand on his fist, making him relax by a fair margin.
"I know, stay calm" He says, reprimanding himself before grinning at his girlfriend. "Now that you had to tell me, does that make me pot or kettle?"
"Oh, definitely the kettle." Kali states with a wide smile, causing the couple to blush and the others at the table to look away.
That embarrassment aside, everyone knew their roles and the plans for once contact was made. For them, the near daily reminders were actually getting to be more annoying than helpful, so they got more abbreviated as they went aside from the few updates needed to be discussed.
With the meeting over, the teens left for the deck where Sun took out his scroll on a whim.
"What's up?" Ilia asks as he raises the device into the air and looks for a signal.
The blonde looks to the shorter girl. "Figured I could try calling my team back in Mistral, maybe they could get something going from inside the city that might help us."
"That's… a really good idea. Maybe spread the word around to any other students and the teachers." The foxes ears twitched.
"Do you think the Headmaster would get involved?" Ilia was wary yet curious.
"Ha! You bet he would!" Sun declares proudly. "Lionheart will do anything to help his students and to protect Haven and Mistral so we can count on him!"
Blake grabs his arm as a particularly large wave rocked the ship unexpectedly. "Are you sure that some of that isn't just because the Headmaster is a Faunus?"
Sun was shocked at the accusation. "Really Blake? Do you think I'm that petty?" Seeing her face soften into an expression of innocence. "Alright, that was part of it. But come on! in a place ike that he got to the top! Why shouldn't we look up to him for that?"
"I guess that is a really good point." Ilia concedes, knowing that such a position was invaluable to what the White Fang had hoped to accomplish.
Sun checks his scroll one last time and found that he could call Neptune, though the signal would be weak. "C'mon man, pick up." The tone kept ringing in his ear.
Click "Hello? S-Sun?"
"Alright! Hey buddy!" It was great to hear his best friend's voice again after nearly a year.
"S-S-Sun? G-great to h-hear you agai-n. S-signal is a bit ch-ch-choppy."
"Okay, I'm gonna make this quick. Are you and the guys in Mistral now?"
"In Mistral? Y-yeah, why?"
"Good. We're heading there right now but we know there's gonna be an attack on Haven soon."
"H-haven? R-r-reall-y? But Li-onhe-art is th-there."
"He can't be everywhere, Neptune. See if you can get other teams and the teachers ready."
"-kay, I'll try S-Sun. H-how lo-ong until y-y-you get here?"
"Not sure exactly but probably about three days."
"What?!" Click.
"What the?" Sun looks at the screen and finds SIGNAL LOST flashing on the screen. "Damn it."
A pair of hands he knew well settled on his shoulders. "At least you tried, hopefully enough got through for Neptune to act on it."
"I hope so too, Blake."
"At least Neptune is smart." Itazura points out from the side, the couple looking at her with odd looks. "Right… academic smart only."
Ilia watched the interaction and slapped her forehead. "We're doomed."
—-
Neptune looked at the scroll in his hand with a mix of confusion and irritation. It was great that he could finally speak to his best friend and team leader but with connection between them was so poor that they could barely speak before it was broken.
But an attack on Haven? Get other teams and teachers involved? But who is attacking? When and from where?
There were so many questions but he was unable to ask for answers.
"Hey, Neptune? You okay?" Sage asks as he emerges from the bathroom, having just cleaned up a bit from repairing his sword in the forge.
"You've been staring at your scroll for a few minutes now. Get rejected for a date again?" Scarlet had his own weapon maintenance to do.
"No guys, Sun just called."
"Wait really?" The two boys were surprised. Maybe not as much as they had been when that news program broke about the White Fang attacking Menagerie.
"Yeah, but we got cut off. Said he'd be here in a few days."
"Really? That's great!" Sage smiles.
"Yeah but he said to watch out for an attack."
"What?" Scarlet's jaw fell.
"Not sure what kind of attack but something is going to happen, according to him. Should get the other teams and teachers ready."
"Hmm…" Sage holds his chin as he thinks on the information.
—-
"Any idea on how to train Ruby with her Silver Eyes?" Denko was sitting with Raven, Qrow, and Taiyang in his and Yang's room, Talon and Anya standing by the door.
"What, you think that because we're her family that we'd know?" Taiyang answers with his own question.
"Between that and her mother, we figured that you'd know at least something about the Eyes." Anya waves her hand at the father.
The three adults glanced at each other, with the men shrugging and Raven sighed. "Kids, that's a subject that is rather difficult to explain."
"Try us." Talon challenges. "We saw what Ruby did to that dragon back at Beacon."
"Front row seat and everything." Denko smirks, though he also remembered he had broken his arm just before that.
"Silver Eyes are a rare trait to find." Qrow begins, his time as a history teacher kicking in. "Pretty much all of them are known to be great fighters, drawn to combat like a moth to a light. But no one knows where the Eyes really come from. Some, like with Summer and Ruby, are passed through the family. Others are a one off case somewhere."
Taiyang picked up from there. "But Salem is always trying to find and eliminate them. You saw Ruby turn that huge Grimm to stone. Petrified the thing in a flash from her Eyes. To her, anyone with Silver Eyes are a danger to her… we think. None of us have ever seen her face to face but we have dealt with her Grimm and followers."
"And believe us, the things that she can make from the Grimm are the stuff of nightmares." Raven was serious. "Things like that Gluttony and the Nuckalavee are just the beginning."
"But do you know how the Eyes work? Or to help Ruby train them for use in a fight?" Talon asks patiently.
Tai leans back against the wall with his arms crossed. "Hmm… Summer always said that it took strong feelings to get them going, but using them would usually leave her pretty drained."
"Strong feelings?" Anya queries, as the one who normally kept her emotions in check, letting them become overwhelming was usually a great way to lose control of her semblance.
"The desire to protect." Raven clarifies.
AN: Not too much going on if you were hoping for action. A lot if you wanted the suspense to be built up. Either way, the next couple of chapters are going to be full of fights that I'm sure that you'll love. Might take longer than I want to get the next chapter done as I know I'll be busy most of the time, but I'll do my best.
As always reviews are welcome.