Author's Note: I'm moving the Author's Notes up here because when you read on the site, the presence of the chapter select buttons shift over anything in the first line or so. And I'm sick of it.

Sorry this wasn't done sooner. As I've said before, I don't publish until the next chapter's rough draft is done, and Chapter 13 took a while. Not to mention all the (Current Events) messing with my work schedule (I'm essential, so I still go to work).

Stay safe, everyone.

Sins of the Forefathers

Act the First: A Beacon of Hope

Chapter Twelve: Stronger Together

"Cinder."

Cinder jumped at the voice of her Master, turning and bowing low at the waist. Next to her, Roman backed away towards the corner of the room, content to be left out of anything involving a Rank 1. Unmasked and undaunted, Raven crossed her arms and addressed Roman.

"Leave, thief."

He nodded, and bolted past her out of the room. Satisfied that they were alone, Raven took a moment to enact an extra precaution. She blinked, and for a moment her eyes blazed with rainbow fire.

Cinder felt a shift in the air, as though something had passed over and around the both of them, and then all was still. She raised her head as Raven spoke.

"We can't be detected anymore."

Cinder nodded and straightened up, flinching slightly as Raven placed her hand on her shoulder. She took a breath to compose herself as Raven tilted her head.

"Are you doing well, Cinder?"

"Yes, Master. Things are progressing steadily. Roman has acquired the relevant information on the Maiden, talks with the White Fang are progressing well, Jaune is getting along with my own apprentices, and I think even Watts was happy to receive Merlot's personal computer."

Raven nodded, then took her hand from Cinder's shoulder and crossed her arms. "I meant your wellbeing, Cinder. How is your training progressing? Have you grasped the Turn of the Swallow yet?"

"I am close. The footwork I have completed, but there is a slight discrepancy in my wrists as I perform the attack."

"Show me."

Cinder nodded and stepped back. Her Aura flared into her gloves once more and her scimitars appeared. After taking her stance, she performed the technique, swinging her left hand across horizontally before stepping forward and swinging her right hand along the same line.

"I see the problem. Individually, you have the footwork and the hand movements down. What you lack is the coordination of combining both together. And that is-" she paused, glanced to her left, and her Aura flared for a moment. "Forgive me. Watts needed his way home. As I was saying, the coordination is something that can only come from practice - but not fast. This will be painstaking, but you must practice coordinating both movements as slowly as you can manage, until the timing is flawless. Meditate on the technique as well. Once you have that down, contact me and I will have you practice the art with Vernal. I know I have stressed this many times, but do not practice the Branwen Style in view of your subordinates."

"Of course, Master."

"How is the Arc boy? I trust that you are keeping an eye on such a wildcard."

"Of course. I have Emerald working on that… seduction plot you discussed. Mercury and Neo, Roman's apprentice, have also been watching him."

"And what do you have going on when he is out of your sight?"

"Hei Xiong, known to the locals as 'Junior,' has men posted around his work and home. Officially, Jaune is under Roman's protection, so the watchers are there mostly to ensure that Jaune does not interfere with Junior's local operations. I don't even have to pay him for it, as Junior has a bit of a grudge against Jaune due to an altercation that occurred between them."

"Excellent use of local conflicts. But can you truly trust Junior's men to report honestly?"

Cinder nodded. "Their most recent reports from today indicated that after debriefing us regarding the Mountain Glenn assignment, Jaune went home, and only stopped along the way to bring home some girl with black hair. As incompetent as Junior's men are, they didn't actually get a picture of the girl, but she is being investigated as we speak."

"Good, always cover your bases. Leave no stone unturned when it comes to gathering intelligence."

"Yes, Master."

Raven glanced to her right, looking at something only she could see, and her serenity hardened into concern. "We will continue this discussion later. Remember what I have told you - though you may believe in destiny, do not leave it up to chance. Control your environment, your surroundings, and you can control destiny."

As Cinder nodded and bowed. Raven turned and, with another flare of rainbow fire, altered the world until everything was back to normal. With a flash of dark red, she vanished from the room.

Cinder released the breath she had been holding and collapsed onto a couch in the room. A knock on the door alerted her, and she called for the person to enter. The door opened slowly, and Roman peeked his head in.

"Is she gone?"

"Yes, Roman, she is gone."

"Good. Gods, that woman is frightening."

"More than you know… where were we?"

"The girl that Jaune found… I think I have a lead."

"Already?"

"I've kept in touch with our… animalistic friends. Apparently, a little kitten has gone astray. Adam's Lieutenant, Blake - her description matches that of the girl Jaune picked up."

"Interesting…"

"You think we should share?"

"Mmm… no. Hold on to that information, however. We can hold it over their heads."

"Whose heads?"

"All of them. Jaune, Blake herself, and Adam if need be. We can use it to threaten Jaune and Blake - knowing Jaune, his sense of morality will not allow him to abandon Blake to Adam's retribution as long as he can do something about it. Blake and Adam are self-explanatory."

"Sure thing, Cindy… Though this is assuming that the information is correct based on hearsay."

Cinder glared at the diminutive nickname. "Well, I suppose you had best confirm it then."

"Right. Getting on that."

Roman left the room once more, and Cinder sighed to herself, looking up to the ceiling.

Soon enough, the power of the Maiden will be mine, and my destiny will be at hand. Like Raven said… I can't leave destiny to chance. I must seize it myself.

After a moment, she stood up and left, leaving Junior's club for the night to return to her hotel room.

When I woke up the next morning, it was to Blake standing over me, holding her blade to my throat.

"I bring you into my home, patch up your wounds, let you sleep in my bed, and this is how you repay me?"

She flinched and took a step back as I rose to sit upright on the couch. We stared at each other for a moment, before she finally sighed and put her blade away. We spent a moment awkwardly staring at each other, unsure where to go from there, and I decided to speak up.

"So… you want breakfast?"

…

Blake stared at me with suspicion as I set the table. I didn't make anything substantial - just some scrambled eggs, bacon, and toast. Simple stuff. She didn't eat for a moment, and after realizing her intent, I rolled my eyes and took a bite out of the food first.

"I wouldn't poison my own food, Blake. Just eat, we can talk after. You must be hungry after being on the run."

As if on cue, her stomach rumbled, and she begrudgingly began to eat. After taking a few bites, she cleared her throat and spoke up, still looking down.

I sighed, as apparently all the women I was dealing with recently had no sense of patience and couldn't just finish their food before talking.

"So. Uh, thank you. For… helping me."

"It's what a Guardian would do."

Her eyes flickered up to look at me. "You're no Guardian."

"No. But much like you, I don't want to spend my whole life running from the law, killing for money. I can't change how I got my abilities, but I can at least do something meaningful with them."

Blake nodded her understanding. "So what's your plan?"

"What's yours?"

She looked aside. "I figured I'd just get some forged documents to apply, get through the written tests, and then abuse the Initiation system to stay in."

I shook my head and swallowed my food. "Bold of you to assume Ozpin and the IGO wouldn't vet documents like that, especially for Beacon Academy. Shade you might get away with, and Mistral would probably give you extra credit for your boldness… but Beacon? No, forged transcripts won't go anywhere."

"Then how were you going to get in? Maybe you weren't a… member of an organization like mine, but someone with your sort of history wouldn't be able to go through the normal process either."

"Through an… apprenticeship."

"With who?"

I paused for a moment, then decided to come clean myself. "Do you know a woman named Cinder Fall?"

She flinched and stood up abruptly, her chair falling back. "You're working with her?" She grabbed her sword out of its sheath once more.

"By the Brothers would you sit down? If I wanted to sell you out I would have done it when you were, you know, fucking unconscious."

Cautiously - almost apologetically - she picked her chair back up and sat back down, though she kept her sword unsheathed.

I sighed. "I met her on my flight into Vale. Who would have guessed that an ordinary office worker was actually an Assassin? ...in hindsight I probably should have, but I was concerned with other stuff at the time. She put out a hit on me out of fucking curiosity and I ended up working with her because she's strong enough to kill me if I try to back out."

"So how does that get us to Beacon? I don't think a recommendation from an Assassin would hold up well."

"Not from her, from a Guardian - Amber Corona."

"The 'People's Protector'?"

"Yep, 'The Forever Fall Maiden' herself. See, Cinder plans to assassinate her-"

"I know."

"You know?"

"She brought it up when she met with Adam."

"Oh. Well, the basic gist of my idea is that we meet up with her, honestly explain the situation, and help her set up an ambush for Cinder and her crew."

"You want to turn yourself in?"

"The alternative is to go along with Cinder and kill Amber, or die. Or run, and die anyway because Cinder is backed by a Rank 1."

Blake blanched. "Do you know who?"

"Based on what she's said, Raven Branwen. The Omen of Victory herself."

"How do you know they aren't already aware I'm with you?"

"All things considered they probably are. I'm being watched."

"How do you know? Not exactly trusted?"

"No. And the watchers are better at it than they used to be, but still amateurs. A few weeks ago they would have been posting up around the area in their uniforms, but they've wised up and started to wear street clothes."

"Uniforms?"

"They're part of a gang run by an actual business owner in the area, a decent informant and black market dealer. Hei Xiong, they call him Junior- you know him?"

"I've heard of him, but I didn't know he had a cover. What does he run?"

"A club."

"A club?"

"It's where they get the uniforms from."

"Right. Of course." Now bemused, she sheathed her sword once more. "Okay. So all things considered, your plan is, unfortunately, one of the better plans to get us into Beacon… Wait, if Cinder knows I'm with you, and she's working with Adam-"

"I wouldn't bet on her telling Adam right away. She's the kind of person to hoard power and information, using it only when it benefits her - as it is, she'll probably get in contact with me at some point to try and coerce you into joining the assault on Amber."

"And then what?"

"Unfortunately, that might be unavoidable. I'll try to keep you out of it, maybe describe you as a potential leak or some other liability."

"And if that doesn't work?"
"We need a plan for that. One way or another, because I helped you, we're in this together as far as the other parties are concerned. Doesn't help that if they chose to share notes, Cinder and Adam would find out that we both wanted to go to Beacon."

"All right. So where do we start?"

"We start by convincing Aurie to let you stay here as my roommate. That way we can watch each other's backs. After that… we need to do some training, get a feel for how well we can work together. Once you get better, of course."

"What about money issues?"
"I still work for Tukson as a cover, but I made a few thousand Lien working for Cinder. We're pretty much set."

"And Amber?"

"You leave that to me… actually, maybe you should do it when you're better. You'd have a more legitimate reason to go to her."

"What do you mean?"

"You're a White Fang defector, she's in charge of Forever Fall where the White Fang is stationed-"

"-meaning I can go to her under the premise of offering information and work the Beacon angle from there. But how would I get you into the conversation?"

"Tell her that the White Fang has put out an Assassin's Bounty on her head and Cinder is taking it up, but that like you, someone from Cinder's crew - namely, me - is looking to defect."

"That… sounds reasonable."

I nodded. "I think we've got the makings of a real plan here, Blake." I held out my hand.

She spent a moment looking at it, then looked into my eyes.

I'm not quite sure what she saw in them, but she finally took my hand and shook it.

Her portal opened up to a vast field. Green grass and multicolored flowers filled it, with nothing but the plain for miles around, save for one thing. A massive tree stood in front of her, some species she'd never seen before on her travels or heard of in her studies. The sun, far in the west nearing the end of its reign in the sky, cast a soft orange glow over the scene. A soft breeze flowed over the plain, rustling the leaves of the tree and kicking up a smattering of flower petals.

Sitting in the shade of the tree sat a single man. She knew him well - he was her Master after all, the one man she'd acknowledged as her true superior. A passing thought told her to attack him now, while he seemed to be meditating, to give herself an advantage in the inevitable spar between them.

The thought passed. She was a Branwen. Petty sneak attacks and the like were tactics for the weak to use to even out the odds in a conflict with their betters - logically speaking, Raven understood the value of such things, and was not above recommending such tactics to her clanspeople for the sake of their improvement and success. However, the privilege of an honorable, fair duel was reserved for those strong enough to both demand and be worthy of one.

This man qualified on both counts.

She approached and stood before him. "Jacob," she called out.

He remained sitting, his legs crossed, his posture relaxed, his breathing even.

"Jacob," she called again, louder.

He stirred, and slowly opened his eyes before blinking rapidly as he yawned and stretched himself out. As he recovered, he focused his eyes and noticed Raven.

"Raven. How long have I been gone?"
"It's July now, July ninth."

"I came out here in February, so… About six months? Damn, no wonder I feel so hungry. Wanna get something to eat?"

"Never mind that-"

"Fuck you 'never mind that,' I'm literally starving and dehydrated. I'm not asking for a fucking five star meal Ray, some fast food would be fine."

Raven rolled her eyes at the use of her nickname and a portal opened up, dropping a burger wrapped in paper with some logo on it as well as a bottle of water into his lap.

"Thanks, Raven." Satisfied, he started eating as Raven sat down before him, reaching into a portal and pulling out her sword, Zencho, an Odachi, and performing maintenance on it. She allowed him to eat in silence as she wiped down the Redsteel with a cloth, before dusting it with powder and proceeding to wipe the powder off with a separate cloth.

When that was finished, she began to rub the blade with oil as she asked, "Have you been meditating all this time?"

"Mm. I have," he said, taking a moment to swallow his last bite. He had eaten slowly, savoring his first meal in months. "After our last fight, I got to thinking about how to get past that new power you have… It's magic, isn't it?"

"..."

"Nothing? Well, it was worth it to ask. After our last spar, I spent a while thinking about that bullshit you did to make it impossible to hit you. And I stood thinking for so long that I took a break to talk to my son - that was back in February - and after that I decided to think some more so I ran out here in the middle of nowhere, took a seat, and started to meditate."

"And what did you find?"

"The answer… I think. I'm not wholly sure - but I can tell you with confidence that I'm close. Not close enough that I wanna start a real fight between us since I just woke up, and in fact I wanna go pick up my son for his next job first."

"Actually, I have news for you on that front."

Jacob's eyes narrowed, and he casually picked his sword up off the ground, laying it in his lap. "You been spying on my boy?"

"Young Jaune has flown the coop, as my tribe would say-"

"Is that 'cuz you've all got bird magic?"

"..."

"Right, continue."

"He's left Atlas for Vale. He intends to join Beacon, as you likely know."

"I do."

"Inadvertently, however, he gained the attention of my own apprentice."

"Oh yeah, you mentioned her - Vernal, right?"

"No, my other apprentice. Cinder Fall."

"Who- doesn't matter. So what happened?"

"Your son managed to best Cinder- wipe that smile off your face, she was holding back to avoid killing him. Currently she is blackmailing him to keep him on her side, in a bid to kill the Guardian of Forever Fall."

"Who?"

"A Rank 3."

"Huh. That's an even better challenge than what I was gonna have him do. All right, I'll leave him be for now - in the meantime, you come by every now and again with some food and updates about Jaune."

"You will remain here?"

"Well, if Jaune was so worried about the job I had planned for him that he left home, he must be serious. I'd be a real shitty dad to not give some measure of support for his decisions, even if my only support is 'not getting in the way' - but you'd know all about that, right?"

Raven grimaced. "Must you bring that up every time we speak?"

"Well, speaking as a father, your kid needs you. Maybe not in the same way as she did when she was like five or whatever, but she needs you in her life in some manner, even if it's as a villain. As a parent, you need to be a concrete fixture in your kids life, not a ghost that people avoid talking about."

"Even if it's as a villain?"

"What do you think I am to Jaune?" Jacob gave a sad, yet smug grin. "I'm a monster, Raven, and so are you. There's no redemption in the cards for me, for either of us. We've killed far too many people for that. But even monsters can make for adequate parents - or so I'd like to prove."

Raven was silent for a time, before she returned her sword to the portal she drew it from.

"I appreciate your wisdom, Master. I will think on your words, and return in a week. Or sooner, depending on how things develop."

"Sure. And sorry, I'm sure you want a spar, but I'm too close to lose concentration now. Why don't you go see Miko? I'm sure she's just as stir crazy as you. Luke's got his wife, and Goji too. Could also go see old Hayato I guess, if you're willing to listen to him talk about his grandkids for an hour."

Raven nodded. "I'll let them know you're okay, then." She stood and prepared a portal, but before she went through, she turned back to him. "Jacob?"

"Yeah?"
"How was it that you managed to hide from me? Even with my… abilities, I could not sense you until you - apparently inadvertently - announced your presence."

"I have no idea what you're talking about."

Raven looked at him and nodded, accepting his ignorance.

In all the time she'd known him, Jacob Arc had never told a lie.

At the top of Beacon Tower, an old man sat at his desk. He had been sitting there a while, busily performing his duties and working through a stack of papers and forms about as high as he was tall.

However, at some point, something shifted. It was nothing obvious like an earthquake or even a strong wind, and it certainly wasn't magic - he would know. Yet he felt something, like a pulse, as though something had awakened. It was powerful and alien, but- familiar at the same time, at the heart of the pulse, the core of it.

His aging mind searched through his memories until he remembered where he'd felt it before. His eyes widened in recognition and he reached over to press a button on his desk, activating his direct communications line to his greatest confidant.

"Glynda?"

"Yes, Ozpin?" She never did call him Headmaster, even when she had been a student. Before, he had simply been 'Professor Ozymandias,' and now that she was as his own daughter, it was even more simply 'Ozpin.'

He shook his old head clear. He had to focus.

"Put out an alert on all the high ranking channels. 'Jack the Ripper' is active again."

Stunned silence answered him for several moments before Glynda asked, "Are you certain?"

"Completely."

"I'll get on it right away."

As the call ended, Ozpin sat back in his chair and inhaled, before reaching for his faithful mug and taking a sip of coffee.

"What are you coming back for, Jacob?"

A/N: Review Replies

Hiyuusha: Thanks for reading. Hope you enjoy this one.

dragongod0117: Thanks for reading. I can't promise that things with Neo will end romantically, but she'll definitely be involved with a lot going forward.

mickeysofine: This is something that will be discussed in the future, but I'll touch on it here. In essence, it's not just the animal traits that give extra abilities that make Faunus biologically superior, but generally speaking, the average Faunus is physically stronger, faster, etc. than the average Human. However, maintaining that superior strength takes more energy, whether in terms of calories or Aura. Hence, while it's true that Aura is technically relatively even throughout both species (with individual discrepancies still being investigated scientifically), Faunus with their Aura activated have less available to use as more of the energy is being automatically expended to maintain their physical abilities. Thanks for reading, hope you continue to enjoy it.

Cco16: Here's more! Hope you enjoy.