Chapter 36: A Score to Settle

In which Ren patches things up before shipping out, and Bronzewing is privy to a conversation that really needs footnotes.

Be calm. Be cool. Be like Winter.

Be calm. Be cool. Be like Winter.

Be calm. Be cool. Bitch slap Yang.

How did every other member of the Schnee family contain their emotions so well? Weiss seemed to be the only one who wasn't as frozen as the snowflake on the Schnee family crest. Father was a cruel, calculating businessman, Winter was maintained an air of decorum at all times, Whitley's polished veneer never faded, and Mother…Mother may show emotions, but Weiss didn't want to have anything in common with that drunk hag.

Ruby and Pyrrha, evidently finished with their little chit chat, emerged from the room. As light poured from the open windows of her dorm room into the hallway, Weiss wondered what they had even talked about. Ruby was too young to understand adult concepts like sex.

Pyrrha waved goodbye to Weiss' leader.

"Thanks for all the tips, Ruby!"

Weiss reached for Schachmatt.

"–dating tips, I mean!" Pyrrha added, just before Weiss' boomerang found itself on a one way trip into her kidney. That's right, keep walking. Don't test me, Pyrrha, not right now.

It was now just Team Rainow. Blake had stormed off after saying something about Yang and Ruby's mom that had left the former in tears. Ruby noticed her sister's upset emotional state and poked Weiss on the shoulder.

"What's up with Yang?"

"Your partner…was stung by a bumblebee."

"Eep! I know how much that hurts. Is she gonna be okay?"

"Maybe? I don't know. Don't worry; Blake killed the bumblebee."

The emotional part of Weiss wanted to hate Yang. Not only had she broken her promise to be just friends with Blake, but she acted on her emotions knowing full well how Weiss felt. But, at the same time, the Schnee in her told Weiss to approach the situation logically. Weiss knew from experience that falling in love with Blake was as easy as killing an armless legless Beowolf, so Yang couldn't be blamed for that. Yes, she'd kissed Blake, but Blake wasn't Weiss' girlfriend. She and her partner had only talked about a relationship, neither having yet asked nor agreed to enter one. Weiss hadn't made a move, and Yang had. Easy as that.

And in the end, it was Blake's choice. Maybe Yang had been careless and sloppy and stupid and whorish and a complete fucking bitch in the way she behaved last night (okay, maybe Weiss did kind of hate Yang), but it wouldn't matter w̵h̵e̵n̵ if Blake chose Weiss. And if Blake chose Yang, Weiss would just have to live with that. To know that Blake Belladonna, her partner, the woman she loved, cared more for a pun-cracking bimbo than her. To watch their relationship blossom for the rest of their time at Beacon, and possibly their entire lives, while her own love withered and died.

"I know!" Ruby snapped her fingers. "Weiss, you have to suck Yang!"

what

"To save her from the bumblebee poison! Weiss, you've got to suck the venom out of Yang's wound. Yang, get over here pronto so Weiss can suck you!"

Yang looked up at the duo. Weiss furiously waved her hands in denial as Ruby motioned for her to come over. Weiss begged the Brother gods to send something, anything, to interrupt this painful situation.

And, apparently, the Gods were in a wish-granting mood today.

A light gray missile launched through the windowsill with such force that it cracked the floor where it landed. All three girls recoiled, but only Yang had the wherewithal to raise her weapon (though it did help that all that required was the raising of her fists).

When the dust cleared and Weiss finished coughing, she saw that the projectile was a rocket locker of some sort. It was smaller than the kind Beacon used, but it clearly had all of the necessary components – a hinged metal door, impact shielding, Duster-Thrusters, airholes…

Wait, airholes?

"Ruff!"

If Ren hadn't known the headmaster was some sort of veteran huntsman master, he would have thought the man senile. His voice was borderline slurred, he paused at random moments during the speech, and sometimes it seemed like he forgot what he was talking about and just began to ramble.

"…to shadow professional hunters on real missions. Some of you may have to…have to leave the walls of the kingdom for your journey, while others may get, ahem, may go as far as leaving the kingdom on their assignments, but all of you will be given a chance to contribute to the gooder great while gaining valuable experience in the field."

Ren leaned over to Jaune and whispered, "Do you think he's alright?"

Team Castle and Team Adventure were lined up in very back of the main hall to listen to the headmaster's opening remarks before the assignment of missions. As long as they didn't raise their voices, the eight of them could essentially talk freely without the professors knowing.

"Oz? He's sharped than a tack. Probably just tired from his late night."

Cardin snorted. "What, do you think he was banging Goodbi…actually, never mind. I shouldn't be disrespectful to my elders."

That was odd. Cardin usually was happy to be slanderous, and he'd never caught himself or apologized before. Perhaps something was afoot.

"What late night?" whispered Nora.

"Try to keep it on the down low, but there was an attack on the CCT last night. The culprit wasn't caught, so Oz probably was awake all night last night working the case."

This was news to Ren. There had been no announcement, though that made sense. If the suspect was at large, letting the students of Beacon know would cause a panic. The authorities wouldn't even be able to interrogate anyone due to the upcoming missions that would send the entire domestic study body to the four corners of the kingdom.

"How did you know this, Jaune?" probed Ren.

"Yeah, Jaune. How exactly did you know about all this?" echoed Russel.

Jaune shrugged. "Ruby told Pyrrha, and she told me. Apparently, Ruby fought off the enemy. Pyrrha says her team's a little on edge. That's probably why the teachers let them skip out on the ceremony. Lucky bastards…"

The ceremony seemed stilted. The speeches given by Headmaster Ozpin and General Ironwood were forced, as though the two men were distracted by something else and this event was just an afterthought. Most of the students were groggy after their own long nights of dancing to exhaustion, overdosing on candy punch, and getting as little sleep as possible. Ren had not been as juvenile; he and Sky had retired at 10pm so they could be fresh and well rested for the morning. Their dorm was…occupied, but Sun had been kind enough to host them. Without his partner, the monkey Faunus had plenty of extra space in his room to offer the couple.

"…to the assignment boards. There, you will be able to select your assignments. Godspeed and good luck, students." He ambled off the stage, leaning heavily on his cane.

Team Castle went to the nearest terminal. Sky began to look up and down the options. "Let's have a gander, shall we? I'm thinkin' something fun, like stopping bandits or mowing down boatloads of Grimm…"

Nora stayed his hand. "Let's have a team huddle, real quick. It'll only take a minute."

The four of them gathered in a circle in front of the machine. Ren had no idea what Nora wished to discuss, and a sinking pit in his stomach told his that he wasn't going to like it.

"I've been doing some serious soul searching, and I've come to a couple of conclusions. First of all, I want to apologize to Ren and Sky for my callous actions towards the two of you. I was jealous, plain and simple, and I took out my insecurity on the both of you rather than deal with it myself. To quote Pyrrha, I'm sorry."

"It's fine–"

"No, it's not. It was not fine, and it's never going to be fine, but I can't change the past. I'm not gonna lie; it's still weird and I don't like it. But you two are my friends, so I'll do everything I can to support it."

Ren bowed. "My own actions were equally reprehensible. If you can forgive me, I forgive you, partner."

Nora smiled sweetly. "Awww, you guys! Cardy, aren't they just the…oh, right I also wanted to apologize to you, Cardin."

Cardin looked puzzled. "What for?"

"I…last night…I like you, Cardy, a lot, but I wouldn't have…"

"I'm a rebound from Ren."

Nora looked ashen. "I–"

"S'cool. You were in a bad place. I've been there. No one's been a bigger jackass than me, and you know that I'm still getting past my own problems. Besides, like, I totally got to do it last night, so I'm not gonna complain. Finally lost that pesky V-card."

"But Cardin, you like me. Like-like – don't try and deny it. I've probably spent more time with you than Ren this year during your Queen-mandated therapy sessions. Cardin, you have feelings for me, and I abused that for comfort."

"Yeah, but like…we did it."

"Cardin, this isn't a joke."

"I know. Queen Nora, I'm happy to spend time with you, as your teammate or friend or lover or boyfriend. Do you want to stop being…uh, whatever we are?"

"N-No!"

"Then I don't see a problem. Ren, does it bother you that Queen Nora and I are a thing? I know you two are close."

Ren shook his head curtly but maintained eye contact with Cardin. "Take good care of her. Treat her well."

"No prob, Bob. Long as you look after my partner."

Sky feigned a scandalized look. "Why, Cardin, do you care about me after all? -gasp- A-Are you secretly in love with me? Ren, fight him for my honor."

Cardin patted him on the back. "Nah, just usin' you as collateral to get Ren off my back. Come to think of it, dear partner of mine, I don't think we've spoken more than ten words to one another since we got to Beacon."

"Hahaha! Well, let's try to fit in some partner-partner bonding on the mission. If we're all set?" Everyone nodded, and Sky tapped on the mission board. "How about this one? Some Nevermores were spotted in–"

A metal sword whizzed through the air and pierced the mission board, shattering the glass and wrecking the display. Ren quickly checked his boyfriend to make sure he had all his fingers before turning to look at the inebriated man who'd thrown the blade.

"Morning, Nora. Morning, ladies. Now, if you lot are done with your little group therapy circle jerk, then maybe we can talk about the missions for real."

Cardin puffed out his chest. "Queen Nora says that calling men ladies as a mocking form of derision only serves to reinforce toxic masculinity by insinuating that being or acting in non-masculine ways is–"

"Cool it, big man. I'm not trying to pick a fight…with you."

The last clause piqued Ren's interest. Branwen had mentioned missions. If he was offering what Ren thought he was offering…

"Professor. Are you interested in being our mentor for the upcoming mission?"

"That's about right. Oz left my mission and squad up to my discretion. Thought you, me, and the ladies and laddies might be able to settle some unfinished business."

"Why us?" asked Sky. "Wouldn't you rather take your nieces and the catgirl?"

"First of all, there's no way on the Brother's Green Remnant that I'm spending what could be a full week with Winter Schnee's sister. Second, Ruby's taking a little breather. She's already been through somethin' more harrowing than even the most grueling missions, so Oz and the other teachers agreed to let her off with a light mission. Third, I wanted to bring you guys since we need some heavy firepower…"

He nodded to Nora.

"…some serious muscle…"

He nodded to Cardin.

"…a useful semblance against the Grimm…"

He nodded to Ren.

"…uhhh…"

He nodded to Sky. Sky closed his eyes in defeated acceptance and nodded back.

"Plus, on the whole, you four are my favorite team. It was kinda nice, seeing you all work through your issues. You're a fucksight more mature than me and the Starks."

"Looks like our group therapy circle jerks paid off," Cardin jeered, sticking out his tongue. Ren was honestly amazed he hadn't flipped the professor off. Perhaps he is serious about changing his immature ways. That would be a most welcome development.

Nora leaned on her hammer. "So, what's the mission, teach? Ooh ooh, are we going after Team Caiman? I bet they're the ones that did the CCT. It was an inside job, I tell ya!"

Professor Branwen scratched his head. "How'd you know about…n-no, we aren't going after them. Instead, I'm giving you the chance to settle the score with an old friend. One with tusks, fins, and way too many tails."

Bronzewing followed his team leader to the mission board.

Then, he followed him past the mission board.

Then, he followed him out of the room.

Nikos tapped her partner on the shoulder. "Jaune, we have yet to select an assignment."

"We're not going to be taking one of the normal missions. I've got something special in mind for Team Adventure."

Bronzewing wasn't entirely sure he liked the sound of that, but he'd vowed to have faith in Arc, and he wasn't going to go back on that now. He, Arc, Nikos, and Thrush continued out the door of the building. Arc led the trio in the direction of the CCT, but he stopped them before reaching the tower. Headmaster Ozpin was hobbling in the same direction a short distance in front of them.

"Ozpin."

The old man turned and regarded the quartet. "Ah, my dear Team Adventure. To what do I owe the pleasure?"

"It's about the missions."

"Oh, goodness me. If you wish to select a mission that has been listed as restricted to upperclassmen, I'm afraid there's nothing I can–"

"Ruby is Pyrrha's best friend and Dove's girlfriend. She was attacked last night."

Rose wasn't Bronzewing's girl…never mind. Bronzewing had been there for the conclusion of said attack, but, to the best of his knowledge, it was being kept secret. Now, Arc was openly flaunting knowledge of it to the headmaster. Something odd was afoot.

Cease this foolishness and trust your leader, man. Bronzewing shook his head and pushed the absurd theories out of mind. He'd committed enough mutiny for one lifetime. Now was a time for faith and healing, not suspicions and sleuthing.

"Hmm. How might you have come by this information?"

"Team Rainbow told Pyrrha."

"I see. Well, I'm sure you would've been told eventually…through the appropriate channels."

"Pardon my Vacuoan, but please fuck off with the coded messages and double meanings, Oz. I want to go after her."

The headmaster sipped his coffee, his expression guarded. "Do you know how I got this thermos? It belonged to a friend of mine, Doctor Bartholomew Oobleck. He was a huntsman and a teacher of Beacon, and he was killed in Mountain Glenn before the school year began. The trail has long since run cold. In fact, it's so cold that I've sent Miss Rose on a wild goose chase to investigate it with her teammates. It was considered a light mission for her after the traumatic events of last night." Ozpin paused and took another sip from his drink.

"And…?"

"Doctor Oobleck was an excellent huntsman. He was murdered on his mission. Can you guess who he was hunting when he died?"

"Cinder Fall."

Fall? The girl Arc had fought in class? How did this pertain to her?

"Correct, though we did not know her identity at the time. Jaune, you're asking me to send a team of students, of children, after a woman who killed a veteran huntsman."

"No. I'm asking you to let a team of children join you."

Ozpin raised an eyebrow. "I'm a decrepit, old man. Why on Remnant would I be chasing down a dangerous criminal?"

"Because it's what I would do, were I in your position. And I think we know just how…like-minded you and I are."

"I thought you asked me to – how did you so colorfully put it? Ah, yes. Fuck off with the coded messages and double meanings. If, of course, you can find it in yourself to pardon my Vacuoan."

Arc fidgeted sheepishly and averted his gaze. "No offense, sir, but you're not exactly combat ready." Jaune gestured to the man's limp. "And I don't think my team and I could take on Cinder alone. We need to work together."

Nikos looked at Arc quizzically. "But Jaune, you nearly beat her before on your own."

"No, Pyrrha, I tricked her before. My semblance can amplify that of others, but I can't control or forcibly active them. I need to wait until they go first, and all I can do is supercharge it. Cinder knows my trick, so she just won't use her fire powers. My cane work is, eh, okay, but it's probably at the level of a primary combat school student at the moment. Cinder should have wiped the floor with me. That's why I surrendered – to hide just how weak I am."

"Jaune, you're not–"

"It's not self-pity, Pyrrha. It's a fact. I'd lose to her. It was a strategic retreat. The four of us might be enough to bring her in, and that's a big might, but she has a team of her own. With Ozpin, though, we'd have the advantage."

"Couple a' questions," shot Thrush. "1) How do we know Cinder was the one at the CCT last night? And 2) why'd she do it?"

"We do not know, Mister Thrush, or there would be wanted posters lining the walls, printed by a certain well-meaning but warmongering general. We do, however, suspect." Ozpin tapped on his scroll. "That is why I'm going to approve the four of you joining me on a strictly non-combat mission of information and evidence gathering. In regard to your second question, I suppose we shall have to find out together."

It is done?

Yes, my Queen. Azeban tells me that the Spring Maiden shall be dead before the completion of their objective.

Our objective.

Yes, my Queen. Our objective.

You doubt our allies?

I…I do. A thousand apologies, your grace. My thoughts are unruly, but I will never betray you. I would sooner perish.

I ordered Azeban to find information for me. Has he found it?

Yes, my Queen. Our partners have moved their Dust arsenal to Mountain Glenn, in the southeast of Vale. It is being stored in a warehouse within the city.

Excellent. I have a new mission for you.

As you command.

Seek out Qrow Branwen. Reveal Azeban's intelligence to him.

My Queen?

You are not the only one who would see our makeshift friends brought low, my child. If anything, I am pleased you took exception to their beastly ways without having to be told.

If the White Fang discovers our double cross, the relic may be lost to us…

That is why you shall not destroy them yourself. Find Branwen, or allow him to find you. Divulge the locations of their bases. Do not let the White Fang or the Fall Maiden learn of your actions, under any circumstances.

I see. The warlock and his armies will hunt the White Fang for us, and our forged alliance will not be disrupted. When the Dust is destroyed, they will not have the firepower to enact their original plan.

Precisely, my child. We have invested too much in the White Fang to lose their faith entirely, but they cannot be allowed to run rampant.

There is but one problem.

Speak, my child.

Branwen and I crossed blades in Forever Fall, and I threatened one of his disciples. I doubt he will believe my word at face value. I shall obey you, my Queen, but I worry as to whether this goal is attainable.

Did Azeban bring any evidence? Anything to convince Branwen of the hoarded Dust's existence?

No, my Queen.

Hmm.

It waited patiently as Queen Salem thought. Without intervention by Ozma's forces, the White Fang would move about unchecked. Leaving them to their own devices spelled disaster, but intervening would cost them a critical playing piece. A solution was needed, and it was needed now.

It had to think…

Unbidden but not unwelcome, a memory came to it.

My Queen. I may have a way. Long before Melion was killed by the previous Fall Maiden, he once witnessed the battle between lower Grimm and a group of warriors on the outskirts of Mountain Glenn. Qrow Branwen was among their numbers, and his forces were led by a human. A hunter. It is possible he would trust us if our claims were verified by his comrade-in-arms.

And how would this hunter confirm the White Fang's activities?

Because Melion overheard the humans addressing the leader as the Sheriff of Mountain Glenn.

Very well. I approve of your plan. Seek out Branwen, leak the intelligence to him, and tell him to contact this…sheriff to verify it. I must say, I was worried the loss of Melion would lead to our ruin, but you've proven yourself a worthy successor.

I am honored by your praise, my Queen.

Your loyalty merits a reward. I believe the time has come for you to take a name, my child.

Omake

Bronzewing: I shall follow Arc, even if I cannot understand his direction.

Xiao-Long: Would you call that *finger guns* blind faith?

Omake 2

Nora: I've been doing some serious soul searching.

- flashback to Nora's therapy -

Nora: *to herself* And how does that make me feel?

The Sheriff of Mountain Glenn – Insert Wild Western cowpoke lawkeeper horsehide noises here.

Author's Notes

Someone challenged me as to whether or not this is pre-written, so I'm posting another two chapters early to assert my dominance and/or eternal sigma grindset.

Y'all are probably wondering what's the deal with Mountain Glenn and why people're talking about it weird. Worry not – the next chapter is ten pages of exposition. Click the next button and read on, if you dare.