"It's hollow?" I commented, gaining a silent chuckle from Neo as we approached.

"It's supposed to be, it transmits signals, not people." Adam let out as we passed through an opening in the gate.

I won't lie, I thought it would at least have somebody watching over it. Then again everything seems odd around here, self functioning towers shouldn't be all that surprising.

We took our time as we walked up to it, careful for any attackers that may challenge us, be they droids or Grimm. We'd already fought several groups of them on the way here, so it wouldn't be all to odd for them to be guarding the towers.

Speaking of, they were not as tall as I expected. Granted they were certainly strange looking, spindly and hollow. They looked almost in the style of a spider's web, but with metal to hold itself tall.

There appeared to be a sort of disc at the top, who's purpose was unknown to me. I shrugged it off as we approached, deciding to fully just accept that things worked without my understanding.

Smaller mysteries like that could be saved for later, as we'd more pressing matters to deal with.

"What now?" I'd asked as I looked up, taking in the strange... yet oddly pleasant looking pillar.

"Simple, Neo and I will work on trying to get a signal through while you keep watch for anything suspicious. I have some experience in re-routing signals to avoid being caught by local authorities, and Neo here should be able to deal with the more advance tech. Give us a while and we'll get a signal back to base." Adam explained as Neo nodded.

I turned back to the gate as they carried on, still having no idea what they were saying, but I'd assume it was a good thing. The area was mostly barren, aside from the occasional spout of dust being blown along the wind.

I set to watch the gate, keeping an eye out for any more Grimm. It angered me to know that they were being forcefully altered by that 'madman' as Adam put it. To think that someone would have the gall to try and risk tampering with the Grimm of all things had me on edge.

Being the enemies of humanity most Humans and Faunus would simply settle for killing them when attacked, which was fine. Everyone had the right to fight for their survival, or as the queen put it "a life for a life". All lives are worth the same, if fighting to live there is no shame in doing what you must.

Grimm were strange like that as they never truly died. When destroyed they would simply dissolve into smoke, flowing along the winds and back to the nearest Grimm pool. At that point the smoke mixes with the liquid and the Grimm is reborn.

It's due to this that they were considered non-living, even by the goddess. However they still relied on instinct, Grimm were attracted to Human negativity and as such they were bound by their nature.

Whether they were killing or not couldn't be entirely blamed on them, they were animals just like any other. Where or why they target the people and not the animals or other nature is mostly unknown, but one thing that we had known was that they could feel.

Unlike people who had various different reactions to emotion the Grimm had only two: rage, and pain. The Grimm were emotionless on their own when people weren't around, but when negativity was in the air the Grimm seemed to be consumed with an endless hatred that dulled all their senses.

The queen had once taken me to the fields where she created her own Grimm, showing me how they reacted as newborns. Grimm were born of random size and type unless the queen specified, taking on random shapes and levels of strength.

Without any humans around I was able to see how they behaved in nature. I distinctly remember watching the Beowolf pups as they wandered about the world. They looked the same as ordinary Beowolves, but it was their behaviors that astounded me.

They would wander about the small gated field, picking at and observing the various different plants in their mini adventures. I remember the queen telling me that they had a near perfect memory, able to remember everything it sees.

I'd asked if that meant they could understand us as we talked, to which she shook her head. "Grimm are unable to recognize speech, they remember only in images. Grimm that grow old are able to discern their own understanding of Human and Faunus behavior given time, but sounds are basic for them. I could spend years talking to them, but it will always be noise to them as they simply recognize sound by it's volume."

Loud noises meant danger or change, quiet noises meant calm and hidden. They would focus on reacting to the louder noise as it was usually a chance to catch their prey. Although they never ate I remember the queen telling me that they could feed on the last moments of a persons life.

As people died they would experience one last wave of emotion, strong and vibrant. It was this last emotion that the Grimm favored the most, as it was the only time they were able to feed on negative and positive emotions.

She admitted that she didn't know why they were able to feed on the last moment's emotion, but it was just something that they could do.

Strange... being part Grimm would I be able to feed on emotions some day?

Unlikely, but one could only wonder.

I was drawn back by the sounds of... something. Placing a hand over my blade I followed the sound, walking carefully over to the gates as it picked up.

Is that... water?

I looked around, trying to pinpoint the source of the flowing liquid. Yet no matter where I listened the sound would always change directions. It frustrated me as I tried harder, moving about to see if it was in one particular spot.

Turns out that was the case as moving around would not only change direction, but volume as well. I returned to the spot where the sound was strongest, ducking down to check something.

The sloshing grew louder as I stared at the dirt. I rubbed about the ground a bit, noticing that the sand was loose. The sound picked up heavily as I gripped a bunch in my hand, throwing it aside to see what was causing it.

Low and behold I was met with the sight of a rock, a sizable opening under it as it held the dirt above in place. I kicked at the spot, my foot going through as I almost lost balance.

Steadying myself I noticed that the dirt had fallen into a sort of... flowing liquid, rushing along at rapid speeds and creating the loud sounds. What was this liquid? Observing closer I was able to see that it was running through what looked to be a rather large pipe, although it seemed to be broken open at the spot above the rock (If the loud noise was anything to go by).

That couldn't have been it, a spot like this buried under ground shouldn't have made such loud noise. I carried on out of the gate, just slightly as to be able to run back if trouble popped up.

The noise picked up again as I walked along the outer side, seeming to come from a spot just beyond the cliffs. I couldn't investigate alone, and so I decided to head back to the tower and wait for the others.

I took my place back at my initial spot, keeping guard for any intruders... despite the fact that we were the intruders.

"Alright, we're good!" Adam's voice called out, turning back I was able to see him and Neo approaching me again.

"Right, they've got a lock on our scrolls. Turns out we've got some networking specialists in base at the moment. They've gotten into the islands communication layout and are using the signals relative to our scrolls to keep a lock on our position at all times. The island used to be used by Vale for storing weapons and excess dust, so the layout maps are still available in certain history documents. As long as we have our scrolls they'll be able to tell where we are."

I nodded as he held a grin, still clueless to anything but assuming it was good.

"Hey, can you follow me for a bit?" I asked as they gave questioning looks.

"Why, what is it?"

"I've been hearing sounds of water over somewhere. I think it would be good to check out." I answered as he gave a pause.

He looked to Neo who gave a shrug as well as a nod, he turned back to me and motioned me to lead on. I brought them over through the gates, the sounds picking up like before.

Carefully we trudged along, keeping to the cliff walls as we kept our guard up. As we drew closer to what looked like an opening we were greeted with new sounds. We each drew our weapons as we came to the opening, heading inside one by one as I lead them through.

I stopped just before the opening, peeking past and gazing at what looked to be a wall of... things, yea... things is the best word. Seeing that there were no enemies of any kind I stepped out, allowing the other two from behind to get a look at it as well.

"A control panel? What's it doing out here?" Adam spoke as he walked up to it.

The thing was absolutely coated in buttons and shapes of all sizes. Above it sat a massive looking pipe, open at the top for some unknown reason. Neo seemed interested as she walked up to it, gazing at what looked to be the same type of screen as what our scrolls used, only bigger.

"Hold on just a moment." Adam's hands were moving about the device, clicking away at the different colored bits and pieces as the blue screen brought up loads of words.

Adam let out a slight gasp as he stared.

"Fucking dust..." His tone was quiet as Neo held a hand to her mouth.

"What? What is it?" I asked, still unable to read what was on it. Adam simply pointed at the liquid flowing along the glass section of the pipe, the one with the opening at the top.

"This goo is some sort of serum that he's injecting the Grimm with, to try and enhance their abilities. He's exposing it to the air in order to settle it, for some reason contact with oxygen at a certain speed dissolves the compound into some sort of... gaseous toxin. If I'm reading this right then it mixes with the smoke that the Grimm let out after death. The result reforms the haze into the shape of the Grimm that was killed, albeit with the strange enhancements that we saw earlier." He explained as he looked back to the screen, continuing to read what was written.

Great, just when I thought it couldn't get any worse. So this panel was here to control the flow I guess, that would explain why it was outside, wait... no it doesn't!

"So why is it out here instead of in some lab?" I asked as Adam tuned back to me.

"It's a process: the liquid after exposure takes a certain time to transition, once oxygen comes into contact with it at any amount it starts a chain reaction. This reaction alters the liquid to a certain state, at this state the liquid is boiled in a furnace further down the line. Boiling it at this state ensures Merlot get's the gas composition he needs, whereas boiling it too early will just get an ordinary poison." I started to catch on.

"So this pipe is long enough to allow just enough time to get the liquid to it's required state, so it can be boiled into the needed gas?" Adam gave me a nod.

"Precisely, the whole thing's just a way to stall for time." I felt myself sigh.

Great, it's alchemy.

Even in my thoughts I couldn't keep my sarcasm hidden. Alchemy was one of those few things that I hated dealing with. On it's own it wasn't that bad, but it was the ones who practiced it that annoyed me.

One of the princesses had been fond of the study, she was the only one who seemed to be sensible with it. Every other practitioner I'd met within the kingdom had been downright crazy, and considering that I'd had to execute several of them for multiple violent crimes... well, let's just say that my patience for the study has been stretched.

Neo started typing on her scroll, showing it to us again. Adam seemed to grow a grin.

"You're right, these pipes will lead to where he's doing his experiments. Alright, let's go shove this slop down his throat."

I gave a nod alongside Neo as he started on his way with us following behind.

They always leave a trail to themselves, will they ever learn?

.

.

"Oh lighten up, It'll be fun!"

Fun... yeah.

Sienna wasn't so sure about that, granted Kali looked to be doing her best to keep things interesting as they walked along. Besides, it wasn't like she had anything better to do, until V called she was stuck repeating the same old routine.

Maybe she could use a little adventure as she waited, it wasn't like Kali would go about anything boring that's for sure. The older woman seemed so excited too, what could a little time spent cost?

Sienna rolled her eyes, a small smirk at the corner of her lips.

"Ah ah, I see that. Don't think you can hide your excitement from me." Kali spoke as she poked at Sienna's cheeks, the mentioned having swatted her hand away.

"Okay fine, you've got my attention. What do you have planned?"

Sienna was sure she'd regret having asked later, but for the moment it was a risk she'd been willing to take. Kali stifled a giggle as she waved her close, whispering in her ear.

"I've got a secret place that I like to go when I feel like being alone. It's a beautiful spot, just remember to keep it a secret between you and me." Kali gave a wink as she backed away.

A secret place? It could be interesting, after all why not?

She'd admit that it did sound relaxing, solitary areas usually made for great thinking. Considering Kali was the one who kept it secret spoke volumes. Kali was capable of holding secrets no doubt, but the woman was always open when it came to others. If this was her secret then it must have been something special.

The excitable mother led her down the street, a skip in her step as they passed by several workers who were returning from lunch. Kali gave her regular greetings to them as they passed, seeming to brighten their moods.

Sienna received some greetings as well, although she'd only given small waves back, nothing on par with her friend. Luckily for her sake there weren't more than a handful of workers returning, otherwise Kali would have taken the time to greet all of them, and Sienna would like to not spend several hours walking along the streets.

After a while they came to the edge of the village, which was a surprise to say the least as the woman seemed to lead her out past and into the trees. Kali wasn't a fighter that much was common knowledge, so why was she leading her into the trees?

Sienna followed silently, keeping an eye out should any Grimm make an appearance. This was dangerous, Cerberus was back at base so she had no weapon other than her bare hands.

Granted she knew several ways to kill with just her hands, but that was on people! She couldn't just strangle a Grimm now could she? Well... she could, but whether it was effective or viable was another story.

Regardless Sienna kept her guard up as Kali carried on, leading her to a... cave? That was new, since when did Kali have a cave? More importantly when did she first find it? Sienna would admit, she'd found herself intrigued.

"When did you come across this?" She asked as Kali gave a cheeky grin.

"Around a month ago. Ghira was helping me look for some flowers to give to Blake when she eventually called, as an apology for how we acted." Sienna found herself frowning at that.

"It wasn't your fault, you were both worried and I can't blame you. Our work is dangerous, it's only natural for parents to worry for their children." Sienna told, holding a firm tone in her voice.

Not entirely true, there were parents who'd sell their kids at the drop of a hat; but those were few and far between. Kali was a mischievous yet gentle soul, despite her playful nature she was protective and caring over her daughter.

It hurt her in a way, they were still under the belief that the White Fang only fought in defense. They didn't know of the constant attacks and violent operations that they carried out.

Ghira had stepped down because he was unwilling to defend himself against humans when they attacked him. The man would gladly fight to protect his family, but when it came to his own life he would never fight.

Ghira's stance on protest was different than most: he believed that total peace was the only way to truly make change. He actively chose to take hit's, refusing to lay hands on his attackers.

He believed in relying on the hearts of others, on their willingness to see their own faults in order to change. Ghira never fought, because he believed that given time people would come to see just how shallow their hate was, he only needed to show he was not their enemy.

It was noble, yet foolish. If Sienna had to say, she'd call him overly optimistic, but that was just who he was. He believed that their was good in everyone, and they just needed help to see it.

Sienna let go of her thoughts, turning and facing Kali.

Kali simply let out a sigh. "No, I may not have joined in the screaming match between the two, but I still had a hand in it. I simply stood there and let it happen, to scared for them to act or even try to calm them."

"That's not-"

"No! No... I could have done something, but I didn't... and I accept that. Sienna I know you're trying to help me, but sometimes we need to accept our mistakes in order to move forward."

Sienna held her tongue as they walked along through the darkness, small light seeping from the cracks as Kali let out a calm breath.

"That day I made a mistake, I could have done something but I chose not to... and I admit it. Now, looking back on it I've come to learn from it. I won't make that same mistake again." Kali stopped, gathering herself before pressing forwards as a light shined from the opening in the distance.

"When Blake chooses to find us again I'm going to clear the water and apologize. I let myself fall apart last time, letting my worries and emotions control me. But next time I'll be honest to her and support her, even if her choices are dangerous, because in the end it's her decision. She's a big girl now, and I can't protect her forever."

They walked through the opening, the bright light blinding Sienna for only a second as her eyes adjusted. She felt herself gasp at the beauty before her.

The opening brought her before a cliff, the cave seeming to open up to the scene of the beach below. She saw the ocean outwards as she stepped forward, the waves lulling a calm sense of harmony as they massaged the sands below.

They were weren't too high up, if she had to guess she'd say that the beach was around two stories below. A few plants and bushes covered the view slightly, but they were able to see the outside just fine.

"Woah." Sienna let out as Kali giggled.

"Yea, woah."

Maybe I could come here every now and then. Clear my mind for a bit.

"Kali, can I-"

"Yes, you're free to come here as much as you like, just keep it a secret okay?" The older woman said, holding a finger to her lips.

Sienna could only nod as she gazed over the sight.

However that wonder and peace was short lived, as some odd sounds could just barely be picked up by their ears. Sienna was immediately on high alert, ducking low as she pulled Kali down with her.

Kali (being the smart woman she was) kept quiet as Sienna creeped over to the edge, pulling the mother along with her. The duo carefully pushed through some of the bushes, relying on the brush of the waves below to mask their noise.

Sienna was able to peek through the leaves, gazing down at the source below.

There, on the beach next to their cliff were two White Fang officers. Sienna felt her eyes squint as she realized the noise was actually their words, they were talking.

"So the place is in flames?"

"Yep, no survivors too."

"That's good. So what do we tell high leader."

"Easy, we tell Ms. Khan that the mission was a failure and that the shop keeper got away, or informed the police; whatever works for you. Adam wants this on the down low remember, keep her dulled so she lets her guard down." The other man nodded.

"How much longer do we have to do this, we've been at it for months now. Rumor has it that she's started to take active action again, what if she starts questioning things?"

"Calm yourself, she's clueless. Just keep feeding her the fake news, and Adam will let us know when the time is right." The second man nodded as they looked to part ways.

Sienna had only one thought as she watched them go.

No way... no fucking way!

.

.

"And there you are."

Ruby placed down the plate, a small breakfast of toasted bread and dried fruit. It wasn't much sure, but it was the best she had available. Pebble seemed content however as he dug in, poor kid probably saw it as a feast.

How did he end up in here?

Aether wasn't kind to Faunus on the best of days, let alone in it's current state. The treaties that kept the kingdoms in a state of peace were starting to waver, as greed and perversion flourished.

At the moment rumors spoke of a potential war looming on the horizon with the northerners across the water. Several hundred years from now they would be known as Atlas, however at this point in time they were only known as The White Sea due to the overly snow covered landscape.

They were a kingdom in name only as they lacked any of the royalty that Aether and the like had. At the moment they were simply groups of nomad tribes that scattered the frozen tundra, around two hundred or so. Yet they claimed themselves a kingdom, and even had an empress to boot.

Of course The White Sea would be her next destination after she finished up with Aether, best not to get too ahead of herself now. Ruby sat down as she looked to the boy, who'd just finished his food.

"So, how did you end up on the streets?" She asked as the child looked up at her. She felt a small twinge of pain as he seemed to tense.

"I broke from the cages." He answered as she felt her eyebrows raise at this. "The... cages?" The child gave her a nod.

"Mhm, one of the bars was loose. Mother told me to run and hide, but I wanted to help her out too..." His tone got quieter as he seemed to shrink in his chair. "But she wouldn't let me."

"What do you mean?" Ruby asked, her voice soft as she leaned in. The kid stared at his plate, almost as if he wasn't there.

"She told me to live."

He was silent after that, looking to hide within himself as he stilled. She knew what he meant, she wanted her son to go on without her. Ruby felt a sense of anger rise in herself, not to the mother but to the kingdom as a whole.

Aether only kept Faunus for two purposes, slavery... or execution, and in the end she would do nothing. It was one ot the reasons that her mission felt dull, as no matter what happened she was forced to ignore the cries of suffering.

She'd become able to convince herself that they were evil, that they deserved what was coming, even when she knew it was a lie. Did that make her a monster? Maybe, but she'd given up too much to really care at this point.

Whatever happened happened, all that mattered was that she succeeded.

Ruby looked over Pebble once more, seeing him move about a little. That was good, he was pulling himself back to the present, best he let go of those painful memories for now. Even if she lost the will to care for the world around her, she could still pick and choose who she decided to look out for.

She was about to say something, only to stop when she heard the sound of the front door. She turned, watching Shade make his way in.

"Ruby, I've spoken with the others, and they're willing to compromise."

"Meaning?"

"They'll provide you with missions."

Yes!

Ruby couldn't help but give a little fist pump in the air, she finally had something to occupy her time. No more wasting away for her!

"So?"

Shade rolled his eyes, handing an envelope over to her. Ruby snatched it up, holding it close with a dark smile, one that creeped the man out slightly. She wasted no time opening it.

Her brows furrowed as her eyes skimmed over the words, looking up questioningly to Shade who stared her way.

"Well?" He asked, showing he'd no idea what was written.

"It says I need to meet someone at the graveyard, at around midnight." She answered, he gave a nod.

"Well then that's what you'll do." Ruby could only shift about at that, her discomfort showing.

"Okay... but why a graveyard?"

"Beats me, I just deliver the orders, I don't make them." Shade shrugged as she held a flat look.

"Thanks for answering my question."

"Oh stop with the sarcasm, you can ask them when you get there. Just get ready for later, you can tell me about it when you get back."

Ruby let out a sigh, deciding to accept the fact that she'd spend the night around the dead. After all, who in their right mind meets up in a graveyard of all places?

She shook herself, best not to worry about it. If they wanted to dance on graves then that was their choice, small progress was better than no progress.

Ruby threw one last look Pebble's way, taking in one of the few looks of joy she'd seen in days.

Still, why a graveyard?

.

.

Finally, time for a break!

Qrow was exhausted, having spent the past night searching around for more clues as to the White Fang's location had taken a toll.

But it wasn't all bad, seeing the sights again had been somewhat pleasant. It had been quite a while since he'd last been in Vale, and most of the smaller shops he'd enjoyed had still been there.

However he was getting impatient, the shady group of terrorists were proving more trouble than he anticipated, and that irked him.

Currently he was hold up in a local bar, one of his favorite places. Lifting up his drink he chugged down another mouthful of beer, 'Valen Bark' if he was remembering right. It was a bitter drink, with a noticeable heat following along after every taste.

Different than most beer and more along the lines of whiskey, but he still managed to enjoy it; the bitter ones were always his favorite. Of course he was just biding his time at the moment, waiting for any updates on the situation.

He relaxed a bit, feeling a sense of relief at having some time to himself. Yet he was interrupted by the feeling of his scroll buzzing in his pocket.

Just when I get a break too.

Another thing he was used to sadly, he sucked it up, choosing to answer the call. Better to get it over with at the moment rather than risk missing out on potentially crucial information.

He flipped it open, seeing that he received a text rather than a call. Feeling a bit curious he opened it up, gazing at the picture provided.

One of our guys caught this some time ago, but couldn't follow up. This your boy?

The picture showed two people, both managing to catch his attention. The one on the left was Adam Taurus (That much was obvious from the striking red hair), while the one on the right was his mystery target from last time on the outskirts. There was also a third, some shorter woman who bore similar dress to the notorious thief Roman Torchwick. They looked to be walking into the wilderness.

His pale skin looking just as creepy as before, more so now that he was in brighter light. Qrow was able to make out all the little veins along his skin.

Yep, that's definitely him.

Junior kept his word after all, granted he expected this as the man was a pro, albeit not this soon. Qrow sent a reply confirming that it was their target, along with a request to keep him updated. Now there was only one thing left to do, and that was to bring the news.

Qrow opened up his contacts, scrolling through to the correct number. He waited as the rings went through, hearing the familiar sounds of the gear filled room.

"Oz, I've got it."

Author's note

...

Alright, moving things along we've got everyone setting up for some not far off events. I'd say get excited, but I've been saying that all the time and I'm sure you get the message by now.

Small section with Qrow again, this time making actual progress. I know I know, I'm shocked too, but I have to move along at some point; this is just an extra step.

We've also got Ruby to keep an eye on as well, and poor Sienna is starting to learn things she wishes she hadn't.

Pacing is still not my strongest point, but we're moving around so I call it a win.

Just try to keep some excitement if you can, I've got some major things planned soon so don't worry.

Anyway, hope you enjoyed and see you next time.