"Well," Yang commented. "That went better than expected."

Weiss could not help but agree; she was still somewhat in shock that the headmaster agreed with this madness. Yet he did and so she needed to adapt.

The whole group currently congregated in the CFVY dorm; with them being a second-year team, their accomodations were large enough to comfortably fit them all. Seeing that nobody so much as commented on her attempt to break the ice, Yang carried on after a moment with a motion for the Crown of Choice, currently cradled against her sister's chest. "What do we do with that anyway? You can't just carry it around, right?"

Ruby stared down at it in response. "That's a good question, actually. I don't think anyone thought about that."

She was right, which reminded Weiss how haphazard this entire endeavour ultimately was.

"Come on," Selina nudged the younger woman with a roll of her eyes. "Just wear the thing. You're the best we have and who knows, maybe it'll give you something juicy to help you later."

Nora nodded along cheerfully. "Besides, it's not like anyone would expect us to have one of these thingies in our outfits, right?"

Weiss was ready to take the wind out of their sails, but Ren pre-empted her. He often did when Nora was concerned. "It's still fairly obvious when you know what to look for."

"Oh come on, where's your sense for style! It's a crown!"

Ruby squirmed as the pair argued. She sought the others' opinions with a look, earning thumbs ups from Yang and Selina. Blake and Weiss were almost perfect mirrors of each other in shaking their heads, though the atlesean did it mainly over Nora's and Ren's antics. CFVY was still mulling it over.

In the end, Fox spoke up thoughtfully: "I think they're right, actually. Refuge in audacity and all that. If we assume Salem already knows everything anyway, we can't hide the thing or she will find it."

"Right," Velvet agreed. "So if she isn't aware we have the Crown, she won't look with us. And if she does, Ruby is the best to protect it anyway."

Coco arched a brow out that. "I'm not so sure about that one. You're at least as good as she is."

The pointed comment made her partner squirm while attention was focussed on her. Weiss did recall that Velvet was presumably CFVY's ace, though she had never seen her fight.

"But only one of them cheats with her Semblance," Selina quipped. It was evidently the wrong thing to say, seeing how her fellow faunus threw her a sour look. The wolf cringed. "Whoops. Sorry. Forget I said anything."

Now Weiss was intrigued, but she knew better than to ask that particular question. The same went for Pyrrha, but they also both knew Nora would have no such reservation. The bubbly girl almost jumped in her seat.

"Aww, c'mon! We're like secret agents now! It's fine if we know your Semblance, right? Right?"

Velvet gave no response beyond a minute frown. Coco pushed herself in front of her partner a moment later, warding off Nora's attention. "Let's not go there. We're not advertising Velvet for a reason."

As she spoke, Fox and Yatsuhashi also shifted to cover their skittish teammate. Weiss was uncertain what to do here. The Semblances on her team were well known, excepting Penny who had yet to find hers. SNNL was somewhat open with theirs, though only Nora's could be called obvious. Weiss only knew after seeing it in action. Pyrrha was clearly more understanding of Velvet's situation, considering that she still hid her own Semblance.

"It may not be for me to say," she began, cutting through the tension. Weiss left a pause to make certain everyone was listening. "But from what the headmaster said, all of us will receive assignments in Atlas. We need not work strictly together to obtain the Staff, but being aware of what each team brings to the table would be a great boon."

She felt this was a solid argument. In the best case they could have exchanged the knowledge of their Semblances, but the distribution of who knew what made that impossible. "Unfortunately, Spiceberry can offer little in terms of secrets to share. So I will not demand anyone else's, either."

"In fairness," Blake commented, "if we end up having to fight Ironwood, we're already in big trouble."

Weiss nodded. "A fair point."

"I do not see the issue," Penny chirped into the room. She seemed far too cheerful for that statement, eyes on Selina. "From how you said it, you know friend Velvet's Semblance?" Her question earned a hesitant nod, to which the gynoid smiled. "And you agree that she can match friend Ruby?"

Weiss already saw where this was going. Curiousity still burned in the back of her mind, but she successfully kept it at bay. Selina frowned in the meantime.

"No idea," she admitted. "I've never seen them throw down. But from what I know, I'm pretty sure she can take either of our teams. Maybe she won't win four on one, but she'd at least brutalise the lot of us."

This in itself was already glowing praise. SNNL and SPBY were among the highest rated first-year teams after all. Penny nodded along as well. "And I trust in your assessment. That should be enough to satisfy any need for planning, no?"

"That is true," Weiss agreed immediately. She silently applauded the simple yet elegant solution. She knew all the first years and Ruby were still curious, but their seniors relaxed regardless. Weiss addressed Velvet before anyone else could try to insist: "My apologies for trying to force the issue."

Velvet did not meet her gaze, but she seemed mollified. "It's fine. I get that everyone's curious. I just don't like talking about it because, well, Selina is right." She huffed faintly. "It's cheating. My Semblance carries me far more than any of yours do, it's that powerful."

"I see," Weiss responded in a bid to cut off everyone else trying to reassure the faunus girl. CFVY likely gave her all the reassurances she needed. "In that case, I would appreciate if you cheat as hard as you can during our time in Atlas." Now this earned her several surprised looks, including from the woman herself. Velvet stared dumbly at Weiss, who smirked back. "We will need every edge we can get."

Velvet's surprise faded right quick; the hare chuckled and nodded. "Okay, I'll make an exception this once."

Which was really all Weiss needed to hear. She was pleased, at least until Selina stage-whispered at the room: "Corporate princess asks poor faunus girl to commit crimes. Tale as old as time."

"Shut it, you!"

There was no heat to her rebuke, hence why the following wave of laughter drowned it out. Weiss herself smiled and even noticed Blake wearing a faint smirk.

While the final remnants of tension fled, Ruby once again stared at the crown. Weiss noticed that, as well as the fact the younger woman did not say a peep during the entire discussion. Their gazes met when Ruby looked up, only for the younger girl to wilt somewhat under Weiss's curiousity. Then she visibly firmed up and nodded to herself before passing the crown to Velvet.

"If you're as good as I am, then you should have it. I'm higher profile than you and I'll be mostly on my own."

Weiss had to applaud Ruby as well, if just within the sanctity of her own mind. She may be the youngest of them but she was certainly one of the most mature. Many others would have jumped at the chance to hold a Relic, including Weiss herself. Velvet just stared at the priceless artifact with worry and joy, likely for being trusted so much.

Then Selina huffed. "You got Qrow and Raven, though. Boy, I don't want to be whatever poor shmuck she sends to come at you. Fresh Huntress with support from two of the best? Yeouch."

Weiss nodded along with her fellow leader's words. Raven never made her way to Ozpin to begin with and Qrow left to prepare right after the headmaster dismissed them, but they all knew whom he would accompany.

"Although this is supposedly a last resort," she cautioned with a motion for the crown. "We want to keep as many aces up our sleeves as we can."

"Speaking of aces," Yang chimed in curiously, "what about Ghost? He can hit pretty hard if he wants to, right? Are we taking him?"

Yatsuhashi nodded to that. "I was curious about your pet anyway," he mentioned. "It is not a Grimm, right?"

In difference to before however, Penny hesitated. Weiss noticed how her partner did not immediately deny the question. "It's complicated. Let me go get him, we can talk about it then."

She shuffled outside and the group fell into light chatter as they waited for her. Some more ideas were thrown into the room and discussed, a few conversations about hobbies. Weiss got distracted by discussing musical theory with Velvet of all people, who it turned out could play the violin and piano. It took Penny returning alone and distraught to interrupt them.

The gynoid spent half an hour searching Ghost but failed to find him. That worried SPBY while SNNL seemed primarily worried for Penny herself. CFVY remained calm; Coco noted she saw Ghost walk around school every once in a while. It was likely he just did that again.

But Ghost was nowhere at Beacon. Penny did not see any sign of him for the next week, all the way until their assignments began. She even approached the headmaster, who did not see him either.

In the end it was Cardin who shed light on the mystery. He was just about the last person anyone thought to ask, which made the matter so much more ironic. "I haven't seen your pet the last week or so," he said. "But before that, uh, pretty sure it jumped down the cliff?"

It did not take long for Russel to confirm what his partner said, though that only worried Yang and Weiss for Ghost's wellbeing. It was odd how much the little fellow had grown on her just by proximity. Cardin just shrugged at the faces the girls made. "I thought that was weird, but when I looked down the little guy just kept walking. Didn't even look affected by the fall. So I figured whatever, he walks across school all the time."

"Thank you," Penny told him thoughtfully. She shrugged it off a moment later in favour of a smile. "And good luck on your assignment!"

"Heh, don't need luck when it's us."

CRDL formed up behind their leader, all ready for their journey to Vacuo. Cardin bumped fists with Selina on the way out. That was another oddity to Weiss, who had to fully acknowledge that whatever her friend did, it certainly worked.

Once the other team was gone, Blake made a thoughtful noise. "So, where did Ghost go?"

Nobody knew an answer or if 'he' would even return. The remaining teams decided there was little they could do, so they focussed back on readying themselves.

Meanwhile, Yang and Ruby were talking at the side. Yang remained worried despite all that happened, but Ruby expected it by now.

"Just remember," she reassured her big sister, "I've got my kickass aunt and uncle around. I'll be fine."

She was not exactly that certain by herself, but the unease remained hidden. Yang bought the reassurance, though she sighed anyway.

"I know, but I still worry. I would come with you if this weren't so important."

"Nope! Nuh-Uh! You stay with your team and do your part. I'll be fine. And don't you make me worry, yeah?" So saying, she leapt into Yang's arms. A big hug was always best to make the big sister stop thinking too much.

Afterward, Ruby waved goodbye and turned into rose petals; they danced around the small crowd before rushing away toward the horizon. Ruby vanished to parts unknown and began her own journey to Mistral. At the same time, CFVY, SNNL, and SPBY all mounted the Bullhead airships headed for Atlas. Three other teams also went that way.

They had yet to complete their flight by the time Ruby arrived. She stopped in front of the main gate and was waved through as soon as she showed her license, no questions asked.

Once inside she stopped to gawk at the foreign architecture; it was her first visit and the high-rise buildings took her breath away. Vale was warm and homey, but Mistral seemed more like a work of art. Colourful pagodas wherever she looked, paper lanterns hanging above the streets, and people dressed in robes of cotton and silk.

She stood out a little more than usual but was left alone beyond the occasional bow and excited children. Children, Ruby could deal with. Worried parents apologising for the trouble, less so.

She took some time to relax and sightsee nonetheless; her aura still needed to recharge from the journey. Not to mention that she earned a decent chunk of money on her missions already; meaning Ruby could buy all the sweets she wanted.

The second shop she entered, a young man around her age stood at the counter. He greeted her with a smile and a wave; a little scraggly and blond but genuinely friendly. Ruby waved back before skipping into the store proper; she grabbed a bit of everything, especially the local stuff.

The cashier chuckled when saw her full basket. "That's a lot for such a sweet girl, isn't it?"

Ruby squirmed a bit, uncertain how to take it. Was he just being friendly or...?

In the end she pushed the flustered response back and nodded."I guess? I like sweet things is all."

"Heh. Who doesn't? Let's see."

He rang her up nice and quick, but Ruby's brows rose once she was told the total. Looking between several filled bags and the display, she slowly shook her head. "That can't be right. It's way too low for this much."

"Oh, that." He huffed softly and took a closer look at Ruby. "Right, you're not from here. You're a Huntress in training, right?" That was not quite right but Ruby nodded anyway because she was so stumped. He grinned in response. "Then that's that. Hunters get twenty percent off on all purchases in Arc's Sugar Emporium."

And suddenly it made perfect sense. Ruby was in awe, having never considered such a thing before. Yet she also recalled the many times vendors gave her freebies, not to mention Roman Torchwick and his generosity. Perhaps this was more of a general thing than she thought. It was still a lot of money this man lost in the long run, though.

"Is this actually possible?" she found herself asking. "I mean, you've still got to make end's meet, right?" She could pay the full amount just fine after all.

He seemed more amused, huffing softly and half leaning over the counter. Ruby leaned closer as well on instinct, intrigued as he lowered his voice conspiratorially. "I'll tell you a little secret: whenever hunters are involved, you can deduct a lot of stuff from your taxes. I'm not losing nearly as much as you'd think."

"Ohhhh! That's smart!"

He waved off her praise with another laugh. "Nah, one of my seniors told me when I explained the idea. They're super helpful around these parts, even if we're technically competing. Makes me feel a lot more at home here, too."

That was a surprise; Ruby took a moment to study the young man as well, realising that he was distinctly not mistralian. "You're not from here?"

"Nope, born and raised Valean. I moved here some months back."

A woman about their age wandered past just as he said that; she seemed more native, petite and with straight, black hair. She also carried a stack of boxes. The cashier's eyes followed her for a moment and she threw back a knowing look before crouching to restock the shelves.

Ruby looked between them, to a helpless shrug from the man. "And there's the reason I left. She's a sweetheart."

"I see." Ruby could not help but smile; it was just really cute. She quickly put a stack of Lien cards on the counter. "Good luck to you both then."

"Thanks. Come again!"

Ruby grabbed her purchases and left the shop with a spring in her step. She had more than enough to snack on now, so she made a detour to check out the weapon- and Dust shops. They were wonderlands of new gear that sucked her in with no intention to ever let her go; Ruby's inspiration soared.

At some point however, the weight of a raven settled on her shoulder. There was some interested murmuring, but nobody really commented or called out to her. Ruby just greeted the bird and quickly spotted a crimson-eyed crow watching from a nearby building. Their vigil was reassuring if nothing else. It also helped her tear away from her bender, though Ruby still continued to window-shop for a little while.

Only when she was fully satisfied and brimming with new ideas did she make the trek up to Haven Academy. The school was built partly into the mountain overlooking the city of Mistral; it served as natural fortifications and the first line of defense against subterranean Grimm stalking the caves.

Ruby stood in front of the entrance soon enough, a gate easily twice her size. The doors were made of wood and beautifully painted, to the point she was hesitant to even touch them. The birds fluttered away to survey the area just like they agreed.

Ruby's plan here was simple: scout the area as a visitor, then infiltrate at night. No one could see her or Raven at that point, so she had to be quick.

Taking a deep breath, Ruby pushed the doors open and entered Haven Academy.

Her sister and friends set down in Atlas in just that moment. Not just the three teams of conspirators, but all the rest as well had been quiet during the ride; no one quite knew what to expect. The sun was just rising from behind the horizon, illuminating a behemoth of silver steel. All but Weiss and Penny stopped to gaze at the magnificent skyline, a floating city that braved the arctic cold.

Unfortunately, their awe was soon dispersed by heavy thoughts; Yang scowled at nothing, still wondering if her baby sister would be fine on her own. Weiss worried her lip for other reasons while Blake was just generally on edge. The only calm member of SPBY was Penny; if anything, the gynoid seemed ecstatic to be home.

Once Beacon's students disembarked, they immediately found themselves greeted by two neat and orderly lines of their atlesean counterparts. All in uniform, all with their backs straight. Human and faunus both, though clearly skewed toward the former. Before them stood the tall and broad frame of James Ironwood himself. His mere presence had a number of them snap to attention, including Penny.

"I am glad to see there were no complications on your way," he greeted the six teams with clear pride. "Though I doubt anything could have happened that you all could not have dealt with." And then he proceeded to shake hands with every single student. No hesitation, no trace of boredom or distaste even with the faunus. "Welcome to our wonderful city of Atlas."

Weiss felt this was a bit too much to be mere pleasantries. He certainly meant what he said, but it seemed the general continued to hold hunters and those aspiring to be in high esteem. His own students only broke their formation when he finished and waved them forward. Simple nods were exchanged, some of them waved or grinned, one particularly bubbly girl went for a high five that Yang accepted in passing. The stream of white and silver passed through their colourful ranks to enter the airships they just left.

Afterward, Ironwood himself led the way over pristine metal walkways and bridges, right back to Atlas Academy. He said nothing, perfectly content to let the students take in the sights. Weiss breathed the crisp air, quietly thankful for her active aura. She would be a shivering mess and bundled up in several layers of thick cloth without it. But the times she needed hand warmers in her pockets were long gone.

"Five Lien says this is the scenic route," Selina quipped. A chorus of "No bet"s answered from Yang, Coco, and Fox.

Blake began glancing down to the city of Mantle somewhere along the way; Atlas' sister, the slums housing mostly poor miners. Weiss had never been there, but the difference in aesthetics and cleanliness were clearly visible from up high. Atlas was elegant, Mantle rough and rustic.

"It just doesn't feel right to be here," Blake muttered to herself.

Even Weiss could now tell what this clear display of disparity meant to a faunus, any faunus really. Precious few of them lived up here.

"I dearly hope all will go well," she noted noncommittally, just in case they were overheard. Then she threw caution to the wind and tapped Blake's shoulder. "Do you want to take a closer look at Mantle later? I can not go, but I won't ask you to stay away."

"Thanks. I'll think about it."

They exchanged weary smiles and returned to their silence. Weiss imagined that all of them were wondering of the task ahead; they discussed before if they could convince Ironwood like Ruby did Ozpin. Alas, even their own headmaster thought it too great a risk and for good reason. The Crown of Choice was one matter, but this entire city would be in peril if the Staff of Creation fell into the wrong hands.

Not to mention that Ozpin preferred to keep plausible deniability just in case. In his own words: "As cold as it may sound, should you fail, someone needs to pick up the pieces."

That was the reason he could not simply request Ironwood and Lionheart to surrender their Relics. Not that anyone held much hope the general would do it even then, so they did not complain about it.

Thus, Weiss knew, they had to do this the hard way. That was what everyone prepared for. As soon as Ironwood delivered them to the academy grounds and took his leave, three of their teams would fan out to gather information. They knew the vault's location, all they needed to learn was the extent of its defenses.