Authors Note: New chapter, enjoy.

Beta: GeneralMayhem, kpmh2001

It didn't take long for the meeting to finish. Pyrrha relayed all the information she remembered about the various safe houses that the White Fang might be using that Qrow would be going to investigate, but otherwise remained silent. Once the Headmaster had concluded the meeting, she didn't stick around to make small talk.

She was the first one to the elevator and made sure to go down alone, the others all choosing to stay behind and talk about something. Probably something they didn't trust her with.

That's not fair and you know it. A small part of her tried to apply reason, attempting to respect the Headmaster's decision. You know you're not strong enough yet.

It was a difficult thought to swallow, but not one she wasn't already painfully aware of. As the elevator reached the ground level, Pyrrha forced a neutral expression over her face and stepped out into the halls of Beacon. Slipping through the occasional group of students gathered in the hallway, she couldn't help but notice how little the groups seemed to notice her. Perhaps it was a side effect of her former fame, but the way people seemed to ignore her only helped to make her feel isolated from everyone.

Once her team arrived things would be different. They knew how to read between the lines, they knew how to see what Pyrrha was attempting to hide behind her plastic smile and fake enthusiasm. Her friends had learned to look deeper.

Except they wouldn't know any of that anymore.

It was a concern she had chosen to ignore whenever possible. Her friends wouldn't know her, despite the fact she would know them, and it was bound to be an awkward affair and the fact Pyrrha was never the best when it came to social interaction would only make matters worse. There was a good chance she would drive them away, much like how she had driven people away in her past. Or worse, maybe they would learn to ignore her just as the rest of Beacon had.

Pyrrha clenched her hand into a fist in an attempt to stop it from shaking as she struggled to keep her emotions in check. That wouldn't happen, she refused to let it. She had given too much, come too far, to lose everything that made it all worth doing. She had first come to Beacon to seek freedom from her fame, now she had a far more important goal in mind.

Despite her determination, she knew how difficult such a task would be, and if the Headmaster wouldn't even trust her enough to let her try, what hope was there? It was for that reason that, as soon as she arrived back to her dorm room, she began making plans.

Getting to Vale would probably be the hardest thing. The Headmaster had said that he didn't want her going to the city, and she wasn't sure if that meant he had told the bullhead pilots to reject her transport, or if anyone would be watching her to make sure that she didn't try to leave. It was also possible that he simply trusted her to stay at Beacon, in which case she would be betraying his trust.

Ignoring the small pang of guilt at the idea, Pyrrha grabbed the simple sword she had been using to train with. While it worked well enough for training purposes, it wouldn't be ideal to use in a combat situation if she found herself in one. Without her semblance, and with her body still adapting to the new and intense workout she had been putting it through, she would have to be even more careful than usual.

She changed into a more appropriate outfit, despite her reluctance to wear anything of Amber's, she hadn't been able to go out and get a combat uniform yet, meaning she was left with little choice. Sheathing the blade on her side, Pyrrha turned her attention towards gathering whatever lien she could find. Technically, she was probably the poorest person on the campus, but the School had still given her enough money to cover the typical expenses of a Huntress' gear and thankfully she hadn't spent too much of it yet.

Setting aside just enough to cover her travel once she got to the city, Pyrrha chose to leave the rest behind. While she was upset with the Headmaster's decision, she had no intention of wasting the money that he had generously given her.

But I'm still going to betray his trust...

There was a knock on the door and Pyrrha jumped, one hand falling to the hilt of her sword for a moment before she realized how stupid such an idea was. Shaking her head and taking a deep breath, she approached the door, cracking it open slightly to see Qrow waiting on the other side.

"We need to talk." She opened the door enough for him to enter before closing it behind him.

"What seems to be the issue?" Pyrrha struggled to keep her voice and words calm. She didn't blame Qrow but a not insignificant part of her saw him as an extension of Ozpin oddly enough. Besides, unlike the mystical wizard locked away in his tower, Qrow was here and it would have been so easy to hold a grudge against him.

Qrow looked around the room for a moment before turning back to face her, eyeing her up and down for a moment before speaking. "You know Oz isn't gonna be happy when he finds out, right?"

Pyrrha's mind went blank as she struggled to think. "I-I don't know what you-"

"You've got Amber's combat gear on, a weapon attached to your hip, and a look of determination that scarily reminds me of the first time Tai said he was going to ask out Raven." Qrow shuddered slightly. "That's the face of someone looking for trouble."

"I don't…" Pyrrha couldn't think of an excuse, and so fell upon the only thing she could think to do. Deny. "I have no idea what yo-"

"Nope." Qrow interrupted her.

"I was just planning to get some training in and-"

"Nope." Qrow crossed his arms over his chest. "Go ahead and keep trying."

Pyrrha felt her face twitch as she let out a quiet growl of annoyance. Much like before, it took monumental effort to bite back her anger. "I'm sure I don't know what you're implyi-"

"Nope."

"Fine!" Perhaps it was the stress of her situation, or the knowledge that the Headmaster didn't think she was strong enough to help, but a part of her finally snapped. "I'm going out there to find the White Fang and bring them to justice before they can hurt anyone! I'm not just going to sit here couped up in Beacon waiting until Cinder comes blowing our door down trying to kill me and anyone who gets in her way!" Pyrrha's voice rose, as her anger spilled forth. "You can go tell the Headmaster if you want, I'm-"

"Nope."

"W-what?" Pyrrha sputtered, confused as to what he could be disagreeing with this time.

"I'm not telling Oz," Qrow explained. "I'm taking you with me."

Pyrrha's confusion must have been visible, because Qrow's smirk grew to Yang levels of smugness. Right, this is where she gets it from.

Despite how happy she was to hear those words, she couldn't help but be skeptical. "W-why?"

Qrow's smirk fell away as an uncomfortable silence fell over the room. "Because what Ozpin wants to do, keeping you here under lock and key, is exactly why Amber left in the first place. I don't blame Oz, I understand his reasoning, but we can't afford to keep you off the board. No matter how much he insists on it, not with what we know now."

"Thank you." Pyrrha let out a sigh of relief. "I won't let you down."

"Don't thank me just yet," Qrow muttered. "I have a tendency to make these things more complicated than they need to be."

"I'm ready to go whenever you are." Pyrrha stepped over to the door.

"We'll leave at night, better to slip past the cameras that way. Meet me at the cliffs overlooking the Emerald Forest just before sunset."

More waiting.

"We're gonna walk through Grimm infested woods to get to Vale?" It wasn't as dangerous for Hunters as it was for civilians, but it was still a worrisome prospect. She'd heard of a few students walking through the woods to sneak off to Vale after hours, thankfully there hadn't been any incidents, but it had been enough for the teachers to stress the importance of accounting for all possible factors. Light visibility being one such factor.

"Unless you know a better way to slip out undetected." Qrow shrugged his shoulders. "It's dangerous, sure, but nothing we can't handle. Just be ready for a bit of a hike, it's not a short walk."

Pyrrha nodded her head as she opened the door for Qrow. A moment later he was gone and she was alone once more. Despite the fact they would be going into danger, she couldn't help but smile. They were going to fix things, and this was how it started.

First the White Fang, then Cinder.

Despite the fact the sun had only set maybe thirty minutes ago, the forest was nearly pitch black. Remnant's shattered moon offered decent light, but very little of it made it through the thick canopy of the Emerald Forest. What little light did make it through cast long shadows that moved as the wind rustled the leaves, constantly causing Pyrrha to look over her shoulder to see if something had moved or if her mind was playing tricks on her.

Qrow seemed perfectly calm, although whether that was how he actually felt or just a show that he put on, Pyrrha couldn't tell. They figured it would take roughly an hour to reach the outer walls of the city, and by then most people would be settling in for the night and the streets would be as close to empty as they'd ever get, which meant that the safe house they were going to investigate would be free of innocent bystanders. At least, that was the theory.

Pyrrha wasn't sure how long they had been set up there in her last life, sadly she hadn't asked Blake any questions about it at the time. She had listened on the numerous occasions Blake had gone on rants about the terrorist organization, letting slip a few locations that used to be safe houses but had been abandoned by their time, the source of her anger. They had decided to go after one of the more questionable safe houses first, deciding to save the warehouse team RWBY had found the Paladin Mechs at for a later date.

Thankfully, they made it to the city with little interruption, the Grimm having either not noticed them or simply not been around. When they finally reached the walls however it came with the painful reminder that their chosen destination was on the other side of the city, and because of how late it was, cabs were scarce.

It took them nearly another hour to reach the docks and industrial district. As they stood on the outskirts of the area, Qrow led them down a dark alleyway hidden from street view.

"You know the building we're looking for?" Pyrrha nodded her head in response to Qrow's question. Blake had been very thorough in her investigation and, despite her attempts at subtlety, the sleep deprivation had really started to wear down her judgment and she had ranted about more than one abandoned base of theirs. Given what she'd let slip, Pyrrha had been able to figure out the rest using a few maps of the city. "You'll take the lead then, keep low and don't draw any attention. We're just gonna go scout it out a bit, see what we find."

"What if they're still there?"

"Don't go rushing in." Qrow said. "They aren't going to be in any rush to move if they don't have a reason. We have time to act on this, but if we go in half-cocked there's no telling what could happen."

It wasn't exactly what she had been hoping for, but she understood the necessity of scouting out a location first. She hadn't heard anything about it, but if the White Fang had already gotten ahold of the Paladins from Atlas, it was possible they were storing them somewhere aside from where team RWBY had found them. If this place had them, Qrow and her would be in serious trouble.

"I understand."

"Good," Qrow nodded. "Lead the way."

Stealth and secrecy had never been Pyrrha's strong suit, and in her defense, she had never really needed those kinds of skills for anything more than hiding from the occasional overbearing fan but in those cases the only thing that awaited her was an awkward interaction. Terrorists were an entirely different matter. Thankfully, there didn't seem to be anyone around. As they got closer, they moved on top of a nearby building to get a better look and to help stay hidden. While Humans would struggle to see them hiding in dark alleyways, most Faunus had some form of night vision and would be able to spot them clear as day.

The building they were looking down at didn't seem like the kind of place a terrorist group would hide, it wasn't any different than the dozens of other warehouses located around the docks. Then again, if it were easily identifiable, it wouldn't be a very good secret base. It was a large building, likely meant to store containers unloaded from ships that came into the harbour, but, judging from the look of the place, it hadn't been used for that purpose for a few years at least.

Despite the fact that the building was fairly ordinary, the masked and uninformed individuals that moved in and out of it were not.

Pyrrha was surprised to see such blatant disregard for secrecy from a supposedly well-trained and disciplined terrorist organization. One of the things that made groups like that dangerous was their ability to blend in and look like normal people, yet here they made no attempt. She couldn't tell if it was arrogance or incompetence.

"Well, I'm gonna assume that's it." Qrow sarcastically pointed out. "And judging by how comfortable they are walking around in uniform, I'm also gonna assume they bought out the police."

She hadn't considered that, but it did make sense. It was difficult to say how long they had used this as a base for their operations but she found it unlikely that nobody had gone to the police with a warning or at least a concern of some kind. Vale may have been better than Atlas and Mistral when it came to Faunus and Human relations, but the city still had more than its fair share of racists and bigots that would assume the worst if they saw a large group of Faunus at night.

Plus, they were in full uniform, under the cover of darkness, in the middle of nowhere. Even had it been Humans, most people would have still reported it to the police, and yet they seemed to operate without a care.

Is the city really so corrupt? Pyrrha shook her head, focusing on the present and the task at hand. Failures of the local law enforcement aside, there was still work to be done.

"I count a dozen or two at least, but it's hard to tell with them all looking the same." Qrow paused. "Not in a bigoted sort of way."

Pyrrha laughed halfheartedly but she appreciated the humor. It helped to distract her and calm her nerves. Taking a deep breath she looked back towards the building. "We need to get closer."

Qrow didn't say anything for a moment, simply humming as he thought it over. "There's a sky light on the building, if we can get on the roof we should be able to see what's going on inside without actually having to go in ourselves." He pointed to a large opening on the roof of the building and Pyrrha nodded.

"I don't think I've seen any guards go around back," She pointed out. "If we take the long way, we'll be able to get up without being noticed."

"Getting the hang of this spy stuff already." Qrow chuckled as he slowly pulled back from the edge. "Lets go."

Once they were back to the street level they began to work their way around the building, navigating the maze of side streets and back alleys so as to avoid any possible patrols & guards was difficult, but they managed to make it to the back without incident. Sadly their theory had been wrong.

"Shit." Qrow swore. "Looks like they're smarter than we thought."

Standing beside the back wall were two guards quietly chatting. Judging by their weapons, one with a club while the other had what appeared to be a low quality scimitar, they wouldn't be too difficult to handle in a straight fight, but that wasn't an option.

If they attacked the two and failed to subdue them quietly, every White Fang member in the area would be alerted to their presence. Even if they did manage to knock the two out without attracting any attention, they would wake up later and report to whoever was in charge, causing the whole base to be abandoned, thus making their mission pointless.

Thankfully Qrow was already ahead of her. "Here's the plan, I'm gonna draw their attention away long enough for you to get up onto the first level. Once you're up there, move away from the edge and wait for me."

"How are you gonna get up?"

Qrow smiled back at her. "I've got a trick or two up my sleeve, don't worry about that. Just be ready as soon as those guards move away." Pyrrha nodded and Qrow ran off, disappearing into the alleyways they had come from.

As she waited, she slowly edged her way closer to the building. Eventually getting close enough to just barely hear the faint sound of conversation between the two guards. That was as good as she could do though without risking being caught, and so she waited. She wasn't sure how long it took, it couldn't have been more than five minutes, but it felt like an eternity.

Suddenly, there was a loud crashing sound off to the side, and a moment later she could hear the guards moving to investigate. Pyrrha didn't waste any time, popping out from behind cover and dashing for the side of the building to a stack of crates. They weren't stacked high enough to climb all the way up, but with a running start she was able to leap off of them enough to grab hold of the edge of the roof.

She could feel the metal biting into her hand as she attempted to pull herself up, had it not been for her aura she probably would have been bleeding. Despite that, she was able to get on top of the roof and move away from the edge with relative ease and without being noticed. A few seconds later she heard something land behind her and she jumped, turning to see Qrow kneeling down next to her.

"H-how did you-"

"Heh, gotta keep a few secrets for the older generations, right?" His grin died a moment later. "Not that I'm getting old... Come on, let's see what they're doing here."

Pyrrha took a moment to compose herself and followed Qrow over to the skylight that looked down into the warehouse. At first glance it would have been easy to mistake everything as normal, aside from the uniforms of course. The Faunus below went about their business as she would have expected any warehouse workers to, moving boxes and crates of supplies all over the place. After a moment though, she realized a pattern to their movements.

"They're loading everything up on trucks." She looked up to see Qrow scowling. "They're getting ready to leave."

"Damn, looks like this is gonna be a bit more than a scouting mission." Qrow kept his voice low. "Story of my life."

"What's the plan?" Pyrrha looked back down to the various trucks being loaded.

"We'll pick off a few of the perimeter guards first, make it less of a hassle for when things get loud." Qrow moved back from the glass, moving back into a low kneeling position as he made his way back to the two guards they had seen earlier. Pyrrha followed closely behind. "Once we do that we-" He was cut off by a loud creaking sound as the metal they were standing on bent downwards. "Oh come on-"

The metal creaked again and they sank lower, both of them attempted to move but were unable to do so before the rusted and worn metal gave way and sent the two hurtling towards the ground below, right into the White Fang that were gathered below them.

Author's Note: This chapter was a little annoying and I'm not super happy with it. I've been writing a few other things this last week and so I was a little more worn out when it came to writing this one. Hopefully that isn't too obvious.

Hope y'all enjoyed and as always remember to review and let me know what you think. Positive or negative, it always helps.

Sincerely, SE