AN: And now we get to the fun part. Or at least fun part for me.
Clashing Blades And Arguments
The personal ship of Specialist Winter Schnee has just landed at Beacon's airstrip and Weiss and Ruby, along with their Blades, had come to greet Weiss' sister.
Soon enough, the hatch opened, and out stepped Winter and Newt, along with several Atlesian Knights.
Weiss cupped her hands around her mouth, "Winter!" Earning her sister's attention. Then the younger Schnee ran towards her sister, followed by Ruby and Roze. Dahlia just smiled at Weiss' happiness as she opted to just walk at her own pace.
"Hello, Weiss," Winter greeted just when Weiss reached her.
"Oh, Winter. I'm so happy to see you," Weiss said happily, before remembering her manners, "Your presence honors us." Which made Ruby look a little awkward
"I'm very glad to see you too," Winter added in before taking in the surroundings, "The air feels…different now."
"Well it is fall," Ruby pointed out shyly, which earned her a whack from Weiss. Causing the red leader to clutch her head.
"Hey!" exclaimed an unamused Roze as he checked if his Driver was okay.
"Leave us," Winter then said with an amused look as she waved her hand. And with that, the droids backed away several steps. "Not you, Newt," Winter added as her Blade had also backed away.
"Sorry, ma'am," Newt apologized before returning to Winter's side.
With the knights slightly in the back, Winter spoke to Weiss, "How have you been?"
"Oh, thank you for asking," Weiss said, clearly reigning in her excitement, "I'm actually at the very top rankings of my sparring class. The rest of my studies are also going-" Weiss was then interrupted, by a light flick at the back of her head.
Courtesy of Dahlia, who had reached them at this point. "Weiss, she wasn't asking about your rankings," Dahlia pointed out with a light scolding tone.
"Thank you, Dahlia," Winter thanked for being clarified, before redirecting her attention to her little sister, "I asked, how you've been. Have you been eating well? Have you taken up any hobbies? Have you made any new friends?"
"Oh, in that case. Yes, I have been eating well," Weiss started with a smile.
"I've made sure of that," Dahlia interjected with a light giggle.
"I haven't taken up any hobbies as of now," Weiss continued, ignoring her Blade, "But I have made new friends aside from my team." She wasn't lying, Coco was pretty good talk when it came to fashion.
"I see," Winter acknowledged before turning her attention back to Dahlia, "I must thank you for ensuring that my sister is doing well."
"I didn't do all that much," Dahlia denied with a smile as she stroked Weiss' head lightly. Much to the mild chagrin of her frosty Driver.
"And you." Winter then turned her attention to Ruby.
"Me?" Ruby wasn't sure if this was a good or bad thing.
"I would like to thank you again for taking an interest in my sister," Winter thanked Ruby, despite finding the girl underwhelming.
"Of course, the honor is in…my…court," Ruby said stiffly, while attempting a curtsy. Which would've ended with her falling flat on her face if Roze hadn't pulled her back up by her cape. This earned a small snort from Newt who instantly straightened up at a look from Winter.
Speaking of Roze," Ruby, I don't think there's any need for you to impress her."
Weiss decided to speak up before Ruby did something else to embarrass them both, "So, why are you here?"
"Classified." was the simple response.
"Oh, how long will you be staying here?" Weiss tried again.
"Classified." Winter repeated.
"Of course," Weiss then said, understanding that Winter won't be allowed to talk about it.
"Will you have enough time to spare for Weiss, or is that classified too?" Dahlia joked, earning an appalled look from her Driver.
Surprisingly, Winter actually chuckled. A little. "I have business with the headmaster, but seeing as I'm early I might have some time to spare for my sister," The specialist spoke with a look of mild amusement which made Weiss look between the two trying to comprehend Dahlia actually getting a laugh out of Winter. "Come along now, Weiss." Winter then ushered her sister who was slowly regaining her higher brain functions at the impossibility she saw. The Atlesian Knights were also following as an escort when Newt gave them the signal, the fiery military Blade following her Driver.
Which left Ruby and Roze. "Uhh…I will…reconvene with you both…at a later…juncture!" Ruby tried to sound formal, earning a face palm from Roze.
"Ruby…please…What did I just say?" the reaper Blade sighed aloud, before turning towards the Schnee sisters and Blades, "I'll see you later!"
Dahlia waved backwards as a sign of acknowledgement to her fellow Blade.
"…Right." Ruby let out in embarrassment as she started going elsewhere with Roze following her.
After Ruby and Roze had gone, Winter, Weiss and their Blades, along with their droid escort were walking across Beacon courtyard.
"Hey! What do you think you're doing!?" Newt suddenly shouted, earning the rest of the entourage's attention. Which was instantly redirected at the sound of something being scrapped. Then they saw a drunken man in a red cape had torn heads off of two of the Atlesian Knights. The militaristic Blade spotted the guy about to commit the act with the eye at the back of her head.
"Hey, you!" the drunk shouted, pointing in their direction, "Yeah! I'm talking to you, Ice Queen!" Winter's look hardened at the sight of the drunken buffoon.
"Excuse me!" Weiss exclaimed as she stomped towards the drunk, with Dahlia following in an attempt to stop her Driver from doing something stupid. "Do you have any idea who you're talking to?" Weiss questioned, before getting the guys palm into her face with him shushing her like one would a small child.
"Not you, snowflake," the man said before unceremoniously pushing the girl out of his way.
Weiss was about to get back at the guy to give a piece of her mind, before Dahlia wrapped an arm around her Driver. "Weiss, don't!"
As Weiss was protesting to her Blade, the drunk man had his attention on Winter, "You. Saw that gaudy ship of yours in town and I figured I'd find you here as well."
"I'm standing right before you," Winter pointed out with a glare as Dahlia had convinced Weiss to return to her sister's side.
The man squinted his eyes as if trying to confirm the Specialist's words, "So it would seem."
"You do realize you destroyed Atlas military property, drunkard," Newt said, reigning in her temper for the moment as she crossed her normal arms.
The said drunkard looked around, before having a look of shocked revelation on his face, "Oh, I'm sorry. You see, I mistook this for some sort of sentient garbage."
"I don't have time for your immature games, Qrow," Winter said impatiently to the now named Qrow.
"Wait. You two know each other?" Weiss, who had moments ago returned to Winter's side alongside Dahlia, asked.
"Do you know this man?" Dahlia asked from Newt.
"Only that he's a drunk moron, that has a hatred for any forms of authority," Newt confirmed.
"Newt." Winter said in a warning tone.
"But you said it yourself ma'am," Newt protested, but otherwise quieted down.
"You Atlas Specialists think you're soooo special," Qrow continued, ignoring the two's banter.
"It's in the title," Winter said simply.
"Well you know what you really are? A bunch of sellouts," Qrow then said with a glare, before delivering the punchline, "Just like your boss."
Which did not make Winter amused in the slightest, "I don't know what you think you're implying, but I've heard enough."
"Oh, I've heard too," Qrow replied, "I heard old Ironwood has finally turned his back on Ozpin."
"Ozpin?" Weiss questioned her sister.
"Weiss, it's time for you to go," Winter told her sister, still glaring at Qrow.
"Listen to your big sister," Qrow called out loudly, "She'll protect you, just like Atlas is planning to protect all of us."
"Winter, what is he talking about," Dahlia asked with an uncertain look. She didn't know if this man was telling the truth or just rambling, but Winter's reaction isn't exactly that of someone who was hearing nonsense. It was also important to note that during this, a crowd had gathered around to see what was going on.
"If you won't hold your tongue," Winter said with an edge to her tone before drawing her sword, "Then I will gladly remove it for you."
Qrow smiled at the threat smugly, before sliding his hair back, "Alright then. Come take it."
Winter gave the man one last hard glare. "Newt, stay out of this." was the only thing Winter said, before dashing at Qrow faster than Weiss could react.
"Yes, ma'am," Newt said, sounding a little disappointed. She wanted a crack at this man too.
But back to the beginning fight, Winter kept trying to stab Qrow in his smug face, but the red eyed man avoided each and every one of them with infuriating ease. Then Winter tried an overhead strike, but Qrow bowed down, catching the sword on his weapon at the hip, which looked like a half a sword. Then, Qrow grabbed the handle of his weapon, which extended the missing half out of the first half before taking it off his back and brandishing it. Now Qrow had a greatsword in his hand. Winter and Qrow then stared at each other, with Qrow playfully clinking Winter's extended sword playfully once before attacking. Winter back-flipped away from each and every one of Qrow's swings before finally blocking one. Then the two started clashing against each other as a sizeable crowd had formed around them to watch.
Which had also drawn the attention from Ruby who had found Weiss among the crowd.
"What's going on?" Ruby asked her partner.
"Some crazy guy started attacking my sister," Weiss explained, still appalled at the whole thing.
Which made Ruby look worried, "Oh no, who would do such a thhhhaaaaaaaaat is my UNCLE!" Which was morphed into excitement as she saw who the "crazy guy" was.
"What!?" Weiss and Dahlia exclaimed in unison, Roze also looked surprised.
"Actually…unkempt, smug, and drunk," Roze listed the things Taiyang had mentioned about Ruby's uncle. "Yeah that's him alright," Roze said in mild disbelief.
"Kick her BUTT, uncle Qrow!" Ruby cheered her uncle, earning a look of shocked betrayal from Weiss.
But then the frosty heiress chose not to be outdone by her traitor of a leader, "Teach him respect, Winter!"
"This could be bad," Dahlia commented off-handedly.
"You're telling me," Roze added in, having heard how Weiss was during the first few days of Ruby's time at Beacon. But honestly the reaper Blade has a difficult time picturing it.
Back in the fight, Qrow and Winter seemed to be evenly matched in their sword fight, until Winter was able to hit Qrow in the face with her weapons' hand guard. Sadly, that didn't wipe that smug grin off of his face as he quickly brought his weapon into a powerful overhead swing.
But Winter used a glyph to launch herself up and away from the swing that destroyed part of the courtyard. Qrow followed soon enough, with another attempt to cut the Specialist down, but she once again avoided it, but the poor lamp post behind her didn't. Qrow tried again, but Winter jumped over the swing, which landed her on the flat side of Qrow's sword with a smug look. Then the Specialist jumped off the weapon with a back flip, landing on the stump of the lamp post before jumping off of that just in time to avoid Qrow's weapon.
All the while Newt had crossed all four of her arms and tapping her foot impatiently, "I so want to punch him in the face, but Winter ordered me to stay out of this." the short fire Blade grumbled as she glared at the guy that tried shooting Winter with the shotgun function of the weapon. Newt idly noted that the blade folded forward out of the gun's way, presumably so that it doesn't get damaged by the guns by accident.
As Newt had her inner musings, Winter had gotten above the stone arches that circle beacon, with Qrow having followed on another. The druncle, as he was affectionately called by his nieces, was firing at the running Specialist, until one of the shots seemed to have hit her and covered her in smoke in the process. But Qrow knew better, there was no way he wins that easily. He might not like Atlas Specialists, but he does acknowledge that they have…some skill.
Which was proven when Winter launched herself out of the smoke before releasing her second, thinner sword, from the primary one.
But Qrow merely smirked as he prepared himself for the inevitable attack. With that, the two clashed, before the arch that Qrow was standing on was shattered and the two created a crater as they landed on the ground. But that didn't even slow them down as they were once again clashing their swords while moving around the walkway. The crowd parting out of the way as they did.
Finally, Winter was able to push Qrow back so much, that the caped man had to stop himself by stabbing his sword into the ground.
As the crowd cheered on the two fighters, Winter stabbed her primary sword into the ground, creating a glyph that summoned a flock of small white Nevermores, which instantly went after Qrow who was trying to swat them away, but there were quite a lot of them.
As Newt looked on in smug satisfaction of Qrow getting his just desserts, the eye at the back of her head caught someone running towards Winter. That wouldn't mean anything if the said figure wasn't carrying a weapon. "Winter! Look out!" Newt shouted to her Driver.
The Specialist heard her Blade and just then she heard a feminine shout coming from above. Winter quickly dispelled her glyph and moved out of the way of the attack that smashed the ground she used to occupy. Feeling furious about her attack being interrupted, the Specialist brought her smaller sword to strike at the stranger. But the stranger brought her weapon in front of her which looked like some kind of shield now, which blocked Winter's attack. Then the weapon seemed to charge dark energy, before firing upon the surprised Schnee. The attack sent Winter flying against a stone pillar which cracked at the force she was sent with.
"Get away from Specialist Schnee!" Newt roared as she charged in front of the stranger, putting herself between the attacker and her Driver. Then the military Blade used her larger arm in conjunction with her normal one to deliver a powerful punch on the assailant. Despite blocking the attack, the attacker was sent reeling back, right in front of Qrow who looked at his "savior" in utter despair.
With some space between them, Winter got back up to see their mysterious attacker. First, the attacker's weapon that looked like a four sectioned on top of a pole, folded in on itself, the sections now forming a hammerhead. Now the two recognized the weapon as a shield hammer. Then the two's gaze fell on the mystery attacker herself. It was a pretty looking girl with long black hair, pointy ears with earrings that had several small beads hanging from them. The girl has red eyes with vertical slits, which strangely looked cute on her. Oddly there seemed to be a glowing blue mark in the shape of a vertical eye on her forehead or is it on her hair? Winter couldn't tell, but that wasn't important right now. The girl wore a white dress with blue lines that made it look like it was made out of bandages over a blue and black top with a golden high collar. Strangely, on her shoulder were large golden nails that looked to be halfway inside. On her chest was a golden, diamond shaped frame, inside of which was a large circular blue stone, which identified her as a Blade. Around her hips, the white outfit seemed to have several white straps pinned into the rest of her outfit with golden diamond shaped pins, crisscrossing her lower body. The white dress ended into four wide straps on her sides in a vague shape of a skirt. But the skirt of the black and blue outfit underneath had its hem extend a little over her thighs. On her thighs were glowing blue lines, which led from beneath the hem of her outfit to the golden cuffs right above her knees. The cuffs had glowing blue lines on them and golden nails that looked almost completely hammered in. Beneath the cuffs, bandages were covering her legs, although there were glowing blue gaps here and there, ending to her ankles which had the same cuffs as her thighs. Her feet were dark blue with long black claw-like nails on all five of her toes. There were also glowing blue diamond shaped gems attached to them with golden framework which crisscrossed her feet. Her upper arms had glowing blue lines which went from her shoulders, down to the cuffs similar to the ones on her legs. Similar to her legs, there were cuffs with a single nail hammered into each above her elbows and on her wrists with bandages with glowing gaps covering what was between them. But unlike her feet, the Blade's hands were also covered with bandages all the way to her fingers, with long claw-like fingernails coming from beneath the bandages. The last and perhaps the most curious part is that at the back of her head was a white mask with red lines in the shape of a fox face, which when looked from the front gives the illusion of there being white long ears at the top of her head. There was also the same glowing blue mark on its forehead, similar to the one on the Blade's own.
"You will not harm Qrow," the black-haired female Blade said resolutely to Winter and Newt.
Winter looked baffled for a moment, before coming up with the only reasonable explanation as to why this Blade was protecting Qrow. "Since when was Qrow a Driver?" Winter questioned, while glaring at the man who looked like he wanted this all to be a bad dream.
"How did she find me so quickly? No! How did she GET here so quickly," Qrow thought in his head, because the Vale airport wasn't exactly right around the corner.
Ignoring Winter, the female Blade turned towards Qrow with a cheerful smile, "Have no fear, Kasandra is here." The Blade, now named Kasandra, gave her Driver a happy smile.
Winter's scowl, soon turned into an evil smile as she returned her smaller sword into her primary one before sheathing it. "Newt." Winter said simply as she extended her hand.
Understanding what her Driver wanted, Newt summoned her Blade weapon with a savage grin before handing it over to Winter, the giant weapon shrinking to the Driver's size as it left the fire Blade.
"Let's see how you will fare in a battle between Drivers," Winter said with a grin that was probably coming out of Newt linking with her.
"Tch!" Qrow sounded out as he prepared his weapon to face whatever Winter and Newt could throw at him, before he noticed something that made him pale. That mask at the back of Kasandra's head started rattling again. How Kasandra never notices when it does that, is beyond him. But that wasn't important, what was important was that the pillar that previously cracked started falling apart, before it somehow pulled the archway it was attached to and went to fall straight at Winter. Thankfully, Newt noticed this and caught the falling pillar with one arm, but the top section of it broke off and continued its journey. Thankfully, Winter cut the falling debris in half with Newt's weapon, causing the halves to miss her.
Winter then returned to her opponent, preparing a glyph to launch herself against the man that dared to insult the general.
Qrow lifted his weapon, ready to turn it into its deadliest form, before noticing something behind his opponent and sheathing his weapon, much to the growing audience's dismay. Then the man walked in front of Kasandra, before sternly telling, "Stay put."
"But-" "Trust me," Qrow interrupted his Blade's protest, before waving Winter to come over with a smug look.
Enraged by the calling, Winter launched herself. Newt's katana poised to strike at Qrow with a fierce cry.
"SCHNEE!" Was the loud shout that stopped Winter's attack inches from Qrow's throat. Behind Winter and a flabbergasted Newt, was General Ironwood along with four Atlesian Knights and Penny with Kos-Mos.
"General Ironwood, sir." Winter and Newt spoke in unison as they stood at attention.
"What in the world were you two thinking?" Ironwood all but demanded from the two.
"He started the altercations, sir," Winter quickly said.
"That's actually not true," Qrow butted in with an easy-going tone, "She attacked first."
Ironwood looked at Qrow for a moment before regarding his subordinate, "Is that right?"
Winter was about to say otherwise, but unfortunately the truth was that she indeed struck first. With that, all Winter could do was hang her head in shame.
With that, Ironwood looked around to see the crowd looking on with baited breath. But the general ignored them and instead turned his attention to Qrow, "And you." As Qrow pointed at himself with a look that clearly said "Me?", the general walked towards him while also noting Kasandra's presence. "Where did you get that Blade from," The general questioned.
"That's the first thing you ask me?" Qrow asked in mild disbelief.
"Qrow awakened me few weeks ago," Kasandra replied instead, "He's super nice, although he can be a little scatter brained. Always sending me on a wrong train, boat or wagon by accident."
At these words, Qrow looked like he was going through the worst of tortures. He just wasn't sure if the girl was this airheaded or just faking it.
Ironwood quirked an eyebrow at this exchange, before deciding to ignore it for now. So instead, "What are you even doing here?"
"I could ask you the same thing," Qrow fired back, clearly in a bad mood.
"I-" "Now, now everyone," Ozpin interrupted whatever Ironwood planned to say as he approached the scene alongside Glynda. "There is a sanctioned fight happening right at the Coliseum, which has better seats. And popcorn." The headmaster seemed to add that last one as an afterthought.
"Break it up, everyone," Glynda then continued, "We will clean up this mess." With that, the crowd started dispersing.
The general straightened his collar before addressing Winter and Newt, "Let's go." Then the general, Winter and Newt started moving.
As this happened, Ruby and Weiss came out of the crowd, with Penny finding a moment to wave happily at Ruby before following the general. Kos-Mos also gave Penny's friend a nod of acknowledgement as she followed her Driver.
Ruby waved back before her silver eyes fell on her uncle. "UNCLE QROW!" was the only warning she gave before jumping on the grumpy man's arm, with the said man lifting his arm from which Ruby now hanged from. "Aahh! It's so great to see you. Did you miss me? Did you miss me!?" Ruby motormouthed at the still grumpy looking man.
But then Qrow instantly brightened up. "Nope," Ruby's uncle said playfully before ruffling her hair a little.
"Qrow," Ozpin called out, earning the man's attention as Ruby fell off of the arm that held her up. "A word, please," the headmaster said as Glynda started doing repairs.
"I think I'm in trouble," Qrow faux whispered to Ruby.
"You did kind of break our courtyard," Ruby responded with a shrug and a happy smile.
"Yeah, I did. Catch ya later, kiddo," Qrow responded before fist bumping with his favorite pipsqueak and moving to follow Ozpin. With Kasandra soon following, but not before waving happily at Ruby.
"And suddenly, all of your recklessness makes perfect sense," Weiss said, now realizing where Ruby must have gotten a lot of her quirks.
"You're just mad because he whooped butt," Ruby teased childishly.
"That was a draw at best," Weiss retorted in annoyance, while her and Ruby's Blades shook their heads at the spectacle.
Later on, we see Winter pacing around Ozpin's office, while Ironwood was leaning against Ozpin's desk. And Newt was sitting using the palms of her floating arms as a chair.
Then the elevator opened, allowing entry for Ozpin, Glynda, Qrow and Kasandra.
"What were you thinking!?" Winter demanded from the man.
"If you were one of my men, I would have you shot," Ironwood added in.
"If I was one of your men I'd shoot- Where's my flask?" Qrow suddenly questioned as he realized his flask wasn't where it was supposed to be at.
"This stuff isn't good for you." came from Kasandra who was holding the missing flask.
"What did I say about touching my flask," Qrow complained as he reached for his flask, with Kasandra keeping it away from him.
Glynda decided to ignore the banter between the Driver and Blade, and get to the other side of the problem, "While I wouldn't condone his behavior, retaliating like you did certainly didn't help matters."
"He was drunk!" Winter retorted.
"He's always drunk." Glynda shot back. Then, as if sensing it, all eyes turned to Qrow who managed to get the flask back from his adorable Blade and was chugging from it. All the while keeping a struggling Kasandra at arms-length by her face. The said Blade trying to reach for the flask uselessly, while Qrow looked like a deer caught in headlights at the attention he was getting before shrugging.
Ozpin sat down with a sigh, "Qrow, why are you here? And where did you get that Blade from?"
"You've been out of contact, for weeks!" Ironwood barged in, thinking that the mystery of Kasandra could wait, "You can't just go off the grid like that!"
"As I recall," Qrow started as he put both arms in the air to keep his flask away from Kasandra, who was now trying to jump to reach it, so he could close it before pocketing it. All the while keeping the adorable, but pain in the ass Blade back. "You sent me to gather intel on our enemy, and I'm telling you. Our enemy is here," Qrow finished, now keeping Kasandra at arms-length again so she wouldn't get any funny ideas.
Ironwood sighed, "We know."
"Oh, you know!" Qrow said not liking this turn of events, "Well it's a good thing I'm risking my life out there to keep you all informed!"
"Qrow," Kasandra sounded out, forgetting the poison that was in Qrow's flask for the moment.
Feeling his Blade stop struggling, Qrow used the now freed hand to get his Scroll out of his pocket, "Communication is a two-way street, Jimmy."
"General." Winter and Newt corrected in unison.
"Whatever," Qrow replied, not caring before returning his attention to Ironwood and pointing to his Scroll, "See this? that's the 'send' button."
"They had a reason to believe you were compromised," Winter retorted.
"And I have a reason to believe, you don't need to be here!" Qrow retorted heatedly before pointing his thumb at her," Seriously, who invited her?"
Ironwood looked down for a moment before addressing Winter, "Schnee, we'll discuss this incident back in my ship."
"But, sir," Winter was about to say.
"Winter. Leave." But the general wouldn't have it.
"…Yes, sir," Winter responded, giving a salute, did an about face and started walking to the elevators. Newt following her Driver's example.
As Winter passed Qrow, the pro huntsman turned to his Blade, "Kasandra, you should leave too."
"But Qrow," Kasandra said with a look fit for a kicked puppy.
"Listen, I'll join with you soon enough," Qrow said softly to the girl, "For now, just wait for me downstairs."
"Okay," Kasandra said happily before joining Winter and Newt in the elevator.
Once the three left, Qrow got back to business, "Your infiltrator isn't just another pawn, they're the ones responsible for Autumn's condition."
"What!?" Glynda exclaimed in worry.
Qrow took another swig of his flask now that Kasandra wasn't around to stop him. "Despite what the world thinks, we're not just teachers, generals or headmasters," Qrow began, "The people in this room, the leaders of the other two academies. We're the ones who keep the world safe from evils that no one even knows about."
As Qrow explained, the general looked annoyed as he had a good idea of where this was going.
Then just as the general thought, Qrow got right into his face. "It's why we meet behind closed doors, why we work from the shadows. So, tell me James, did you think that bringing your army here was discreet? Or did you just not give a damn!?" Qrow all but demanded from the general.
Ironwood sighed, before responding, "Discreet wasn't working." Then the general placed his Scroll on the headmaster's desk, and through it a hologram showing Beacon, Vale and the Atlesian fleet. "I'm here, because this is what's necessary," Ironwood then explained as he motioned towards his fleet.
"You're here because Ozpin wanted you here," Qrow pointed out, "He made you part of this inner circle and opened your eyes to the real battle that's in front of us!"
"And I'm grateful for that," Ironwood said simply, "The people of Vale need a protector. When they look up to the sky and see my fleet, they will feel safe. And our enemies will feel our strength."
Qrow chuckled at the explanation, "You think they're scared of your little ships? I've been out there and I've seen what she's made and I'm telling you, THEY are fear."
At this moment, Ozpin stood up. "And fear will bring in the Grimm," Ozpin said, earning everyone's attention, "A guardian is a symbol of comfort, an army is a symbol of conflict. There's an energy in the air. A question, at the back of everyone's minds: If this is the size of our army, what is it exactly we're expecting to fight? With that being said, James. If another one of these breaches opens and a powerful monster like that 'sauros' appeared again, what exactly can your army do to stop it?"
"As I told you before, Newt has been supplying ideas for improving our weapons," Ironwood responded confidently, "It will take a while before we can implement them on all of my ships, but once they are, nothing can threaten us." Then the general frowned, "But what do you suggest we do in regards to your previous concerns?"
"…I suggest we find our guardian," Ozpin said, before sitting back down, "But in the meantime, Qrow, do you recognize these three?" Ozpin asked as he brought three pictures of three particular students.
Qrow's eyes widened at the three students, before his gaze hardened, "That's them. They're the ones who attacked Amber."
"Perfect," Ironwood said with a victorious smile, "That means we can now arrest them and get this matter over with."
"And what will they be accused of may I ask?" Ozpin asked, because as much as he would like to deal with these three as fast as he could. They can't just arrest them without a proper cause. The public would ask questions.
"Ozpin, are you telling me that we will do nothing, again!?" Ironwood shouted in outrage, slamming his fist on the desk in the process.
"I'm not!" Ozpin retorted, while standing up, "We will deal with them when the tournament ends. For now, we keep a close eye on them. If they do anything suspicious, we will deal with them immediately."
Ironwood glared at Ozpin, before letting out a tired sigh. "Fine then," the general said as he retrieved his Scroll, but what he didn't notice was the flickering image of a queen piece appearing on it for an instant.
"Now, Qrow, "Ozpin then said, turning back to their drunk, "Where did you get Kasandra from." The headmaster has made it a point for the other academies to gather any Core Crystals they might find, seeing as their appearance hasn't been yet published. But Ozpin wouldn't be surprised if some of the students who were allowed to have Blades have described what they looked like. The "Death Dust" mistake was covered with a story about them being stolen, but the criminals didn't know what to do with them so they were discarded.
Qrow sighed at the reminder of the incident. "That's a long story," the scythe wielder admitted with a groan.
"Can you make it short?" Glynda asked, not in the mood for a long story.
"A monster spat her in my face," Qrow said the short version. And judging by the look on everyone's faces, Qrow would have to tell the longer version.
As Qrow started telling his tale about how he obtained Kasandra, Mercury had told Cinder about seeing Qrow in the courtyard when he passed by.
"And you're sure it was him," Cinder asked as she paced around.
"Bad hair, wields a great sword that was about to turn into a scythe, smelled like my dad after a long day. Yeah, it was him," Mercury confirmed, "And he had one of those Blade things."
"So, what do we do now?" Emerald asked in slight worry.
"Nothing," Cinder said with a confident smile, "They have no idea who we are, so we have no reason to worry." Then the young woman posing as a student walked towards a tablet on a table, "Besides, the last of the heavy lifting is already being done, thanks to our clever little friend." Cinder picked up the tablet and started browsing before smirking, "It seems we have a new access point."
"Anywhere good," Emerald asked out of curiosity.
"You could say that," Cinder replied as Ironwood's picture appeared on the top left corner. The virus she managed to implant into the CCT was doing its job. And at this point, it can't be detected.
As this happened, a black-haired girl with green eyes was typing something on a scroll. This girl is Neopolitan in disguise.
Emerald turned to the girl who seems to want to stay cooped up in this room. "Don't you ever want to go outside for a while?" the mint haired thief asked.
The disguised ice cream girl looked up from her Scroll with a look that asked, "Are you an idiot?" before texting to Emerald.
"I'm not risking running into that walking stone statue." The text red. Which made Emerald groan, "He can't recognize you, you look completely different."
Neo responded by tapping her nose.
"Wear perfume or something," Emerald shot back knowing that she was talking about that thing having a keen nose.
Neo typed something else before sending it to Emerald again.
Emerald checked the text, "Didn't work against faunus with keen noses, why would it work against him?" Which made Emerald groan more.
As the two had their banter, Cinder was looking forward to all the information she could get from the general, especially how Atlas managed to create these "Blades" and find out why she wasn't able to get one.
As Cinder was making her evil plans, we move to a large room with a long table in the middle. This table was surrounded by chairs, five of which are currently occupied. At the head of the table was a strange light blue skinned man wearing an embellished white robe and a large hat. This man had pointy ears, white sideburns and a thin beard that was grown slightly past his chin.
"My deepest thanks to you for agreeing to this ceasefire, Queen Raqura, Emperor Niall," the man said formally, addressing two of the other occupants of the table.
On the man's left was a large woman wearing regal gray robes. She had green hair, stylized hair which also held her tiara with a large red gem in it. She also had scales around her eyes, a typical trait of an Urayan. This is Queen Raquara, the ruler of the Uraya Kingdom.
On the man's right was a young boy, probably less than 15 years old. This boy was dressed in regal militaristic clothing, colored white and gold. With several medals attached to the lapel. The boy was wearing a crown in the shape of wings overlapping each other on his head of bowl cut black hair. This is Niall Ardanach, the Emperor of Mor Ardain.
"As I recall from the Osirian treaty from 350 years ago, The Praetorium was to refrain from intervention in times of war," Queen Raqura spoke up, "And yet her you are, intervening. But I trust you have a suitable justification, Your Eminence?" The only reason the queen of Uraya assumes this much is because her troops were about to retaliate from Mor Ardain's surprise attack on Urayan troops stationed in Temperantia.
"Naturally," the blue skinned man, the Praetor of Indol, responded. "But first, to ensure impartiality in these negotiations may I present Niranira, Acting Chairman of the Argentum Trade Guild." The praetor motioned towards further along the left side of the table. A yellow round creature, a Nopon, wearing a leather jacket and a brown beret. Then, as another man entered the room, the Praetor continued, "Furthermore, representing Tantal, His Highness the Crown Prince Ozychlyrus Brounev Tantal will also be attending."
This man was tall and in his twenties. He has dark gray hair, a green eye, with the left one being covered with an eyepatch that had a turtle carving on it. The prince of Tantal also wears a long open coat, without a shirt underneath. On his shoulders are two metal pauldrons and on his hands are studded fingerless gloves. The man is also wearing dark pants with greaves and studded guards on his thighs, right above the knees.
"The Crown Prince!?" one of Raqura's two bodyguards exclaimed, "The prodigal prince of Tantal?" As the guard voiced his disbelief, we see a woman on Niall's right hiding a mildly amused smile. For she had already been briefly acquainted with Prince Ozychlyrus, or Zeke as he prefers to be called.
This woman is wearing a dark blue military outfit consisting of a long overcoat the front of it being white with red edges. On her left shoulder is a single white and gold pauldron, and she wears white gloves. On her hips she has armor, similar to her pauldron, and baggy pants which are tucked into her gold colored armored boots. She also wears a dark blue military hat with a visor that she can tug down if necessary. This is Morag Ladair, the Special Inquisitor of Mor Ardain.
With his introductions over with, Zeke took a seat on the closest chair on the right side of the table.
"Now," the Praetor continued, "…it seems Mor Ardain has been accused of a unilateral breach of the treaty in this matter. With that said, Emperor Niall, do you have something you wish to say about this?"
"While we are still conducting investigations into the cause, it cannot be denied that weaponry belonging to our forces was discharged against Uraya," the young emperor spoke with calmness and certainty you wouldn't expect from a boy his age. But he is the emperor, so that is to be expected. "Regardless of reason or circumstances, we are ready to offer recompense for this grave offense," Niall continued, earning a small frown from the queen.
"So, you want to settle this with money?" The queen asked skeptically.
"We will provide any compensation deemed necessary," Niall responded, resisting a sigh.
The queen shook her head before speaking again, "It may just be my imagination, but the way you speak implies that the blame for this atrocity does not lie with Your Majesty at all." the displeasure was clear within the queen's words, though controlled.
"We are investigating, I ask that we not draw any hasty conclusions," Niall explained diplomatically.
But then the Praetor decided to intervene, "What need is there for investigation? I believe the cause has already been established. There are witnesses too."
"And that would be?" Queen Raqura questioned.
With that the Praetor turned his gaze to Zeke, who took this as his que to explain how the one controlling the excavated Titan Weapon against Uraya was a member of Torna.
"Preposterous," Queen Raqura responded in disbelief, "The people you speak about are merely terrorists. How could they possibly command such power?"
"It's the truth," Zeke spoke up, "I, Ozychlyrus, swear this in the name of King Eulogimenos Tantal."
"Can confirm," Niranira added in with a surprisingly deep voice for a small fuzzy looking creature, "Ex-Chairman Bana give these people some kind of supplies. Military supplies, me thinks. And in great number, yes."
"But why would?" Raqura just couldn't comprehend why something like this was happening.
"What if I were to tell you, that the Aegis Malos, who razed the world five centuries ago was involved?" The Praetor spoke up again.
"Ridiculous," the queen instantly denied, "Everyone knows he disappeared in a blaze of flame!"
"He's very much alive, believe me," Zeke spoke up again, "That arse- I mean, the Aegis has confronted us in person. And if my word isn't enough for you." As if on cue, the doors opened again, allowing entry for a blonde woman wearing white and gold outfit with green glowing parts.
"A Blade?" Raqura noted in surprise, before noticing her Core Crystal, "But that Core Crystal." The Crystal that all the Blades have is always blue, but this one was green.
"…Everyone, grab onto the table," the Praetor suddenly spoke up with a frown.
"Excuse me?" Niall questioned the Praetor's sudden and strange words.
"Another one is opening now." the Praetor then ducked under his own table, just as something started forming in the air, right behind the Blade. Then a large black swirling hole opened up in the air and started pulling everything in the room towards it.
"Your Highness!" One of Raqura's personal guards shouted as he and the other one ushered their queen to follow the Praetor's example.
"Your Majesty!" Morag shouted out as Niall was swept off of his chair, thankfully the emperor's arm was grabbed by his Blade, Aegaeon. Aegaeon was an odd one, he resembled a Common Blade, but he had several blue tubes that seemed to be filled with water running across his body.
"Hold on Your Majesty!" Aegaeon shouted as he stabbed his Chroma Katana into the ground to anchor himself.
With the Emperor safe Morag quickly ducked under the table herself, just as she started to feel the pull.
Right in front of the hole, the blonde Blade summoned a large white and gold sword before stabbing it into the ground just in time to anchor herself to the floor. Just then, she felt something impacting her, but she held on strong.
"Hey! Let go of me!" the Blade cried out as she felt Zeke, who had been swept off his seat wrapping his arms around her.
"Sorry, Mythra, but I don't wanna get sucked into a hungry hole!" the prince of Tantal shouted frantically as he held onto the busty blonde Blade for dear life.
"Ow! Ow! Ow! Ow!" Mythra then cried out as she felt a pull on her hair.
"Niranira sorry!" Niranira shouted, having grabbed onto Mythra's hair to prevent himself from being sucked in.
The chairs and few of the other small items were sucked into hole, but the table itself barely budged. The few Indol Warrior Monks in the room also held on to whatever they could get their hands on. But then one of them lost their grip and flew straight into the hole, screaming all the way.
Only then did the hole collapse in on itself.
Which meant that everyone could get off from under the heavy table.
"What in Alrest was that!?" One of Raqura's guards shouted, while Zeke got off of a very irate Mythra.
"Another breach," the Praetor spoke up as he appeared from beneath the table with a frown, "Although this is the first time one has opened within a city, let alone inside a building."
"Praetor Amalthus," Niall spoke up as he was helped up by Aegaeon, "Do you know something about this phenomenon?"
"Only that this has happened for centuries now," the Praetor named Amalthus responded, "But I have no idea what could they be or what is causing them."
"Praetor, you say that this was the first time one of these has appeared inside of a city," Raqura then asked, with a hard look.
"To my knowledge, yes." Amalthus asked calmly, a little too calmly for someone who witnessed something none of them thought could happen.
"I have received a report about a treasure chest being stolen from one of the noble houses of Uraya," Raqura responded, "The victim described the chest being eaten by a hole that appeared in their room. It was dismissed as ramblings back then."
"Then it seems we have another problem," Amalthus said while glaring at the space where the hole used to be at.
"What is causing these breaches?" Amalthus thought in his mind, ignoring a screaming Niranira, who was sent flying by an angry kick from Mythra.
AN: And there we go. Qrow is officially the unluckiest guy in Remnant. Or more like his title as "The Bad Luck Charm" has been stolen from him. And Ironwood still thinks his army is invincible.
Cinder thinks no one is onto her, and has yet to figure out the truth about Blades.
Lastly, another breach was opened a little too close for Zeke's, Morag's or especially Mythra's comfort. Coincidense? You be the judge.