It sure has been a while since I've updated but that's mostly because of the things going on in my life as of late. In case any of you are interested, let me explain. My former job had been cutting my hours until I was barely making 20, so I went job hunting again and got hired at a new company that's been looking for some help as of late. Long story short, I got hired on and found out that every shift is twelve hours long which has left me very little time to do anything but sleep and work.

If your wondering how I had time to right this chapter...well I squeezed in some writing time during my breaks.


Tap tap tap.

The Generals finger continued to tap away on the desk as he waited patiently for an update. It had been well over a day since Winter checked in and that was out of the ordinary for someone like her. This only proved to worry him more when the base in Argus reported that they had yet to receive the defense shield parts that were supposed to be delivered today. He was feeling restless to say the least, so the General turned on his computer console in the hope that the News would take his mind off things for a bit.

He got what he wished for because as soon as the latest News sprung up, Sienna Khan's face was plastered all over his screen. Apparently the leader of the White Fang had called a press conference in Menagerie to address something she felt was important enough to warrant it. How the news found it's way to Atlas so quickly, one could only guess what magic the people within the media used. Ironwood leaned back and listened in as the Atlas Eyes news crew traded words about the despicable terrorist group that were threatening their proud kingdom.

Honestly all they did was toss insults at the faunus populous as a whole, not once thinking about what putting down the faunus people would actually do for the White Fang. It was after the crew hashed out their grievances that they moved on to the clip of the press conference. The small screen floating just behind the news anchor enlarged and the clip began to play.

Sienna stood proudly on a large stage in front of a group of people who gathered from within, and outside the White Fang organization. Hearing that the White Fang leader had something important to address, was enough to draw even the locals from Menagerie into attendance. On the far right - although barely seen - Ghira Belladonna, along with his wife Kali Belladonna was also in attendance. Up on stage four other members of the White Fang took their places on either side of the high leader with their hands behind their backs.

Ironwood quickly recognized three off the four, seeing as they were several of the candidates he'd filed away as potential leaders of the new branch in Atlas. The fourth, however was completely unknown to him because of the mask the juggernaut wore. The masked faunus had muscles bigger than his own and wore a chainsaw on his back like it was a sword of some kind. Ironwood knew he'd have to do an in-depth investigation into the new addition to Sienna's guard, if only to cover all his bases.

Sienna all of a sudden raised one hand into the air and silenced everyone within the crowd who'd been talking. "My good citizens of Menagerie, hear me for I carry troubling news that has shook our very organization to it's core". The tiger faunus took a step forward until she stood at the edge of the stage and placed a hand over her heart. The expression of pain overtaking her face before she looked up over the crowd with a determined gaze, "our brother, Adam Taurus has been slain". The words she spoke caused an uproar from within the crowd that drowned out any attempt to silence them.

Ironwood remained quiet, eyes glued to the screen in order to find out what exactly Sienna knew that he didn't.

Sienna waited till the crowd calmed enough for her voice to be heard when she called for silence once more. The crowd slowly quieted down as more and more people turned back to the high leader. "I understand your anger and I grieve with you all over his death. To many, Adam was the next logical choice to become high leader once my time was over. Many of you know that we never saw eye to eye on some occasions, but that never meant I didn't not respect Adam for who he was or what he did for our people".

Sienna held a hand up just in front of her chest and stared down at it as she released a frustrated sigh. "Adam was a hero who fought for the right to be heard by those who shamed and treated us like animals. He sacrificed his time and energy to give voice to those who had none in this world ruled by humans. And although I didn't always agree with his methods, Adam showed the world just what exactly being a faunus was all about". Sienna closed her hand shut to form a fist and squeezed her hand hard enough for her nails to cut into her palm.

Blood dripped onto the stage and many gasped at the display, but Sienna snarled in anger and ignored her bleeding hand as she looked up at the crowd. "Adam was a hero"! She yelled, letting everyone feel her anguish. "A hero that the faunus of this world needed in these dark hours! Where corporations abuse us, and even random people on the street turn their nose up at us for just being what we are"!

Many in the crowd clenched their teeth in anger while others cried at the passing of their fallen hero. Some amongst the Fang even took a knee and punched the world for it unfairness. Sienna herself even allowed a single tear to fall from her eyes before she quickly wiped it away to hide the moment of weakness. "We cannot let his legacy die with him" Sienna said angrily "because if we do then that'll just be one more thing those Atlesians monsters stole from us"! Sienna turned to her side and allowed the center of the stage to be taken over by a hologram of a person.

No one in the crowd knew who this person was, but many could already assume he'd played a role in Adams death. No one knew, except for the General sitting behind his desk.

Sienna reached up with her uninjured hand and closed her fingers around the holograms neck, only to stop midway, formed a fist and pulled it back reluctantly. "This man is a huntsmen in training at the Atlas academy" she said before turning to the crowd. "Under General Ironwoods command, he succeeded in executing Adam during our mission to bring the Schnee's to justice". Sienna looked back at the hologram and glared daggers at the man's visage.

"Our agents have done a background check and we've learned that this human was born in Vale, but chose to go to Atlas of his own accord. That's right! He chose to side with those who are our enemies, and chose to take away our brighter future when he killed Adam". Sienna turned to the crowd with arms spread wide. "He chose" she repeated loudly. "Therefore he has also chosen to become our enemy! An enemy of equality! Of justice"! The crowd started yelling any kind of word that came to mind to express their hatred of said human, when Sienna raised her bleeding hand and pointed at the hologram.

"Jaune Arc" she yelled the blondes name out angrily for all to hear "you have made an enemy this day of all faunus kind, and we will never rest until you pay for your crimes"! The crowd began to cheer and Sienna turned to them with her bleeding fist held high. "For Adam"! she yelled as she shook her bleeding hand. The crowd continued to cheer and started chanting the name of their fallen hero before the clip ended abruptly.

The news crew sat in silence as the screen with Sienna on it, shrank into the background. After which it took all but a minute for everyone to start speaking at the same time, trying their best to get their own opinions out over the others. The computer screen flashed and turned black as Ironwood turned away to stare out his window. "This couldn't be true... could it"? He couldn't help but ask himself. Ultimately he decided that Sienna couldn't have lied about Adams death because the alternatives would have been impossible.

Adam Taurus becoming an undercover agent to infiltrate Atlas would never work because of who the faunus was. It couldn't hurt to keep an eye out on the off chance it was possible, but even then he didn't expect anything to come of it. If so then Sienna's speech would lose half it's strength and her followers would feel like they'd been deceived into joining. "One could only hope" he thought. But no, the only other thing he could think of was that Adam really had fallen, and that Sienna was trying to control the narrative to suit her needs.

Ironwood grasped his chin in thought, when all of a sudden his console began to beep. The General returned to his desk and clicked on the blinking blue light to establish the connection. The screen booted up and revealed a face that caused him to sigh in relief. "Winter" he said with a smile "you've missed your routine check-ins and I was beginning to wonder if something bad had happened to you".

"It's as you surmised General, my team and I were attacked by the White Fang en route to Argus". The news was anything but good but seeing his specialist unharmed was always good news. "I can see that you are unharmed, but what of those under your command? Even more so, was there any problems with the defense shield we sent to Argus because of the White Fangs attack"? Winter shook her head, "the tech made it through soundly enough and the science team stationed here has found no sign that the defense shield has been tampered with whatsoever. The team, although a little shaken from the raid, is also healthy and whole".

It was all good news so far but that only meant the bad news was yet to come. "I'm pleased to hear things have turned out alright, and yet I can't help but feel there's something your holding back on". Winter looked away from the screen to make sure she was alone in the room before turning back to her superior. "It is best that I not reveal information like this over an unsecured connection General". The hint was clear and Ironwood moved to secure his line with Winter. After a few minutes of work the General look back at the screen with both hands laced together in front of him.

"Go ahead" he instructed.

Winter nodded and began to tell Ironwood what had happened once the White Fang were repelled.

/

The white nevermore circled the sky above until it's summoner decided the coast was clear. At Winter's command the nevermore swooped down and dropped Ilia, Penny and Weiss on top of the ships deck before landing itself. Penny, Weiss and Ilia formed a triangle formation around the nevermore in case anyone saw fit to kill their only escape route. After a few minutes without any complications to be seen, Jaune decided he'd join the others on the deck and made to hop of the nevermores back. The second he tried, the nevermore let out a loud screech and turned to dust beneath his feet, causing the blonde to sprawl out in the air and drop like a ton of bricks.

It felt like the time he was falling through the air after jumping off the nevermore to destroy the bullhead chasing them. Sure that happened a few minutes ago but the ending to both experiences turned out rather differently from each other. One ended with him float down safely to the water beneath, the other ended with him slamming into the hard metal floor of the ship. The blonde rolled from side to side while holding the back of his head since it was the second thing to hit the deck after he landed on his back.

No one bothered to help him but as soon as he looked over to Winter, he understood why. Winter was on her knees, dripping blood from an open wound on her back. If that wasn't bad enough, the exit wound that came out her stomach was bleeding just as badly as the first. Weiss grabbed her sister and leaned her up against the nearest container she could find, not caring one bit about how much blood got on her own clothing. After which she cut off a piece of her sister's tail coat and wrapped the cloth around her waist to stop the bleeding.

"Stop Weiss" Winter said as she grabbed her sisters arm. She didn't need to say it out loud, but judging by the looks on everyone's face, and the way Penny was silent after assessing her wound; it was save to say she couldn't be saved. Then again she already knew that when the bullet pierced her back and tore it's way out. Although her student was too busy with his own idea, she'd made sure to get them all back to the ship before her strength failed her.

Weiss shook her arm free and continued to work on her sister, trying desperately to fight against the inevitability they all felt. It wasn't long after that Jaune arrived by her side with one knee on the ground as he looked her over. "I know what your thinking" Winter said to the blonde "but even if your semblance can heal your own wounds, it can stop what's happened to me internally". Winter placed a hand over her wound and frowned, "the bullet pierced something vital within me, and without proper medical attention I can feel myself fading".

Jaune closed his eyes and said nothing as he placed a fist just over his heart. Weiss herself, froze after hearing her own sister talk about how there was no way to save her. She couldn't let something like that be true, she needed Winter in her life because without her...then she'd truly be alone. Weiss wiped the tears running down her face with her hands, smearing her sister's blood on her cheeks without realizing it.

Reaching down, the young heiress ripped off another strip of cloth from her sister's clothing and applied more pressure.

Winter stared down at her sister, desperation was clearly painted over her face and that only made it harder to keep her own emotions in check. She leaned her head back and looked to the sky. The night was lit beautifully with all the stars that couldn't be seen thanks to the lights shining from Atlas. It wasn't a bad place die she supposed. Being here with her sister, her students and knowing they were the future she'd preserved wasn't all that bad. Still, she couldn't help but feel like a failure in these final moments of hers. She had done everything in her power to succeed at everything she'd done, and yet she couldn't even resolve the conflict between her sister and student.

Winter's eyes widened a second later as an idea popped into her head. "Maybe there is still something I can do" she thought to herself before looking down at her sister. "Weiss" Winter said gently. The heiress didn't respond because she was too absorbed in trying to keep her sister from bleeding out, so Winter tried again. "Weiss" she said once again, putting her commanding tone back in place to force her sister to comply. Weiss looked up at her with red eyes and blood sticking to her skin, tear stains had run through them causing red line to follow them down.

"Weiss " she said tiredly "there's not much time left and there's something I want you to promise me before I-".

"No"! Weiss cried "you'll be okay, I can save you, you'll see. I just need more bandages to stop the bleeding and we'll go home together and laugh about this someday-"

"Weiss! Enough. Please" Winter ordered so her sister could snap out of it. Self delusions like that were dangerous for one's own mentality, especially if they continued to believe that they could have done something to save someone else when they knew they couldn't. Weiss shook her head from side to side, sobbing and telling herself that this wasn't happening. Winter placed her hand behind Weiss's head and drew her into her side. After all this time, they'd never really been allowed to act like siblings like most normal people had. Because they were Schnee, they were forced to act in a way that was befitting of their station.

Now here at the end of her road, Winter felt that the world could forgive her this once for actually letting herself act like the older sister Weiss deserved. "Weiss" she said slowly "please try and get along with Jaune when I'm gone. There will always be times in your life where you'll find yourself working alongside individuals who don't match up to your standards. But that's precisely why I need you to do this for me now. I don't want to leave, and still worry about you when I'm gone". Winter stroked her sister's hair gently and asked, "can you promise me that you'll try"?

Weiss's head was still buried in her side but she still felt the nod when Weiss did so. "Thank you, Weiss" Winter said happily. Now all she needed to do was get the same promise from her own student and she'd be able to die with a peace of mind. Winter looked over to her student and was ready to give him a similar, if not watered down version of her dying wish when she noticed Jaune's body shimmering with a white hue. "Sorry, it seemed like you guys were having a moment and I didn't want to ruin it" the blonde said with a lopsided smile.

Jaune extended his hand in her direction, palm faced towards her as he readied his semblance. Winter shook her head, "Jaune, even with as good of a semblance as you have, there are simply some things even you can't do". Jaune's eyes narrowed and he scowled at her. "Even if that's true, I'm not ready to watch you die and I sure as hell am not about to sit here and listen to your crap just because you've given up". Winter had never been spoken to like that before, and when she finally worked up the energy to put her student back in his place, she felt a rush of power she'd never known before.

There were no words to describe the sensation, it was like being rejuvenate and electrocuted at the same time. The best word she could use to describe it was that it felt weird. A second hadn't even passed before Jaune slumped over on hands and knees, when with a pop his aura shattered. Winter stared down at the blonde for a moment before lifting up her hand to see her aura, not just restored but overflowing. Her aura was visibly shimmering with a light blue glow and she no long felt tired or as weak as she did before. It was something she was keen to ignore until her message was given but now it seemed like that wasn't the case.

Winter looked down at her wound and inspected the hole in her uniform, only to find that her wound had healed completely and she felt even better than before. Aura boosting and restoration was what Jaune's semblance could do, and truthfully even if it was far more special than most, she'd assumed there were limitations to what it could do. To find out it could save her from the certainty of death though...this could turn the world on it head.

/

Ironwood sat quietly until Winter finished her report, and as she finished explaining how they made it back, the General placed both hands on his desk. "I want the Argus military branch to escort you all back to Atlas immediately, with your report and what I've just learned recently, Jaune has become a person of far greater importance then I first thought possible".

Winter looked concerned, and Ironwood believed she had every right to be but she'd get the full rundown upon her and her teams return. "Check the news" was his final advice before he said his good-byes and cut the connection. With a sigh, Ironwood leaned back in his chair and stared up at the ceiling, "what did you send me Ozpin". It was one thing after another with that boy but he'd given the young Arc the chance to prove his worth, and he was definitely delivering. Every one of his thoughts ended up interrupted because the console built into his desk started going off again.

Ironwood set the link up and came face to face with the three other members of the Atlas council. "I can't say this is totally unexpected given what's been on the news recently, although I did think it would take a little longer than this for a council meeting to be set up". With Sienna all but telling the faunus people that someone from Atlas had slain Adam, and that that person was one of his men, he knew the council was going to be very interested in this individual. Ironwood linked his hands together and leaned forward, "should we skip the formalities then and get right to the main topic of this emergency meeting"?

Council member Sleet nodded and started off. "Before we begin any bit of discussion here, we must know the truth James, is there any word of truth to what this terrorist leader has said"? The other two council members nodded and looked to the General for their answer. "At the moment I can't confirm or deny such accusations until the team comes back from Argus". It was a stall tactic at best. He knew they'd want everything they could get on the boy, but until he could get the full story together, it was best that they knew nothing in the meantime.

"When can we expect this team to return to Atlas"? Asked councilwoman Camilla.

"Within a few hours" the General responded "I've already given the order for the five of them to return with an escort from the Argus military base". Camilla smiled pleasantly, "that's good to hear, we certainly can't afford to have our heroes attacked on their way back home. When they arrive we'd also like you to bring them before the council". Ironwood unlinked his hands and placed them on either side of his console before asking, "Is there a reason to do so"?

The third councilor sighed and spoke, "of course there is General. Adam Taurus has been a thorn in our side ever since he's dawned the mask of the White Fang and attack our lively hood. I doubt I need to remind you of how many men and women that have fallen to that animals blade, not counting just the soldiers within the military but also our very citizens! This Jaune Arc has gone and done this kingdom a great service and must be rewarded for his contribution to the prosperity of Atlas". The members of the council agreed wholeheartedly, and even Ironwood found it hard to disagree with the man.

Councilman Grey Earlington was one of the oldest members within the council, and that brought his old views of the world into the politics he brought to the table. Easy to say they didn't get along well, but the truth was that councilman Grey was nothing more than a figure head for the man backing him. If that wasn't bad enough, the man always had a way with words that always seemed to make him the enemy of everyone at the table.

Sometimes the way one uses their words can be greater then any weapon man's ever made. Case in point with this.

"I hear you councilman Grey" Ironwood grumbled unhappily "will the other members of the council provide a time and place for me to bring Jaune and the rest of his team? I ask that it be someplace publicly known to show our appreciation for everyone to see". Councilman Grey waved his hand like he was trying to shoo something away from and forced the decision on the other members of the council. "It'll be done General" councilwoman Camilla said "until later then". The connection cut and Ironwood sat back in his chair while rubbing the bridge of his nose.

The reason for the public setting was to counter any chances of someone trying to corner them in a secluded place without reinforcements. Although, realistically there wasn't any chance Sienna would have had any time to prepare an attack so quickly after returning home. Ironwood stared at the ceiling with a frown on his face because now he was sure someone within the higher ups was working with the White Fang. There were always spies within every organization, but only a few knew about this particular mission in general. Those few could be counted on his fingers alone, and they were amongst the most trusted he had within the kingdom. That alone didn't bode well, but it could be played to his advantage if done so correctly.

In the end he couldn't focus on it at the moment because he first had to deal with the council and the up and coming Arc. "I hope your ready for for this mister Arc, cause it looks like the White Fang and the council have painted one incredible target on your back" the General said tiredly.


Jaune my boy, you've finally realized your dream of becoming a hero, but you'll soon find out that there's more danger to go along with this new title then most ever expect.