So...life, I guess it's been keeping me pretty busy as of late. That and all the new game I've been drowned in since I've gotten my hands on the PS5. Baldur's Gate, RWBY Grimm Eclipse, RWBY Arrowfell, Elden Ring, Knights of Gotham and MK1 just to name a few.

Anyways, this story has been tougher then I thought to weave together, especially everyone who will be involved in the upcoming event. How will it go? Only time will tell I'm afraid. I'm not entirely sure I can pull this off well because of my own inexperience, but damn it I must try! Now on to the chapter.


This...was far different then what she imagined. She had been briefed on what her partner was capable of and saw first hand what he could do in Shelter. Taking those into consideration as well as his first combat class spar, and she could say she was pretty confident she could take the blonde without his primary weapon.

Ciel quickly leaned to the left and felt the force of Jaunes punch as it grazed her cheek and cut into her aura. Yeah, this was definitely not what she was expecting. Jaune let loose a flurry of jabs that were quick and precise, each one merely a hair away from catching her. At the first sign of an opening Ciel diverted Jaunes left jab with the back of her left hand and stepped into his unguarded side.

Her leader was showing what he'd learned from his six months of training, unfortunately it wasn't anything compared to the years she spent under Ironwoods guidance. A fact she was going knock into him.

Ciel's fist came in fast and landed a hard blow into her leaders side, causing the blondes knees to buckle from the hit. It was for the briefest of instances but something felt slightly...off, only she didn't know why. In the end it didn't change what she needed to do, as she followed up her first strike by pushing up close before Jaune could even think to put up his guard, and delivered a left uppercut.

Ciel's attack hit home and her fist connected with the underside of Jaunes jaw, then just like before something felt slightly off about the feel of it. It was when she saw her leaders eyes that she realized why. His eye's were clear and focused, but more then that was how despite the hit he received, Jaune didn't even look fazed by it. She found the reason for that quickly enough, as the point where her fist connected with his jaw was glowing, unlike when aura normally takes damage.

Jaune was enhancing one portion of his aura more then the rest to provide greater protection from her strike. Normally most people with aura would just spread it out over their entire being since it was very hard to anticipate where an enemy might strike from. That Jaune could do so with such precision in the midst of a fight like this, it spoke highly of his intuition and control over his aura.

The blonde knights head shot forward, landing a headbutt on the shocked Soleil, while she was lost in thought. A careless mistake on her part. Ciel felt his forehead smash into her left eye and although she had aura to defend her, it felt like she had less defense then what she was use to. But why? She didn't have time to dwell on it because as soon as she tried to think about it Jaune slipped his fit through her guard and struck, not her body or face but her throat.

Getting hit like that was a terrible experience, because not only did it make her involuntarily gag and grab her neck, it also broke down her defense far too easily. Did any of his teachers actually teach him to fight like this? When Jaune threw a left hook for her head she barely managed to dodge it by ducking under it then jumped back to put some distance between them. She should've expected it wouldn't be that easy to get away.

The second Ciel settled into her stance Jaune was already on her with a spinning back kick. Ciel created a cross guard with her arms and tanked the blow, feeling the impact make her arms go slightly numb as her body slide back several feet. Jaune recovered quickly and rushed forward again, but Ciel was determined to not let him dictate the pace of their battle. She too rushed in and the both of them got a taste of each others best.

How much time had passed as they fought each other? Neither could tell but at the end of it, it was Ciel who found herself on her back staring up into sky. Her hair and face were covered in sweat and she took in deep gulps of air cause she felt like there was never enough to fill her lungs. "How," she questioned out loud, "how are you still standing?"

Jaune broke his stance and lowered his arms. As he did his body started to glow slightly and he took steady and measured breaths, keeping his concentration up until his aura was completely back to normal. A chuckled escaped his lips as he sauntered over to his partner and sat down at her side. "No offense but Ace Operative Harriet Bree hit's waaaay harder then you. If it wasn't for my semblance, I never would have stood a chance against her, let alone pull off a win of my own."

Hearing that an Ace Ops member lost to her team leader had her eyes widening, a shock that had her sitting up and staring at him. Words were lost for a good moment, before her eyes narrowed on him. "If your strong enough to take on one of the strongest huntresses in Atlas, why even bother asking to spar with me?"

Jaune raised a brow at her sudden anger, then in the next moment he seemed to come to some sort of realization and nodded. "Sorry, I really didn't think you'd forget the whole reason for the match. But then again, getting so absorbed in the fight just means we were really giving it our all, so I can't complain." Jaune pointed a finger at his partner, "the fight was so we could familiarize ourselves with each others combat styles remember."

Seconds ticked by, and Ciel could feel her embarrassment grow with each passing second. She let out a sigh and gripped her face with her left hand, as an attempt to hide her shame. Yes, she had lost herself in the moment and made a fool of herself, getting so worked up to beat her team leader because of her own pride. Everyone made mistakes, but that didn't mean she didn't feel like crawling under a rock for her stupidity.

Ciel pulled her hand down, turned it into a fist and coughed into the back of it. "So did you learn anything from our fight," she asked without making eye contact with him.

If Jaune learned anything from Weiss and her over inflated ego, it was to never call attention to their missteps in image management. Not unless you wanted to suffer for it. Something about Atlas rich girls made them highly volatile when you poked fun at them. "Actually I learned quite a bit thanks to out spar. Because your a hand to hand fighter, you cater to up close and mid range combat, which matches well with my mid to long range type of fighting."

Jaune smiled, thinking about those old DD games he use to play with his friends back in Ansel. "Almost everyone in our team are frontline fighters, but if we split into duos the two of us can fight in a unique way because of our builds." The blonde knight pointed at her and grinned, "a fighter like you needs to focus on the enemies in front of you." He then jabbed his thumb into his chest and puffed out his upper body, "which would leave your back exposed, perfect for me and my trusty shield don't you think?"

Thinking about it seriously, the ideas in which huntsmen operated were slightly different then what she was used to with the military. As part of a team they all had each other's backs and covered for each others weaknesses. That was where the similarities between the two factions ended because a huntsmen or huntress was a monster on to themselves. They could take on missions solo if that was what they wanted, but they built life long friendships with their partners much like cops did.

A part of her - a real big part - wanted to resist the change, because it was what she'd grown up with for a good portion of her life. The military lifestyle had been good to her, and she never once thought about becoming a huntress in all that time before now. Ciel shook her head to rid herself of those negative thoughts. The truth was that when Ironwood gave her the opportunity to take this new road, he had given her the option, but never forced her into it.

There were a select few who met the necessary requirements to join this team, and if she was being honest with herself, any of them could have been in her spot. They were a team now and she needed to get over it. "I'm not used to relying on a single person to guard my back...but, I don't mind giving it a try." Wow that was embarrassing to say out loud.

Jaune didn't even notice, instead he was far happier that whatever wall was built between them was actually coming down. "Well if we're going to work on our teamwork, then I think we should recharge first." His aura was already back to full so he didn't need to use his semblance on himself, but that being the case Ciel wasn't like him. Jaune raised his left hand and ignited it with his aura, creating an intense white flame.

The action caught Ciel's attention and caused her to flinch away from him. It was in human nature to want to avoid things that could cause them pain, and fire happened to be one that could cause a person, a great deal of pain. Jaune didn't notice her reaction, as his gaze was solely focused on the aura flame engulfing his hand. He wasn't focusing all his aura and using his semblance in one spot like before. In the end he decided to ignore it for now and aimed his hand at his partner, only then noticing the concerned look on her face.

Jaune followed her line of sight to his hand and quickly put two and two together. "Oh...oooohh!" Jaune pulled his hand away and chuckled, "you don't need to worry, this is just my semblance."

Ciel's looked from the blonde to his hand. "Your semblance? I thought your semblance was amplification and restoration not...whatever's happening there."

Jaune lowered his hand to his chest and opened it a little further. The motion allowed him to channel the aura flame in his palm, and increased it's intensity. "Technically that's what I'm doing but to a higher degree then normal. This form is when I focus all my aura into a single part of my body, then enhance it with the use of my semblance. It allows for even faster recovery then normal, but at the cost of my own defense, it's kinda why I don't use it outside of practice. I can't remember for sure but I think besides Weiss, your the only other person I've shown this to."

She would've felt flattered if the way those aura flames didn't flicker like actual fire in his hand. "Has there been any side affects to using your aura like that," she asked in order to delay what was to come.

Jaune thought about it for a second but eventually shook his head. "Not any I can think of, and Weiss never complained about it either, so I think it should be okay."

Ciel could've delayed longer if she wanted to, but knew that would spit on her partners kindness when Jaune only wanted to help. Steeling her resolve, Ciel closed her eyes so she wouldn't have to see it coming and answered, "I'm ready." It was time for a little of that trust that partners built up with each other. Even still, in the back of her mind she kept telling herself that she needed to get away from the flames.

Jaunes semblance, although was used to amplify and restore a person's aura, could do so much more then that. She'd seen how it was also used to attack and destroy what it's wielder wanted, you'd only need to look at events in Shelter to see that. And with the way it looked now...well, who couldn't blame her for a little paranoia. All that was washed away as something akin to a cool, late night breeze washed over her. It was so out of place that all she could think about was that it felt...strange.

When she opened her eyes and looked down at herself, she could still see her own aura reacting to Jaunes semblance. A baby blue light covered her body, shimmering from the overflow of energy she had thrust upon her. A small sigh escaped her lips, happy that a little of her faith was rewarded with healing instead of pain.

Jaune stood up first and lowered his hand for her to take. "Well...I think it's time we got back to it. We'll start with some droids and work on our combination and tactics for starters. After that we'll do some attack patterns and come up with names for them."

They were good ideas so she had nothing to add. Ciel took her partners hand and allowed him to pull her to her feet. "Great," she said now that she was up. Ciel motioned for him to take the lead and gave the smallest of smiles to the blonde as she said, "after you partner."

/

The day was quite beautiful. Vales weather was at a good 80 degrees and slightly cloudy, just enough to keep the sun from baring down too harshly on her. After the other day of finding out what happened to her husband, Juniper kinda expected the world to be dull and lifeless. She'd heard of times where people lost their loved one's and couldn't move passed their deaths.

As she stared out over the Beacon campus from her table by the garden they had, she wondered if she was a terrible person for not being more broken. She had cried her heart out that first day, but after...well, she just couldn't find anymore tears to shed. Maybe, just maybe, it was because she and Nicky did talk about this kind of thing being a possibility, long before they were actually even married. It was one of the biggest reasons she turned him down the first few times he asked her out.

A small smile graced her lips as she propped her head up with her right hand, and grabbed her peach flavored tea with her left. Simpler times were often enough the best times on days like these. Even now she remembered it like it was yesterday, with Nicky coming into the family restaurant she used to work at, with his team in tow. It was their first ever meeting and Nicholas barely started Beacon that very same year.

She was such a bitter woman back then, but with how her life had been back before they met, no one had the right blame her. A frown took the place of her smile, and she remembered those terrible days of being one of the very few who managed to survive the tragedy of Mount Glenn. She had been very young when she lost her entire family. Orphaned at the age of 12 and was left with no one to turn to, she had been forced into the streets of Vale as a street urchin.

Juniper couldn't remember how many times she'd been taken advantage of, or used just because people knew they could. She had been hurt, betrayed and worse, but learned from it and became incredibly jaded as a result. All that forced the thought in her mind that she couldn't rely on anyone but herself, and that caused her to close her heart off from others.

It was around that time when she met Nicholas, and like many others before him, he left quite the impression.

/

She was working as a waitress at one of the three jobs she had, when they sat down at a table she'd been randomly assigned to. A bunch of bumbling idiots. That was the only thing to run through her mind, just as she put on a fake smile and asked them if they wanted more time to look over the menu. She took their order and walked off to fill it, just like every other time but came back only to find the four teens talking about her.

"Wow, so that's your type? Gotta say Nic, you sure know how to pick em. Blonde hair aside she's got a nice rack, and that ass isn't half bad either."

The one the teen called Nic frowned at the comment. "Will, talking about a woman like that is kinda terrible, don't you think? A woman is more then her features you know."

Will shrugged his shoulders without a care. "I'm just stating facts you know, and anyways I do respect woman. In and out of their clothes," Will said as he nudged his teammate. Nic sighed and shook his head, clearly the whole conversation was a tiring affair. "Trust me partner, a Winchester is a man you can put your faith in," Will said with a large grin.

Nicholas rolled his eyes and pushed his partner away. "I'll believe that when you actually get around to paying me back for the money I lent you yesterday."

Will tossed and arm around his partner and dragged him close. "Come on, you can't tell me you aren't a little curious. What that waitress would feel like under her uniform, or what she could do to you under the sheets." Will snickered like a dirty old man while Nic's face burned red just thinking about it.

The chatter from around the restaurant suddenly went dead quiet, as a pitcher of water was upended on the teens head. Will and Nicholas, both quickly threw themselves out of the booth they were in and tripped over each other in their haste. The two of them landed face first on the ground, but were quick to scrambled to their feet to try and understand where that water came from, only to freeze halfway up.

It felt like a weight had fallen on their shoulders as a pair of legs entered their vision, while on their knees. They looked up slowly and saw Juniper standing there with eyes so cold it sent chills down their spines. It felt like an eternity passed before one word was spoken in that silence.

"Scum".

The clear disgust behind that one word was enough for both of them to feel an immense wave of guilt for their behavior. After that, Juniper wanted nothing more to do with them and walked off, telling her manager that she was going to break early. Suffice it to say, the manager was a little too afraid to deny her the request.

/

Juniper took a sip of her peach tea and smiled at the memory. That wasn't the first time she treated customers who didn't know how to act right, and honestly she was surprised she kept that job for as long as she did. And that guy Will, if she remembered correctly he and her Nicky stopped being friends, after Will left to fight in that war against the faunus. He was young at the time but apparently he was the only one who weathered her anger each time the two came back to the restaurant.

A real wingman if she ever saw one.

"I wonder whatever happened to that guy," she whispered to herself before she took another sip. Any further thoughts of her husband's partner vanished the next moment, as her attention was caught by the four colorful teens walking nearby. The four girls stood out so much because of the colors they displayed, but then so did most hunters who have never been in the field. Hunters who were trapped in the fantasy of trying to be heroes, despite the actual dangers of their profession.

Juniper smiled and raised a hand when one of the four, the girl in white, looked her way. If she remembered correctly Weiss was her name, her sons previous partner from his time in Atlas. Said girl waved back but froze when the other girls noticed. The smallest of the four, a young girl dressed in red and black suddenly grabbed Weiss by the arm and bodily, dragged her over to the table.

"Hi," the young girl in red said with a bright smile, "I'm Ruby Rose". With a hard tug, Ruby all but threw Weiss in front of her and gripped her shoulders, to keep her from getting away. Sure she was the first one to greet the woman, but even as she did she could feel her social anxiety cropping up, and decided Weiss would make the perfect shieldto hide behind. "I see you know Weiss, so I thought I...well, we should come and say hi".

Juniper smiled warmly. She had seen another girl she knew, who acted like this young girl did. "So I see. Well it's very nice to meet you Ruby, and it's good to see you again Weiss. Thank you again for showing me where Ozpins office was, and for keeping me company, I know you must have had other things to do."

Weiss ripped herself out of Ruby's grip and composed herself with a pleasant smile, after giving her team leader a quick death glare at first. "It was not a problem Mrs Arc, in fact the conversation was most educational and informative."

Juniper tilted her head a little at the response. Educational? Informative? My, this young girl had quite the extensive vocabulary, didn't she? "Hmm! I see, we did talk about my son quite a bit. Ah, to be young and in love. You know sweetheart the sooner you tie my boy down the better. After all if he's anything like his father then there's going to be quite a line if you don't stake your claim first."

Weiss' face blushed fiercely at the simple implication. Her, in love with him?! The insane notion was embarrassing beyond belief, even if she respected her former team leader greatly. "My association with Jaune, is not of that nature I assure you" she denied adamantly.

Juniper raised a brow and gave the tiniest of smiles. "If that's what your sure of, then I guess there's no point in trying to warm you up to the idea. That said, if you won't do I wouldn't mind such a cute addition to the family." The blondes eyes drifted from the white haired girl to her team leader, all but causing the young one to freeze under her gaze. Granted, Juniper didn't know any of these girls all that well, but in her mind she couldn't help stirring up the Rapier Wasps nest.

"M-me?!" Ruby's face turned a marvelous shade of red as her silver eye's grew to a comical size.

The girl was obviously much too young for that kind of thing, but that didn't mean the teasing wasn't enjoyable. "Of course. Sure you seem to be a bit on the young side but I'm positive you and my boy could start off as really good friends, if nothing else. And then if that friendship grew into something more...intimate, I'm sure my Jaune would cherish you to the moon and back."

Though barely above a whisper, the sound of a low strangled noise was heard escaping the young girls lips. Ruby never had to deal with this kind of talk before since her own mom wasn't around. And sure Yang would tease her every now and then about boys, but no one else did. With no built up defense against this lady, she resorted to her last life line and slowly pulled her hood over her head to block the world from view.

Yang and Blake stood over on the side watching the spectacle take place. While Yang did her best to keep Ruby out of trouble, she didn't mind all that much if Ruby was going to pay her back with incredibly fun moments like this. And hey, watching her little sis act all flustered and adorable like this, that was just the cherry on top. Plus she could easily tell that this woman was only yanking her sisters chain. If she was serious...well, they'd be having words, blonde to blonde.

Juniper couldn't help but laugh at the girls reaction. She was just so cute, it reminded her of her youngest. Deciding to take pity on Ruby, the older woman got up and moved to her side. Juniper took Ruby's hand in her's and guided the young girl to a seat at the table and sat her down. "I don't mean to pry but you seem awfully young to be at Beacon, don't you think?"

"H-Headmaster Ozpin let me jump ahead two year's," Ruby said quietly with her face still hidden under her hood.

Juniper took her seat and rested her head in her hand. "Scouted, huh? Hmph. I should say that you should enjoy your youth more, and that there's no reason to rush into things, but that would be me just preaching without understanding. Two years though...I guess if you were offered the chance to get closer to your dream you'd end up taking it, wouldn't you?"

Ruby simple nodded which caused Juniper to smile. "Then it's all well and good. My Jaune is much the same in that regards I guess, though I would have preferred he'd at least stayed in the kingdom we lived in, but that's just me belly aching again." Juniper let out a sigh and took a sip of her drink. "Still, he is my son and I am proud of what he's doing. I'm sure it must be the same for you and your parents."

Ruby, and even Yang in the back twitched at her words. It was not the woman's fault that she didn't know about what happened to their mother, so there was no reason to be angry with her about it. Ruby pulled her hood back and wore a dazzling smile. "My dad is really proud of me, and if my mother was here then I'd like to think she'd be proud of me too."

Juniper picked up on her meaning easily enough, but instead of back tracking and apologizing she decided to offer her own thoughts. "Well, if your mother loved you as I do my own children, then I'm almost a hundred percent sure she'd be over the moon at what you've accomplished already."

The thought of her own mother gushing over her acceptance into Beacon, and at such a young age made feel quite warm inside. Her face flushed at the praise.

Weiss looked between the two. To her surprise the two seemed to have hit it off rather well, with her team leader even seen engaging in conversation with the blonde woman, like they were long time friends or something. Ruby even told the woman about her dad and their pet dog, and it was surprising how talkative she was being all of a sudden. Juniper was just as talkative about her own family as Ruby, if the way she talked about each and everyone of her daughters was any hint.

Weiss wanted to enter the conversation but it felt like the two had entered their own little world. Ruby had even scooted her chair over next to the older woman's and gushed over her dog pictures. It was such an odd feeling to be left out of anything Ruby was a part of, seeing as the girl always felt the need to drag her along.

Yang had been as quiet as Blake for the most part, mostly because she enjoyed watching her sister break out of her shell. But much like Weiss, she felt excluded from the conversation, once the older blonde and her sister started to really talk. "Hey Rubes, aren't you forgetting something," the younger blonde asked, interrupting her sisters talk.

Ruby froze for a second and looked to her sister. Her eyes were filled with confusion at first before she gasped and shot her feet, "the Emerald forest!" She had gotten so lost in their talk that she had forgotten what they originally planned to do. Ruby looked to the older blonde and apologized, then explained how they were on their way to hunt some Grimm for practice.

"Oh, well then I should be the one apologizing, shouldn't I? Keeping you all here while I wait for my escort."

Blake raised a brow at that statement. "Escort? Are you in some kinda trouble, that you would require such a thing?"

Juniper eyed the dark haired girl who happened to have the most peculiar eyes she'd ever seen. "Personally speaking, I don't think so. I mean I came here alone after all, and I'm not famous enough to have enemies. Maybe your headmasters just being paranoid?"

Blake highly doubted that. This was the headmaster they were talking about, and if anything he wouldn't use resources like that without a good reason.

"Do you know who's coming," Ruby asked, a little excited to see a real huntsman at work. Even if it was just for an escort.

Juniper didn't get a chance to answer when another voice cut in to answer for her. "Someone you know pretty well," said the new arrival. All eyes turned to a blonde, older gentleman with a tattoo on his right arm and a soul patch on his chin. His arms were held out in anticipation, and just like he expected, a bundle of rose petals crashed into him.

Ruby buried her face in the new arrivals chest. "Dad! I'm so glad your here." When she looked up it was to see her father, Taiyang Xiao Long, looking back at her with a warm and loving smile. Switching gears, Ruby started to pulled her father over to the others. "Dad, you've got to meet my team. Come on!"

A deep chuckled escaped the blonde man lips as he allowed his youngest to pull him along. "Okay, okay Ruby. You don't have to pull me so hard, I'm not going anywhere just yet. Seriously, there's no need to be in such a rush."

Juniper snickered at the man's inability to stop his daughter, despite having more strength then his little girl. Deciding it best, Juniper took a back seat to the introductions Ruby was going through. Seeing as the man was technically her escort home, she figured he probably already knew who she was anyways. That is, if he was any good at his job.

After about thirty minutes or so, long after she finished her drink, Juniper cleared her throat and alerted everyone that she was still there. But to Tai, it was a reminder that now she was waiting on him.

Tai let out a sigh, knowing very well that his daughter bonding time was over. In that moment he made a snap decision and quickly wrapped an arm around Yang before she could escape, before dragging her over to Ruby for a family hug. Street rep be damned, he was going to hug his little girls whether they liked it or not. Just as he expected, Yang struggled against him and tried to escape but Ruby saw what her father was doing and sandwiched her older sister, keeping her from escaping.

That his youngest recognized what he was trying to do and decided to help him anyways, definitively made Ruby his favorite daughter. Not that he'd ever tell her that. After all, a parent wasn't suppose to have favorites. Realizing there was no escape now, Yang reluctantly gave in, much to Taiyang's pleasure. "I love you both," he said as he placed a kiss on Yangs head, much to the teenagers horror.

He let Yang slip away and did the same to Ruby, much to her embarrassment. The young girl groaned as she pulled away, complaining about how embarrassing he was, and in front of her friends too no less. Gone were the days where daddy was the coolest person in their lives, and their all time hero. How he missed those days.

As the girls wished him a safe travel, Taiyang couldn't help but feel a little lonely. It was nothing new, but it did still suck sometimes. "Sorry to keep you waiting Mrs Juniper, I know you'd like to get home as soon as possible. And also, thanks for letting me have some time with my girls. It feels like it's been a while, and they don't exactly like to pick up the scroll and call home."

Juniper got up from her seat and gave Ruby and Weiss her farewells, before joining the blonde huntsmen on the move. "It's fine. I'm experiencing the same thing with my only son, and I still haven't heard from him yet. You'd think after more then half a year he'd at least drop a line to let me know he's still alive and well."

Tai smiled at that. Boy was he glad his daughters didn't go to another kingdom. The anxiety and worry he'd be in otherwise might actually cause him to move, if it meant being close to them again. And if Qrow, of all people, were his only companion he might just go insane.

"You just thought something rude, didn't you?"

Taiyang bit the inside of his cheek to keep himself from giving away his thoughts. Unfortunately for him, it seemed Juniper was a master of reading people like him and already had an inkling. The man - though he made a valiant effort - wore his heart on his sleeve. "S-Sorry," he gave in after a long glare down.

Juniper merely smiled in response, before turning her thoughts to her daughters, who yet waited for her at home. Now feeling the weight of what she had to tell them, she sorta wished for her flight home to extend, if even for bit longer.

/

Ozpin stared at his screen with sorrowful eyes. "What has she done to you Nicholas?" The question was spoken, but the figure whose face reflected in the headmasters screen gave no answers. The very moment Lionheart shared this photo with him, Ozpin immediately recognized his former student. His hand tighten around the grip of his cane, that rested in his lap.

The scroll on his desk began to vibrate as a message came through from his deputy.

"They've departed," was said in the message.

Normally he would have had Qrow take care of things like this, but the situation had changed with the reveal of the Grimm's identity. He prayed to the brothers that he was wrong, and sent Qrow to investigate the possibility of the Grimm showing up at Ansel. If so then things could only get worse from there on.

/

Flying high above the random forest he found himself at, gave Qrow the perfect birds eye view of his surroundings. Unfortunately, that really didn't help as much as one would think, since the world was a pretty large place to begin with. And, looking for a single Grimm was like searching for a needle in a haystack. A very large haystack. With his semblance backing his already low odds.

Qrow shook his birdie head and leaned his body to the right, suddenly changing his flight path with a new destination in mind. Ozpin said there was a chance that the Grimm could be heading for Ansel. If so, then staking out the place until he got new orders was probably his best bet, and much better then looking around blindly.

After a long flight over to Ansel, nothing seemed out of the ordinary at first glance, until he noticed a small group of people stationed a good distance away from the village. As he brought himself low and close to the camp, Qrow perched himself on a nearby tree branch to see what these people were up too. What he saw were faunus, and quite a few of them at that. They talked quietly enough to not be too loud out in the forest, but just enough for Qrow to overhear a few things.

They talked about the coming days where their wait would finally come to an end, and when the Arc's would finally be made to pay for what they did to Adam. Qrow couldn't help but curse under his breath. White Fang were here of all places, making the situation go from bad to worse. But luckily for him, Ansel was a village where retired hunters decided to settle. And with a little tip off, they'd be able to handle the situation without him easily enough.

It was for but a moment that he had forgotten, but when the sky darkened and a figure dropped out of the sky, Qrow remembered. If a situation was already bad then his semblance only worked to make it that much worse.

The figure crash landed dead center in the middle of the White Fangs camp, creating a blast zone that blew everyone close by off their feet. Qrow, for all his bad luck was sent flying away in his bird form. The shockwave was like a concussion grenade to his bird like body, leaving him unable to stop himself from crashing to the ground harshly. Even with his aura, the huntsmen was left disoriented and unable to get up or even undo his transformation.

"Fucking hell," Qrow groaned out as darkness started creeping in at the edge of his vision. If there was one bad thing about his bird form it was how little damage it could take. Sure he could take more then the average bird, but clearly not as much as he'd like. Darkness took him in that moment, leaving the White Fang at the mercy of the monster they now had in their midst.


Now we're finally getting to the action. Come forth and reek havoc Grimm Lord of Arc! Oh and FYI, just because this story is named "The White Knight of Atlas" doesn't mean Jaunes romance options are limited only to Atlas girls. Just saying, plus if I remember correctly there is no romance genre listed for this story.

Anyways I'll try to get the next chapter out quicker, but I make no promises.