*Ozpin PoV*
Ozpin sat at his desk and then rubbed his temple as he talked to Qrow over the videocall.
"I understand what you want Qrow, but we simply cannot act without caution." Spoke Ozpin.
"No you don't! If you really understood you'd give me the go ahead and let me take care of that fucking scum!" Responded Qrow with fervor in his voice.
"Fine."
"You should let m- wait what?"
"I said fine. Go ahead."
Qrow smiled, but then Ozpin continued speaking.
"Go ahead and get rid of him, but even if you don't get caught on your way to him good luck getting away."
Qrow looked confused for a moment before exclaiming, "I could just transform and fly away should it come to that."
"Yes, but you won't kill him as a bird and the moment you bring down Omen upon his neck you'll do it as a huntsman. A huntsman in the view of brothers know how many cameras and soldiers."
Qrow looked like he was about to argue, but Ozpin kept speaking.
"You'll be hunted down throughout Remnant and I'll be powerless to help. You're close association with us will bring scrutiny upon us and impeded any moves we may do in the future which in turn will give Salem even more freedom to set the board."
Qrow scowled, but knew he was speaking the truth.
"Then what Ozpin?! Do i just let him get away with murder? Do i just let him do as he pleases and let him continue this war? At the cost of how many gods damned innocents Ozpin!"
Ozpin paused before countering, "And how many innocents will die in your path to get him or to get away? How many soldiers and security forces just doing their job will you cut down? How will your family be ostracized for their association with you after such an act? How many civilians will you let suffer in the power vacuum that Jacques will leave behind?"
Qrow grimaced before answering, "That wouldn't happen."
Ozpin sighed, "Do not be mistaken Qrow. Rather than a war between two kingdoms you'll merely make it a civil war within Atlas, a war with far reaching consequences and with you as the main instigator. There is simply no elegant solution."
There was silence in the call.
For Ozpin it was because he had nothing further to say, but for Qrow it must be the realization that things weren't going to be so simple.
Eventually Qrow spoke, "...If the power vacuum is the problem then lets simply reinstate Jimmy. He's probably learned his lesson by now."
Ozpin made to refute, but the more he thought about it the more the idea seemed to appeal to him.
There was silence in the call as now Ozpin was the one pondering on things.
If Jacques died there would be a power vacuum that would greatly affect Atlas, his death would also impact dust production around the world which would lead to chaos, if things went wrong on the removal of Jacques he would also lose one of his best agents and sources of information.
Yet if they had Ironwood... many of the problems would become manageable...
Ozpin gave a sigh and responded, "The idea is not without merit, but don't act rashly until we have a solid plan."
Qrow smiled over the videocall and said, "Sure thing boss."
Then he hung up and Ozpin was simply left staring at his office.
The decorative gears within his desk moved and churned and looked ever so nice. They were a great, but brief distraction for the troubles that were popping up.
With another sigh he stood up and headed to the elevator.
As he stood in it he reached out to the buttons and entered a set combination which would make the elevator take him down far below the school.
It was originally meant to house his relic until his next reincarnation could recover it, but for a while it had been used to house a certain someone.
It was time to give Ironwood a visit.
*Ironwood PoV*
He was sat down staring blankly at the wall in his cell.
Contemplating and contemplating.
It was all he could do after all.
Restricted to a small room with nothing but his own thoughts to accompany him.
He couldn't even use his semblance to eat away at his boredom. They had a powerful shock collar on him like a gods damned dog and if the machine monitoring his aura detected its use he'd be shocked unconscious.
That hadn't been pleasant experience the first time he discovered it.
Honestly he'd be impressed with their methods if they weren't being used on him at the moment.
His semblance used a negligible amount of aura to the point where he could use it constantly and still be at 100 percent aura on any regular aura reader. Yet negligible doesn't mean zero cost, so they hooked him up to a machine sensitive enough to read the tiny fluctuations in his aura and made the collar go off when it read fluctuations.
So he gave up on using his semblance and did what he had been doing for what felt like forever in this tiny room.
He reflected.
Maybe if they provided him the slightest bit of entertainment he wouldn't feel so miserable, but then again, 'I deserve this.' was a though he often found himself thinking.
He though of his actions and their consequences.
He looked back at his past and didn't like what looked back at him.
At some point he ended up using his semblance more often than not, he doesn't know when, but at some point along his huntsman training he basically went of the deep end.
He went off ever so silently and like a whisper in the night went unheard and unnoticed.
Not even by himself.
The actions he took that seemed so logical, so precise, so- so- easy, were now since in clarity and he realized how monstrous they were.
How many people whose careers he ended on his climb upwards within the military.
How much violence he instigated in order to show himself as the necessary protector who somehow always managed to be ready.
A perfect image so carefully cultivated, but the soil it was grown on was stained with blood and rotting corpses.
Honestly he wouldn't have even realized so many things without Ozpins inconsistent visits.
Ozpin had originally moved him down here to keep him hidden and help with his recovery away from where the old man could reach.
The man had wanted answers from him on that first night. He wanted simple answers and explanations, but when he failed to deliver any reasonable excuse he had him 'contained' for his own safety.
Apparently answers based on pure logic and gain weren't something seen as reasonable to the normal man. Especially when those answers had led to him sending specialized huntsman to kidnap a family.
So he was detained.
Indefinitely.
He honestly felt that it was likely that it would be permanent or that he would be there for a very, very long time.
He was afraid that was the case.
He wanted to rage against them and claim it was unfair.
He wanted to scream to be let out.
Yet the most prevalent thought whispering in his mind was, 'I deserve this.'
If only he could do things over.
If only he could erase the mistakes of his past.
If only he had just one more chance, by the gods, he could do so much better.
But he knew that such a chance was too good for someone like him.
And so he stared and stared blankly at the wall as he scrutinized every mistake he ever made.
Every decision done in cold logic no matter how many benefits it brought.
He stared at them from his mind through the lenses of regained humanity.
His self reflection was cut off by the sound of the elevator opening all the way at the other end of the underground chamber.
*Salem PoV*
Salem was smiling.
Anyone who didn't know her would assume that was a good thing, if they could first get past her hideous Grimm like appearance that is.
Alas the reality was that not very many people knew her and that the only reason she was smiling was because of the successful death of two people.
"Wonderfully done Cinder." Praised Salem.
Cinder remained bowed on one knee, but a pleased look could be seen on her face.
"Thank you mistress." She responded simply.
Salem was overjoyed even with her recent findings.
Two of the maidens were dead and their power was in her hands.
Well in Cinders, but the girl may as ell be hers even if she didn't realize it.
Cinder was such an amusing minion too. She thought herself so powerful before and her head had gotten even bigger with the death of the two maidens.
Where before Cinder would drop to a knee in fear of disrespecting her, now she did it without a hint of fear and Salem could tell it annoyed her now matter how she tried to hide it or pretend otherwise.
Salem would have to teach her a lesson in humility if- no when she reached above her station, but that was for the future.
Right now she needed to see what her minions were planning and see if they needed guidance or direction. She'd let them do as they pleased as long as their actions fell in the general direction of will.
"Tell me Cinder, what are your plans after claiming the winter maiden?"
"We are planning to fulfill our end of the bargain with the Schnee in order to get his heir back. With his backing we may be able to have greater reach and ease into future operations."
"I see. By the way did you discover he winter maidens' vault in Atlas?"
Salem aske even though already knew the answer. After all one cannot keep an entire city floating purely on gravity dust alone and so far she hadn't heard of the fall of Atlas.
"We did and we have not touched it just as you asked."
"Good, good. Very well carry on. Make sure that Atlas does as much damage as possible in the war. Report to me if you come across any interesting developments and keep an eye out for any hint of the targets of interest."
"Yes mistress."
With that Cinder stood up, gave a polite bow, and walked away.
Salem looked at the empty room as she sat on her throne.
She had a lot of pieces in place and ready.
Atlas would damage Menagerie causing chaos and when they finished tearing the continent apart the sudden and unexpected fall of Atlas onto Mantle would stoke the fires.
The chaos it would breed would bring unseen hoards of Grimm upon them, but it didn't end there. She planned to have these event happen along with the fall of Mistral with the help of the headmaster there.
It wouldn't be too difficult either as the huntsmen of the kingdom were lacking in proper resources and were constantly being wiped out thanks to her pawn there.
In one day three kingdoms would fall. Well two to be accurate as the general populace for some reason didn't count Kuo Kuana as a kingdom.
All that would remain after is Vale and Vacuo.
With the chaos that losing two kingdoms so suddenly would inflict upon the population she might not even have to move against them.
The massive tide of Grimm that would build up in response to their fear would be of historic proportions.
Still if they did survive, she would destroy Vacuo leaving Vale completely alone and isolated. Oh the thought the despair that Ozpin would feel just made her itch to give out the order to carry out her plans.
She wouldn't though.
If immortality and he pain of eons taught her one thing. It was patience.
She had pieces set, but needed more to get in their place and needed more information as to what pieces the enemy had.
Thinking of Ozpins pieces quickly wiped the smile off her face.
A while back she had felt a burst of magic so great that she sense it even from where she resided, the Land of Darkness.
She had quickly sent Grimm to investigate, but all the ones she could control had been too far. Whatever that burst of magic had been it must've killed the Grimm within the area.
She only saw the aftermath and it was pure destruction.
She sent a massive amount of Grimm to scour the surroundings areas, yet found nothing. Not even a trail that she could follow.
It was a good thing her minions hadn't been near her at the time for she wrought destruction to that part of the castle in her frustration.
One thing was clear though, Ozpin was somehow involved.
Either he somehow regained his powers or found someone with magic, which were incredibly unlikely as Cinder still retained her powers and old humanity had been wiped out. The years she wondered the land desolate and alone confirmed that.
The only other option was that a new piece was on the board.
A piece she didn't have knowledge on and doubted Ozpin had control over.
She had to get to them first and either convert them or remove them.
*Yamamoto PoV*
Yamamoto looked around the store.
He looked and looked for a while and came to a realization that he didn't know what the hell he was looking at.
Surrounding him were many containers of dust and dust related products.
Dust for weapons, dust for scrolls, dust for appliances, dust for this and that.
He had been aware and informed of by his adopted family on how dust was basically the fuel for everything.
Apparently it was a clean energy source and so Yamamoto left it at that.
That was something he was beginning to regret as his grandson had asked him to get a concentrated scroll charger that had a universal port with a electric dust use efficiency of 120 EU/kg and he also had to get some dust with an above 50% purity content.
Yamamoto would admit that he wasn't as well versed in technology as Kisuke Urahara or Mayuri Kurotsuchi, but he at least had somewhat kept up with how units were measure back on his world.
A universal port he could understand. Obviously it was to be able to plug into any Scroll he assumed, but he had never seen an EU per Kilogram before.
It didn't help that he didn't see similar markings on he bags and jars of dust he was looking at as he explored the shop.
Yamamoto knew what was next, he had just spent the last few minutes preparing and overcoming the realization that he was so completely and utterly out of his element that he needed to ask the shopkeeper for help.
How embarrassing for the former Head Captain of the Soul Society.
He let out a sigh and began his walk towards the counter.
"Uhhhh, excuse me?" came out a shy voice from behind him.
He turned around and saw a young girl with silver eyes.
If Yamamoto had an eye for detail he would notice that she was in a black, high-necked dress with a fitted bodice and a flared skirt, which is layered over a longer dark red skirt underneath. She also had a red hooded cloak rose emblem clasp on it. She completed her look with thigh-high black stockings, sturdy black combat boots with red laces, and fingerless black gloves.
Unfortunately it was Yamamoto and he cared little for the eccentricities of how people dressed.
"Yes?" He asked.
"So like it umm- like it looked like you were a bit lost and- wait i mean i don't mean that like I'm calling you dumb to be confused ha ha-"
Yamamoto stared.
It didn't matter she kept going
"-like i mean I've gotten super confused and lost before and I'm like pretty smart. I'm actually top of my class in Signal academy you know. Like i don't mean that as a brag but beacon is pretty tough and-"
Yamamoto was beginning to think this one was... what was the term Luna had used?
"-So yeah I'm not bragging, though i certainly could, but if i were to brag about anything it'd be how many cookies i could eat, actually i even set something of a record in Beacon! You see it started during lunch when-"
A Yapper! That's right! That's the term Luna had used on Jaune when he had been chewing her out on not doing her chores.
Yamamoto thought this one was a certified yapper. She continued on for while and he tuned her out as he remembered his grandkids.
He eventually tuned back in to her word vomit which finally ended with,"-so yeah while I'm here picking up some dust for my sis I wanted to know if you needed help!"
Yamamoto stared.
She gave a shy grin and then began talking again, "I mean if not that's completely fine and i would want to be rude and-"
He wasn't doing this again.
"I would appreciate the help." He cut her off.
She stopped talking and quickly asked him what he was looking for.
He basically listed out what Jaune had asked for and then she disappeared in a flurry of petals.
Yamamoto was almost shocked at what he thought was a very basic, Shunpo, but quickly shook it off as he remembered what he had learned about people with aura and semblances.
It must have been her semblance, it couldn't be speed because he had actually lost sight of her, so it must have been some type of teleportation or invisibility semblance.
He doubted invisibility given the rose petals, but Qrows own semblance bringing him bad luck didn't make sense either.
She returned with them items he needed in her hands in just a few seconds. That confirmed it, teleportation. He wondered about the range.
"Here you go sir!" She handed him the items with a smile.
He put his cane into his sash and reached out to accept them while giving a polite, "Thank you."
Before he could accept them into his hand her eyes widened and she retracted the items while saying, "Actually how about i help you take them to the counter."
It seems she had somehow ignored his missing arm earlier.
"No, it is fine thank you." He reached out.
She shrunk back a little avoiding his reach and continued, "Please sir its not trouble and I insist... plus i think my dad would be pretty disappointed with me if he found out."
He didn't really care and was about to grab the items when she hit him with the same damned eyes as Luna.
Those damned puppy dog eyes.
He could do it, he could definitely reach out, gran his things, and go on his way.
His traitorous arm backed down.
Soul king damnit he was becoming soft.
He let out a sigh and spoke, "If you insist."
"I do!" She replied cheerily.
That had been rhetorical, but he didn't say that as he began walking towards the counter with her at his side.
He quickly bought the needed items and began making for the exit.
...
...
...
She was walking besides him.
He sighed and gave her a look.
She caught it and grinned at him.
"Soooo... I have a question."
Oh no.
"I noticed that cane and i couldn't help but notice the way you carried it seemed similar to-"
She went on a small rant speaking about weapons hidden in items and how sword canes were made by certain families and that many in Vacuo would use them.
He tuned it out again until it seemed like it was ending, "-so i was wondering if i could see the weapon!" She asked excitedly.
He was somewhat amused that she had been right that he held a sword in his cane, but for all the wrong reasons considering it wasn't a mundane.
Well she had helped him... even if she had already followed him out the store all the way to the corner while chatting his ear off about cane swords, he'd let the youngster see something cool.
"Sure."
He put his bag on the ground and reached for his cane which he carried on his sash-belt thing, honestly he didn't know what it was and Ilos had said it was custom made for him, regardless he grabbed the cane and took it out of it proverbial sheath.
With a flurry of fire his ZanpakutÅ in it's most base form was revealed. A pretty cool trick for the youngster he though.
He looked towards her and realized he miscalculated.
The almost literal stars that he could see in her eyes confirmed it.
"THAT WAS SO COOL!" she yelled out.
Had she been any louder Yamamoto was sure even his hearing would've been in danger despite the impossibility of that.
She didn't stop there as a word vomit that not even Yamamoto could follow came out and didn't stop.
Yamamoto sighed as he stood there bearing the unending rant on fire dust and mechashifting and whatnot.
He missed the simpler days when all he had to worry about was megalomaniacs with goals beyond the normal mans reasoning.