Larger Issues

AN: Sorry about the delay, I thought for sure I'd have this one done for last weekend but life had other plans. Anyway, on with the emotional roller coaster!

Life and Death

The Brunswick Farm didn't look like anything special to teams RWBY and ROCQ when they approached it. A large farmhouse, a few barns and sheds not too far away, and a bunkhouse for the farmhands. At the moment, it didn't look like anyone was awake yet, then again, it was pretty late by the time the teams reached the farm.

"Think anyone is awake yet?" Weiss asks, hoping that she could get something warm to drink.

"I don't see any tire marks from the equipment." Blake points out as she looks at the barn.

But Oscar was quick to explain. "It's not the time of year to use most of the equipment on a farm. Everything has been harvested and the tractor would be the only thing really needed for some smaller work, like when the livestock needs to be fed."

Qrow grunted in agreement with the young farmer. "Not to mention the snowstorm we've had. That would cover up any tracks and keep most people inside."

"Well…. Let's just knock and see if they can help us." Ruby says as she walks up to the front door and knocks on the wood.

A minute passed with no response.

Ruby shrugs and knocks a bit harder.

A minute and still no answer.

BEEP BEEP!

Everyone looked back at Yang who had used her bike's horn in an attempt to get an answer from the occupants of the house.

"Really Yang?" Qrow scowled at his niece.

"Beats knocking." She shrugs, just wanting to get out of the cold.

Still, there was no answer at the door. No lights turning on, no movement in the windows that they could see.

"Do… you think anyone is home?" Ray asks as he steps up to the door and turns the handle to find that it wasn't locked. Not missing the chance, he steps in and calls out loud enough that someone in the barn should hear him. "Hello?! Anyone home?! We're just a couple of very cold travelers looking for a place to rest and warm up for the night!"

"Sheesh, probably could have woken the dead with that volume." Qrow grumbles as he sticks a finger in his ear.

Blake had her ears pressed flat against her skull in an attempt to block the noise. "Reminds me of that guy from the Tournament."

Yet despite all of that, there was still no answer of any sort.

"Alright, we've done all we can to make sure that we aren't intruding. Let's get out of the snow!" Maria shoved her way past and inside the house.

The others briefly looked at each other and shrugged, following the elderly woman in with Yang the last to enter as she had to park Bumblebee and found a good place under the edge of the roof to keep the worst of the weather off her baby.

Inside, everything was covered in a fine coating of dust showing that nothing had disturbed the place for a while. At the same time, everything looked like it was in good condition from the plush couches in the living room to the kitchen being well maintained.

"Looks like it's safe to assume no one's home." Ray comments as he trails a finger through the dust on a table.

"Yeah, no kidding." Qrow agrees as he looks around. This wasn't a place he had visited before and couldn't remember anything that would have made the place stand out from any of his travels.

"I am not sleeping on all of this dust." Weiss tries not to grimace too much but her disgust was obvious.

But that comment wasn't missed by Yang who turned to the shorter girl with a small grin. "What's wrong? You built your life on Dust, what's a little dust in your bed?"

Weiss turned red instantly from a combination of anger and embarrassment as she rounded on the blonde. "You know full well that those are very different things, Yang Xiao Long!"

"Eh, it's not my fault they have the same name." Yang shrugs before walking over to the couch and begins taking the dusty pillows away.

Beside the Heiress, Ruby couldn't help but to giggle while Blake and the two and a half men smirked.

The lights on their scrolls allowed the girls to see as they cleaned up, with Ray lighting the fireplace to brighten and warm the place. Oscar and Qrow checked out the kitchen, finding plenty of preserved foods and a few cans of meat and beans luckily within their expiration dates.

"Looks like they were ready for the long haul if something were to happen." Oscar commented as he checked the food.

"Maybe some other travelers stocked this place up. It happens on occasion and can be a real lifesaver." Qrow says before opening a cabinet to find some spoiled foods and a dead mouse among it. "And maybe not so smart choices."

"At least the water works." Oscar says after turning the faucet, the pipes gurgling a little before the water came. "But probably best to let it run a few minutes to clean out the pipes."

"Hey Weiss, think they have some blankets upstairs? There aren't enough here for all of us." Ruby asks after counting the items that she found folded in a basket in the corner.

"Maybe, give me a minute to look around." The girl found the stairs and discovered a long hallway with a few doors, all of them closed.

The first one turned out to be a closet with cleaning supplies and she was tempted to take them down for the others to use but they were only planning to stay long enough to rest.

The next door was the bathroom and it was one that needed some serious cleaning before she'd use it.

Then she went for the door at the end of the hall for nothing else but to satisfy her curiosity.

Downstairs, Ray had gotten out an assortment of the preserves and lined them up. "Alright, let's get some food in us! Your pick."

"Great, I'm starving!" Yang claps some of the dust off her hands on her way to the sink.

"You hardly look the part, Blondie." Ray deadpans only to receive an elbow to the ribs from Qrow.

Maria was already at the table, "Maybe we should go by age for first dibs? I call the peaches!"

"Wait, what?" Blake was surprised by the elder.

Said elder grinned widely at the cat girl. "I thought everyone knew the International Dibs Protocol and the No Take Backs Accord? Dibs on the peaches."

"Hehehe, nice." Ruby finished drying her hands and gives a fistbump to Maria. "Oh! Strawberries! Mine, mine, mine!"

"Ha! Here ya go!" Yang grabs the jars and slides them across the table to them, spoons following soon after.

"AAAAAAAAAAHHHHHH!"

The bloodcurdling scream from upstairs made everyone freeze for a moment before rushing to find the source, but none could beat Ruby as she used Petal Burst screaming "Weiss!"

—

Back in Argus, Team JNPR we're settling into bed. But that was after further embarrassment as Saphron had pulled out an old photo album. While it was mostly focused on her, there was no question that the Arc family was tight given how many of the photos had at least two of the younger generation together.

That also meant that there was a picture of a young Jaune in a bunny onesie holding a rabbit plushie to his chest while sitting on Saphron's lap as she read to him.

Needless to say that Pyrrha was gushing over the picture and making many, many comments about how cute Jaune was. Nora wasn't any better while Ren remained silent but did give his blonde teammate a supportive pat on the back.

Then there was Jaune with his sisters…. All of them wearing matching dresses. Jaune and Verde on Saphron's lap being read to. Blanche, Noire, and Jaune helping their mother make cookies…covered in flour. And more.

Then Thetis made it worse when she ran back to her house and brought back Pyrrha's album… which included the time she drenched herself in soda. And when Pyrrha won a children's eating contest. Her first time practicing with a toy sword and shield, complete with a helmet too big for her head and covered her eyes.

And the mothers compared baby pictures and began speculating on how the next generation would look and plans to spoil them. And the pictures kept coming well into the night.

It didn't take the teens long to decide that it would be best to split up for their sleeping arrangements just so the older women wouldn't get any more ideas. The boys stayed with Saphron while the girls went with Thetis.

At least they were able to sleep comfortably, with Pyrrha able to sleep in her own bed for the first time in two years. The frame may have creaked under her weight more than she remembered or liked but the bed was as comfortable as ever. Despite the offer of somewhere else to rest, Nora preferred the floor in Pyrrha's room.

Next door, the boys had to make do with sleeping on the couch and chair with a few extra blankets. They were dead asleep by the time Terra came home but she was barely awake herself. She barely made it to the bed that she and Saphron shared before passing out.

If she only knew what she had missed at home while stuck at work.

—

Corpses.

Weiss had found corpses in the room and let out a shriek of fear and surprise that had brought the others running. If she was in the right frame of mind, she would have guessed that Ruby would have reached her first.

"Oh no." The girl gasped once she saw why Weiss had screamed.

And when the others arrived they had similar reactions, though Qrow was silent. The man slipped his way around the girls who were comforting their stricken teammate and guiding her away back downstairs.

He took his time examining the room with Ray nearby observing. Then they studied the corpses, noting that they were practically mummified but also had little to no signs of decomposition. The most curious thing was that neither the man or woman had any injuries that could be found that would have kept them bound to the bed, let alone any other bindings. It was as if they had simply gone to bed and stayed there until they died of starvation.

"This doesn't look too good." Qrow mutters with Ray nodding in agreement.

"Let's check the other rooms, maybe we'll get a better idea of what happened."

The next room held three more bodies in the same condition, though they were much younger than the other two, possibly young adults in separate beds roughly the same age as the team downstairs. The next room was worse, there were a pair of adults in a bed together, mummified like the others. But what got to both living men was the crib in the nearby corner and the small body inside. It hadn't been so lucky as to have been preserved.

With their spirits lowered from the sights upstairs, they moved onto the bunkhouse after ensuring the crib was covered by a blanket so the girls and Oscar wouldn't see the remains if they had to come up. Unfortunately, the bunkhouse proved to be the same with nearly two dozen men and three women all lying in their beds and emaciated.

"How bad is it?" Yang asks once the men returned.

"It's not good. No idea what happened but we are leaving as soon as we're rested." The uncle tells her sadly but with an edge to his tone.

"You expect us to rest with… that around?" The blonde questions, glancing back to see Weiss and Ruby huddled under a blanket in front of the fire trying to calm each other. Blake sat nearby with a blanket over her shoulders, offering silent support yet seemed to be handling the situation well… probably due to her activities before Beacon. Maria was even calmer, more than likely from having been around for so long she had gotten used to seeing death that she wasn't phased by it much. If anything, the elder seemed to be looking around the house for anything that would point to HOW this happened.

Oscar didn't seem too bothered, but then again he had lived on a farm and had first hand experience with the livestock being prepared for meals and the attack on his aunt's farm had left several friends dead or wounded like his aunt. Ray, or more Roman, had seen and caused his own fair share of death one way or another, so the former criminal was unphased. And Qrow had seen just about everything unpleasant available on Remnant in some capacity.

Yang wasn't taking the situation well either but she was pushing that aside to take care of the girls she saw as family, her own family, and the potential Huntsman in training. She'd have her time once they were in a safe place but by then she would likely have had time to process things and it wouldn't be so hard on her.

"What I expect… is that you do your best to remember that this job is rarely a pleasant one. Situations kind of like this… they would have started covering that in your classes if you were still in school. How to deal with it and focus on the job, how to handle your stress from the tasks in a healthy way."

Nobody called out the irony that Qrow Branwen was known for being a drunk to take the edge off of the stress of being a Huntsman who was often sent into the worst situations one could think of on a regular basis. Then again, he usually moderated his intake of alcohol and was sharper when buzzed than most who are dryer than the Vacuo desert. Usually being the keyword as he would occasionally splurge and drink himself under the table.

Ray's eyes flashed and Ozpin spoke through him. "I would advise you all to find some way to eat and drink before getting some sleep. Otherwise our travels to Argus could become much more perilous than they already are." With that advice given, Ozpin retreated again to leave Roman in charge of his body. "Ah, it still leaves a kind of annoying feeling in my ears when he does that."

Yang took the elder men's words of advice and prepared some warm food and drinks for the others with Oscar's help. Warmed strawberries for Ruby, blueberries for Weiss, a few cans of pork to be split between herself, Oscar, and Qrow. Blake received a few cans of tuna while Maria returned to her peaches as she took a break from her search. Ray found some apricots and pickles, along with a large jar of hard candies that were distributed to the others for extra energy once they were going to leave. And everyone had some tea that was found, which really helped them all to warm up and relax so they could drift off into an uncomfortable slumber.

—-

"Mr. Wukong… welcome back to Vacuo." Professor Theodore greets the team leader.

"Thanks, I actually kinda missed this place."

"And I've heard that you've been quite busy in your time away from your homeland."

"That's…. One way to put it." The blonde fidgeted a little as he recalled everything he did, with his time in classes at Haven actually being the calmest while his time in Menagerie being both the most hectic and most enjoyable, not including the time in between at Beacon.

"And the rest of you, I heard that you were instrumental in defending Mistral. You held the gate when the guards fell during the White Fang's attack against it. And when it was finally breached, you kept fighting and holding off their advance until reinforcements arrived." Theodore explains, having read the reports.

"Yes sir." Arslan responds with a nod, she and her team standing at attention while those of SSSN did so too, after they saw them take that position.

"And when Beacon was attacked, you were among those who helped to defend the people from all threats." He could still recall the list of names of those lost during the attack and had been present to oversee the transportation of the coffins when they arrived in Vacuo for last rites. While he had been saddened that some of them held his students, he could take pride in the reports that they fought to the end. Others… he knew their cowardice was also part of the Vacuo tradition to keep oneself alive but the fact that they abandoned their duty and training to do so meant that they were far from ready to be Huntresses.

"And now you are here to transfer into my academy and continue your education." It wasn't a question, just a statement of fact since he had the documents in front of him on his computer.

"Yes sir." Sun agrees, followed by nods from his team and ABRN.

Theodore stands up and walks around his desk to look down on the eight potential students without anything between them. Crossing his arms he looks them all over and noting the changes from when they were at the Vytal Tournament.

The man stood taller than anyone else in the room, his dark brown hair nearly shaved on the sides and back but what was on top was pulled back into a loose bun with the tips dyed green, contrasted by a thin mustache and finely trimmed and short beard on his chin. He wears a blue tunic with green lacing holding the neck closed with a thick black belt around his waist, the division making the tunic below look almost like a skirt. Another belt went over his right shoulder that held a pouch to his left ribs.

His legs are donned by darker blue pants that were loose on his wiry frame and tucked into his white boots that have red straps, toes, and soles. And to complete his look, he wears a cape that is dark blue on the outside but red on the inside that reaches his knees.

Sage Ayana looked the same aside from now wearing a tight black shirt under his coat with a deep v-neck. Scarlet David had adopted a new green shirt and his white pants now have a wide green stripe down the sides, and kept the red coat worn like a cape complete with a gold clasp to hold it, his twin belts holding his sword and gun. Neptune Vasilias is wearing deep blue slacks, a very pale blue button up shirt with a vest and tie that matches his pants, with a leather harness over his shoulder to hold his weapon. And he kept his goggles and gloves.

Arslan Altan was mostly the same aside from adopting a robe that has both sleeves, with both sleeves ended just below her elbows, though her shoulders are exposed to show the straps of her black tank top, and now wears black boots. Bolin Hori apparently didn't bother changing his outfit but it was already fairly well suited for the hotter climate and allowed him freedom of movement. Likewise, Nadir Shinko hadn't changed all that much in his outfit aside from changing his black v-neck shirt with long sleeves from black to grey.

Reese Chloris had altered her outfit the most on her team, ditching the heavier sweater and hoodie for a lighter long-sleeved mauve shirt covering her upper half and over that a purple hoodie with short sleeves that barely covered the upper half of her stomach. The knee and elbow pads, with matching gloves were kept, the former almost looking as part of her longer and looser black shorts, the ends of which are tucked under the top of the pads. Her high top sneakers were swapped out for black boots with green straps and soles that match her pads. She kept the black marks under her eyes but now has a set of black goggles with a yellow/green lens and with her hood down, it allowed her long hair to flow freely down her back. What was surprising was the addition of a utility belt across her upper chest with three pouches on it and the straps split to go over her shoulders and under her arms, meeting on her back for a harness to carry her hoverboard. The belt holding up her shorts also sports a large pouch in the back, presumably for supplies.

"Very well. You've largely done well in the classes at Haven and at Beacon during your time there." He stands back up to his full height, taller than even Sage, and clapped his hands once. "Alright, you're in."

"What? Just like that?" Nadir was surprised like everyone else by the ease that they were accepted, he was just the only one to speak about it.

"Yes, 'just like that'." Theodore chuckles. "Now, Xanthe will finish settling you in with your dorms and maybe a tour of this fine school. Her office is just down the hall."

"Thank you, Professor." Arslan says with a bow, the rest of the teens following suit.

"Just one thing before you leave, don't call me Professor, just call me Theodore." The Headmaster informs them with some touch of annoyance.

"Yes sir." Neptune gives the man a small salute before leading the way out the door.

"Sun Wukong, a moment alone? I want to discuss your choices in classes."

"Y-yes sir." The monkey boy hung back while the others closed the door behind them.

Theodore waited a few seconds so that he couldn't hear the footsteps on the stone floor outside any longer. "Now… it would seem that you are the only person in your little group who knows the real importance of this thing." He gestures to the Lamp hovering over his desk. "As well as the rest of the collection, and the Big One."

—-

The girls settled down for the night, all sitting on the couch together with Blake, Weiss, Ruby, and Yang in that order sharing blankets and using each other's body heat for warmth. It also helped that their natural softness helped them to get more comfortable despite the initial worries that it wouldn't hold all of them. Maria and Oscar shared a large chair, the two of them sitting side by side under a blanket as they dozed. Ray took the other couch for himself while Qrow stretched out on the rug in front of the fire.

Yet even as he lay there, the elder Huntsman tried to piece together what they had found. An entire farm is dead, without having been attacked, and all of them seemingly having just lost the will to live while in bed. The livestock were the same way in the barn, emaciated and laying as if they were sleeping.

"Damn it." He grumbles. He felt like he knew the answer but it seemed to evade identification. "I really hope the other teams are doing better than us." With that thought, he rose to do some more investigating knowing he couldn't sit still with a mystery this big around him.

—

"Tell me, do you have any intentions of telling your friends about this little secret?" Theodore leans against his desk again.

Sun shifted where he stood before responding. "Only if it's necessary. I mean, part of me feels bad about hiding it from them but I also know how important it is. And I doubt they'd believe me about it anyway without some major proof."

"And what do you intend to do with what you do know?"

"Keep doing what I have been doing, keep the Relics from Salem, ruin her plans as best I can… that kind of stuff."

"You're really not that deep of a thinker, are you?" Theodore says with a smile.

"What?!"

"You heard me."

"Yeah, but you know what? I've been a part of this fight since before I knew there was one." As respectful as he wanted to be, Sun did take a step forward, and it wasn't unnoticed. "I was there at the docks in Vale when the White Fang attacked, I was there when Grimm breached the city from the train tunnel, the White Fang rally that I helped to interrupt, when Beacon was attacked I fought back, when I got to Menagerie it was one big fight after another, and Mistral and Haven! I was there at all of them!

I saw good people die and be hurt. I saw how innocent people lost everything they own. I see the division between humans and Faunus!

And I've done everything I can to minimize the damage! I helped build a school, I've made friends and lost friends! I'm just one guy who can only reach so far to help others… and I've learned that everyone has been pulled into this fight against Salem whether they know it or not, just by existing." Sun trailed off but by that point he was face to face with the Headmaster. Something that he was slow to retract.

And Theodore smirked. "And it seems that the reports about you are correct. A very kind hearted young man who wants to help, skilled in combat but when it comes to the larger scale things, you've largely been reactionary. Yet your time in Menagerie has also instilled a sense of leadership in you, with you leading from the front rather than commanding from behind.

You've grown in the face of adversity and combat… and a place to belong that will only help you fight harder against those that threaten that oasis. And now you wish that you could pass on your knowledge and skills to a new generation.

Perhaps my earlier comment was misplaced." Theodore strokes his chin. "Maybe you do have what it takes… and the coming storm will make you the man you wish to be or it will break you."

"I've fought Adam Taurus a couple times now, I think I know a strong enemy." Sun pauses the shrug a little. "Sure, I may have happened to not fight him alone most times but I saw what happens to those that do: my girlfriend was stabbed and her friend lost her arm… and he wasn't even trying. When we fought him again, it took five of us to beat him."

"But have you fought him on your own?" Theodore knew the reports detailing how powerful the Faunus leader was and he knew the man was highly dangerous.

"For a little bit. Had to hold him off until backup came."

"And the fact that you did speaks plenty about your skills, not to mention that you've gone against him several times." Theodore praised the blonde.

"Umm… thanks." He scratches the back of his head, trying to figure out why Theodore keeps swinging between extremes.

"But for one who always felt called to travel."

"Wanderlust."

"Yes, that. But for someone like you to want to settle down in a single place, you must feel a deep connection there."

That made the blonde blush as he recalled the special moments he and Blake shared on that island and her family who was so accepting of him, even with Ghira eventually calling him 'Son'. And the school that he had helped to build and defend… there was no doubt in his mind that he'd be happy to return and stay there, knowing he could be called upon to help elsewhere and would before going back.

"And there we are, THAT is the connection that helps to motivate you, to push yourself to be the best that you can be. And I hope that translates over to helping your teammates be at their best as well." Theodore pats Sun on the shoulder but he found something else when he did- a certain black cat plushy.

"When I first saw you, I already knew

There was something inside of you

Something I thought I would never find

Angel of mine

I looked at you, lookin' at me

Now I know why they say the best things are free

I'm gonna love you boy you are so fine

Angel of mine

How you changed my world, you'll never know

I'm different now, you helped me grow

You came into my life sent from above

When I lost all hope you showed me love

I'm checkin' for you boy, you're right on time."

"Ummm…" Sun was still waiting for the song to end but he didn't expect for the cat to sing at a time like this.

"That's a good song. A gift?"

"Y-yeah."

"I see. Keep it safe then."

"I will."

Theodore walks back to his chair and sits. "Oh, and before you join your team, how about a spar between us? I'd like to see what you are capable of personally."

"Eh, sure. When and where?"

"Hmm… Rumpole doesn't like me fighting with the students… but she is part of the Circle who knows about this." He gestures to the Lamp. "That could serve as an excuse for me." He strokes his chin as he thinks. "Let's try for three days from now at the arena."

"Works for me."

"Very good, I can't wait." Theodore's grin was almost predatory as he cracked his knuckles. "Oh, and your teams will have some make-up classes to take until the new semester begins."

—

Qrow kept looking around the farmhouse but found nothing out of the ordinary besides that everyone who had lived and worked here had died in their beds.

He had ruled out Grimm given that there were no injuries or damage to the farm. Disease was unlikely as nothing he knew spread so quickly and evenly with the sole exception being the infant, not to mention that none of the adults looked to have been in pain or suffering.

An assassin was highly unlikely as a simple farmer wasn't the type to have a hit put on them, maybe some damage to their property but not attacking the owners, let alone the workers too. And he knew of no one in those circles who could kill in such a fashion.

He still felt like he knew the answer but it kept evading him somehow. But he did find a bar and it was well stocked. Maybe he could find something good in there to take his mind off things for a bit.

Back inside, Ray was having much of the same problem with resting while there was such a mystery around him. Even back when he was making a name for himself as Roman Torchwick, he had made a habit of knowing what's going on around him so that he could either exploit or escape the situation.

And to make things worse for him, having the Old Man merging with him was bringing his own concerns with him. Though to be honest, Roman was actually quite impressed as he sifted through the old knowledge and memories, he had seen that as much as he had tried to play the hero over the centuries across multiple lives, he wasn't afraid to make hard decisions that could lead to the deaths of friends, allies, and innocents, but he would do what he could to minimize the losses.

But that meant that he was now snooping around and getting into the more personal items. Maybe he'd find the business records or a diary that might help point to some clues about what happened here.

—-

"What is it, Dudley?"

The tall, thin Huntsman with the long rifle on his back looked up from his empty stare at the wall, a glass of some alcohol in front of him and it wasn't his first. He turned to who spoke and found a man in an Atlas military uniform. The most remarkable thing about him was that there was nothing remarkable about him… aside from being the Second in command of the Atlas base just off the coast of Argus.

"Whaaaat do yooou think?" The man drawls, though it seemed to be more from coming back to reality than the alcohol.

"Dee finally getting lucky but you struck out?"

The mention of his best friend made the Huntsman snap. "Dee's dead!" And with that, the bar went silent as everyone listened in.

"Wait, what happened?"

"You… you didn't hear 'bout the train?"

"Dudley, I just got off duty from the base and went for a walk through town. It's late but I heard you were here."

"Tom…" Dudley paused as the memories came back to him. "There were so many Grimm and they kept coming."

"The train has defenses." Tom tried to argue.

"They barely did much good." Dudley swung his arm dismissively, nearly hitting Tom in the process. "The guns took out the little ones but there were so many… they landed on the train… and Dee took care of some… then…"

Tom didn't need further explanation than that, seeing how things went. He wouldn't pry into that detail but he did need to find out how Dudley survived at that point.

"But hey, at least there were other Huntsmen on the train." Or Tom could let the man continue. "They helped a lot more than the guns on the train. But there was a Sphinx…"

Tom felt his eyes go wide and heard a few gasps of surprise from the other patrons. They knew the dangers of that sort of beast and it was the biggest and most dangerous Grimm in the region. The only good thing was that Sphinx are rare, estimated to only number in the teens at any point in the entire world.

"That thing made a car explode, forcing the team to split up as the car was decoupled. Some were with me and the passengers… the others were left behind on the tracks. Last I heard, the kids were going to see about sending a search party out."

"Ah…. Shit." Tom stood up and tossed some Lien cards on the bar. "That's for his tab, keep the rest." He turned back to Dudley who was blinking in surprise. "And you, you're coming back with me."

An hour later, the two men were in the base and Tom held a tablet with security footage on it for Dudley to see.

"Are these the ones who arrived with you?"

Dudley blinked the beer goggles from his eyes and drank from his mug of coffee before examining the video of four young Huntsmen and Huntresses at the gate talking to one of the guards. The blonde one in white and gold armor. Tall redhead in bronze. Short ginger with a big hammer. Long black hair and green top.

"Yeah, that's them."

Tom ran the information for the people Team JNPR had listed in their report and read the list aloud. "Ruby Rose, student of Beacon. Weiss Schnee, student of Beacon and trainee with Ace Ops, Blake Belladonna, student of Beacon. Yang Xiao Long, student of Beacon. Oscar Pine, farmer. Ray, no information. Qrow Branwen, Huntsman." Their pictures came up for Dudley to see and confirm.

"Yeah, that's them."

But Tom was stunned by two of the names. Qrow was well known as a Huntsman, one who was almost a living legend for his skill. And Weiss Schnee… there had been searches and investigations for her whereabouts for months.

"Get me Commander Cordovin! And start searching for that team who made the request! I want them brought here immediately." Tom turned to another in the room. "You, make sure that a pair of Manta's are ready for flight. I'll brief them as soon as we get approval."

"Sir! We have a good lead!"

"What is it?" Tom asks as he walks over to the console where the woman worked to see the information for himself.

"Pyrrha Nikos, she was born and raised right here in Argus. Her mother owns a house in the northern district."

"Then I'll bet that we'll find her and the team there. We'll send some men over there to pick them up."

"Yes sir!"

—

Ray felt the color drain from his face as he read through the ledger and the diary he found and had spent the past half hour reading.

"We need to leave."

AN: Yeah, I probably gave some of you whiplash with the back and forth in this chapter but I didn't feel like it would have been good to have a large block dedicated to what's happening at the farm when other things are going on.

As for the new outfits for SSSN and ABRN, I'll admit that some of it was lazy while also being creative and going a bit more with their themes like Scarlet's Peter Pan inspiration meaning he gets some green on him rather than so much white, plus he doesn't lose that coat now just because he raised an arm. Meanwhile, Arslan's outfit is technically her original design and Neptune... he's going with the rich boy look. But that leaves Reese with the greatest change to her outfit, while also maintaining much of her design that we know already. She just wears a lighter version for the most part.

And for Professor Theodore... yeah, we got that art for him not that long ago and immediately I cringed at his outfit, as did my friends. So with a slight tweak of his hair style, I gave him a much more Lando Calrissian look mostly the Cloud City outfit while adding in the holster that was with his Rebellion uniform. This way he keeps his dramatic flair without looking like a blind guy who had randomly selected clothes and put them on.

That also leaves him and Sun having their discussion about how to fight Salem and her lackeys while keeping the Relics safe. And of course, Theodore wants to fight him to see how he measures up. And the song is Angel of Mine by Monica. I had another song in mind at first but when I looked up the lyrics, it didn't suit things very well (I Can't Help Myself by The Four Tops). But the lyrics for the song used, dang they fit almost too well.

Anyway, enough rambling from me about all of this stuff, I hope you all enjoyed the chapter. I'll get to the next one either for Small or Larger Issues as soon as I can, either way you can expect some nice surprises.

Reviews are welcome.