Consequence
Slipping into Vacuo had been far, far too easy.
The little distraction Salem had kicked up at the eastern entrance to the city had allowed Cinder to walk practically unchallenged through the western gates, smirking at the sight of their supposed 'guards' staring fearfully up into the sky, watching Atlesian battleships fight aerial Grimm with rising trepidation.
Cinder could see it already, just by stalking the streets and alleyways of the maze-like city. It was obvious to anyone who knew how to look. Graffiti exalting The Crown, the callous and narrowed eyes of the sun-kissed locals toward the snow-skinned Atlesians, the muttered slurs and indignation at their presence.
Vacuo city was a firebomb waiting for a… well, a Cinder to spark a flame.
Playing with the hem of her cloak, Cinder's eyes marked the patterns of the Atlesian Navy and the criss-cross of bullheads from Shade.
No correlation. Deliciously segregated from one another. As always.
Cinder rolled her eyes even as she grinned. One would have thought that they would have learned from their failures at Beacon, at Haven, at Atlas. But no, here they were again, working toward the same goal but doing so separately. Dividing themselves while she whittled away in the dark, starting a fire that would consume them all.
Until she saw it. A simple mural, a depiction of a girl with short, dark-red hair. Words scratched into the sandstone wall beneath it.
"Remember her message."
The image brought a satisfied smirk to Cinder's face. They had no idea that they were exalting a stupid, naive little girl who had been thwarted at every turn, right up until the end. Ruby Rose and her little 'team' were dead. The thought brought a deep, dark satisfaction to her very soul every time she remembered the look on the little bitch's face as she fell into the infinite nothing below the golden bridge, evaporating into absence along with all her little friends, that pink haired annoyance falling with her.
Now she was free again to pursue the power Salem had promised her. The ancient witch would have her maiden and her relic, just as she always did, and Cinder would enjoy putting the new Winter maiden in her place.
Though that would have to come in time, her lone burnt-orange eye surveying her surroundings.
First, food. Lodging. Then the real work could begin.
It would have taken a weapon far stronger than anything Pietro Polendina had ever managed to forge to cut through the tension aboard Winter's command ship. The Grimm horde had largely dispersed, though many fighter-craft and lone Huntsmen were still out there, cutting down stragglers in an effort to thin the herd and ensure they would not be able to attack in that strength again soon.
Sadly that level of improvised battlefield co-ordination had not made it aboard the ship.
"Why the hell were artillery shells coming down on our heads out there!?"
"Why weren't we told what was going on!? It was almost too late to-!"
"Why weren't my huntresses not supported? We were nearly trampled to death there were so many-"
Open arguments were raging on the deck, some aimed at Winter herself, others Admiral Steele, a few toward Huntsmaster Theodore. People chafed and grumbled and glared and compartmentalized themselves. Ruby and Weiss stood, eyes darting with worry between the two halves of team JNPR. Jaune and Nora shot thinly-veiled glances of distrust at Pyrrha and betrayed hurt at Ren, until the larger form of Jaune's father blocked them from sight almost absent-mindedly, though Jaune knew his father better than that. Flavian eyed the combat map on the holo-table. Tai absent-mindedly had one hand on his daughter's shoulder as he roared at Steele regarding inaccurate weapons fire. Ozcar was desperately trying to get the crowd to calm down, though few listened to the ancient soul in a child's body. Theodore stood with practised calm as he was assailed with claims of poor organisation of his Huntsman by a heated Robyn, a couple of her huntresses standing with Pyrrha and shooting confused glances at Jaune and Nora, wondering what 'Red' as they had come to know her had done to earn the ire of two of their greatest allies during the Atlas debacle and the girl that had been helping them for months with the refugees.
"ENOUGH!"
Winter's voice cut through the din as a freezing chill dropped the temperature of the room drastically, sleet flying through the room at her outburst. The Winter Maiden asserted herself with her power before a pointed look from Qrow reminded her to rein in control.
The room stood silent for a moment, allowing Winter to suck in a breath and stop the small sleet-storm she was causing.
"We will address each concern one at a time. Admiral Steele, the Valean Huntsman have pointed out a flaw with our weapon accuracy. Please explain."
Steele was an old man, his hair and thick beard a steely grey, though his sideburns and flecks of his beard were turning white with age. Crows-feet and worry-lines were etched deep into his tanned skin, darkened by years of sunlight exposure from above the clouds and off of Atlas' fallen snow. The man pinched his brow as though fighting off a headache as he removed his Admiral's hat, exposing his widow's peak.
"The technicians noticed it during the battle and reported it, but sadly maintaining firing patterns was, at the time, more important. Had we stopped firing to fix the issue, the horde would have gotten too close to the city for us to bring them to bear again without massive civilian casualties."
"You almost had Huntsman casualties." Came the barb from across the table by Tai, though Ruby tugged on his arm to try and reign him in.
Steele placed his hat back on his head and looked Tai squarely in the eye.
"For that you have my apologies, but it was necessary. Keeping the horde away from civilians was the primary objective. We tried to ensure we fired at the rear of the horde to thin them out rather than rain fire on our own troops, and that tactic was mostly successful."
Seeing the look on Winter's face, he continued.
"I know what you're going to ask ma'am. The issue is due to the laser-guided aiming systems. They are calibrated for the relatively still cold air of Atlas, not the desert conditions of Vacuo. The haze-effect generated by the heat throws them off wildly. It is possible to calibrate for it, but sadly the nature of the rapid changes in temperature of the desert mean we would have to re-calibrate every main battery every four to six hours, which with our current manpower and resources is simply untenable. I have politely asked Dr. Polendina for his assistance in coming up with something, but given he is busy with the work in Amity I do not know now long it will take. For now we will have to simply, how did that one grunt put it…. 'eyeball it'."
Winter looked less than pleased, but not with Steele. Sighing, she nodded.
"Keep me up to date. Robyn?"
A slow tapping sound started echoing around the room as Robyn eyed Winter warily, clearly not a fan of being folded into the concept of the Atlesian Military 'power structure'
"The Huntresses and I were completely overrun at the east gate, nearly got trampled to death, and this one-"
She gestured a thumb at Theodore.
"Hadn't organised squat to help."
Theodore's arms were crossed, unbothered as he was by Robyn's provocation.
"My Huntsmen were under orders to engage the horde that threatened my Kingdom. Not babysit civilians that could not manage to walk through a gate without killing each other. As for help, you and your people have suckled upon my generosity and my kingdom's teat for months, taking space and a large portion of our very difficult to come by water. Do not speak to me of 'helping'."
Robyn's face contorted in anger.
"You call that help? We've subsisted on almost nothing for months, the last week we've had to feed people gruel, instead of actual food to make the stocks last-"
"Then perhaps you should consider teaching them to hunt or trade, rather than prancing around trying to be a mother hen to a horde of spoilt children, expecting others to feed and clothe them."
Theodore's harsh comment caused Robyn's eyes to widen into a murderous rage, stalking toward the much larger, powerfully built man unabashed.
"They've lost everything! They need-"
"They have their lives. We have one rule in Vacuo; if you can survive, you are welcome. Your people cannot survive without assistance, and as a result you are rejected. Your military has managed to make itself an asset to my kingdom, trading training and protection for food and Dust. They are welcome. Your people however are weak, pretentious, stubborn and entitled, which is unsurprising coming from a place such as Atlas."
Weiss, Winter and Steele's faces both dropped into irritation, but the woman already arguing beat them to the next comment.
"I'm from Mantle." Robyn ground out from between gritted teeth. "And I don't care what you think about the Kingdom. People are starving, their resources are gone, and their wealth was in banks that are now rubble. They can't survive without-."
"Learning to. Not being babysat. If they are stupid enough to kill each-other getting through a door, they cannot survive, and they are not welcome here."
Tai's fist slammed down on the table, jostling both of them from their argument.
"I've listened to your shit long enough. The people trying to get through that gate weren't her people. They're mine. They've been running for months after watching their kingdom burn, half starved for most of it, and you're telling me they're not welcome? You're mocking them for being scared?"
For the first time in years, Taiyang was shaking with rage. Ruby backed away from him, a little frightened by the look on her father's face.
"That's it. You and me, skin fade. Training room. Right now." The blonde man bit out.
"HA!" Theodore's face snapped from emotionless to a feral grin.
"You Valeans do have some spirit! Wonderful!"
Theo turned to Robyn, jerking his thumb at Tai.
"See him? He'll fit in."
"Speaking of Valeans…" Flavian cut in, still studying the map before him, interrupting the squabble as the loud tapping sound grew in pace and volume, around them, largely ignored by the heated heads in the room.
"While I echo my comrade's sentiment, I need not make my point at the tip of a blade. I, Flavian Arc-"
At this point many heads swivelled to Jaune, whose face was a mixture of frustration and rage, not that his father noticed.
"Formally, and with my liege's backing as a Knight of Vale, request that the Kingdom of Vacuo honour its debt to the Kingdom of Vale following the Great War, and house those unfortunate souls displaced by the fall of the city."
Theo's face contorted into an angry grimace.
"My 'liege' is not present to accept that request-"
"Because he is a busy being a powerless little man-child kept docile with women and drugs, content to whore his way into the next life, his people be damned. I was talking to the only authority anyone in this city recognises. Which is you."
Flavian's eyes hardened toward the Huntsmaster of Vacuo.
"I am. However, if you think I'm going to acquiesce to the will of a child-."
"My King may be young, but he is King, and he will see his subjects protected. The losses of Vale, Sumire and Lower Cairn will not go unanswered. I have known him since his infancy, and he takes after his Great-Grandsire in terms of his duty to his subjects. Vale may be gone, but the fortress-city of Camraeg still stands in the northern depths of the Emerald Forest, and his Knights still protect his people. A delegation of his sworn swords is on its way here as we speak"
No one noticed Oz-car's flinch at the mention of the former King of Vale, the one who had led them through the Great War. The boy's eyes fixated on Flavian at the mention of 'Camraeg' with trepidation.
Theodore snorted.
"Not possible. How on Remnant would you have gotten word to him while fleeing a burning-?"
"I did not. It was Lady Goodwitch who volunteered to carry the message during the heat of the battle."
Theodore's face snapped from disbelieving derision to something akin to mild panic.
"Perhaps it is time to stop putting on airs, Theo, and accept that you are beaten." Commented a smiling Ozcar, nodding toward the older Arc.
Theodore huffed and shrugged, recomposing himself.
"Fine. There are enough spare dorm rooms to put a few of them up, though the rest-"
"Spare dorms!?" Ren hissed. "You threw seven of us in one flat!"
Living with the bees had clearly taken its toll, given the unusual level of irritation in Ren's normally placid voice.
"I didn't throw you anywhere, it was a roof over your head until you found something better, and you didn't fight for more, you simply accepted it. Your compatriots managed just fine." The older man shrugged again. "As I was saying, spare dorms. Given you seem to have appointed yourself your King's Advocate, 'Sir' Arc, you may take one of the four apartments adjacent to my own atop Shade Academy."
"A Knight does not elevate himself above his people. I need no such-" Flavian began.
"Your 'need' is not in question, you are taking it. To refuse hospitality in Vacuo is a grave insult, and I am sure your 'king' would not approve of you insulting my kingdom in his name."
Flavian's mouth closed slowly even as he glared daggers at Theodore.
"My thanks." He ground out, clearly not being happy at being moved up in importance from his peers. "But there is still the question of my wards. They will have to live with me."
"Not a problem." Theo waved him off "They are luxury apartments with plenty of room, practically houses unto themselves. My right-hand Xanthe occupies one. Qrow and Oz-" Oscar internally winced at being called that. He wasn't Oz. Not yet. "Occupy another. You will find yourself with more space than you need."
"Wonderful. Then you will have no issue with this one-" Flavian placed his hand on Pyrrha's shoulder. "Living with my daughters and I, under my, and my kings, protection."
Confusion rippled through the small group assembled in the war room. Pyrrha's eyes widened as she finally looked up, staring with bewilderment at Flavian. Robyn and her Huntresses cast glances between each other as if searching for any indication that 'Red' had given them as to how she knew this man. Winter and her men just looked confused as to the point of the notion. Ruby & Weiss just looked panicked, eyes ripping from the older Arc to the younger.
Theo eyed the older man with the same confusion.
"I don't see why not-"
The underscore of the tapping stopped, Jaune's boot shifting from impatient tapping to a metallic stomp as he rounded on both men.
"Are you insane!?"
The conclave's confusion only doubled as eyes shifted to and fro between both blonde men as Jaune cast his hand out accusatorially toward Pyrrha.
"You want to let her live metres away from three of the most important people in this war effort? She's a spy! Winter! Look at her!"
Winter heeded Jaune's request and this time paid attention fully to the red-haired girl that had sequestered herself behind the Huntresses, Ren and Flavian.
Icy eyes widened along with Qrow's crimson and Oscar's hazel.
"That's-" Winter whispered breathily, surprise taking some of the air out of her. "That's not possible." Qrow finished for her. "I was there- Ruby watched her- there was nothing but ash and a circlet-"
"It's not Pyrrha. It's Neo." Nora growled, and their eyes went from shocked to murderous.
Winter gave a signal, and two Atlesian officers, even Admiral Steele, stepped toward Pyrrha, rifles raised.
Robyn, the Huntresses, Flavian, and Ren, to the rest of his team's hurt, stepped in the way.
"Whoa whoa whoa." Robyn cut in, placing herself between Pyrrha and the rest. "I don't know what's going on here, but Red's with us."
"Quite. As my ward she is under the direct protection of the Kingdom of Vale. I owe the girl my life. This will not stand." Flavian seconded, eyeing half the room intently.
"We don't know it's Neo." Ren cut in. "Even Ruby said-"
"Ruby barely remembers anything, and that was after Neo beat her half to death. It's her, Ren! Stop protecting this lying-" Jaune started, only to stop at a raised hand from Winter, the older woman's eyes boring into Robyn's.
"The girl you see is Pyrrha Nikos. But Pyrrha Nikos died, at Beacon. Neopolitan is a career criminal with a speciality in illusion, disguise, theft, spy-craft, and murder. Her semblance allows her to masquerade as anyone she chooses, and she is a significant reason for the falls of both Beacon and Atlas."
Robyn's conviction in protecting Pyrrha wavered, turning to look at the girl with a mix of confusion and trepidation.
"But she- Red was hurt, alone-"
"All the easier to prey on the kindness of Atlas' biggest softie." Nora said, arms crossed at Robyn, and it was a point Robyn couldn't refute.
Pyrrha shook her head forcefully, looking at the blonde woman who'd taken her in, willing her to understand-
But the doubt and fear in Robyn's eyes was evident. She had no reason to trust this strange girl who had come from seemingly nowhere, and every reason to trust the people who had fought alongside her to save their Kingdom.
"Fine, there's an easy way to settle this."
The older woman turned and took Pyrrha's hand. Both their arms lit up with a soft lilac light.
Pyrrha felt something in her core pull away as her very soul seemed to connect with Robyn's on a level that felt… wrong with this woman she barely knew.
"Is your name Pyrrha Nikos?"
Pyrrha tried to reply but, as usual, her voice failed her.
Winter sighed.
"Neopolitan can't talk, Robyn."
"Conveniently." Came the scathing remark from Jaune.
Robyn let go and stepped away, into her huntresses, all of them collectively stepping back. Betrayal written across their faces.
Which left just Flavian and Ren at her side.
"No matter what name or face she goes by, she is my ward. I will die before I allow you to touch her, and then you will have to explain that to my liege." Growled out Flavian, arms folded.
Winter looked to Jaune.
"Neo's semblance evolved in the Ever After, her illusions can talk now. That's what I'm betting he is."
Flavian eyed his son warily.
"Flavian's been with me since Vale, months before we even met her, and I'm real." chimed in Tai.
"Prove it." Came Jaune's angered reply.
Tai grinned and turned to Qrow.
"So here's the extensive story all about how, Qrow, one fateful night, nearly lost his virginity to Poppy Skye before tragedy struck. They were, funnily enough, listening to-"
Qrow moved across the room so fast he could have been accused of having Ruby's semblance, slamming his hand over Tai's grinning face.
"HE'S REAL! He's real! I told you never to tell that story! You swore to me on your life!"
Tai's muffled, child-like laughter could be heard from behind Qrow's hand as Jaune looked to Ruby. She nodded her agreement to her Uncle's statement.
Sighing, Jaune continued.
"Fine, they're real. Makes sense, I doubt Neo would know to invoke King's privilege."
"I see you still remember a thing or two, boy." Replied his father.
"Don't call me boy."
The quiet rage in his voice caused Flavian's eyes to soften slightly, but the old Knight still did not move, placing Pyrrha behind him as he faced off against Winter's men. Word clawed their way up Pyrrha's throat, but refused to leave her mouth. Something, anything to prove she wasn't-
"I will watch her."
Ren.
All eyes snapped to the boy, and it cut him to his core to see the blatant and deep hurt on Jaune and Nora's faces. But everything in him, even and especially this Semblance, his very soul, told him that this girl with Pyrrha's face not only meant no harm, but loved them, even as he felt her pain at the way they looked at her. In the small time he'd spent with her on the way back from the battle, it had become clearer and clearer. Small things she used to do, like the way she folded her hands when sitting, were the exact way she had been at Beacon.
Jaune would have seen it too, Ren was sure, if he hadn't deliberately blinded himself to the possibility, abandoned any hope of it. Too much time without her, too many wounds re-opened by the very people that had murdered his partner.
Ren was certain. It was definitely, in some way, Pyrrha, even if her own aura felt… different. Muted. It was hers.
"If I'm right, which I am, Pyrrha needs a friend. If I'm wrong, which I'm not, my Semblance will alert me the second she intends any harm, and I'll know if she does anything unlike her, because she's my teammate. I'm the perfect watcher, and she and I can live in Theo's fourth apartment, that way she's still under Sir Arc's protection, and Qrow and I's eye, with more doors and walls between her and anyone important if shit hits the fan."
Theo's eyebrow raised at the notion of them taking the last apartment, but said nothing, smirking at Ren's play for somewhere new to live given his earlier anger. Ultimately, the large man nodded in acquiescence.
Oz, finally, chimed in.
"Miss Rose's admission that something else is afoot has left me too curious about this situation to allow Ms. Nikos to be locked up in a prison cell. If it is truly Neopolitan, why would she take a form we all know to be deceased? If it is Ms. Nikos, why can't she speak? I quite agree with Lie Ren's plan. At the very least, it will grant us the chance to see what is going on here with a level of relative safety."
"You're all idiots."
The low tone and venom in Jaune's voice dropped the suddenly uplifting mood of the chamber. The Rusted Knight cast baleful eyes over the people before him.
"Sure, let's invite the obvious spy into the heart of this kingdom. We'll take Oz's word as gospel again. Didn't go even remotely wrong when he invited three mass-murdering terrorists into Beacon as part of the Vytal Festival did it? How about Ironwood taking Roman as prisoner on his flagship? That worked splendidly as I recall? I mean I suppose no one could've seen that coming. But then we figured Lionheart wasn't in the know about that either, until he it turned out he invited Cinder in and let a kingdom's worth of huntsmen be ambushed and slaughtered, and nearly did the same to us. Let's not forget Jacques inviting Watts in and screwing over Mantle, or Ironwood working with him and hacking Penny."
Jaune's eyes scanned the crowd.
"Every damn time we lose it's because one of the fuckwits in 'charge' invites them in, lets them eat away at us from inside, us like a cancer, and you're doing it again. The first time cost the life of by best friend, the only girl who's ever loved me, and after that it kept happening. The second cost dozens of lives, Qrow's friends in Mistral, nearly killed Weiss-"
Winter's eyes snapped to her sister in worry. Weiss had left that part out of the story she'd told her.
"The third time it was, Penny, Clover, Elm, gods know how many others. Everyone in this room bar the new guys are painfully aware of what it cost-"
More than a few Atlesian and Valean faces tensed at Jaune's commentary.
"Now a spy wearing a dead girls face just shows up and 'conveniently' saves my father's life? Said man who's been in this fight for, what, a couple months? I've been in this for years. I don't even know how many anymore. I knew Pyrrha. I know Neo. THAT is not Pyrrha."
"Jaune-" Ren tried to interject.
"Oh don't even get me started on you." Jaune responded toward Ren with a vitriol that had never been leveled at his best friend before. "You were all in backing Ironwood from the jump, it took him nearly killing our friends, nearly getting Nora killed, to knock you back to your senses. Now you wanna tell me you think because you can 'sense' the emotions of a lying, manipulating murderer you know what you're doing? Where was that keen insight during the Atlas incident? Or the decade or so it took you to figure out your best friend was in love with you?"
It took Nora grabbing his arm and dragging him back from the fight forcefully to knock Jaune out of it, and for a second after he caught her tearful eyes and shaking head he looked regretful, ocean-blue looking back at Ren sorrowfully, but again filling with rage as he saw Pyrrha.
"This is pointless. There are Grimm to hunt. I'm leaving."
No one tried to stop him as he stormed out, though Weiss sent a meaningful look at her sister, and at Winter's return nod went after him, the steel doors slamming shut behind them.
Winter sighed, rubbing her brow as she looked back up at Pyrrha, painfully aware of the looks she was getting from her men after Jaune's outburst.
"Though his tact certainly needs work, Mr. Arc's concerns are valid. Ms… 'Nikos' may stay under the protection of Sir Arc, given Huntsmaster Theodore's permission, but she will do so under armed guard. I will assign the Huntsmen myself. I will warn you all, regardless of political grandstanding, if she is found in any area she should not be in, regardless of whom she is accompanied by, I will give standing orders to my men to kill on sight."
Pyrrha's shoulders sagged as she eyed the steel beneath her boots forlornly. The loss of Robyn's trust and Jaune's continued and complicated anger at her were taking their toll.
Whatever she had expected upon her return, this had not been it. Even those she knew were so… different. Ren and Nora were no longer attached at the hip, instead they seemed to be barely talking. Ruby was almost exactly the same, except that old nervousness that had always carried in her when she was with others was gone, replaced by an overflowing confidence as she stood at the forefront of the discussion, as though she knew even at her young age she had earned her place here. Oz-pin was Oz-car the little boy now? Weiss, from what she had seen on the battlefield and again here, had seemingly gone from an uptight little princess who could barely stand Jaune's presence to a much kinder, more level-headed woman who seemed, for all intents and purposes, to care deeply for Jaune's well being.
Jaune himself was a total departure from the boy she had trained. Confident, capable, wizened, and so unutterably distant. Something had put a barrier between him and all others, not just her, and it never seemed so obvious as when he was angry.
A reassuring hand placed itself upon her shoulder.
"You put an awful lot of faith in my son." Flavian directed the comment at Winter, though it was less accusatory in tone and more curious.
"We all do."
The comment came from Ruby this time, her arms crossed in defiance even as she smiled softly at Pyrrha.
Not everyone hated her, then.
"Jaune has seen far more than most, and has had to take some…." A dark look crossed Oscar's face. "Extremely taxing decisions and actions. He is not without fault, but do try to not think poorly of him." He finished, eyeing Pyrrha more than Flavian as the meeting began to move on around them.
"I'd like to know why my team weren't informed as to what was happening." Ruby took pity on Pyrrha and finally changed to subject. Winter turned to Theodore, who again shrugged.
"I informed Shade Academy Hunters, as is my purview. You are not Shade Huntresses."
Winter sighed.
"That one may have been my fault. You are Atlas Huntresses but you are not a formal part of the military. You are considered adjacent to the Ace Ops, but they are inactive at the moment so the orders likely were not sent through, I'll amend the communication structure. Next order of business-"
Jaune's very blood seethed with rage.
Everything in him wanted to scream. Every muscle he had was tensed, and with every doorway he passed the walls between them seemed increasingly punchable.
Nothing was going through his head, too focused was he on containing the anger to register what had caused it, or the questioning looks from the Atlesian support staff that passed by him. That was a problem for another time, when his head wasn't pounding and his teeth grinding and the urge to put a dent in the wall rising-
"JAUNE!"
Weiss, again. Always Weiss, now. Once upon a time when he wanted to be alone, it had always been Pyrrha to come to him-
Fresh rage coursed through him.
"Not now." He hissed behind him, boots pounding on the metal as he strode away. He needed to find something he could hit that wouldn't cause a problem.
Weiss did not give him the option. Grabbing the crook of his elbow she spun him around, staring defiantly upward.
"Yes, now. Talk to me."
"I just- I can't- How can-"
Jaune's arms rose, hands forming grasping claws trying to catch any semblance of sense the thin air could provide as words failed him. He stood there, stop-starting words with his hands moving wildly before Weiss' face like a madman from some horror movie.
Weiss did not flinch. Focussed, ice-blue eyes instead staring up at Jaune's half-mad oceanic ones with her eyebrows raised questioningly, arms folded as she waited for him to figure out where he wanted to go with this.
Eventually, the dam gave way.
"I mean WHAT THE FUCK!?"
He roared skyward, the metal hall of the ship echoing his words down the corridor as many servicemen jumped at the sudden volume carrying down the hall.
Weiss rolled her eyes softly and grabbed his arm again, dragging him into a training room off from the corridor.
"Okay, maybe with fewer witnesses at that volume-"
Jaune dropped his voice but continued.
"Seriously Weiss what the fucking fuck fuck!? What the actual shit!?"
Weiss simply raised her eyebrows again, hand moving to rest on Jaune's arm.
"Articulation, Jaune. Use your words."
Jaune pulled away, turning and running his hands through his hair before turning back to Weiss again at speed.
"How can they just- let Neo in? After all she's- And how fucking dare she pretend to be- I shouldn't swear in front of you, I'm sorry, I-"
Weiss just smiled and shook her head, letting him get it out of his system.
"And where the hell were the bees? Yang hates Neo! More than anyone! She would've had my back in there! What the fuck is more important than this? Or seeing her Dad again!?" Jaune's focus was non-existent, trailing between topics and thought-processes as his mind desperately tried to catch up on everything that had happened today.
Which was a lot, even for Weiss to deal with. Pyrrha, his father, the fighting. It was no wonder Jaune was spinning out.
Weiss tried to give him something to fixate on.
"Speaking of fathers-" She started.
"Ohoooo no. We are not going there." Came the terse reply, and she nodded. Not wanting to talk about one's familial problems was something she understood on an extremely intimate level. So she changed tactics.
"The Bees went home, I don't even think they know about any of this. They texted but Ruby and I have been a bit… preoccupied to fill them in."
Jaune rounded again, his anger finding yet another target.
"They're never around any more. Ren's miserable living with the two them-"
"Speaking of Ren." She cut him off, crossing her arms into stern-boss Weiss stance "When we're done here you owe him and Nora an apology."
Jaune's anger dissipated briefly as he eyed the wall, trying to not meet Weiss' eyes so she wouldn't see the shame in his.
"I know." He whispered quietly, and she nodded, allowing her arms to drop away from her patented Weiss-lecture stance. She trusted him. He would apologise. An Arc always keeps their word, as he liked to say.
"As for Yang and Blake, yes, they've been… difficult lately, but they're trying. Yang took Ruby out for Boba a month or so ago to apologise-"
"She. What."
Jaune's once dissipating rage returned with a vengeance, stalking toward Weiss with a look that rivalled his earlier mania.
Weiss flinched. A slip of the tongue, a lame attempt to defend her teammates had betrayed something that she knew would have a… mixed reception at best.
"I meant-"
Jaune's hands grasped Weiss' shoulders firmly but softly, pulling her face close to his, his mania causing him to disregard the intimacy of the act.
Weiss blushed. Hard. Cohesive thought went out of the window in the face of the indignant wild-man Jaune had become.
"Are you telling me." His voice took on the deeper, darker tone that he'd held back in the Ever After. "That we watched Ruby try to kill herself with poisoned tea, and her sister, as an apology, took her out for boba fucking tea!?"
Weiss truly did not know how to respond, so the truth left her mouth in a whisper before thought had a chance to stop it.
"Yes?"
Jaune's manic visage switched to one of utter calm concentration at terrifying speed, and he was gone from her vision in an instant, door slamming open in his wake.
Weiss tore after him, matching his rapid stride.
"Where are you going!?"
Jaune, in his fixation, did not reply, but she knew the answer to the question already even as she followed after him.
The Rusted Knight's rage had settled on a target.
The meeting had moved on fairly swiftly after Jaune's departure, and it was over before Pyrrha knew it. The Huntresses and indeed most present still eyed her warily as they departed, but Ren's soft looks and Flavian's stalwart presence made it slightly easier to weather their gaze.
Ruby watched with curiosity over the table. Her eyes held no ill-will, but even so she seemed to be on the fence about whether or not to come over.
Pyrrha did her best to give her a warm smile, which Ruby returned, and in the small moment of elation granted by the evidence that the girl did not hate her, she missed another's approach.
Nora's face suddenly appearing right beside hers made Pyrrha jump, darting backward from her teammate and nearly stumbling.
"Hm, definitely looks like her. Dimples and everything." Nora's eyes studied her intently, and with the speed only she could manage, darted around Pyrrha, lifting her arms to study her arm-bands, pulling on random parts of her to see if the illusion would break, hefting Pyrrha's weapons while squinting in thought, as though trying to see if they weighed the same, before ultimately lifting Pyrrha herself and bench-pressing her above her head in order to try to gauge the same.
Pyrrha's initial fear shifted to confusion and then ultimately silent laughter at Nora's antics, giggling as the smaller but stronger girl held her at arm's length overhead until she was dropped back onto the floor softly.
Nora smiled sadly at Pyrrha's own wide grin. A regret tainted her eyes despite the up-turned corners of her mouth, arms crossed as she continued studying her teammate.
"But no talking huh?"
Pyrrha's smile faded. Shaking her head, she pointed to the still nasty-looking scar just above her breastplate, marring her chest where the arrow had struck.
Nora looked saddened for a moment, but her gaze lifted back towards Pyrrha's with a tired defiance. Jaune's emotive outburst had taken a lot of the venom out of her eyes, but even with her little display, it was obvious she didn't believe that it really was Pyrrha.
"I'm dumb, I know, but even I know that's not where someone's voice-box is."
Pyrrha shook her head, holding her hands up as a regretful look crossed her face, the same way she used to when she was trying to say sorry. She didn't think Nora was dumb. But as the words failed again, her hand dropped, as did her head.
Nora was right, of course. In her head she'd blamed it on the chest wound, something in her had let that make sense. Only it didn't, of course it didn't.
Nora's face seemed to soften at Pyrrha's body-language, memories of their time at beacon and Pyrrha doing the same thing way back when surfacing, before the memory seemed to trip her earlier anger again and her stare returned full force.
Turning to Ren, Nora's hard demeanour returned somewhat, but an inkling of the momentary softness remained.
"You know if you're wrong on this Ren, he might not ever forgive you."
Ren's expressionless face betrayed nothing, even to Pyrrha, but Nora knew him far too well to miss the flash of fear in his eyes.
"I know."
Nora sighed again, leaning closer so that only the three of them could hear.
"You- you also know that if you're right-" Nora's aqua coloured eyes carried a hint of worry. "He'll probably never forgive himself."
This time Ren's face did crack into a worried frown.
"I know."
Nora's gaze held his for a moment, her hand unconsciously coming up to his arm as they stared into each other's eyes in that way that they always used to, the way that told had told Pyrrha once, through the years at beacon, that these two would always know each other on a level few ever did.
"He needs us in his corner, Ren. We're all he has." She said softly enough for only Ren and Pyrrha to hear.
"Weiss seems to have that covered." Came a dark mutter in reply. To his credit, Ren's face betrayed his bitter regret over the remark the second it left his mouth, but the damage was done.
Their moment of closeness was over. Nora's hand suddenly dropped away, and Ren's face shifted into one of shame as she eyed him hard.
"You of all people don't get to make that comment, Ren. We've both been too absorbed in-"
She gestured between the two of them.
"Whatever the hell is going on now. She's been there. Don't attack her because she's the only one who's figured out how to be there for him."
Catching on to the double meaning of her statement, Ren's shame shifted to anger.
"You told me you wanted to be alone!"
"I told you I needed to figure out who I am alone! Not that I wanted to be alone!"
"What does that even mean!?"
"I don't know! I just, I just wanted-"
"What? What do you want from me, Nora!?"
"To know you'll actually be there when I need you!"
Nora glared up at him tearfully for a moment, before her gaze dropped to floor. She wiped her tears away quickly and shifted her rage-filled gaze back to Pyrrha.
"If this is a trick, know I will get to you before Jaune does, and it will be way, way worse for you."
Pyrrha's face fell again, until the breathe was crushed out of her by an impossibly strong arm.
"And if it isn't, I'm so happy you're back, Pyr." Came a whisper into her ear.
Nora's embrace was gone before Pyrrha could hug her back, but the lifting warmth in her chest at the sudden acceptance could not be replaced.
She was gone before Ren could get another word in, and the lump in the boy's throat was practically visible as he watched her go.
The shame in the boy's eyes deepened exponentially, and Pyrrha's sense of being out of the loop doubled. Everyone was so… different, some in small but meaningful ways, but none more so than her own team, it seemed.
Ren saw her concerned gaze and shook his head sadly.
"I'll tell you later." He said softly.
A hand on her shoulder grabbed her attention, turning her to Flavian, who was also eyeing Nora as she left.
"Huntsmaster Theodore-"
"Theo." The larger man said tersely, cutting in.
"-Is willing to escort us to our new home, if you and your partner-"
"Not partners." Ren interrupted. "Friends. Teammates. Pyrrha is Jaune's- Well- Maybe later."
Flavian's exasperation at being interrupted twice was obvious, but his face turned inquisitive at the mention of his son.
"If you two are done here, I think it's time we take our leave."
The baleful looks from the Atlesian staff had gone unnoticed since Nora's invasion of her personal space, but with the leaders having mostly departed it was now painfully obvious. Ruby had seemingly moved on with her father and uncle, choosing to give Pyrrha her moment with Nora alone instead of invade it.. nodded assent, and Ren followed suit.
Flavian nodded in turn.
"Let's move."
Excitable combat-boots alternated between walking and skipping down the hall ahead of them as Ruby's elation at her father's return forced her usual exuberance into overdrive, practically bouncing off the walls as she hummed and sent frantic text after text to someone on the other end of her phone.
"So…" Qrow stared, watching his niece move off further and further ahead as he kept pace with Tai.
"Thank-you." Tai responded instantly, smiling softly at Qrow's surprised face at his remark. "For keeping an eye on them."
Qrow's hand came up to cup the back of his head as he looked at his long-time friend sheepishly, still half-surprised by Tai's reaction.
"Honestly, I thought you'd hit me for not talking em' out of it."
Shaking his head, Tai eyed his daughter's back, a softness overtaking his sea-sun tanned features and releasing tension in his face that he'd spent months holding. As the paler skin of his crow's feet and wrinkles appeared around his relaxing face, Qrow saw that his friend had aged in the time since they had left for Mistral. His beard seemed more ragged, his face older.
"They're the daughters of the most stubborn women we've ever known. Talking them down wasn't an option, even I know that. I just wanted… to give them a bit more time. To keep them safe a while longer. But…"
He shook his head and trailed off, deep in thought.
Qrow nodded, but seeing his friend's dip in mood decided to liven things up again.
"I mean, you can only blame Summer and Raven so much, you raised them Tai. If they get their stubborn tunnel-vision from anyone it has to be you."
Tai cracked a smile and turned, eyeing Qrow hard.
"Oh yeah? You don't think their Uncle Qrow dropped a few bad habits their way? Ruby's obsession with being cool? Yang's habit of hitting up the town in the evening?"
"She drinks strawberry sunrises! That barely even counts as drinking!"
"Uh huh." Came Tai's less than convinced reply.
Qrow turned back to Ruby softly, watching her giggle to herself while texting.
"Sides, I gave that up. Nearly got us all killed."
He saw Tai's hard look his way out of the corner of his eye but refused to elaborate. A fight was the last thing any of them needed, but if Tai heard about his horrendous mishandling of the Apathy situation a fight was definitely on the cards.
Mercifully, his old friend seemed to let it go, seeing that they were all still alive as evidence that it had worked out in the end.
"Here I thought it might've been for that chick in white."
Qrow, despite the perfectly flat floor of the ship's corridor, tripped.
"I- What?"
Tai's smug, victorious grin was the exact same as Yang's,
"The Ice-Queen unleashes her wintery power all over us, and who's there to calm her down? Her dark knight in broody armour, that's who. All mysterious and eyeing her more than anyone the whole time-"
"You- what are you talking about-"
Tai leaned in closer, grin now shark-like as he smelt blood in the water. For the first time in years, Qrow Branwen was embarrassed.
"You, so wrapped up in her white tresses you didn't even notice the supposedly dead-girl ten feet from you even with those beady little bird-eyes of yours."
"Tai, you have no idea what you're talking about."
"No? Last time I saw you look at a girl that way was the night before the incident with Ms. Skye."
Qrow groaned and palmed his skull.
"Would you please stop talking about that? It's not like that with Winter, trust me. All she's ever seen me as is a drunken pain in the ass. Less of the drunk now, but still."
Tai eyed Qrow with a measure of amusement and doubt, but let it go, his eyes turning back to his wandering daughter.
"You know, for a couple of abandoned screw-ups, we did okay raising them, didn't we?"
The softness in Qrow's eyes matched Tai's as he too looked at his niece.
"Yeah. We did alright."
A/N: Yes, I'm still alive and updating. Apologies, I really struggled with this one for multiple reasons. First my work schedule's changed so I've less time to write, second because I had it nearly finished and then laptop fuckery deleted it so re-starting it seemed like a chore, thirdly because I kept writing it and then editing the damn thing down again because there are so many fucking characters to account for Jesus, and fourthly the adrenaline come-down from a combat chapter to a relatively political re-set-up establishing chapter is a bit of a bitch, I'll not lie. Given the time of year it is I'm going to have to say that chapters will arrive a lot slower now, but they are still coming, worry not. It's just a bit more at the leniency of work now sadly.
Hope you all enjoyed this one, please do follow / review, it really does help me get the energy / drive to pump more out. Hope you didn't mix your weekly fix too much, but I am endeavouring to be a bit more reliable. Hopefully it won't be another three months until an update. Until next time!