Chapter 9: To Catch A Cat Part 2
Amber fiddled with her staff while she waited for Qrow to finish his call.
"Flight's grounded. Yeah, it was my semblance. Bird strike, a whole lot of birds. Yes I recognize the irony. No, we're fine, just managed to touch down in Vytal," Qrow said, hands on his hips.
She took their baggage from the carousel.
"We'll stay here for a few weeks in case they're setting up an ambush. Yeah we'll stay safe. We'll take the train instead so we'll be later than expected. Another bodyguard? What for? Are you implying-? Ah, a visible one. Can't say she'll be pleased but I suppose that's fine. Right, catch you later."
Qrow pocketed his scroll as he finished his call. Amber called him over to carry his own bag.
"Another bodyguard?" said Amber, a frown on her face. "I know it's important, but I can handle myself."
"I know," replied Qrow. "But if you remember what we talked about last night, we have to be extra vigilant right now. They know where the package is."
"Right." Amber was not entirely convinced of all the time travel talk, but everyone, including General Ironwood, seemed to believe it. If he of all people believed it, then it must be true.
"So are we going to call over Operative Schnee?" she asked.
"We'll see if we can't find a local huntsman to take us to Vale," replied Qrow. "Huntsmen take bodyguard jobs regularly so escorting you and not asking too many questions is typical."
"Okay," said Amber as she checked the registry for available hunters. "How about this one? He looks tough, and he's cheap."
She showed Qrow her scroll and pointed to the man clad head to toe in gold and steel armor.
Meanwhile, somewhere between Vale and Vytal, Cinder, Mercury, and their third recruit waited with a horde of Grimm.
"What do you mean the flight had an emergency landing?!" shouted Cinder as Mercury checked the flight status of the airship the Fall Maiden was on.
"There goes our little ambush," he said. "You think they'll take the train?"
Cinder growled.
"They'll be extra cautious on trains," she said. "But it's pointless to stay here. They'll be hunkering down in Vytal to shake us off."
She turned on her heel and left. "Let's go, the Fall Maiden won't be confined inside Beacon forever. Sooner or later she'll leave, and that's when we'll strike."
Ann Curie, their third recruit, turned to her. "Bad luck, ma'am?"
Cinder looked at her as if it was obvious.
She adjusted her glasses, poker face firmly in place. "I will set up cameras on the train tracks. When our target comes to Vale, we will know it."
Cinder considered it.
"Very well, you have until sundown," Cinder replied. Ann was potentially an even better candidate than the woman who suddenly fainted in front of the jewelry store. The girl was quiet and obedient, but behind her purple librarian getup was a cold and calculating mind that Cinder could not help but be threatened by. She needed to be kept on a tight leash.
It was late in the evening when someone knocked on Weiss' room.
"I will go get it!" said Penny as she bounded to the door.
"It's the window, Penny," sighed Weiss as she saw her older sister watching her through the window.
"Winter, what brings you here?" she asked as she allowed the older woman inside. "And why are you trying to enter through my window?"
They embraced each other briefly.
"Father would not approve of me being here," Winter said. She sat down on a chair, taking in the room with her eyes and eventually settled on Penny.
"Salutations, Operative Schnee!" said the orange haired girl.
"Hello, Penny." Winter nodded in her direction before turning back to the younger Schnee. "How are you, Weiss?"
"How did you even get here, anyway?" asked Weiss.
"Father's security is sorely lacking," replied her older sister. "I saw the guard patrols on an unattended scroll and sneaked my way through the servant's quarters."
Weiss glanced towards Penny, who giggled.
"And you could not have called so we can, you know, chat somewhere legal?" Weiss pressed.
A pause.
"I didn't think of that," Winter replied.
Weiss glanced towards Penny, who giggled again. Louder this time.
She pressed a hand to her forehead.
"And let me guess, you want to confirm if I have memories of the future?"
"Yes."
Weiss glanced towards Penny a third time, who was now full on laughing.
"Is this what they call deja vu?" asked Penny.
"Yes, yes it is Penny," said Weiss, rubbing her head.
"Well, it's good to see you again, Winter," she said. Then she frowned. "How's General Ironwood? Does he remember too?"
"He does," Winter confirmed. "He's…traumatized, by what he's done."
Weiss stayed silent, letting her expression convey her displeasure at the General's actions in the future.
"He knows what he's done, Weiss," Winter said. "He'll do better, I'll make sure of it."
"Then you better. The General did a lot of reprehensible things in the future, I hope he learns from it."
Winter sighed. "Do you know who else remembers?"
"My team," Weiss said. "And Team JNPR except for Pyrrha Nikos. We're also hoping Oscar also remembers, as Jaune thinks whatever he did with the whale was what led to all this in the first place."
"He does, Professor Ozpin confirmed it yesterday."
"Wait, what?" said Weiss. "When did that happen?"
"Like I said, yesterday," replied Winter. "Oscar was calling a woman named Emerald Sustrai, who just happened to be in a job interview with Ozpin."
"Emerald?" growled Weiss. "That woman is–"
She realized that her room wasn't entirely secure.
"That woman is a thief working for the mafia. Her semblance causes you to hallucinate. Why is Ozpin hiring her?" she demanded. "She could be a spy!"
Winter shrugged. "It's not for me to decide. Oscar did say that Emerald and a man named Hazel helped him escape from the whale, and Ozpin mentioned that Emerald wanted to switch sides, so he's keeping a close eye on her."
"What?" asked Weiss. "But why would–ah, Yang did say something like that when we talked yesterday"
Then Weiss realized something.
"Wait, isn't Oscar living on a farm outside of the range of the CCT? How did he manage to get a call with Ozpin?"
At this, Winter smiled. "He's currently at Ozpin's safehouse in Mistral, he used the Lien stashed in there to buy a new scroll. I was set to look for him today, but that's been pushed to two weeks from now since we already know where he is."
"Huh," Weiss tilted her head. Even if would be his in the future, it was still breaking and entering, and then stealing from the house of the headmaster of Beacon. "That's actually rather smart. Who knew the farm boy had it in him?"
They sat in comfortable silence for a while, Weiss sitting on her bed, Winter adopting a more casual pose on the chair, and Penny busying herself with making tea.
Weiss turned to Penny.
"Actually Penny, I've been meaning to ask, but have you met the Happy Huntresses yet?" she asked.
"No, I have not," said Penny. She handed the two sisters their tea. "Not in this time period. But I know where they are based. Why?"
"Ruby and Jaune are planning to get Blake out of the White Fang, and part of it was getting Fiona to talk to Adam about letting Blake go," said Weiss. "They wanted their uncle to talk to her, but Ruby told he's stuck in Vytal right now, so we're hoping for someone from Mantle to talk to them personally."
She sipped on the tea.
"Penny, this is really good," she said. Winter shared in the sentiment.
"Thank you!" beamed Penny.
"I remember Fiona," said Winter, her expression whimsical. "She graduated a year or two ahead of me. Absolutely brilliant as a huntress, but she's no Robyn Hill. Gets tongue-tied the moment she's flustered, like in negotiations."
Shifting her pose to sit cross-legged, she tapped her knee. "I understand that you need a faunus to talk with the White Fang, but surely there are better candidates out there."
"Qrow said that he can bring over a team with faunus members from Mistral in case the Happy Huntresses wouldn't cooperate, but we're really hoping Fiona agrees," argued Weiss. "Aside from her, ideally we also need the reputation of the Happy Huntresses for this to work."
"Reputation?" asked Winter. "Why would–ah, I see."
She nodded in approval. "Well, my mission has been postponed. Would you like me to talk to them?"
"You would do that?"
The older Schnee shrugged. "I don't have anything better to do."
Weiss smiled wryly. "And you're sure they won't just gut you on site?"
"They actually invited me to join them before," replied Winter smoothly.
That was news to Weiss.
"They did?" She said before she shook her head. "Oh yeah, I mean of course they did, you graduated top of your class too."
Winter smirked. "I turned down their offer, and I have a feeling May and Joana hold a grudge because I chose the military over them, but they'll listen to me."
She put down her cup. "But they won't be swayed by just words and a pretty please, Weiss. Tell me you have something that would convince them to help you."
It was Weiss' turn to smirk. "Oh yeah, we've got just the thing."
As if on cue, someone knocked. Winter, Penny, and Weiss turned to the window, but this time the knock came from the door.
"Winter, I didn't expect you to be here. How are you?" said Whitley as he walked inside.
"Salutations, Whitley!" Said Penny. Without warning, she took Whitley's arm and shook his hand.
Whitley let go, a faint blush on his cheeks.
"Hello Whitley," nodded Winter. "Is father still giving you a hard time?"
"I think he's feeling threatened more than anything," replied the youngest Schnee, smiling. "I think I can run the company better than him now, even accounting for increasing the wages and safety conditions of the workers."
He gave his scroll to Weiss. "Weiss, here's the data you asked for. Do you need anything else?"
Weiss opened the scroll and looked over the files. Her smile grew wider and wider as she ran through the data.
"No, this is better than I could have thought. Thank you Whitley," she said. "As promised, I'll teach you how to use our semblance tomorrow."
"I'm looking forward to it."
Winter looked at Weiss, then at Whitley, the gears turning in her head. The two noticed her expression and as one, smiled conspiratorially.
"Big sister," said Weiss. "How would you like to take down Jacques, four years earlier?"
Author's note: The man in gold and steel mentioned in this chapter is a crossover character from the same universe as the green dragon god back in chapter 1. He will be recurring, but will only have a minor role as this is still primarily an RWBY story. Ann Curie's design and personality was based on Anka, also from the same universe as the other two, though her (not yet revealed) semblance is wholly mine. Kudos to whoever can guess what game they're from.
Also kudos to whoever can guess which team Qrow is bringing from Mistral.
Thanks for reading!