"The name's Xanthe, and I'm a Noire Armada double crosser."

"Xanthe? Who are you working for?" Sun asked.

"No one. I'm not doing this on behalf of someone else." He clinched his fists. "This is a personal matter."

"But as far I can see, you're not a faunus." Sun observed. "Are you?"

"I'm not a faunus, but I am a half blood."

Blake gasped. "A half blood?" Sun asked bewildered.

"It generally refers to a human child who has one human parent and one faunus parent." Blake answered.

"Oh, I've heard of kids born from one of each parent. I just never knew there was an actual term for it."

Xanthe turned to Sun. "I'm surprised you never heard that term before." He then looked at both of them. "But yes, I'm a normal human. My father, he's just a regular normal guy. Nothing weird or abnormal about him. My mother however, is a cat faunus with blonde cat ears. My sister also inherited those traits. Some people in my community saw it as a weird thing that my parents were an interracial couple, but I didn't really care. We were just another family. Several months ago, before Beacon's tower fell, the four of us were on a fishing trip. My father is a fishmonger, and he thought it would be fun to bring us along to see what his job is like.

"So there we were, minding our own business, when suddenly, we were sprung by evil sailors in black and white uniforms from a ship baring an X sword emblem. They swiftly overwhelmed us, and since no one had combat training, we couldn't defend ourselves. I tried to defend my little sister, but they overwhelmed me and I was horribly injured. Black eyes, bruises, and even a deep cut that would leave a scar on my left arm. They murdered my mother and little sister right before our eyes and sunk the ship. Me and my father swam back to shore, but we barely made it back with our lives. As a result of the attack, my father had sunk into a deep depression and eventually had to be hospitalized because he attempted suicide. I tried working a job to support him, but my efforts did little in the long run. I wanted revenge. I wanted to know who created that band of sailors and end them, once and for all.

"My only clue to who was responsible was the following words." He cleared his throat before mocking a raspy voice. "'May Noire bring about a new age!' Upon recalling these words, I typed Noire into the search engine of my scroll, and tried to find something, but nothing was there. As time went on, my rage intensified and after realizing that my father couldn't be helped, I left my home behind in search of answers. Three months ago, I saw a green haired woman in pirate clothing making a speech. This woman was actually Ivy, Corvina Noire's right hand woman, and there were a bunch of supremacists listening to her speech. Ivy stood on a wooden stage with the same sailors from day of the murder. She spoke, 'The Noire Armada will not stand by and watch the faunus burn the world. We will not stop until all faunus are dead.' Upon seeing her, I believed she was the leader, so I joined at the chance of hoping to kill her, pretending to pledge loyalty.

"However, after I got on the ship that was docked at the port, I realized that the leader was actually Corvina Noire, Ivy's best friend. So I had to keep up the act of being a malicious supremacist while simultaneously creating a bomb that would bring Corvina's ship down. I was originally going to implant the bomb on the ship after finding Corvina Noire, detonate it, and blow it up, killing everyone on board, including myself. My life had become miserable, and I saw no point in continuing on. I had found Corvina not too long before Blake's arrival. However, when Blake Belladonna stepped aboard the ship, I had to put my plan on hold. I had no problems risking my life to stop Admiral Noire's reign, but I couldn't risk her life, especially when she was doing a noble cause. I saw first hand how evil the Noire Armada is, so I put everything on the line to stop them, even at the cost of my own life."

"You don't have to sacrifice yourself to end the Noire Armada." Blake said to him. "You could continue posing as a loyal agent, apprehend evil captains, fight against the Noire Armada and bring an end to them."

He smiled, touching his finger to his chin. "Yeah, I could, couldn't I?"

"You traitor!" a feminine voice yelled while struggling against the rope. The three turned to Ivy. "I can't believe you! I can't believe I trusted you." She looked at Xanthe sadly with a hint of blush on her face. "I can't believe I fell for you."

"Also that would never work!" the lantern holder, who was right beside Ivy, protested.

"It would. No one outside this ship even knows that Corvina's been defeated, and with the CCT down, no one can notify the captains and other officers." Xanthe remarked. "Which brings up the question- what are we gonna do with these prisoners?"

Blake smirked. "What's the old pirate saying? 'Dead men tell no tales?'"

"Yeah, that sounds right."

"But could we really murder all of these guys?" Sun asked.

"That's up to Captain Belladonna."

"Captain Belladonna?" Sun and Blake asked at the same time.

The traitor looked at Blake. "You defeated the captain." He pointed at the headgear she was wearing. "You even took her hat. You're the one running this ship now."

Her eyes darted up. "I only took the hat to hide these cat ears until I can get a replacement bow. But I will admit, I like the idea of Captain Belladonna. Has a nice ring to it."

"So what do we do, Captain?" Sun asked.

"We continue heading forth to mainland Vale."

"And the prisoners?"

"Hmm... Xanthe... I need you to give me a headcount on how many Noire Armada sailors are here, who's alive and who's not, not counting Corvina or yourself."

Xanthe nodded. "Aye aye, captain."

With a clipboard and pen in hand, he started walking around. "Sun, go make sure that none of the sailors have their weapons. If you find weapons, bring them to me."

"Right away."

The monkey faunus started gathering weapons, leaving the new captain to silently gather her thoughts.

Meanwhile, at the Arc family home, Pyrrha Nikos stood in Jaune's room. She looked at the circlet she once wore placed before the sword of Penny and the photo of her. The circlet had become damaged, and as she inspected it, she saw a crack in it. Had that been there since her battle with Cinder? She sighed, seeing it as a sign that she had fallen from grace, but yet, it wasn't even her fault. She had been tricked, deceived, used as a tool, a pawn... A catalyst.

I was used as a catalyst. Nothing more, nothing less.

"Pyrrha?" a voice asked, snapping her out of her thoughts.

She turned to see her boyfriend, Jaune, smiling for a brief moment. She turned away and looked at the display of items. "I was just thinking... when I look at this circlet, I'm reminded of how I nearly fell in battle, how I was defeated, and how... how... I was forced to hide myself from the world."

His mind trailed back to when he saw her again for the first time. She was wearing a red cloak with her hood down. He blinked in shock, coming out of his brief flashback and asked her, "You were forced to hide your identity? Is that why you were wearing that cloak?"

Pyrrha nodded to answer his question. "What choice did I have? I was nearly killed by crazy civilians. The world seems to believe I'm a criminal."

"But that's not true! You know that's not true!"

"I know." She stared down at the floor. "But it doesn't help that I failed to keep the second part of my promise."

"Your promise?"

Lifting her head back up and turning around, she took her right arm, picked up Penny's sword and held it in her hands. "Remember when I took Penny's swords, promised not to use them against the innocent, and vowed to stop the ones responsible for her death? Emerald has yet to be defeated, and Cinder has not fallen in battle. I turned away from my word, and I feel that I have left her down." Ruefully setting down the sword, Pyrrha stood in silence. Jaune looked at her, wanting to say something, but he didn't know what to say. "Sometimes I've thought of going after Cinder and her underlings, but realistically speaking, I don't stand a chance. If I went after them by myself, I'd die all alone."

"But what if you weren't alone?"

"That's what I've been thinking." She looked at him with forlorn sincerity. "Jaune... Would you be willing to join me on a quest to bring Cinder to justice? It won't be easy and there's a high chance of..."

"I'm in." he immediately answered.

Pyrrha blinked in disbelief. "You are?"

"Yes." He threw his arms around her. "I don't want to risk losing you again." She returned the embrace, wrapping her arms around his chest with her hands on his shoulders. "You mean the world to me. And if I let go, I don't know if you'll ever come back." Jaune stepped back, looking at his beloved. "But if we're going after Cinder, Emerald and Mercury, we're going to need more help."

Pyrrha got out the address sheet. "How about reuniting the team together for one last mission?"

"That's... actually not a bad idea. Team JNPR vs Cinder and her allies. One final mission. We have no time to lose."

"Then we better get started with preparations immediately."

The two began packing, with Jaune putting Pyrrha's damaged circlet into his bag along with one of Penny's swords.

Back on the Noire Armada ship, Sun dumped the last of the weapons onto the poop deck. "There. All weapons have been brought forth, gathered and confiscated."

The new captain smiled. "Excellent work, Sun. Now we wait for Xanthe to give us the body count."

On the other side of the deck, Xanthe spoke loudly, "Avast, Captain Belladonna, I've been crunching some numbers, and apparently, before you got on board, there were 117 members of the Noire Armada aboard the ship, not counting myself. Twenty of them are missing, so I can assume they were thrown overboard. Seventeen that were killed on board and are lying around here somewhere. Everyone else is alive, and anyone who wasn't tied up in now bound in chains and/or rope. So if you do the math, that's... eighty prisoners to deal with."

Blake's smile faded, replaced with a frown as Sun groaned, "Oh boy... Eighty no good sailors, and no idea what to do with them."

"Not to mention the bodies. If we don't dispose of them soon enough, we'll get disease and we'll be in no shape to hunt after Adam."

"But should we really get rid of their corpses? I mean, if we bring in the dead sailors and their captain, maybe the people in power will do something about it and try to bring the Noire Armada down."

"I don't think it do any good, considering the White Fang has a big target on their back after the Fall of Beacon. Also, wouldn't that prevent Xanthe from achieving his goal of bringing the Noire Armada down?"

"But the problem what that being is that if we dispose of their corpses, they might not believe us when we drag in the prisoners of war."

Blake sighed. "So many decisions." The new captain turned to Xanthe. "How much further until we reach the shores of Vale?"

At the wheel, Xanthe answered, "My calculations tell us that we'll be at shore in approximately one day."

"Well this gives us one day to figure out what to do with these sailors."

Sun looked at the pirates surrounding the three of them. "Moral dilemma on what to do with the scurvy pirates... Not the best way to start a relationship."

"It could be worse."

"Well, you're awfully optimistic."

Blake chuckled, a smile forming on her face. "You say that like it's bad thing."

Sun stammered, "It's not, but, it's a bit... unusual for you."

Her smile faded. "Hey, this is nothing compared to what is to come."

Later that evening, after Jaune and Pyrrha finished packing their bags, the former broke the news to his family. Pyrrha and Jaune stood nearby the foot of stairs, Rouge was sitting in the red reclining chair while everyone else was on the couch.

"You're kidding, right?" Rouge asked.

"No, I'm not kidding." Jaune answered. "Me and Pyrrha believe that Cinder Fall and her allies need to be stopped."

Rouge raised an eyebrow. "And what makes you believe that you are qualified for this mission?"

"Because we are fully aware of what we are up against. Pyrrha is going to need all the help she can get in order to face her."

"This isn't an excuse to get out of housekeeping, is it?" Rouge inquired.

"No, although that is a bonus." Jaune said, chuckling for a brief moment. Rouge glared at him before his resumed his serious demeanor. "But in all seriousness, we're doing this in hopes of finding answers; Who is truly responsible for the Fall of Beacon? What did they do that we failed to notice or didn't know about? How can we stop them and prevent this from happening to the other huntsman schools? These and several other questions remain unanswered."

Pyrrha added, "Also, I have a promise to fulfill to the dead, and I can't do this alone."

Rouge rolled her eyes, wanting to criticize her brother, but instead she sighed heavily and asked, "Are you sure that this is a good idea?"

"No offense, Jaune, but this doesn't seem like a good idea." Tangerine stated.

"It's better than my stupid idea to forge transcripts to Beacon when I really wasn't ready. Also I'm not hiding my intentions like I was when I was about to depart for Beacon Academy. I'm being honest here and letting you all know what I am about to do." Jaune retaliated.

The tough tomboy yielded. "Fair point."

Azura sighed forlornly. "This is a hard pill to swallow, especially after Emerald's departure, but I appreciate you being honest this time. It is also fortunate that you will not be alone in your endeavor for justice. Good luck you two."

"Thanks, but we're not leaving immediately."

"When are you leaving?" Roux asked.

"Tomorrow, after sunrise."

Rouge sighed as she looked at her younger brother. "I guess there's no stopping you, is there?"

"Nope!"

She sighed and secretly thought to herself, He's dead.

"Well, thanks for your honesty." Azure said. "Is there anything we can do to help prepare you for your journey?"

"We already have everything prepared. Although I suppose one last family dinner might be in order."

"Any requests?"

"Surprise me."

After dinner, Pyrrha found herself with Jaune alone in the backyard after Jaune's last combat lesson with Tangerine. "Hey Jaune? Can I ask you something?"

Jaune turned to her. "What is it?"

"How did you get the money for Beacon?" she asked.

"I stole it." Jaune confessed. "I saw a guy leave an unattended briefcase of cash while on a phone call, 100,000 Lien to be exact, and when he closed his eyes and no one else was looking, I took the case for my ticket to Beacon. I realize that I did a bad thing, and I knew it was bad, but I tried to disregard it. Guilt ate at me, and after Azura discovered my forgery, I admitted the theft to my parents, but not my sisters." Pyrrha said nothing, but turned away from him sadly. "You're disappointed in me, aren't you?"

"I am, but at least you are willing to admit what you did was wrong. And that does not change how I feel about you."

He faintly smiled. "What did I do to deserve you?"

Jaune gave her a quick peck on the lips. Pyrrha retaliated by dragging him closer to her and kissing him passionately. After getting lost in him, she looked into his eyes. "So why don't you tell them? Your sisters?"

"I want to tell them, but I can't, mainly because of Azura's semblance. If Azura found out, she would almost certainly report me to the authorities in a heartbeat. Also, I am scared of how my sisters would react if they did know the truth."

"Is Azura unable to lie because of her lie-detecting semblance?"

"I have no idea. It is possible that she is physically capable of lying, but chooses not to because of her high moral code of honor, but I do not really know. Either way, it doesn't matter now. Soon, we'll be leaving for Fiti, then to Mistral."

"It's not too late to confess the truth, but if you feel like the consequences could impede the mission, then I can't blame you for staying silent."

He took her hand, smiling. "Thanks for understanding."

Pyrrha blushed and smiled as the two looked up at the moon.

Meanwhile, somewhere in Mistral, the moon shone in the sky as Athena and Ares were in the air, the latter holding onto the hand of the owl winged faunus.

"How close are we to the secret camp you told me about?"

"Not too much further." He pointed down below him. "There it is!"

Athena flew downward, her wings slowing down as she descended further to the ground. From a wooden platform at the top of a pole, a female faunus with brown cat ears sat down, slouching on a beach chair and suddenly sprung to life upon seeing the owl winged faunus.

"Athena! You're back!" She cupped her hands around her mouth and called out to the other members. "Everyone, come quick!"

She let Ares' feet touch the ground before unhanding him and landing beside him. The cat faunus ignored the ladder and jumped down, landing perfectly on her feet. Athena looked around the small encampment, taking in the semicircle of grey tents and another tent to the side of the semicircle before the fire pit in the center. All the other faunus there, to which there were only five not counting Ares or Athena, came out of their tents to greet their leader. Among these faunus were those with one with fangs, one with a green lizard tail, one with scales, the brown cat eared faunus and even a man with sheep ears.

"So this is where you guys choose to hide ourselves?" The wise woman smiled to herself. "Not bad, not bad."

"Mr. Adamos, where are the others?" the sheep faunus asked.

"I couldn't get them out yet." Ares looked at Athena with a loving smile. "I had to focus on bringing back our leader."

She looked at her cohorts reassuringly. "One day, we will get them out and burn that infernal prison to ashes, but for now we must move on." Ares handed her a notepad and a pen, to which she took the writing utensil and made a line on the notepad before handing it back to him. "The first part of the plan is complete. We must move onto the second part."

"What's the second part?" the cat eared faunus asked.

"Oh you'll see." Athena answered. "This plan is a complex multi-part operation that shall be unfurled in due time. Athena always has a plan, isn't that right?"

"Yes, Mistress Athena."

"I thought so."

An alarm went off on the brown catgirl's scroll. "Oh Marrok."

The sheep faunus groaned. "Looks like it's my turn to stand watch." He sighed and climbed up the ladder to the top, grumbling, "I hate this job."

"Smart idea to have someone stand watch." Athena then turned to Ares. "Now then, Ares, you told me during our flight that you set up a grand personal tent for both of us. Lead me there."

The ram horned faunus lead her to a golden tent with a gray interior as she entered. In the middle of the room lay a queen sized air mattress with red and gold sheets and grey pillows for them to sleep on, a desk with blueprints and plans to her right and bags and boxes of supplies to her left.

"So, is it to your liking?"

She smiled, giving away her answer. "You are the best."

"I know, but thanks for telling me." He sat down on the bed as Athena stood before the desk. "So what exactly is the next step?"

"We must send one of our recruits to the prison to weaken the system from the inside. If we could hide their faunus trait that would be even better, but it is not mandatory for the mission. Tomorrow we will move out and recruit more faunus."

"So who will we send to the prison?" Ares asked.

"Hmm... That is a good question." Athena looked over files of the five remaining agents she had recruited to her cause, all listed in alphabetical order.

Aoi, Cola, Gilford, Marrok, Tawny

"Hmm... Not Cola, he can't be stealthy to save his life. Gilford has a criminal record for being a thief, so not him. That leaves us with Aoi, Marrok and Tawny. They're all qualified for the mission in terms of stealth."

"Perhaps maybe we should choose someone who's already from Mistral so that the people in Argus aren't highly suspicious."

"You know, I didn't even take that into consideration. Marrok said he's from Vale, Aoi is actually from Mistral City, and Tawny..." She examined the file of the female brown eared cat faunus that greeted them. "is from Wind Path. No one knows her, no one would be able to question her, and with some work, we could hide her faunus trait, and no one would know that she helped to storm Sanctum. Ares, send for Tawny and tell her that I wish to speak with her at once."

"As you wish."

Ares left the tent at once, leaving the wise woman to her thoughts.

The next day, after the sun had risen, Jaune and Pyrrha were about to leave the Arc family home. Once again, all who were living in the household were present to send them off. From the entrance of the home, the two saw everyone lined up ready to bid them farewell, with Jaune's parents being towards the front, and the six remaining Arc sisters in reverse chronological order.

"I can't believe that I'm doing this." Jaune said to everyone.

"I know. I'm a bit surprised that you're willing to risk your neck to aid me in my goal." Pyrrha responded.

"And risk the chance of losing you again? No way!" He turned to his parents. "Bye mom, bye dad." Jaune hugged his mother. "Love ya mom."

"Goodbye, Jaune. Love you. I hope everything goes well." Azure said, returning the embrace. "Good luck, Pyrrha."

"Thank you!"

"Love you son. Keep each other safe." Roux instructed.

"Good luck Jaune!" Amethyst said. "You can do it, I know you can!"

Jaune smiled sheepishly. "Thanks for the vote of confidence, little gem."

"I'd give you the advice of faking it til you make it, but I don't think that would help you." Indigo remarked. "Good luck though! Kick her butt!"

Azura looked at them worryingly. "Honestly, I'm scared that you'll never return."

"Don't remind me." Jaune replied.

"Good luck to you both though."

Acacia exclaimed, "Good luck on your quest you two lovebirds!"

"Thanks and good luck in your singing career!" Jaune responded.

"Goodbye and good luck, Acacia!" Pyrrha replied.

The singer smiled to herself. "Thank you guys!"

"Goodbye Jaune." Tangerine nodded. "Remember what I've taught you and you should survive."

He smiled brightly at the tough tomboy. "Thanks Tang."

Her eyes widened in surprise. "You called me 'Tang'. Only Yang ever called me that..."

Tangerine began musing silently to herself as Rouge observed them.

"I know you have done stupid things before, but hopefully, this isn't one of them." Rouge said.

Jaune folded his arms. "You're probably thinking that I'm doing something stupid right now by leaving."

"Yes, I am. But instead of criticizing you, I'm going to ask you; why are you really doing this?" Jaune unfolded his arms and was about to answer when she continued, "I'm not asking you to answer, but I advise you to think about it. You and your girlfriend are about to embark on a highly dangerous mission, from which you might never return. This issue could be deeper than you realize, so before you fight in your own war, you must understand what you're fighting for. If you don't, you'll lose sight of what matters. Never forget your intentions, or your training. And don't forget what I told you."

"I'll... keep that in mind. Goodbye everyone!"

"Goodbye!" Pyrrha called back to them.

"Goodbye!" they all answered in unison.

The two began walking down the hill. Upon making it down to the bottom, the two found themselves standing before a large forest. Pyrrha looked back at the Arc family home on top of the hill. "Looks like we're really saying goodbye, aren't we?"

"We are, but sometimes..." He took her hand in hers. "Sometimes goodbye is a second chance."

The two walked off into the unknown, hand in hand, as they began the first part of their quest.