Author's Notes;

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In the city of Mistral, a middle-aged man stood at the top of the mountain, overlooking the city below in the afternoon sun. This man had a mane of tan/gray hair and a beard. He had a tanned complexion with brown eyebrows and dark brown eyes. He wore a brown great coat with a matching mantle, which had cross emblems on each side. He also wore a white dress shirt under his coat, a western necktie and carried a pocket watch. On his feet, he also wore dark brown slacks and dress shoes. Unbeknownst to many, he was a lion faunus, possessing a tufted grey lion's tail hidden by his coat. The faunus sighed deeply as he went back inside. He sat down at his desk in his office, looking at an empty portfolio. He sighed again as the memory of her last appearance haunted him...

A few months ago, shortly after the Fall of Beacon, Lionheart was in his office, watching the reruns of what was shown of the fall of Beacon Academy on his scroll. He paused the footage and pocketed his scroll before he took the portfolio, filled with a stack of papers bound together with a paper clip. He turned his back and looked at the night sky through his window. His troubled look was shown as the camera reflected his face to the viewer.

"Leonardo." a voice behind him spoke.

"Ahh!" He turned to see who was there- Salem herself. "Oh, y...y.. your grace!" He swiftly bowed down to her. "You startled me!"

"Apologies, Leonardo. That was not my intention." He stood up and she asked him, "Did you finish the files?"

"Yes, your excellency. It took me several long nights of going through databases, and doing a lot of research, but... it has been completed. A list of every professional huntsman and huntress in Mistral and their location. They are sorted in alphabetical order by last name. And this includes Haven Academy staff, members of which are denoted by a star next to their name."

Salem looked over the files. "And you're sure that this is every huntsman and huntress in the kingdom?"

"Yes, I am 100 percent certain that every huntsman and huntress in Mistral, save for myself, as of September 1st of 79 AGW, this current year, has been accounted for."

"Excellent. I will expect an update within a year's time. You have done well, Leonardo."

She disappeared, fading into the shadows. As Lionheart came back to the present, he sighed again.

"How much longer can I keep up this facade?" he asked the empty air. "He will find out... sooner or later..."

Meanwhile, somewhere in Anima, a raven-haired woman shifted from her bird form to her human form. Raven went back into her tent, where her right hand woman Vernal was waiting for her.

"You've been out for a quite a while." Vernal responded. "Did you run into trouble?"

The leader of the bandit tribe sighed. "Vernal... Excuse me..." She paused and breathed to herself. "Malinda Warin. Do you remember what today is?"

'Vernal' hesitated. "Did you..."

"I did. I'm aware. I've created this lie for so long, that... sometimes I forget the truth."

Malinda looked at Raven sadly. "Has it been ten years already?"

She returned the forlorn look. "I'm afraid so... "

January 1st, 70 AGW... One of the worst days of my life. Raven thought to herself.

Over ten years ago, a young girl, fourteen years old, stumbled onto the camp. Her ginger hair was in the form of a sloppy, messy bun. Her lightly tanned skin had been scratched, bruised and she was bleeding out. Her skirt had been torn, leaving only a few "petals" left around her, and her shirt had been torn, exposing her midriff. Her sandals were missing, and both her cherry red manicure and hot pink pedicure were chipping away. Her flower crown and charm bracelet were also gone.

The poor girl shook before falling over in exhaustion. Two tribe members pointed their spears at her and approached her. "Halt. She's injured. Leave her to me." Raven commanded her followers.

The Branwen Tribe members left Raven as the tribe leader carried the girl to a medic tent to be treated. She stood by as the medics wrapped her arms and legs in bandages. A tanned skinned woman in her early adult years entered the tent. Her brown hair was in a long ponytail and she had icy blue eyes. She wore black pants, a white shirt with sleeves to her elbows, a collar that spiked up behind her neck and black fingerless gloves. This was Malinda Warin.

Malinda came up to Raven. "Is there a reason you're sparing this intruder?"

"Now, now, Warin. Don't be so rash. She may possibly be useful to us. After all, you and your sister were once orphans, taken in by the tribe. Why would we not extend that choice to her?"

"Fair point, my lady."

The red-haired girl began to wake up. "Ugh... My head." She looked around. "Where am I? Who are you?"

"No need to be scared, young girl. You are in a safe place." Raven answered her. "I brought you here so that the medics could treat you of your injuries. Judging by what happened, you don't have your aura unlocked do you?"

She scratched her head. "Um... What's an aura?"

Raven sighed. "Case in point. Do you think you can still stand?"

"I think so. Why?"

"I'd like to speak you in my tent, away from prying eyes and ears."

"I would, but technically, I probably shouldn't be speaking to strangers."

"Apologies for not introducing myself. I am Raven Branwen, leader of this bandit tribe." She gestured to her trusted ally and friend. "And this is my right-hand woman, Malinda Warin."

"Oh, okay." She blinked and asked, "Wait," She raised an eyebrow. "did you say bandits?"

The scene transitioned to Raven, Malinda and the girl in Raven's tent. "So who are you?" Raven inquired the girl.

"Rosa. Rosa Vernal."

Raven raised an eyebrow at the young lady. "Wait a minute. That surname sounds familiar. Vernal..." She looked at her in surprise. "Aren't you next in line to be the spring maiden?"

"I'm... I'm supposed to be." Rosa answered. "Actually, I think I am the new spring maiden."

"So what happened?"

"My mother, and my predecessor, left home one day and never returned. She had been missing for several days, and then, the next thing I know, I wake up in the middle of the night, floating and.. and..."

"You inherited the power?" Rosa nodded meekly. "I see. And without any guidance, you were horribly scared, and you ran away from home."

"I'm still scared." She folded her arms with a forlorn expression on her face. "I have no home, and my mother never told me how to use the maiden powers. How will I master them without guidance?"

The tribe leader mused to herself silently for a moment before answering with, "I suppose that I could help train you."

"Really?" Her face lit up with a big smile. "Thank you!"

"It's no trouble." Raven turned to her friend. "Malinda, fetch some new clothes for our newest member of the Branwen Tribe." Malinda nodded and went off to fulfill Raven's order. "I'll help you master the maiden powers, but you have to do as I say, alright?"

Rosa nodded. "Alright."

And so, Rosa Vernal had become a part of the Branwen Tribe. Her ginger hair was now worn loose with her bangs tucked behind her ears. She had also been given a new outfit to replace her tattered clothes. She wore black capri jeans paired a with red shirt that had loose sleeves. Over her shirt, she wore a black vest that was zipped up to her neck. She wore red fingerless gloves that showed her chipping manicure. Her sandals yet been replaced by black combat boots. Her missing flower crown had been replaced with a pink bandana.

A montage began with Rosa meditating in a cave along with Raven. A pink glow appeared around her eyes as she did this. She had unlocked her aura, then the scene transitioned to Rosa trying to control a fireball, only for it to catch the wooden gate ablaze. Rosa looked worried and hung her head in shame as Raven exhaled in deep exasperation. The scene switched to Rosa was trying to use ice as it was snowing, her manicure gone by this point. She attempted to use the ice and snow in a display of power, only to freeze the entire camp in a blizzard. Then it showed Rosa floating in the air, lightning surrounding her, her eyes glowing pink with the pink maiden glow around them.

"Rosa! Focus!" Raven ordered from the ground. "You mustn't let your emotions get the better of you!"

Rosa lifted her arms up and bolts of lightning shot up from her arms, striking the ground. Somewhere in the distance, a loud scream was heard. Raven turned into a bird and looked at what happened below her. In the clearing below, a girl had been struck by lightning. The girl wore a white shirt with a pink heart design on the chest. Over the shirt, she wore a black hooded jacket, faded pink pants and matching shoes with black tape bound around them.

Her friend, a black haired boy about her age, knelt by her side and screamed her name in fear and sadness. "Nora!"

Wrongly believing her to be dead, the raven left the scene and flew into the storm. She flew up to Rosa, struggling against the wind surrounding her, and pecked at her neck.

"Ow. What the?" Losing control of her powers, she began to fall. "Ahh!" Raven landed on the ground and shifted to human form, catching the spring maiden in her arms. "Oh no... I missed up again, didn't I?"

Raven sighed heavily.

The scene transitioned to Raven and Malinda in the former's tent.

"This isn't working." Malinda stated. "She keeps running off whenever something bad happens. It's like she's not even trying to master her powers."

"Not only that, she's been causing destruction and death in her wake. And this time, it was someone outside the tribe. Whoever that poor girl I saw was, she probably died as a result of this. We can't let this go on. We have to do something."

The tribe member sighed and groaned loudly. "She's been here for two months and she's destroyed the camp three times. Why don't we just kill her?"

"It wouldn't be that easy, Malinda. Maiden powers are passed on from one young woman to another. We would need a new woman who's willing to take on the burden that comes with mastering the powers." Raven slowly turned to Malinda. "Would you be willing to take on the mantle of Spring Maiden and all of its responsibilities?"

Malinda nodded in the affirmative. "I am willing. So what's the plan?"

"Alright... From what I recall, when a maiden dies, it goes to the last person she saw. If the last person was a man or an older woman, it then goes to a random young woman. The two of us will take her to the nearby cave, about three kilometers from the camp, under the ruse that we will do special training there. You will stand in front of her and I will stand behind her. When the time is right, you say the phrase, "Let's begin blooming." and I will kill her from behind with my sword. You will inherit the powers of the Spring maiden thereafter."

"Got it. Let's hope that nothing goes wrong during this."

She knocked on the bark of a nearby tree and prayed for the best. The following night, Raven, Malinda and Rosa were outside the camp, the two walking into the forest.

"Where are we going?" Rosa asked.

"We're going to a cave to continue your training." Raven answered. "We don't want you to accidentally destroy anything like last time."

"Okay, I guess that's fair." Rosa agreed.

The trio went to the cave. "Alright, it seems to be deserted." Raven stated.

Rosa inquired, "So where do we begin?"

"We will begin with some meditation." Malinda got onto the ground with her legs crossed, her arms out and circles formed with her thumb and index finger in both hands. "Get into lotus position." Rosa followed her lead. Malinda closed her eyes. "Let's begin blooming, little flower."

"Raven? Are you...?"

Warin smirked as Raven stabbed Rosa in the back, piercing through her lung. Rosa's eyes opened in shock before they shut closed permanently. The tribe leader withdrew her weapon, causing Rosa's corpse to fall to the ground. Malinda's expression changed to a neutral expression and she shifted to being on her knees. "So far, it seems to be working."

The leader of the tribe noticed something as the dead spring maiden fell down. "Huh?" Green energy, symbolizing spring, came rushing out of Rosa's body, but it didn't go forward. It went behind her and soon entered Raven, causing her to tense up in fear. "No..." Raven began to levitate as green energy swarmed her and a red fiery glow around her eyes formed. Malinda gasped, frozen in awe and terror as her mistress looked at her hands, presumably trying to send the power she was received away from her, only to attack with pure green energy against the wall of the cave, which reflected off the surface and created a brief light inside the cave. Raven felt no difference as the energy finished seeping through her system, disappearing as she landed back on the ground.

Malinda ran up to her. "Raven?! Are you alright?"

She shook uncontrollably. "This was not supposed to happen. The powers were supposed to go to you! Why is this happening?!"

Her right hand woman gripped her shoulders. "Calm down! There has to be some reason it didn't work..."

"Maybe it goes to the second to last person seen?"

"But if that was true then..." Raven stopped and backed away. "Wait a second. It's not the last woman she sees. It's the last woman in her thoughts! She saw you, but she knew I was behind her. She knew... that... I killed her."

What have I done? Raven mused to herself. This is extremely bad.

Malinda looked at her in concern. "What now?"

Raven quickly took a breath through her nostrils and exhaled two seconds later. "I... I don't know." She mused to herself, Thank goodness that everyone else is asleep at this hour. And that we're far enough from camp. She continued aloud, "It seems these powers can't be gotten rid of. I can't just tell the tribe about my powers. Otherwise, people outside the tribe will find out, and once they do, they'll come for me."

"Do you think that if you dedicated yourself to it, that you could master these powers?"

"I could." She sharply exhaled. "I survived Beacon Academy. Surely I should be able to do this. But I will need time. And I will need someone to cover for me in case Ozpin or anyone else comes looking after the Spring Maiden. But who can I trust to fill such a position?"

With determination, Malinda answered. "I'll do it."

Raven looked at her with forlorn sorrow. "Are you sure you want to do this? You'll be living a lie for the rest of your days."

She nodded in understanding. "I do. I was willing to be the maiden. How hard can playing the role of a decoy be?"

"Then from this day forward; you can take the role of Rosa's long-lost half sister; Vernal." The woman bowed her head in acknowledgment of her new identity. From that day, Malinda Warin was no more. She was only Vernal. "I can not thank you enough for doing this."

Vernal nodded grimly. "I can only hope that as we move forward, no one shall discover what, or rather, who, you have become. Now for the other question; what are we going to do with her body?"

"I need you to take her corpse and burn it. We'll tell the tribe that a Grimm got her and that we couldn't save her. While you do that, I'll get started on figuring out how to use these maiden powers."

As Vernal dragged away Rosa's body to be cremated, Raven sat down in lotus position and began to meditate with green energy slowly surrounding her.

In the present day, Vernal looked at her mistress. "So far no one's discovered the truth. Everyone believes that I've come from a long line of warriors with magic."

Raven poured tea for herself and her subordinate. "I still can't believe that your sister hasn't revealed the truth to everyone."

As Raven began to drink, Vernal responded, "Well, you're the leader. No one would dare defy you."

"That is true, but..." She sighed, putting the cup down. "Can I confide in you?"

Vernal nodded. "Of course. You can tell me anything."

"I don't know why, but I have a feeling that someday, somehow, everything's all going to come back to me."

Malinda set the teacup down with sad look after drinking. "You think that'll happen?"

Raven's eyes glowed with a red fiery glow around them. "I do."

But who or what will unravel the web of lies?

Back in the forests of Vale, Jaune and Ren were fighting rogue huntsman. But with Pyrrha, Nora and Ruby unconscious, not to mention Ren's aura beginning to run out, things had been taking a turn for the worse.

"Jaune!"

Upon hearing Ren's call, he raised his shield in time to block the sword. Charles tried bring it down on Jaune by forcing him to crack under the pressure his sword against his shield, but Jaune firmly stood his ground and refused to give in. Pushing his arm upward, he pushed back Charles's sword and knocked back Mr. Mustard himself a few steps. "I will never surrender to the likes of you."

"If that's how it must be... then I have no choice but to destroy all of you!"

Charles continuously fired out fiery dust waves from his sword. Ren stated, "Please tell me you have a plan to stop this madman and save our skins."

Jaune desperately tried to think of a plan and quickly. What would Tangerine do? What would Tangerine do?

The Arc Knight remembered something she said during one his many lessons. The two were clashing swords against each other. "Oftentimes strength is not enough to defeat your opponent. You may have to outwit them, beat them at their own game. The key is to unbalance your opponent."

As he came back to reality, he blinked in realization. "I do. But I need you to go along with it." He looked towards Ren sincerely. "Do you trust me?"

Ren nodded in the affirmative. "I trust you."

"Good. Follow my lead." Jaune lowered his sword and faced Charles. "You're right, Charles. I don't deserve to be where am I now. But if you think that me and Pyrrha are the only sinners, then you're wrong. Ren is also a bad man."

Ren raised an eyebrow in confusion. Jaune mouthed an inaudible, Go with it.

"You speak nonsense, Jaune." Ren retaliated calmly.

"Do I Ren? Or have you forgotten what you've done?"

Charles tapped his right index and middle fingers together against his forehead. "I don't recall you previously knowing that."

"That is because you Insighted me the previous night on the rooftop. I spoke with Ren during his guard shift early this morning after you fell asleep and acquired new knowledge. He confided in me his deepest darkest sins."

Mr. Mustard smirked. "Is that so?" Jaune nodded with a smirk on his face. "Well then... What have we here?" Charles focused concentration on the ninja. As Charles focused concentration, Jaune swiftly walked, not run, up to Charles and attempted to kill him from behind by stabbing him, but as he stabbed him, his aura flickered and eventually shattered as Charles's eyes glowed gold for a moment. As the gold flash faded, he turned to Jaune.

"He's still not dead." Ren stated.

"No, but he can't protect himself anymore. Open fire!"

Ren fired away at him as Charles smirked, rolling away, and continuing to evade all his attacks with ease. "Well well." The rogue huntsman began. "Not as bad as Jaune said you were, but so much pain. So much misery. What hurts more, Lie Ren? The fact that the monster who took your parents is still out there? Or that the girl you love likely doesn't return your feelings?"

The ninja ignored his commentary but silently shed a single tear as he fired at the rogue huntsman before charging at him, avoiding Charles's waves of fire dust as he stopped about ten feet before him and threw his weapons. The blades of the pistols didn't get his skin, but it did get the cloth of his long sleeves, pinning him against the tree.

I think I understand why Jaune wanted him dead so much... Ren thought.

"You annoying pests! You'll never survive this battle!" Mr. Mustard declared.

"Jaune, now!" Ren commanded.

With white aura glowing around his feet, Jaune rushed over to Charles as he got Ren's weapons off of his coat that restrained him to the tree, and attempted to run from the knight. Alas, as he tried to escape, Jaune stabbed him in the right of his chest. He gasped for breath as his lung collapsed and fell over instantly.

"Finally." Jaune's aura around his feet faded. "He's gone..."

Ren picked up his weapons and deactivated them. "You're not going to...?"

"I won't." Jaune answered. "You got any rags to get his blood off my sword?"

Ren handed Jaune an old blue washcloth rag and Jaune began to wipe off the blood from his sword. "Aside from trying to be humane and merciful, there's another reason I was trying to not have him killed- what are you going to do with the body?"

Jaune finished cleaning his sword and put both pieces of Crocea Mors on his back. "I could take it and turn it to ash." As if on cue, it began to rain. "Oh great." Jaune sarcastically commented. "So much for cremating him." He mused to himself briefly. "I know where I can take his body. I've been camping in these woods before, and about three kilometers away, there is a filthy algae infested lake. I figured I'd dump the body there."

"I suppose it's the best choice given our certain circumstances. I'll watch over our friends until they wake up."

"Thanks Ren."

As Jaune dragged away Charles's corpse, the scene transitioned to Jaune nervously standing before his teammates. Ren was standing on both feet over by Nora, who was tired and had her back propped up against a nearby tree. Ruby also had her back against a different tree, but in addition to droopy, sleepy eyes, she had drool pooling from her mouth. Pyrrha on the other hand, stood with her back against another tree, having mostly recovered from the tranquilizer's effect quicker than her fellow ladies.

"Alright, Jaune." Ren began. "We've won the fight. Charles Mustard is no more, you've disposed of his body, and now, to address the secrets divulged." Ren glared at Jaune. "You forged transcripts to get into Beacon Academy and stole money to pay for tuition. Explain yourself."

Nora commanded as if she was somewhat sleepy, "Start talking!"

Jaune sighed. "If I be honest, when I first entered Beacon, it was for selfish reasons. I was thinking about the fame, how I wanted to prove everyone wrong, how I wanted to be a hero no matter the cost. So I cheated, lied and stole. I will admit that I feel guilty about these actions, even if I feel no regret about them, because ultimately, I want to believe that I made the right decision. I'm not the same man when I entered Beacon. I want to believe that I'm better. I've come so far in such little time, learned more knowledge than I ever have in any of my previous years of homeschooling, and stood toe to toe not only against Grimm, but went head to head with a huntress and a rogue huntsman. And even if I'm wrong, I want to believe that my presence changed things for the better. Assuming that nothing else changed, you guys would be on a team of three, and Pyrrha would have perished in the Fall of Beacon. Without that phone call I made to Weiss, Ruby never would have found her and saved her."

"Actually," Ruby wearily began. "I didn't."

Jaune raised an eyebrow. "You didn't?"

"No... When... when everything went white... as I unleashed my believed silver-eyed power at the top of the tower, Pyrrha was still bleeding... I fainted, and fell unconscious for ten days."

"You mention a silver eye power. What is it exactly?" Ren asked.

"That's what I'm trying to find out..."

"But if Ruby fell unconscious, then... who saved Pyrrha?"

For a moment there was silence. Ruby wanted to shrug, but with the paralysis from the dart that hit her, she couldn't move a muscle. "I don't know how I'm alive," Pyrrha began. "but I know that I am grateful to be here."

"I'm glad you're here too." Jaune wrapped his arms around her for a few seconds. Then he turned back to Ren. "Also, the Grimm dragon wouldn't have been petrified, which I assume was the result of Ruby's powers, and both the dragon and Cinder would have caused a lot more injures, death and destruction. The whole city could have been brought to its knees." Jaune added.

"Jaune Arc." Ren turned to the leader of team JNPR, his expression calm yet firm. "I understand you're trying to justify yourself and your actions, but I think that by swiftly learning the ropes, honing your skills, and challenging your older sister Rouge in an act of impulsive anger, you've been trying to avoid answering a very important question. You've been trying to get good and learn how to be a huntsman, but you've been shoving those feelings of guilt and bitterness aside, bottling those emotions up. But now that your secrets have been revealed to me, Nora and Ruby, I'm presuming Pyrrha already knew, you have nothing to hide. Taking everything that's happened into consideration, the good and the bad, answer honestly; Are you worthy of being a huntsman? Or alternatively, do you deserve to be where you are now?" Jaune began thinking about his answer. "Think long and hard before you answer."

Jaune Arc looked at the ground crestfallen. He thought about everything he had ever done, good and bad. As he stood there in silence, Rouge's words rang in his ears.

"...you're not a hero and you never will be."

"You're nothing! That's all you are, and all you will ever be!"

"You don't deserve victory! You don't deserve anything!"

As Jaune came back to reality, he answered, "I... don't. I don't deserve the knowledge that I have. I don't deserve to be standing alongside you. I don't even deserve Pyrrha's love." Pyrrha softly gasped and felt her heart break a little. "But... because I do have all these things, the knowledge, the ability, even Pyrrha's love, I'm continually striving to be better. Even with Beacon's downfall, I've continued to improve and learn how to be a huntsman. I'm no longer fighting solely for myself, but for my friends and loved ones, and for those that can't defend themselves. I'm improving to be the best hero, huntsman and person that I can be."

"That's a very well-spoken answer." Ren began. "You've just taken the first and most difficult step into purgatory."

"Huh?"

"Make no mistake Jaune, while I do trust you, I have not yet forgiven you. Unlike Nora, I am able to not let my emotions get in the way of our objective, and I know that you're a good man and that you will redeem yourself in time. Once you have successfully done this, I would be honored to fight Cinder and her allies alongside you. Until that day, however, you have a long way to go." Jaune groaned. "Also, I don't know about Ruby, but Nora is furious with you lying."

"I am disappointed, but I'm not mad..." Ruby answered. "I just wish you would have told us this earlier."

"You have every right to be angry with me. For lying, for stealing, and for not admitting the truth about Cinder. You're free to go if you wish."

Ruby responded, "I'm not leaving. And I don't think Ren is either."

Ren nodded in affirmation. "My legs are paralyzed." Nora began. "I can't go anywhere, even if I wanted to. Besides, now that we know how dangerous Cinder really is, you guys are gonna need all the help you can get. But do not mistake my willingness as forgiveness. I'm still very angry with you Jaune."

"I know. You're angry with me, and you probably can't trust me either. Which is why I'm officially dubbing Pyrrha as co-leader. If you don't trust me, then you can definitely trust her." Pyrrha blushed at the compliment. "Now then, with Nora and Ruby unable to walk, we can't really get anywhere fast. That is, unless you guys would be willing to carry them."

"I'd be willing to carry Nora." The ninja picked her up as Nora folded her arms, showing her discontent with Jaune. He turned to his red-haired teammate. "Pyrrha, would you be willing to carry our other friend, Ruby?"

"Sure thing." Pyrrha took Ruby into her arms. "Hmm. Lighter than I thought." she said to herself. She looked at Ren and Jaune. "Let's move."

Jaune sulked as they continued forward, with the knight taking the lead and the other four behind them.

That was a really difficult battle in more ways than one. But yet, if Charles Mustard lost his mind, are there other fighters and professional hunters that seek to kill Pyrrha too? And how will I know if I'm redeemed? He sighed internally. This is far from over. Unfortunately, this is just the beginning.