Once again, sorry for the wait. In addition to school stuff taking up a lot of time, well, other obligations arose.

That, and I'd also been occupied playing the Tsukihime remake VN, lol.

On that particular note… anyone else experiencing it? If so, what are your thoughts on it?

Personally, loved Arcueid's route to death. Sure, Shiki had his stupid moments (I sure don't recall being that thick-headed as a teen myself, and I definitely wasn't some perceptive genius either) but he was overall a good character and the relationship between him and Arcueid was sweet to see.

Now I'm currently on Ciel's route… yet I can't help but find it a slog, something that I've been trying to force myself through. Not sure if it's merely burnout on my part, but damn am I taking my time getting through it all. Barely on Day 10 in the route and I started it about 2 weeks prior to this chapter being posted. It's so much denser than Arcueid's route and some of the character behavior is driving me up the walls.

Not to diss on Ciel, but she kind of comes across as self-righteous, which grinds my gears. Shiki feels like he's often apologizing for his actions to her when she's refusing to do the same for the most part, let alone tell him actual reasons for why he can't join her for everything. And she's also really insistent on Shiki being just a normal teen despite his Mystic Eyes making him anything but normal, to say nothing of his Nanaya heritage (not that she'd know that, but still, he's way too competent in combat to be attributed to innate talent alone). Also, Shiki sucks at mediating between her and Arcueid, so much so that I wonder how much he actually wants them to try and get along at this point in time, to say nothing of the other times where he has a perfect chance to explain himself yet fumbles every time.

Then there's Noel… yeah, never did like her character type at all. I've known of spoilers about the VN ever since 2021, but still, she's just so… pathetic. Granted, that's the point and I'm sure most fans probably don't care to dislike/hate because she's pathetic, but in my case, it's exactly for that reason that I don't like her presence in the story so far. Hopefully things will change once I can get further into the route.

That said, the tidbits I'm getting about other characters (Mio, Goto, Arach,) is making me hype as hell for whenever Other Side of Red Garden comes out (probably in another decade at this rate, lol). That panther that popped up in Arcueid's route has yet to appear in Ciel's and it bears a similar color scheme to Mio. Goto Saiki being burnt implies something happened between him and Akiha or possibly with Makihisa himself back in the day. And then there's Arach, of course, with her insanely obvious (to us readers) ties to the DAA.

Plus there's all the unexplored areas of the Tohno mansion too – the library, the rec room, that one building (cellar?) all the way out in the area behind the mansion, the aqueducts… the list is long. Also, Shiki doesn't really get to fully explore Makihisa's office/study that much in the bad ending before dying, so there is that too.

Not to mention the long-awaited Satsuki route too… man, if it's anything like what was once hinted at way back in the day, then we're all in for a real treat.

Anyways, enough of my rambling – you guys aren't here to read that. You're here to read my fic (hopefully).

So, without any further ado, let's get down to it!

P.S. If you like my fics, please give my original novels a try! Links to them can be found on my profile page, just remove the spaces. They can also be found on a variety of sites like Amazon Kindle, Barnes & Noble, Apple, and many more!

P.P.S. This will be a fairly short chapter meant to set things up. Please look forward to it nonetheless.

Chapter 10 – Imminent Disaster

Qrow's face was stuck in a perpetual grimace as he made his way to Beacon. Said grimace was due to a combination of a bad hangover he was still rebounding from… and the state that he saw Vale in.

It's been several long days now since the Grimm incursion, caused by the White Fang, had happened. Once he'd heard of it, the veteran huntsman had wasted no time trying to make his way back to his alma mater, but travel was understandably halted with everything that's gone on.

But now he was more or less finally back, currently aboard a bullhead that was flying straight to Beacon.

"You going back into town afterwards?" Qrow asked of the pilot, the man having been allowed into the cockpit to hangout during the flight. He was the only passenger at the moment anyways.

"Yeah," grunted the pilot. "They still need search and rescue crafts, no matter the form."

Qrow could only shake his head and murmur a barely audible reply to that statement.

The death toll had only continued to steadily rise as the capital was able to take the proper time to ascertain the extent of the damage and begin cleaning up the huge mess. Been a long while since he'd seen a number that big, at least outside of regions that lied beyond a kingdom's protection.

The only consolation the huntsman could take from this was the simple fact that good ol' Oz and the others likely already had some kind of plan in place. Now it was just time to meet with the man to hear in person the full story.

Finally reaching the academy, Qrow swiftly disembarked and began an almost lazy stroll towards Ozpin's tower.

Or so it would seem. In reality, he was moving pretty quickly, he merely gave off the illusion of taking his time milling towards his destination.

As much as he'd love to take in the sights and critique how little Beacon Academy has changed since his student days or track down his rambunctious nieces to see how they're holding up, this meeting with his old friend took priority.

Some odd minutes later, he was all but slamming his fist over the button in the elevator, which then took him up to the top floor where Ozpin's office resided.

As soon as the elevator doors even parted, he could spot the headmaster standing with his back to him as he was by his desk. Qrow didn't even get the time to drawl out a stupid 'knock, knock' joke before he was suddenly called out to.

"Qrow," Ozpin said. "Glad to see you finally return."

"Just wish it could've been under way better circumstances, Oz," the huntsman replied as he approached. "So how many cups have you had today?"

He motioned, of course, to the cup of hot cocoa that Oz had in his left hand.

His comment brought a flicker of a smile to the man's face. "More than is probably good for my health later in life."

"Eh, well, could always have picked a worse poison, right?" Qrow drawled. As if to prove this point, he pulled out his flask and took a split-second swig from it. "Noticed Glynda didn't bother coming out to see me. Same thing goes for Jimmy boy as well. I take it you already got them both running ragged out there?"

Given how many days it's been, Qrow figured that Oz already had a talk with the others in their little circle over what to do. Makes sense why they wouldn't be here to roll out the welcome mat for him. Pity he couldn't quip to general tinhead, but that could always wait until later.

"More or less," Oz admitted. "Sadly, I may very well be asking the same of you later."

Qrow snorted. "Not like you don't already do that at times."

"And for that, you have my thanks, Qrow. But before that…" Ozpin now turned to face him. He looked tired, far more so than usual. It was enough to give even the veteran huntsman some pause. But despite the headmaster's fatigue, there was certain level of strength still there. Something's up. "What have you discovered out there?"

Qrow took a moment to think over things before responding. Aside from the usual recon he does into Salem's activities, he had also been tasked with looking into the incident with Amber, the current Fall Maiden. That is, he was to try and discover the identities of the three who had attacked her, reducing her to the horrible state she is currently in.

"Sorry to disappoint… but not much I can say," he began as he plopped himself into the seat across from Oz's desk. The other man gently sat down as well so that they were now face to face. "Whatever our opposing 'queen' has been up to exactly, she's been busy shuffling her Grimm around, putting pressure on villages and towns throughout the continent. I'd done what I could to ease up on this, but I'm just one guy, Oz. Can't be everywhere at once. Still, I like to think I'd softened up things a bit. Won't say I singlehandedly prevented the recent Grimm incursion from being worse than it already was, but every little bit helps.

"…Then there's about what happened with Amber." Qrow sighed. "All I can say is that her attackers look to have been making their way towards Vale. Hell, they're probably already here stirring shit up. Might even have been the ones responsible for what's happened, but no way to know for sure about that."

Ozpin hummed. "I see. Thank you for that, Qrow. I do believe your actions may have helped a great deal." The man remained silent for a moment as he finished off the rest of his cup. "…But that's not all, is there?"

The scythe user went quiet at that. Leave it to Oz to notice something up. "…Well, it's not directly related to my mission – as far as I could tell, anyways. But when I was making my way back, I happened across a clearing that had clearly seen some kind of fight. There wasn't much to see there in and of itself, not that I had time to fully sweep the area… but I did find this."

He reached behind his back for his belt. Or rather, for the pack attached to it there. Huntsmen needed to travel light, but it always helped to have something that could carry objects of interest. And Qrow believed he'd definitely found something of interest.

From the pack, he plucked out what appeared to be a mask or some kind, clearly broken and dirty despite his efforts to clean it up. The huntsman then set it down on the headmaster's desk unceremoniously.

Ozpin could only stare at it for a few seconds in tense silence. "This is… Adam Taurus' mask."

"Sure is," Qrow retorted.

That's right. The young but fairly capable member of the White Fang, notorious for his fervent dedication to their violent agenda and whose appearance was well-known to the public, was always depicted with a mask that covered the upper part of his face. The one Ozpin was now looking at was that very same mask.

"Before you ask, I didn't have time to go looking for a body or anything," Qrow said. "I could mark the location on a map if you want to have others go investigate a 'tip' later on, but if you ask me… I think the man's dead. And considering everything else going on…"

He left that statement hanging, the implication painfully obvious.

Qrow watched as Ozpin delicately picked up the broken mask before gently setting it aside. "Then it seems that everything truly is connected," he murmured.

"Figures. Well then, Oz…" Qrow leaned forward in his chair. "You gonna tell me a little story now?"

Despite the seriousness of the situation, his almost playful remark got the headmaster's shoulders to shake a bit in amusement. But then Ozpin got down to business again…

…And began to regale him with what he's missed out on while he'd been gone.

It took Ozpin more than twenty minutes of slowly explaining all that's happened while Qrow was gone.

From the sudden duel with Veratyr all to the way up to his battle with Eva Lambros amidst the chaos of the Grimm incursion… and, of course, the things the now deceased actress had spoken of to him.

Of threats other than Salem out there.

Of people with abilities that defy what had long since been considered common sense, abilities that didn't appear to be either semblances or magic – Liminals, to use Eva's word for them.

Ozpin left nothing out, even quoting verbatim Veratyr and Eva alike during his 'storytelling' as Qrow typically put it.

Once he was done, Ozpin could only watch as Qrow leaned back slowly into the chair, hands over his face as he took it all in. Needless to say, the master scythe user was taking all this quite hard.

"Fucking hell," the man suddenly swore. "Just when things were bad enough with Salem and her little pawns…"

Ozpin could only make a noise in agreement. "Indeed."

"No need to get sassy with me, Oz. I got enough sass for all of us… especially our dear little general," Qrow quipped, such remarks being his go-to response for most things even after all these years. Despite said remark, Qrow fell silent as he clearly pondered what he's just been told.

"So," the man began after a long minute of reflection. "You're considering having Eva Lambros' hometown investigated, huh?"

During his explanation, Ozpin had made sure to inform him of the meeting he'd had with Glynda, James, and Theodore. This naturally included what decisions had been made during that meeting.

The headmaster could only nod.

"Just how confident are you that this will actually help us out?" Qrow asked. He spread out his arms. "If there really are others like this lady out there and they mean to raise some hell, then there's no way they'd be huddling up in any one place. Assuming that's really why you want to take a peek into her past that badly."

"That would be most ideal – finding them all in such a place," Ozpin admitted. "But I know it is a considerable longshot. Still, if we can discover the origins of her odd nature and perhaps a way to better discern it from amongst the population of Remnant out there, that would be just as big of a win for us."

"Still a hell of a longshot," Qrow retorted. "We're talking about some mumbo-jumbo bullshit here that not even you have any immediate answer for. Even if you got the experience to tell something's not common around here, actually putting that info to use in the way you want is a whole other issue."

Sadly, Qrow was right. All things considered, this idea was likely a waste of time considering Salem and now this unknown group were moving at rather breakneck pace, relative to them. Still, gleaming such potential knowledge could hopefully help plan out a much better response in the far future.

But that was neither here nor there. He'd simply been informing his dear friend of but one of the actions their group would be undertaking.

There was still more in the works.

"Your concerns are certainly not without merit. In any case, while looking into her birthplace is on our to-do list, investigating Eva's connections in general – friends and acquaintances – shall be taking James' priority thanks to his greater reserves of manpower," Ozpin informed the man.

"Doubt these other Liminals as you call them would be so out in the open," Qrow responded as he folded his arms across his chest. "But hey, if this Eva chick was an actress of all things, then maybe the chance ol' Jimmy boy can find them isn't so low, after all…" He trailed off for a moment. "…But enough of my quipping aside for now. Whatcha want me to do now?"

Just what Ozpin had been waiting for.

"I was hoping you'd be kind enough to assist Theodore," he began. "As I stated in my explanation, there is now a possibility that a Liminal might have some level of involvement in Vacuo's current situation. Whether or not that is true, help him and his people locate the source of these diseases and deal with it in whatever manner you deem most suitable."

The scythe using huntsman frowned. "…You sure about that? Given my semblance, things could get even messier."

Qrow has come a long way since his younger days, when he viewed his semblance, Misfortune, as a curse. Granted, the man still was wary of it and kept his distance from many people, even his loved ones for long stretches of time… but all things considered, Qrow was noticeably better than he had been back then.

Nevertheless, his concern here was definitely relatable.

Steeling himself, Ozpin spoke. "It is a risk I'm afraid must be taken, Qrow. If we continue to let things be, many people will suffer terribly before perishing. I'd rather we nip this in the bud before things culminate into something far worse."

Qrow visibly bit his lip, holding back an immediate denial. Solo missions had always been his specialty and preference ever since Summer was assumed to be KIA. The possibility of having to work directly with Theodore and other Vacuan authorities naturally had him feeling uncertain.

But eventually…

"I'll do what I can, Oz," he finally agreed. "But don't expect me to suddenly wrap this up in a few days. Tracking might be my bread and butter out there, but if someone really is causing all that shit in Vacuo and they've been avoiding notice for this long, then they must know what they're doing. And that's assuming they don't have any really crazy stuff up their sleeves like Eva apparently did."

Ozpin nodded, allowing himself a light smile. "Any help you can provide, the better. Thank you."

Qrow grunted as he pulled out his flask again. He took a deep swig from it, emptying it completely now with a grimace afterwards. Once he stashed it away again, he asked a question. "What about Mistral then? Is our favorite Atlas general going to be paying it a visit to look into things?"

Ozpin shook his head. "No. Aside from his forces continuing to assist in Vale's cleanup, he'll be concentrating his investigative efforts here for the time being. Eva had spent a majority of her life in Vale, after all, given her age. Glynda will be acting as support for him too."

At that, Qrow's eyes widened. "Wait, then what about you?"

Ozpin stood up from his seat, Long Memory picked up in the process. "I will be heading to Mistral to perform a preliminary investigation."

The ancient man watched as Qrow all but literally jumped out of his seat. "Seriously?! Wouldn't you leaving be a bad thing?! What about Amber? Salem's agents are likely already here in Vale, you know?!"

Ozpin held up a hand in as placating a manner as possible. "It isn't as if I'm going to publicly announce my departure," he started off with. "…It is certainly a risk, but one I think must be taken. Leonardo, as you might already have suspected for a while, might be compromised so relying on him to provide proper aid would be an even bigger risk. Even if that wasn't the case at all, with everything going on, we'd only be handicapping ourselves needlessly if all I did was continue to issue requests and orders from behind closed walls." He sighed heavily. "Fact of the matter is, we've been operating defensively for far too long now, Qrow. Too reactive… rather, I have been far too reactive in recent times. If we're to get ahead of Salem and this unknown group Eva was a part of, then we all must be able and willing to go out into the field as needed. Headmaster or not, I cannot be exempt from this."

His words appeared to strike the veteran huntsman like a surprise jab because Qrow almost seemed to stagger in response. Whatever tirade he'd been about to go on had been suddenly halted in its tracks. But he still had some fight left in him as expected.

"That doesn't answer my question about Amber. Or the pawns here in Vale," he all but growled out.

"From what information we'd extracted from the captured White Fang member, we've determined that the Grimm incursion had been a part of something bigger. But with the incursion having occurred so much earlier than initially expected and now with the Vytal Festival canceled, we can conclude that whatever grand scheme the agents had in mind has been halted… or at least negatively altered. Whatever the case may be, they'll be avoiding making any huge moves in the near future, especially with how tightly wound everyone else currently is. Ironically, the panic this caused may very well be to our immediate advantage; everyone is on high alert for anything even slightly suspicious. And with James' forces staying until Vale can rebuild properly on its own, making any kind of move with so many eyes watching and weapons pointing at every shadow…" Ozpin uttered all this in a single breath, only trailing off as he laid it on thick.

Qrow shot him a somewhat unimpressed look for a few seconds before sighing. "Alright, alright. Guess I'm just being a cynical bitch here…" he mumbled, throwing his hands up dramatically. "…Just in case though, I'll be sticking around for a day or two myself. Been a while since I'd seen my nieces, after all. But if I see anything even remotely fishy around here, Oz…"

"Do as you must," the Beacon headmaster agreed. "And enjoy your time with your family. I won't keep you any longer."

Qrow quietly muttered a quick thanks and began to turn to leave… only to pause after just a few steps. "When do you intend to take off then?"

"Hopefully some time tomorrow," Ozpin replied. "I still have a few matters to settle here before I can leave. It wouldn't do, after all, to leave Glynda even more overworked than she already is." He said that last bit with just a little humor to it.

It succeeded in getting Qrow to huff. "Yeah, that would be a dick move on your part." He quickly lost the humor, however. "Just watch your back out there, Oz. If even one of these Liminals was able to give you any level of trouble, then who knows what the others could likely do."

And with that, the man left, not even bothering to wait for Ozpin to reply.

On Ozpin's part, the man turned to face out his office window, looking out to the horizon beyond. Though he wasn't exactly facing Mistral's direction, he acted as though he was, trying to will answers from there to come to him now.

Obviously, this was without any success. Such absurdity was beyond him.

If he wanted answers…

He outstretched his free arm, as if trying to grasp that distant horizon.

…Then he'd had to get them personally.

It was another lovely day in eastern Anima.

Birds and other critters sang, the winds gently blew, and the ever so rowdy members of the Branwen bandit tribe were hauling their spoils back to camp.

It was a group consisting of only five people, with Shay D. Mann acting as the (impromptu) leader of the bunch.

"Last of you lightweights to fall behind has give their haul to me afterwards!" he mocked as he took point, the others lagging behind at differing paces.

"Oh fuck off, already! You say that shit every time!" one of them, Kay, bellowed.

Shay just laughed. "And you say that every time like it's gonna mean something to me!"

Back-and-forth remarks like this were a lien a dozen to them as they raided villages and took whatever they found back with them. Sure, said villages were left in shambles and were easy pickings for Grimm, but that was life as far as any of them were concerned.

Like their leader, Raven, always said, the strong take and the weak die. Sure, they may not always be exactly killing residents of the villages they raid, but the point was still the same in the end.

And these five were completely convinced they were strong, hence their lackadaisical attitude as they trekked back to camp.

Said camp wasn't too much further ahead, perhaps another forty-five minutes or so. They always tried to establish camp within approximately an hour's trek of any notable village or town, making it easy for them to head out, raid, then come back. It was primarily done so that Raven didn't always have to use her semblance to take them back to camp every time since she didn't always raid alongside them.

One might think making camp so close to the villages would be foolhardy, but said time length for the trek was judged by their standards, not the average typically untrained civilian. If some random schmuck attempted to make their way to the Branwen tribe's camp, the journey would likely take them twice as long due to uneven terrain and some traps that the bandits lay out to further deter pursuers, and that's assuming said idiots even knew exactly where their camp was to start with.

"Can't believe we got such a good haul out of such a shitty little village," quipped Natsuki, the gruff looking woman smirking as she rummaged out some handheld console. "Been a hell of a long time since I'd played one of these. Should help kill time a while."

"You know, you could always just kill time with me in my tent," commented another woman, her longer but wilder hair swaying in the wind.

Natsuki huffed. "As if, Lena. You never were the best lay."

"Ouch! Maybe you ought to go back to that village and hop into the flames there," Speedy, a lanky younger man, quipped. "Probably would feel cooler to the touch than that burn!"

Lena just rolled her eyes and flipped the man off, only eliciting guffaws from him.

Shay, for his part, just snickered as he looked through what he got.

When it came to raiding, they had something of a policy. When it was time to scour for actual supplies like food, weapon parts and other essentials, Raven would always lead the whole tribe into a village or town and strip the place clean in as violent a manner as possible. But whenever only some supplies were needed or they just felt like seeing what goods they could get their hands on to keep themselves entertained, smaller groups like this one were sent out.

Typically, it was Shay leading the charge in these cases.

Not because he was that competent or anything, it was simply a matter of him being that damn cocky and the others just rolling their eyes and allowing it since arguing wasn't worth the effort. That said, whenever Vernal opted to come with them, they had no problem following her rather than Shay.

This fact was something notable in that Vernal at least tried to keep some level of discipline about them all, even though she was just as loud and brash as the rest of them.

In Shay's case, however, that vague sense of discipline was nowhere to be seen. Whenever he took charge, he and the others following him were often loud as could be, so self-assured in their strength that not once did caution really factor into any thoughts they might have.

Thus, it was only natural they'd be caught off guard during times like this.

"…H-Huh?" Kay, a tall and stocky man dressed in a tank top and fatigues, squinted at something off in the distance. "The hell…?"

"What? See something good over there?" Shay asked, the man so taken aback by Kay's sudden attitude shift that he practically stumbled.

"Someone's coming this way…"

At those words, Shay and the others looked in the direction Kay now pointed to, their left flank.

Sure enough, from between some thick trees, a shape was visible – a person, walking perfectly straight towards them.

Shay actually leaned back as if sucker punched. With the exception of the village that they'd just gone to, there was nothing else around for miles on end. And he knew for a fact that none of the villagers had been left in a condition to pursue. It didn't help that this person, who was still just far enough away for their form to be unable to discern, was coming from a completely different direction than the village.

The bandits actually paused – not in fear or worry, but just pure bafflement. The figure continued to approach them, soon drawing close enough for them to properly make out now.

A man, easily in his early thirties and with an odd style to him. He was deeply tanned, indicating that he might be an Anima native from one of the sunnier and hotter regions, yet his wild hair was a deep crimson red, almost like blood. Contrasting this were golden eyes with what looked like red rings around the irises and pupils, making his gaze really stand out now that he was visible.

His outfit was also somewhat quirky as well, wearing a dark red tunic for pants and black boots. As for his upper body, he wore what looked like a snug martial arts Gi, but noticeably more ornate, with red and black bands along his well-muscled arms and even his neck.

Out here in this particular region of Anima, where just about everyone wore the poor man's version of modern clothes, such an outfit certainly stood out. Combined with his clearly well-trained physique, this unknown man was likely a huntsman or some such.

That meant he might very well be bad news…

…If it'd simply been a one-on-one situation, or if he'd at least approached with others in tow.

But to Shay and his cronies, it just seemed like an odd death wish on the man's part, such was their confidence still. It was only his appearance that had thrown them off.

"Well, well," Shay started. "Didn't expect someone to be going for a stroll out in these parts! Got lost there, stranger? Took a few too many steps off the beaten path? If you're coming at us like that, then maybe you're looking for some help back to good old civilization?!"

The man shot the stranger an arrogant grin, even as he slowly reached for the gun he kept stashed in the back of his pants. Just a small little precaution, not that Shay felt it needed. They had the guy outnumbered, after all, and he was still a fair distance away.

"Yeah, like my buddy just said, need some help, big guy?" spoke up Speedy. "We're always looking to, ah, help where we can~."

"You," spoke the man, his voice deep and guttural. "The five of you are part of the Branwen tribe, that right?"

Oh, so he knew who they were, huh? Well, wasn't that something.

"Heh, guess we really are getting pretty famous around these parts… yeah, that's right, pal!" Shay responded, now proudly holding up his sack of loot from the village. "If you're here to join, can't say we're really lookin' for any applicants! And you're here to try stoppin' us, well…"

Shay's gaze narrowed and he drew his gun. "You still came to the wrong place."

"Perhaps," the man answered, still walking at a steady pace. "But you can lead us to the right place soon enough."

Us-?

"Bliss," the man spoke. "Subdue those four."

What followed happened so fast that it could almost be called an instant. Kay and the others suddenly cried out as they went flipping about into the air before slamming into the uneven terrain with impressive force. Their limbs were pinned directly into the ground itself by way of objects suddenly being stabbed directly through their hands and feet.

It was so sudden a thing, over so quickly that Shay could only let out a dumb 'Wha-?!" before the stranger put on a burst of speed, crossing the remaining distance and landing a picture-perfect snap kick to Shay's balls.

The bandit let out a high-pitched wheeze, involuntarily pulling on the trigger of his gun in the process. Good thing the blow had also forced him to pull said weapon out from his pants just prior to the misfire or else he'd have shot himself in the ass.

But before Shay could even partly keel over, the stranger wrapped an arm around the man's neck in a vague headlock maneuver before lifting him up and throwing him over the shoulder. Shay flew through the air and crashed into the ground back-first.

As soon as he landed, the gun was fully kicked from his hand and something was shoved through it, eliciting a scream from him as whatever it was pinned his right hand in place.

His scream was abruptly cut off however when a foot slammed directly into his throat. It was only thanks to his aura that the damage remained relatively minimal, but the fact he got his hand pierced like that clearly meant his attackers could deplete his aura whenever they wanted to.

With widened eyes, he tried to paw at the foot with his free hand but to no avail. The foot and the person it was attached to were immovable.

Glaring up, he got a look at the other person the stranger had evidently come with.

It was another man, but noticeably younger, likely in his early-twenties at best. He was just a little shy of six feet in height and possessed a rather lanky build covered up by an outfit that could only be described as that of a butler, if perhaps a little snazzier and with slightly more vibrant colors, the mostly black outfit contrasting with visibly brighter inseams and straps.

Pale skin was complemented by sandy blond locks and with an emo-ish haircut to match. His looks were that of a pretty boy, the kind that Shay saw some female members of the tribe not so subtly fawning over whenever they saw certain models in looted magazines (though these women would claim otherwise), an appearance made all the more striking by heterochromia, the right eye golden in color while the left eye was a vibrant green.

"Good work," spoke the older man as he resumed his stroll, heading over to the others, all of whom were struggling to break free from their spots on the ground.

"Thank you," replied the pretty boy, even bowing like an actual fucking butler. He then looked to Shay and addressed him. "I do recommend not moving so much. It will only damage your hand more than necessary."

"F-Fuck you…!" Shay growled out, now trying to kick out with his legs.

"Bliss, disable him. We only need him to talk, not walk," commanded the older man.

The pretty boy suddenly lashed out with a stomp, snapping Shay's right leg at the knee. As the bandit cried out, the pretty boy – named Bliss of all things – casually reached out and took his left foot into his hands… right before giving a neat little twist, turning the limb around a perfect hundred-and-eighty degrees.

"FUCK!" Shay screeched as this happened.

Bliss promptly reached down and removed the instrument that kept Shay's hand pinned, evidently no longer assuming it to be needed.

Said item was none other than a fucking fork.

As Shay feebly cradled his hand and tried not to look at his legs, he managed to look in time to see that his fellow bandits were pinned by similar cutlery as well.

"You shitbags!" yelled out Kay. "You'll regret messing with-!"

Kay didn't get to finish his threat before the still unnamed man stomped down on his head. Death was instantaneous as the skull was completely crushed.

The man hadn't even given Kay the decency of glancing at him as this happened and he just kept on walking, albeit more forcefully now.

Shay could only watch in horrified silence as the man marched on with those forceful steps… directly towards the others.

"H-Hey, w-!" There went Lena, a hole made in her modest chest from the man's large boot.

Natsuki followed immediately thereafter, the brutish woman barely managing out a terrified snarl before the man made two steps upon her due to her position. Her lower abdomen went first before her head got separated as her throat got fully destroyed.

Speedy, once so full of bravado, even more so than Shay, let out quite the scream before the man walked all over his pinned right arm and then his skull.

It was over in a moment, if that, yet to Shay, it felt like an hour.

The man didn't even bother to wipe the blood and viscera off his boots before turning back towards Shay.

"…W-Wait! Hey!" Shay cried out as the man approached.

His words fell on deaf ears; the man neared without so much as acknowledging Shay's pitiful words. Instead, he just… walked right past Shay.

But not before grabbing him by his messy hair and giving a firm tug.

Shay screeched as he was now pulled along, his ruined legs bumping against the uneven ground in ways that sent needles of pain directly into his nerves.

The man then hefted Shay up so that they were almost eye level with each other. "Point in the direction of your camp. Now. And don't think of making any other noise to alert them. It will accomplish nothing… save for irritating me."

The man gazed intensely into Shay's eyes, the latter shuddering at the violence promised should he act up. Scary as Raven could be when angered, she wasn't anywhere nearby to intimidate him. This man, on the other hand, was obviously a different story.

Even so, Shay was loyal to the tribe. They'd had his back plenty of times before… he could only hope that wouldn't change any time soon.

Maybe if they all ganged up on these two fuckers…

With a shaky finger, Shay pointed in the direction of the camp. Said direction was the one most littered with traps and warnings.

The man changed course and lowered Shay back to the ground, once more dragging him along. "Bliss, disable all traps ahead as we near them, so stay sharp. I'm sure Rya would like a clear path."

Bliss bowed and then proceeded to follow along in deathly silence.

The bandit grimaced in a mixture of agony and frustration.

He sure hoped he'd made a good decision here…

In the capital of Vacuo, Valentino easily traversed the labyrinth-like structure of the city. Its many streets and alleyways were known to him for a long time, his family having visited this place many times in his distant youth.

It was almost enough to make him hesitate about what he was doing.

Almost.

But what kept him going was the goal that he shared with Veratyr and Alisa alike, that of discovering for what reason he does all this… as well as the blindingly beautiful future that was sure to be a result of their actions in the long run.

Besides, to live in Vacuo at all was to be subjected to the laws of Darwinism – survival of the fittest. Though many residents here believed themselves to abide by such a law, Valentino begged to differ. After all, the very fact that any modicum of civilization had been established out here for people to make a living in meant stability. Stability meant peace.

And peace… meant weakness.

It was high time to wake people up to the false reality they'd been living in for so long now, the lie they'd come to believe.

As he walked through the alleyways and into the populated areas, Valentino's Principle came into use, diseases of old being produced from within his very body and slowly seeping out from him.

He'd done well enough until now, using his position in the Crown and at the bar to spread his influence but now it came time to crank things up.

Though it would be minor at first, soon people will begin to feel the effect of his power. And from there, pandemonium will be quick to follow.

Until then, he just needed to abide by his purpose and Veratyr's orders to the letter.

Still… he couldn't help but wonder… just how soon it'll be before people end up like him?

That thought sent a shiver up his spine and elicited a smirk from him.

Ye gods, the suspense was just painful.

But not as painful as these people's lives would soon become.

All done.

Yeah, a very short chapter as stated above. Consider this the true aftermath chapter, in which things are quickly introduced or otherwise set up.

From here on out, Ozpin and his inner circle will be much more active, especially as the Liminals start getting down to business. Expect Salem's faction to soon follow as well. In fact, in the next chapter, it'll be starting off with a PoV from one of her agents to further establish how odd things have become and what must be done.

You can also expect the final members of Rya's group to be properly introduced alongside Rya herself soon enough. Perhaps not completely within the next chapter, but soon enough. Hope the ones that were introduced in this one piqued your interest because the other Liminals will be just as interesting once I can properly write them into the story.

Also, do look forward as well to when Ozpin and Qrow reach Mistral and Vacuo respectively, because that will be when things really kick off for character examination and development.

Until next time, everyone. Take care!