The Purpose of a weapon

„System reboot 95%, 96%, 97%, 98%, 99% 100%.

System start..."

Penny opened her eyes and stared at the ceiling, painted to look like a nightsky full of constellations of bright dots, but those weren't Remnant's nightsky.

She curled her toes, her fingers, moved her right hand, left hand, then left leg, right leg.

"All systems online?" She run another checkup, and everything seemed to be working properly.

She felt the tap on her right hand, turned her head from the starry ceiling and looked directly at the tiny robot, it's binocular eyes staring into her green orbs with both hope and worry.

"Salutations!" She tried to greet, and although robot jumped in place, wiggling it's tiny arms in joy, Penny realized that she didn't hear it, or herself. She quickly checked her audio and it appeared to be turned off.

"Why did I turned it off?" She thought as she switched the sounds back to default and wanted to search her memory to find out the reason, but the recent memories appeared to be blocked? She tried to access the data, but she couldn't.

"You woke up." She suddenly heard, and turned her head towards Annatar, who was sitting near a desk, his back turned to her, writing some sort of journal. "For a moment I worried that this state will last longer. Are you well?"

"Affirmative! Every sys… Everything seems fine." She got up from the bed, still trying to access her memories from before the shutdown. "How long was I turned... I mean, how long was I asleep?"

"For quite a while, but it's unimportant since you are well now." He flipped a page and resumed his writing, and only know Penny realized that there are many people outside, cheering and laughing. A celebration? She quickly checked the list of holidays…

"They celebrate our victory against the White Fang." Annatar explained briefly, like he already knew what she was thinking. "All thanks to you."

"White Fang?" Penny thought, and the memories were finally unlocked.

Much to her horror, whole fight played out again, the screaming of an enraged crowd ringing in her ears, the battle within the forge…

"I…" She muttered as the sound of cracking spine echoed in her head, and the fanger's scream of anguish. She hid her face in her hands, both terrified and sad.

"It returned, didn't it?" Annatar questioned, but Penny didn't react. "You are so different, yet so similar." She looked at him from between her fingers.

"What do you mean?"

"Normal people also don't want to remember their evil deeds, but, as far as I am concerned, that fang was a thief, willing to pillage and wound for a cause he barely understood. He nearly killed one of my more valuable men." His voice was dispassionate, cold, like he spoke about a piece of filth, not a sentient being. "And yet, he wasn't properly punished for his transgression."

"What!?" Penny snapped, much to her own surprise. She hasn't snap on anyone before. Yet Annatar seemed unbothered.

"He is still alive." Annatar hissed with disdain, his pen making long lines across the page, while Penny's eyes widened. "He tried to hurt my men. He hurt you." He pierced the page, and with a disappointed glare he ripped out the page, crushed it in his hand and Penny watched how the paper turns to ash. "Death would be a just punishment for that."

"It wouldn't be just." Penny spoke up, and Annatar looked at her confused.

"Why?"

"Because it's wrong…" Penny tried to explain, but Sauron interrupted her by slamming his fist against the desk.

"Why are you like this?"

A long pause before Penny spoke.

"I… don't understand your question." When she said that, Sauron looked her deep in the eyes.

"You stopped the attack on my forge, saved my valuable servant's life." Sauron raised his voice. "And yet there you stand, acting like what you did is wrong." He seemed to calm down a bit. "I wish to know why do you care that much."

"It's because he is a living being, like you and me." She replied after a while.

"There are none like you and me, Peny Polendina." Annatar stated. "We are both one of our kinds."

"I meant that he also has a life." Penny continued regardless, and Annatar listened carefully. "He has friends who are worried about him, dad and mom who care about him. His life is as important as mine."

"But unlike you, he was foolish, and paid the price."

"It didn't change the fact that I ruined his life…"

"He ruined it himself, you were just an unwilling deliverer of justice." Annatar remarked, taking Penny aback.

"Justice?" She repeated. "But what I did wasn't just or fair!"

"Justice is blind and does not know compassion." Sauron remarked, continuing his writing, and Penny just stood, thinking about what her friend just said.

She played a memory of her meeting with one of the judges in the Atlasian Hall of Law, when they stood before a large statute of a lady wearing a blindfold, holding a set of golden scales in her right hand, and a crystal heart in the other.

"Why is this lady wearing a blindfold?" She asked, and an old judge assigned to tour her chuckled.

"She is Lady Justice, and the blindfold is a metaphor. – She blinded herself to judge everyone equally, according to their deeds, without personal biases." Penny looked at the statue again.

"Ohhh… So she holds the scales to weigh if people are good or bad?"

"That's right!" Old judge said and gave her a friendly smile, like one that teacher gives to his favorite student. "You are quickly catching up!"

Penny smiled after a while, more than happy to receive a praise, then looked at an item in the Lady Justice right hand – a Ruby shaped into a heart, which puzzled her for a moment.

"And why is she holding a heart?" She decided to ask after not being able to find a logical solution, pointing at the crystal.

"It's to remind us, the judges, that being a judge does not only mean to deliver punishment, but also to show compassion." Penny looked confused for a moment.

"But, isn't it against the first directive? To judge people equally, without personal biases?"

"Justice is blind, but not heartless." Old judge quoted. "During my career, I met a lot of bad men and women who didn't show any remorse for what have they done, and didn't deserve a second chance. But most were ones, who made a single mistake, or showed genuine remorse for what they did. As a judge, we must be able to walk into 'other people's shoes', to show compassion and kindness, instead of condemning them right away." Penny remained motionless for some time, processing the man's words.

"So, it doesn't mean to overlook someone's misdeeds, but to understand them?" She sheepishly asked.

"That's right." Old judge nodded his head. "And to not chose the greatest punishment possible."

The memory stopped, and Penny looked at Annatar with sad eyes.

"Your view on the Lady Justice is cold." She stated while Annatar flipped another page.

"Time have taught me well." Sauron stated. "But it matters not, for I have more pending question for you, friend." He turned to her. "Why are you afraid of being a weapon?"

The question startled her for a bit, but Annatar patiently waited for Penny to gather her thought.

"It's because… weapons are made to destroy." She already could tell that Annatar will find this view naïve, but she spoke from the bottom of her heart. She feared that her dad built her only for that purpose.

Nothing more.

Annatar slowly nodded his head, then reached underneath the desk and pulled his favorite hammer.

"Can this hammer be a weapon?" He asked. "It can after all, smash skulls and crack bones as easy as it shapes metal."

"It can, but it isn't it's primary function." Penny pointed out, and Annatar put the hammer back on the table.

"Then, can my fist be a weapon?" He shook his right hand, clenching his fingers. "I can as easily break noses as I swing a hammer."

"Yes, but…"

"…But it's not the primary function?" Annatar finished Penny sentence. "What I am trying to tell is that weapons are just tools you use, like this hammer, like a fist, like kindness. Even humans can be weapons."

"But some tools are better at… You know."

"Isn't it because of the creatures of the Grimm? Weapons have to be quite powerful to deal with them effectively." Annatar remarked, and Penny silenced. Indeed, most of Atlas's military hardware is designed to fight the Grimm, but it's lethality against the humans…

"Don't blame the tool for doing its job, blame the hand using it." Annatar added, and at first, Penny found his statement logical, if not for a small detail.

"Then, if I am a weapon and I hurt someone, by your logic, I shouldn't blame myself?" Sauron's smiled a little.

"Indeed." He closed the book, Penny quickly read it's title, being 'The Chronicle of the Great War'. "If being a weapon is part of your nature, then you should just accept it and move on."

Penny didn't answer right away, instead contemplating her friend's words. She often wondered how people would react if they learnt that she is in fact an advanced android with still developing combat capabilities, designed to be stronger, faster and better than the Huntsman? Would they accept her, or instead give her a wary looks?

And Annatar's words tempted her to stop thinking about that - she is designed that way, it's not her fault, she is not hurting anyone on purpose…

"I can't agree with you." She suddenly spoke up, and Annatar raised his right eyebrow. "What you said sounds more like denying accountability."

"Denying accountability?" Sauron scoffed, but Penny pressed on.

"The words you used. – 'unwilling deliverer of justice', 'blame the hand, not the tool', 'Justice is blind and does not know compassion'. – They were meant to downplay the fact that I hurt, if not nearly killed someone."

"I still don't understand why do you care that much." Sauron said with a snarl.

"And I wish to know why you don't care at all." Penny asked back.

Both remained silent for some time, only sounds of the crowd outside accompanying them, while the robot changed into the cube, expecting trouble.

Annatar stood up and extended his right hand towards Polendina.

"It's because…" Much to Penny's shock, his hand turned black, and started to fall off like a black liquid, her diagnostics unable to comprehend what is going on.

'…I was repurposed to be a weapon as well." Mairon stated, and for a moment, the whole room erupted with light, as bright as the sun. Penny's eyes quickly protected her from any kind of damage as she stared at Annatar's hand, now made of living flame.

It was unbelievable, there was nothing like that in Atlasian data banks, maybe in some fairy tales…

And just like the flame appeared, it was gone, covered by skin, and Penny couldn't utter a word.

"Say what you have suspected from the first day we met." Annatar encouraged her, his voice calm yet harsh.

She quickly recounted her prior visits in the forge, all the talks they had, strange language he inscribed his tools with, the starry sky, unknown continents like Arda, names like Aule, Feanor, all that came to one thing she was now certain of.

"You are not a human." She concluded.

"Never said I was one." He replied, and Penny quickly recounted their talks.

"Then, what are you?"

"Just a Humble Smith brought into existence to create wonders, reforged in Rage to fight the pointless war for a cruel, uncaring Overlord." Sauron replied. "Under him, you either hardened, or perished."

"What kind of war? On Arda?" She questioned further, but Annatar shook his head.

"It's unimportant currently, for it belongs to the past…"

"No it's not - it still affects you." Sauron's eyes squinted.

"And if you maintain this 'caring' attitude, it will weigh you down too, make your nights restless, forever held up by your 'supposed mistakes'." He stated, his face grim, like a polished steel. "If I allowed myself to that, I would be dead. Or worse." And Penny didn't know what to say about that.

Suddenly, his head darted to the side. "I think someone have came for you." He said, and only now Penny realized that she probably has tons of missed calls.

"Oh no!" She quickly run off the room as the vehicle stopped before the forge, leaving Annatar behind.

"Are you sure it's here Sir?" One of two men in the vehicle asked their commanding officer, a woman with dark skin, wearing a large, blue beret and a plain off white shirt.

"No doubt about it." Ciel Soleil got out of the car. "Stay in the vehicle, you will serve as a backup if something goes wrong."

"Yes Sir!" Driver replied while Ciel took a great look at the forge, a place Penny visited quite a few times already. She already memorized it from the outside, but it's insides remained a mystery, just like the Forge's owner.

Suddenly, the door opened and Penny run out of the building.

"Ciel!" Penny quickly run up to the car.

"There you are." Ciel commented. "We tried to contact for at least four hours, but you gave us no response."

"I'm sorry…"

"Unfortunately, due all of the damage caused by the fang and the police everywhere, we couldn't get to you earlier." Ciel interrupted. "Status report."

Before Penny could react to the command, familiar face stood in between.

"You don't bear any resemblance to her, which means you are her caretaker, not a relative." Annatar spoke, and Ciel looked all over him.

"You must be Annatar, the so called 'Dream Smith'." Annatar gave her a royally bow. "Penny spoke about you being her friend."

"And I'm honored to call her my friend. And may I ask you for your name?"

"Ciel Soleil, and as you have guessed, I'm Penny's caretaker." Annatar nodded his head. "And I assume you were the reason she didn't answer any of my calls."

"By the Sun, I wouldn't dare!" He laughed a bit. "She defended my forge alongside my men, but one of the fang's got badly hurt, which sent Penny into a state of distress."

Ciel's face, stoic and composed, for a moment slipped as she looked at Penny with clear worry.

"Did you…" Ciel bit her tongue, but Penny knew what she wanted to say: "Did you used Floating array?"

"She is surprisingly proficient with her fists!" Annatar grabbed Penny' right hand and showed it to Ciel. "Such strength in such young age! Remarkable!"

Ciel looked into Annatar's eyes, trying to figure out if he is acting or he truly does not know, and it seemed that the Smith was gullible. Intelligent, friendly, charismatic, yet gullible and old-fashioned, just like the report made by the intelligence said. That, plus the fact that no footage about the fight in the forge was released means that Penny didn't use floating array, but she wasn't entirely sure sure. But it's up to Pietro to check her logs.

Soleil recomposed herself, her stoic face returning.

"I am glad that nothing happened to you after all." She said and opened the car door and gestured for Penny to hop in. "Now come, your father is worried about you."

Penny nodded her head and approached the vehicle while Annatar walked up to Ciel and leant to her.

"She went through a lot in a short amount of time, so don't be too harsh on her."

"I don't need you to remind me how to do my job." Ciel replied with a stern look, but then, Annatar put something in her hands.

"And this little thing is hers." Ciel looked at the tiny robot in shape of a box, it's binocular eyes staring at Ciel with curiosity. "Do not separate them." Annatar turned on his heel and wanted to go back into the forge…

"Wait!" Penny suddenly shouted, prompting Annatar to stop while Ciel looked at Polendina with a risen eyebrow. "A minute, please."

At first reluctant, Ciel left a heavy sigh.

"One minute, no more." Penny nodded, activated the timer in her head and run up to Annatar while he stood beside the anvil.

"Still trying to be genuinely kind?" Annatar chuckled.

"You feel like you owe me something, right?" Penny went straight to the point. "That means I can ask you for something?"

"By all means! I will do anything for you!"

"Then, I wish to know your name." She asked, and Annatar blinked few times.

"I'm not sure if I understand your…"

"All the clues you gave me indicate, along with no prior knowledge about technology or dust, that not only you are not a human, but also you are not from Four Kingdoms, and you must be far older than forty years." She quickly spoke, feeling the pressure of time on her shoulders. "This makes me suspect that the name 'Annatar' is not your real name, correct?"

'Succes probability: 56%"

Annatar left a chuckle deep in his throat.

"I bared many names, some graceful, others no better than an insult." He answered. "For what name you ask? One given to me by those who adored me, or by my foes?"

Penny thought about the potential question, timer reaching 20 seconds before running out, as Annatar awaited.

"The name… which appears when you think about yourself." Sauron raised his eyebrow as Penny continued. "When you think 'I'm sad', 'I'm happy' , 'I'm hungry' – what name comes to mind?" Annatar nodded his head, and opened his mouth.

"It's S…" And for the second time during this day, he was confused and unsure.

He used the name Sauron for the longest, both to demand respect from his subjects, and to terrify his foes, but he never thought about himself as 'Sauron', for it was an insult, a mockery given to him by the elves, meaning 'Abhorred'. He despised the name given by Morgoth – Gorthaur, the name 'Annatar' was always a ruse, and Mairon he forsook eons ago.

So when he though "I am…", no name came to his mind.

"I… don't know." Hearing that Penny tilted her head to the side.

"You… don't know your name?" She asked, not sure what to think.

"A minute ma'am." Ciel called out from the car while Annatar shared one last look with Penny.

"I will answer this question, but you have to give me some time." He said. "Is this fine with you?"

"Affirmative!" She replied and almost saluted, but held her hand.

"Penny." Ciel's voice made Penny turn on her heel.

"Then, until next time!" She gave him a cheerful smile. "And… Thank you." She run off to the her caretaker's car while the Smith followed her with his gaze and waved his hand.

"Farewell, friend." Mairon said as Penny disappeared within the vehicle.

Friend. What a strange word.

The Purpose of a Heart.

„C'mon, c'mon!" Crowd of the Red Lions and the Black wolves cheered as one of their strongest members arm wrestled against Nora.

Sweat fell down his cheeks, but Nora pressed on, and finished this contest with a ground slam.

„WOHOO!" She sprung her arms high above her head while the crowd cheered, while Black wolves leader massaged his aching arm

„You don't look like it but you have incredibly strong arm!" He praised his opponent, clenching his teeth in pain.

„You were not bad either!" Nora said. „I see you train at the gym?"

„Aye! Not enough I guess."

„What are they feeding you at Beacon to get you that strong?" Someone asked, and Nora touched her lip and thought about it.

„Hmm, last time in the cafeteria there were eggs, some meat… Hey Ren, what was yesterday for breakfast?" She turned towards Ren, who all that time sitting on a bench, clearly contemplating something. When he gave her no response, she angrily pouted her cheeks.

„If you ever decide to drop out from Beacon, you can always join us." Wolves leader offered.

„You and your boyfriend are always welcome!"

„Nah, No thanks, we are good where we are now!" Nora rejected the offer, surprising literally no one. „And Ren… is not my boyfriend." She added, her voice little down, but before leader could ask or shrug, her smile to returned seconds later. „Alright, enough chitty-chat, who is next!?

People around then cheered as the next contender stepped forward.

While people around celebrated, Ren again recounted the whole fight against the Fang, looking where he made mistakes.

„I let that faunus spit venom into my eye, which allowed the rest of the fang to separate me from Nora. I also should have helped Jaune…" He berated himself again and again. „It was so easy to avoid…"

Even though people around then cherished the victory, he wasn't celebrating with them. Then won mostly thanks to luck, Jaune and…

He shuddered at the memory of the Fangs, suddenly struck with unimaginable terror. What kind of semblance was that? And who…

„Greetings to you." Someone sat right beside him, and before Ren could turn his head, a hot-dog appeared right before his face. „Would you like some food called ‚A Hot-dog'?"

Ren turned his head and came face to face with tall blond man wearing casual, yet totally not compatible with each other clothes. He had baggy hoodie, brown trousers and sunglasses on the top of his head. That alone wasn't so bad but the colors didn't match one another.

And yet, he somehow looked just fine in it.

„I don't really like meat." Lie replied, and the man nodded in understanding.

„I wonder why people called the sausage in bread a 'hot dog'." Stranger left a deep chuckle in his throat. „Is this a joke made by the collective humanity, or a miscommunication? What do you think my fellow?" At first slightly baffled by the topic, Ren shrugged his arms.

„I'm not sure, hot dog was always a hot dog." Stranger gave him a small smile.

„Another one of life's many mysteries it seems." He said, then extended his right hand. „May I ask you for your name?"

„Lie Ren." Ren took the hand. „And yours is…?"

„Mellon." Stranger firmly shook Ren's hand, and much to the huntsman surprise, all of Mellon's emotions seemed to be hidden behind a veil. „I assume you are one of two Hunters who came to the Brodytown's aid."

Just when he said that, Nora defeated another competitor, much to the crowd's amusement.

„We are still in-training." Ren clarified as Nora shouted in victory.

„Yet your intervention ensured safety of countless of my people." Strange man remarked. „For that, you have my gratitude."

Ren just nodded his head, smiled and looked after Nora. Many people came to them today to say their thanks and invited them to the after party, and while he wanted to go back to Beacon, Nora joined the celebrations, which in turn forced Ren to join too, to keep his eyes on her.

Nora can go little overboard if left unchecked.

„Are you troubled my fellow?"

„No no, everything is fine…"

„If everything was fine, you would have far different demeanor Lie Ren." Man calmly stated. „Would you mind telling me?"

Part of Ren felt an inexplainable urge to unload his worries, but took a deep breath and retained control.

„I would like to not talk about it." He replied, feeling Mellon's gaze. „I mean, we just met, it would be…"

Nora slammed another contender, and another roar echoed across the street.

„No need to explain, I understand." Sauron said with a smirk. This one has a strong mind. „You are a type of person who keeps his struggles to himself, right?"

Before Ren could give an answer, Sauron pointed at Nora. „She, on the other hand, is a complete opposite, is she not?"

„C'mon, I know you can do better!" Nora encouraged a female member of the black wolves before defeating her as well. "Twenty-seven in a row!"

"Yeah, she is like that." Ren said, and as he watched her having all this fun he couldn't help himself but feel happy too.

"Fascinating." Mellon stated.

"You mean?"

"You sacrifice your own happiness to give her a happy life." He looked Ren deep in the eyes. "You want to balance her out, act like her anchor, a safe heaven, not realizing that she in fact has this role."

Before Ren could utter a protest, Mellon continued.

"You are like a mountain made of ice, underneath which is a volcano, spewing flames made of your fears. Do you stay by her side because you are inseparable, or because she is the only one connecting you to the innocent, more simple times?"

"That's enough." Ren shut the discussion, part of his brain wondering how the hell that guy knows all that?

"Pardon me, I didn't mean to push that hard." Mellon said with friendly, yet apologetic tone. "To mend this misdeed, I wish to tell you a story, would you like to hear it?"

At first Ren wanted to refuse, but stranger's knowledge sparked his curiosity, and idea popped in Lie's mind that maybe, if he agrees, stranger will say something about himself? So Ren just nodded his head.

"There were once two men, Camlost and Felagund were their names.

Camlost was a mighty warrior, living his life to its fullest. He embarked on the quest to fulfill the goal given to him by the King – to retrieve the light stolen by the Evil. Felagund was a wise king, noble and powerful. When Camlost came, seeking help in his quest, Felagund joined him and laid down his kingship to repay the debt he took when Camlost's father's, Barahir, saved his life during the battle against the Great Enemy.

As they and their company made of ten more men made their way towards the fortress in the North, they had to pass through the Island ruled by the mighty Necromancer, who saw everything and everyone from the top of his tower. To fool him, Felagund casted a spell that protected them from the Sorcerer's gaze."

Ren couldn't help but notice a parallel here – The first time he used his semblance was to hide himself and Nora from the Grimm.

"Their disguise worked, they appeared to look like soldiers serving the Dark Overlord in the North." Sauron continued. "But they made a mistake, for the Overlord ordered every force going North to report themselves, and their fast movement made the Necromancer suspicious, so he ordered their capture."

"If they could come up with a believable excuse, maybe they could get away?"

"Oh, they tried, speaking about the 'secret mission' tasked to them by one of the Black Captains, but the Sorcerer wasn't fooled. Suspecting a trick or an illusion, he started to chant a spell to remove their disguises, but Felagund struck back with his own song."

"They sung?" Ren asked, little surprised.

"Indeed, they were locked in the fight of both voices and wills, one determined to pierce through the illusion, the other – to protect his companion, even if meant sacrificing his life. And, even though the Necromancer won the duel of songs, Felagund managed to protect the identity of his companion, at the cost of his own life."

When Mellon said that, he paid close attention to Ren's reaction.

"So he sacrificed himself for his friend." Ren concluded. "I get that Camlost survived?"

"Indeed." Sauron said, simultaneously leaving a sigh of relief in his mind. "Thanks to the efforts of the love of his life, Camlost escaped, and continued his journey North."

"So Felagund's sacrifice wasn't for nothing." Mellon raised his eyebrow.

"Was it really?" Mellon questioned. "He left his Kingdom, which then led to its downfall, he left his younger sister behind, then perished for other man's dream."

"You say that like he did something wrong." Ren commented in turn, eyeing Mellon with curiosity.

"All I am saying is that sacrificing yourself for a singular cause limits your perspective." Sauron said. "Have you ever thought that by trying to remain by her side, you rob others of the happy memories they could make with you? That your life, without her, means little?"

"If it means that Nora can be happy, then that's fine with me." Ren remarked, clearly tired by the discussion.

"Being a friend does not mean tying someone to yourself, but allowing to follow their own path." Annatar said and Ren decided to remain silent on that one. "A word of advice before we part ways." Sauron said as he looked Ren deep in the eyes. "Pay close attention to all of your friends, for they might be in greater peril than she was ever in."

Before Ren could make a comment on that, Nora run towards him.

"Ren look, I won a jacket!" Nora proudly announced as she showed him a thick black, leather jacket. "After we repaint it, it will be perfect for winter!"

"It's… stylish." He said. "Too black for my taste."

"Hmmm, but should we repaint into pink or green? Or maybe a bit of both?" She wondered out loud. "Gonna ask Coco for advice on that! But anyway, about what you were talking with that hot dog guy?"

"I am not sure if he was a hot-dog guy." Ren looked around, but Mellon was nowhere to be found, it looked like he vanished in a thin air, while Nora noticed that Ren is really uncomfortable with telling her.

'Ohh, so he was a spy!" She giggled and sat beside Ren. "Sharing secret messages and all that!"

"No we just…" He wanted to say but Nora put a finger on his lips.

"Shhh! It's classified." She gave him a wink, and after a moment, Ren's mood brightened.

"So, while I was talking, how many you have beaten in the arm-wrestling?" He changed the topic.

"I lost count after fourty nine!"

Sauron looked at the tiny pendrive in his hands as he walked through the crowd, greatly satisfied.

For one, he managed to establish a connection with another member of the fellowship. And two, from the boy's reaction it looked like he was unaware of the Tale of Beren and Luthien, which means so far, only Ruby Rose, and potentially her relatives, had some connection to Arda.

"Or maybe other Silver-Eyed are connected?" He thought to himself. "But in order to check this theory, I have to find other Silver-Eyed." Yet another task to accomplish.

And now, for the third part.

He showed the pendrive, full of dirt on the current governor, to the designated goon.

"Make sure that this devices contents reach all available news outlets, government institutions and common folk living in the Capital, but don't tell anyone you got it from me. You have time until this evening."

"He won't know what hit him!" Goon saluted and walked away, and Sauron couldn't help but laugh.

He just loves when everything goes according to plan.

Authors note

The second of the two shorter chapters I planned.

I know it does not bring much to the table, but, just like a previous chapter, It will serve as a fundation for the future.

That being said, The Aftermatch is still in the making, many threads needs to be tied up, but it's designation changed from Chapter 15 to 16.

Now, to answer your reviews:

In response to Dhestrya:

Nice

In response to RedHood001:

"This chapter does work to show Team CRDL what it's like to be on the other end of bullies. Whether or not they learn from it... I kinda hope they do because I can see how these characters could be developed if they were given proper attention for good or ill." - Honestly, I put this chapter to sorta introduce CRDL's POV, so in the future when they make more frequent apperance, it won't come as a suprise.

In fact, I have a plan to develop them a bit, but that's in the future.

"Neither Morgoth nor Aule got permission to do what they did, but the former decided to double down on the aggression while the latter almost tried to destroy the dwarves when he thought Iluvatar wouldn't approve. It was decided that Morgoth's machination would ultimately benefit the Great Music, corrupted as it may be now, until Dagor Dagorlath if I'm not mistaken. Either way, yeah, free will is emphasized but that doesn't mean consequences don't exist." - A theme with Tolkien's works is that Evil, as bad as it is, diminish over time on it's own due to it's self-destructive nature.

Morgoth is imprisoned, Balrogs, Dragons, werewolves and vampires went extinct, and orcs cover and hide in places like Moria. By the time of the third age, Morgoth's reign is like a bad memory - it happened, by the world moved on.

"That being said, I'm pretty sure the Valar were forbidden from going full blast against Men after or before Beleriand fell." - Well, I am not entirely sure about this one, but Valar's didn't go full ham against men because of their moral code, that was the Valar's choice to not harm the humans.

"If I'm not mistaken, not even Morgoth did anything in Middle Earth that required the All-Father to directly act with such a calamity." - Yep, it's because Morgoth, despite his power, spread himself too thin. He marred Arda, that's true, he waged war against the First and Second born, but Noldor's and the Humans were more than capable of dealing with him

Take Dagor Aglareb for example - Morgoth's army was annihilated, which then led to the siege of his fortress.

Sauron on the other hand, was way more direct and insidious - He turned Numenor, the Kingdom founded by the noble men who fought alongisde the Valar against Morgoth in the War of Wrath, into the Kingdom of depravity, which would cause untold damage to the Middle Earth.

"Oh yeah, it didn't even cross my mind that the Bane would be in effect here because that one applied only to the One Ring." - Oh no, it's not THAT kind of Bane.

I meant the Summer's Bane. More on that in the future.

Stay safe!

In response to Teo Char:

Ouch, that was harsh.

"it doesn't bring anything interesting." - I mean I get, in that chapter there was no Sauron, but these were cut fragments from the previous chapters, which I wanted to add at some point, but I couldn't find a place, so I published them like that.

"I'm not reading this fanfic for some randoms from the white fang. I'm reading it for Sauron in the RWBY world. You've developed the fang thread completely senseless and introduced a lot of characters who are flat anime extras. " - And isn't the Fang part of this world?

I get that I should put them in better, but I want to expand the Fang if Sauron is meant to interact with them at some point. I have structures, factions within etc. And tbh, it's hard to make a morally ambigious faction if only known members in Vale being Adam (who already have a bad rep), Blake (Who run off) and the Elder (Who is a no-person), while the rest is the nameless army falling in droves.

If I want to show Fang's descent into what it was in the Volume 3-4, then I have to have some basis. Right now I wanted to show that the Fang views itself as a group of vigilanties fighting for justice and "Better Vale", not a "Exterminate all of Humanity RIGHT NOW" group.

The thing with the White Fang is that, in the show, it's a faction without clear motivations. And I want to show that the Fang HAS some point. And to do that, I need some side characters.

"In the comics and manga, you can also see that they're in the better group in their year. Cardin comes from a wealthy family and despite his arrogance, he competed with Weiss for first place in the tests." - I didn't read the comics or manga, I relay on the sources from the show and a fandom wiki.

Didn't they run of from Ursa Major, Cardin getting knocked on his ass by it? In classes it looked like they slacked of, they threw paper balls at Jaune and all that?

Plus, they still don't have semblances. Not even Cardin, despite him being 'strong'. In my eyes, that's not a sign of a powerful team. Not yet.

As for them making it to the tournament - All named teams made it, we never saw the trials taking place. Feel free to correct me if I am wrong on this one.

But I am not denying that CRDL won't get strong, I have a plan to make them a powerful team at some point, I am not going to abandon them. But am I firm believer that, for an asshole character to grow, it needs to get his ass kicked first. But I received your feedback, I will be more respectful to them from now on.

But one thing, about them being in the better group - In the show, we only know team RWBY (On top of their classes), JNPR (ALSO on top of their class) and now CRDL too?

As Syndrome said - "If everyone is special, no one is."

"when the CFVY team massacres the team's ego for tormenting Velvet and the rest cry, Cardin fends off Yatsuhashi, physically one of the strongest characters in RWBY." - So, you are basically saying that the rest of Team CRDL got their asses kicked by Coco, Fox and Velvet while Cardin was locked in a stalemate against Yatsu? I mean, it's kinda ironic, because that's what happened in the prior chapter - Cardin allowed himself to be distracted while his teammates were picked off one by one by a more coordinated foe.

"Dove is also a skilled swordsman" I think as far as I have potrayed him, he only lost a duel against Blake due to her underhand tactic, and he was winning his fight against one of the Brothers, until second one attacked from behind.

"After Jaune, they mostly stopped being bullies too." We didn't reach this point in the story yet, so they are still bullies.

Overall, I understand from where the critque is coming from and I will consider it in the future.

I will be more respectful. At least, I will try.

Stay Safe!

That concludes the Responses.

Have a great month everyone!

DJ and Konsilio.