34

Carmine made for a rather strange sight as she stomped through the halls of Beacon. She was exhausted and irate, having spent the better part of the last four hours searching for Cinder to no avail. She had found remains of battle, charred brick and broken glass were all that remained with no contact from Raven and no sign of Cinder or Emerald. In the end the only arrest they had made was of Mercury, thanks to Winter who was sporting low aura and a few cuts and bruises.

The halls were quiet, Bart and Peter had made sure to take over managing the students, made sure they kept things as calm as possible, letting the dance end naturally. It was dark and dimly lit, her boots clashed with her dress but had there been anyone to see it they would have wisely backed away and made prompt business elsewhere due to the frankly murderous expression on her face.

Yes, Carmine was angry but with herself. She had failed, had messed up and all because she had gotten distracted. It was just another case of her failing her team one more time. And then nothing, no trace of Cinder to follow. With Beacon secured by Ironwood's forces, she'd spent the better part of the last few hours searching for Cinder. It became abundantly clear that she had either found a hiding place or had slipped the noose.

Outside the infirmary was team RWBY, clearly in different levels of distress. Yang was the worst, her make-up running from where she had been crying, eyes rimmed red though it looked like she had stopped crying. Weiss was clinging to her side, one hand gripping hers and the other using a handkerchief to try and clean her up a little, busying herself. Blake, sitting on Yang's other side, looked despondent and lost.

Blake was the first to spot her, concern flashing across her face, "We weren't allowed in…"

Carmine took a moment to school her expression, she couldn't take her anger out on them, not when she was the one at fault, "I'll go check on her." She knelt down to her sister, cupping her cheek so that she would look her in the eye, her violet eyes searching for reassurance in hers.

"Yang." She whispered, "I'm sure she's gonna be okay. I'm going to go check on her right now."

Her sister opened her mouth but a sob threatened to escape so she simply nodded, Weiss looked at Carmine, "I'll make sure she gets some rest once we know Ruby is going to be okay."

With a nod and a deep breath she pushed through into the infirmary. It was almost a blessing that there were only three people present as she entered. At first, the doctor looked up, prepared to give the team a piece of her mind before she noticed it was her. Beyond her, there were two beds that were occupied. One was by Jaune, who was sitting up, hunched over and legs dangling over the side as he watched over the other occupant. Ruby lay, still unconscious, lay there.

The machines beeped as they kept track of her vitals, a bag of blood hung by her, slowly dripping into the feed connected to her arm. There were bandages wrapped around her neck but she seemed to be breathing okay, her chest rising and falling. Jaune's eyes were sunken as he watched over her.

Doctor Violet got up from her desk, approaching her, "Professor. You're here to check on your sister?"

"Yeah, Doc." Carmine answered, unable to look away from the injured girl, "How bad was it?"

"It should have been fatal." Her bluntness struck Carmine, sending a trill of fear through her, "If it wasn't for Huntsman Arc's semblance, she would have succumbed. The laceration extended across most of her neck, including her carotid artery, but when I inspected it, the damage to the artery was already healed, along with a lot of the damage to her esophagus."

"So, she'll be okay?"

"Yes. Thanks to Branwen's first aid we were able to clear the blood from her lungs and give her a transfusion. She should make a full recovery in about a month, but can possibly be on her feet in a few days to a week depending on how she heals up. I want to make sure she doesn't tear her stitches so she won't be allowed to speak at all for a while."

"Stitches?" she asked, glancing at the doctor, "How many?"

The doctor hesitated before answering, brushing a strand of hair from her face, "Nineteen."

That… was not a small number, and would most certainly leave a scar if it was as deep as they implied. Aura was a miraculous thing. It could heal the body up to ten times faster than normal, bruises and cuts disappeared in minutes to hours while broken bones mended in a week or two. But at the end of the day it was just an acceleration of the body's natural process and could not do more than it. Thankfully Jaune's Amp let it actually enhance the body's healing, which, coupled with the rapid healing factor, let him help someone recover from what should have been fatal wounds. Carmine had lost count of the times that he saved her life, and in a weird way this was another one of those times.

She thanked the doctor and eased down next to her best friend, slowly wrapping an arm around his back and giving his arm a comforting squeeze, "Hey, Jaune." She whispered, "You hear that? She's gonna be okay. You saved her."

"I shouldn't have had to." She flinched at that, though she didn't know he wasn't talking about her. He stared down at his trembling hands, "She almost did it again, Ruby. She almost took you away from me."

"But she failed." Carmine couldn't tell if the reassurance had any effect, "The worst didn't happen."

There was no response and she didn't press him for one. Of anyone else on REmnant she knew what was going through his head. Jaune had the habit of taking the responsibility onto himself for everything, something they had time and again fought over, going back and forth over who was too hard on themselves. The answer was clear, it was him, even if he didn't want to realize it.

Her scroll pinged and she looked down to see a message from Ozpin requesting an emergency meeting. It looked like the night was going to get a lot longer.

"C'mon Jaune, Oz wants to talk and we need to hear what happened up there." He didn't reply but did stand up. He looked far more exhausted than she felt, though considering he'd used all of his aura it wasn't much of a surprise.

She tried not to look at the injured form of Ruby, it made her feel sick. Carmine couldn't tell if it was that she cared for the girl or if it was because it was her. Maybe it didn't matter. They had their answer, Ruby would live and team RWBy wouldn't have to suffer a loss because of her.

"Dammit, Ruby." She muttered, "How many times were we warned our penchant for sticking our nose in things was going to bite us in the ass?"

In the end she couldn't really blame the young woman. How could she when she'd have done the same thing? When she had done the same thing even if it didn't end the same way. Perhaps there was something to be said for the fact that despite taking countermeasures, it still happened that way.

The more things change, the more they stay the same.

Jaune followed her hollowly out of the infirmary where she found the rest of the team waiting with baited breath.

"Alright, girls." She put on her best cocksure smile, "It's just a flesh wound. Ruby's gonna be just fine. Don't ask her to sing though."

"As if she could carry a tune in the first place." Weiss joked but it felt brittle.

"I wanna see her." Now that she knew she wasn't going to suddenly be an only child, Yang was regaining some of her initiative, "I need to see her."

Her violet eyes bored into her silver one but she shook her head at her sister, "What you, and she, needs is rest. You will be able to visit her tomorrow. Think she'll thank you for worrying yourself sick over her? Go back to the dorm and come back after you've had some sleep."

"What will you be doing?" Leave it to Blake to ask the hard to answer questions. Not that she didn't know the answer but rather wasn't sure how much to tell the girls.

"I…" She trailed off, deciding at the last to go with some truth, "I will be meeting with the staff to decide our next steps though going after the person who did this. They can't be left at large."

She noticed how Jaune flinched in the corner of her eye, and by the looks of things, the team noticed him as well.

"And may I ask who this is?" Weiss, ever the diplomatic one, asked.

"This… is my best friend in the whole world and the guy who saved Ruby's life."

"Jaune?" The heiress looked uncertain as she said the name but it seemed like Jaune was finally coming out of his own head.

"Hey, Weiss." He said weakly, waving at her.

"Well anyways we need to get going." She pushed Jaune past the gobsmacked team, calling back to them, "Get some rest so you can visit your leader sooner."

-SY-

"Seven dead, thirteen injured!" JAmes Ironwood slammed his fist down onto Ozpin's desk, earning a glare from Glynda. No one looked happy in his office, even Ozpin looked the closest to being annoyed they had ever seen the man, "And nothing to show for it. Fall escaped into the Emerald forest."

Ozpin rubbed the bridge of his nose with one hand, "My condolences, James."

The man straightened himself and his uniform, "My apologies as well, old friend. I shouldn't have had an outburst like that."

He waved it away, "It is fine, James. It is a trying time for everyone."

The elevator door dinged open, emitting Carmine and Jaune into the room, making them the last to arrive. They were all of them tired from the fiasco they had been dealing with and all of them irritable for it.

"Sorry we're late. I was checking on Ruby's condition."

"How is Miss Rose?" To everyone's surprise it was JAmes that asked first, even before Qrow could ask about his niece.

It showed in the way Carmine's eye widened how much it surprised her, too, "She will make a full recovery."

"Good." Ironwood nodded, "No one so young should have to lose their life like that."

"Yeah." She didn't know what to say, "How bad was it on your end?"

"Seven dead, thirteen injured." He repeated for the new arrivals, now much more calm, "Fall punched through our cordon into the Emerald Forest. She was indiscriminate."

"I'm sorry." And she meant it, too. James nodded in thanks.

"They were brave soldiers doing their duty. You can thank them by fixing your mistake and catching her before she puts Vale in danger."

That caused Carmine to bristle though she didn't say anything.

"I think it is time we all hear what went on in the tower." Ozpin spoke up, cutting through the tension, "Mister Arc, now that you are here you can tell us exactly what transpired."

Slowly Jaune recounted what happened between him and Cinder. It quickly became apparent that he had gone off script. The original plan had called for Qrow and Raven to wait on standby in Ozpin's office and reinforce Jaune before he engaged Cinder. Instead he had attacked her without warning and his scroll had been destroyed in the fight, leaving Raven and Qrow no way to know something was happening until they heard the explosion that had shattered the glass of the floor they were fighting on.

"And you?" Ironwood turned to Qrow, "How did it take you two so long to get down there."

Qrow grimaced, scratching the back of his head, "At first we were gonna take the elevator like planned but it was locked down. Somehow, the safeties got tripped even though I know they're not supposed to be that delicate. Then we had to open a window and fly down. It took us maybe an extra thirty seconds."

"And that was enough time for Fall to make her escape." Ironwood finished, earning a nod from Qrow.

JAmes took a deep breath before opening them, "What the hell were you thinking Arc?!" The man in question flinched back, "I don't know what your personal vendetta is against this Fall woman but you not only put lives in danger, you caused unnecessary deaths!"

"Woah, you can't blame him for everything!" Carmine stepped between the two, "I was supposed to be keeping an eye on the kids, it's my fault Ruby ended up there, you can't lay all of the responsibility on him!"

"You're right." He rounded on her, "And while we had an operation going, where were you? That's right you were cavorting around with the students. I think it's become clear that neither of you can be trusted-"

"What?!" Carmine roared, stepping up to the imposing general. Though he towered over her, she was not daunted. Her angry silver eye boring into him, "The fuck is that-"

"Enough!" The voice of Ozpin echoed out unnaturally, a wave of power rippling from where he slammed the tip of his cane to the ground. Like a small, localized shockwave it buffeted and interrupted the two who seemed about to come to blows. Ozpin glared at the both of them, the look on his face furious, "Enough. I refuse to tolerate any fighting among my allies. We are all of us aligned. All of us joined in the fight against Salem."

"This is what She wants. This is the kind of discord she and her allies thrive on. Do not feed it." He continued, looking at each of them meaningfully.

Carmine crossed her arms, "I understand that we made mistakes. I won't deny that."

James nodded when Ozpin looked his way, "I do not like losing good men and women, Miss Rose. I just want to impress upon you the gravity of the situation."

"Trust me I understand that well enough."

Ozpin placed his cane against his desk, noticing Glynda and Qrow relaxing, Glynda's weapon disappearing back to her holster and Qrow's hand easing off of Harbinger's hilt. "Now if we could move on to our next steps. James?"

"I have the fleet arrayed around Vale, but committing a manhunt is difficult. Currently I have squads of drones on the ground distributing Fall and Sustrai's picture to the Vale authities with the story that they tried to sabotage the CCT."

"Which they did." Qrow added.

"Which they did." Ironwood nodded, "Currently my men have orders to tag and track, not to engage. They are also giving this information to Vale, to make sure that no one chooses to throw their life away challenging her."

Ozpin nodded thoughtfully, "What is the likelihood she can sneak into Vale without being detected?"

"Unknown." Was his swift answer, "Hopefully highly unlikely but we are operation under the assumption she very much can and will."

"Then you had no luck tracking her through the forest?"

"The forest was too dense and full of Grim for my men to be able to search without putting them in danger and even should they find her I fear the same outcome as those that tried to stop her from leaving."

"I do not disagree, James." Ozpin sat back before looking to Qrow, "Will you be ready to move on Mountain Glenn?"

"I'm ready, yeah, provided Ice Queen's up for it in time."

"Specialist Schnee will be recovered and back to active duty in Forty-eight hours."

"There you have it."

"And what of Raven?" Ozpin asked, "Still no word?"

"Zip." Qrow shook his head from side to side, upending the contents of his flask into his mouth, "Just freakin' disappeared on us when we needed her most."

"We should have known better than to rely on Raven, were it not for Atlas' casualties, I would ask if Raven had allied with Fall." Glynda sneered but it was Jaune to speak up in Raven's defence.

"She wouldn't do that." He said, voice still slightly distant, "She helped us of her own accord and for more than just self interest."

That was something that had Ozpin perking up, a sliver of hope shining through, "Are you certain?"

"Fairly certain. She's seen my life, seen what happens in the future, how things go wrong for not just everyone but for her. Raven knows that she can't sit out of it forever, especially as long as Knowledge is still vaulted. Even though we used the questions, Salem will still want it. But in our conversations she let things slip. Something doesn't add up with her."

"Do they ever?" Qrow snorted, "My bitch of a sister only cares about herself and, in some twisted way, her family. Still not sure how it all works in her head though."

"Then where did she go?" Glynda wondered aloud.

"I don't know, but she fought someone, and I'm certain it was Cinder." Carmine brought up, "I found a spot near the dorms that looked like the result of a localized warzone. Lots of crushed glass, too."

Which Cinder used, Ozpin could see the connection, "Perhaps she was wounded and retreated to the tribe?"

"I can go check." Qrow volunteered but Ozpin shook his head.

"For the moment it doesn't matter, we must deal with this crisis first before we think of trying to find Miss Branwen. Besides, we still need you to go to Mountain Glenn."

"We could go with them." Carmine volunteered, pointing to herself and Arc, "We can't head to Menagerie until Ruby recovers so I have nothing to do."

It would be safer to send more capable huntsmen along on the mission. Though by all means the Mountain Glenn operation was supposed to be simple. With Roman being the biggest threat and already flipped to their side, arresting and stopping the White Fang should be relatively easy. And yet Cinder was still on the loose as well and may be entering Vale in the near future.

The deciding factor ended up being a nugget of information he had retained from what CArmine had told him of her past, in particular the times she had encountered Cinder Fall. Not only did Rose and Arc know Cinder's capabilities, Carmine had something of an ace in the hole against the woman.

"I think I need you on standby here in Vale, in case Cinder shows her hand. I need your eye, I refuse to take any more chances."

"I will have my ships on standby to move in on Mountain Glenn when Qrow and Winter give the signal." James added.

"Good." Ozpin took a moment to look at everyone gathered before him. He had never before thought of expanding his circle to the degree it had now. Not just the amount of people involved but the amount of information they had been trusted with. He was under no illusion that he would have done any of it willingly. Instead, this situation had fallen into his lap, crashed through the ceiling like a drunken Ursa. It was easy with hindsight to see what he needed to do, that was the nature of making mistakes. The key, he had found over his long, long life, was to keep moving forward.

One would think that such a simple concept would be easy but humans, himself included, tended to overthink. Oftentimes the hardest thing was to plant one foot in front of the other.

"Alright everyone get some rest. We have a lot of work to do on the morrow."

-SY-

Adam Taurus was a busy man. He had a revolution to plan, after all. Overthrowing an oppressive system couldn't be done as a hobby. One had to commit, give their all, and it was something he had made his peace with long ago. He was willing to make the hard choices, do the difficult tasks, so that no one else had to. That was the nature of being a leader, and it was why his soldiers had such fierce loyalty towards him.

Adam led from the front, not the rear, not like Sienna did. Oh, what she did was important, someone had to sit back and make the decisions and do the paperwork. But he didn't consider her a real leader, she was akin to a figurehead, someone who was more a symbol than anything else.

That was why he felt it necessary to make his own decisions, for the good of faunuskind, even if they made him sick to his stomach. One such decision had stumbled into their camp outside Vale, one that had been hidden away from Vale and Atlas very carefully. Adam didn't like surprises and yet that was what he was faced with when Cinder Fall entered his tent, furious and spinning a tale of some kind of ambush. It reeked of failure and incompetence and he couldn't help but sneer at her.

"So you failed." The comment earned a heated glare, but it was impotent. Maybe she could kill him but he knew she needed him for her goals, and that gave him power. Unfortunately that went both ways, the White Fang needed her, or at least her resources, "Don't tell me you expect me to clean up after you?"

"Of course not!" She snapped, "But plans need to change." She saw his grit teeth and added, "Not by much but they will need to be adjusted."

"Very well." He spat out, the act of talking to her like torture, "What is it you propose?"

Cinder smiled, wide and nearly feral, in the dim illumination of his tent's dust lamps he thought he could see an actual glow in her eyes, "I think we need to take a more personal role in things."