Lord of Gifts in the Forgotten Realm

by Djoklecjan

After his defeat, as the last act of defiance, Sauron strikes a deal with his former Master, and finds himself in the Forsaken World, which is set for a downfall. Will Annatar change Remnant's future for the better? Or Sauron will make it even worse? Or, perhaps, Mairon will change some of his views?

32. Chapter 23: Pull the Trigger

Pull the Trigger

Beacon Academy

„I just can't believe it!" Weiss circled in the middle of the room with her fists clenched.

"She ditched us again!" Yang angrily added, also circling the middle of the room and mirroring the Schnee.

"Does she even know what the term 'team' means?!"

"She could at least tell me as her partner!"

"She was always acting suspicious, right since the very first day!"

"Why can't she trust me? I tried to earn her trust, what she did to earn mine?!"

"She hides something, that's for sure!"

"Arghhh She is just the worst!"

Ruby looked away with an awkward face. Technically, she got what she wanted – Weiss and Yang finally found something in common, though not exactly in a way Ruby wanted.

"Did she turn her scroll off again?" Weiss asked Ruby as she tried to contact her teammate once again.

"…I think so."

"Of course she did!" Yang groaned in anger. "She will have a lot to explain when she returns!"

"Exactly!" Weiss added.

"No, we have to find her!" Ruby protested, which made both girls look at her in consternation.

"Why? She left once again Gods-know-where, why should we go looking for her?"

"If she wanted us to be involved in her mess, she wouldn't turn off her scroll!" Yang crossed her arms.

"She is our teammate!" Ruby emphasized. "And we should be there for her, no matter what!"

"She is never there for us!" Weiss countered.

"Just like with that Fangs!" Yang grumbled, which made Wiess little anxious. "She leaves without even saying a word!"

"During the White Fang attack…" Weiss's mumbled under her breath.

"We can't leave her like that!" Ruby made the decision. "Now, let's think this through." Ruby stood up and started circling in the middle of the room. "Is there anyone who could possibly know where she went?"

"Don't think so, everyone left for the festival." Weiss said.

"Except Coco!" Ruby said with a bit of hope, but Yang shook her head in denial.

"They went on some sort of mission so I wouldn't count them in."

"Right." Ruby scratched her chin, her hopes not yet shattered, thinking about any possible leads. "The last time she left without saying a word was during the raid…"

"When we visited that Bookshop." Weiss added, and a second thought whispered a potential resolution. "Hang on, she went with that faunus, what was his name again?"

"Tukson." Yang answered, but shook her head in denial again. "But I don't think he knows anything, Tuk is just friendly to everyone."

"But could he knew Blake before we went there?" Ruby questioned in support of Weiss's idea, and Yang thought about it, then shrugged her arms.

"Well, I introduced them both, and he didn't act like he knew her…" Yang thought again. "But for a moment I think he looked…surprised?"

"A spark of recognition." Weiss's said out loud after the thought appeared in her head.

"You are his friend right? You have his number?" Ruby asked

"Of course I have it, but like I said, it's too far of a stretch." Yang argued.

"We don't exactly have a better leads now, do we?" Weiss remarked, and Ruby joined with:

"At least it's worth to try!" And, still hesitant, Yang pulled out her scroll, and after a bit of searching she finally found Tukson's number and pressed it.

"Hey-o Yang! What you doing?" Tukson's voice answered after a while, but before Yang could say anything, Ruby snatched the scroll out of her sister's hands.

"Hello Mister Tukson, this is Ruby Rose speaking! And I have something really important to ask you!"

"Ah, you are Yang's sister! Alright, even though I don't work today, I can borrow you a book you might like..."

"No, I don't mean books or anything like that!" Ruby clarified, stumbling slightly on her words. "I am calling to ask you that, maybe…"

"We want to know where is Blake Belladonna." Weiss stepped in, and Ruby gave her a shy smile, appreciating the help.

For a long while, Tukson was not responding, clearly taken by surprise.

"…That's your friend right? A bookworm? One with long, black hair like Yang?"

"Hey, my is slightly longer!" Yang corrected.

"Riiiight…, Have you tried checking at the festival? Maybe she went there without telling you?"

"If that would be the case, we she would turn off her scroll?" Weiss countered, and they heard an annoyed huff on the other end of the call.

"Well I don't know! Why do you even assume I know where she is!? I have never met her before!"

"Because…" Ruby took a deep breath. "Last time Blake disappeared without saying a word was when we visited you, so we thought that, you may know something this time."

"Well, I don't know anything." He said, then left a sigh. "I understand she is your friend and you are worried for her but really, I know nothing."

"Well…" Ruby thought about how to continue this, but Yang took back her scroll.

"I'm going to be honest with you Tuk - She is my partner and I'm not worried that she can't stand up for herself because she can and honestly, I'm angry because of her." She said to the scroll. "But I am also worried that she is doing something she doesn't want to. It does feel and look like someone is pressuring her or worse, and if that's the case, then I can't just stand by and watch, just like the first time we have met, Remember?

"…I do remember." He said. "And I will forever be grateful."

"Then you understand how I… How WE feel here." Yang continued, gesturing at Ruby and Weiss. "Even though I believe you, we just had to try, for you were, like Ice Queen pointed out…" Weiss rolled her eyes but didn't say anything. "…Our only sensible option."

There was silence for a minute.

"As much as I wanted to help you, I simply can't. If I meet her on the festival, I will call you." With that said he ended the call.

"That was disappointing." Weiss sat on the bed, her face grumpy.

"I really hoped that he knew where she went." Ruby said with sad expression while Yang just stood there, holding her scroll will her left fist tightened, and all of the wrong emotions started to surface.

Yet again someone abandons her without saying a word, just to leave her guessing if it was her fault…

"No." She shook her head. "I don't want to cross her out like that."

"But maybe Tukson is right and Blake really went to festival?" Ruby said after a while, but Weiss scoffed in response.

"Then why would she turn off her scroll?"

"Maybe he is meeting someone without us knowing?" Yang remarked half-hearted, not believing her own words.

"Either way, we should go there!" Ruby jumped off the bunk bed and run to quickly change her students clothes. "Where else she could be?"

Stonewall prison

Flabbergasted Blake just stared at Sun Wukong as he scratched back of his head with a awkward smile.

"Wow, it feels like you want to kill me with this stare!"

"What are you even doing here!?" She raised her voice only a little.

"Following you! It's my turn to ask questions now?"

"No!"

"Aww." Sun's tail fell down a little.

"How long were you following me?" She asked, already afraid of the answer.

"Well, Nep called me to tell me that they will soon arrive at the port and wanted to meet me there but before I left I noticed you sneaking out of Beacon and I thought 'well would you look at that' and I…"

"Wait wait wait." She raised her right hand to silence him. "Don't tell me you were stalking me all the way from the Academy!?"

"Ummm…."

Flashback

Sun was laying on top of the Pumpkin Pete's truck with arms crossed behind his head, feeling the wind in his blond hair, bathing in the sunlight.

"Man, Sun is really hot today." He chuckled. "Good thing I brought sunscreen."

'

Blake rolled perfectly under the camera and disappeared in the tunnel.

"Like a shadow!" Sun run under the camera, trying to mimic a sprinting ninja.

'

"Gosh, when is our shift ending?" Female guard asked her colleague.

"Still about an hour." He grumbled while first guard rolled her eyes.

"They are going to eat everything!"

"Nah, they will leave some cakes for us. But not the largest ones, that's for sure."

As they were talking Balke sneaked behind them and went into another tunnel, and Sun wanted to go after her, but seeing this once per lifetime opportunity, he couldn't help himself.

Few seconds later he went back to following Blake with a wide and happy grin, leaving two guards with their shoes tied together.

End of Flashback

"…Noo?" He tried to sound as convincing as he possibly could but Blake just facepalmed and groaned in anger, but before she could berate him, and unmistakable sound of the gate brought her back to matters at hand.

"Stay here!" She run up to the end of the tunnel.

"No way!" Sun run right after her.

The heavy gate opened half-way, allowing guards pushing carts to walk into the cellblock, and as they were walking in a line, Blake and Sun made their way to the cellblock – Blake though extensive use of her semblance, appearing and disappearing in the shadows while Sun quickly scaled on the rough wall like… well, monkey.

Blake hid herself in a corner, sat in the shadow and tried to regulate her breath as the gate shut shortly after.

"Well, that was fun!" Sun knelt right beside her and she gave him a furious glare. "But it seems I won our race."

Blake swiftly pounced on him, pinned Sun to the ground and showed her fangs.

"Whoa, hey…!" She covered his mouth with her left hand.

"Because of you I nearly missed my chance!" She hissed at him. "I have only one shot, and you almost ruined it!"

From Sun's perspective, Blake showing off her fangs was quite strange – humans don't have that long fangs, nor they hiss like a pissed off cat. Maybe there is something about humans that he doesn't understand? For the first time in years, he wished that he didn't sleep through biology classes.

"Mmmhmhmm." He tried to respond and Blake reluctantly lifted her hand. "Hey, it's not like I know why are you here in the first place! I didn't know you wanted to sneak up to some underground prison of all places." Instead of responding Blake got up and looked at the nearest prison cell

"Just… don't do anything stupid."

"I can't promise you that…" He stood up and brushed off his trousers. "…But I will try. If you tell me why are we here." Sun gestured at the area around them.

The cellblock, unlike the tunnels, was a large, four store chamber with at least three bridges on each level, constantly patrolled by guards, and the prisoner's cells run along the walls, mirroring each side of the chamber. And there were at least few hundred prisoners there, and searching each cell for Elder would take too long..

Luckily for Blake, from the info Tukson gathered, one of the Fang's leaders was recently interrogated by a prosecutor, and although he couldn't identify him, he managed to find the cell he was put in, and the fact that most of the guards were currently in the cafeteria meant that the only guards here were a skeleton crew, easy to avoid.

The only concern were the cameras.

Blake looked at Sun once again and left an heavy sigh. "It's not like I can kick him out anymore." She thought as she reached to one of her pockets.

"I am looking for a man called "Elder", he has something important to me." She briefly explained, then tossed something to him. "Cover your face."

"What?" He looked at the black scarf in his hands.

"If you are going to stay behind me, cover your face, and follow my lead." She told him and, once of the cameras turned away, she run up to the nearest cell, checking the numbers.

"Smells nice, like a gooseberry" He thought to himself and run after Blake.

"Cell 115, 116…" Blake said and shook her head. According to Tukson's intel, Elder's cell was 567.

"He must be higher." She jumped up, pulled herself over the ledge slightly to see if none of the guards is passing by, then pulled herself fully.

"I don't like to be that guy…" Sun effortlessly climbed right after her. "But why are we exactly looking for… what was his name again?"

"Elder." Blake replied as she climbed another level. "And I told you, he has something important to me."

"Like, an info? But what a guy from the White Fang…" Blake jumped up and pulled herself to another floor, and Sun followed her. "…You search for something about the White Fang?"

"…Yes." She reluctantly said as they sneaked under another camera.

"So, I guess the last time didn't work out well?" At first she looked at him surprised.

"How did you…"

"It's because that's when I met your friends, you forgot already? We were quite awesome." He pouted his cheeks. "How rude."

"Sorry. And… thanks for that." Blake said, trying to not sound awkward as she and Sun were now dangling from the next floor, waiting for the guard to finally walk away.

"That's for what friends are for! We stick our heads for one another, and it should be them, not me, with you here."

"…It's better this way."

"For whom exactly?" Sun asked but Blake didn't answer that question, as the guard slowly approached them, his steps getting closer and louder. "They are really chill, unlike certain someone…" Sun remarked, thinking about Scarlet and the argument they had back in Vacuo. "I mean, if you asked me, leaving them like out to dry is really uncool."

"Didn't you leave your own team back in Vacuo?" Blake retorted as they waited for guards to pass by.

"…Touche." Sun remarked as guard walked away. "But I told them were I am going!"

"Aha, so it makes it fine? Gotta remember that." Blake said as she climbed up

When she finally got the cell 567, she peeked inside, and there were only two humans sitting inside and playing cards, confused, she took another look, thinking that maybe she missed him, but no, Elder wasn't there.

"Was Tukson wrong?" She thought, but because of that, she sticked her head out for too long.

"Dan look!" One of the prisoners pointed at her. "Guard is staring at us!"

"There is something called privacy you…" Dan frowned when he caught a glimpse of Blake. "Hang on, you sure it was a guard?"

"Who else?"

"Maybe we should yell for someone?" Blake's eyes went wide, going through her options, one being to walk into that cell and knock the prisoners out, but they would certainly make noise.

"Hi guys!" Much to her already stressed state, Sun stepped in front of a cell and looked inside. "Sorry to interrupt… Are you guys playing Blackjack?! No way!"

"What, you know how to play?" Dan asked, surprised by faunus's friendliness.

"Of course I can! I was once kicked out of a casino because I was too good at it!" He leant to flabbergasted Blake and whispered. "I cheated." He winked to her then looked back at the prisoners. "May I join?"

"Hold up, monkey-boy, you don't look like a blue-coat so who are you and what are you doing here?" First prisoner asked.

"Yeah, and who else is there with you huh?"

"My name is Wun Sukong and it's nice to meet ya!" Sun waved to them. "And I am here because this lovely gal…" He brought Blake closer. "…Wants to meet her friend."

"Uh-huhuhu" Dan laughed as Blake brushed off Sun's arm. "She needs to find some better company boy, that's for sure."

"There was a faunus prisoner with you, where they have transferred him?" Blake cut to the chase and pulled out from her pocket a handful of various gems.

Both prisoners looked at one another.

"Maybe we shared a cell with some faunus…"

"…Or maybe we didn't? Time flies in the prison, people often see stuff. But maybe a better offer would refresh our minds, right Bob?" Dan finished with a smirk just to annoy her, while his cell-mate giggled.

"What else do you want?" Blake asked, unmoved by their attempts.

"You hear that Dan? Straight to business!" Bob chuckled.

"My favorite kind." Dan thought for a moment. "You know what? How about your fancy hairpin?" He pointed at a hairpin in Blake's hair.

"My…hairpin?" She frowned.

"Yeah! It looks expensive, and I could wage my teeth that it will get a really nice price on the market." Dan started daydreaming with a wide smile. "Maybe we could even get our music box back…"

"Not this again!" Bob protested. "It's because of you playing this song over and over again someone snitched on us and the guards took it in the first place."

"But… House of the Setting Sun is a classic!"

"After ten-thousand times, it's an antic"

Blake started to consider her options, and none looked appealing to her – if she disagrees and tries to look for Elder all by herself, she won't find him in time, not to mention that these two will call for guards.

On the other hand, if she gives up Umilea, everyone will know that she is…She is… She must know, but she can't sacrifice her future like that!

Seeing her clearly distressed and conflicted about the offer, Sun grabbed her hand and pulled it down.

"I have something better for you guys." Sun said, stopping the argument between the convicts as he searched his white jacket. "If you tell her everything she needs to know, I will give you." He pulled out a small music player. "…This."

Convicts approached the prison bars and looked at the device.

"It's so tiny…How many songs it can play? Ten?" Bob looked at with suspicion and distrust.

"At least two thousands." Sun stated with confidence, and to prove a pint he scrolled down through a long list. "And it comes with earphones, so you can listen without attracting too much attention." He shook his hand to encourage them.

"Does it has the House?"

"Sure does!"

"Deal." Dan took the music player and earphones, then looked at Blake. "There was a Faunus with us, didn't talk much, but he didn't cause trouble either, rather gloomy type."

"Short hair? Tall? No additional ears? Lack of tail?" She questioned further.

"Once he stood up, he was quite a unit." Bob said while Dan put one of the earphones into his ear. "But honestly, I haven't paid too much attention to him, mutt like any other." Blake clenched her teeth hearing this, and Bob shrugged his arms before continuing.. "Oh well, it will help him in Special Section for Loonies, that's for sure!"

"Where?!" Blake spurred in surprise. "They moved him to Special Security?! Why!?"

"Is that bad?" Sun asked, little clueless.

"Boy, you have no idea." Bob said. "Freaks with semblances, murderhobos and often both are kept down there." He walked up to the prison bars, pointed down, and Sun followed his finger.

On the very first floor, at the opposite end of the cellblock was another, even heavier gate, behind which was probably yet another cellblock.

"Once you go the elevator, you better pray your sentence is short, for you are there for quite ride!" Bob continued, giving Sun a better picture of what is behind the gate. "I don't know and, honestly, don't care if he was your really good friend or something, but if you want to speak with him, better wait few years."

Sun leant on the railing and looked down at the guards distributing sweets between the cells and sighed.

"You heard the guy, maybe we should call quits while we still…?" He looked up to Blake, only to realize that she was not there anymore. He looked around, then down and noticed Blake rapidly descending towards the second gate as a guard a cart approached it.

The gate opened slightly, and Sun didn't want to waste time as he jumped onto the railing.

"Hey kid!" Bob called out to him. "This girl has a death wish I tell ya! Just leave her while you still can!" Sun smirked and waved to them

"Take care guys! Enjoy your music!" He saluted and free-fell from the fifth floor.

Meanwhile Blake got to the first floor next, avoiding few guards on duty by pushing her semblance to its absolute limits, all to get to the gate, as fast as possible, before the short female guard pass through and it inevitably closes.

Just when she was about to take another leap, she felt someone's hand on her shoulder.

"Don't tell me you are going in there!" Sun said. "You heard what they said!"

"I must Sun!" She tried to wiggle out of his grasp, watching the corner of her eye how the short guard pushed the cart through the open gate and how it is closing now.

"You must or you want?!"

"I MUST know who is manipulating my friends!" Hearing this, Sun blinked in confusion.

"What do you…" Without a warning all what remained in Sun's hands was a rapidly dissolving shadow clone, and startled Sun watched how Blake managed to jump through the narrow gap just before the gate shut after her, unable to utter a word.

'

Blake left few heavy breaths, only now realizing what she just said.

"No…" She leant against the wall in the corner of the gate and wrapped her hands around her head. "I…I…"

"That's why I wanted to go alone." She thought, angry at herself. "I didn't want anyone to know."

In Beacon, all she wanted was a fresh start, to not be bound to who she was…And yet, her past constantly returns to…

No, she constantly returns. She was supposed to live new life in the Academy, she even made everyone in the Fang, her friends, think that she died, to get it. But… she just can't let go! Not when…

"Tell me, in the fights to come, will you stand alongside the Hunters, against your previous brothers and sisters? Will you strike the cause you once fought for?" Smith's words rung in her head, and she hated him for it.

For he was right. It was a paradox with no good way out.

She removed the hairpin from her hair and checked it in her hands.

"If you wish so, you can wear it until the end of your days, achieve your dreams of acceptance while simultaneously hiding your past. Or, you can reveal your true nature to others and face the consequences of your choices, both good and bad. Whatever will bring you solace." Annatar's explanation of Umliea popped in her head.

"You called it a choice." She remarked with sour. "How am I supposed to completely let go?"

"Sometimes our passion and our love are in conflict, and choosing one will result in losing the other." She could basically fell Smith's entertained grin, and the worst part? She already told him what happens when you don't choose.

She was brought out from this train of thoughts by a sound of ascending elevator, so she recollected herself quickly, stood up, put Umilea back on her head and went after the guard.

"No turning back now." She thought. "I will talk with Sun later, persuade him to not tell anyone. I can still fix everything."

Yet, she never realized that she committed the most fundamental mistake of all right at the very beginning – she went on this journey completely alone.

Emerald Forest

Roman checked his stopwatch again, tapping his right foot against the green grass with clear irritation.

"They should be there at least ten minutes ago…" He mumbled to himself and looked at the distant mountains. "Maybe they took a wrong turn? No-no, Zenith isn't that reckless…" In the distance, Lisa Lavender interviewed the pair of bull-faunus women.

"What motivated you both to join the White Fang? Was it because you believe it the organizations ideals, or maybe because of some sort of a grudge?" Vale's reporter asked and Nobody moved the camera slightly to focus it more on two sisters.

"We wanted to make a difference!" One of the woman said. "And the White Fang is making one."

"How come? Because in a recent anonymous poll, fifty-six percent of people who

participated said that they view White Fang as a terrorist organization." Two bull-faunus looked at each other, genuinely surprised by that revelation.

"Umm…" Ray raised his finger to make a question. "Wasn't it like, in a previous poll, it was more like seventy? Seventy-eight?"

Lisa thought about it, and nodded her head. "It was seventy-four, but you are correct." Hearing this, Nobody couldn't help herself but chuckle.

"Would you look at that." She said with a grin. "Public's opinion shifting?"

"It's not like public is now overwhelmingly supporting your cause." Lisa pointed out. "Only nine percent of participants said they sympathize with the White Fang, while the remaining either had no opinion, or were wary of the White Fang."

"But they are not buying SDC products!" One of the bull faunus quickly added. "I heard that their sales fell down recently!" "True, but only by fifteen percent, and stocks only by five." Lavender countered.

"It's still something!" Second sister said. "It's not like they built the Bulwark in one day."

"This actually conveniently leads to my second question." Lisa decided to tackle the topic from a different angle. "White Fang, as an organization, fights for equality between humans and faunus, yet almost all of your actions, until recently, were primarily targeting Schnee Dust Company and Mistrealian Trading Company. Aren't you afraid that, by first making the enemy out the largest Corporations on the planet and then of one of the Kingdoms, is going to harm your agenda?" Hearing this question Nobody growled.

"As long as they don't change their practices, there will never be equality." One of the sisters said. "They have too much influence in the government."

"And both corporations won't change by themselves." Second sister added. "They earn too much money because of what they do to our brothers and sisters."

"Maybe you could try negotiating with them?"

"Negotiating!?" Boar faunus snapped. "With SDC? They only care about three things – money, money from being stronger and money coming from their brands! They won't sit and 'negotiate' with those they consider 'inferior'."

"But on the other hand, by constantly attacking them, they won't sit to the negotiating table either, they will just double down, which will then make you double down." Lisa pointed out the apparent carousel of violence, but boar faunus snickered at that.

"Like you said, until recently we targeted them to no result."

"So now, we strike them where it really hurts!" Bull faunus women raised her fist like in a battle cry.

"Hey Ta… I mean Twin Horns!" One of the fangers called out to the two sisters. "We need some help with engine!"

"Coming!" Both sisters stood up and run off immediately "It was really nice to meet you, big fans!"

And the second bull faunus run off, Lisa took out a small mirror and fixed her hair a little, deep in her thoughts.

"Are you…" Ray tried struck up the conversation. "…Unhappy, Miss Lavender?"

"I? Unhappy?" She looked at him, genuinely surprised.

"You seem to be… taken aback?" Nolan continued, but before he could finish Nobody answered for her.

"She expected to find a bunch of maniacs Ray, isn't it obvious?" Boar faunus said.

"I try to remain unbiased during work." Lavender disagreed, only for Nobody to shake her head.

"Please, at least you partially expected to find crazed terrorists and criminals, didn't you?"

"Well, I expected more than I currently met, that's true." Lisa looked around at the Fang working around the clock, clearly anticipating a signal at any moment.

"That's because of our Sister." Ray said, reminiscing a fond memory.

"Sister?" Lisa raised her brow.

"Yeah, Sister B-" Ray wanted to answer but boar faunus put a hand on his mouth.

"Don't tell her name! You want to put her family at risk!?

"…No." Ray looked on his shoes in shame and sadness.

"I guess this "Sister" was someone important to you both, right? What happened to her?" Lisa asked

"Important? She was a family to all of us, human." Nobody corrected and gestured at the Fangers, who looked at the scene. "She was the one who brought us together and gave us a spark, from which will raise the fire of revolution!" Her voice raised, like at the passionate speech, and continued "I admit, when I joined the Fang, all I wanted was bring SDC to its knees and pour gasoline on top, but she…"Her voice broke down a little. "…She showed me that, instead of blindly chasing revenge, I can fight for a greater cause. She showed it to ALL OF US!"

"Yeah!"

"That's right!"

"Hear ya, hear ya!"

These reactions, as well as more cheers coming from other Fangers spreading around like campfire made Lisa realized that this unknown "sister" was most likely their previous leader, clearly a charismatic figure, and since she is no longer around…

"I'm… sorry for your loss."

"Don't be, miss Lavender!" Ray said. "You weren't even there!

"But it was her kind that killed her…" Nobody wanted to point out, but words became stuck in her throat as she briefly glanced at Roman. "…But I suppose not everyone of your kind is a worthless piece of trash."

"Was that a compliment?"

"Take it as what you want, what matters is that we will honor memory of our Sister, Leader… and friend, for she would do the same for us."

Lavender thought about her response before Boar faunus pat her arm.

"Come, I know few more guys who would love to speak with you before we go to the Stonewall." She offered, but Lisa looked at her with wide open eyes.

"Wait, you mean the Stonewall? Stonewall Prison!?"

"Egh Somebody!" Roman quickly approached them. "What did I tell you about blabbing our plans?'

"…" At first she looked like she wanted to argue with Roman, but quickly folded under his stare. "Sorry."

"And the whole surprise for our reporter is ruined. Thank you." Roman dragged his left hand down his face.

"But Stonewall? It's bold, even for you!" Lisa said, and instead, Roman groaned.

"That's why we are waiting! Where are these two anyway!?" He looked up his scroll and still, nothing. He looked into the distance, at the fortress dug in the mountain.

"Don't fail me like that Zenith." He whispered while the Fangs waited anxiously beside their vehicles, feeling the tension in the air.

Among them, one younger fanger sent an encoded message to the fixer, finally letting him know about what was going to happen.

And back in Vale, when Tukson read the encrypted message, he cursed out loud, went through his options and realized that he really has only one.

City of Vale

"Maybe you have seen her?" Ruby, now wearing an outfit she fondly dubbed "Slayer", which consisted of long-sleeve, light gray shirt, a black pinafore with two vertical lines of red, a short red dress and wearing her signature cape like a scarf asked Sylwester and Beatrice from SABER about Blake whereabouts, but both just shook their heads.

"Sorry, but we really don't know where she went, but we will let you know if we see her." Sylwester said.

"Well, thanks anyway!" As both huntsmen in training went their way back into the dense crowd, Ruby dropped her arms in disappointment.

"We are getting nowhere." Weiss, also in different outfit than usual, wearing a stylish white coat with black piping, cuffs, and buttons over a white, pleated full skirt with black lace trim, remarked as she angrily tapped the road with her right foot, wearing thigh-high bootswith black heels. "It's like looking for a needle in a haystack." She gestured at the large crowd of people enjoying the festivities, participating in various activities or simply having fun.

"Oh Ice Queen, finding a needle is actually easier, it doesn't move." Yang, also in a different clothes, consisting of deep-collared cream vest worn over a low cut black shirt, a short black mini-skirt peeked from under the cream-vest. She also wore black ankle boots with multiple buckles and white ribbons to complete her fashionable look.

"What else we can do?" Ruby grumbled. "We can't just sit by and wait for something to happen."

"Wandering aimlessly also won't…" Weiss wanted to say until suddenly, Yang's scroll rung.

"Huh, unknown number." Yang remarked unbothered and wanted to pick it up.

"Are you really going to answer that?" Weiss said in astonishment.

"Well duh! Lots of guys call to ask me out so no biggie." Yang said, then upon seeing Weiss's face she gave her a cheeky smile. "Ohh, don't tell me that no one ever asked you out."

Weiss rolled her eyes before responding to Yang's taunt.

"First off, back in Atlas there were many who tried to but I refused…" Much to her annoyance, Yang smirked and gave her 'yeah, sure, whatever you say' look, but Schnee decided to stay calm and continue. "…And second, from my experience, only some unknown, miraculously found family members call like that."

All this discussion Ruby looked away, little embarrassed about the topic.

"Well, we are going to find out!" Yang answered the call with. "Hey-lo! Who is calling?"

"Stonewall." Distorted voice said, and three girls looked at each other in confusion.

"I'm sorry, what?" Yang asked. "You mean, your name is 'Stonewall'? Man, what have you done to your parents…"

"Blake Belladonna is currently in the Stonewall Prison, looking for a White Fang Lieutenant called 'Elder'." Voice said, uncaring about her remark.

"Wait wait wait." Weiss snatched the scroll out of Yang's hands *Hey!* then spoke . "Who are you, how do you know that and why are you telling this to us?"

"Unimportant, I have a proof…" With a ding an image appeared on the scroll's screen, a column of "Pumpkin Pete's" driving on the highway towards the mountains, and on the passenger seat…

"That's Blake!" Ruby shouted but Weiss raised her hand to stop her.

"Let me check." Much to Ruby and Yang's surprise, she quickly wrote some sort of code, which gave her access to some tools sisters didn't know existed, and Weiss used them to scan the image, and a source. "…Alright, it's not photoshoped nor generated."

"How did you…" Yang wanted to ask, and it was Schnee turn for a cheeky smile.

"There are benefits to being a heir of a largest IT company in the world." She turned Yang's scroll and pointed at small Schnee watermark in the corner. "Technology and Dust hides no secrets from me."

"So you can hack things like a netrunner!?" Ruby's eyes sparkled with curiosity, and Weiss coughed a little at that.

"You know, it's more like I can get admin tools for every piece of my company's equipment, but close enough." Weiss said, clearly proud of herself.

"Coooool." Ruby said, already imagining her team on some special mission and Weiss being a team hacker, Blake being a ninja, and Yang an unstoppable wrecking force.

"Showoff." Yang sulked, this time taking a defeat.

"Are you done?" Voice brought them back to the conversation. "We don't have much time."

"Time for what?" Ruby asked.

"White Fang is going to attack the Stonewall prison today, intending to free their imprisoned members." Hearing that, girls eyes went wide, their imagination already painting a rather grim picture.

"If they are going to attack the Stonewall…" Yang started.

"…Whole prison will be swarmed by the horde of Fangs and revolting prisoners…" Weiss continued.

"…And Blake will find herself in the middle of it!" Ruby finished the sentence. "We need to get there fast!"

"On land, it will take an hour and a half, an hour if you find a quick car." Voice said and upon hearing this, Ruby turned to Yang.

"Will Bumblebee carry us without issues?" But, much to Ruby's disappointment, Yang shook her head in denial.

"Not three of us, unless we get a sidecar from somewhere. Not to mention I won't be able to speed up."

"I got an idea." Weiss looked at the scroll. "Does stonewall has a landing pad?" She asked to clarify.

"…Yeah, it has."

"Great idea Weiss!" Ruby cheered. "Buuut, does anyone know how to fly?"

"Rubes, we don't even have an aircraft to begin with."

"On the Beacon grounds there are Bullheads we could use!" Ruby gave an idea.

"They will kick us out for it!" Weiss objected. "We should inform Headmaster Ozpin or Professor…"

"Did you already forget Ice Queen? Both Professors and the students are on a day off…"

"Except Professor Lee and Coco's team!" Ruby pointed out.

"But they are on some mission together so they don't count. That leaves us with Headmaster Ozpin, and what exactly are we going to tell him? "Hey, our teammate randomly went to the highest security prison on the whole continent, and we know it from a random, suspicious guy that somehow knows about everything. No offense."

"None taken." Voice in the scroll replied.

"Besides, we don't have time to go back to Beacon." Ruby added after a while. "No, I say we should go now!"

"Ruby, we still don't have an aircraft, and a pilot!" Weiss said, trying to quell her enthusiasm, but as she said that, a spark shined in Yang's eyes.

"I think I know from where I can get both, but I need to make a call." She looked at her scroll.

"Understood. Good luck." Voice disconnected and Yang immediately started searching through her contacts while Ruby and Weiss at first wanted to call their lockers, but the sheer size of the neighboring crowd could lead to a potentially fatal landing.

"Let's find a quiet spot!" Ruby pulled Weiss sleeve. "Counting on you Yang!" She said and both girls disappeared in the cloud of Rose petals, flying into one of the back alleys while Yang kept scrolling through the list, glad that this time, she took Ember Celica with her.

"Fool me once, shame on you, fool me twice, shame on me, but you won't fool me thrice." She thought as she finally found the contact she was searching for. Called once, and there was a voicemail, as expected, so Yang called for a second time.

"Heeeyy Mav, whatcha ya doin?" Yang asked, heard a response and frowned. "Then get down from there and meet me before your Flight School, I need… Yes, it's an Emergency… yes, THE E-M-E-R-G-E-N-C-Y with a frickin big E!"

Limestone

The hidden workshop under the Forge was is in a near darkness, as now, the only source of light were dimmed green crystals of dust, shining from beneath the prepared soil.

Annatar threw a little more dirt onto the top, holding in his left a blue dust crystal, he raised it above the dirt and with a single thought, water showered it like rain.

Then he continued his incantation, singing the song of channeling growth, evolution directed by hand, about new life with more purpose than merely existing.

Not stopping he rained more water at ground, feeling how the thirsty plants consume al nutrients and grow rapidly, process that would take months taking minutes, but they demanded more nutrients, more water, more light if Annatar really wanted them to serve his design.

Water and soil were not a problem as he already started providing more, as for light, he raised his right hand and retracted the artificial skin, revealing his inner fire, and the growing plants basked in his light.

With his essence providing warmth, his creation started to expand its roots, nearly ready for the next stage as it shyly peeked from the ground.

There was however a problem he didn't address. Not with his new craft, by all means – it went smoothly. The problem were the statues he created the other day, or rather, left unattended.

He didn't want to move them anywhere else, since he didn't have other safe place to store them, but most importantly – marble was left unfinished. Usually, he was able to ignore it's call, it's pleas to continue and judgmental stare, but when he opens his heart and mind, when he attunes himself to the music, It becomes more… persistent.

He closed his eyes as his mouth continued chanting spell, but…

"Be silent." He ordered, focusing on the task at hand, for now he had to add a special ingredient, a really small vial of Hardlight dust that he had to pay a fortune to get just this much.

He poured all of the vials contents to the soil, and the plants swallowed everything, and with his all-seeing eyes, Annatar watched how plants merges with the magical resources, just like he envisioned.

And he would give it a satisfied smile for job well done, if not for the marble statue, reminding him of tasks unfinished like a thorn in his side.

"I will return to you one day." He vaguely promised, hoping it will set it at ease, but in response, he got a chuckle.

"Classic Mairon." Sauron heard a voice long thought lost. "Once again, afraid of facing your own fears."

Sauron just sighed, not taking the bait.

"You are not Gothmog, he died a long time ago." He stated. "That means it is my subconsciousness playing tricks once more."

"Or maybe it's a memory you are more fond of than you want to admit?" Glimmer of Gothmog remarked. "Either way friend, you can't deny or run from the truth forever."

"Which is?"

"You are changing, and that terrifies you." 'Gothmog' stated. "Sauron I knew would never self-reflect and would never doubt himself. And yet, at long last, you finally started to question if all of your methods were justified."

"Weren't they?" Sauron rolled his eyes in mockery as he channeled more energy into the second plant, feeling it falling behind.

"Didn't Remnant proved to be the case already?"

"It only proved that a more sophisticated approach was, and still is, way more sufficient than a direct confrontation, but basing worldviews and ideas on only few positive months is not only foolish, but also dangerous." Sauron used water dust crystal to pour more water. "This can, and will, change in the future."

"That was the difference between you two." A sparkling reflection of Gothmog commented. "You were always focused on the distant future, on plans spanning milennias and eras, while Modig appreciated the current while it lasted."

"And where it brought him?" Sauron sarcastically remarked.

"And where it brought you? To an unfulfilling life of pain, sorrow and misery, which you tried to ease by inflicting it on the world around you."

"Yet I live, and he does not." Sauron shrugged his arms. "The answer is pretty clear here." He said as he threw remaining hardlight, using it as a final push.

"I think he would have disagreed." Spark of Modig said with certainty. "Until recently, life for you was a constant scheme that brought no satisfaction, plenty of suffering for the sake of it. Gothmog, in his own, unique way, enjoyed the life to his fullest."

"Oh, he certainly took lives in spades." Sauron commented and an image couldn't help but chuckle.

"I do admit, his goals were more simple and… not good, to say the least. But it was his choice, and he was happy with it, even when the death came for him. He embraced the current, doing what he loved. Like you are now, or at least, try to."

For a brief moment Sauron stopped his incantation and looked at the statue, while Modig's voice continued.

"You keep trying to hide or deny it, but a part of you wants to truly enjoy your time on Remnant, something you try to isolate and squander, because you are afraid that it will change you, derail your plans. You finally feel satisfaction unspoiled by malice, but because you are afraid of honestly confronting your actions and cloud your mind with potential futures, you blinded yourself to those little joys and beauty."

"Past is Past." Sauron retorted. "Why should I face something that I can't change while world's fate can still be shaped?"

"Past is a foundation, on which we built our castles." 'Gothmog' continued. "If the foundation is shaky, how can we make sure that the tower we built won't fall?"

Sauron smirked. "Now I know you can't possibly be Gothmog, he wouldn't get philosophical like that."

Not-Gothmog smiled to him with warmth of a sun.

"Yet you can't argue that my words ring true." Gothmog's spark went behind the horned head of Gothmog's made of marble, and, much to his surprise, the one emerging from behind the statue was…

Gothmog's statue smiled to him with radiance of a sun.

"Watching from afar gives a lot of time to think, friend. And you can't argue that my words ring true." Shining statue said. "After all, you have already warned her about the consequences of continuously running from the past."

Stonewall prison, some time later

"No no and NO!" Prison Warden shouted at Nick Harrigan as they walked into the Prison complex. "I made a deal with Mister Urgan…"

"Who is my Commander and who has commanded me to secure the sufficient amount of animals before he arrives." Harrigan replied as he walked beside the Warden, his small platoon walking right behind him, their steps deafened by the walking power armor. "And that's what I am going to do."

"You won't get ANYTHING without my approval!" Warden stated. "I risk far more than my career on this, and I won't entrust anything to a low ranking…"

"I'm a high ranking officer." Harrigan corrected, and to prove a point he let one of his men ignite his cigarette. "And if you upset me, you can say to your state-of-the-art androids bye-bye." Even though he was shorter, he looked Warden in the eyes, clearly delighted by the situation. "So, better do what I say, capiche?"

Prison Warden clenched his teeth and fist, but then let go, much to Harrigan's joy as he quickly asserted his dominance.

"Then let's head to the cellblock, I don't want to spend anymore minute in this…" He shrugged with disgust looking at the tunnel.

"And androids?" Warden asked. "The deal was that the first batch would be delivered immediately."

"That's true. Sturmfuhrer!" Nick called out, and Stosstrupp leader stepped out of formation. "Activate the knights."

Man nodded his helmet, sent a command back to the large aircraft on the landing pad, and soon, a small company of black and white androids as tall as a fully grown men marched in unison, holding rifles and displaying their wrist blades.

"Atleasian knights 200, the newest model, not on the market yet." Sturmfuhrer Holzewitz spoke as thirty androids presented themselves before them. "Thick layers of reinforced steel on the arms and legs, a proved protection from claws and jaws of the Grimm. As you see, they possess more human-like appearance, but don't let the looks fool you – they are more than capable of breaking through the concrete or withstand a small-arms fire."

"And, my favorite – they follow orders to the latter." Harrigan pointed at the nearest android. "You! Jump!"

Android jumped up high without question, continuing until with a gesture of his hand Harrigan ordered it to stop.

"They are smarter, sleeker and more capable than any of the machines previously produced by the Company." Holzewitz continued and looked at the Prison Warden. "They never tire, don't need to sleep or take breaks. What are you looking at is not the future of Atleasian military – is the future of the whole world's safety."

"Are their guns non-lethal?" Warden looked at them." I specifically requested that."

"They are in safe firing mode." Sturmfuhrer pointed at the guns. "But it can be changed whenever you feel like it." Harrigan rolled his eyes as he inhaled some of the smoke.

Prison Warden approached one of the machines, looked over it from head to toe and nodded his head.

"Yeah, that's exactly what I hoped for." He muttered, hiding his anger over the personnel layoffs and budget cuts. He looked back at Harrigan and Holzewitz. "But you need to give me more…"

"Relax, it's just the first course." Harrigan reassured, taking a deep breath of cigarettes fumes, the pushing them out through his nostrils. "Rest will be delivered shortly after our deal is done."

"Then…"

"Sir." One of the prison guards run up to them and saluted. "A bullhead is flying towards the prison, they identify as Huntsmen." When he said that, Warden's face went pale.

"Huntsmen clearance codes?" He asked with a faint hope.

"Everything is in check." Guard confirmed and Prison Warden yelped in fear.

Did they sniffed out his deal? How? He didn't have a spy! Or maybe he did? They can't arrest him, he was just doing his job – ensuring the Kingdoms safety…

"Sir!" Guard's voice brought his sweating commander back to his senses. "They request permission to land."

"Give it to them, do anything they say but lead them straight up to me!" He ordered, guard saluted and run off to relay this order, while Prison Warden looked back at the SDPS. "Could you please go to the meeting hall and stay there until Huntsmen leave?"

Harrigan at first wanted to argue, but Strumfuhrer stepped up.

"It would be a rational course of action, Oberst." He spoke with in calm manner. "Commander ordered us to not overcomplicate the matter, and potential standoff with Huntsmen is exactly that."

Harrigan rolled his eyes. "Whatever, just deal with them quickly. March!" He ordered, and his platoon, alongside the knights, followed one of the guards to the meeting hall while Prison Warden run to prepare for a meeting.

Meanwhile.

Weiss and Ruby desperately held to their seats as bullhead was constantly making various jerky movements.

"Could you tell her to not shake that much!?" Weiss shouted to Yang.

"Hey, don't be like that! She is doing us a favor!" Yang remarked as another turbulence hit the aircraft, nearly making three girls fall on the Bullheads floor, and after stabilizing her stance, Yang pressed the intercom button. "For your first flight without an instructor, you are doing great Mav!"

"Yang I swear to Brothers, if they kick me out of the Academy I will kill your ass!"

"Aww, I like you too." Yang said to the intercom.

"Are we finally near the Stonewall?!" Ruby asked, nearly falling off her seat once again.

"We are closing to the landing zone, access granted, prepare for a touchdown." Mav spoke, stabilizing the aircraft, or at least trying to. "Surprise surprise, we are not the only visitors today, on our left there is a Manta."

"A what!?" Ruby jumped to the nearest window and excitedly looked. "Oh yes, it is Manta…, no wait!" Weiss and Yang approached as well, as now bullhead was slowly touching down the landing pad and it didn't shook that much, while Ruby gasped in joy. "It's a Vholm and Boss Valkyrie!"

"A what now?" Yang asked.

"It's heavy duty transport based on preexisting Manta frame, produced by SDC subsidiary Vholm and Boss." Weiss briefly explained.

"Six Heavy, Turboprop engines capable of breaking the sound barrier, if not for a fact that Valkyries often have to carry heavy equipment such as mechs, mining equipment and even Champions! Capable of flight during extreme weather conditions…" Ruby watched the aircraft with wide open, sparkling eyes, then squealed in excitement. "I thought only Atleasian military use them!"

"Of course Schnee Dust Company use them too you dolt! We are their primary buyer… after the military." Weiss said and pointed at the crest painting on top of the vehicle. "But what is it doing here?"

"I need to get inside!" Ruby wanted to run up to the ramp as the Bullhead landed, but Yang grabbed her arm.

"Didn't you forget about someone?" She reminded her team leader.

"…Right, first we get out Blake, then we prepare for the White Fang attack, an THEN we go see the Valkyrie from the inside!" Ruby decided, even though that geeky, gun-maniac side of her wanted to just take a peek…

"Stay in the cockpit Mav, hopefully it won't take too long." Yang waved to her friend as the team walked out from the bullhead, and Mav gave a thumbs up, not turning off the engines.

As they were walking towards the entrance, they saw a welcoming party of at least five guards awaiting them.

"Alright, let's stick too…" Ruby glanced at the Valkyrie, then shook her head to clear her mind of the machine. "You remember the plan?"

"First find Blake, then find out how the White Fang is going to attack the prison, you just said it a moment ago." Weiss said. "And it's still really vague."

"We will work out the details along the way." Ruby promised as they approached awaiting guards.

"Huntresses." First Guard nodded hie head in a sign of respect. "What brings you here today?"

"Hello, it's nice to meet you!" Ruby shook the guard's hand. "My name is Ruby Rose, this is my partner Weiss Schnee *Greetings* and my teammate Yang *Whasup?, and we were sent here by Headmaster Ozpin as a part of our assignment!"

"What kind of assignment?" Guard asked, and it flustered Ruby for a bit, but Weiss stepped in.

"Our today's assignment is about how to tackle security concerns in areas full of negative emotions, and this facility was deemed safe for our preparations to the upcoming trip to the Forever Fall, and we wish to learn valuable knowledge of brave men and women stationed there." She said in a rather regal way that made the gathered guards little nervous, for they felt like they were talking to a princess.

Yet the lead one coughed, hide his mouth and left a sigh of relief. So it's not that…

"I didn't know our facility had some sort of agreement…" He started to say, only to be interrupted by Yang.

"Article 7789/23/9/D explains the situation really thoroughly, I greatly recommend the read." She winked, and the guard nodded his head.

"Very well, Prison Warden Johnston wanted to meet up with you, and since he is currently out of his office and the meeting area is undergoing a renovation, you are going to meet in the room number…"

"Could we please meet up before the Cellblock?" Ruby interrupted, which made the guard frown.

"Why?"

"Because that's where all the negative emotions are coming from in here, right? We would wish to see what kinds of precautions you guys take to keep Grimm like Creeps away."

"And if the guy already wants to meet us, it will speed up our visit!" Yang swiftly added. "Who else can explain everything than a guy running this place daily?"

Guard stared at them intently and ruby left a nervous chuckle while Weiss and Yang were on edge, he looked at his communicator.

"Sir?" He asked, and after few seconds, he got a response:

"Very well! Splendid! Yes, I will meet you there!" Three girls left a collective sigh of relief while the guard nodded his head and gestured to the team. "Please, follow me." With that said, the gate started to open, welcoming the guests inside.

"Psst." Weiss whispered to Yang. "How article about providing food and shelter to the Huntsmen in need applies here?"

"It absolutely doesn't, but these guys don't know it." Yang chuckled quietly. "I bet they probably didn't even read it properly."

"…"

"Like dad said: Yang, you must know your rights to bullshit your way out of the sticky situations. Or something like that." Yang winked and went after Ruby, Weiss joined them shortly after, not wanting to admit the fact that she was both disappointed in the guards, and quite impressed by Yang's quick thinking.

'

As the gate slowly closed behind them, a tall figure hidden in the shadow of the mountain looked at the scene with concern and lifted his scroll.

"Headmaster, I'm afraid we have a problem." He said to it. "Team RWBY went into the prison."

"…Are they in some sort of immediate danger?" Ozpin asked.

"No, but we should take them out of there while we still can."

"…We can't risk the whole operation." Ozpin declined, then left a heavy breath. "Make sure that they are safe, but our top priority is her." Old Professor looked at a golden bracelet with engraved runes in his hand.

"…Understood." Professor said with heavy heart, then gestured with his right hand, and five people went into the prison through a hidden door.

'

In a different part of the prison, Zenith finally crawled through the laser-cut hole, and helped his partner crawl through it as well.

"We are slightly behind the schedule, so better hurry with your chemical…whatever it is." Zenith remarked as he overwatched the corridor.

"If we didn't take that wrong turn, we would not need to be in a hurry!" Hyena fauns retorted as he sat on the ground and started mixing some chemicals.

"On the map there was nothing about a collapsed tunnel." Zenith grumbled as he peeked from the corner, but there were no guards in the near proximity. "Now I just hope your little fog will do its work."

"Why you always have to doubt everyone around you Zenith?" Laszlo asked as the mixed concoction in one of the bottles went from purple to green then to brown. "You already saw that even Grimm hate this stuff."

"Force of habit." Douglas said as he threw a small emp device at the nearest camera, thinking with sour how first his squad abandoned him, then how Blake betrayed his trust. "Alright, you done?"

"It's ready!" Laszlo stood up, triumphantly holding the bottle full of now blue liquid. "Now to get to that command center… You still have that pendrive, do you?"

Zenith just nodded his head.

"Then it's time to pull the trigger!" Both faunus went through the tunnels towards the Stonewall's command center, careful for cameras and hidden sensors.

Limestone

"It's a really fascinating conversation, 'old friend'" Sauron said, deciding to play along for little more. "What wisdom will you say next?"

"I say that you criticized her for not making her choice, but you also didn't choose." Gothmog's statue spoke. "You think that, by merely changing places, your legacy won't haunt you, and yet you warned her that's not the case as well." Statue chuckled. "Perhaps that's why you took a liking of them?"

"They can be useful tools, that's for sure." Sauron said, now thinking about Blake and Weiss, and Gothmog left a sad sigh.

"You know, I always loved watching you express yourself through your passion, even when we had such contrasting views" Gothmog's statue shined. "And when you and I parted ways, It deeply saddened me. Yet here you are, again at the crossroads."

"I already made my choices." Sauron said, his stare narrowed.

"Do you regret any?"

"I regret…" He wanted to say, but words became stuck in his throat as he looked at the statue of Celebrimbor. "…There is no turning back now anyway." He looked away from both the statue, and his friend.

Unexpectedly, he felt like someone put his hand on his shoulder, and although his fake skin made of the black substance recoiled in pain, he felt a wave of warmth and comfort he felt…when? He couldn't tell.

"You don't have to stop thinking about the future to appreciate the small moments Mairon." His conversation partner spoke. "But, if you want to make this choice, you first have to face yourself. Only then, you would truly be able to change your path."

"Why would I want to change my path anyway, old friend?" Sauron shook his head, and without giving Gothmog a chance to answer, he added: "And even if I wanted to, many would consider it fool's errand, too far gone to do it now."

"Of course you can still tread the path you took, it would still be your will." Sauron felt the warmth from his shoulder gone. "But I have to disagree with you. Just like destiny is not set in stone, anyone can change their ways, what really matters is the choice you take."

"You almost speak like Father gave us any choice to begin with." Sauron remarked with sour. "We were destined to follow his design…"

Much to his surprise, he heard laughter, not mocking, but in a friendly, yet…sad, in a way.

"If that was true, then Melkor would still be Melko, Gothmog would still be Modig, and Sauron would still be Mairon! You could argue that it would be better if they did follow, but the first thing given was not Arda, not the Music, but the Will, free to make your own choices. No one is forced to follow, but everyone deserves a second chance"

Sauron opened his eyes, finding himself standing before his newest gift, now fully grown into two Roses with multicolored petals, shining with inner flame, full of life, not simply attuned to music, but embracing it wholly.

They were, somehow, even more beautiful than he had envisioned.

"Was that a dream?" He asked himself, looking at his hands, feeling… strange, anew.

Then, he heard a hammer.

A repeated strikes, right above his head, coming from the forge. At first, he was surprised, for his Forge welcomed someone, a new Smith? No, it accepted only him, and someone of an equal skill as Rose, or someone greater.

No, these strikes were too synchronized, to repetitive, like someone tried imitating him, yet still, he could feel a familiar presence coming from the above.

He run upstairs, hearing scratching on the door, and when he opened it, Tevildo looked up to him.

"I tried to tell you…!" Cat wanted to say but Sauron run towards his Forge, and much to the cat's surprise, he saw that with each step, a black, oily substance was falling of Annatar, to swiftly disappear into nothingness.

But Sauron didn't notice a change in his skin as he opened the door to his Forge, and there, right beside the anvil…

"Celebrimbor?"

Stonewall Prison

The Elevator came down, and the short guard pushed the cart off the platform, accompanied by two Hoplites.

"Hold!" One of the guards walked up and to the cart and checked its contents. "Which one are ours?" And the guard pointed at two large pies, making the guard smile. "Well well, they know how treat their servicemen Hey Richie!" He turned around and gestured to his partner eating a soup in the guard post. "They brought us cakes!"

"Hell yeah! Anything than the piss soup!" He jumped of his seat and left pea soup on the desk, and when he left, Blake used to this chance to sneak into the guard post.

"Don't you dare insult pea soup like that you fatherless bastard!" Izaac lightly punched Richie's arm. "It's insensitive!"

"Insensitive my ass!" Richie picked up his cake with a wide grin, then pointed at the rest. "Which one belongs to Hazel?" He asked but the short, female guard just shrugged her arms in response.

"At it again?" Izaac scoffed. "It was fun, but now it's just boring."

"It's not like he doesn't deserve this treatment…" Richie wanted to explain, but then left a sigh. "But yeah, just this once. We have a holiday today after all!"

As they were talking, Blake snuck out of the post and went down the tunnel, avoiding the watchful Hoplites, deciding to peek into every cell until she finds Elder familiar face.

"I hope Umilea will go through this test." She thought as she went deep down the tunnel.

'

"How long are these tunnels?" Weiss asked as they followed the guard deeper into the prison complex.

"Honestly Huntress, Stonewall uses only a portion of its original size." Guard said. "When it was still the Silver and Dust mine, it could cycle more than ten thousand convicts a year."

"Ten thousand people were imprisoned in here?" Ruby looked at the claustrophobic tunnels and shuddered. "It's… awful. There no ghosts in here, are they?" Guard laughed at it.

"Three years in a job, and still I didn't encounter a single one. Well, except one time when a fricking geist decided to rampage in the lower levels, but Hunters showed up and cleaned up that mess before anyone got hurt."

"So some Grimm do come in here!" Yang said as she touched a small trail of silver on the wall. "Honestly, I thought that for former prison camp the whole place would be swarming with them."

"Yeeeaah." Guard chuckled nervously. "It's true, Stonewall has a long history of constant Grimm incursions. When it was a mine, buggers popped up over and over again, some tunnels were even abandoned due to sheer quantity of these beasts. But, once it was decided to rebrand the place into the proper prison, we flooded the tunnels below level fifty." Guard gave them a cheeky smile. "I guess buggers have to breath after all."

"Not all of them, some Grimm like Taijitu can survive submerged!" Ruby pointed out, and guard nodded his head.

"Yep, that's why we made sure that the walls separating us from the tunnels are thick, and this makes small ones like Creeps struggle…" Guard remarked as they continued walking down and down, both Ruby and the guard chatting over the Grimm, leaving Weiss and Yang little behind.

"Disgusting, awful, barbaric..." Weiss mumbled under her nose.

"Hm? You said something?" Yang gave her a glance, but Weiss looked away.

"Oh nothing, I'm just glad for being myself." Weiss replied and Yang frowned in response. "Do you know why they had to repurpose this place?"

"I dunno, probably because it wasn't profitable anymore." Yang shrugged. "Like they say 'If you don't know the reason, it's money'."

"And you know who made disgusting places like this 'unprofitable'? My family." Weiss pointed at her chest. "My grandfather created the Company that not only supplies the whole world with Dust, but also treats its workers with dignity, covers their insurances and ensure their safety during work. Before him, there were prison mines, slave camps, and the miners safety was put below the profits." Weiss continued with passion, and surprisingly, Yang listened curiously. "How many people died to Grimm, earthquakes, gas leaks or straight up abandoned when a tunnel collapsed? Yet, that was the world's standard, until my family changed that."

"Aren't you guys now under a critique for some sort unfair practices and monopoly?" Yang asked, and Weiss scoffed in response.

"Those criticizing are nothing more than jealous, they want to smear my family's achievement with separate incidents, or straight up lies!" Weiss said, her cheeks red from anger. "But unlike them, I visited mines and factories and you know what – Everyone was paid well, worked in safe conditions and they were appreciated! We set the standard way up, so others want to bring my Company low, just because we do something right..."

"Alright alright, I get it." Yang stopped Weiss's rant as they took another turn. "But, if I were you, I would check everything." Weiss's stare narrowed.

"What are you suggesting?"

"Well, I don't know whole lot about running a business, mines yada-yada, but if I were you, I would make some sort of unannounced tour to check if everything is really alright."

"Are you saying that I am lying?" Weiss asked, but Yang shook her head.

"The other way around – that some of your folks may lie to you." Yang remarked as they took a sharp turn. "Goose told me a story that when he joined the police, there was a big scandal involving nearly whole department because of the firefight between the Xiongs and the Spider in some rich house, and when the Huntsmen launched an investigation, they found out that out of nine police chiefs in Vale, four were on Xiongs leash, while whole subsidiary Academy was working for the Spider. Crazy stuff."

"They should have been found out sooner." Weiss remarked.

"Maybe, but the point is that those below you may tell you that 'everything is nice and shiny', while in reality they are full of shit." Yang continued.

"I told you, I was in the mines in Mantle, owned by Company, and people there…" Weiss wanted to defend her point, only for Yang to interrupt with:

"But your family owns a lot of factories, mines and other places in Mistral, Vacuo and Vale right? Were you there?"

"…No."

"See? So, I'm not telling that you lie, but that you may never know if some sleazy person in a fancy suit is telling you sweet lies, while he turns things upside down behind your back. Heck, sometimes even your own family may lie to your face." Yang continued, spewing some of her own insecurities and resentments in the process. "So it's better to double-check, just to be…" only now she realized that Weiss was left behind. "Hey, you okay?"

Weiss blinked few times, Yang words made her think about her father of all people. She remembered that most of this stories regarding her Company's shady practices appeared after he took over the Company due to marriage with her mother, how he employs people like Sepp, Gérôme, Razadov…

One particular memory stood out – when during her tenth birthday he argued with mom over something trivial and he shouted that he married her only for the family name.

She shook her head and calmed down. He is bad, some of the people he hired are bad too, but most rumors she heard were too ridiculous and outrageous to be true, her family didn't…

"Hey!" Yang snapped her fingers before Weiss, which brought her out of these thoughts.

"Sorry, I was… lost in thoughts." She said.

"Mhm, don't forget for who we came for." Both girls rejoined Ruby and their guide, and they emerged from one of the tunnels onto a large chamber with a half-opened gate.

"So here are is the Primary Cellblock!" Guard gestured at the heavy gate, and through the gap girls could see the lower parts of the massive chamber, all the while a line of guards pushing near-empty carts was leaving the cellblock. "Here we keep all of our prisoners…"

"Hold on a sec!" Ruby disappeared in the cloud of rose petals, darted to one of the carts, and returned with a plate full of cookies. "Okay, you may continue."

"Ruby." Weiss gave her team leader a scolding look while Yang just chuckled as Ruby ate another cookie.

"As I was saying, it's here that we keep all of the convicts and those awaiting trial, whole cellblock is under surveillance at all time, so we will know if a prisoners start acting rowdy."

"What in a case of emergency, like a prisoner revolt?" Weiss asked, grabbing Ruby's hand before she could eat another cookie.

"I'm glad you asked! We have protocols, safeguards, electric floors, airlocks, and, most importantly, we are constantly trained on how to respond. In fact, we recently had a revolt due to human failure, but we managed to contain it in less than fifteen minutes." He gestured at the line of empty carts. "Thanks to that, they received less than they usually do."

"Can go inside and check for ourselves?" Yang asked, and guard gave her an unsure look.

"It's not recommended for civilians to…"

"We are Huntresses, we can manage ourselves." Weiss said.

"Plus, you said it's safe!" Ruby added, and guard coughed into his hand.

"Umm well, we still have to wait for the Mister Johnston…"

"I'm here, I'm here!" Prison Warden, an older man I a blue uniform run up, catching breath. "I sincerely apologize, I had something really important to attend to…"

"It's not problem mister!" Ruby gave the now empty plate to Yang, run up and shook the man's hand. "My name is Ruby Rose, I am team leader of team RWBY, that's my team member and sister Yang…" She gestured at Yang and she waved her left hand. "…And that's my team's other member Weiss Schnee." Weiss bowed slightly with respect. "It's nice to meet you mister!"

"Oh, pleasure is all mine but, aren't there usually four members of the team?" Johnston asked.

"She is sick and couldn't come." Yang immediately answered.

"I see, I see… so, your visit today is about how we manage to keep ourselves, and the prisoners safe from the Grimm?"

"That's right!" Ruby said. "And we really want to see the Cellblock, how it's is organized and all that."

"Very well, then I shall be your guide, we will make a quick tour and we will go eat some cakes." Prison Warden said, which made Ruby visibly happy while Weiss's hopes of actually managing to not cause a scandal actually raised up. "But first, I would love to see your licenses."

In that moment, all three girls had their "OH SHIT" expression.

"L-licenses." Ruby repeated.

"That's right, per agreement with the Academy, article 564, only licensed Huntsman are allowed into the prison block. "Johnston said, which made Yang cuss under her nose. "You have them with you, right?"

"Yeah, yeah, of course! Our licenses!" Ruby nervously chuckled as she started going through her pockets. "I had it right here…Or maybe here…"

Guards around them started to share looks while Warden's stare narrowed.

"…I think I left it in another dress…" Ruby gave the Warden a sheepish look while Yang and Weiss continued their 'search'. "Are you accepting student id?"

Before Prison Warden could order anything, communicator on his arm beeped loudly, yellow light beeping in and out.

"Warden Johnston speaking…"

"CODE YELLO CODE YELLOW!" Everyone heard a panicked voice. "HAZEL REINART HAS DUST!"

Johnston's eyes went wide and his face went pale, he quickly pressed something on the device on his arm.

"Central, this is Prison Warden Johnston, authorization code 987-456-755, initiate the lockdown of the Special Security, activate additional Hoplites in an instant and initiate the alarm for the whole personnel, we have a containment breach!"

"We gotta help them!" Ruby run away from the Warden and she, Weiss and Yang tried to make a run for it, but three guards blocked their way.

"We are not done here!" Johnston ordered as he lifted his arm again. "Richie, what's your status?"

"HAZEL HAS DUST, WE HAVE ONE…NO, TWO UNKNOWN ASSAILANTS, AND WE NEED HELP!"

"Blake." Ruby whispered and tried to run past the guards. "Please, I need to get there!"

"Hold them!" Johnston ordered and guards grabbed all three girls.

"Let me go you…!" Yang tried to struggle while Weiss didn't make a move, not wanting to make the whole situation worse.

"You don't understand! It's the White Fang!" Ruby turned to Johnston and tried to plead with him while guards held her arms. "My friend is…!"

"Why isn't the Lockdown initiated!?" Prison Warden ignored her and yelled to his communicator. "Central, this is prison warden Johnston, respond!"

'

"Central, this is Prison Warden Johnston, respond!" Voice called out from commlink, it's operator lying near the wall alongside nearly everyone as the blue fog slowly dispersed in the command center.

"Are we going to answer that?" Laszlo asked as he pointed at the commlink nervously while Zenith uploaded the pendrive's contents onto the main computer.

"We have to, it's not fully uploaded yet!"

"What should I say!?"

"Anything to buy me some time!" Zenith growled while he typed on the keyboard, and hesitantly, Laszlo pressed a glowing green button.

'

"…Hellllo?"

"Who is that? Identify yourself!" Warden's voice boomed in the chamber.

"What do you mean, it's meeee!" Voice on the other side continued.

"Stop playing games and identify yourself right now!" Warden commanded.

"I'm came as a Joe's substitute today! Don't you know they guy?" When the voice said that, Yang stopped struggling and looked at the Warden.

"Oh shit, man, wait…!" Yang tried to warn him.

"Shush!" He said to her. "Who are you?! And who the hell is Joe?!"

"JOE MAMA!" And with that said the call was ended, leaving a flabbergasted Warden, cringing Weiss and Yang laughing so hard that it echoed in the tunnels.

'

"Perkele…" Zenith slammed his forehead against the desk, cringing hard while Laszlo rolled on the floor.

"Oh man!" Laszlo laughed on top of his lungs, wiping a tear of his cheek. "I didn't know someone could still fall for that! Brings me back to the prank calling!" He continued laughing while Zenith grabbed his head like he had a mother of all migraines.

"Of all the people in the White Fang Roman could pair me with, he chose an actual cretin!"

"Hey, don't be such a moodkiller, I gave you some time! Better tell me you uploaded everything!" Laszlo quickly stood up, and eagerly walked up to the computer. "What it is going to do anyway?"

"Guess we are going to find out…Right now." He said as the computer's monitor started to sizzle, then all devices started to sizzle and glitch as well.

Then, The Black Bishop appeared on every screen, and really far away, Doctor Arthur Watts cracked his knuckles and smiled as he got the system access.

"Showtime." He said and quickly typed few commands on his computer…

'

Most of the Stonewall guards were in the cafeteria, eating their cakes when suddenly most of the lights went out, leaving them with only the emergency, red lights. As the looked around in confusion, all doors left a loud, locking sound.

"Sorry to crash the party…" Everyone looked onto the middle of the cafeteria, where stood two people – one with grey hear and eyes wearing the White Fang uniform and wolf mask, and the other with green hair and red wearing the mask of a spider and holding two green revolver sickles. "…But we are going to beat you all up! So please, direct all of your undivided attention on…"

"Quit the theatrics Merc, I think they got the message." Emerald said as guards started to raise up from their seats.

"What I am done with is wearing their uniforms, yuck! No sense of style at all!" Mercury lowered his stance, ready to pounce. "Who beats up more?" Who offered a challenge and Emerald couldn't help but snicker.

"Game's on."

'

Suddenly, Roman's scroll beeped with green light, which made him breathe a sigh of relief before he turned to the Fangs.

"Here is our signal! Let's go!" He jumped to the lead truck with Stormfangs awaiting.

"Let's go let's go let's go!" The order spread around the camp like a wildfire, and in less than a minute, all vehicles started to roll onto the highway towards the prison.

"Time to face the music." Nobody said to the Fangs as they readied their weapon, while Lisa Lavender peeked at the mountain through an open window, and once again in her long standing career as a reporter, she felt a much needed does of excitement, yet part of her had a really bad feelings about it.

'

Harrigan was sitting on one of the chairs smoking his cigarette when the lights went out and all of the doors closed.

"What is going?!" He demanded to know from the assigned guard.

"I-I don't know! The internal communication is down!" Guard said as he tried to contact anyone.

"Orders Sir?" Sturmfuhrer asked as the SDPS readied for combat.

"We have our orders from the Commander!" Nick replied as he stood up. "We go to the prison block, take some of the mutts and get out of here!"

"Acknowledged, path to the cellblock – mapped and sent to the HUD." Holzewitz said to his Fireteam, then pointed at one of the doors. "Break it."

One of four power armors approached the metal door with loud steps.

"Fire Dust." He said, and one of the Stosstrupp retrieved a small canister with red dust crystal from his backpack, opened the bulky back of the power armor and showed the canister like a battery.

Red vines went down the armor's joints, and he put its red hand on the door, and the metal started melting by mere touch, creating a hole through which trooper showed his hand and tore out the security door out.

"Quick! Quick!" Harrigan commanded and all Stosstrupp, his platoon and androids went down the tunnel.

'

When all the lights suddenly went down, Ruby's eyes needed a short moment to adjust while the confusion set in, She turned around and through the open gate she watched how simultaneously, all prison cells opened.

And the hell broke loose.

"Freeeeeedoooom!" Prisoners and the Fangs rushed from their cells, attacking the surprised guards and trying to quickly overwhelm them, but some guards managed to gather in small groups and held their ground.

As the fight broke out, gate to the cellblock roared a warning and started closing rapidly, and, without thinking much, Ruby turned into the cloud of rose petals, freeing herself from the guards grasp and flew through the narrow gap.

"RUBY!" Ruby heard behind as she tumbled on the floor, barely making it as the gate closed moment after. She quickly stood up, retrieved the Crescent Rose from her back, turned it into a scythe and looked up as the mob of prisoners rushed at the remaining guards, while they tried to mount some sort of coordinated defense, utilizing their heavy gear.

"Ready for it?" She asked her Scythe with a smile, then looked back at the mob.

"Hang in there Blake, I'm coming!" She shouted and charged into the fray.

'

Zenith watched the ensuing chaos through the cameras, genuinely speechless while Laszlo cheered right by his ear.

"Hell yeah, get some humans! AHHAH!" Hyena faunus laughed as he watched how his brothers and sisters rise up to fight and some of the guards panicking.

"What kind of virus is that?' Zenith mumbled.

"Who cares!? It got the job done!" Laszlo playfully punched Zenith's arm. "The only regret I have now is that we are going to sit here, missing all the fun."

"Not quite." A woman's voice told them, and both faunus looked back in surprise.

Cinder Fall stepped from the shadows, an entertained smile painted on her face as she eyed them both with her amber eyes. "I have a job just for you two."

Authors Note.

Gotta be honest with you all – First draft of the chapter was so shit that I had to rewrite a lot of it, but hopefully, it worked for the better.

So, we finally entered one of two remaining arcs planned for team RWBY before the grand finale of the season! Wohoo!

That being said, next chapter will be focused on team RWBY in the Stonewall. Hopefully, I will manage to direct this fight well. Also yes, their outfits are from the volume 2 episode 3 of the show (Just to be clear)

Also, at the time of writing this chapter, this story broke 300 favs! Or is still in the process of breaking it, last time I checked the graph looked rather shaky heh.

Anyway, Thank you very much guys, you are the best!

In response to Dhestrya:

Thank you, it's really Nice of you!

In response to Axel363402:

I'm glad you like it! Hopefully, I will keep up.

Have a nice week!

In response to guest:

"What's up with all the filler" – *Me, looks at the chapter count between Players and the Chessboard* Oookay?

Nah, I'm joking, I know what you mean! You see, the reason is simple – I not only have to tie some loose knots, but also go through an equally important plot as the Arc's Ring or Sauron's forge, which is…

Showing that Team RWBY are becoming friends.

Honestly, considering their conflicting personalities, I'm surprised that they don't argue that often with one another.

So this arc, as you may guessed, for our main girls is how Yang and Weiss, as well as Blake and Ruby, find common understanding.

Blake and Yang had their adventure, Weiss and Ruby are on good terms (at least, for now), so the only pairs left are Weiss-Yang, Ruby-Blake, Weiss-Blake, Ruby-Yang (Don't worry, that last one will become clear later on).

So I understand, for those awaiting Morgoth and Sauron these chapters are fillers, but I WANT the team to be ready for the finale, and without this arcs, it just won't hit!

In the Brandon Sanderson "Stormlight Archives", we had to wait for like FIVE books before Caladin returned back to his former self and by the God, it was glorious! But I am certain that, without that previous build-up, it wouldn't hit as hard as it did.

Thank you for your review, have a nice week!

In response to RwbyHeroMoon24:

"What will happen when Sauron DOES decide to sway Ruby?" – I mean, didn't he?

Sauron has already planted a seed of trust in her mind – He taught her a valuable lesson, allowed her to use his forge, showed that he shares some of her fascinations and passions.

Sauron is first and foremost patient, just look at the Nazgul – When they put the rings on their fingers, he didn't immediately corrupted them, he waited at least one-hundred years before they fell and joined him.

He has many plans, some were put in motion at the same time and while he attends to them, He eagerly awaits Ruby's inevitable return, and he will gladly use that moment to cement himself in her mind as her mentor figure.

But honestly, nobody knows what the future holds.

In response to guest:

Love this story – Me too bud, but my opinion might be biased.

Thank you, Have a nice week!

'

That's all from me, Thank you all for reading and for your reviews, have a nice week! Take care!

'

'

'

Konsilio: As most of you probably expected here goes bonus scene.

The City of Vale

"One shot kid." Man behind the counter said, Nora took a deep breath, spun her arm once to prepare for a swing, then threw the ball at the pyramid of metal cups, knocking all of them in one go.

"Wohoo! Yeah!" Nora shot her arms high and cheered, and the stand owner, with a really heavy heart, handed her a large bear plushie, she took it into her arms and looked at Ren.

"I won again!" She giggled, wearing a pink leather jacket she won back in Brodytown. "Did you see that throw!?"

"I saw it Nora, I was standing right here." He said, then small smile raised in the corners of his mouth. "It was really good…" He wanted to say before Nora showed the plushie into his arms."

'It's for you!" She said, backed a little and put her fingers like she was framing Ren and the plushie. "Aww, you look really cute together! Can we keep it?"

"I don't think we have space…" Ren started to say, but upon seeing Nora' puppy eyes, a technique he was completely defenseless against, he relented. "…We will figure something out."

Meanwhile on the neighboring stand, Pyrrha wearing her incognito clothes, fired from a prop rifle at the moving targets, not missing a single one.

"Wow." Jaune muttered. No matter how many times he saw her display of skill, he was always amazed by it, while the stand owner just sat on the sideline with defeated expression on his face, a small crowd of people gathered around them.

When Pyrrha struck the last of the moving dummies, people cheered and clapped.

"That was triple or nothing…" Owner grumbled, then pointed his long finger at her. "I swear, you must be a Huntress in disguise!"

"Sorry?" She gave him an apologetic look, her disguise once again proving it's use, and the owner just sighed.

"I swear, you kids are going to ruin me." He remarked with face hidden behind his left hand, then he gestured at the prizes. "Pick anything you want." But instead, Pyrrha looked at Jaune.

"Which one do you want?" She asked him.

"What? No no, you won!" Jaune raised his hands in a defensive gesture. "You should choose!"

"I insist!

"No, I insist!"

People around them chuckled as they continued little back and forth.

"Hey!" Stand owner finally snapped his fingers to get their attention. "Someone is trying to earn money here so quit chirping!"

"Sorry!" Pyrrha apologized yet again, and Jaune finally decided that he wants to give her this pleasure, so he pointed at a plushy platypus.

"Here you go, now please, get out!" Owner handed them the plush and a pair walked away with their prize to rejoin Nora and Ren.

"Well, it looks like mister Duck will finally get some company!" He wiggled the platypus before Pyrrha's face.

"Sto-op!" She gently pushed the plush away and turned her head in embarrassment, then as he continued laughing, she punched him in the arm and laughed as well.

Arc couldn't explain it, but every time he was with her, all the stress and fears seemed to be pushed into the background. He could relax, enjoy small moments in life like this again, he didn't feel inferior. Just she and him, being friends.

He didn't even realized it but he also didn't thought much about the Ring, like he didn't really need it.

"Looks like you won too!" Nora quickly approached them both with a wide smile on her face, examining the platypus. "How do you name it?"

"We didn't think of that yet…" Jaune looked at the plush. "Maybe Bob?"

"Lykos sounds nice too." Pyrrha suggested.

"Or maybe Perry!" Nora added to the discussion as Ren caught up to them, and both Pyrrha and Jaune shared a look.

"You know, Perry sounds really nice." Pyrrha said.

"Yeah, it's oddly fitting." Jaune raise the platypus high. "So, from now on you are Perry the Platypus!"

"PERRY THE PLATYPUS!?" Team JNPR watched how an pharmacist started to frantically look around and quickly run away, which at first left them confused, only to laugh about it.

"How about some ice cream?" Ren suggested.

"I want salted caramel!" Nora immediately agreed.

"Sure!" Jaune said, then realized something. "But, can we meet up later?"

"Hm?" Pyrrha looked at him as he handed her the platypus.

"Weiss asked me to meet her on the Ferris wheel." He pointed at the Ferris wheel towering over the festival.

"Weiss?" Ren said, little surprised while Pyrrha looked away, little anxious.

"Yeah, I was surprised too when I found the message from her in my locker, but that was her handwriting." Arc explained, omitting the fact that the paper had also the smell of her perfume.

"Then…Good luck I guess?" Ren said while Nora tried to pat Pyrrha's back, but red-head stopped her.

Jaune waved his hand dismissively. "It's probably nothing special, so one turn and I will be back!" With that said he run off.

"You should have said something!" Nora said to Pyrrha as she looked after Jaune.

"If he feels this way… I just don't want to put myself in between." She said, her anxiety taking over.

"Think about your own happiness girl!" Nora tried to encourage her to make a move, but Ren shook his head.

"Just…leave him be, I'm sure it's nothing." He said, what happened in Oobelck's class still in his mind, making him fearful of his team leader.

Meanwhile Jaune walked into the empty pod and when he sat down, he retrieved a small sheet of paper and reeled it out:

"Meet me at 5:00 on the ferris wheel, I will be waiting." He read again, his mind thinking that maybe, finally, she actually started to like him? Recently, she seemed to be acting nicer to everyone around, especially Ruby, and maybe, thanks to this little change, he finally has a shot? In fact, he planned to tell his team about the Ring today, but when he found this in his locker, he just couldn't help himself.

While he was thinking that, Morgoth sat in the corner of his mind, pushed away for now as Arc's mental state instead of degrading, started to improve, and the Fallen Vala was more than unhappy about it.

Still, he tried to whisper that maybe, abandoning the champion for 'objectively' better girl…

Jaune shot this thought down immediately.

"We will just chat a little, talk about school, I will ask her what she wants, and if it's… He daydreamed for a moment, but he again shook his moment. "…I will tell her "Sorry, but you missed your…" Oh man." He hid his face in his hands, crush in his mind still strong.. "It's hard to say it alone, but directly to her face?!"

"First crushes leave an impression huh?" A familiar voice brought Jaune out of this thoughts, his eyes widened as Cardin walked into the pod. "Let me resolve this dilemma for you."

"Cardin!?" Jaune stood up. "What are you doing here?!"

Morgoth cheered as Cardin put his hand on Jaune's arm and forced him to sit back, and Winchester sat right beside him.

"I just wished to talk to my new best friend in Beacon!" Cardin smirked, wrapped his arm around Jaune's head and pulled him closer. "And believe me Jaune-boy, we have so much to talk about."

As Jaune's hatred resurfaced, so did Morgoth, who just couldn't miss the occasion like this, satisfied that this minor investment paid off surprisingly well.

Now he just needs to play his cards well.