Chapter Text
White.
That was the first thing Ruby took notice of when she opened her eyes, sitting up she took notice of the lack of injuries on her body, looking beside her she saw Yang asleep, not a single bandage on her body.
"None of you suffered any physical damage" the voice made her turn around instantly, sitting at a desk and looking over some documents and typing something on her scroll was Thumbelina Peach, resident doctor of Beacon. "However you had a considerable amount of aura drained from you, this condition is fortunately something that has records of happening so it was easy to look for symptoms" Ruby looked down, trying to remember what the older woman meant.
And then it hit her, the memories of why she was here, in a panic she looked around the room trying to search for somebody. "If you are looking for the knight i'm afraid you will be disappointed" the doctor said as she stood up and walked towards her patient. "That armor of his kept him alive but it was also detrimental for his health" putting her hand on the student's forehead, Lina closed her eyes and focused making a pink glow surround the two of them.
After a few seconds she opened them and retracted her hand, the glow disappearing just as she did so. "Good, there aren't any of the possible secondary effects" she pulled out a notebook and started to write on it. "Excuse me? You said that the armor hurted him somehow?" Ruby asked in a small voice, her usual anxiety suddenly spiking. "More or less, it broke entirely and shut down, to the point that professor Mulberry had to use his forge to open the armor" Ruby's mouth dried up at that information, her worry growing as she listened to the doctor.
As she finished writing the doctor turned to the girl with an unreadable expression. "When he finally removed the armor, there was nothing, no injuries, no blood, nothing" she stood up and walked towards the window. "His aura had healed him entirely from all the wounds he had sustained in just three hours" that information erased her worry and replaced it with relief, he was fine.
Wait. "How long has it been since initiation?" Ruby asked in worry at the thought of having missed the first day of classes. "6 days" at that Ruby deflated. "You are quite lucky that headmaster Ozpin decided to push back the first day for two weeks" and inflated right back up, her smile widening as she realized that everything was fine.
Suddenly the door opened and Tai entered the room in a hurry, he was about to scream in happiness when he saw his little rose awake but a single look from Peach shut him up. "Good, you are learning" Ruby looked at her father who held a slight expression of fear. "She's good to go, her clothes were deposited in her team's room" without any more to say the doctor returned to her work.
Seeing that she was pretty much kicked out, Ruby tried to stand up only to almost fall face first into the floor, fortunately for her Tai easily catched her and used himself as support for her. "Take it easy Rosebud, you have been asleep for a while" he said as he started to guide her out of the infirmary and towards her new room.
Looking at her father, Ruby couldn't help but remember that he shouldn't really be here. "Dad, why are you here? Shouldn't you be at Signal?" Tai smiled at her and pulled out his scroll, showing an image of him in a suit. "I am officially a teacher here now, don't expect an easy time" that made Ruby smile as she realized she would have her whole family here.
At that Tai remembered something and pulled out a bill of 50 lien. "Qrow wanted you to have this, he said that you could buy whatever you wanted with it as a present for entering" Ruby's face lit up, doing mental calculations about what she was missing from her toolbox or what could be improved in Crescent Rose, wait why drunkle didn't give that himself?.
The look she gave to her father was enough of a question which he promptly answered. "Qrow left for Atlas earlier in the day, he really wanted to wait for you and Yang to wake up but he didn't have time to spare" Ruby looked sad for a moment before her smile returned, after all her uncle would be fine and he'll be back in time for the start of her school year. I wonder how he's doing ?, she thought to herself.
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Sitting in the middle of the freezing thundra, Qrow, Shura, a pilot and a group of scientists huddled around the fiery remains of their Manta, all of them shooting Qrow a dirty look. "Not my fault that the engine froze" he said as Shura pulled out his gun and shot another flare into the sky. "No, but it is your fault that the flames burned all of our supplies after your gun went off" Shura said as he sat down again, his wrist emanating a blue light.
Ah right, that one was on him. "At least the radio was still working, how long until they find us?" The pilot asked Shura who looked at his wrist. "Who knows? They are close but with this blizzard here it will take them some time to arrive, could be minutes, could be hours" he answered before the sound of snow moving could be heard.
Hearing that, both hunters deployed their weapons, the pilot grabbing his side arm and moving the scientists to the other side of the Manta, all of them ready for the possible danger, instead however an armored vehicle ripped through the snow and stopped in front of them, the symbol of Atlas on its side. "Or they could be here right now" Shura said as he retracted his weapon and the door opened in front of them.
As soon as they opened a squad of 5 soldiers came out and went over to the scientists, ready to help salvage whatever they could. "Specialist Arc, Mr. Branwen" the voice made them turn back at the vehicle. "Specialist Ebi, i was sent to retrieve the two of you" Shura smiled at seeing his superior again while Qrow just waved. "Hello again Clover, should you be out of HQ?" the drunk asked as he walked back towards the downed Manta and helped load up whatever was left.
Clover followed his lead and lifted one of the crates . "A friend of the general and Atlas best strategist were stranded in the middle of a freezing wasteland" he said as he started to walk back towards the vehicle, Qrow for his part picked another crate and walked beside the specialist. "He would have deployed all of the Ace Ops if it wasn't for the fact that you and Winter would have fought one another" Qrow just smiled at the memory of the easily riled up ice queen.
It was fun to get on her nerves. "And besides, we needed the two of you to ensure that nothing happened with A" he said in a lower voice, only heard by the two of them. "By the way, Shura, did you bring back the couriers?" Clover remembered as he saw his subordinate load another box into the vehicle, this one didn't have any label on it. "Sure did, RnD would have my head if I lost them" he said as he secured the box the furthest away from Qrow and the door.
Once he did that, he turned back to his superior who was helping two of the scientists fully load the crate they carried. “So, have you catched anything by the lake lately? Been a while since i heard you brag about it” he asked as he pulled another crate into the vehicle. “Nope, lately it’s just me talking with the birds, they are good help when it comes to not being alone” Clover casually responded as he moved his hand to his back pocket, something that Shura caught and instantly tapped his fingers together.
Qrow for his part was dragging a crate that looked more like a coffin than anything else, as he approached he suddenly lifted said object and threw it inside without much issue. “That was the last one” he simply informed the other two as the rest of the crew entered the vehicle. “Acknowledged, we will go towards Mantle and then take a Manta back to Atlas” Clover informed them as the hatch closed, finally letting them lower their aura.
Without anything better to do Qrow sat down and opened his canteen, ready to take a gulp until he noticed that the damn thing had frozen. “Of course my day just gets worse” he muttered as Shura sat beside him and opened a notebook, seeing the possibility of anything interesting Qrow looked at the notebook and saw that instead of regular pages, the ones on the notebook varied entirely, as if they had been ripped away from somewhere else.
Going to the latest addition, Shura started to read the contents, making sure to let Qrow do the same while also not drawing attention from anyone else, once he finished he looked at his superior that sat across him with a serious look, besides him Qrow kept a poker face with slightest hint of a smile on his face. “Hey sir, quick question” Clover looked at him and gestured to him to continue.
“I have been considering asking Winter out, do you think she would like Camellias?” Clover looked pensive for a moment, the soldiers in the car looking at the specialist as if he was crazy. “Yes, although the constant snowing in Solitas makes it impossible for it to grow around here, you would need to pay a fortune to get your hands on some and you know she hates wasting money” Qrow looked at the man in curiosity as if something had just crossed his mind.
“Does it even rain on Solitas? I never really saw it happening” he contemplated his visits to the snow continent, even if there weren't many he couldn't really remember ever seeing rain. “Well it’s more of a Sleet than anything, with the cold climate the rain is freezing most of the time, fortunately it doesn't go beyond being a sleet” to which Qrow nodded, so that was the target.
“Let's suppose I ask her out tomorrow and she says yes, would you give us the day off?” Qrow just looked at him as if he was an idiot before he answered instead. “So you are going in without a plan? You know that ice queen likes that everything Is planned from the beginning, you have nowhere to go and i’m 80% sure nothing nice to put on” Clover nodded with the assessment of the other hunter since he thought the same for the most part.
“Putting aside that, there's also the rule of the Ace Ops” Shura scowled as he remembered that rule. “Ace Ops members can have only one day off by the week” they both said at the same time. “Tell you what, Jacques Schnee has announced a gala in 5 days, you could invite her for that and then see if you have a shot at all” Shura put a hand on his chin and looked at his boss in confusion.
“Doesn't Winter hate those events?” Clover just shrugged as he answered. “Well she's pretty much obligated to attend given that all of the Ace Ops have been summoned to it, no uniform since we aren't on security duty, officially anyway” as he said that he turned to Qrow who was slightly interested. “You are also invited by order of the general” Qrow just nodded, ready to snatch as much pricey liquor as he could fit inside his body.
He continued writing some more in his notebook and kept asking questions to his boss, formulating a plan as they talked. “Lastly, what time does the event start?” he asked as he finished writing some of the details in the plan, Clover simply smiled. “That's usually the first question to ask, you know? The event starts at 7 pm with the main course arriving at 8:45 pm” so that's the time window, good to know.
“Sir Mantle’s base is in sight” the voice of the driver reached the back as Shura pocketed his notebook, the plan was set then. “Copy that” Clover answered as Qrow stretched his arms, knowing that he would have to lift more boxes and crates, today was going to be a drag.
Once they had arrived at Atlas HQ, Shura throwed the coffin on top of his shoulder while letting the scientists deal with the couriers. “I have to take this to RnD, i’ll meet you two in front of the general’s office” and so he left them behind, Clover motioned for Qrow to follow him who just complied. “Your stuff will be deposited in a room that has been assigned to you for the next 8 days” Qrow nodded, already familiar with the procedures of Atlas.
Reaching an elevator, Clover simply called and both got in. “There's a mole” Qrow didn't say anything as he had gotten that much from the talk before. “Not only in the council but also on the military, supplies had started to disappear as well as military equipment and funds” Qrow raised an eyebrow at that, if gear was getting lost that meant that the mole had to be of a relatively high rank or a fool.
“We have reduced our suspects to two, Captain Bram Thornmane and Lieutenant Superior Olive Harper, both are specialists with Bram being considered for the title of Ace Ops member a while ago” as he finished the doors opened, walking out the two of them made their way to the general's office. “They must have allies somewhere else, just two specialists and one or two council members cannot have enough pull to move much on their own without anyone else noticing” Clover nodded, he and the Ace Ops had come to the same conclusion.
Knowing they had to wait for Shura they took a spot on the wall, fortunately for them almost no one came here. “Security cams?” Qrow asked as he eyes the camera fixed on the corner of the room. “Footage was lost and replaced, sound was muted as well, the one on the elevator was straight up broken” so they probably had someone in the control room.
Thinking of different options Qrow remembered something and voiced his theory. “I heard the White Fang has been on the move lately” Clover looked confused for a second but he catched on to the message quickly. “Right, lately they had gotten far more active, been a pain in the ass for the different villages around Solitas” that settled that then, but there was another variable here, none of the upper members of the White Fang believed in stealth after all.
Before he could continue his train of thought, he saw that Shura had finally catched up to them. “Is he aware of everything?” Clover just laughed and Shura smiled, perfectly aware of what Qrow was asking. “My notebooks might as well be a secret of the kingdom with how much information i have gotten on those before i destroy them” so that's why all other pages were so different.
Stepping forwards, Clover knocked on the door before he received confirmation from the person inside, once they entered they could see that the general looked worse for wear with a mountain of papers in his desk and bags under his eyes, the best he normally wore discarded entirely. “Good to see all of you again, the past week has been horrible” Ironwood said as he stood up.
Qrow took on his friend’s appearance and recoiled slightly. “You are in luck Glynda couldn't tag along, you look like i do after a night of no memories or remorse” James grimaced, being well aware of how bad that was. “I trust Clover informed both of you on what your purpose here is” Shura nodded as he started to recapitulate everything that was said.
Pleased with that, James opened a drawer and pulled four cups as well as a bottle, and poured one for each of them. “Good, failure is not an option, if we fail to capture the target we might be too late to stop whatever is happening around Remnant, between The Crown in Vacuo, the growing quantity of grimm in Anima, the missing supplies here and the new type of grimm discovered i fear that this age of peace is about to end” that was a sour thing to drink on, but reality was usually sour.
Qrow looked at the cup, contemplative of something else before he drank it. “I have a single question Jimmy” he said as he drank the entire cup in one swing and put it back into the table. “Who’s our first target?” James smiled and nodded to Clover who pressed a button that turned off the lights and closed the windows.
Suddenly an image lit up on the wall, showing a map of all of Remnant. “As things are right now, our priority is to liberate Atlas from all possible threats inside the Kingdom, after that I can move resources more freely to other kingdoms” Qrow nodded, he knew that no matter what Atlas would be James priority given that Vale was rather safe.
“For that we will require the help of the couriers, with that we can gather enough evidence to incarcerate whoever deserves it” Shura remembered what RnD had told him and promptly informed the general. “The couriers will be ready for deployment starting tomorrow according to RnD” James nodded, making Clover press another button, this time showing Jacques Schnee as well as the Schnee estate.
“We need to eliminate as many targets as possible before the gala, that way we can capture the target in there and be more likely to get all information out of them” Qrow quickly realized a fault with the plan and instantly asked. “Won’t the target evade the gala if he believed it would be too risky?” at that Ironwood smiled with a dangerous glint in his eyes.
“That's the thing, the invitations were handed by Jacques Schnee himself, nobody can deny the invitations since that would be seen as an insult to him and the SDC” so that's why he said the Ace Ops were obligated to attend. “How did you get his cooperation?” Shura asked, genuinely impressed. “A discount on the new AK models for better security and he ends up with more chances of becoming a member of the council if we pave the way” that man truly was a menace when it came to business, tapping the button again, the screen changed to 3 different images.
One showed a tanned woman standing beside a man, both of them wearing the atlesian specialist uniform and having a conversation between them.
The next showed an overweight, middle aged man adjusting his glasses, this was Amoncio Glass, the shadiest businessman in all of Atlas.
The next showed a warehouse in the middle of Mantle, a woman with a white mask could be seen walking inside of it.
“These are our secondary targets, in 4 days we have to get rid of all of them and corner our main target” and lastly the screen showed a balding man that was at least 50, his suit and his glasses giving the appearance of a rather smart man. “Councilman Kalt Sleet”.
Back in Beacon, Ruby was back in her usual clothes and walking aimlessly around the many halls of the academy, she wanted to find Jaune but she had no clue where he could possibly be, turning to another hall she saw that it was a dead end, but a noise caught her attention, it was a noise she had grown familiar with over the years as it was a part of her second favorite hobby, the sound of forging.
Walking towards the source, she tentatively opened the door and saw inside, there were two persons inside, one was carving something into the hot steel while the other calmly instructed him. “You cannot apply too much strength to it, less you want to break the entire thing in two” the gruff voice of the instructor said as the younger man did his part, even through the white mask he wore, Ruby could tell that he was entirely focused on that shield.
Once he finished, he took the shield into his hands and cooled it in the water beside them, after a few seconds he pulled it out and showed it to his teacher who proceeded to grab it and deposited it in a table. “Artifact Lancea!” The lance suddenly appeared in the hands of the teacher and with all his strength he delivered a blow into the shield.
Without anything to hold it, the shield flew upwards and landed with a loud clang, not a single indent in it. “64, something so simple lowers your score but it seems to be reliable enough” he said as his lance disappeared and lifted the shield before handing it to the student. “Although I'm not sure how good you will do with just a sword and shield but that isn't my place to speak at” turning towards the door to leave, he saw the little reaper looking at him with stars in her eyes.
In a blink she was in front of him. “You are Harold Mulberry, the greatest blacksmith in all of Vale!” she exclaimed in joy as she zoomed around the older man who was having a hard time keeping up with her. “Yes that's me, do you need anything little one?” he asked to the air after he realized that trying to follow her with his sight was pointless.
Suddenly a weapon was deployed in front of him, without missing a beat Harold took it into his hands and started looking at the craft. “Impressive, an intricate design for someone so young” changing forms he saw that the girl hadn't spared any expenses on this weapon, the cheapest part he could find was something he would give an 8 out of 10 in quality, she knew her stuff.
Going back to the scythe he took a practice swing at the other person in the room who blocked with his shield just in time, pulling the scythe back he nodded before he handed it back to the girl who awaited his judgment with bated breath. “If this was an exam, you would have gotten a 99” she beamed in response, happy that her baby was recognized as the masterpiece it was.
“The only reason you don’t get the 100 is because you lack a full magazine, while i understand that you probably woke up recently given that Xiao Long ran out of the room some time ago and now you are here, that is not an excuse to be catched unprepared” Ruby dutifully nodded and saluted the professor who walked out of the room. “The forge is always open, however you need to bring your own materials if you want to upgrade or create anything” he informed the two of them as he left their line of sight.
She suddenly heard a small laugh which brought her back to reality and remembered the other person in the room. “I have been learning under him for 6 days now and the best I have gotten was a 76, you weren't kidding when you said that your baby was above my armor” Ruby looked at the guy with confusion until she realized who it was.
In an instant she was hugging her friend who wasn't entirely sure on how to answer. “Thank you, for saving us” Jaune just laughed before separating her from himself. “You shouldn't thank me, that's what a hero does” Ruby blinked at him before she smiled as well. “Right!” she echoed as Jaune turned around and started to add color to his weapon.
Seeing that Ruby instantly was beside the weapon, slightly disappointed in what she saw. “A sword and a shield?” she said with a pout as Jaune turned to her. “Well making a real weapon takes time which is something I don't have a lot of, so I made this for the time being” he said with some hurt in his voice, after all this was his Magnum Opus so far.
Realizing she broke the first rule of the blacksmith, Ruby quickly tried to amend. “Nothing’s wrong with that of course, sometimes simple is better!” she said, trying to fix her slight mess up. “Besides, appreciation for the classics is something that most hunters have forgotten entirely!” she continued to ramble for a bit until she felt a hand patting her head. “Relax, i understand” Jaune simply said as he continued the paint job, it was simple enough but he didn't want to mess up.
Turning to his friend, he smiled under his mask. “Besides i was waiting for you to wake up” that made her focus back into the real world and saw that Jaune had turned back to the weapons. “You know so much about weapons that I wanted to know if you could help me with creating one for myself” he said as grabbed another brooch and continued painting.
“I know you said that a weapon is something one makes for themselves but i am not sure what would that be in my case so i was curious if you would help me” turning back to her he saw that Ruby had left, guess some things never change , he couldn't help but think as he returned to his painting. “Now that I think about it, what are you calling it? Just because it’s not your main weapon doesn't mean that it doesn't deserve a name” sitting in one of the tables, Ruby drawed different sets of weapons using what she knew of her friend and his way of fighting.
“I was thinking Journey’s Start” Jaune answered as he held back a tear, how come something so simple makes him so happy?. “I thought the Arc family used the word Mors or variations of it for all their weapons” Ruby voiced her confusion at her friend who just smiled. “This isn't my main weapon, so technically speaking it’s not an Arc weapon, but it is mine” Ruby just nodded, she repeated the name in her mind a few times before she nodded in agreement with the name.
Stepping back, Jaune admired his handiwork with a smile, a simple sword and shield combo colored white with a gold outline and the Arc symbol on the center of it, Ruby suddenly stood beside him and opened the paper she was holding showing different ideas to her friend who either nodded yes or no.
Smiling to himself, Tai walked away from the forge, maybe letting rosebud in early wasn't such a bad thing