Chapter Text

Chapter 1

“Ugh, it’s about time,” Nora cheerfully moaned, as she and the rest of her team walked down the dim warmly lit hallway. “Who’s idea was it to walk again?”

Ren spoke, “Well, we did face many obstacles: broken airships, destroyed settlements--”

“Oh, and, you know, all those people and monsters that tried to murder us,” Jaune interrupted.

“We were fine. Only one of us almost died” piped the girl in red, “and we made it. That's all that matters.” She was right. Despite all they had been through, the group held remarkably high spirits as they approached the large double doors at the end of the hall.

“So how much farther to Haven Academy?” Jaune queried.

“We are almost there. I thought I’d take you on the scenic route,” Winter Schnee smoothly crowed, leading the v-formation consisting of her and team JNPR. They had barely recuperated from their travel across Anima. Between Tyrian’s attack and the battle with the Nuckelavee, they were shocked they remained in one piece, apart from Nora’s brush with Tyrian’s poison. Even Winter, through her ice queen demeanor, was warmly relieved to have finally made it to Mistral. After all the trials and dangers they faced to get there, their final arrival at Mistral felt like a triumphant, albeit small, victory for the young warriors.  

Winter opened the doors with a dramatic flare the former Heiress reserved for her best surprises. Her young companions were dumbstruck with the view they were greeted with. The mountainscape spanned miles, and on almost every inch of it people made a symbiotic relationship with the land around them. JNPR gazed at the city, dazzled by the marketplaces.

Stepping in front of the pack, Pyrrah Nikos glided to the end of the platform, “It’s so beautiful.” She, of course, was used to big cities from her training in Argus, but the creativity of how the city was embedded into the mountains was an entirely new concept to her.

“The vendors here will sell you almost anything you can imagine, whether they should or not," Winter explained, "The lower levels are known for high levels of crime, but the higher go the better it gets.”

“And we are going up!” Nora cheered.

~~~

The small party climbed up the levels of the mountain city, absorbing the beautiful scenery, until they finally made it to the top: Haven Academy. They walked up to the entrance, remaining in their loose v formation that began as a joke at Winter’s tight regimentation and accidentally became the default way they approached new situations. 

A tear came to Pyrrah’s eye as they approached the Academy’s entrance

Jaune noticed, “what’s on your mind?” He asked, giving her a slight jab with his elbow

“It’s just, for the first time since the memorial at Beacon, I feel like we’re finally making some headway in our mission.”

The feeling of accomplishment wouldn’t last long, unfortunately. Slowly the group realized how eerily empty the Academy was. This wasn’t right; school may not be in session, but there must be someone here. Right? Slowly the tension built until it was a palpable, invisible mist in the room. But still, the team held their wits, following the lead of the elder Schnee daughter, who kept a firm hand on her sword as she approached the headmaster’s office.

“Keep your guard up,” she warned, “there’s something not right about this. The General told me to expect to be greeted by Professor Lionheart and his staff.”

Winter hesitantly went to knock on Lionheart’s door…

“Ahhhh!” was the only thing that came out of the Elderly Faunus’s mouth when he briskly opened his door to five trained Huntsmen ready to fight. He fell back on the floor.

“Professor Lionheart,” Winter inquired.

“Wh-What what are you people doing here?!?! Trying to give me a heart attack?”

Winter ignored the charge. “Why was no one waiting for us at the entrance?”

The professor paused in confusion, checked his pocket watch, and looked back at the travellers. “What? I-I-I was expecting Qrow---”

"Qrow Branwen is in Vale, protecting Beacon and it’s relic,” Winter interrupted in a tone designed to save time, “I’m Winter Schnee, Lieutenant to General Ironwood, and I was sent in his place to secure the Haven Relic, along with these students.”

The members of JNPR introduced themselves.

“Didn’t Qrow explain this to you in his letter,” Winter cut in once again, “He should’ve told you to expect us.”

“Leonardo Lionheart, at your service,” said the professor, apparently not keeping up with the conversation as quickly as Winter was.

“Where are the other professors?” demanded the Atlas Specialist.

“Most of my staff is away until classes resume.”

“WHAT?” Winter snapped, “Professor Lionheart, what are you thinking? Who's guarding the relic?”

The two adults began a heated argument about the importance of the relic and why the people present weren’t even qualified to know about it as Nora leaned to Pyrrah to ask if this is how she thought this conversation would go?

~~~

“How could you be so reckless as to leave one of the most valuable objects on remnant completely unguarded?” Winter demanded. By now everyone was inside the professor’s office debriefing each other on the developments since the Fall of Beacon. Winter was pacing in front of Lionheart’s desk and staring at the ground, something Team JNPR had by now learned she did only she was truly overcome with stress. “And what about your lack of communication with Ozpin’s circle, even before the attack on Beacon?”

“There was nothing to check in about before the Fall of Beacon, and since that day, Mistral has been in chaos! Vale was not the only kingdom to suffer that night, you know. Every household was watching the tournament, everyone in every kingdom saw that poor girl ripped to pieces…” 

Here was where Pyrrah stopped listening. She barely noticed as Jaune put a hand on her shoulder or that Ren was using all of his strength to keep Nora sitting on the couch. She was back in Amity, standing in front of the mangled pieces that were Penny Polendina. She tried so hard to keep herself away from here, and she rarely succeeded. Every blink brought the image of the bright girl’s maimed parts, her ripped clothes, her sharp swords, her dead eyes. A single silent tear hit the mahogany floor. ‘It wasn’t your fault’ they say, all the time, but it was. It was her semblance that caused Penny to die. Had she gone against anyone else, no one would have been hurt. And to think that they lost even more that night. ‘No,’ she told herself, ‘we have to press on. Not just for the dead, but for the living. Keep going, no matter how much it hurts right now. You'll be okay; things will get better.’ Then she remembered one opportunity to make things better--the very reason she was so determined to get to Mistral.

“What about Cinder?” Pyrrha asked, “She came from Haven with Emerald and Mercury. You must have some information about them, Professor.” 

“We pulled their files after the Fall of Beacon. Nothing but lies and forgeries.”

“But surely those lies revealed something,” Pyrrha responded. Her voice wavered from the usual bright tone that filled everyone with optimism. “They were criminals who managed to waltz into the Vytal Festival representing your school, professor, you must know something, anything, that could help us find them.” She was angry now, something her team had seen only a handful of times, and something that was entirely foreign to Winter. “I’m sorry, but explain to me how murderers are allowed to tear an entire city apart under the guise of your school!”

“Pyrrha,” Ren soothed. Pyrrha turned away and let the tears flow. Nora hugged her and the boys shielded them. 

Professor Lionheart, realizing his mistake, decided he’d done enough damage and quickly ended the conversation. “I’m sorry I couldn’t be more helpful. I know you travelled a long way.”

“No, I’m sorry,” Pyrrha sniffled, bringing herself together.

“We’ll keep in touch. Alert us if anything changes with your council,” Winter concluded.

They walked out of the academy. Pyrrha kept to the back, hugging herself.

‘We’ve been here before’ Jaune thought to himself as he moved back to walk with his teammate. “That guy. He was being an ass. Don’t put any thought into what he was saying.”

“Jaune, people have been judging me for as long as I can remember. What matters is that you see me for who I really am. What he said about the tournament doesn’t bother me, but everything else does. How foolish were we to think that our problems would be solved by coming here. So much effort just to come back to square one.”

“I know. Things have been tough, but it’s like you said: we made it here, we’re all alive. That means something even if nothing else is going our way.”

“But we didn’t, Jaune. Not all of us. I destroyed Penny,” the emotion caught her. “And Ruby is dead.”