Broken Blondes

Chapter 6: A Moment to Breathe

AN: So, this chapter will be the chapter I promised last chapter. It was supposed to end up in the last chapter, at least according to my outline, but I find I'm adding fun little bits of context, and more developing the other characters more than in the first outline, so hopefully that doesn't bog things down TOO much, but also allows for everyone to enjoy the fic nonetheless. As always, let me know what you liked and didn't like about this chapter, and what you want to see in upcoming chapters.

Ren and Nora had asked Yang and Jaune to go ahead of them, to give the duo time to talk. Yang had been confused, especially since they'd been the ones to invite her, but their fearless leader had immediately realized when Nora casually brought it up what they needed. He'd ended up whisking Yang away, despite her protest, and his personal chagrin.

Nora chuckled at the thought of Jauney dealing with puns. He'd be fine. Probably.

She clung a little tighter to Ren's arm. He looked down at the excitable redhead. She returned the look evenly, no longer concerned with people thinking they were together-together. A small, content smile broke through his typically serene features, even as she resisted the urge to jump around like she'd inhaled a stack of pancakes… mmn, paaancakes…

Shaking her head, she focused on the boy in front of her… the source of pancakes. His casual green tunic with pedal-like tails at the back was contrasted by his long black hair. At the front of this long mop, he had a single pink streak, which she liked to think of as his 'touch of Nora'. She could feel the thick material of his robe through her hands giving her a sense of comfort and security.

The Nora in question had pink accented through her clothing, whether the all pink skirt, or the lines on her bomber jacket. Her boots were heavy, and mostly practical, if strangely white in a sea of brown earth.

They continued to walk in silence, taking in the view, content merely being present with each other, being together-together. Everything was amplified, the shock of him close to her sending electricity racing through her system unlike anything she'd ever felt before outside the rush of battle.

Ren knew it was coming. She'd never liked being silent, it was his thing, not hers and she'd kept her silence too long. He didn't even blink when she cried out energetically "Hey Ren… it's nice to have a moment alone like this isn't it?! Jaune's great and all, but we're strongest when it's just us right? I can't imagine anything more perfect!" Her shout echoed off the mountain, her voice an unnatural explosion of sound after the extended silence - in other words, just another day with Nora.

She wiggled her eyebrows knowingly in his direction, looking for a reaction. After a moment, Ren merely drew her closer. It was all the response she needed. She was alone with him for the first time in what felt like years. They'd always been strong together.

They slowly meandered towards the Mistral central elevation chamber, or "elevator" for short. They could see it in the distance, a long clear tube that seemed to stick out among the more natural elements of Mistral. If she could have guessed, she'd have suspected it was an Atlas contribution from the last time they'd held the Vytal Festival here. The house could certainly sustain a lot of people, and the installation led right to the main Mistral streets.

As they walked, she took in the city they would be leaving for a cold, desolate wasteland of a country. She'd never been a fan of Atlas. She herself knew little of the country, but from what she heard from Weiss queen, it was a relatively fitting description.

Speaking of the girl seemed to defy fun, Weiss was the closest she had come to meeting someone from Atlas. The snow angel was a resident her entire life before escaping to Beacon. The best parts of the girl was how she'd changed since Atlas.

Weiss' personality could have been summed up as… frosty when she first arrived. Made sense, now that she thought about it. No wonder Yang had to thaw her heart out.

There was also… Penny… and she wasn't really a person. Technically. It wasn't something she could understand, but she'd seen the wreckage. "It's strange to think that a world so full of life can feel so empty between cities. Like a testament to Salem's domination of this world." Ren's words broke into her thoughts, forcing her back to the present.

He only spoke when he came to a conclusion. It was true that leaving in the dead of winter from Patch had been a bleak journey to start. With Ruby's optimism though, it had been difficult to keep their spirits down. She'd helped too. Probably more.

Ruby had thought the journey would take at most a week or two… and in fact took roughly 6 months, since they'd not taken the train. To be fair, Ruby having never been outside of Vale or Patch… it was something they should have seen coming. Wish we knew about that earlier.

"It's nice to have somewhere to get away from it all though, isn't it? Salem isn't all powerful. She's just kinda nuts. Humanity is even more nuts because we survive in spite of Grimm, and we get stronger! Like me!" She struck a heroic pose for a moment, pulling him with her, and he cried out in surprise at her suddenness.

The boy smiled, removing his arm from Nora's grasp,putting his arm around her shoulders, she hummed approval. She leaned her head on his shoulder. Before long though, a thought came to her, breaking the silence. "Do you think I could get pancakes for lunch?"

Ren just rolled his eyes, his musings evidently forgotten. "Yes Nora…"

She squealed in delight, snuggling closer, and squeezing him in a bear hug.

Yang and Jaune were sitting on the patio of a noodle shop. It also carried drinks infused with dust, meaning Yang's favorite drink, and of course, that meant they had to check it out. The brawler had ordered a Strawberry Sunrise within minutes. At Yang's suggestion - more like demand really - they'd decided to wait out the other two, while she nursed a second Sunrise. He'd relented easily, focused on the menu to try and find something he'd like.

The blazing blonde opposite him had insisted on getting an outside seat, both so she could keep an eye on her bike, as well as see Nora and Ren coming. Figuring he'd get about as far as before, he'd simply followed dutifully. She sat, her eyes scouring the plethora of shops along the road they'd just driven down, while Jaune's eyes wandered the patio, keeping an eye on as much as possible. It was a nice atmosphere.

They were somewhat awkward with each other at first, avoiding eye contact, not wanting to be the first to start a conversation. Yang, the one who was typically much more social was hesitant, while he was just plain awkward. She didn't want the events of the night before to accidentally come up, Jaune felt too intimidated to say anything.

He'd never really had a one on one conversation with the beautiful woman opposite him before that night on the balcony. Knowing her thoughts towards her raven-haired teammate, and with what Ruby had asked him to do, he felt conflicted on what to talk about. Starting with that out of the gate seemed… tactless, even for him.

Finally, Yang could stand the uncomfortable silence no more, "So! Now that you're not crying like a baby or threatening to puke," Jaune winced, "I wanted to say… thanks for watching out for Ruby while I was…" She waved her hand in a circle, as if searching for the right word. "... preoccupied. It means a lot."

Jaune's back shot up ramrod straight at the mention of watching over Ruby. "Yeah! Sure! I mean, of course I'd look after her. She was my first friend at Beacon after all!"

Yang just raised her eyebrow at his skittish outburst. Fuck. He forced his mind to calm down, the strange level of sincerity blindsiding him.

Jaune wanted to make a joke, to break the tension. He hadn't expected something so sincere. He banished the thought almost immediately, mentally chastised himself for not knowing Yang better. He tried again... more calmly, "Yeah, no problem. I'd never want anyone to face the trek to Mistral alone. Plus, I didn't know what you'd do to me if I ever let your sister, one of my best friends get hurt."

She smiled wryly, she would have held him responsible if anything had happened to the little reaper. She laughed at Jaune's somewhat mortified expression when he mentioned her. "I'd hate to separate her from her bodyguard at Beacon. Besides yours truly!"

Jaune laughed, earning a look from his fellow blonde. "Bodyguard nothing. Your sister can more than protect herself. Pretty sure she kept me alive sometimes."

"Oh? The big bad knight not so fearless?"

He rubbed the back of his neck nervously "Nope. NOT even gonna respond to that."

She playfully punched him on the arm, his expression softened, though still on edge around her. "Is there something on your mind Jaune?"

"Just not used to sincerity from the crown queen of puns."

"HEY! I resemble that remark!"

"Exactly."

"I have to protect my sister from big bad men like you you know. Sometimes the dragon's gotta roar." She chuckled, not believing for a second any of that could apply to him.

"She's my friend Yang. I don't think of her like that!"

She gasped dramatically, "Oh her pooor heart! However shall she survive?!"

He raised a brow, sighing and shaking his head. "Okay but seriously, she had friends at Signal… right?"

Yang's brow creased at this, "well, not a lot, but I guess. She's always been a bit of a loner, kind of off on her own. Especially when she got to making her own weapons."

"Weapons? As in… plural?" He inquired

"Yuup"

She popped the p to emphasis her point. Jaune merely looked incredulous. "I mean, I know her Scythe is like… three different weapons in one, but what did she do before THAT?"

"Well… She made 10 different weapons before Crescent Rose. She'd tried to make my gauntlets first, then she made a few weapons she thought Summer would have use-"

"Summer?" Jaune broke in.

"Her mom. Not the raven-haired woman that pretends to be mine when it suits her. That woman is a bird of an entirely different feather."

Jaune couldn't help but raise an eyebrow at that, given what she knew of Qrow and his sister. Yang continued, "then Ruby she got into the really crazy stuff, she saw Qrow with his sword-Scythe, and decided she had to have something like it… and that's when the first version of Crescent Rose was born."

"huh... No wonder she's such a weapon nut."

"Pardon?" Yang's voice had an edge of indignant older sister malice to it, before her façade broke into laughter. "Yeah, you've got THAT right."

Yang put her hands behind her head, leaning back on her chair, casting her eyes to the sky. She looked relaxed, at ease.

Jaune decided to broach the subject, curious about her reaction on the balcony that night. Finally committing to a way to break the ice with the bombshell blonde on it. "You've been really distracted since we got back from the fight at Haven, and I'd be lying to say it's not got me thinking about... things. Are you okay?"

He looked away, expecting a more serious blow this time. What the hell was that?

Instead, he was greeted with silence. It was almost more unnerving than being hit.

Eventually, realizing the expected hit wasn't coming, he looked at her.

She seemed frozen, not seeing him, eyes still skyward, before snapping back to reality. "I've got a lot on my mind lately… what about you? Why are you practicing in the cover of night? I don't remember that in my combat practice schedule."

He was caught off guard by this almost immediate reversal, suddenly finding himself in the hot seat. He decided it was easier to just go with the truth. Some of it anyway, "I need to get stronger, and nothing made it more obvious than the fight with Cinder. I had no control…"

"I'll say, it's like you'd never used your sword before."

"...thanks"

"Well, if it makes you feel any better, your technique is waaaay better than the Vital Festival." She winked.

"Thanks? I feel like that's still an insult."

"Not from what I saw last night."

Jaune froze. "w-what… what did you see?"

"That you were putting in some serious overtime"

"Yeah, well."

"That way next time it won't be just, 'Nora, just hit them with the hammer'?"

"THANK YOU for the reminder!"

"At least you actually fought this time."

"I'm getting better thank you!"

Jaune glares at his fellow blonde. "And, for your information, I DID fight in our first match of the festival!"

"You might be able to hold your own with a civilian swordsman. One day." He blinked. "Given you work on your control." His eyes narrowed again. She continued, oblivious. "Taking on Cinder though, a maiden from legend apparently… just seems like suicide for anyone to attempt alone."

"She was just toying with me the whole time… I don't know what I was thinking…"

"Dude, you weren't thinking. I get it. Trust me."

"How?!"

She just waved with her metal arm. His eyes went wide. "I'm sorry… I didn't" all wind had left his sails in a hurry.

Yang looked sideways at him, curious. "Don't beat yourself up so much. It's not worth it."

He took a deep breath continuing. "Heh… not the first time I've been stupid"

The bitterness stung. He shook his head, and smiled, as if he hadn't been on the edge of a panic attack only seconds earlier.

"Don't sweat it so much, we've all done stupid things. I'm no better." Yang tried to comfort him gently.

"Riiight"

He smiled bitterly. Yang raises her eyebrow, not quite sure how to take his subdued reaction. "I'm just saying we're all dumb sometimes for the right reasons." She didn't push him further on it though.

She'd seen him fighting, and while she knew she'd still wipe the floor with him - which Cinder seemed content to do – his form had improved considerably since the combat festival. His swipes were wide, haphazard and angry, but she could see the form from last night. It was solid and in control, if a little stiff. He had to get his head in the game. She could relate.

The fight with Cinder had him clearly out of his depth. As a brawler who needed to pick up her opponent's body language for the edge, she could see the recklessness. He'd been emotional. A wreck if she was honest.

"You've become way more precise than I think I've ever seen anyone fight, other than Pyrrah. It was like seeing Weiss' grace with Nora's ferocity." Jaune broke into her musing.

Yang laughed, and Jaune scowled, "It's true! You have a laser focus behind your movements, it's like watching a raging fire focused through a magnifying glass!"

Yang stops, putting her mechanical hand on his shoulder, her eyes reflecting playful warmth of a hearth fire. "I'm not laughing because I don't believe you… I'm laughing at how much you were paying attention. If I'd known, I'd have worn something pretty."

She looked at him suggestively, batting her eyes, taking a little amusement from his blush.

"wha-?"

She just smirked. He scowled, and she finally became serious. "I've been practicing with my dad since Beacon… mostly anyway."

"With your dad?"

"Yeah… he's the one who taught me how to fight, he's a suuuper pragmatic brawler. Like, I've rarely beat him in a fight unless he was trying to teach me something."

He'd seen how terrifyingly strong Yang was, not just compared to him, but everyone who had fought her - not to mention her drastic improvement since he'd last seen her. He couldn't imagine someone who barely had to try to outclass her. It painted a picture of her father being an unstoppable force with no equal.

He shuddered.

"Strongest team at Beacon at one point." Yang added helpfully.

Yang smirked at his awestruck expression before putting both her arms behind her back. Seeing nothing more needing to be said on the topic, she glanced to the market. A green tunic, and a shock of orange-red hair caught her eye. "SOOO, when do you think the love birds will notice where we sat?" she mused aloud.

Jaune just rolled his eyes, looking to the street, seeing the duo, with Ren trying to keep pace with Nora, pulling him from shop to shop. "I'm willing to bet they won't. Let's head over before they do any damage."

"Don't you just mean Nora?"

"Pretty much..."

There was something amiss. The halls were quiet, but for the light pitter patter of a few guardsmen from the local police force. These halls had once been flush with thousands of students, young Hunters and Huntresses of Grimm. They would have been a force to be reckoned with, banishing any darkness that dared intrude.

Instead, the halls were empty to a level unseen in decades. It was downright eerie, the silence oppressive like a blanket. The door to the office of one Leonardo Lionheart slid open, a gaping maw of darkness into a brightly lit atrium. It was resplendent in its grandeur.

From this impossibly dark crevice of the open doorway slipped a creature comparable to a squid, its black tentacles which seemed almost to hover over the ground as it moved in absolute silence added to its malign aura. A bulbous 'head' sported no eyes of any kind, giving it a downright demonic appearance. Bones protruding from the bottom of its dome seemed to form a visceral maw for the creature, and flecks of bone where one would imagine there to be eyes, though it was reflected on every side, and it seemed unlikely that between the marrow would be a face of any kind, human or Grimm.

The way it moved spoke of familiarity with its surroundings, the creature's body still as it moved over the stairs. There was little resistance, the students whom had originally been sent away had yet to return, and the only Mistral police presence was… swiftly dealt with.

It found its way to a major door, opened with a singular tentacle. The creature barely stopped, keeping away from the busiest streets, once it broached the outside walls of Haven Academy.

It moved with purpose, the whisper of its Queen's commands echoing in what constituted as the black squid creature's mind. It was little more than a conduit for a vague consciousness, driven by its addiction to fear and negative emotions. They wreathed the people here, almost like a hunter's aura, in the creatures visual field.

Despite this allure to incite panic and feed on its energy, the creature maintained in service to its puppet master. Drawing attention, so soon after the failure of a confrontation at the school, would lead to the swift end of her most trusted of creatures, a price she wasn't willing to pay. So it was that she denied its hunger and forced it towards her true goal.

Eventually it came to an overhang of the uppermost cliffs of Mistral, From its vantage point it could see a structure obscuring the horizon - the dormitories for Haven's senior students. It was more like an independent housing structure that functioned as a group home for 20 people, if the size was anything to go by.

It could see a communal balcony large enough to hold a whole host of people. There were two humanoid creatures there. From one, there was a conflicted anger. The other was radiating something truly foul… optimism.

Turning its attention on the bulk of the structure, it sensed two presences on the second floor, in what would be considered the bunks for teams, one was incredibly inviting, the feelings of disdain and annoyance tweaked with a unique flavor of sorrow that seemed to drip with anticipation for the Grimm. The other was… old, ancient and unknowable, while also incredibly young and naïve. The creature knew it immediately to be the wizard, the greatest enemy of its queen.

It could sense its queen become hostile, its limbs reflecting her agitation, ready to strike. A moment passed in this state, before the goddess calmed. The prize would cause him more pain than she could achieve with a minor inconvenience for him.

The only other presences in the house consisted of a stern focus, and one of childlike determination. There was something more, something it feared more than anything else. The creature grew cold for a moment. Silver Eyes.

Many rooms held no one. There was more space yearning for occupation than not. The creature would have laughed if it was capable. Emptiness would be easily exploited.

As it began to grow closer, it began to realize that they had left their most prized possession completely unguarded. To be so careless… it was arrogance that had so many times undone the wizard.

Qrow had been drunk since the meeting that morning and had planned to be drunk for as long as possible before he lost the chance when they travelled to Atlas. Call it a personal goal of his.

He knew from personal experience that his semblance would jump at the opportunity to ruin his day, so he'd choses to beat it to the punch. He stared at the flask he'd had open. It dripped empty. He scowled in irritation. This was becoming a trend lately.

The conversation he was doing his best to ignore made him yearn for something stronger than the gin he'd been downing for the last 20 minutes; as his "superior" -if you could call the 14 year old that - talked about preparations and considerations for the cross-continental trip.

He felt that he had to at least raise the point that had been bothering him for some time, "Oz, something seems off with my niece."

The Oz in question, pin that is, looked meditatively at his subordinate. It looked odd, considering his now young teen body, younger even than the man's niece Ruby, a paltry 14 to her 16.

Oz simply shrugged; seemingly not perturbed. "Ruby is doing fine, and she's even developing her true abilities as we speak. There's little to worry about with the little Rose."

Qrow frowned, rolling his eyes, too used to the old man's games to really bother with his deliberate aloofness. "Yang you idiot. She's been talking to Raven, after so many years. My sister abandoned the family after everything. Now she's given Yang reason to doubt us both… Which is entirely reasonable by the way! You do everything not to play your cards if you don't have to, but you're asking for a lot from these kids, Oz."

Oz was impassive, but the grizzled scythe wielder knew that some of what he'd said had landed. Even after so many years of knowing him, putting his life on the line, it was hard to know when he'd taken your point. The old man spoke pensively, "Then what do you suggest we do then? She has her own mind, she can make her own decisions. Frankly, I wish Raven hadn't done what she did, but there's little we can do to rectify it. We must do our best to protect the Relic and the children."

Qrow glared at the man, "She only learned to hide things because she had to be strong when Tai couldn't be… even if it wasn't really his fault." He looked down for a moment. "We don't want her distrusting us."

He looked to his, now pint-sized former headmaster. The person in question was pacing in his new body, tapping a staff with gears covering one side of the handle against the wooden floor of the dorm as he went. "Qrow, the journey to Atlas will be excessively dangerous. They chose to volunteer, and as such… they will likely be endangered the whole way."

Qrow for his part, was amazed at his attempt to change the conversation. He drawled out, "That's everything we've ever done Oz, especially after you took a spiritual dirt nap."

Ozpin's eyes narrowed, but he let the man continue. "I've been watching over the first silver eye of the new generation for the last 6 months, she might be developing her abilities, but I don't want my niece to end up like Summer! I was nearly KILLED in the process of keeping them out of trouble, by the way; not that it would make much difference to you, outside of your precious staff being lost! What makes this harrowing trip full of misery any different from my typical Monday?"

Oz glared at the hard-headed drunk before pinching the bridge of his nose, a motion horribly out of place on his new body. "It's what we're going to be CARRYING Qrow, the relic, that will make this particular trip so difficult."

"So we've got a fancy lamp, whoop de do!"

Ospin took a slow breath. "There's a reason I haven't moved them since the last war. It's like a beacon to Grimm everywhere. Plus, Salem won't take a loss like that lightly. She's probably mounting forces to claim the relic in Atlas as we speak. It might be the safest place for it, but we both know what happened with James' hubris last time!"

Qrow raises and eyebrow, "She's going to have serious difficulty moving around there, the Grimm don't like the cold, remember? You taught me that. That's why we held out there so long during the war…Plus, Atlas created a blockade to their part of the continent."

Ozcar looks to Qrow, frustration showing through the cracks of his mask of impassivity, "She's been experimenting since the last war, you know this as much as I, there's likely already human forces mobilizing in Atlas, and the ice is waning now."

Qrow, for his part, looked thoroughly annoyed by this news; getting up and - after steadying himself - walked to the door. Oz looks to him, irritated at Qrow's lack of response.

Over his shoulder, Qrow spat, "Should have TOLD me that before I let my nieces escort something so powerful to a place that might already be compromised! Especially if he's handling it as well as his damn robots! Oz, one of these days, it won't be a Grimm that kills you. It's going to be me."

Oz simply shakes his head in disappointment, wincing as Qrow slams the door. This could be a problem.

Oscar shuddered.

Amid Haven's bustling metropolis lay a massive expanse of shops and markets.

Jaune and Yang having met up with Ren and Nora; had opted to enter the massive dust shop Yang had spotted on their way in. The four teens were currently looking into clothing with dust infused fabrics to keep them warm at any temperature. The wonders of dust-tech.

Ren and Jaune went together in the men's section, while Yang and Nora investigated clothing to amplify the overall effects of their semblances. Ren went to inspect fire dust laced mistralian clothing, like the ones he'd worn almost exclusively for their travel through Mistral, with a thicker fur lining, perfect for colder conditions. He spotted a matching pair of insulated stockings as well. It might have been spring in Remnant, but Atlas wouldn't be accommodating to anything he might overlook, even when summer was just on the horizon.

By contrast, his leader seemed preoccupied looking at a blue onesie among the sleepwear section. He just shook his head. His gaze bore into the bunny obsessed man, as Ren willed his eyes to burn a hole in his neck.

His leader looked over at him, the guilt showing on his face at being caught in the act. "What!? I miss the onesie I had. Things haven't been the same since Pyrrha burnt the old one!"

Thoroughly embarrassed, Jaune moved to see what Ren was doing. Anything to change the subject. Seeing his practical choices in clothes, his eyes narrowed, remembering the situation they were actually in. He groaned in mock annoyance.

Once again, his team seemed more focused than him. He wondered if he'd ever really been the leader. Seeking to draw attention away from his choice of onesie, "Hey, tell me something, even after everything; you seem the most composed, the most in control… how do you deal with it all the time?"

Ren looked at his leader, coming to him for guidance. His eyes struggled to convey everything he wanted to say, the typical impassive and logical approach seeming devoid of the ability to truly communicate his thoughts. In the end he merely sighed, "Honestly… I don't."

Jaune was skeptical, to say the least - horrified if he was honest - though it made sense. Ren's semblance was emotion masking, he'd probably used it on himself often enough to hide from things. It probably helped deal with Nora too actually, now that he thought about it.

All the time he'd spent wondering what Ren's semblance was, seeing him manipulate his aura the way he'd always done in practice, it seemed like that should have been his semblance. Instead, it was the most useful tool he'd ever heard of. Fear could quite literally lead the stuff of nightmares to devour you. If he'd been able to hide his emotions, he'd probably be a better leader to everyone.

Ren, seeing his friend's frustration, merely put his hand on the boys shoulders, and Jaune felt a wave of calm envelop him, "Jaune, I've hidden my feelings for years, ever since… that thing destroyed out village, preying on the terror of my family and everyone I'd ever known. My semblance manifested from the urge to be safe. That was a decade ago. My semblance made it easier for me to run away from those feelings, not understand them or deal with them."

Ren smiled, to Nora, he needed no words, but Jaune needed to realize running wouldn't solve things forever. Even so, it felt nice to finally say what he'd thought unspeakable for so long. It was as if a thousand pounds of pressure had lifted from his shoulders, knowing that he wasn't the only one to hear it.

For a moment, Jaune felt himself smiling despite himself, placing his own hand on his brother-in-spirit. "We'll always be here for you Ren. No matter what we face in the future. We won't EVER be separated. Not anymore."

Ren smiled and nodded solemnly. He turned back to his clothing choices. His blonde leader turns back to the onesies, his glee returning guiltily before finally looking to more suitable winter clothing other than his faithful hoodie. Smiling to himself, he didn't even look over his shoulder. "No onesies Jaune."

Jaune made a sound like a wounded animal.

Yang looked through the rows of different shotgun shells. She looked to the gauntlet on her arm, in its current form it was just a bracelet, the comfortable but not insignificant weight comforted her. She'd taken so long to get used to the weight difference between her arm with the gauntlet that she'd thought nothing would change it. Now, it served as a reminder of where haste left her.

Her new arm cannon didn't take the same kind of shotgun shells either, which was somewhat inconvenient for her quick and aggressive style of combat. The main thing was that it was balanced almost perfectly with her flesh arm, though not when she was wearing Ember. She didn't want to think about Celica.

She closed her eyes for a moment, breathing out, letting the flames from the edge of her vision recede, starving them of their fuel for a moment, calming her inner inferno. She looks again at the ammo, thinking over what the best choice would be.

Logically, she would probably want shells with fire dust, given that she really only carried that kind of ammo into her gauntlets before, and having mismatched ammo would require her to remember what she had loaded, which… was just too much to think about on the battlefield. The close combat style meant she didn't have a lot of time to reload, and any delay could be deadly against an Ursa, or a person.

That said, it's not like she'd gotten the opportunity to test out any sort of Dust-Based weaponry while she was getting used to it at Patch. Her father had taught her the command to activate the weapon, but he wouldn't let her test with much other than the stock ammo it had come with. She'd used most of that 'negotiating' with her mothers thugs, and fighting Emerald.

If she didn't know better, she'd say he was a doting father looking out for his daughter, rather than the reality that he was probably afraid to let her accidentally burn down the entire island while she was still getting used to its functionality. He was weirdly paranoid like that.

burn down a forest one time and I'm labeled for LIFE!

It was probably a smart choice in all honesty. She had never even needed dust to do that in the past. The effects of her semblance made that easy enough. She smiled for a moment, before she was reminded of the flames tickling the edge of her vision, and a frown took over.

The first time she'd learned of the side effect of her semblance, a few weeks after the run in with an Ursa while teaching Ruby hand-to-hand... She nearly did burn down all of Patch. Her father saw to it that it didn't happen, and she'd been relegated to her room till she was scheduled to leave for Beacon.

Naturally, she'd snuck out when her Dad fell asleep to ask about a certain birdbrain, but he ended up sending Ruby after her in the end. Or so she thought.

Before she could make any choice on the munitions, one way or another, Nora happened. "SoOOo… what kinda ammo are you gonna get?! You should get lightning shells! We could be the POWER DUO that way! Yang and Nora! Power pals forever!"

Yang nearly jumped out of her skin at Nora's bombastic words. She whipped around, a solid left hook ready, before stopping an inch from a very startled Nora. "What did I doooo?"

Yang sighed, deflating throwing her hands down in a huff. "Nothing, don't worry about it."

Nora looked concerned, almost heartbroken. She put a hand on her shoulder. "It's okay Yang, you can just go with fire dust, okay? No power pals till you're ready to hand the Full-Nora power hour... I understand."

Yang raised her eyebrow at Nora, who'd blissfully missed the point of her words.

Is that a team JNPR thing?

She rolled her eyes and cracked a lazy half smile, "What do you mean? Power pals are DEFINITELY gonna happen! Can't wait to zap you with a round. The world won't know what hit it!" Here she winked playfully at the redhead.

Nora went from upset to elated in a fraction of a second, striking a pose. "Yeaaaahhhh! We'll break their legs!"

They high fived, and Yang made her decision, she had plenty of rounds to buy today. She smiled, wider this time, feeling for the first time in a while, like she was ready to face the world.

Nora just nursed her hand after hitting the metal arm.

Kali sat down gingerly.

She and the rest of the Faunus Activists had set up camp just inside the city limits. They'd figured, given the lack of warm reception to such a large group of Faunus, as much as it might have benefitted them to maintain in the public eye, it would also pose a dramatic risk to many of their people from hateful attacks.

She and her big furball husband had decided, for everyone's mutual comfort, that the edge of Mistral would be best for everyone. They'd been welcomed by other Faunus who were native to the area and had set up a thriving community. The locals helped them get a handle on Mistral's general treatment of them, so they knew what points to hit on in upcoming rallies and speeches.

It had truly been a marvel to explore the vast diversity on the outskirts, it almost reminded them of a much less arid version of Menagerie. They found a great number of people more sympathetic to peaceful resolution here, who had triumphed in the face of adversity unlike anywhere else in the four kingdoms. It was truly a miracle from the brothers.

The previously mentioned furball sat sedately down beside her, looking fondly to his wife before turning back to take in the scene playing out in front of , a newly cheerful chameleon girl was teaching basic self defense to some of the older Faunus children in the square.

They'd made sure that she wouldn't teach them anything that might encourage violence and that peaceful resolution tactics be the first thing she taught them, as a personal request. She'd been more than willing to oblige.

The rest of the camp was relatively small, but as a result they'd been relatively easy to find housing for in their temporary shelter. They'd have to decide whether to stay here now that the crisis had passed or return to Menagerie. Kali had herself been dreading the discussion, as she had quite enjoyed the chance to stretch her legs and get out into the field for once.

She might have been a pacifist, but it didn't mean she didn't relish the idea of passing her fist through someone to relive some of her former battle glory. A serving tray might have served as a satisfactory weapon, but it was nothing like when she'd wielded Khatvanga in her prime.

A thousand miles from the outskirts of Mistral, a unique airship traveled towards the outer barrier that sheltered the mountain city from any incursion of Grimm forces. Its pilot had known the combat school headmaster well, and as such, he often took this flight to see him, making sure that he wasn't passing word of their movements to their enemies.

Given the negotiating methods he employed, it was no surprise that a spineless man like Lionheart had no reason to oppose them, but even so, he'd feared the worst when he'd heard from his employer that the mission by the foolish girl and her weak-willed allies had expectedly failed. He knew what had to be done, and thus, he was here, on his way to play his part.

He smiled behind his thick moustache. He would make sure that this next operation would be a resounding success, even as he made to check his custom scroll for associates in the nearby area. He'd outfitted each scroll with a tracker to keep tabs on them, without need for the fool Ozpin's communication system. He'd not be forced to use something James had made. With his help no less. No, it was time for him to make some necessary calls.

End of Chapter 6

A/N: This chapter ended up being a bit lighter than the last few, but there's a few things that needed to get fleshed out, while also having some fun times with the Power pals and Jaune's strange obsession with bunny-themed onesies… Should someone warn Velvet, or is it too late for that? Next chapter will be a little bit of relaxed happy times but will mostly be initiating the major mover for the next 5-6 chapters at least. (Though at the pace I'm writing right now, it could be several as I describe every little thing.) Next chapter, things really start to Snowball.

ALSO, HOPEFULLY NO MORE SEVERAL MONTH DELAYS GOING FORWARD (PFFT, like that's gonna happen.)