Chapter 11

Joey sat next to Ruby's hospital bed. He'd woke her up when he had snuck into the room but noticing that Yang was not there the small girl had elected to sleep while she still could. Yang had gone with Ron to work the anger out of her system and Joey was just glad that he wasn't on the receiving end of it. He'd been going over the fight in his head. Planning what he would have done differently, what he would do different in the future. The poison was still a light burning sensation in his nerves but it was nothing compared to his worries for the small huntress that lay before him. He'd become too comfortable shaking off hits with his semblance and now Ruby had paid for it. Joey couldn't shake the feeling that if he'd dodged the blade or blocked it somehow he would have had the energy and coordination to protect her.

"Protect me?" That last thought must have slipped out of his mouth without him noticing because one of Ruby's eyes had peaked open and was looking at him, "first I beat you during our competition in Forever Fall and this time I had to fight off an assassin to protect you. I'd say it's starting to look like you owe me Joey." Her soft voice was teasing to him but it didn't alleviate the guilt he was feeling. The only consolation he had was that her teasing had caused a smile to appear on his lips as he tilted his head.

"Guess I'll have to get you back next time," He tried to inject a little bit of his new found happiness into his speech but the way Ruby looked up at him had proven that he had failed.

"What are you doing here anyway?" She asked him, both of her eyes opening now, a slight wince played through her eyelids as she blinked and squinted upward. "Oh I'm going to hate these lights."

"Doc said you'd be fine," Joey told her, "but I wanted to hear it from you myself... so how are you feeling?" He moved his seat a little closer to the bed now that she was awake.

"I have a bit of a headache," her left hand reached up to shield her silver eyes from the lights overhead. "The bright lights aren't really helping though."

"On the brightside you didn't get nearly cut in half," Joey invoked the words she had used when stumbling toward him in the alley as he motioned down toward his torn dress shirt and vest as he moved his frock back, revealing that the part of his ribs and stomach that had been torn by the Beowulf's sword had fully healed. He was lucky enough that the out coat could cover the cut.

"I would kill for your semblance right now," Ruby she groaned as she shut her eyes, obviously irritated by the lights. His hand reached out to hers, resting on it gently.

"Hell I'd trade you if I could," he said softly with a chuckle, "speed like yours could come in handy." His voice had finally let go of a little of the worry and guilt that had plagued it before now that he could see it was just a headache. He still wanted to kill the assassin that had done this to them. Minor wounds or not that masked swordsman had hurt people Joey cared about, most importantly Ruby who the wolf had become quite fond of. That's when a new thought crossed the faunus' mind. Did she know that? "Hunter lives are fast paced, and FWCS may be on a faster track than others with the way you go after the White Fang. Maybe you oughta say something to her before you go gettin' yourself all shot up again." He spoke to himself in his head. The amount of time it took for him to form the next set of words he was going to speak earned him a confused look from the small huntress as his hand found a more solid place over hers than just touching finger tips. "You know Ruby I..."

Joey was interrupted by the sound of a cane on the infirmary floor before he'd seen the person who accompanied it or the people who were with them. "Joey?" Her voice was quizzical as it dawned on Joey that she couldn't hear the cane. Professor Ozpin opened the door to Ruby's room and stepped inside, his face calm and amiable as always. It was a stark contrast to the scowl held on the pale face of Glynda Goodwitch. There was a third person with them that the wolf faunus had recognized from several of his family's events. Joey shot up from the chair he had been sitting in, releasing Ruby's hand, so that he could greet General Ironwood.

"Hello General," he regarded his superiors, "professors." His tone was respectful as he walked around Ruby's bed and extended a hand to Ironwood. The general took his hand in a firm grip. Joey realized all too late that Ironwood's appearance in the infirmary had nothing to do with his family's business as Goodwitch cleared her throat in an obvious manner.

" ," she began in her usual stern tone, "what do you think you're doing here? This room is off limits. Not to mention the fact that you put these girls in danger taking on White Fang assassins in broad daylight!" The scolding barely registered to Joey as he focused on keeping a cool expression in front of Ironwood.

"Now Glynda," Ozpin stopped her. This was somehow familiar to Joey and he knew why. This sounded like the same lecture she had tried giving FWCS after their first mission, a lecture Ozpin realized they weren't ready for. "Why don't we start by asking for his side of what happened?" Joey looked to his headmaster who gave him an assuring nod.

"They attacked Weiss first and I reacted," Joey explained the fight, the poison, how he had called his team for back up and how the two attackers had escaped.

"You did the right thing," Ironwood reassured him, "however we would appreciate it if you could keep this from the public, even your fellow students."

"What good'll that do us?" Joey had a feeling where they were taking this but he had to be sure.

"Why does he need to hide it?" Ruby asked her headmaster. Joey's display to the General had nearly overshadowed the purpose of the headmasters coming to the hospital wing.

"Ah Ms. Rose," Ozpin greeted her, "I was hoping we could have held this conversation with you first but Mr. Wulfechester is also present so there's no use in having to tell everyone individually."

"Do you two remember Roman Torchwick?" Ironwood retrieved his scroll from his jacket pocket. Ruby adjusted the bed so that she could sit up straight. The younger hunters nodded at their superior as he continued. "When Team RWBY and the others captured him the public was convinced that the White Fang had abandoned whatever they had been doing in Vale. We want to keep it that way."

"With the festival coming up and this peace that Vale is experiencing Grimm activity near the city has begun to lessen," Ozpin interjected, "Even the Forest of Forever Fall is seeing less activity other than a few beowulves that are scanners seemed to have lost track of." Joey looked over to Ruby who winked at him slyly before he could. He smiled to himself as he noticed the girl picking up on his habits.

"The bottom line is," Ironwood moved to end the thought, "the festival is scheduled to start in less than a month and with the White Fang removed from Vale the council wouldn't dare postpone it any longer."

"And as you're both aware the festival is important," Ozpin finished for the general, "not only to Vale but all the kingdoms of Remnant. Which is why we want to keep this amongst ourselves. That is all. Now why don't we let Ms. Rose rest a while. General Ironwood has something important he would like to speak with you about, in private." Joey tilted his head in confusion but moved to accommodate the headmaster's request. As they began to leave he turned and stopped at Ruby's bed once more.

"What were you going to tell me?" Her eyes pleaded to him as he hesitated.

"I'll have to tell you later," he placed a hand on hers, "but if you need anything at all I'm just a scroll call away." He pointed to her scroll which rested on the stand next to her bed. She nodded.

"Thanks Joey," her smile was genuine and he smiled back, he had begun to lean forward slowly as one of the professors behind him cleared her throat. Goodwitch's attitude was unmistakable as his body shifted and turned to leave.

Yang's breathing had almost become a hiss through her gritted teeth. She had barely heard the footsteps behind her as she was lost in her anger. "Yang," Ron was calling out to her. She had kind of wanted to be alone to just blow off the steam but FWCS' leader had followed her. Before snapping at him she remembered how he had worked to comfort her in the waiting room and turned to him with a question instead.

"Who does she think she is?" She asked, seething. "I'm Ruby's big sister. The most immediate family she has here at Beacon! How am I not allowed in there to see my sister?"

"It's just the doctor's orders," Ron told her again, "it's nothing personal I'm sure. Here," Ron held his hands up openly. "Why don't we work this out between us huh?"

"What?" She was confused, Ron was holding his hands up as though he was a boxing trainer.

"Hit me," Ron's face held a slight smirk, "I do this with Joey sometimes when he's pissed off about something." The young man's eyes drifted a little bit to the side "Although he sometimes punches with bullets."

"I'm not gonna hit you," her anger melted a bit as it was replaced with the thought of Ron flying back twenty feet if she hit him. She stifled a chuckle.

"Come on," Ron dragged out the last syllable, daring the blonde to strike him. "how hard could it be?"

"Pretty hard considering you're not the one I'm mad at," she scoffed.

"Just close your eyes and remember that nurse telling you that you can't see your sister," Ron gestured his hands up. Yang sighed, her eyelids closing over crimson eyes as she readied her hands. She thought back to that nurse, although the vision was a little different in her head. There was no nurse, just that swordsman in the alley who had hurt Ruby. He was standing over the injured huntress, a blade raised. Before the thought could progress her eyes shot open and she let one punch fly, Ember Celica remaining dormant on her wrist as her hand flew forward. It stopped before meeting with Ron's open palm, causing a shimmer of green energy along a wall of what seemed like jade stained glass. Realizing Ron hadn't so much as flinched besides the ripples in the aura wall she let a second punch fly.

"They hurt her!" She yelled at him, "they hurt my sister! My teammate!" Her fists were flying consistently into his aura now. The first thing she noted was that her fists felt like they were hitting a punching bag rather than a wall. Her thoughts flew around as she continued her flurry. She thought about what she would do to the swordsman, what she would have given to protect her sister, how Ron would risk a punch from her to help her. "We should have gotten there faster. I know what you said but I could have gone faster, we could have..." Her fist met the wall and she stopped, her eyes returning to their usual color. "We've been over this."

"We have," Ron nodded as his aura dropped back onto his body.

"So why make me relive it?" She asked breathing heavily.

"Because hearing it and dealing with it in your mind isn't always the best way," Ron told her, "I've known Joey for a while and sometimes a hot head just needs to let off a little steam."

"Hey I'm not that hot headed," Yang tried to defend herself.

"You sure about that?" He pointed out. She thought about it for a second and sighed in defeat. "It's a good thing. That hot headedness makes you effective." This time he placed a hand on her shoulder to reassure her, looking directly into her eyes as he said it. His confidence relaxed her as she let go of her anger, rewarding Ron with a soft look from her usual lilac eyes.

Azule stamped toward the mission boards in Beacon's main hall with his partner, Ray Stewart, in tow. "Sharkbait I don't think this is gonna work," Ray tried to slow his partner down. Azule's march didn't let up as they approached the terminals.

"Mason said if we can find a mission back home we can return for a bit before the tournament," Azule hadn't slowed as he approached it, "I need to swim."

"There are docks in town!" Ray pointed out. His hand had gestured in the direction he thought town to be as they stood in Beacon's main hall.

"The water isn't the same," Azule countered as Ray placed his head on his temples. Azule had been feeling homesick for days but the rest of the team had just tried to talk him down from it every time it was brought up, which was at least three times a day. Mason had finally buckled and offered this idea to Azule but Ray knew the headmasters wouldn't allow it. As Azule stopped at the mission board he scrolled through the options, setting Vacuo missions as search parameters he quickly scrolled through.

"This is ridiculous," "Ray tried to reason with the aquatic faunus. "Missions are off limits to students right now anyways! Even if you found one they wouldn't let us take it."

"I wouldn't be too sure about that ," the voice was accompanied by the steady tapping of a cane. It belonged to Beacon's headmaster, Ozpin. The older huntsman stood behind them as Azule slowly moved his hands away from the mission board turning, along with his partner, to face the headmaster.

"Huh?" Ray seemed confused.

"I know of a mission that would take you back to the shores of Vacuo but it wouldn't be easy," the headmaster spoke kindly to them with a tone that told Ray he was confident in the student's abilities. Azule's eyes lit up with excitement as he heard the professor.

"Sir you aren't seriously thinking..." He shot a glance back to his shadow, Professor Goodwitch who had been following him from wherever it was they had come. She ceased whatever protest she was about to make as he continued.

"And I would not allow you to make this journey alone," Ozpin explained to them, "Glynda if you would be so kind as to send a message to Mr. Feldgaunt of team FWCS that his team is being requested to assist team Maroon of Shade in a mission to Vacuo."

"Sir I...," he glanced at her once more and she sighed. "Yes sir." Goodwitch opened her scroll and walked off in the direction of her own office in order to compose the message.

"Team FWCS?" Ray breathed questioningly.

"Isn't that the team who lost...?" Azule's eyes had gone from excitement to anxious fear as he began to question Ozpin's choice.

"They are a capable team who will speed along the mission in order to get all eight of you home in time for the tournament," Ozpin smiled as he retrieved his own scroll to assign the mission to both teams. "Enjoy your trip," Ozpin paused as he smiled once again at Azule, "and good luck." With this he turned, using his cane to walk once again as strode back toward his office.

"Lost what?" Ray looked down at his partner, wondering what the fish knew that he didn't.

Elodie had gone back to Team FWCS' dorm room in order to rest on her bed. She had been lying awake for most of the time, unable to sleep as she thought back to her fight with the Beowulf masked swordsman. He knew her name but up until that warehouse she'd never shown her face to the White Fang. Unless they had tracked her based on her weapon. It was a likely explanation but in order to know the specifics they would either need a spy inside Beacon or access to Beacon's records. Either way her musings, and spinning thoughts, were interrupted by Ron bursting into the room with Chris following close behind. He had an unusually serious look on his face. "What happened now?" She asked.

"Oh you know the usual we get in trouble with the White Fang so Ozpin puts us on a punishment assignment," Ron was searching for something underneath his bed, "now where did I leave my D203 attachment for Lanius!"

"What's the assignment?" Elodie asked as she pointed to the rarely used closet. As Ron opened it he found a case haphazardly tossed into the small space. It was sparsely populated with extra shirts that belonged to Elodie as well as the dress she hadn't gotten to use at the Festival Ball because FWCS had been sent to cover CFVY during their mission when they hadn't come back in time to plan the dance. She shook the off topic thought as her eyes moved from the bag that contained the dress. The concern had begun to set in as she waited for Ron's answer.

"Read it big guy," Ron tossed his open scroll to Chris who was caught off guard by the device flying toward him. He had managed to catch it before it fell and straightened it into his hands, his eyes squinting down into the screen.

"Dear Mr. Feldgaunt," Chris began as Ron opened the case. He pulled out a triggered tube. Elodie recognized it as a gift Joey had given him shortly before their first mission. A D203 Dust Grenade launcher made to replace the bayonet on Ron's assault rifle. "Professor Ozpin and I are glad that no one was fatally injured during your team's most recent run in with the White Fang. While the headmaster always appreciates the intel your extracurricular activities bring along with them, we have told you numerous times to allow graduated hunters to deal with the White Fang and to focus on your studies." Chris' tone took on an exasperated mood as he droned through the rest. "As an aid to get team FWCS focused back on slaying Grimm we are dispatching you along with team MARN from Shade to exterminate a nest of Grimm on the shores of Vacuo. You will be airlifted to Oar's Rest, a port town in Vacuo. There you are to assist team MARN in eradicating any and all Grimm that plague the area. Azule Beryl is the top of his class in dealing with aquatic Grimm however the town's inland side has also seen an influx of Deathstalker attacks. Team MARN has requested to take on this mission and Professor Ozpin is requesting that your team accompany them in order to return in time to participate in the Vytal Festival Tournament. Good Luck, Glynda Goodwitch."

"But why?" Elodie rolled onto her back in irritation, "what if those assassins come back for team RWBY?"

"I know," Ron sighed, "on the bright side Yang will probably destroy that guy next time she sees him. You guys should have seen how close she came to breaking one of my projections."

"Wait where is Joey?" Chris asked as he looked to Elodie, "He's going to want to prep a lot of gear once he hears that we're going after a nest. Remember when they sent us after Coco?"

"Anyone seen where Sunflower's explosive rounds have gotten off too?" Elodie mocked Joey's accent.

"And where'd y'all but my pocket knife?" Ron joined her, "I swear Ron if you lost another one I'll shove my next one where the sun..." Ron was interrupted by the sound of his scroll ringing. It was a heavy metal song that accompanied Joey's face on the screen of his scroll. Chris answered the call while simultaneously pressing the speaker button.

"Where are you man?" Ron asked "we're in the dorm waiting."

"We need to talk," Joey's voice held a familiar harshness that was usually accompanied by bad news.

"You can tell me on the way back home," Ron told him, "their shipping us off to Vacuo in the morning."

"O' course they are," Joey sighed into the receiver, creating a static filled mess as the breathe ended, "meet you in the dorm in thirty."

"Thirty?" Elodie shot up, "Even from the other side of campus you'd get here in at least fifteen, Joey where are you?"

"Ironwood's ship," the team all glanced around at each other, "see y'all soon." Joey ended the call, leaving his team to ponder what exactly Joey was doing up there.

As Joey and General Ironwood approached the main office of the airship Joey was stopped by two of the Atlesian Knight-200s. The tall machines' visors fell down to his waist. "Surrender your weapons before entering General Ironwood's office," one of the machines told him as it extended a single hand to Joey. The faunus frowned as he looked down toward his pistols.

"General Ironwood," Joey bit down on the nervousness that was mounting within his throat as he fought for the strength to say the next statement, "my mother carried these pistols into every meeting she ever attended and I intend to do the same." The wolf knew that he'd either be reprimanded by Atlas' headmaster, stripped of his weapons or laughed off the airship. To his surprise none of these things happened.

"He can keep the pistols," Ironwood's hand waved off the knights as they resumed an upright stance outside of the office. The doors slid open automatically, allowing Ironwood passage through the portal.

Joey watched the general as the towering figure sauntered around his desk toward the window at the end of the room. General Ironwood's office aboard his airship was a contrast to Ozpin's darker office. The walls were a pale white that led to the large window that framed the entire room in light from the outside sky. From that segmented window Joey could see down toward Beacon as well as the floating Amity Colosseum. Before he could get lost in the awe inspiring view his brain shot back to his upbringing as he focused on the General who was now motioning for Joey to join him by the window. "General Ironwood, sir," Joey swallowed nervously. He felt out of place as he removed his hat from his head as a sign of respect. Even though the general had taken his side on the pistols Joey felt as though he was still subject to any number of judgments from Ironwood. He was off balance, nervousness was not something he liked to let dominate his approach but with his company's reputation slowly becoming worse he had a feeling that Ironwood didn't call him up to the airship to discuss the attack on Weiss. "What am I doing up here?" This last question was caught in limbo between Joey's usual confidence and the losing battle he was fighting with his own nerves.

"Stand with me," Ironwood's attitude was inviting as Joey placed his hat on the genrera's desk and stepped to join him, looking down along the surface of the airship below the window. " ," Ironwood's voice took on a formal tone that Joey had heard often during a time when his parents were still alive. That tone was almost enough to force Joey to stand at attention before the general. Instead he took a relaxed stance by window as he continued to look around the sky, his hands finding a resting place in his gunbelt. "Your headmaster tells me that you're one of the most effective weaponsmiths in your class and I would agree after seeing some of the things you've designed for ." Ironwood's reference to some of the attachments and equipment Joey had designed for Viridi Lanius, his leader's assault rifle, strengthed his confidence with a smirk that tugged at his lips.

"Thank you sir," Joey kept his response short with his mouth closing quickly over his fangs as he spoke. His family had spent a lot of time in business meetings hiding their faunus heritage in order to be taken seriously and had passed this technique onto him at an early age. It was an alien feeling to him now and he knew his actions must have been obvious to Atlas' commander and headmaster.

"But you haven't stopped there have you?" Ironwood asked and Joey froze as their eyes met. "Argent Silverback, the CEO of your company, has informed me that you have also contributed to your company's most recent program. I believe he called it the Wilhelm Initiative." Joey's stark silence was both a response of shock but also an invitation for the general to continue. "A program originally proposed to me by your mother almost seven ago, but I rejected it and she began to seek alternative resources for her project." The general paused, inviting Joey to confirm what he was telling him but Joey responded in silence. He wanted the general to continue making his point. Joey didn't need to hear Ironwood regurgitate past events for him to understand why he had rejected her. "Unfortunately, the plans never reached the development stage because of an attack made by two humans who were convinced that your company was aiding the White Fang.. and now eight years later your company has found the funds, materials, and testing grounds for such an operation. Would you mind explaining to me how this came to be?" Joey tilted his head in curiosity. The general obviously had all of this information at his finger tips.

"You already know how," Joey responded as politely as he could while still asserting that Ironwood knew the information.

"I've read news articles and field reports," Ironwood's stance was unchanging as his head swiveled to look at the wolf faunus standing next to him. "But none of them contain a single statement from you. I want to hear the reasons why you continued to pursue this course of action." Joey took in a deep breath. Between his time at Beacon and the things his mother had taught him he was feeling conflicted. With Professor Ozpin he was able to speak freely but he was no longer in front of Ozpin. Before he was born Atlas and the military of Mantle had been business partners with Wulfechester Arms but those contracts ceased when his mother had taken over the company. His mother's meeting with Ironwood had been the last attempt at a military contract Wulfechester Arms had tried. Everything was in the private sector and now Joey could sense an opening at a new contract that could open new doors for his company, financially and in the public eye. Before he could speak another thought crossed his mind. His mother didn't want a military contract, she wanted their help so that she could help the citizens of Remnant.

"I.." The sound came as a surprise to Joey before he began to speak again. "My mother had a vision for the citizens of Remnant. She had seen huntsmen and huntresses at work but there was something important that she had noticed. It wasn't that the hunters were ineffective, they did a damn good job according to her. The problem was response times. A hunter needs to be hired, prepped and dispatched before they can begin saving the day." There it was again, the falter between formality and the way he was used to speaking in front of Ozpin. He shook it off and continued, Ironwood wanted a statement and Joey was becoming determined to give him one. "She decided that the people waiting to be saved needed a way defend themselves. The problem was finding an R&D team to design a cheap weapon that would get the job done. Atlas' Spider droids would never go on loan to small towns and the patent meant we couldn't just make our own so it seemed like we were stuck at the drawing board. Someone once suggested to her that she mass produce these," Joey pointed a finger to his Snapdragons, "but that didn't take off. .45 Long is good for soft skinned Grimm, even some older Beowulves have been dropped by these pistols, but they needed weapons that didn't recoil as heavily. What the company needed was a reliable rifle that would compensate for the recoil, was overall easy to learn, and could be made on the cheap." These three points were accented by Joey counting them off on his right hand one by one. He hadn't taken notice of the General's impressed smile as he began to fall into his own passion for weapon design. "This is where I came in. After my ma and pa passed I threw myself into my studies and weapon designs." This was a lie. Joey had also thrown himself into several White Fang encampments, blaming them for what had happened to his parents. "I eventually began looking at low cost materials and designed the Wulfechester Arms Wilhelm Repeater Model 16, or WR-16 for short. The WR-16 is a semi-automatic rifle designed to fire .308 armor piercing rounds designed to kill juvenile Grimm and ward off older Grimm. It won't kill a Deathstalker or a Nevermore but it'll take down some younger Ursa and just about any other average sized Grimm. The weapon is not designed to turn townsfolk into huntsmen, just to give them a chance while they wait for the good guys to arrive." Joey's breathing was slightly elevated. Regardless of the circumstances that had led to the weapon's design he was extremely proud of the WR-16. It was the first weapon he had designed on his own and the first one he built still sat in his adoptive father's office above an ornate mantle.

"And what made this project so important to you?" Ironwood's question seemed to have an obvious answer.

"It was the last project my mother worked on," Joey told him. The general's face told the wolf that this answer was unsatisfying.

"But what made it so important to her?" Ironwood rephrased his original question with a little more enthusiasm. Joey felt that the general was leading the conversation to a specific point.

"She wanted to give the people of Remnant a chance to fight back," Joey spoke, realizing where exactly the general was steering him, "she believed that every citizen from every kingdom was capable of protecting themselves and deserved the chance to know it."

"Now what if I told you that I could give you the opportunity to help the people of Remnant fight back," Joey knew that the general's approach wouldn't involve arming citizens. He believed in taking humans off of the battlefield. "Without putting them in harm's way." That was it. The words Joey had expected to hear from Atlas' leader. "From what Ozpin has told me you and your team have encountered the White Fang on numerous occasions and I am sure that you are well aware of the technology that they have stolen from us."

"A shipment of Paladins," Joey answered, allowing the General's words to pass without offense. Their difference in opinion did not currently matter, all that mattered was that Ironwood was about to present him with an opportunity to help the people of Remnant and his company.

"Were you aware that they had also stolen Paladin blueprints as well?" Ironwood's revelation of Atlas' true loss was startling to Joey. The general was sharing privileged information with him that was suddenly making him wary of the entire conversation.

"Yes," Joey swallowed as he thought to those blueprints.

"There are rumors that White Fang recruiting forums are broadcasting them to criminal organizations across the kingdoms," Ironwood grimaced, "which is why I need you. I want you to take the Paladin design and expand it. We need a weapon that will be prepared to compete against and even destroy Paladins by the number." Joey's weariness had become shock as he turned to face the general with a nervous thought ticking in the back of his mind. "So the question is: Can you do it?"

"It..." Joey had begun to speak when that nervous thought began to flourish. Before it could blossom he forced it back into the depths of his mind, focusing on the general's stern yet hopeful expression. "I would need to look at the plans first before I make my decision. I don't want to make you a promise that I can't keep." Joey had found his confidence again with this course of action. He would be uncommitted but still have a chance to discuss the idea with Argent, his adoptive father. His mind had already begun turning on how he would accomplish this task without letting the general know that his designs had begun the day the White Fang went public with the Paladin designs a month ago.

"Sir are you certain sending team FWCS out is a good idea?" Glynda Goodwitch had finally found her way to Professor Ozpin's office to protest his decision.

"Glynda," Ozpin started with his hands clasped together and his elbows resting on the table in front of him. "We must have faith in our students. Sending a team to aide team MARN is a show of good faith between kingdoms. Mr. Beryl was quite homesick and having team FWCS accompany them back to Vacuo ensures that both teams will be able to dispatch the Grimm plaguing Oar's Rest with ample time to return for the tournament."

"But, sir, team FWCS was just attacked by the White Fang," Glynda continued her protest with genuine concern for the students, "is it truly the wisest decision to send them away from Vale?" Ozpin regarded her with soft brown eyes.

"It is," Ozpin reached for the mug of coffee that was sitting to the left of his desk. Picking it up and looking down before taking a sip of the liquid inside. "From the recordings we got of their fight in town Teams FWCS and MARN would have no problem dealing with the two assassins. More interestingly I want to send FWCS to confirm a suspicion of my own." He placed his scroll onto his desk as a screen appeared with a video paused on the exact moment that Weiss was pulled into the alley by chains. "I believe the assassins may have been after Ms. Schnee and not the members of FWCS." Glynda watched as the recording played, seeing that Weiss was wrapped into the chains and viciously dragged backward and away from the FWCS members. Uncertain of Ozpin's plan she swallowed, deciding to trust the headmaster as she had in the past.