Chapter 7

The group reported back to the village. Their contact seemed horrified if not entirely surprised. "The White Fang probably isn't done here." Blake warned. "They'll know you have a connection to that settlement. I would post extra guards, just in case."

"I'll see what I can do." The contact said. "I'll send a group to collect the supplies and...bury the bodies."

"Make sure they had strong stomachs." Yang warned.

"Don't worry about that." The contact said. "This place isn't like the city. We've seen a lot."

"So have we." Yang said. She flexed her prosthetic as if to emphasize what the group had been through.

The contact got the message. "I'll pass along a warning." He said. "Your room for tonight will be free. The supplies you requested will be ready tomorrow."

"Don't you think this is taking a long time?" Taiyang asked. "He gave that scientist twelve hours. It's been longer than that."

"This is the military." Winter said. "Things get delayed. I'd be more surprised if he was on time." In truth she was a bit concerned as well. Screw-up were something of a tradition in the Atlesian military, but Ironwood was not one to tolerate the slightest issues. He was also punctual. She moved to the window and looked out. She had a decent view of Ironwood's ship. He was boarding it. "We need to go, now!" She shouted suddenly.

"What's going on?" Taiyang asked.

"No time!" Winter shouted. "Go!" She rushed out the door and Taiyang followed.

The two Knights guarding the room, one on each side of the door, were too slow to react as the pair came racing out. Down the hallway another pair of robots tried to stop them. Without breaking stride Winter punched one's head off while Taiyang elbowed the other in the chest hard enough to shatter its armor. They continued running, a left turn, then a right. They passed a group of soldiers - who clearly had no idea what was going on - that saluted Winter as she raced past. Winter burst out the door with Taiyang just behind. They ran around the corner of the building toward Ironwood's ship but were stopped in their tracks by a half dozen Paladins blocking their way, accompanied by a handful of soldiers.

Winter and Taiyang drew their weapons, ready to fell the robots if necessary. The soldiers seemed reluctant, backing up behind the autonomous weapons. "Winter Schnee and Taiyang Xiao-Long, stand down!" The soldiers' officer said. "Do not make us use force." Now it was a standoff. It was a short standoff.

With a rumble Ironwood's ship took to the sky. Now there was no reason to fight. Winter sheathed her blade. Taiyang let his weapon drop at his side as he stared skyward at the ever more distant ship. Again he had been fooled by Qrow and his cabal, left stranded while his daughters were in peril. He dropped to his knees crying and began pounding his fists on the ground. He knew there was no catching them now. Not only did they have two days worth of a head-start, he did not even know where they were headed.

"Pull yourself together Xiao-Long." Winter admonished. "This isn't over." She turned to the soldiers who by now just looked uncomfortable. "With the general's departure, I am now the ranking officer. I order you all to stand down."

The leader of the squad hesitated. He was figuring it out in his head. Winter was indeed the highest ranking officer present at the base. Plus, with Ironwood's ship gone, his order no longer mattered. "Very well." The soldier said. He holstered his weapon. The others did the same. The Paladins stomped off, returning to storage now that their work was done.

"I'm going to track him down." Winter declared. "If only so I can kick his ass."

Taiyang got his emotions under control enough to stop crying and get to his feet. "What's our next move?" He asked, wiping away what remained of his tears.

"There are a few people I need to speak with." Winter replied. "Ironwood's scientist friend is a good start."

The group spent a mostly restless night in their tiny room. What they had seen at the farm still haunted them. It probably would for a long time. The next morning their supplies were delivered. Once everything was packed into their backpacks, the group headed out. They still had a long way to go before reaching Eastport. Hopefully things would be easier then. Hopefully the horrors were behind them.

"Yang, I can tell you want to ask me something." Blake said after the group had been on the road for a while. "Just say it."

"Yesterday...at the farm...is that what you were protecting us from?" Yang asked.

"Yes." Blake confirmed. "Now do you see why I ran? Now do you forgive me?"

"I forgave you a long time ago." Yang said. "But now I think I understand a bit better. When it's just something you hear about...it doesn't have the same impact as seeing it with your own eyes."

"You didn't seem that...shocked." Pyrrha observed. She was choosing her words carefully. "Have you seen that sort of thing before?"

"Short answer, yes." Blake replied. "For you, for all of us, those sights are things we'll never forget. It's burned into our memories and will haunt us for all our days. We'll look back on that as a day when we saw true evil. The day those murders took place is one of infamy. For Adam it was just another day. He's killed so many people, in such...unspeakable ways. I doubt it even registers for him. A lot of White Fang are like that now. Before I left he wasn't as...savage. But he was still cruel. He still tortured. He made me watch. He tried to make me participate and when I refused he called me a coward. He shamed anyone who wouldn't torture or wouldn't kill in front of the others. The first time I saw him torture someone...I don't think I slept for a week. I couldn't see anything else when I closed my eyes. He had no such trouble."

"How can you sleep now?" Ruby asked.

"After a while, being exposed to that for so long, I guess I got used to it." Blake sighed. "Knowing that I let myself look at such cruelty as business as usual...it makes me sick. It got to the point where by the time I left, it was just another day for me too. I still feel so ashamed."

"You shouldn't." Weiss said. "It's only natural that you'd have to find a way to cope with that kind of trauma. If you didn't it would have driven you insane. You have nothing to be ashamed of. You rejected it. You left. Even now you're standing against it."

"I guess…" Blake said.

"You should be proud of the fact that you were able to reject that life." Yang said. "It would have been much easier to just go along with it."

"Yes, your willingness to take such a risk is quite admirable." Ren added.

"Maybe one day I'll be able to believe that." Blake said. "I just stood by for so long."

"The Blake I know is a good person." Ruby said. "It doesn't matter what you were like before. The fact that it still bothers you tells me all I need to know. We can all forgive you. We can all accept you. You really need to stop being so hard on yourself."

"I wish it was that easy." Blake said. "But thank you, all of you. I needed this."

Winter led Taiyang into the base's R&D section where they had met with Ironwood the day before. A few scientists and technicians were milling about. When they spotted the new arrivals they scrambled to hide what was presumably very advanced technology. One of them seemed calmer than the others and Winter headed straight for him. "I need to speak with your boss." Winter demanded.

"I'm afraid he's not here." The scientist said.

"Where is he?" Winter asked.

"He went with Ironwood." The scientist replied. "He was quite adamant about going along. His project is unfinished, and he would only allow Ironwood to deploy it if he could accompany him and work on it enroute."

"Do you have any idea where they went?" Winter asked.

"I was told nothing." The scientist answered. "Before you ask, I didn't overhear anything that would tip me off either. Dr. Polendina is very good at keeping secrets."

"Polendina...as in Penny Polendina?" Taiyang said.

"Why yes." The scientist confirmed. "I suppose there's no harm in admitting to the project since it was so publically laid bare."

"Is that the project he took with him?" Taiyang pressed.

"I can neither confirm nor deny that." The scientist said.

"You will confirm or deny it or I will have you disciplined, severely." Winter ordered.

The scientist sighed. "Yes, P.E.N.N.Y. is the project." The scientist admitted. "I don't think that will help you find them though. Ironwood is intent on deploying it again, but said nothing to me about where or to what end."

"Thank you for your time." Winter said, her threatening tone instantly replaced by a polite one. "You may return to your work." Winter led Taiyang off the base and the headed for the Schnee mansion.

"Shouldn't we check flight records or something?" Taiyang asked. "There must be something to tell us where Ironwood went."

"Unfortunately I'm not cleared to access that sort of information." Winter sighed. "It seems we've reached a dead end. Perhaps the video my sister sent will shed some light on their plans. Still, if she was able to evade our father and most of the Atlesian army, I suspect she's too smart to let it slip."

Ironwood's airship flew over Vale, sailing over the wilderness east of the city. Qrow had set things in motion and he was going to be there when the time came for him to play his part. He was also curious about the group's progress. He could track Qrow's scroll, assuming he was still using the same one, and wherever Qrow was his group would be nearby. When he tracked them down they were further along than expected, already almost halfway to Eastport. As he pondered just how direct his involvement should be, his scroll beeped.

It was Qrow. "Ironwood." He said.

"Yes Jimmy, I may be drunk but I know who I called." Qrow said.

"I wish you wouldn't call me Jimmy." Ironwood sighed.

"And I wish you wouldn't fly your ship so close." Qrow said. "They're not supposed to know we're watching."

"I'll be continuing on to Mistral anyway." Ironwood said. "Is there anything I need to do?"

"Do you have the girl?" Qrow asked.

"You mean Penny?" Ironwood said.

"Yes." Qrow confirmed.

"I do." Ironwood said.

"Don't let her out in public." Qrow said.

"I wasn't planning to." Ironwood said. "We haven't had time to alter her appearance and her presence would arouse suspicion."

"Your presence is enough to arouse suspicion." Qrow laughed. "Stay away from Haven and try to keep a low profile. I know it's hard for a soldier like you to sit there without shooting anything, but do your best."

"You call me a soldier but you're the one leading the troops." Ironwood said pointedly. "We're more alike than you're willing to admit."

"Why do you think I drink?" Qrow shot back. "Just don't screw everything up...again."

"I'm sorry." Ironwood said. "I really am. I will not repeat my mistakes."

"And I won't repeat Ozpin's." Qrow said. "See you in Mistral." He hung up.

With a heavy sigh Ironwood put his scroll away. He stared out the window at the forest below, looking at nothing in particular. He really was sorry. He felt responsible for the disaster at Beacon. He was supposed to be protecting the place and his forces ended up doing a big share of the damage. It seemed everything he tried to do to help only made things worse. Now it was his chance to redeem himself, but he was not sure he could. He was not sure he ever could.

"General Ironwood." Dr. Polendina said.

"Yes doctor?" Ironwood said.

"Penny is ready for deployment." Dr. Polendina sighed. "If it's really necessary."

"It won't be necessary." Ironwood said. "At least not for the time being. If there's anything you can improve, you may as well do it now."

"I'm not sure there's anything I can do." Dr. Polendina said. "About all I'd want to do is change the way she looks, but we don't have the equipment to properly alter her appearance."

"Is she active?" Ironwood asked.

"Yes, she's awake." Dr. Polendina replied.

"How...is she?" Ironwood asked.

"She's very confused." Dr. Polendina answered. "There are gaps in her memory. She doesn't remember...the event."

"Alright then." Ironwood said. "Dismissed." Dr. Polendina started to leave the bridge. "Hold on, one more thing." Ironwood called. The pudgy scientist spun around to face him. "See to it that she's as happy as possible. It's the least we can do."

In this part of Vale the villages were few and far between. The group would not be sleeping with a roof over their heads tonight. A few hours after dark they set up camp in a small clearing just off the road. Again they would take turns on sentry duty. Yang went first. As she circled the camp she could not shake the feeling that she was being watched. It would not have surprised her if she found out that Qrow was shadowing the group - in fact she expected he was - but she felt like it was not him. Something about it felt...sinister. It was unnerving, but as her shift ended without incident she had to think she was just being paranoid.

Winter and Taiyang sat there watching Weiss' video. She spent most of it talking about nothing important. She talked about her relationship with Blake which Winter found to be quite amusing. From the way Weiss described things, it sounded delightfully awkward. Ah, young love. Then Weiss went on to talk about the training the group had been doing. It was nothing special, but Weiss seemed encouraged and that made Winter happy.

Then Weiss' demeanor shifted. The smile on her face turned to a stern expression and she looked around as if to make sure no one would hear her. "We're going to leave soon." Weiss said. "The people who are responsible for what happened at Beacon, we're going after them. Ruby found out where they are. We're going to get there however we can and then we're going to stop Cinder and her group."

"Cinder…" Winter whispered.

"I'm sorry but I can't tell you where we're going." Weiss continued. "We can't risk anyone trying to stop us. This is something we need to do. Whether we can actually succeed or not...we have to try. It's our duty. Even if you figure out where we're going, please, please don't try to stop us. And try not to worry too much. I hope we'll get a chance to see each other soon."

Then the video cut to static for a few seconds before Qrow appeared on the screen. "Hey Ice Queen." He slurred. "And if I'm right, hello Taiyang. Sorry again. I'll keep them safe, you have my word." Taiyang clenched his fists at the sight of Qrow, digging his nails into his palms. "Like Weiss said, try not to worry too much. It's a shame I can't risk telling you where they're going, because I'm sure they could use the help." He winked. "See you soon Ice Queen."

Taiyang looked angry enough to kill someone. "I want to kill him." He said.

"Me too." Winter agreed. She was lying, maybe. "Did that give you any idea where they might be?"

"No." Taiyang groaned. "Now we've got nothing to go on."

"Yes, it's a shame." Winter said. "I'm sorry I couldn't help you find your daughters."

"And I'm sorry I couldn't help find your sister." Taiyang sighed. His emotions were swinging wildly from rage to despair and every point between. "I guess I should just go home."

"It's late." Winter said. "You won't be able to get on an airship to Vale before the morning. I'll have a room prepared for you. It's the least I can do."

"That sounds...sure." Taiyang said. "I'm exhausted. I could certainly use a good night's rest."

Winter summoned a servant and had a room readied for Taiyang. He retired early, just as Winter had hoped. She had some research to do. She accessed the Atlas Military Intelligence network from her computer. She searched for the name Cinder, cross referencing it with Vale, Beacon and the Vytal Festival Tournament. The military had nothing. So she went to public records and news reports and there it was. A tournament participant named Cinder who also happened to be on the team the included Mercury. His last name rang alarm bells for Winter. Black was the name of an infamous assassin, probably Mercury's father. Another member of the team was Emerald. She was a wanted thief. She got no hits for the team's final member, but she was pretty sure she had found what she was looking for. They were billed as being from Haven. It might be a lie, but it was the only lead Winter had. Now Winter had a dilemma. Would she tell Taiyang and join forces to stop her sister and his daughters, or would she keep it to herself and join Ironwood and Qrow in covertly aiding them? It was not an easy decision.

The next village was almost a whole day's journey away so the group was up at dawn. They quickly broke down their camp and hit the road. If they hurried they might even make it to the village in time for dinner.

Yang could not shake the feeling she had had the night before. "Hey Ruby." She said. Ruby had been on the last watch.

"What's up?" Ruby asked.

"Last night, did you...feel like...someone was watching you?" Yang asked.

"Not really." Ruby replied.

"I guess it's just me then." Yang sighed.

"I felt that the first night." Pyrrha said. "Even before we left Patch I felt like someone was watching us."

"You think Qrow's following us?" Yang asked. "I have to assume he's keeping track of us. He's too good of a scout to not."

"I don't think that's what I felt." Pyrrha replied. "I know what it felt like when he was watching us train, but it was different. It was as if…"

"It felt threatening, right?" Yang said.

"You felt it too." Pyrrha sighed. "What do you think it means?"

"The way I see it there are two possibilities." Yang answered. "Either there's no one and we're just paranoid, and given everything that's happened it wouldn't exactly be surprising. Or there is someone watching us, and that person means us harm."