General Ironwood stood on the Beacon Academy airship landing pad, watching the incoming airships approach. A well-respected and powerful Schnee Dust Company dignitary was arriving today for the Vytal Festival. Ironwood's government had made it clear: he was to pull out all the stops in greeting their honored guest. He stood at the forefront of a large formation of 200 Atlesian fighting men, twenty wide and ten deep, in full combat gear. Their standard issue assault rifles held against their shoulders in a parade pose. Not one of the men dared to move a muscle. Headmaster Ozpin stood to Ironwood's right, and his faithful companion Professor Glynda Goodwitch stood to his right. Both men stood straight and professional, save for Ozpin's ever-present coffee mug. Glynda made no attempt to hide her distaste for all the pomp and circumstance.

An airship, 3 decks tall and 250 feet long, approached the landing pad flanked by two fully-armed Bullheads. All three airships prominently displayed the Schnee Dust Company logo emblazoned upon their sides. The larger airship alighted on the landing pad. It folded its wings up smoothly, tucking them up against the side of the hull. The Bullheads banked away in opposite directions. The gangway on the landed ship extended and the hatch slid open, revealing a squad of ten Atlesian soldiers. Clad in full combat gear, they wore ceremonial swords on their hips in addition to their standard-issue assault rifles. Despite their ceremonial appearance, the blades were still an impressive addition. These men were an honor guard and they meant business. The troopers fanned out across the landing pad, five on each side of the gangway. As one, they turned smartly to face the airship with a clap of boots on pavement, drew their swords, and held them aloft in salute.

Ironwood executed a precise 180 degree spin on his heel and shouted "Detachment! Present arms!" in a bellicose, commanding tone. As one, his soldiers moved their rifles from their shoulders, placed the butts of their weapons on the ground with a simultaneous clatter; and held the barrels of the weapons with their left hand to keep them from falling. After a beat, they all raised their right hands in salute. General Ironwood whirled back around and joined in the salute. If Ozpin was impressed, he didn't show it. Glynda could not roll her eyes hard enough.

Their guest appeared in the hatchway. Winter Schnee cut an imposing figure, standing over six feet tall. Pale-skinned and lean, her hair was as white as the snow for which her family was named. While most of her icy locks were neatly secured in a bun, her bangs were swept over her right eye. She wore white slacks and a white frilly blouse under a fashionable light blue vest. Over all of this she wore a long split-tailed white coat that buttoned at her waist.

She was armed with a simple rapier on her left hip. Though it bore some resemblance to her sister's Myrtenaster, Winter's blade lacked the complex rotating chamber assembly of her younger sibling's weapon. It was merely a long, thin flexible blade forged from titanium, and had an elegant handguard constructed of thin strands of titanium woven into complex patterns. She regarded the military formations cooly. When her gaze passed over Ironwood and company, however, her face split into a wide, excited grin.

She strode down the ramp, her metallic boots making an audible clack on the steel gangway. While her grace was crystal-clear, her gait was more excitable and childlike than professional. She moved straight past her honor guard and strode directly to Ironwood, beaming happily at him.

"Oh, Headmaster Ironwood!" she chirped excitedly, "It's so wonderful to see you again!" She thrust her hand out to him. Ironwood ended his salute and accepted her handshake politely.

"Please, Miss Schnee," he chuckled at her, amused, "You graduated the Academy years ago, and we've known each other too long. Just call me James."

By this point, her smile had grown so wide it must have hurt her to bear it. "Only if you call me Winter." She winked at him, released her grip, and slid smoothly to stand before Professor Ozpin. "And you must be the legendary Headmaster Ozpin of Beacon Academy!" said, her voice as melodious and friendly as ever. Once more, she thrust out her hand.

Opzin lightly accepted it and nodded at her. "Indeed I am, Miss Schnee," he said simply.

"I was absolutely heartbroken to hear about the attack!" Winter gushed at him, "My company has had our fair share of trouble with the White Fang, especially in this area. When I heard what happened I simply had to rush out and see if I could lend a hand," said Winter. Her voice darkened when she spoke the name of the terrorist organization.

"And we certainly appreciate the assistance, Miss Schnee," said Ozpin diplomatically. Winter beamed at him, too. Then she moved toward Glynda.

Some small part of Winter's friendliness was lost as the two women regarded each other. Glynda gazed at her, her face a stony mask. Winter's smile never wavered, but her eyes hardened. She knew an enemy when she saw one. "I don't believe we've met," said Winter evenly. This time, she did not extend her hand.

Glynda pretended not to notice, but venom still emerged in her reply. "We haven't," she affirmed coolly.

"You don't approve of my presence, do you?", asked Winter, her voice tinged with false disappointment

"Not at all. I simply get enough of the Atlesian Military with him around," Glynda explained lowly, firing a sideways glance at Ironwood as she spoke.

"That's too bad," said Winter, maintaining her diplomatic smile, and sad tone. "When I saw you from the ship I had so hoped we could be friends."

Glynda simply made a "harumph" sound and said no more.

Ironwood, seeing the introductions had reached their predicted end, spun smartly again and drew in breath to shout a command at his soldiers.

"Wait!" cried Winter excitedly. Glynda was happy about this. Winter seemed to have forgotten about her for now.

Ironwood let his breath out awkwardly. "…Yes?" he asked incredulously.

"May I say it?" she asked coyly.

Ironwood stared at her for a moment, then laughed heartily. "Certainly, Winter. Be my guest," he said, gesturing at his detachment.

Winter drew herself up into a passable approximation of standing at attention and called out: "Detachment! Dismissed!" Winter looked over her shoulder at her personal squad shouting, "You all are dismissed, too."

Winter's squad hesitated for a moment. That order wasn't strictly following protocol, and there wasn't a practiced drill maneuver for 'okay you can leave now'. They weren't quite sure how to proceed. After a moment's hesitation, the leader of the squad took charge, issuing the proper orders to dismiss his squad.

Ironwood's detachment fared much better. As one they picked up their weapons and held them across their chest. They all turned in unison and marched back toward the main campus.

Ozpin was the first to speak. "Miss Schnee, it is tradition to give visiting dignitaries such as yourself a tour of these facilities. If you'll follow me, we shall begin."

Winter laughed. "Oh, Headmaster Ozpin, if you'll forgive my candor... that sounds dreadfully boring. No, I think I'd prefer to find my baby sister and catch up. I haven't heard from her in so long. A sister worries."

Ozpin was unfazed by her refusal, and simply nodded. "Of course, Miss Schnee," he replied evenly while eying his watch. He took another sip of his coffee before continuing. "If memory serves she should be returning from classes about now. Glynda, James, it isn't necessary for you to stay. I am more than happy to show Miss Schnee to her sister's quarters."

Ironwood and Glynda both nodded and walked off together in silence.

"Shall we?" Ozpin asked, offering Winter his arm politely. She smiled at him, nodded, and looped her arm through his. They walked off towards the dormitories together.

Ruby and Yang burst through the door of their dormitory room in high spirits. Blake wasn't with them, having instead decided to visit the library to get some studying done. Weiss brought up the rear with a grumpier than usual expression on her face. She had been Ruby's opponent in their latest sparring class. She had also lost.

"I don't even know how you managed to avoid falling when I iced the floor!" Weiss shouted at her teammate angrily, "You trip over your own boots on the way to lunch!"

Ruby giggled happily, "I was in the air, Weiss. Pretty hard to trip when you're flying."

Weiss' voice kicked up an octave. "Ugh! That's not the point! I swear, I don't understand how you even…" she began, but she was interrupted by a knocking at the door.

"Girls, are you in there?" came Ozpin's muffled voice from the other side of the door.

"Um… it's open," Ruby called out uncertainly. The door opened. Winter and Ozpin were standing arm in arm in the hallway.

"Winter," breathed Weiss quietly. She backed away slowly, eyes wide with shock.

"Thank you, Headmaster," said Winter. She unhooked herself from him. "I think I can take it from here."

Ozpin nodded. "As you wish, Miss Schnee. Please enjoy your stay. If you need anything, my office is always open to you." He nodded at team RWBY next, then walked away down the hall.

Winter strode happily into the room and directly toward her sister, closing the door on her way. She ignored the other two girls completely. "Oh, it's my baby sister! I'm so happy to see you!" said Winter excitedly. She made no move to touch Weiss.

Weiss stood up straight, interleaved her fingers, and let her hands hang. She looked at the floor, and her bangs fell forward to obscure her eyes. It was a pose of deep respect and submission. "It's good to see you, too, older sister," she said quietly and evenly.

Ruby stared openly, wide-eyed. She had never ever seen Weiss kowtow to anyone. It was deeply unsettling to see her partner and friend so out of character. Yang wasn't quite so shocked, but she chose to stay quiet and see what happened next. Something was very off about this whole situation.

"You look so beautiful, Weiss. Oh, how you've grown since I last saw you!" gushed Winter.

"Thank you," replied Weiss timidly.

"I heard you called headquarters some time ago, but you didn't want to talk to me," said Winter. Her tone was somewhere between playful and accusatory.

"I was in a hurry," came the uneasy reply, "I was in the middle of a…"

"...school project, yes. I read the operator's report." Winter's eyes hardened, and her happy gaze transformed into an accusatory glare. "You do know that every time confidential documents are transmitted, a report gets filed, yes? The report also indicated the call originated from the CCT Tower communications room. Curious, that. If you were in a hurry, why did you walk all the way to the tower?"

Weiss shifted uneasily. "Well...I…" she began, her voice started to crack a little.

"Weiss..." Winter said, her voice dark, "Your older sister always knows when you're lying..."

Weiss started to shiver. The realization hit Ruby and Yang simultaneously. They turned to look at each other. Weiss was scared; in fact, she literally quaked in her boots. Upon this realization, situation suddenly felt very tense. Neither of the girls knew what to do, but they knew they had to do something to rescue their teammate. Ruby was the first to speak up.

"Um, hello there," said Ruby in friendly tones, "You're Weiss' sister? Then you must be Winter. Weiss has mentioned you before…"

Winter turned her chilly gaze on Ruby and stared as if seeing her for the first time. "Yes, that's right," she replied evenly. Once Winter's attention was off her, Weiss' shoulders slumped slightly in relief, but the quaking continued.

"Iii'm Ruby!" Ruby said, stretching out the first word, strategically using her most adorable intonations. She also extended her hand out to Winter. She continued, "I'm Weiss' partner and teeeeeeam leader. We're Team RWBY!"

Winter took Ruby's hand and shook it. A tense beat passed, then Winter giggled melodiously. "Leader Ruby of team RWBY?" she asked, laughing again. "My my, you are just adorable!"

Winter bent over a little and tousled Ruby's hair. Ruby laughed nasally. Her ploy had worked, and the tension in the room evaporated. Weiss continued to stand ramrod straight, maintaining her timid, submissive posture. For her, the tension was still very much real.

Yang chose this moment to step forward. "And I'm Yang," she blurted, pressing a thumb to her chest, "Ruby's older sister."

Winter turned her gaze to Yang and clapped her hands together once, "Oh my, aren't you gorgeous!" she gushed.

Yang chuckled uneasily, "Yeeeah, I uh… get that a lot."

"It's so important being an older sister, isn't it?" Winter continued, resting her hand on Ruby's head. Ruby just maintained a happy smile. "We always have to keep an eye on the little ones. Ensure they stay out of trouble." Winter snapped a quick glance at Weiss, as if to drive home to point. It seemed as if Weiss could feel Winter's eyes on her, and she flinched. Winter didn't wait for a reply, and looked around the room. "Curious. Aren't trainee teams comprised of four students? Where is your fourth?"

"Oh, you're talking about Blake," answered Ruby. A brilliant idea struck her. She knew how she could get rid of Winter and save her teammate. She stepped out from under Winter's hand, draw herself up into her best approximation of a commanding pose, took a deep breath, and began to lie. "She lost a bet so we sent her to library to pick up some books for our project you see we really are doing a school project and we really are falling behind and we really need Weiss' help to catch up so we really need all of our time tonight or our report is gonna be really late and grades are important you see so I'm sorry but as team leader I really have to ask that you give us our time because you see we can't afford to be distracted at this critical time in our project's development but it was super great to meet you and I really really want to talk to you more later but tonight just isn't the best time."

Winter blinked, trying to parse Ruby's sudden and unexpected stream of consciousness. "I see." she said eventually. She saw through the lie immediately, but also knew it wasn't wise to make an enemy of her sister's team. She decided to play Ruby's childish game for now. After all, she could always interrogate Weiss later.

"Very well, Ruby," Winter replied with a professional tone and a false smile, "I suppose I have no choice but to respect your wishes as team leader." She walked back to the door and opened it. "Goodbye, Weiss. We'll continue this conversation at a later time," Winter called over her shoulder, and closed the door behind her.

Ruby and Yang both turned to Weiss. Other than her shoulders shaking slightly, she hadn't moved yet; not even to look up.

"...Weiss?" began Ruby softly, taking a tentative step toward her partner.

"No!" she roared suddenly. Her head snapped up and she glared at Ruby, furious. "Just mind your own business for once in your life! Just…" Weiss struggled for a moment, then threw her arm in a wide gesture, indicating to the door, "Go away and leave me alone!"

Ruby jumped back, shocked and deeply hurt. These emotions were reflected plainly on her face. Yang stepped forward and placed a hand on Ruby's shoulder.

"C'mon Ruby. Let's... let's go get some cookies. Maybe see if Blake wants any company. Give Weiss some time," suggested Yang softly. Ruby turned her head to look up at Yang, the emotional distress still written on her face. Yang walked to the door, gently guiding Ruby along by the shoulder. She opened the door, pushed Ruby through, and turned to meet Weiss' furious gaze with one of her own.

Yang's eyes shifted red and her hair started to glow. She spoke to Weiss in low tones, "And you are going to have some explaining to do." Before the ball of incomprehensible anger that was Weiss could respond, Yang slammed the door.

Winter moved quickly and confidently through the halls of Beacon Academy. There was no spring in her step, and her face was set into serious, focused lines.

She pushed the doors of the library open and strode through quickly. Her head moved left and right as she gazed around the expansive, open library. She pulled out her scroll and jabbed at the screen. She pulled up a series of pictures from the train heist that had sent her Father into his most recent rage. Rage aimed squarely at Winter. There were two known culprits: Adam, leader of the White Fang; and a mysterious protégé with a distinctive black bow on her head.

Adam was a ghost; he never left any tracks and the Investigations Department had routinely failed to track him down. It had started to look like the protégé was going to be the same story. Until, that is, Beacon had held its yearly initiation. Beacon always published headshots of every student that survived initiation, and Winter had her big break. Blake Belladonna was the protege's name, and if part of Ruby's obvious lie was true, she was somewhere in this library. Winter felt she had to see for herself.

After some searching, Winter spotted her target at a reading table and smiled for the first time since encountering her traitorous sister. Well hello, Miss Belladonna, she thought. It's a pleasure to finally meet you. We are going to have so much to talk about.

She spent some time watching Blake, savoring this moment. There were so many questions to ask. Blake would pay for what she did. She would pay dearly and Winter would be the one to mete out the appropriate justice. Then, when she was finished, when there was nothing left of that animal, she could move on to the real threat: Adam.

Winter took a deep breath, then she turned about and walked back toward the library entrance. She jabbed at her scroll again and placed the device up to her ear. The line rang once before picking up.

"Yes?" answered a sultry, low, feminine voice.

"We need to talk."

"I have a nice spot all picked out."

"Excellent. Send me the location. Bring the list, and the kids. You all have work to do." Winter hung up.

The library door opened in front of her as she was approaching. Yang and Ruby were on the other side. Winter ignored them both, walking down the hall and around the corner.

"Was that…?" began Ruby.

"Yeah," said Yang, following Winter with her eyes.

"What's going on?" asked Ruby, hints of sadness still in her voice.

"I don't know. But something strange is going on here. Come on, let's find Blake. Maybe she can shed some light on whatever that was."