The majority of the group sat silently about the room that Frost had been resting in. Ever since he had awoken from his blackout and his injuries had been properly tended to, everyone was now unsure as to where they should go from here. Due to the lack of communications from either Blake or Ruby following their arrival in Patch, and the lack of information they had in regards to what Ruby was doing in Mistral, no one was quite sure which person would be better to go after. Eyes were either trained on the roof, floor, or out the nearby window as each person thought to themselves about the best course of action.

Meanwhile, Qrow and Taiyang had finished their discussion in the next room ad were now quickly striding over to rejoin the kids currently thinking amongst themselves. The two still did not see eye-to-eye as to what they should be informed of, but that didn't matter at this point in time due to how serious things seemed to be getting across Remnant. An emergency signal received on their Scrolls immediately had them going to inform the others of the change in events, despite their disagreements.

All heads in the room turned as the doorknob turned to see what the two men wanted, confusion etched across each of their faces at the expressions on their faces as they entered. After everything that had happened, what could possibly have the two looking more concerned than they had already looked when they had gone to talk earlier?

"…Alright, kiddos." Qrow began after looking around to make sure all eyes were turned to face the two adults. "Looks like rest time is over a little sooner than we thought. Looks like our path is being picked for us."

"What do you mean, Uncle Qrow?" Yang was the first to ask as everyone turned fully to face the two rather than just turning their heads, now fully interested in what was happening. "It's not Cinder again, is it?"

"Far as we can tell, no." Qrow shook his head as he responded. "But that's only what we can tell from the message. As far as we know she could be on her way as we speak, even if this isn't quite like what happened in Beacon."

"A little more info than vague statements and riddles would be nice, you know." Emerald retorted from the corner of the room, to which Qrow turned his head and quirked an eyebrow at the young girl's sass.

"Well if you'd all stop butting into the conversation then I could get to the point." Qrow retaliated before taking a quick swig from his flask. "Anyways, we got an emergency message from outside the kingdom. Something that I think you'd all be interested to see."

"If it's just a message, why not just read it to us?" Weiss asked with a perplexed tone to her voice. "Trying to get all of us crowded in to read it makes no sense."

"That would be right, IF it were in fact just a written message. Whoever sent this somehow got a visual recording of what was going on. We have no idea how they got the message this far given the CCT tower in Vale not being operational, but it's still a big deal. Look for yourselves."

With that statement made, Qrow pulled out his Scroll and turned it to face the group before engaging the playback feature on the message that had just been received moments ago.

What played back had all eyes wide in shock.

It was a literal war-zone. Fire and debris littered the area as buildings were damaged and people went running in the streets. However, one thing of note stood out for every individual that passed by.

They were all Faunus.

Whatever was going on, it was likely in a place where only Faunus resided. And there were very few places truly like that in all of Remnant. That mattered little however as a sizeable pack of Ursas came lumbering by, the group a larger number than the average bunching of Ursas one tended to find out in the wilds. Moments later another pack of Grimm came from a different direction, comprised of both Beowolves and a few Boarbatusks. In the distance outlines of flying Grimm like Nevermore's and Griffins could be seen as well. It also begged another strong question.

Why were so many in Menagerie at once? The continent was so isolated from the other kingdoms, even its neighbor Mistral, that this many Grimm appearing in one place was uncommon, even for a place that didn't have as sizeable a force as the other kingdoms to defend itself with.

The questions would have to wait inside their thoughts however as the recording continued. The view panned briefly, turning so that a larger view of the damage could be visible. As far as the eye could see, smoke was rising from numerous buildings as screams and yells could be heard echoing across the area. Within moments, a group of Griffins flew by, their screeches overpowering the rest of the sounds for a brief instant as they passed.

The camera then panned once more, this time to reveal the face of a random male with scales lining the sides of his face. His face looked weary and his eyes urgent as he began to speak to the device in his hand that he must have used to record the message.

"This is a message to anyone that can hear us. A large group of Grimm has somehow arrived in Menagerie and we can't fight them off on our own. They almost seem like their actions are organized, going after strategic points to cripple our chances to defend ourselves. If this goes on much longer…" He paused as his eyes flitted to the surrounding area, a look of desperation etched on his face as he looked about before turning back to the screen. "There won't be much left if this keeps up. We'll likely be losing communications soon at this rate if things don't change for the better. If this is able to reach anyone, please send as much help as possible. We can't survive on our own."

The man then began reaching for the device, likely to stop the recording before his head turned at what sounded like a door opening. His head turned to face whoever had entered the room before he began to speak.

"Is it time to go alr- Wait, who are you people?" The angle of the camera moved as the man stood up, as it appeared that he had been taking the recording from a lower position, likely to avoid being seen as he made the recording. "What are you doing with my wife?! This isn't the time to be attacking each other, there are Grimm out there! We need to help each other if we're going to survive this! What kind of idiots are y-"

The man's voice was rapidly replaced with a gurgling sound before the camera shifted once again and changed perspective so that it was facing the floor at on odd angle. A female scream could be heard ringing through the speakers before it was silenced with a sharp bang. Moments later, the view changed one final time as a gloved hand came into view and lifted the screen to see whoever had just arrived.

A face covered in a telltale mask came into view, the only discernable features apparent on the person's body being two small horn-like protrusions coming from the mask and a mop of messy red hair on his head as the view was limited to just a headshot of the individual.

"This is a message to the kingdoms of Remnant. We have had enough of your petty leadership driving our people into the dark and shunning us from society. If you send anyone to assist the fools that choose not to side with us, then they will be treated as the enemy and attacked on sight. This is your final warning. We will not be ignored any longer, and you will listen to us."

And with that, the message cut out.

"…What in the hell was that?" Frost was the first to speak, a strong look of concern etched on his face, and though his fists were both tightly clenched at his sides the only thing truly keeping him from freaking out once again at the scene was a calming hand placed on his arm by Neo as she had noticed his expression part way through the video playback.

"That was a declaration of war if I've ever heard one." Qrow responded calmly as he looked over the group of children processing the new information. His eyes stopped on Yang however, her eyes bright red and her hair burning somewhat.

Taiyang had noticed this as well, and quickly moved to try and stem the potential outbreak before it happened. "Yang, sweetheart. You need to calm down."

All of the other eyes turned to face the blonde brawer, her face set in a wicked snarl as her chest heaved with haggard breaths. Tears streamed from her eyes as a light crunching sound could be heard coming from Yang's knuckles as they popped all at once.

"Dad. Shut up." Her voice was barely controlled as the words seethed through her clenched teeth, her torso twitching as her muscles tightened across her arms. "I don't need you telling me to calm down. I need you to tell me how quickly we can get to Menagerie before I break something."

"Yang, you can't just go running in alone without a plan. You'll just get injured again, or worse!" Her father pleaded with her as he grabbed onto her shoulders and shook her lightly with a determined look on his face.

"She's not going alone." Frost's voice cut through the tense silence. "I can't say the same for a plan, but that doesn't matter. This is more serious then you realize." His head turned to face Neo and Emerald before continuing. "You know what this sounds like, right?"

Both of the girls nodded their heads, the others in the room giving them questioning looks aside from Taiyang and Yang as the former tried to keep the latter from going on a temper tantrum.

"What on earth are you talking about?" Weiss snapped, her expression set in a frown as she demanded information rather than being kept in the dark.

"He's talking about a pack of Beowolves that the three of us ran into while we were travelling through Atlas." Neo replied sharply. "They were acting organized just like these Grimm in Menagerie were. There was some sort of crystal that a larger one was protecting, and once we destroyed it the Grimm disappeared and we were able to return the villagers to their homes."

"So they're showing up in more places than we thought then, huh?" Qrow pondered to himself while those unaware gave Neo a surprised look at the information they had revealed.

"Be that as it may, you can't seriously expect us to let a bunch of children go off and run into something they're not prepared for! After what happened at Beacon, as a Huntsman I can't let any of you go out and there and risk yourselves when you still need proper training!" Taiyang replied as Yang finally started to cooldown as she took deep breaths.

"I don't think you need to worry about their safety as much as you think, Tai." Qrow responded from the edge of the group. "They've all been through serious stuff like this before and come out of it stronger. We can't just set them on the sidelines every time this happens. They won't get stronger that way."

"Just because that was how you grew up Qrow that doesn't mean I'm letting any of them do it, too! They're still children! They could die!"

"So could we when we were at Beacon training with Summer and Raven. That didn't change the fact that it was part of why we had chosen to be Huntsman. To defend those that couldn't defend themselves. Remember?"

"I remember fully well." Taiyang snapped back, his face turning to give Qrow a glare. "And look where it has us now. One of our team dead and one gone missing because they decided to abandon us. And you still think it's worth it to put them through this at such a young age?"

"Yes. Because I know they won't make the same mistakes we did." Qrow raised a hand to silence the blonde male as he opened his mouth to retort. "They'll still make some mistakes, but that's a part of life. And some of them have already had to learn how to deal with said mistakes. Keeping them in a glass cage won't solve anything, it'll just make them more vulnerable to something that comes at them."

The blonde male was silent as he stood looking at the dark-haired drunk before taking a deep breath and walking out of the room and towards the kitchen with a defeated look on his face. Before leaving however, he stopped by Qrow's body and leaned over to mumble a few words into his ear.

"I hope you know what you're doing Qrow. If she gets hurt because of you, you know what the consequences will be."

Qrow's face took on a somber look as he turned to mumble back.

"I know, and you can bet your ass I'll never forgive myself if it does happen. She'll be fine, I promise."

The others looked about each other before turning to Qrow with confused looks.

"Should…I go talk to him?" Yang asked her Uncle with a concerned voice.

"No. He'll be fine. Just needs some time to breath is all. As for us," Qrow began as he walked over to the door of the room and turned back to face the group. "We've got a flight to catch to Menagerie. The sooner we leave, the sooner we can find out how bad things have gotten since that message got sent out."

With varying looks of concern and hesitation, the rest of the room's residents all filed out of the room and grabbed their weapons before going out to the yard before boarding the airship as Qrow took the co-pilots seat while Weiss started up the giant machine. Yang hung back for a moment at the door before turning to her father with a sad look on her face.

"I promise, dad. I won't do what Raven did. I'll come back. And I'll make sure to bring Ruby with me."

Her father looked over from the window he stood staring out of before giving a deep sigh and walking over to his daughter before wrapping her in a tight hug.

"I know you will. You're a Xiao Long after all. Just promise me make sure to promise me that you won't get hurt like at Beacon again."

"I will. After all, this time I know what I'm up against."

With that, the younger blonde quickly ran over to the airship before climbing aboard, her father looking on with a worried look on his face as his daughter's last words played through his mind.

"I wish I could believe that, Yang." His voice was low and full of hesitation. "But I don't think any of us really knows what we're up against anymore."

As promised, here is the latest update to the story. Turns out that once I push myself a little harder it's a lot easier to maintain a routinely update with this. That and the fact that I can manage writing two different stories at once, something I honestly didn't believe I could do effectively. Anyways, hope you all are enjoying things so far, and this way those of you reading this have a small something to tide you over until the Volume 5 release. For those interested, last week I did post the first chapter to the My Hero Academia story I'm also working on, and it will be updated again next week. As for this story, I will see you all again on October 26 for the next update. Peace!