Roman lit the forest bright for a moment to light his cigar. He observed the House of Schnee from a distance, noting the smoke rising into the sky and the clash of blades ringing in his ear. He puffed smoke through his nose before speaking, "Can you feel it, Perry? The shaking in your hand?"

"N-no, sir," the bespectacled Faunus admitted.

Torchwick snickered, "Hearing the sounds of battle would normally be the cause for alarm. But I suppose when you have an army behind you," Roman's laugh echoed through the forest, "You can't help but feel excited for battle!" he stepped onto the hull of one of the White Fang ships, "AND ESPECIALLY WHEN THE BATTLE TAKES PLACE ON SCHNEE'S LAND!"

Though he was a human, the faunus of the White Fang couldn't help but cheer for his words, turning into a roar of confidence, "So when we get the signal, ladies and gentlemen! The war between the Schnee Dust Company and the White Fang will finally be over! By the end of this night, we will take Schnee's head!"

It probably gave away their position, but the White Fang army still cheered in glee, raising their fists in celebration. Roman turned away from his forces to face the enigmatic castle, "Besides. If it all goes to hell, then I can slip away with a mountain of Schnee fortune to sell for millions," he made sure that none of the White Fang could hear him.

Adam and Qrow exchanged clashes and bullets with each other, blocking them with their swords. The two stood at opposite ends of the courtyard, glaring at one another. As they caught their breaths, Qrow pulled out his flask and proceeded to chug the liquor inside.

"So it's true what they say about you. You drink even when in battle," Adam noted as he sheathed Wilt inside Blush.

Qrow grinned at his opponent, "Helps you forget all the terrible things that have happened in your life," he put the flask away, "Doesn't help you forget how to fight I'm afraid."

In a flash he appeared before Taurus, bringing his greatsword down on the faunus. Adam fired a round from Blush, launching him away from the Huntsman. He unsheathed Wilt, swinging fast enough that the slash reached Qrow, who easily blocked it with his sword.

"I gotta hand it to you. You really do live up to your title, Right Arm of the White Fang," Qrow complimented the faunus.

Adam snorted, "You're not as strong as I thought you were. You're past your prime."

Qrow began laughing at his opponent, bending over to compose himself, "It happens when you get to my age. So instead of mocking me for it," Qrow disappeared from Adam's sight and reappeared in front of the faunus, already clashing blades, "Give this old man a fight he can take to his grave!"

"Stop right now! You are trespassing on Schnee Property! You are under arrest!" a group of soldiers aimed their rifles at the four intruders.

"Hey wait, isn't that Weiss Schnee?" a soldier wondered out loud, before noticing a glyph under his feet.

Ruby, Weiss, Blake, and Yang ran past the now frozen group of soldiers, their only consolation being, "Sorry! Coming through!" from Ruby.

The underpaid soldiers let out a groan and a small wave of understanding.

"So, why aren't we going out the way we came?!" Yang asked the obvious question that everyone was wondering.

Weiss led team RWBY through her old home, "We have to find another escape tunnel. After we tripped the alarm, the tunnel we came through sealed itself!"

"Gotcha!" she returned.

Ruby ran alongside Blake, growing concerned with the older faunus, "What's wrong, Blake?"

Blake wiped tears from her eyes, "Still, amazed that you all came here to save me. Did you come by yourselves all the way from Beacon?"

Yang and Ruby exchanged prideful grins, "Well we might have a little help from our Uncle Qrow," Ruby answered.

"Speaking of Qrow, what's he been doing since all of the defenses have been inside?" Yang wondered out loud.

Weiss turned a corner into a hallway with windows that overlooked the courtyard and the surrounding forests, "Let's see if we can get a look at what your uncle is doing."

The four huntresses witnessed Qrow Branwen and a figure that three of them didn't recognize clashing blades across the Schnee Courtyard.

"I knew he was going to be fighting someone but I thought he was gonna be fighting like, soldiers, or robots. That looks like some dude with," Ruby squinted her eyes, and shaped her hands like binoculars over her face, "A White Fang mask? Why is the White Fang here?"

Blake, instantly recognized his mask, "Adam."

Weiss knew that tone of voice, "You know him?"

She nodded, keeping her eyes on him, "He was my partner in the White Fang. He was-

"He was the monster, wasn't he?" Yang interjected.

All their eyes were on Blake, who couldn't manage to spit out her words. Only through nodding her head slightly did they understand what he meant to Blake.

"If I'm correct, he's Adam Taurus, one of the White Fang's lieutenants, and the so-called, Right Arm of the White Fang. He's caused more than enough trouble for my family," Weiss read off his biography.

"I don't like him already," Yang added.

"KICK HIS BUTT, UNCLE QROW!" Ruby cheered for her uncle.

The two warriors stood across from each other, neither of them feeling the fatigue of battle, "You are quite an impressive swordsman, Taurus," he charged at the faunus, swinging his sword at him, only to be blocked by Wilt, "I'd easily recommend you as a Huntsman. An S-Class Huntsman at that."

Adam, unable to push through Qrow's defenses, blasted himself from Branwen with a round from Wilt, "I have no interest in fighting for your cause," he followed his answer three rifle shots at Qrow.

Effortlessly, Qrow spun his sword and blocked the blasts, "Shame. Now I have to kill you," he closed the distance between them, before Adam could properly react to his attack, he was already in a crater in the snow, "Give up, Taurus! Very soon you'll be outnumbered!"

"That's where you're wrong," he growled.

Qrow watched him pull out a pistol from his coat, wondering what good it would do against him, then quickly realizing it wasn't a pistol when Adam was aiming it at the sky. But before he could stop him, he had already fired a bright white flare into the sky that burst into a dozen smaller lights.

Team RWBY watched it reach into the sky, Jacque and his subordinates observed it in their Control Room, and Winter and her soldiers witnessed its peak.

"Sir! We can see flares!" a faunus reported to Adam.

Roman Torchwick looked through a pair of binoculars and puffed smoke through his nose, "Well there's the signal from Taurus. You know what that means, right?!" he turned to the army of White Fang.

"DOWN WITH SCHNEE!" they answered back.

As the faunus got into their ships, Roman could only stand back and admire their resolve, "You know Neo. I was going to make this big speech and rile them up to kill Schnee, but I think they're riled enough," he and his partner stepped onto a ship as it took off.

In the Schnee Control Room, the radar was going off, "Sir! The radar is picking up aircraft! Multiple aircraft!"

Jacque walked to the soldier, gripping his glove even tighter, "What in all that is holy is that?" his voice for once was quiet, "How did they get so close without us knowing!?"

"Sir we're counting at least thirty-six aircraft approaching the castle, there's even a few battleships amongst their forces!" another soldier reported, bringing up a visual of the fleet approaching his home.

Jacque could only step back, seeing the forces at his doorstep. He swallowed his throat, and adjusted his bowtie while he gazed at the White Fang insignias dotted on their hulls.

"Sir! What are your orders?!" they begged.

Jacque regained his composure and glared at his men, "We are the Schnee Dust Company! I will not tolerate rabble-rousers at my house!" he declared, "BLOW THEM OUT OF THE SKY!"

It took a few seconds for his words to sink in, but when they did, the efficiency of the Atlesian military was best displayed.

"Put me on the intercom," he demanded, "Listen here, you animals," his voice rang through the forest, and every White Fang member could hear his icy words, "And that includes the rats scurrying in my house, and the dogs at my doorstep."

Qrow let out a laugh, "That's the nicest thing he's ever said to me."

"If you think it's so easy to invade my home, then you all have another thing coming. I will see to it that your blood stains the snow red. I will wipe out the White Fang from the face of the earth. Even if I have to do it myself!" he growled through the speakers, "So come and face me, and I'll show you the full extent of the power of the Schnee Dust Company!"

His words were followed by his castle opening fire on the White Fang fleet, filling the dark sky with fire.

On the flagship of the White Fang fleet, they were taking heavy damage from the fortress. The ship rocking knocked a few of the White Fang grunts off their feet, only Torchwick and Neo remaining upright.

"Put all the shields up! Concentrate fire on the batteries!" Roman ordered, getting the crew back in order.

The White Fang Fleet formed a formation where the battleships absorbed most of the firepower from the castle, so the smaller gunships could freely open fire on Schnee.

"Alright men, and ladies, we all know the plan! We're going to parachute down onto Schnee's land. Our goal is to take the hanger so nothing can get out of the airspace! Then we move in and take the Schnee Dust Company! And this," Roman stopped himself and raised his arms, "Your war, will be won!" he declared, to the thunderous roar of the White Fang.

As they prepared themselves for battle, Roman stood next to Neo and bragged, "I make one hell of a motivational speaker don't I?"

"SIR! Batteries three, six, and eight have shut down and are completely unresponsive! Five and two are about to go out as well!"

"In about T minus five minutes the White Fang fleet will be directly above us!"

Jacque Schnee smashed his hands on the panel nearest to him. The silence was near deafening, "Father."

"What is it, Winter?" he spoke very quietly, unsettling the soldiers in the room.

"I need you to send a distress signal to the Atlesian armies. We need air support if we want to stand a chance against the White Fang," his daughter instructed him.

Jacque absorbed her words and barked them to his soldiers, "You heard her, men! Send those signals."

Winter continued her strategy, "I'm going to lead my squad to the hangar so we can get you out of here, along with all other injured personnel!"

Finally at ease, he calmed down, "Very well. Men, do whatever you must to keep those mongrels off the ground!"

While his soldiers immediately got to work, Jacque proceeded to walk out of the control room, "Sir, where are you going?"

He turned his head, "My personal quarters. If anyone wishes to challenge me, I will welcome there," and he returned to leaving the battle to his minions.

Ruby Rose, Weiss Schnee, Blake Belladonna, and Yang Xiao Long watched in horror as the White Fang fleet slowly descended upon the castle, "He brought everyone from the White Fang here," Blake lamented.

The four girls remained silent while the sounds of war blasted the air, "We can't leave. Not yet. There's too much at stake here!" Ruby declared.

"Sis, we can't take on an army of White Fang goons-

"Yang Xiao Long! My dearest sister, since I've known you for the past fifteen years, I've never known you to back down from a fight! And here you have the battle of the century, and you're going to chicken out!"

Yang was flabbergasted, having not heard her sister speak to her like that.

"She's right," Weiss suddenly spoke up, "If the White Fang take this castle over, they will have unrestricted access to the SDC networks and an access point to the Atlesian military. If that happens, there's no telling what they would do with that power."

Blake looked down at the courtyard, "I have an idea how he would use that power."

"Ok. I get it. We did kinda destroy a lot of their defenses," Yang relented.

"So what's our game plan?" Blake asked.

"We need to get rid of Adam Taurus," Weiss answered.

"I'll take care of him," Yang and Blake answered at the same time.

"Blake. I know how strong you are. You're one of the strongest people I know. Hell, you're stronger than me," Yang pulled her in for a hug, "But if you go down there, he's gonna get inside your head. And you'll be in my way. I can't let that happen. So please, stay as far away as you can from him."

Blake nodded, "I understand."

"Thanks,"

"Alright, Yang and Uncle Qrow will be fighting Adam Taurus. I think I will, wait. Is that Torchwick?" Ruby asked, squinting her eyes before looking through Crescent Rose's scope, "Uh, guys. It looks like he's falling with some girl with an umbrella, and a bunch of dudes with White Fang masks. WAIT! There's a few girls too."

"Torchwick? What is he doing here?" Weiss demanded.

"I don't know. But I think I'm gonna go and find out!"

"Are you sure you can take him?" Yang asked.

"I can handle myself. Just not sure if I can handle all of those White Fang guys," she admitted.

"Then you should my sister-

"You have a sister?" the rest of Team RWBY quipped.

"YES. I think she should be here. Just explain to her that you know me, and hopefully she won't shoot you on sight," Weiss whispered on those last parts.

"What was that?"

"Nothing, nothing."

Blake walked to Weiss' side, "And that just leaves you and me. What are our targets?"

"My father," she answered, "I need to make him understand that this is my life, and he has no control over who I am, or what I do."

She felt her hand in Blake's, "I'll be with you the whole way."

"Alright Team RWBY! We have our objectives! Let's move out!" Ruby ordered enthusiastically.

They split in three directions: Yang went down to the courtyard to join her uncle fight Adam Taurus. Ruby sped through the castle to find Weiss' sister and to get answers from Torchwick. And Weiss and Blake journeyed to the top of the House of Schnee to confront Weiss' father.

Though they traveled across the entire world to be reunite, they split one last time to do what was right, and to finally put their old demons to rest.

The War of the North had finally begun.

A/N So guys... How've you been? It's been like... half a year at this point? I mean. Five months. Life got ahead of me, and I wanted to focus my attention on other projects. So I haven't been completely dead, just mostly dead.

Good news is, I'm going to focus, at least fanfic-wise, entirely on this story until it gets bloody finished. There are at least... three chapters left? I think. Who knows. It will get done this year. I will not let it go on for three years.

Thank you all for sticking with me for so long. Hope you enjoy this. Now, we're gonna get into some juicy angst. ;)