Damn it's been a while since I've updated. Sorry about that. Crap ton of stuff happened and maybe I was still in shock of the Finale for RWBY. I mean damn they killed off one of my favorite girls and also showed another reason why I'm a bit frustrated with canon Jaune. They need to start developing his character as more than just the comic relief and the strategy guy (as showcased in their fight in the tournament). I know that not every character needs to be a great fighter and that he could also have a role as their strategist or whatever but COME ON! I was freaking happy for him for three seconds when Arkos finally happened but then Pyrrha just had to die. Jaune seriously needs to step up in the next volume.

But all that aside, I enjoyed the finale of Vol 3. It opened up new possibilities and questions that set up Volume 4 quite nicely. Can't wait to see how things pick up from there.

Alright I've ranted enough. RWBY belongs to the awesome people at RT and not me. Without further ado, I give you the next chapter.

"Mr. Schnee, one of the Board members is trying to get a hold of you. Should I patch the call through?" His secretary inquired over the holographic screen floating above his desk.

"Very well," He knew that they would be having this discussion sooner or later. It would probably be best to get it over with.

"One moment please." His secretary said.

Her image on the screen was then replaced by a portly face of a man with a neatly trimmed moustache and beard.

"Schnee! What's the meaning of this?" The sour looking man demanded.

Silas schooled his features into a blank unreadable mask. "Would you mind being more specific, Mr. Bliz? I am not a mind reader."

"Don't play games with me boy!" Mr. Bliz barked. "What the hell do you think you're doing withholding that much Dust? We're losing business. Some of our clients have already contacted other suppliers. Our profit is steadily declining thanks to you!"

"With all due respect, I have reviewed our statements and the losses are insignificant." Silas replied evenly. However, he was slightly annoyed by being referred to as a mere boy. "Also, I was informed that the White Fang has been increasingly active these past couple of weeks and so I am doing this as a precaution to avoid more incidents like the train."

"Bah, don't give me that White Fang excuse because I'm not buying it." Mr. Bliz scowled. "We've doubled our security since that train car has been stolen five months ago. If you're truly worried about our shipment being stolen by those mongrels then I suggest we call in the help of General Ironwood to guard the Dust."

Silas had to suppress an irritated sigh. "I doubt that the General would appreciate being bothered with such a menial task."

And even if he did, he already knew who Ironwood would send to do the job. While he believed that his eldest daughter Winter was a capable warrior in her own right, Silas didn't want to drag her into this mess. He also didn't want to owe the good General any more favors in the future. No, he would handle this personally.

Mr. Bliz pointed a chubby finger at him. "You're walking on a dangerous tightrope Silas. I don't know what your angle is but for your sake I hope that it will not cost us more than it already has. The other Board members and I are becoming restless and soon we will have to act in whatever way we see fit to preserve the future of this Company."

"Until that day Mr. Bliz, I would suggest that you don't call again unless it is a matter of equal importance. Now, is there anything else you wish to speak with me about?"

The portly man scowled and abruptly ended the video call.

Silas slumped back in his chair and rubbed his eyes. This gamble was proving to be quite the nuisance. Not only did he have to keep track of all of the Dust that he was holding back, he also had to make sure that his father's company didn't completely go bankrupt from this venture. Being one of the richest and most influential men in the kingdoms was a taxing occupation. If people thought that all he ever did was drink champagne on yachts or private jets, then they were sorely mistaken.

It was times like these that he wanted nothing more than to go back to a simpler time. A time where he killed monsters, fought in tournaments, and fooled around with his teammates…

Opening a drawer on his desk, he took out an old photograph hidden under the files. It was slightly faded but he could still recognize the people in the picture. Four teenagers stood in front of the fountain that was found in Beacon's main courtyard. They were all looking at the camera with wide smiles plastered on their faces.

A boy with messy blonde hair had his arms draped over two of the others. To his left, a pretty girl with chocolate brown hair that was braided over one shoulder leaned her head on his shoulder slightly while she held up a peace sign. To the blonde's right was a boy with dark gray hair that was grinning mischievously at the camera, almost as if he was planning one of his infamous pranks. And of course, to the far left of the photograph stood a young man with white hair that was neatly combed over to one side. His arms were crossed but he was smiling just as brightly as any of the others.

So much has changed since then.

He never would have thought that the boy in the picture would grow up to take over the largest company in all of Remnant. He also could have never imagined meeting the most amazing woman and becoming a father to two beautiful girls. Life was certainly full of surprises.

The intercom beeped again and his secretary appeared on the monitor. "I'm sorry to disturb you sir but-,"

"Let me guess," Silas said, rubbing his temples to ease the migraine that was starting to surface. "Another one of the Board members wishes to speak with me."

"Should I patch it through sir?" His secretary asked hesitantly, sensing his irritation.

"Alright," Silas grumbled.

"Silas, just what in the world do you think you're doing?"

And here comes the headache.

Meanwhile, a few thousand miles to the South, another Schnee was experiencing a similar headache but for different reasons.

"I swear it's like dealing with a bunch of children." Weiss muttered to herself.

"FREEDOM!" Four identical shouts were heard throughout the halls of Beacon academy as all of the students finished their last examinations for the day. Jaune, Ruby, Nora, and Yang had then proceeded to engage in a race back to their dorms with the youngest among them leaving a trail of rose petals in her wake. The four of them disappeared around the next corner and continued to make a mad dash for the rooms to prepare for their respective outings to Vale.

"You get used to it after a while." Ren said. The four remaining members of each team chose to walk at a sensible pace.

Weiss just huffed. "Still, is it too much to ask for them to act a little more refined every once in a while?"

"Somehow, I don't think that will happen anytime soon."Blake said. "Have you met our teammates?"

"Fair point," Weiss couldn't deny the raven-haired girl's statement. The two sisters of team RWBY were undeniably the loud and boisterous half of their team that was balanced out by Blake and Weiss' calm and composed attitude.

"I can't say I blame them." Pyrrha said. "We finally get the chance to relax after studying non-stop for the past few days."

It was true, the last few days before the exams were extremely chaotic and stressful. The library had never been more packed than it was on the day before the tests as everyone attempted to cram whatever they could manage. However, Weiss was among the few who merely needed to brush up on a few topics before retiring to her room. The heiress was confident that she had studied well enough to get high marks on all of her subjects.

Unlike a few dunces she could mention…

She had to resist an exasperated sigh as she thought about how hopeless Jaune had been when it came to History. She had managed to help him catch up with all of his essays but he was still clueless when it came to remembering important dates, places, and leaders of different revolutions. Even when she tutored him, he was able to follow for a bit but would then get totally lost after thirty minutes.

Honestly, he was such a Dolt. However, now that she thought about it, Weiss realized that she had spent a large portion of her free time with him. Admittedly, she didn't have to tutor him personally and besides, Pyrrha got the same scores she did in tests so she could have easily taught Jaune. Yet, she had dragged him off to the library that day and all but stated that she would be his tutor.

Despite the blonde's inability to memorize some of Remnant's history, she actually found herself looking forward to the days when she had to tutor him…

Stop right there! She thought to herself once she realized her mind was going into uncharted territory. There's no time for you to entertain such wild and far-fetched fantasies about a boy that aren't even true.

She was right of course. She couldn't afford any distractions now that the Vytal Festival was almost upon them. Students from the other Kingdoms would be arriving in a few weeks time and she had even heard rumors that a ship from Vacuo was scheduled to arrive today. Weiss intended to use this time to welcome the students who might have opted to come earlier. It was only appropriate since she was a student of Vale.

And if a little reconnaissance on their future competitors, oh right, "fellow Hunters in training" were to happen while they were already there….well that was entirely a coincidence.

An hour and a grueling airship ride to the city later, the two teams split up. Weiss had insisted that she and her team go to the docks for some reason. Her teammates could only shrug and follow the heiress after promising to meet up with his team later. If he were to be honest, Jaune was actually pretty thankful that they were going separate ways for now because unlike team RWBY, he and his team had some business to take care of.

"Alright the coast is clear, fearless leader." Nora dutifully reported once she was done scanning the area and made sure that no one could overhear them.

They were currently seated on a picnic table at one of the small parks in downtown Vale.

"What's this about Jaune?" Ren asked curiously. Pyrrha was also looking at him expectantly.

Instead of answering, the blonde reached into his pocket and took out a sleek looking object and placed it on the table for them to see.

"Is that a scroll?" Pyrrha said after inspecting the small device.

"A rather expensive looking one if I were to guess." Ren commented after picking it up and running a hand over the smooth black surface.

"I found it during our trip to the Forest of Forever Fall." Jaune told them. "I saw it laying on the ground next to some bushes on the way back to the airship."

"Big whoop, someone probably just lost it." Nora said in bored tone, she was clearly unimpressed by his discovery.

"Turn it on." Jaune prompted.

His three teammates shared a look and huddled closer together to see what the fuss was about. Ren pushed the button and the scroll slid open. The screen merely displayed a small holographic square, about the size of a thumb, in the middle. Deciding to go on a hunch, Ren placed his right thumb over what he presumed was a scanner.

"Denied," The scroll's computerized program said and the screen immediately flared red before turning itself off.

"You broke it Ren." Nora said once the boy placed it back on the table.

The martial artist frowned and ignored Nora's statement. "Obviously someone doesn't want anyone else to see what they have on this scroll."

"My thoughts exactly," Jaune agreed. "Our standard issue scrolls only have a simple typed password to keep it secure but this thing even has a damn fingerprint scanner. Whoever owns this scroll must have some pretty dirty secrets he doesn't want anyone to know about and I think I have an idea about who that person could be."

He could see that he had their attention so he decided to continue. "Remember the time I got caught fighting with Cardin?"

"Oh, we never forgot about it." Pyrrha said in an amused tone. Ren and Nora both cracked grins at that.

"That's not the point!" Jaune snapped. Geez, they're still giving him a hard time over that. "Anyway, when your weapons got stolen I was looking at the lockers and I didn't see any sort of damage at all which means that the thieves didn't force it open but merely unlocked it using this." He held up the scroll. "Now I suspected that it was Cardin at first but I seriously doubt that he could've managed to do something this complicated. So that only leaves me with three other possible candidates."

"His teammates," Pyrrha deduced.

Jaune nodded. "All four of them were there that night and they were with us when we went into the forest. The only problem is: I can't be sure which of the three owns this scroll."

"It could be Sky." Ren guessed. "Out of the four of them, he has the highest marks when it comes to schoolwork."

"Maybe, but I want to be certain." Jaune frowned in thought. "If someone took the time to put a fingerprint scanner on his scroll then you can bet he's very cautious. It might be Sky but if we're wrong and we confront him about it, then the real owner will know we have his missing item and it'll become even harder to find out who he is."

Nora raised her hand. "I have a question. What's so bad about it? Maybe they just don't want anyone to see their embarrassing photos or something."

"If it were only that then, believe me I wouldn't have gone through all this trouble." Jaune answered. "But whoever this guy is managed to hack into the lockers and stole our weapons. Perhaps I'm just being paranoid but what if he could also hack into the school's security system or into our records? He could look into our personal files, watch us through security cameras, intercept our messages, or even fabricate information. In other words, he's dangerous whether he knows it or not."

He let that possibility sink in for a moment. This person could do some serious damage if he chose to. The only problem was everything he had just said was all speculation. He couldn't be sure how dangerous this device is or who it belongs to until he could open the damn thing.

"Alright, I see your point." Ren spoke up first. "So how do we catch him?"

"Well, lucky for us, I know someone who's pretty good with gadgets himself." Jaune said. "He lived in our hometown until he moved to Vale a few years ago. All we have to do now is bring this to him."

"Ooh, this sounds exciting!" Nora exclaimed. "It's like we're detectives or something. All I need now is a pipe and a magnifying glass! You could be my sidekick Ren."

"Why am I the sidekick?" Ren raised an eyebrow in question.

"Ugh fine, you can be my partner." Nora said. "You be the good cop, I'll be the tell-us-everything-or-I'll-break-your-legs cop."

Jaune and Pyrrha could only laugh at the antics of their two teammates.

"Thank you Jaune." Pyrrha told him.

"Huh?" The blonde asked, clearly confused.

"You could have easily kept this from us and tried to find answers on your own." Pyrrha replied. "But instead you decided to trust us with this information so…thank you."

"Y-yeah, don't mention it." Jaune said as he averted his eyes. "I learned my lesson and you were right, I shouldn't keep secrets from my teammates."

He wasn't sure if it was the sincerity in her voice or the strange way she was looking at him that made it hard to make eye contact with her. This started happening a week ago ever since their hand-to-hand combat session. He didn't know what it was but for some reason, he felt slightly anxious whenever he spoke with Pyrrha. He was suddenly more conscious of himself whenever she was near and he had caught himself staring at her a couple of times for no reason.

Snapping himself out of his thoughts, he then stood up from his seat.

"We should get going. The person I want to see is just a few blocks from here." Jaune informed them.

"Yeah, and maybe if we finish early, we can grab some ice cream from Dairy King!" Nora said, excitedly.

"Sounds good to me," Pyrrha said.

"No objections." Ren said as the four of them started walking out of the park. "Although I have to ask Jaune, what's your acquaintance like?"

"Hmm, it's hard to describe him." Jaune shrugged. "But I hear he opened up a bookshop with a really clever catchphrase."

The two cloaked figures moved swiftly and silently through the dense forest just as the first rays of sunlight were breaching the horizon. The larger of the two took the lead while his companion followed a few paces behind him, mindful of his footing so as not to make unnecessary noise. However, the small cloaked figure was not as skilled as his companion when it came to moving like a wraith.

Proof of this was the fact that he had accidentally stepped on a twig and the sound of it snapping made him flinch.

"Try and keep up squirt." The older man said softly over his shoulder.

"Yeah, yeah," A thirteen year old Jaune grumbled to himself.

The two of them had been tracking this deer for quite a while now. They were venturing deeper than they normally would have into the woods. Something must have spooked the creature if it wasn't at one of the many grazing areas that they had mapped out. It wasn't that hard to figure out what scared the animal considering the fact that they were already in Grimm territory.

"I know I've asked this already but why couldn't I bring my sword again?" Jaune whispered as quietly as he could. The boy knew that his companion would have no trouble hearing due to his enhanced senses.

"You want to be a hunter, don't you?" The man replied just as softly without breaking his silent strides. "You won't always be fighting Grimm and criminals on a daily basis, you know. Sometimes you'll be sent out into the wilds just to scout the area or find people who managed to get themselves lost in the woods. To do that, you first have to learn how to track and read your surroundings as if you were reading a map."

The man turned to look at him and grinned, revealing his pointed canines. "You can always quit if you think you can't handle it."

"I think you're forgetting who you're talking to Tukson." The boy pointed a thumb at himself. "I'm going to be the best Hunter you've ever seen."

The burly Faunus raised an eyebrow. "We'll see."

"Are you kidding me right now?" Jaune complained as he and his team stopped in front of a modest looking bookstore with a large sign above the door displaying "Tukson's Book Trade". Unfortunately for them, the shop was closed. There was a small note taped on the door saying that the owner would be out of town for a while.

"Just out of curiosity, how does a bookstore owner help us in this situation?" Ren asked their leader.

Jaune was trying to peek through the window to see if anyone else was inside. "He used to be our town's Chief Ranger before he moved out here."

"Ranger?" Pyrrha was unfamiliar with the term.

"They're kind of like cops from where I live." Jaune explained as he rattled the locked door handle. "They mostly handled search and rescue operations since we were surrounded by forests. They do detective work as well but not very often. I was hoping that maybe he could get a fingerprint off of this scroll."

The blonde let out a dejected sigh as he tried the door one more time but to no avail.

"I guess we should return some other time." Pyrrha suggested.

"Dairy King?" Nora turned to Jaune with her big puppy dog eyes.

The blonde couldn't help but chuckle at her enthusiasm. "Alright, let's go."

"Yes! Come on Ren, delicious ice cream awaits us!" Nora, as per usual, grabbed her best friend by the arm and quickly dragged him off in the direction of the parlor.

Pyrrha would never be able to comprehend how the bubbly girl made everything, even something as simple as getting ice cream, sound so exciting. She shook her head in amusement and could see her partner sporting a small smile as well.

"Come on, we need to make sure that Nora doesn't go too overboard with sweets." Jaune told her as he started to walk after the two.

"That's the last thing anyone needs." Pyrrha agreed with a small laugh to which her partner joined in.

The two walked through the city at a slow pace. There was no real need to rush because they knew that all joking aside, Ren would watch Nora like a hawk and monitor the amount of sugar she eats so there was nothing to worry about. Besides, the three of them had already discussed contingency plans on the off chance that another "incident" happens but that was highly unlikely.

"The city sure is lively today." Jaune noted, breaking the silence between them.

It was true in the sense that Vale's citizens seemed to be bustling about more than usual. They saw a couple of guys on top of ladders that were hanging up streamers and banners. A few people were building what appeared to be floats that were going to be used in the parade on the sidewalk. Even a marching band was practicing with their instruments a few blocks from them.

Pyrrha nodded. "They're preparing for the Vytal Festival."

"Already? Isn't that still a few months away?" Jaune said.

"They probably want an early start." Pyrrha said. "After all, it's been how many years since Vale hosted the last Festival and they clearly want this year to be a spectacular event. The last one took place in Mistral and it was amazing. People from all over the Kingdoms came and were treated to dances, food, and battles. My family and I were able to get tickets for the tournament and it was truly an event to remember. I think a student from Beacon won that year but I forgot his name. You should have been there Jaune, there was this one match where…"

She trailed off as she realized that she had probably been blabbering away without meaning too. She saw her partner merely smiling at her and the redhead felt her face heat up in embarrassment. Not knowing what to do, she quickened her pace in the vain attempt to hide her red cheeks from him.

"Hey, wait up." Jaune said as he caught up with her. "What's wrong? I wanted to hear more about the matches."

"N-nothing's wrong. You probably don't want to hear me prattle on about more fights." Pyrrha said, still not able to fully meet his eyes.

Oh gods, why did this always happen to her? She was supposed to be Pyrrha Nikos, a confident girl who could face the toughest opponents, whether they were monsters or other fighters, and end up without a single scratch. She was called the Invincible Girl for a reason and yet she was reduced to a stammering mess whenever Jaune was near.

"Actually I do." Jaune said, in that earnest tone of his. "I wasn't able to watch the televised broadcast last time because we were visiting one of my older sisters in Vacuo. The signal was terrible, sandstorms kept messing up the frequency and it was over by the time we got home. So I wouldn't mind learning how the fights turned out."

"Well, if you're sure…"

After a brief moment of hesitation, she launched into a graphic play by play of the amazing tournament matches she was able to witness. He merely kept quiet as he listened and threw in comments every now and again. The more she talked the more Pyrrha felt at ease and before they knew it the conversation flowed from the Vytal Festival to other topics about themselves. Most of them ranged from unimportant details like Jaune's favorite movies or Pyrrha's preference for spearmint toothpaste.

Pyrrha wanted this moment to last a little longer but unfortunately for her, a monkey crashed into both of them from behind.

"What's taking them so long?" Nora asked impatiently as she and Ren stood in line to buy their ice cream.

"It's only been a few minutes Nora." Ren told her. "They would have been here if you didn't run ahead."

"But you guys walk soooooo slow. The ice cream would have melted by then." Nora stated.

Ren sighed. Sometimes there was no way to reason with his best friend. "Why don't you find a table for us Nora and I'll buy our ice cream so that we could wait for them."

"Alright, but remember…"

"Extra chocolate sprinkles, I know."

"Yup!" Nora said, popping the "p". She then walked outside the shop to look for a table. Most of them were occupied but she found one that could seat four people so she rushed over and plopped down on one of the chairs before anyone else could claim it.

Ren turned his attention back to the menu as he decided on his own order. He was debating on cookies and cream and rocky road. He also thought about whether he should already buy some for Pyrrha and Jaune but then the ice cream would probably be half-melted by the time they arrived so they would have to purchase theirs later.

He reached the counter a few minutes later and bought two double scoops, one of them with the requested extra sprinkles. The cashier thanked him and he made his way through the crowd of customers towards Nora's table only to find that the girl in question was gone.

"Nora?" Ren called out as he scanned the crowd in search of his friend.

Suddenly, he felt a strange tingle crawl up the back of his spine.

Oh no.

He rushed outside the store and frantically looked around the street to see if he could catch a glimpse of the girl. He saw a flash of pink across the street and true enough, there was Nora talking to a woman that was carrying a tray of what looked like small mugs. Ren saw the woman offer Nora one of the mugs and she happily drank the contents in one go.

It was then that the martial artist realized that his partner was standing in front of a coffee shop. He paled when he saw the sign displayed out front: "Try our new strong espresso coffee to start the mornings! Now with extra caffeine!"

The woman out front must be giving out free samples which means….

Ren dropped the two ice cream cones as he watched Nora drink the last mug of the new coffee.

"AHAHAHA! I'M QUEEN OF THE CASTLE! I'M QUEEN OF THE CASTLE!"

An involuntary whimper escaped the raven-haired boy as Nora took off like a rocket down the street.

Monkey boy came out of nowhere and crashed into them just as they were taking a shortcut through the alley. He must have been running pretty fast since he knocked all of them, including himself, to the ground.

Jaune rose to his feet and Pyrrha did the same. "What's your problem, man?"

"Hide me!" The blonde guy pleaded as he nervously glanced back from the way he came.

The knight could hear voices heading towards them and they didn't sound very happy. They had maybe twenty seconds before whoever was chasing the Faunus caught up to him. He glanced at his partner and she just shrugged, not knowing what to do either.

"Alright fine," Jaune said, coming to a decision. He stepped next to a metal dumpster and opened the lid.

"Aw dude, that reeks!" The blonde Faunus complained as he tried to block out the smell of garbage. "I have a sensitive nose you know."

"Your choice," Jaune told him as the sound of approaching footsteps got louder by the second.

The blonde Faunus sighed before taking a deep breath and jumping into the dumpster. Jaune quickly slammed the lid shut just as two police officers rounded the corner and spotted them. The two teens tried to look as casual as possible.

"Hey, you kids see a blonde Faunus run through here?" One of the policemen with a rough beard asked.

"Yeah, he went that way." Jaune pointed down the other exit to the alley.

The two officers nodded in thanks before taking off again, chasing a nonexistent monkey Faunus. The two of them waited until the detectives were out of sight before banging on the side of the dumpster.

"You can come out now." Pyrrha informed him.

The lid flew open and the blonde Faunus jumped up and made a big show of gasping for fresh air.

"I'm not sure if I should thank you or strangle you." The Faunus said to Jaune. "Damn, I almost puked in there. I still might." He doubled over and made retching noises but thankfully, nothing came out. The two partners discreetly took a step away from the teen just to be safe.

The young knight was able to observe the newcomer as he rubbed his nose trying to rid the smell of garbage. He was roughly the same height as Jaune with a muscular build. He wore a white polo shirt that he left unbuttoned as well as some light blue jeans that were rolled up a bit from the bottom. Jaune might have mistaken him for a surfer if it weren't for the furry appendage swinging back and forth.

"Quick question: why were the police chasing you?" Jaune asked before narrowing his eyes.

The blonde Faunus finally stopped gagging from the foul smell and raised his hands defensively. "Whoa, hey it's not like I killed anybody! I may have thrown a banana peel on one of them when they rudely interrupted my snack time but that was it!"

Both Pyrrha and Jaune gave him a disbelieving stare and he added. "I may have also stowed away on a ship that came from Mistral."

"That's illegal." Pyrrha said, frowning at the monkey Faunus.

"Illegal is such a strong word." The Faunus said. "I prefer to use the term highly discouraged. Besides, I would have arrived here eventually with my team from Haven so why not come sooner?"

Now that caught Jaune's attention. Haven was the equivalent of Beacon located in Mistral. "You're here for the tournament?"

"Sure am! I thought I may as well scout the competition while enjoying the sights." The Faunus smirked. "And I can see from your weapons that you guys must be from Beacon."

He was apparently sharper than he looked, Jaune noted.

"I'm Jaune, and this is Pyrrha." The knight offered his hand and the blonde shook it as well as Pyrrha's.

"The name's Sun Wukong." Sun introduced himself. "I owe you guys one for the save back there. It would've been a pain in the ass to shake them. Now enough about me, where are you two lovebirds headed?"

Jaune felt his face flush a bit at the implication and Pyrrha quickly looked away, a hint of red dusting her cheeks.

"Uh, we're not actually dating." Jaune said and for some reason, he felt slightly disappointed about that fact.

Sun raised his eyebrows in mild surprise. "Okay then, my bad. Hey, do you guys know a nice place to get some grub? I'm starving and the banana didn't really hit the spot. "

"We were just on our way to meet up with our teammates to eat." Pyrrha answered. "You're welcome to join us if you'd like."

"Lead the way."

The three of them were about to head off but Jaune's scroll started to beep, signaling a call. Jaune took out the device and received the incoming call from Ren.

"What's up?"

"Jaune, we have to hurry! She's headed for the North park. If you hurry, we can cut her off!" Ren's voice sounded urgent and it was clear that he was running due to his soft pants. "Code pink! I repeat, code pink!"

A groan escaped from the knight. "We're on our way."

He pocketed his scroll and rubbed his face. He had hoped that they would be able to avoid another incident like this one. Somehow, Nora got her hands on something caffeinated despite being with Ren. The last time this happened, she nearly tore down one of the courtyards at school because she was able to snag a soda from the vending machines when she was alone. Fortunately for them, Ms. Goodwitch was able to subdue her before things got too out of hand and she was able to restore the damage with little difficulty.

However, their professor wasn't with them now and it made the task even more daunting.

"Come on Pyrrha!" Jaune said as he took off in a sprint heading toward the park his teammate had specified. "Code pink."

The redhead's eyes went wide in horror. "Monty, help us."

"Whoa hold up. What's a code pink?" Sun asked as he fell into pace beside them.

"Nora." The two members of team JNPR said in unison.

A masked member of the White Fang crouched low amongst the bushes with two of his companions. A few meters in front of them stood a loading dock that was controlled by the Schnee Dust Company. Their mission today was simply reconnaissance.

"This is such a chore." The one with the lizard mask grumbled. "Why do we have to get stuck on watch duty? I'm sure Dog or even Gazelle would be more suited for this."

"Quiet, Gecko!" The member wearing a bear mask hissed. "This job is bad enough. I don't want to listen to your whining while doing it."

"I'm serious! I'm usually the guy who gets into buildings unseen." Gecko told him. "My skills are being wasted here. I don't have the patience for this crap!"

"If you want to tell that to the Lieutenant, then be my guest." The third member spoke up, already losing his patience.

Gecko wisely chose to keep his mouth shut after that jibe. The Lieutenant was someone you did not want to catch in a bad mood, especially when his chainsaw weapon was within reach. He wasn't Adam's right hand man for nothing.

"What do you think, Puma?" Bear asked him, handing him the binoculars.

Thanks to the heightened vision, Puma could clearly see all the workers in uniform bustling about. They appeared to be loading large crates into metal containers. The binoculars didn't allow him to read the labels on the wooden boxes but there was a large quantity of them, maybe ten or twenty containers of it.

"I can't be sure. It could be just another shipment of new tech." Puma answered.

"We have to be certain otherwise this whole operation would be a bust." Bear said, taking the binoculars back. "I spotted a good number of androids roaming the place."

"Yes, but you forget that this is facility is one of Schnee's." Puma reminded him. "Their security is always top of the line."

Bear grunted in agreement but spoke no more.

Torchwick had sent almost all of the members of the White Fang on similar operations such as this due to their lack of progress in Vale. The notorious criminal had them searching for facilities beyond the borders of the Kingdom. However, the SDC has been very smart lately in regard to how they were managing their Dust. A couple of shipments have even managed to slip past the White Fang's notice a week ago and it was driving Roman up the wall.

It was funny. It was almost as if someone was feeding information on the White Fang's movements.

Behind his Puma mask, Tukson couldn't help but smirk triumphantly.

So far, things are all according to plan.

Torchwick sat alone in one of the plush chairs in one of the warehouse offices. He had converted it into his personal lounge, complete with mini-bar and holographic television. Being a highly wanted criminal meant that he mostly enjoyed mornings and afternoons away from civilization since he couldn't very well stroll through the park in broad daylight. So this afternoon promised to be one of relaxation and he had appropriately lighted himself a cigar, inhaling the deeply before letting out a puff of smoke.

The warehouse was mostly empty save for the standard guards. With the rest of the White Fang hunting down Schnee facilities, there was nothing else to do but wait for reports.

"How very disappointing, Roman." A voice said from the doorway. The clicking of heels could be heard and the criminal quickly got to his feet.

A woman wearing a red dress that hugged her figure and left her shoulders and neck exposed entered the room. She had hair like coals and eyes like glowing embers. An appropriate description of her based on appearance alone would be smoldering hot, in more ways than one. But to the people who knew her and what she was capable of, she was someone to be feared and respected if you valued your life.

"Cinder, I didn't know you were coming." Roman said. "Where are you two sidekicks?"

"I had them run an errand for me." Cinder said with a casual tone as she gracefully claimed the couch Roman had previously been sitting on. She crossed her legs and even when she was sitting, she was still able to look down on him like a queen before her subjects. "Tell me something Roman, do you think I'm blind?"

The sudden question threw him off a bit. "What kind of question is that?"

"I asked because I seem to recall giving you a simple task." Cinder replied while casually inspecting her nails. "You even boasted that you would be able to acquire what I asked with no trouble at all and yet I fail to see what I have asked for. Either the large quantity of Dust that I've told you to get for me has turned invisible or it is simply not there because you did not deliver on your promise. Which is it, Roman?"

The criminal grit his teeth in frustration. She was toying with him. She knew that the operations weren't going as smoothly as he hoped and she was practically rubbing it in his face. The worst part about it was, he couldn't do anything but swallow his pride. Self-preservation was always top priority after all.

Suddenly, the two of them heard laughter coming from the room and they quickly turned to see another occupant standing in the corner. Roman could have sworn Cinder was the only other person in the room with him. Where the fuck did this guy come from?

"You were always so dramatic Cinder." The newcomer said.

The man was dressed in all black, from his shoes to his posh suit that must've cost a lot of lien. He was leaning on the wall with his hands in his pockets. His dark grey hair was neatly combed and an easy grin was plastered to his face. Roman was sure that he had seen his face somewhere before but couldn't remember.

"I didn't expect you until later this evening." Cinder addressed him.

The man shrugged. "I got bored. Thought I might swing by to see how things were going."

"I know you." Roman said, memories starting to surface. "You're the Hunter that went rogue a few years ago. The reports said you were dead."

"Don't believe everything you hear." The man said, swiping a bottle of wine from the cabinet next to him. "The council just loves to keep people in the dark." He poured himself a glass of rich red alcohol.

"Let's get down to business." Cinder announced, catching their attention.

"Whatever you say, Cindy," He said with a playful wink as he took a sip from his glass.

Roman's jaw dropped. Did this guy have a death wish or something? He was either brave or brain dead and the criminal was leaning toward the latter. He was sure that the guy was about to be incinerated on the spot but to Roman's even greater surprise, Cinder decided to ignore the comment and move on.

Who the hell was this guy?

"Gray and I have a history together." Cinder spoke as if reading Roman's mind. "That is all I will say on the matter. I would be more focused on your next task if I were you Roman."

"What task?" He asked.

"Oh, Cinder didn't tell you?" Gray approached, finishing the last of his wine. "I'm not surprised. Well long story short, you're going to be working under my command for a while. Just so we're clear, I give the orders and you follow to the letter. I say jump, you jump no questions asked. If you're even a toe out of line, I'll kill you on the spot. Got it?"

Roman could only nod because Gray's tone had turned from playful to sinister in a fraction of a second and left no room for wisecracks. Worst of all, the criminal had no doubt in his mind that Gray would follow through on his threat and he wouldn't hesitate to do it.

And another chapter is done. Not much happens in this chapter but it's all setting up for events to come as I'm sure you've all noticed. I applaud anyone who was able to foresee Tukson's role in this ever since I left a tiny hint a few chapters ago. Well I can't promise when the next update will be up but hopefully soon. Until then, favorite, follow, and of course don't forget to review!