Your POV
The airship docked on a landing pad in front of Atlas Academy and approached by a pair of guards, who opened the ship's rear double doors to let us exit. Ruby gazed up at the towering academy while more guards lined up along the path leading to the building. Ruby said, "I guess we will be seeing the General." I added, "Yeah, for better or for worse." The group of us headed up to the school, then Ren spoke up and said, "So, what do we do?" We found ourselves riding a rising elevator inside the academy with our wrists still restrained, accompanied by guards. Ruby replied, "I don't know yet. But we should be careful with what we say." One of the guards looked over his shoulder at us and Blake said quietly, "We'll follow your lead, Ruby." Ruby smiled but then started to look worried again. The elevator beeps as it arrives at its destination, and the guards escorted us out into a hallway and down a flight of stairs. We arrived in a room just as Ironwood walked through, speaking to someone else, "I swear if I have to sit through one more council meeting like that…" He turned toward a small flight of stairs on his way to his office, accompanied by Winter and Penny. The latter noticed us, stopped with a gasp, and said, "Yay, you're here!" Her celebratory greeting caught both Ironwood and Winter's attention, causing them to stop and look. Weiss stepped out from behind Ruby, approached them, and said, "Winter."
Winter gasped lightly in surprise, and my sisters' reunion was quickly interrupted by Nora leaning in and holding up her bound wrists, grinning and waving her fingers, and saying, "Anyone wanna give us a hand with these?" Winter took a moment to collect herself, returning to her usual stern demeanor and addressing the guards, saying, "You have ten seconds to take those off before I start hurting you." The guards looked at each other in confusion and said, "Huh?" Finally understanding the situation, the guards frantically began removing the bolases from our arms, while Ironwood watched with a smile. As the guards removed the restraints, the bolases fell to the floor, giving off a purple glow and retracting the ropes before emitting a beep noise. When mine came off, Winter noticed me standing amongst my friends and said, "Y/N? I thought you died at Beacon?" I smiled weakly and said, "No, I was just trapped underneath some rubble for a couple days. It'll take more than that to kill me." My older sister smiled at me briefly and noticed that Blake was wearing a ring. Then she said to me, "You proposed to her?" I smiled and nodded. Winter gave me one more quick smile of approval before going back to her normal demeanor.
Ironwood spoke up and said, "Please, come in." We followed Ironwood, Winter, and Penny into Ironwood's office and he added, "It is so good to see all of you." Yang spoke first while still massaging her wrist and said, "Our reception didn't really convey that." Ironwood sighed, "I sincerely regret how you were treated by my team." Qrow rolled his eyes with a small huff. Ironwood walked behind his desk to sit down, and Penny and Winter took positions standing at either side of the desk. Then Ironwood said, "When a rogue airship entered our airspace, it raised some… red flags. We assumed the ship was stolen." Ruby said, "Stolen?" Ruby laughed awkwardly, before taking an apologetic tone and saying, "Okay, yeah, it was stolen." Ironwood's eyes widened in surprise. He then smiled, and his shoulders moved a tiny bit with a silent chuckle. Winter, meanwhile, found no humor in the situation and began scolding Weiss, saying, "You stole an Atlas airship?" Weiss and I watched with a frown as Winter approached us. Winter continued, "What were you two thinking!? You might've been shot down! How unbelievably irresponsib─" My twin sister and I surprised and interrupted Winter by hugging her and Weiss said, "I'm sorry I worried you. But we did what we had to do." Winter started, "I…" Then she sighed, hugged back, calming down, and said, "I suppose I understand." She then turned her head to glare at Qrow and said, "But I cannot believe that you allowed this to happen." Qrow replied, "You try stopping these kids when they have their mind set on something. Speaking of which…" He looked at Ironwood and said, "I have some important information for you that's… confidential." Winter returned to her position beside Ironwood's desk and Penny said, "Oh, is it about the Relics?" Winter added, "Or perhaps the Winter Maiden?" Qrow said surprised, "You told them?"
Ironwood replied, "Hm." Ironwood stood from his desk and retrieved the Relic of Knowledge from a drawer, making it grow to its normal size as he holds it up. Then he said, "Did you really think you were the only one who got to work on a new plan after Beacon?With Ozpin gone, I needed my own team of people I could trust. So yes, I told them. The Ace-Ops too. Which is why I'm so glad you're here… with this." He gestured to the Relic and added, "Until now, I believed it was impossible to truly turn the tide against Salem. Oz has pushed her back, has kept victory out of her claws, but she will keep returning stronger and stronger… unless we destroy her." He placed the Relic atop his desk, while Ruby looked deep in thought and said, "But… what about the Atlas Relic?" Ironwood said, "You mean the Staff of Creation?" Penny answered, "It's safe inside the Vault!" I asked, "And the Winter Maiden?" Winter replied, "She is secure and in stable condition." Yang asked, "Stable condition? What does that─" Qrow replied, "She's, uh, not exactly a spring chicken." Ironwood said, "I know how this all looks. Recalling my military? The embargo? I probably don't seem the most trustworthy right now." Blake asked, "Then why continue it?" Nora said, "The people of Mantle are hurting!" Ironwood replied, "I needed to ensure Salem couldn't infiltrate Atlas. And I wanted my military here, protecting my people." Yang said, "But it's not protecting them! It's making everyone hate you." Ironwood replied, "It's a price I'm willing to pay."
I hope you all enjoyed this chapter.
Master out.
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The Schnee And The Cat: Blake Belladonna X Male Schnee Reader
FanfictionY/N Schnee is the twin brother of Weiss Schnee. Unlike his sister and father, Y/N actually cares about the Faunus, but due to his reputation as a Schnee, most Faunus dislike him like the rest of his family. So what happens when he meets a certain ca...
