Chapter One: It's A New Start:

October 6th1462 of the Vytali Calendar:

A tense atmosphere filled the office of Jaune Arc, headmaster of Beacon and the one responsible for the investigation that had occupied the mind of the professor for the past month. The room was austere and spartan, featuring no discernible furniture other than the large interactive desk and the professor's chair. Those who had visited it before knew that the room featured numerous hidden accessories but none of them were currently visible.

Overhead, the massive clockwork cogs shifted, silently grinding against one another in a slow sequence. Thanks to the sombre, serious mood that permeated the room the machinery above the transparent ceiling seemed ominous.

Jaune sat straight in his seat as he prepared for his guests to arrive. Professor John Smith, his deputy headmaster was pacing in a space beside his desk, his head bowed down and his eyes on the floor as he mumbled inaudibly to himself. They had been going over the topic of the upcoming meeting for several hours now, sacrificing their duties to the school to make time for the investigation into the Elder Grimm Society. The catching up they had needed to make after their investigatory sessions had stressed them out a lot, especially with the additional preparations they needed to make for their participation in the Vytal Festival.

Jaune himself was looking down at his desk as he waited, watching the images of recent newsreels as they reported the ongoing police campaign in the Old Residential District. With the deployment of riot forces and even one of the police's old retrofitted Paladins, the news had gleefully whipped up the people's fears as they brought back stories and footage of firefights and raids.

Several weeks prior, a faunus terrorist identified as a member of the Red Fang, the brutally misanthropic faunus terror group, had perpetrated a mass-shooting and suicide bombing on a crowded mall. Shortly after that the police had, at the Council's insistence, begun to mobilise to probe the crime-ridden Old Residential District to see if there were any more criminals. It was a political move made to assuage the peoples' demands for vengeance and it was only causing more problems.

The police had uncovered rather extensive Red Fang activity but had also shaken up the massive rats nest of criminal cartels that divided the Old Residential District. They had practically started a war thanks to their hunt and it had dragged the Atlesian students sent to assist their group into the fighting on several occasions.

Frowning, Jaune dismissed the news feeds and leaned back in his chair, stretching his arms over his head and groaning quietly as he stretched. He and John were currently waiting for the two teams, GOLD and SWRZ to join them and make their report. The exchange students had been operating mostly by themselves and Jaune knew that it was a terrible way to conduct an investigation. He had agreed to let the teams do their own thing – with a few minor stipulations such as attending a couple of classes whilst they stayed – but it was necessary that they all compile their discoveries and information every now and then.

Jaune straightened as he saw the light indicating what floor the elevator was one light up at his office. He sat up, put his hands on the desk in front of him and tried to look professional again. John had stopped pacing as well and stood just as straight, his hands behind his back.

The elevator doors opened and a large group of heavily armoured students walked out and stood in an ordered line. Despite their military precision they were a surprisingly colourful ensemble with brightly painted armour, each of which was distinct and often decorated with symbols and insignia. They were all about nineteen or twenty, indicating their position as third year seniors and were described as the cream of the current crop back at Atlas. It was for this very reason that they had been informed of the existence of the Elder Grimm Society and the ongoing investigation to find them in Vale.

"Even then they barely know what's really going on," Jaune thought, keeping his face straight as he scanned the eight-man group.

'Teams GOLD and SWRZ reporting for duty sir,' Geoffrey Strong, the leader of Team GOLD said smartly, barely restraining the urge to snap off a salute.

'Glad to hear it,' Jaune said with a small smile. 'How was your last visit to the Old District?'

'We stuck to the edges of the war effort this time,' Selene Lupina, the leader of Team SWRZ replied. Her familiar self-satisfied smirk was gone as she relayed their experiences. 'The disruption the police campaign has caused made it difficult to travel but we have been able to keep an eye on a series of small cells that have been on the move. The Red Fang are coalescing away from the south and further north, into the centre of the district.'

'Police reports corroborate these observations,' John added. 'They haven't had as much luck finding cells as your teams have but the few sightings they have been able to make have shown a general pattern of movement northwards.'

'They're planning something,' Geoffrey said. 'Every stronghold we've been able to break into has shown signs of being quickly cleared of anything useful. They're packing all their possessions and shipping them out wholesale.'

"Stronghold? Really?" Jaune thought as he listened to the Atlesian's report. 'Where do you think they're taking it all?'

'I'm afraid we're not sure,' Geoffrey replied.

'But our first guess would be the border regions of the district,' Selene interrupted, drawing a short glare from Geoffrey. 'We managed to catch one of the groups as they were leaving and the cars they brought were loaded with weapons and ammunition. The stamps on the crates said that they contained Atlesian made weapons, that are far too expensive for the Red Fang to acquire them on their own.' The girl paused to take a breath and then continued, her face appearing much more serious.

'The few leads we had on the Society were able to turn up a few purchases for weapons and ammunition by individuals who are suspects,' Selene said. 'The receipts were incomplete and showed signs of being tampered with but the fragments we were able to dig up match up with what we saw on those crates. We firmly believe that the Society, for whatever reason, are backing the Red Fang.'

'We chose not to pursue them at the time though,' Geoffrey then said. 'Another firefight was approaching when we discovered them, it's likely the reason the cell was sloppy enough to be caught by us was because of the battle bearing down on them.'

'Well I'd prefer you don't get too close to them yet,' Jaune interjected. 'I don't want any of you to get caught by their leaders, especially Aanjay Laal.'

'Aanjay Laal, sir?' Selene asked hesitantly. She had a cautiously sceptical look on her face and Jaune could see that most of the other shared her expression.

'Yes,' Jaune replied. 'If you do spot her I want to you to avoid combat if at all possible. She's incredibly dangerous and I want professional Huntsmen to take her down if we find her.'

'Understood sir,' Geoffrey said, his heels unconsciously clicking together. 'We have nothing else of significance to report but there should be additional details in our written mission statements.'

'I see,' Jaune said bringing up his email and seeing that a folder had been sent to him a few hours ago bearing the Atlesian teams' signatures. 'Thanks a lot. I'll go over them and then get back to you when we've made our decisions about what our next moves will be.'

'Thank you sir,' Geoffrey replied. 'We will continue our investigations in the Old Residential District in the meantime.'

'That's fine,' Jaune said as he looked over the teams. He saw that many of them were trying to cover looks that could only be either disappointment or annoyance, probably because of the orders he had just given. Some were doing better jobs of hiding their feelings than others. Team SWRZ, especially, were struggling to hold back what he presumed were scathing comments about his command to avoid combat with the criminals that may be connected with the group they were hunting. 'You can return to your rooms. Oh, I also noticed that you haven't actually attended that many classes.'

'Well,' Selene began just as Geoffrey was about to open his mouth, 'with all due respect sir, we do have a job to do.'

'Oh I know that,' Jaune replied, fixing her with a small glare. 'Its just part of this deal was that you keep up appearances of being exchange students. I can't keep making excuses for you all to the staff about why two new teams on their rosters keep skipping class.'

'We understand perfectly sir,' Geoffrey said, giving Selene a significant side-glance. 'We'll put more effort into our appearances.'

'That's good to hear,' Jaune then said with a smile. 'You can all go now. Get some rest, you've done brilliantly so far.'

The two teams left after giving him stiff, military nods. Once they were gone Jaune sighed and leaned forward, his elbows on his desk. He waved his hand over the glass surface and brought back the various interlink windows, with another wave they were projected in front of him. Glancing over the reports he silently brought up several more that displayed the profiles of numerous suspects in their investigation.

'There's no doubt that the Society and the Red Fang are connected, is there?' John asked, finally speaking up for the first time.

'No,' Jaune sighed. 'Just like before they're being used to cause trouble and distract us.'

'And it's working,' John continued for him. 'We can't leave them alone if they're being given arms shipments, especially if Aanjay Laal is finally getting involved.'

'We'll have to move carefully,' Jaune continued. 'The Red Fang aren't as large as the White Fang were but I have no idea what they'll do if we push them. We both saw what the White Fang would do but they had a goal, they wanted to conquer the kingdoms for the faunus. The Red Fang would let the Grimm overrun the world and kill everyone, even themselves, just to spite us.'

'We might have to pull some of our Huntsmen back,' John suggested. 'Its a bad idea to let those children handle everything.'

Jaune rubbed his face and suppressed a groan of frustration. His resources were stretched as it was and the more people he brought into the fold the more risks were made to their group's society. After so many years running such an organization he finally knew how Professor Ozpin had felt, running a school whilst trying to hunt down the biggest threats to humanity as a whole.

'I'll see who I can pull out of the field,' Jaune finally said. 'In the meantime we'll have to let those kids handle the issue. We can't leave this alone and right now they're all we have.'

'You don't think we're being too hasty,' John asked. Jaune turned to his friend to see a concerned expression on his face. The deputy headmaster was a man who had many regrets and Jaune knew what the man was thinking.

'We have to be,' Jaune replied. 'I don't want our kids to go through what we did. If we can help it, all they'll know is the relative peace we've given them.'

'Well I can't argue with that,' John said sourly with a frown.

'Lets see if we can keep the peace then,' Jaune said with a sigh. He then turned back to the holograms and tried not to think about his students experiencing what he had when he was their age. If he was quick and lucky he would spare them from the kind of horrors and hardships that had almost destroyed the world.

October 7th1462 of the Vytali Calendar:

Lach Boucanier liked to think he was a tolerable man, a principled man who was willing to try new things if it helped him get along with people. Of course that didn't mean he was a pushover, he defended his own principles doggedly but, on occasion, his principle of keeping the peace with his friends and teammates did clash with his own wants and desires. Today was such an example as he sullenly followed his team and Team GRAP down one of the streets in the Central Commercial District.

Today they were shopping, an activity he normally didn't mind since he wasn't completely averse to it, especially now that his allowance could be stretched by his student discounts but this trip was different. They were all going clothes shopping.

"What did I do to deserve this?" Lach thought to himself glumly as he followed the others down the street. Peter, Adelheid and Aurora had taken the lead with Elizabeth hanging just a little bit behind them and were all chatting quite enthusiastically. Greta was talking with Tom and Rapture though the faunus girl wasn't as involved in their conversation and Lach was bringing up the rear.

'You alright back there Lach?' Greta suddenly asked, turning to look at him but continuing to move forward.

'Huh?' Lach grunted, startled from his thoughts. 'Oh, uh, yeah. I'm fine. Just wonderin' what we're gonna be looking for?'

'By this point I don't really know,' Greta admitted with a shrug. 'Peter and Aurora just said they needed things for the Vytal Festival.'

'Yeah,' Tom added. 'Adelheid and Elizabeth said the same thing. It's the first time I've ever seen them agree on something and not fight about it.'

'Wow,' Rapture said sardonically, not looking their way. 'I never thought I'd hear that.'

'I know its weird,' Tom said in response, badly stifling a grin.

'So does anyone want to guess what we're being dragged to?' Lach asked. He had several ideas but was too scared to even think them out loud.

'Clothes probably,' Greta replied flippantly, causing Lach to wince at the very thought.

'Oh by all the gods don't le' it be that?' Lach groaned.

'You don't like clothes shopping?' Tom asked.

'I have no problem with it when we go in ta get somethin' quickly,' Lach replied. 'But when when those four,' he indicated Peter, Adelheid, Aurora and Elizabeth, 'go shoppin' we'll be taking forever.'

'And we'll make sure we take our time for that remark,' Adelheid shouted back.

Lach snorted in response to the glare Adelheid sent him. He hadn't thought that they would hear him but now that the proverbial cat was out of the bag he could really make his feelings on the matter of clothes shopping felt.

'Well I guess I'll find somethin' ta do while you lasses see to yer dresses,' Lach said with a smirk.

'Oh no you don't,' Adelheid snapped, spinning on her heel to face him, her hands on her hips. 'Peter's going to make sure that you and Tom pick outfits that make you presentable for the ball at Shade. I will not have you traipsing around the academy in your sailor garb during the most important social event of the festival's proceedings.'

"Did she seriously just say traipsing?" Lach thought. "Did she seriously just say garb? Who actually talks like that?"

'It's a duty I relish,' Peter said, turning to give them a lopsided grin that looked bizarrely threatening. 'Oh I'm sure you'll appreciate the results once I'm done with you.' Lach noticed there was a joking tone to his voice but he still couldn't help but feel like Peter was getting some kind of enjoyment out of the situation.

Lach grimaced and took a step back from the boy. He swore that Peter was looking him up and down, analysing him and what he was wearing in preparation for whatever weird dress-up session he had planned.

"Running away is lookin' really temptin' about now," Lach mused as he followed after the group.

'And here we are,' Aurora suddenly said with a small flourish of her hands.

The group looked up to see a richly decorated department store tower of them. It was a massive high-rise with connecting bridges running across it and into other buildings that occupied the complex the store was a part of. A massive sign bordered by elegant golden symbols and flowing lines read "Milana."

'Lookin' really temptin' now,' Lach muttered as he drank in the sign and what it meant.

'Well come on everyone,' Aurora continued. 'This place is top quality. My family have patronised it for years now and they have yet to let us down.'

"Gods help me," Lach thought as he unwillingly followed his friends into the wealthy establishment, dread clutching at his innards as he passed through the security scanners on the doors and entered the building.

Greta felt incredibly nervous as she entered the store. The moment she had looked up at the Milana building she had realized that this store was a place for rich people to shop in. She had never been in any rich-only shops, the best she had ever actually visited being the general clothing stores that also offered expensive brands as well as the cheap ones. Now she was following her two wealthy teammates as they led her into the store.

The moment she stepped through the door she was awestruck by the building's interior. Like much of the Vale the exterior of Milana was a marriage of classical aesthetic and modern materials with a hint of post-modern design added in to accentuate the general theme. The inside, on the other hand, blew the outside attempts at old fashioned elegance out of the water.

"It looks like a ballroom," Greta thought as she tried to digest what was in front of her.

The building was painted white and gold with stately pillars holding up the decorated ceiling that loomed over. The ceiling was placed very high, higher than in any other shop she had ever visited, even in the massive malls of the Central Commercial District. Pieces of abstract art that Greta could not decipher the meaning of were painted onto the free spaces of the walls alongside framed pictures of products made by expensive sounding companies she had never heard of before. At the end of the main hall was a pair of elevator doors that led to a transparent glass tube that beautifully designed elevators smoothly rose and fell within. There were displays that had expensive looking outfits on them but there were no visible price tags and so Greta assumed they were not really for sale.

'Is this really a store?' Greta asked Peter after she moved to catch up with him.

'Oh I can assure it is,' Peter replied with a smile. 'The one's in Atlas that I have visited can be even more ostentatious than this. Milana is a popular chain though so I have visited some of their branches in the capital.'

'My mother has never really forbidden me from shopping here but she rarely has anything good to say about Milana,' Adelheid suddenly said. 'She has told me that some of the tailoring brands they import stock from abuse labour laws to exploit their workers, most of which are faunus.' The Schnee's girl's face was imperiously indifferent for the most part but Greta did catch the barest hint of a frown.

'Oh, I'm sorry,' Aurora said, looking shocked. 'I didn't know. We can go somewhere else if you prefer that.'

'No, no. It's not a problem,'Adelheid replied, waving the other girl's concerns away. 'If I refused to buy my clothes from a tailor who got their materials from exploited labourers I would be left naked. They all do it so there's no point protesting.'

Greta looked around the group and finally saw Rapture. Her faunus teammate looked uncomfortable but as far as she could tell it seemed to mostly be an issue of currently being in a very wealthy and obviously exclusive establishment. Greta couldn't blame her. She felt exactly the same way. Lach appeared to be on the verge of bolting altogether and even Tom looked overwhelmed by the size and decoration of the place.

'Ah welcome,' a voice suddenly said. Greta turned to see a woman in a sharp suit walk briskly up to them. Her outfit made her look like some kind of butler and her face was fixed in a professional smile. 'My apologies for making you wait. How can I offer you my service today?'

'My friends and I are currently looking to find appropriate outfits for a very important event in the coming Vytal Festival,' Aurora replied. 'I have my membership card here,' she held out a thin platinum card for the clerk who took and examined it, 'and these seven are accompanying me.'

'Ah Ms Basilikos,' the clerk said as she handed the card back to Aurora. 'It is a pleasure to receive you. Our entire staff would be honoured to answer any request you make of us. Please do not hesitate to call on anyone should you need anything from us.'

'Thank you,' Aurora replied with a nod and a small smile. She then waved everyone forward.

Adelheid, Peter and Elizabeth all strode behind her confidently. Greta could tell that they were very familiar with establishments like this and felt comfortable walking through it. That was more than could be said for herself and the others who all looked visibly nervous or uncomfortable as they ambled after their teammates.

There were other people in the building besides the well-dressed staff that swiftly walked back and forth between their various duties. Every one of the patrons appeared wealthy and there was a variety of ages but most of them were older adults. Most of them ignored their group though a few glances were drawn their way. Considering they were dressed in the hunting outfits it wasn't that surprising though Greta felt even more self-conscious when she looked at her largely second-hand clothing and compared them to the lavish clothes of the people who were watching.

It was then that she noticed that some of them wore expressions of disgust. Greta immediately turned to Rapture and saw that her teammate's face had hardened, a sign that she had noticed.

'Are you alright?' she whispered to Rapture.

'I'm fine,' Rapture replied in an indifferent tone. 'Besides, I think those looks are as much for you three as they are for me.'

'Yeah,' Greta sighed, visibly slumping.

'If they keep lookin' at us like this,...' Lach grumbled angrily at the judgemental looks. The rest of his threat went unsaid but everyone understood what he was trying to say.

'Come on,' Tom said, sounding as nervous as he looked. 'I'm sure we'll get this out of the way relatively quickly and then we can visit the rest of the town.

Sighing as a group, the four of them rushed to catch up to their other teammates. Peter had already called an elevator and was chatting amicably with Adelheid. Aurora and Elizabeth were also talking with one another and the atmosphere seemed pleasant. Greta couldn't help but notice how slow and careful their conversations were though. In school they were generally more relaxed when they spoke but here they were acting like they were speaking in class again.

"Do rich people have to act like that whenever they go outside?" Greta pondered. The idea of having to constantly and carefully watch your behaviour in public made her uncomfortable again.

She kept quiet throughout the ride up the elevator to one of the upper floors. She wasn't really paying attention to where she was going, the size and wealth of the shop sucking her in once again. She didn't even realise they had reached their destination until Rapture brushed against her as the rest of the group exited the lift.

'Alright,' Adelheid suddenly said as Great moved to catch up with the others. 'Here's how we will arrange everything. We will split up into two groups. Peter will take the boys to pick out their suit designs and get themselves fitted. We ladies will see to our dresses while they are doing that. We will meet at the cafe on the sixth floor in case either of our groups finishes early. Is that clear?'

Several affirmatives answered Adelheid though Greta's was little more than a grunt and a small nod. She felt nervous again as Adelheid's words sunk in. Dress fitting was something she had no prior experience with. All of her clothes had been bought second-hand and were picked based on the generic sizes that she knew would fit her. Tailoring a specific dress for herself was something she had never done before and it worried her.

'Alright gentlemen,' Peter said cheerily. 'Follow me. Aurora's told me where we need to go.'

He walked off, Tom and Lach following him. The moment the boys had rounded a corner she turned back to see Adelheid and Aurora talking to one another, Elizabeth standing nearby but not saying anything as the other girls finished discussing something.

'Now,' Aurora began, 'we're going to go over some samples and then see about some fittings. Normally we'd have to schedule a proper fitting but luckily for all of us, I'm a regular customer so we get priority.'

'Won't the boys have to wait to get on the schedule then?' Rapture asked.

'Please,' Aurora replied dismissively. 'The staff and cameras saw them walk in with me. They'll know to give them special focus as well.'

"What's the point in the rich even having these rules if they're not going to follow them?" Greta thought. "It makes no sense."

'So, um, how long will this take?' Greta asked. The more she learnt about what this shopping trip entailed the more uncomfortable she felt.

'It will take as long as it takes,' Adelheid replied with an annoyed frown. 'I know what you're thinking and I'm going to tell you now that the answer is no. Neither you nor Rapture will be getting out of this. You will stay for this fitting until all of our outfits meet the necessary standards.'

'Its just a school dance,' Rapture grumbled. 'Most of the people there will be in hand-me-downs and rentals.'

'Which is why it falls on us to make an actual effort,' Adelheid shot back.

'Indeed,' Elizabeth said, shocking Greta for the second time that day by agreeing with Adelheid. 'There's no point going if we don't all look as good as we possibly can.' she then turned to fix Rapture and Greta with a look that promised a yet unknown kind of suffering if they disagreed. It was rather unnerving to be fixed by the stare of a girl Greta still wasn't sure was entirely sane.

'Perhaps we could find a spa or beauty parlour as well?' Aurora then added, unknowingly breaking the tension. 'It would certainly help knowing there are professionals to help with our presentation before we go to Vacuo.'

'Good point,' Adelheid said, a thoughtful expression on her face. 'I'm not sure if Vacuo would have any such establishments – at least that we would want to patronise – so we should see about getting realistic advice for when we need to prepare ourselves.'

'Gods help me,' Greta whispered as the full weight of what the other girls were talking about settled in.

'I hear you,' Rapture said, quietly Falling back to join her. 'What on Remnant will any of this actually achieve?'

'Turning us into dress up dolls,' Greta replied. "And I already use makeup." she added in her head.

'Well good luck with that,' Rapture said glumly. 'They can try to paint my scales any way they like but it won't do any good. I've tried.'

'Oh,' Greta floundered. 'I, um, I'm sorry to hear that.'

'What's to be sorry about,' Rapture asked. 'I got over it a long time ago. I would prefer we don't get dragged to see a beautician who'll just make me look worse in some attempt to somehow apply makeup to me that actually looks good.'

'Alright, girls,' Aurora then said from in front of them. 'Let's start picking out some samples.' she lifted an arm out and swept it out over the room they were now standing in. there were rows of mannequins, each of them dressed in a wide variety of different dresses, often with accessories added on. 'These are just a few of the basic designs they offer. We can pick out whatever we like and then go to the fittings once we've decided what we want.'

'What if we don't like them?' Greta asked.

'Well if you find anything you like about the outfits just call over one of the clerks, point it out and they'll get the individual accessory you want and you can put something together that way.' Aurora replied with a smile.

The girls immediately split off to check the wares in front of them. Greta found herself aimlessly wandering the aisles, idly checking out the clothing but only paying the minimum of attention. She felt scared and not a little lost in the maze of expensive finery and worried that at some point the staff or some other patron would take offense to her existing in the same store as them and ask her to leave.

She tried, on occasion, to distract herself by focusing on some of the items she glanced at. Aurora had said she could pick and choose whatever she wanted so she tried to keep track of some of the things that she passed but it was difficult. If she wasn't worried about the accessories not matching or looking ridiculous as she pictured the outfit in her head she was panicking at the price. Even if four of her friends were disgustingly rich she was sure they couldn't buy outfits for her, themselves and the others.

It was after what felt like an eternity that she bumped into Elizabeth who was being followed by a clerk that was weighed down by a massive pile of clothes and accessory items. Elizabeth initially glared at Greta and was about to snap a remark at her but she relaxed somewhat as she realised who she was talking to.

'What's wrong with you?' Elizabeth asked, still annoyed at having been run into even though no harm had come from it.

'Sorry,' Greta replied. 'I'm just not used to doing this. Do you know what I should do if I see something I like?'

'Just ask one of the staff to pick it up for you,' Elizabeth said with a shrug. 'That's what I've done. See?' She gestured to the woman standing behind her who was weighed down with potential purchases.

'Um, right,' Great replied, feeling uncomfortable about the whole affair again. 'Thanks.'

Elizabeth carried on, picking out whatever caught her eye as the clerk dutifully followed after her. Greta found herself lost in the maze of clothing once again, unsure of how to proceed. Where could she find a clerk and would she have the nerve to request one of them follow after her for the entire trip? Sighing, Greta returned to scanning the items the shop had to offer, wondering if it was worth just picking something quickly and getting the whole thing over with.

Peter Hamlin could not deny that he was having fun. Clothes shopping wasn't exactly a passion of his though he had learnt to enjoy it thanks to the constant fittings he had needed over his life as well as the dress-up sessions his cousins had forced on him. What he really enjoyed though was messing with his companions. He could tell that Lach Boucanier of Team TEAL was clearly exasperated by their trip and though he knew he shouldn't, Peter was getting pleasure from offering the other boy accessories and prolonging the visit.

'You know what?' he mused partially to himself and also to Lach who stood nearby impatiently. 'I don't think blue is really your colour, at least as a dominant theme. I think the traditional black was better for you.'

'Fine,' Lach groaned, irritated by Peter's fussing. 'Just make up your mind already.'

'Oh come on,' Peter casually shot back, trying to suppress a smirk. 'We need to be careful about what we think. The girl's will likely have our hides if we waste their time. You all saw how adamant they were in making sure we look the absolute best we can.'

'Does this have to take so long though?' Lach asked, trying not to whine as he spoke. 'They're all basically the same anyway.'

Peter suddenly span on is heel and fixed Lach with a glare, his hands on his hips and a frown on his face. He knew how Lach felt but he was now quite tired of the other boy's unhelpful attitude. The more he put up a fuss the longer the whole trip would take. It had been fun to mess with him and see what reactions he could get out of the sailor but the complaints were finally starting to grate on him.

'Would you rather we get the girls to do this?' Peter snapped. 'Because, believe me, as long as I'm taking with this, they would drag this out for much longer.'

'No,' Lach replied, grimacing and looking away. Peter gave a fake smile and span around again, hearing Lach begin to grumble in compliant annoyance.

'That's good to hear,' Peter said, ignoring the mutterings from the other boy. 'Now,' he began to muse, 'I don't really think ties work for you. I think you're more of an ascot man really.'

He went to pick up several of the accessories. He had developed an eye for differentiating the various subtle styles of the cloth neckerchiefs over his short life. The various social events and the judging eyes of his parents and cousins had forced Peter to pick up a fashion consciousness which he now used to help dress his friends. Torturing them with the deliberations that were necessary when putting together an outfit were simply a side-benefit.

'Alright,' Lach suddenly said behind him, 'that's it. I'm leavin.'

'Tom hold him down,' Peter immediately commanded. He knew, despite having his back to both of them, that Tom had dutifully latched himself onto Lach and was holding him in place. Though the diminutive TEAL team leader wasn't likely to keep Lach where he was through actual force he wasn't going to face insubordination from his protective friend.

Peter turned back, several different dark-hued ascots in his hand. He found Tom had let Lach go but was standing behind him, a somewhat self-satisfied smirk on his head as he revelled in that fact that he had made someone so much bigger than him surrender to his demands. Peter felt happy for the other boy. It was good to see him have some moments of confidence and it showed that he, at the very least, had Lach's respect.

Lach thankfully didn't look as petulant anymore. He appeared to be rather resigned and simply stood in place, awaiting Peter's verdict. Peter could guess that the other boy was probably thinking about the amount of time it would still take for the outfit to be decided upon and then assembled.

"He's probably thinking "this is gonna take forever ain't it?" or something like that," Peter mused, imitating an over the top version of the sailor's rough accent.

'Probably,' Peter said aloud to Lach's unspoken question, immediately getting a surprised reaction from the boy.

'Wha…. How?' Lach stuttered as he realised the other boy had somehow read his mind.

'I was in your place once,' Peter explained, the smirk still on his face. 'You will learn to like it because, while I promised to be quick, we still have so much to do.'

Greta huffed and sighed as she walked out of the elevator. She had recently glanced at her scroll after finally being let out of the fitting rooms and had seen that she had spent over an hour in the small chamber getting measured and modelled by the precise and clinical attendants. It had been incredibly embarrassing and awkward and Greta prayed that she wouldn't be forced to shop for a custom-made dress with the other girls ever again.

She was walking next to Rapture who had a similar aura of exhaustion and embarrassment around her. Aurora and Adelheid looked far more composed and chatted casually with one another. None of them carried any bags which had initially confused Greta before Aurora had explained that the store's tailors would put the dresses they had selected together and that they would be checking on them in a few days. Greta had given up on trying to figure out how this trip was supposed to go work now and had just accepted it.

'You know,' Rapture said as they walked up to a section of the sixth floor that had a large sign reading "Tea Leaf" over it, 'I could really go for lunch right now.'

'Hear, hear,' Greta said in response. 'This is a cafe isn't it? We could pick something up.'

Together, they followed the other girls into a large room. To Greta, it looked less like a cafe and more like a restaurant with a bar and counter on one end and menus on large, spotless rounded tables that were covered in rich-looking tablecloths with wine glasses placed on them in front of every seat. There were several other clerks that were dressed in waiting uniforms that stood almost to attention, likely waiting for someone to call if the behaviour of the other staff was anything to go on.

On the other end of the room were several booths that were centred around large round tables that also had menus, plates and glasses set on them, waiting for customers. The seats were replaced by a conjoined, semicircular bench that was covered in plush, velveteen cushions. There was also a railing set over the top of the ceiling of the booth that had curtains on either side that were opened but could easily be drawn together, presumably for privacy.

In one of the booths sat Peter, Lach and Tom who were chatting somewhat casually, full glasses in front of them that they occasionally took sips from. Lach and Tom looked a lot more comfortable than they had when they first walked in but Peter still seemed to have the bizarre aura of easy formality that he, Aurora, Adelheid and Elizabeth had evoked since they stepped in Milana.

She walked over to their booth along with the other girls. The boys noticed them shortly before they arrived, Lach and Tom waving at them whilst Peter nodded in greeting. Great smiled and waved back but she didn't call out, worried that it would get the attention of the staff and make her look foolish.

'Hi guys,' she said when she finally walked up to the table and slid into the booth. 'How'd it go?'

'Uh, it took forever,' Lach groaned with a sigh.

'Agreed,' Tom said though he had a somewhat mocking smile. He huffed as well though it was more good-humoured.

'Preaching to the choir here,' Rapture said as she sat down, Greta nodding and humming in agreement.

'It would have been quicker if you stopped fussing and just let the staff take your measurements,' Adelheid said imperiously as she read through the drinks menu.

'I don't like stripping for strangers okay,' Rapture snapped. 'And your commentary while they did it didn't help.'

'Uh, Rapture,' Aurora said uneasily, 'boys are here. Do you mind not talking about that.'

Rapture snorted but sat back and grabbed one of the menus, a scowl on her face. Greta felt nervous. She didn't think the faunus girl was going to start a fight, especially in a high-end store that already had problems with her but the staff could be looking for any excuse to kick her out.

'So,' Peter said, leaning forward in his seat, 'have we all made plans for the Vytal Festival?' He gave a not so serious smile to the entire group. 'I can assume we're all planning to attend at least.'

Elizabeth snorted derisively at his comment and Adelheid rolled her eyes, both of them leaning back in their seats and crossing their legs at the same time. Lach nodded, having picked up his drink and put it to his lips when Peter asked. He hummed in acknowledgement when he was done.

'We've been working out a routine,' Tom said. 'Its a bit hard to find the time to set up strategies for everyone though.'

'Yeah,' Greta agreed idly as she scanned the drinks menu. She then set it down and looked at her fellow team leader. 'Team exercises are easy but the pairs stuff takes forever to coordinate.'

'But we have signed on,' Adelheid said. 'Hence the preparations.' She then paused and gave Tom a frown. 'You have signed us on haven't you?'

'Yes,' Tom shot back indignantly.

'I just wanted to be sure,' Adelheid said, averting her gaze but still keeping an imperious expression on her face.

'We've signed up too,' Greta said cheerfully. 'We're just waiting for confirmation.'

'Great ta hear,' Lach said to her. 'I wonder if the tournament lets teams from the same school fight each other?' He fixed Greta with a playful glare. 'Who d'ya think would win if we squared off?'

'Well we would,' Peter replied before Greta could say anything. 'Of course.'

'Is that so?' Elizabeth suddenly said, giving the boy a leer. 'Do you want to see if that's true?'

'Oh, I would be more than happy to give it a try,' Peter said in response.

'Right, so,' Greta began, ignoring Peter and Elizabeth and instead turning to address Tom again, 'do you know what's going to happen during the Festival?'

'Well we're going to be heading there before it actually starts,' Tom replied. 'From what I've read we have a dance to go to, our first missions and then the Festival actually starts.' He then gave her a quizzical look. 'I thought you'd have read the message we got. It was supposed to be required reading for leaders.'

'Uh,' Greta floundered. 'I just read the application instructions. I kind of skimmed the rest of it.'

'You, uh, might want to read the rest,' Tom then said. 'Professor Arc wrote that we're supposed to know what's in store for us.'

Um, yeah,' Greta mumbled. 'Thanks.'

'You're welcome,' Tom replied with a smile. He then turned to look at Elizabeth. 'Gods help us they're still going.'

Greta turned to see that Elizabeth and Peter were playfully challenging one another, listing off their abilities and stating how they made them superior to the other. Adelheid had, surprisingly, also joined in, arrogantly explaining how the improvements she had made in her glyph techniques would give her victory over everyone else.

She noticed Aurora turn to her with a smirk. 'Well they seem to be competitive enough for the tournament,' the dark-skinned girl said. A mortified expression then appeared on her face and she put her head in her hands. 'Gods help me I just sounded like my mother.'

Greta laughed at her friends antics and settled back down in her seat. She saw Rapture and Lach were quietly sitting and watching the others as well whilst Tom still worried over the drinks menu. It was then that she noticed that one of the waiters was standing near their table, patiently waiting for one of them to notice with a slightly worried look on his face that she seemed to be trying to cover up with professionalism. The waiter quickly realised that Greta had noticed his presence and lifted his head to look directly at her.

'Will you be ordering anything miss?' the waiter asked.

'Just coffee,' Greta replied, 'with sugar and milk, thanks.'

The others finally noticed that the staff had arrived and were taking their orders and settled down, several of them quickly rereading the menu to remind themselves of what they had planned to order. Greta relaxed in her seat as she watched her friends chat and give their orders. She found, despite the ordeal that dress fitting had been, that she was enjoying herself. She couldn't remember the last time she felt like this and hoped that she would get to have more days like this.

The Old Residential District of northern Vale was in turmoil. The massive district, which was larger than some cities, had turned into a warzone with thousands of police and paramilitary contractors mobilised to flush the criminal element out of the area. Despite the chaos the public had demanded blood and the Council had complied. The Red Fang were being hunted and, in the meantime, the overstretched police were taking the opportunity to legally gun down criminals without having to worry about bureaucratic redtape and moral questioning from the politicians and the public.

The Red Fang, meanwhile, had responded by abandoning their hideouts and fleeing deeper into the district. Many of them purposefully riled up the rival gangs in the areas they left in order to slow down the encroaching police. It was a terrible war of attrition based around a scorched earth strategy and the Red Fang were more than happy to see the district and its wretched inhabitants burn.

Now the entire organization had taken over a large retail complex that had been built to store goods. The warehouses were now filled with equipment and weapons, masked faunus walking back and forth as they gathered everything the organisation owned and depositing it in the large buildings. Other buildings in the complex had been turned into barracks for the Red Fang and a few had been haphazardly fortified to defend their new demesne. Guards were posted on the borders of the complex but they had been ordered to keep themselves inconspicuous. They had hidden themselves in the buildings and unmasked themselves to keep them from hindering their heightened senses.

On the edge of the warehouses sat a tall faunus woman with a dark complexion. She was noticeably young but held a lot of power in her athletic form. She was dressed in black trousers along with a white tanktop covered by a black half-shirt and wore a stylised, red mask depicting what could only be described as Grimm's face if it took the form of a tiger. Long ginger hair flowed out from behind the mask and down to her shoulders whilst a pair of ears covered in fur the same colour as her hair poked out of the top. She was Aanjay Laal and she was frustrated as she idly fiddled with her weapon and glanced over the few written reports she had been given.

Aanjay was technically the leader of the Red Fang despite her age but wasn't particularly interested in the minutiae of organising the faunus under her command. She had spent several minutes skimming over the reports before handing the majority of the paperwork to several of her subordinates. She had instead chosen to sit close to the guard-posts, hoping that something would happen.

She continued to tinker with the metallic mecha-shift box attached to her wrist when she noticed something on top of the few papers she still had in front of her. It was a sealed letter with a red stamp on the centre. Frowning, Aanjay reached down and picked it up. Holding it in front of her face she took a closer look at the stamp and saw it had the image of a claw and eye printed on it.

'Beathas,' Aanjay hissed scornfully. She knew in an instant that the letter was from her benefactors in the Elder Grimm Society. Sneering she ripped the envelope open and took the letter out to read it.

"Plans have been changed. We have an unexpected delay," the letter said. "Hold off on your activities until we give the signal. Maintain the war with the police however you see necessary but do not escalate further."

Aanjay scowled and seethed with barely suppressed rage. Gripping the letter she tore it up in her hands and threw the pieces down onto the ground in front of her before leaping out of her seat and heading towards the warehouses.

"The dirty, fucking human," Aanjay thought as she stormed through the doors of one of the warehouses. It was filled with boxes that were being shuttled around by faunus, either by hand or by forklifts they had managed to steal. "Who does she think she is giving us orders?"

Aanjay stalked through the maze of boxes until she found a large clear space at the middle. It had previously housed several trucks that their best engineers were trying to build concealable weapons into. Several had failed terribly and were now being cannibalised to outfit the ones that were left.

Crossing the space, Aanjay went over to a series of crates on the far side of the building. The few Red Fang personnel who were managing the boxes scattered as she approached except for one who froze in panic.

'Open the box,' Aanjay ordered, pointing to a crate behind the unfortunate faunus, a woman with antelope ears sticking from her head.

The antelope woman nodded nervously and then grabbed a crowbar, sticking into the side of the crate's lid she heaved and ripped the top off. She then dutifully stepped aside, shaking slightly as Aanjay stepped closer to her to look into the crate. She pushed aside the soft straw that the crate had been filled with and revealed what was held inside.

In front of Aanjay was a large Dust bomb, outfitted with both timed and remote detonator devices and an intensity limiter that could be switched on and off or altered. She grinned sinisterly as she looked at the weapon in front of her before turning to the antelope woman who, unfortunately had not run when the opportunity had been presented to her.

'Take this out and give it to Rojo,' Aanjay said. 'Tell him he can have three and pick whatever targets he wants.'

The antelope woman nodded and then ran off to find the man Aanjay had just named. Satisfied that she still inspired the appropriate amount of respect in her subordinates, she relaxed again. She didn't know exactly what Iseabal Beathas wanted but the Society woman had given her instructions and so she would interpret them to the best of her abilities.

'You want the war to keep going, Beathas?' Aanjay said quietly to herself, trying to imagine the woman's face in front of her. 'Alright then. I'll go to war.'

Author's Note:

Well here's the next volume of GRAP. Once again I would like to thank MS Void and Jed Rhodes for their continued and valued work as my proof/beta readers. If you want to see more of the GRAPverse check out BGDY and OBEE, their respective spin-off stories connected to GRAP.