It was an uneventful night for Schwartz der Hund. The boredom nearly drove him mad as the first one selected to take the first watch out of his team. Other than the Grimm, what else needed his watchful eyes? No bandits would dare try to attack the group with him around protecting them.

Thankfully, he wasn't alone on the first night's watch. Cerise Bonnet from team ARNC joined him, albeit on the other end of the camp. It wouldn't make sense for the students to watch in the same direction.

Schwartz used his time wisely and practiced his sword techniques. A target would've made his training more efficient, but he worked with what he had. He couldn't sit still and let his skills rust for hours on end.

His practice swings ended when his partner approached him from behind. "You should rest, Schwartz," Watchet Amin suggested. He was glad that his leader took his training seriously, but resting was also important. The last thing he needed was a worn-out teammate during a time of crisis.

"I'm not tired," Schwartz affirmed, not letting up on his swinging routine for a second.

Watchet shook his head and chuckled. His partner sounded like the twins Brulee and Maple, the orphanage's kids Mother Carwyn hired to escort. "Well, it's good to be enthusiastic. But please do so in moderation."

"Okay, man," Schwartz met Watchet's concerns with sarcasm.

"So, what do you make of Team ARNC?" Watchet suddenly inquired, glancing at Cerise Bonnet, who Edward Regalia was replacing for his watch shift.

"They seem like a complete pain in the ass," Schwartz blurted out, not giving the question much thought. "Their leader's an arrogant bitch, thinking she knows everything."

"Sounds like someone I know," Thankfully, Watchet's shades blocked out the deviousness in his eyes. As far as he was concerned, Amani and Schwartz were quite similar. "But, you can't deny that she and her team are quite the force."

"Nope, can't do that," Schwartz reluctantly agreed. Gods know, he tried. He thought back to their Grimm encounter earlier. The ordeal looped in his mind for hours, which frustrated him the longer it lingered.

Team ARNC moved in perfect harmony. Schwartz couldn't fault the group for a single wasted movement. He tried to imagine his team dealing with the Grimm. Sure, they would win, but it wouldn't amount to Team ARNC's level of skill.

Several problems with his team's synergy came to mind, but the main problem he thought of at that moment was Zorina. That girl was a complete nutcase. She was a competent fighter with a nifty Semblance, but she was a coward when the Grimm were concerned.

What use was a Huntsman that feared Grimm? He couldn't have that shit. Not on his team.

"We need to get better," Schwartz declared. That time it wasn't out of arrogance. He genuinely desired to reach the top with his team.

"I'm with you on that," Watchet agreed.

"But we can't improve with the anchor weighing us down."

"Anchor?"

"Zorina," Schwartz directed his gaze to his teammate that slept away peacefully, occasionally mumbling erratically here and there. "Her fear of the Grimm is holding her back."

"An accurate deduction," Watchet nodded his head in agreement. "How do you propose we deal with her fear?"

Watchet had some ideas of his own, but he wanted to hear what Schwartz had to say on the matter. Each team member grew in their separate ways, and it made him proud to see it happen right before his very eyes.

"We make her get over it," Schwartz bluntly answered. So close, yet so far. He still had much to learn. "Next time we find some Grimm, we have her deal with them."

"That idea sounds...decent on paper. But perhaps we should try a different approach?" Watchet suggested.

"Like?"

"Have you considered talking to her first?" Watchet responded. "You don't make much of an effort to speak with Zorina."

"Have you met her? The girl's delusional."

"Yes, but communication is still an option," Watchet assured. "Everyone has fears, but what's important is how we act despite it. So, will Zorina succumb to her fear, or will she use it as a motivator?"

Schwartz sheathed his swords and mulled over the suggestion. It wasn't necessarily bad, but it sounded like a pain in the ass to go through. "Fine, I guess we'll try it your way when the mission is over."

"Why should we wait that long?" asked Watchet.

"That Amani bitch would have a field day if she found out about Zorina's fear," Schwartz assumed, already hearing the arrogant girl's mocking laughter in his head. "Let's keep this within the team for now."

"Understood," Watchet accepted the team leader's order without question. Progress was slow, but Schwartz grew as a leader day by day. The reasons behind his growth weren't the most promising, but Watchet accepted the little victories.

"Okay, I think I'm about done. The next shift is all yours." Schwartz sheathed his weapons and headed back to the campsite, leaving Watchet to handle the night watch.

The rest of the night progressed without incident. Everyone woke up, ate breakfast, and continued with their journey.

"Can we hold your weapons?" Brulee and Maple pleaded to the students of Haven.

"No," The irked students responded for perhaps the twentieth time in a row.

"Why not?!" The twins whined.

"Shut up, brats!" Schwartz was quick on the draw to silence the children. "Quit bothering us!"

"We didn't wanna hold your stupid swords anyway," The twins shot back, promptly sticking their tongues at him. If they weren't careful, the bandit-turned student would've sliced off their tongues and fed them to them.

"I'm gonna cut them," Schwartz glanced in Watchet's direction, simply begging his partner to use his 'stupid swords' on the kids.

"You're interested in Huntsmen, huh?" Cerise inquired.

"Huntsmen are awesome!" The twins' eyes appeared to sparkle at the mere mention of the word. "We wanna grow up to become Huntsmen and beat up bad guys and Grimm!"

Brulee and Maple separated and enacted a few martial arts moves they've seen on the television from time to time.

"Future Huntsmen in the making," The spectacle brought a smile to Watchet's face. The twins reminded him a lot of himself when he was around their age. The world of Remnant was definitely in good hands. The more Huntsmen continued to inspire young children, the better.

"Our new foster parents don't think so from what Mother Carwyn told us," The mood around the twins shifted almost immediately. "They don't like Huntsmen. They're forbidding us from any forms of training."

"That's why you tried to run away," surmised Rowan.

"Yeah," Maple nodded her head. "Mother Carwyn supports our dream. She says that she can't wait for us to become Huntsmen."

"Why not wait until…." Watchet stopped when he noticed something sparkle in the trees. He wasn't quite sure, but it seemed like the scope lens of a rifle. "Get down!"

Bullets rained down from the trees, carving a line in the ground before the group. The students and twins ducked down while Lilith remained unfazed by the unwarranted attack.

"Bandits?!" Schwartz presumed, readying his weapons along with the other students.

"Come on out!" demanded Lilith. The assailants dropped down from the trees at her command, revealing themselves before her. Two armed Faunus, one with dog ears, the other sported a feline tail, and Grimm masks affixed to their faces.

"White Fang?!" Edward and Rowan exclaimed.

"To what do we owe the honor of having the White Fang before us today?" Lilith acted rather casual despite the hostile confrontation from the Faunus.

"We don't have any business with any of you," The canine Faunus declared. "We promise to leave you all unharmed."

"As long as you surrender those children to us," The feline Faunus provided.

Brulee and Maple huddled together and whimpered, prompting the students to cover the frightened children. While the twins were a pain, they'd never hand them over to a couple of strangers; especially not to terrorists like the White Fang.

"We're not handing them over!" Edward was the first to decline the offer; his gauntlets enveloped his fists. He was more than ready to engage the terrorists in combat.

"Settle down, Edward," Amani spoke nervously. "This doesn't need to escalate to a fight."

"The hell it doesn't!" Edward snapped at her, causing the girl to flinch.

"Calm down," Lilith demanded, keeping her eyes on the White Fang soldiers. "You all stay out of this and keep the children safe. I'll handle this."

"I agree with the girl. This doesn't have to get violent. Hand over the kids, and we'll be on our way," The canine Faunus tried to settle things diplomatically.

"What does the White Fang want with a couple of kids?" Lilith arched an eyebrow. From what she knew of the Faunus organization, child abduction didn't seem like their style. Then again, how long ago was it that they were simply a civil rights group?

"That's none of your business!" The feline Faunus waved her arm out.

"We're tasked with escorting these children safely to their destination. Handing them over to terrorists doesn't sit right with me," Lilith narrowed her eyes and gauged the reactions of the Faunus. They seemed ready to pounce. There was no longer a chance to avoid a fight.

"Then you've sealed your fate," The Faunus readied their weapons.

The first one to leap into action was Edward. He burst through the group with a mighty roar and made a beeline for the White Fang. He first swung on the canine Faunus but connected only with the air. The dog Faunus ducked under the punch and landed a blow against the large student's stomach. The feline followed up and tripped him.

"Eddy!" Amani desperately called out when the large man hit the ground.

"Die!" The Feline Faunus raised her weapon, preparing to finish the downed opponent. But, a sonic screech rendered her and her partner unconscious within seconds, courtesy of Lilith. It was a smart move, using the superior hearing of the Faunus against them.

Amani, Cerise, and Nagina rushed to Edward's side, helping him to his feet.

"Are you okay, big buy?" asked Nagina concernedly. It wasn't every day she'd see her teammate lose his cool or nearly lose his life on the field.

"I'm fine, I'm fine," Edward settled down after taking a breath.

"What part of, I'd handle things, did you not understand?" Lilith approached her student and got in his face. Although he was taller, he couldn't find it in himself to look her in the eye.

Edward messed up. He knew that.

"I..." Edward trailed off, unsure of what to say to explain himself.

"You could've gotten yourself and the others killed because of your recklessness," Lilith gestured to the other students with a wave of her hand. Edward looked to the concerned expressions of his teammates and the twins. "Pull a stunt like that again, and you'll be off the mission. I won't hesitate to send you and your team back to Haven. Do you understand?"

"Yes, ma'am," Edward nodded his head.

"The hell is the White Fang doing?" Schwartz wondered aloud when the Professor finished chewing out her student.

"Giving Faunus a bad name," Rowan answered. She looked over her shoulder and checked on the twins. They stayed close, shaking like a leaf.

"This is troublesome," Watchet muttered. "I did not expect to encounter the White Fang on this mission."

"I'm sure none of us did," stated Schwartz as he looked toward the kids as well. "What do they want with a bunch of kids?"

"No idea," Lilith approached the unconscious Faunus and tied them up. "But, we're not leaving until we get some answers from them."

"That's fine with me," Edward vehemently agreed to the plan.

"This is hard to believe," Watchet lifted his shades to his forehead, wanting to get a good look at the terrorists before him. "We have actual members of the White Fang captured."

Surprisingly, Watchet seemed the only one enthusiastic about the whole encounter. He couldn't wait for news of their capture to reach the ears of Haven, of Mistral even. Students from Haven capturing infamous terrorists would only help elevate the school's prestige to even greater heights than before.

Schwartz and Rowan shared no such ambitions. Both students were left baffled by the whole thing. Grimm and bandit were things they could handle, but an entire terrorist organization was another. They bit off more than they could chew in selecting the escort mission.

Zorina was outright terrified, wanting nothing more than to retreat to the safety of Haven. How the hell was the mission meant to continue with the threat of another White Fang attack hanging over them?

"What do you think Professor Hale is going to do with them?" Rowan stole a glance at the Faunus duo now tightly secured to a tree.

"Execution," Edward growled in frustration. It sounded more like a statement than a suggestion.

"Perhaps calling the authorities would be our best bet?" Amani asked, looking to her team members for a definite answer.

"I wanna know what the hell the White Fang want with a couple of brats." Schwartz racked his brain, trying to figure it out. It didn't make sense for terrorists to kidnap children. Then again, it's not like he was any better. He didn't need much reason to ambush and kill other Huntsmen and travelers.

"Maybe they did something or…." Rowan trailed off when the realization hit her. The con-woman approached the twins and snatched the hats off their heads. She spotted cow horns on Brulee's head and cow ears for Maple. "Now, it's making a bit more sense."

"Give those back!" The twins demanded.

Rowan conceded and handed the hats back, quickly returning to her team afterward.

"Ah, they're Faunus," Watchet nodded his head in understanding. "Well, now we at least have a piece to this puzzle."

"Alright, brats, what did you two do to piss off the White Fang?" Schwartz went straight to the point. He didn't have time to beat around the bush with them.

"We didn't do anything!" Brulee panicked. She was just as confused as everyone else by the sudden ambush.

"Bull--"

"Quiet," A single raise of her hand caused the students to shut their mouths. Lilith sat down in front of the captured Faunus and watched them regain consciousness. "I've got questions for you both. If you promise to be good and answer them, I'll contact Mistral Police to come to pick you up. If not, I'll leave you out here for the Grimm."

"Don't think you can intimidate us, human!" The canine Faunus barked. The next thing he knew, Lilith's fist shattered the mask, along with his nose.

"And, if you make this unnecessarily difficult for me, I'll break a bone." Lilith nonchalantly mentioned, not minding the blood on her hand. "Now, first question, what do you want with those kids?"

"Torture us all you want! You'll never get an answer!" The canine proudly declared. Even as the blood trickled down his nose and stained his attire, his eyes burned with intense determination for his cause.

Lilith found it admirable but also annoying. She lost her patience with the Faunus and struck him again with her fist, that time in the ribs. The Faunus hunched over and coughed up more blood, but his gaze remained laser-focused on the Huntress.

"I'd like to avoid torture," Lilith disregarded the canine and approached the feline woman instead. Unlike her companion, she seemed more frightened than anyone, and she hadn't suffered any damage yet. "How about you, kitty? Are you going to talk?"

The Huntress gently caressed her hand against the feline's mask and removed it, staring intensely into the terrified eyes of the Faunus. Lilith had many talents, and snuffing out the weaknesses of others was one of them. She took her bloody hand to further her agenda and cupped the feline's chin, smearing it.

"Prison time sounds better than getting mauled to death by the Grimm, huh?"

"W-W-We were given orders to liberate the children," The feline stammered, her face gone pale from the blood.

"Meelo!" The canine growled.

"Shut up, Otto! I don't want to die!" The feline, now known as Meelo, snapped. "We were given pictures of the twins and ordered to save them! That's it! That's all!"

Lilith's eyes narrowed upon receiving the information. It wasn't much to go on, but the word choice Meelo used raised red flags in her mind. She used the words 'liberate' and 'save.' The White Fang saw themselves as the heroes in this situation. Somehow kidnapping children made them the good guys.

Granted, the twins turned out to be Faunus, so there's something there. But the grunts were too low down the ladder to know anything meaningful.

"Save them from what?" Lilith pressed on with the interrogation. "Us?"

"We didn't know what we were walking into," Otto snarkily answered, spitting blood on the ground. "If I knew we'd encounter the SongBird of Mistral, we would've come more prepared."

"Stop making excuses. It's pathetic," Lilith derided the captured White Fang member.

"We were just ordered to retrieve the children and take out anyone that gets in the way!" Meelo answered.

"And if you succeeded in capturing them, where would you have taken them?" Lilith inquired.

"We don't know! They would've sent us coordinates!" Meelo responded.

"I see," Lilith stepped away from her captives and used her scroll to contact Mistral Police. It took a few hours for the authorities to arrive and retrieve the criminals, taking them away in their air vehicle.

"Well, we might be in some deep shit now," Schwartz shrugged his shoulders.

"You're telling me," Rowan wholeheartedly agreed. It was bad enough that she had to evade the authorities and the Flock, but now the White Fang are added into the mix? "I didn't take this mission to mess around with the White Fang."

"Me neither," Zorina sided with her partner.

"They were grunts. Nothing but low-level trash," Edward said.

"Low-level trash that knocked your big ass on the ground," Schwartz reminded the big man, earning a fierce glare from him in response.

"Are you kids sure that you didn't do anything to anger the White Fang?" Cerise approached the twins with a concerned expression.

"No, nothing!" Brulee was the first to answer with a firm shake of her head.

"We may be Faunus, but we've got nothing to do with the White Fang!" Maple affirmed.

"Well, the White Fang want something with you," Nagina casually mentioned, feeling no sense of urgency about the whole thing.

"So, what's the plan? Should we head back and discuss the circumstances with Mother Carwyn?" Amani asked.

"Yes! Yes! Let's do that!" Brulee and Maple were ecstatic about the suggestion, nearly jumping for joy at the thought of returning to the orphanage. Thankfully, their bags were packed, so they were more than ready to turn back around.

"Quiet," Lilith demanded, which silenced the children instantly. The Huntress brought her hand to her chin and contemplated their next course of action. They accepted the mission to deliver the children, but if they brought the White Fang risk down on their foster family, that would worsen their situation.

It was a complete shitshow. How did such a simple escort mission change so drastically? Why was being a Huntress such a pain in her ass?

"We should continue with the mission but alert Mistral Police about the White Fang sighting," Rowan suggested, earning a suspicious glance from Schwartz. "Or issue a summons for more Huntsmen to patrol that village for protection? It shouldn't be hard to find Huntsmen in Mistral."

"No, but the question is, would they be capable of protecting the village?" Watchet raised the sudden question, speaking more from personal experience himself. "Not many Huntsmen would dare turn their blades against the White Fang."

"We did," Lilith stated but understood Watchet's point of view. Not many Huntsmen in Mistral would risk their necks going against a terrorist organization, especially if there wasn't enough money to be made. That's just how Mistral was.

"What's the problem? The White Fang sent mere grunts after the kids," Edward stated. And while his voice tinged with anger and frustration, he made sure to get his point through the thick skulls of his teammates. "While the White Fang may want these kids for some reason, they're not high enough on their list of priorities. We should continue with the mission and not back down just because of a little danger."

"I respect your determination, but you're gambling with the lives of children. Is your vendetta for the White Fang more important than their lives?" Lilith questioned her student. She'd known Edward for two years, so she was aware of his grudge against the White Fang. He'd gotten in trouble with them more times than she dared to mention.

She didn't care for people's grudges or vendettas. It's never wrong to have a goal to push you through life, but if it gambled with the lives of others, then that's when it became a problem. She wouldn't allow someone else to get killed for someone else's carelessness.

Edward couldn't provide the group with a satisfying answer. He gritted his teeth and stepped away, leaving the decision to the others.

"We came all this way. We can't turn back now," Rowan continued to push the agenda of proceeding with the mission. Not for the team's good or the kids, but for herself. She had to get to the village no matter what. She had to investigate the crash site. "We'll figure out what to do with the kids and the White Fang when we reach the village. We're closer to the village than we are to Haven."

"True," Watchet nodded. "And it's not like we can call Mistral Police to give us a ride when we're not in danger."

"Then we keep moving," Schwartz shrugged his shoulders.

"Fine, everyone, watch yourselves," Lilith instructed before she turned around and led the students further down the path. She knew they were in for one hell of a ride. She just hoped that the kids were prepared as well.