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The elevator brought the hunters up like mid-air, not making the slightest noise. He side-glanced at Winter. Her eyes resisted from reciprocating the glance but General Ironwood subtle sigh broke the tension.
“I really hate elevators.” Qrow stated. “Well generally speaking.”
A chuckle was mustered from Winter. “Too bad you end up in the most technologically advanced place in all of Remnant.”
Qrow hoped his semblance would break the shaft. He wouldn't have to deal with the goons of the Atlasian elite. Then again it would probably defeat the purpose of him being bad luck “I still don't understand why they need to interrogate me. They saw everything.”
“They still need information on why you are being brought here.” General Ironwood said plainly. “I have closed off the borders and am trying to make an exception for you all.” His voice tilted. “And they still remember who you are.”
“Even Jacque Gele?” Qrow smirked.
“Be careful, Qrow.” Winter said rather gently. “You're no longer in Vale when you're known as the cool teacher.” A grin followed her.
“At least Atlas still has their Ice Queen.” Qrow turned his head in James's direction. “And rumor has it the Snow Princess is still in her tower...”
“The Snow Princess should be left out of this!” James's voice rose higher than the elevator.
Winter immediately chimed. “If you are referring to I think you're referring to then may the Brother Gods help me...”
“So may the Gods help her too! What I was going to say is that she will not be there for long if Salem's crew is here!” Qrow huffed. “I don't care what happens here but this is the world's sake. And for you along with your mother, sister, and even your boss here.”
Winter gasped. “I understand your point. Though, Salem is she really... my mother told me she was just a fairy tale.”
“Mothers say all sorts of things to protect their children.” Qrow quipped but it wasn't exactly a satisfying comeback.
The elevator door open revealing a narrow hallway. General Ironwood placed his arm in front of Qrow and Winter. “Let's keep the fairy tale talk out if we want them to take us seriously.”
“Yes, sir.” Winter said without a second to spare.
“Noted.” Qrow once heard that alcohol tolerance gets lower if you're higher up. He wondered if he needed any more drinks to get him through this.
Winter removed one of her gloves and pressed her hand on the blue screen scanning her hand. A dong of some sort was heard as the doors swung open. There was a circular room with fifty or so people. Most Qrow have seen before including Jacques who gave him the coldest of stares. Qrow simply rolled his eyes as he sat in the center of the room, the council in a semi-circle. James and Winter took their seats to the side right across from Jacques.
Straight ahead of Qrow stood a long, lean woman with a long nose dressed in military garb similar to Winter's. She narrows her eyes at him. “I never thought I would meet Qrow Branwen in my life but here I am.”
“You must be Lieutenant Neva.” Qrow smirked. “I never thought I would meet the woman who is so powerful she is rumored to be the Winter Maiden.”
“We're not here to gawk at each other.” Neva said firmly. “Now we have a few questions for you.”
“Fire away,” Qrow gave Winter one final glance. It was desperation more than anything.
“How did you hijack the airship from Argus?” Neva began.
“Well we had to get the heiress, Weiss Schnee back home.” Qrow turned his head to Jacques's direction. “I'm sure Mr. Schnee here misses his daughter dearly. As does Willow.”
“The proper form of address is Lady Schnee.” Jacques snapped. “You are not familiar with her.”
“Right, it's been many years.” Qrow gave a sigh. Jacques simply rolled his eyes.
Neva scoffed. “Next question; when Atlas attacked the airship why did you attack back?”
“Self-defense. And like I said, we needed to get Miss Weiss Schnee home. She was starting to miss her fancy coffee.” Qrow rose his flask “And so was I!”
A few chuckles escaped the room. General Ironwood and Winter, however, just shook their respective heads. Jacques's eyes continue to glare at Qrow as if he was an unruly animal.
Neva folded her arms. “And when you were in Mantle you didn't think of notifying Ms. Schnee's father or mother.” Her eyes shook. “Or rather when you were in Argus. We still could have communicated with the towers.”
Qrow's eyes met Winter along with General Ironwood; Winter tilted her head upwards. An audible breath eluded Qrow. “There is a very dire situation at hand. And Atlas is the next target.” He stood up. “You all might be in your cloud up here but you couldn't possibly ignore what has happened to Vale and the potential dangers of Mistral.” A pause came for a few seconds. “You as leaders have one job and that is to protect your people and land. The bad guys are here and they will not stop until they get what they want. One of them is Dr. Watts.”
A wave of gasps trickled through the room. “See? You all remember him?” Qrow continued. “Well he is here in Atlas along with a man named Tyrian who is a very skilled fighter.” Qrow lifted his shirt exposing part of his chest with the scar. More gasps murmured. “And his sting nearly poisoned me too.”
“How do we know you're not making this up?” Jacques struck up. “You do have a reputation for being a drunk after all.”
“There are worse reputations.” Qrow smirked. “Like being a li...”
“Qrow!” Winter shouted. “Show them the audio footage you were talking about. Lieutenant Neva, he has Dr. Watts voice recorded as he is hijacking the airship.”
Qrow brought out he scroll as he continued his confident grin. We have... An inaudible noise trickled through. More than just ... helping us... White noise filled the scroll. Qrow's eyes flinched.
Even Winter blinked in shock. “This can't be...” She said under seven breaths.
General Ironwood brought his hand over his face. “He must have hacked Qrow's scroll.”
“Well what about the video footage of the airship entering the capitol?” Winter's voice had a desperate tone. “You can't tell me you don't have anything.”
Neva exchanged glances with one of the council members. An elderly man with thinning hair and skin. “Take us to the footage of Atlas's airbase.”
The gentleman pushed a few buttons illuminating the screen in front of the council audience. The footage held four different locations; an aerial view from Mantle's airbase, the entrance to Atlas's base, the aircraft fleet on Mantle's base, and the aircraft fleet on Atlas. The bleak green in a quicken version of the past twenty-four hours was presented. Qrow narrowed his eyes at the screen waiting with tense muscles the mere evidence of the villains sneaking through Atlas territory. Whispers filled the room, even a snicker or two.
There was a slowdown in the footage – the time in which Dr. Watts and Tyrian took the ship when they got a hold of Weiss's scroll – but it showed no sign of them. The air fleet on Mantle had one more airship than it had before but in none of the cameras there was only glitches and no sign of them on boarding the ship.
Qrow wanted to yell but he wasn't going to give the validation of him being a ruffian to the Altasian council. Instead he huffed. “You know I really wish I was hallucinating the entire hijacking. That this is just a fluke. But the world...”
“I think we have wasted enough time here.” Neva stated. “Your case is dismissed and you will leave the city by 8 PM tonight. Any deferment and we will have you locked up in jail.”
Winter shot up. “I can tell you...”
General Ironwood rose along with Winter as he placed a wary distance to her ear. Qrow couldn't hear the words but he knew exactly what he was saying to Winter. The crowd continued to murmur and the grin of a petty victory bestowed upon Jacques.
“Is there something you want to say, Miss Schnee?” Neva asked.
Winter's eyes were child-like as she glanced at her general, even his face was soft. She turned her face to Neva. “No, lieutenant. I apologize for my short behavior.”
Qrow shook his head glacially. It was one thing that he was humiliated but to see others that were close to him or even defended him... it was just another reminder why he hated being too close to the ones he loved.
“Now then, you may go or I will have the guards escort you out.” Neva face was hardly moved.
Qrow never wanted to fly away so badly in his life. “Oh, trust me, I will be out of this city quicker than you can say, go smoke some Dust.” Gasps rattled the room though Winter cracked a smirk. “And poor Nicholas Schnee is certainly turning in his grave.”
General Ironwood lightly grabbed Winter's arm as he escorted her to the side. Qrow walked parallel to Winter and General Ironwood as the murmurs continued to fill the room.
How dare he! What a riffraff! Well that eases my worries.
Qrow has learned to ignore harsh words that others try to set on him. He kept on walking and as he exited the room with Winter and General Ironwood standing by. The door finally swished closed.
“Well congratulations,” Qrow's voice was raspier. “I didn't think it was possible but this place has convinced me that even the most educated people can still be a bunch of gullible ass holes.”
“The evidence must have been fabricated.” Winter said in an attempt to sound proud.
“Doesn't matter,” Qrow sighed. “I just hope Ruby and her team have a plan. They usually do but they're just kids.”
Winter turned her head towards General Ironwood with reticence. “Sir, I have to ask, why didn't you defend him?
General Ironwood closed his eyes. “Sometimes people need to face the truth on their own. It's better for those to believe in what's safe. If they're right then Qrow is fool and life lives on. If not... well we should be more prepared anyway.”
“General,” Winter's voice softened. “I want people to be aware of this.”
General Ironwood paused. “There are days I am grateful for these prosthetics and that the traumas made me a better person... and then there are days I wonder if I would have been a better person as one of your mother's summons.”
A deep gasp gushed through Winter. Even Qrow's body started to shiver. No one said a word for a good moment. Maybe even several.
Qrow rose his arms up in the air. “Welp, I'm outta here.” Qrow pressed the elevator button. “Even if Atlas doesn't experience another attack – even if Salem decides to leave the world alone – this place has lost it's sanity and will never be truly the heaven it thinks it is.”