Political Orange

My name is Silva Branwen, and currently, I am temporarily deaf for the next little while. I returned to Atlas and made my way to general James "Tindick" Ironwood to give my report while using the close proximity to get some information out of him without his knowing about it. As I walked through the halls of Atlas Academy, I began to consider using the Staff of Creation just to sink this floating eyesore; consequences be damned, but the rational part of me knew I needed to wait to ensure no one would find out about my acquisition of the Relic as I needed to deal with Salem in case things go south.

I thought about my self-imposed mission to either reason with or remove Salem entirely to neutralize the threat she is and live my life with only normal concerns. I thought about what I knew about her from RWBY and then realized that I know very little about her considering she has been around for two thousand years, at least. While using Soul Archive on her would solve the problem, I needed to actually see her first to get a chance to use my second Semblance on her. The Land of Darkness has the highest concentration of the Creatures of Grimm, and the Grimm Queen likely has some "special" specimens to be used at her convenience.

Using a simulation with Soul Archive, I put myself against her and saw that despite my strength lost to her nine times out of ten which couldn't go on. In order for Salem to take me seriously, I need enough power to be a deterrent to her and Ozma. I wasn't sure what was the best choice for me to become stronger, and I didn't know where to begin. Then it hit me; I had one last question from the Lamp of Knowledge that I could use, but I needed to word my question carefully to get what I wanted. Soon I found myself at the headmaster's office; I considered knocking but decided just to enter as I couldn't hear whatever scolding that Tindick would give me, not that I would care in the first place.

I entered the office and saw the general speaking with the woman I was planning on seeking out later, Robyn Hill. The two of them have similar political platforms but in different directions. Robyn was focused on Mantle and wanted some radical changes to improve the situation of the kingdom as a whole. James's focus was the floating eyesore known as Atlas, and he wanted to follow the due process of how to change the kingdom for the better, which was why he got more support and became a councilman instead of Robyn in the last election.

While they both wanted what was best for the kingdom of Atlas, they had different ideas on how to go about it. Unfortunately, despite my many, many skills, thanks to the liberal use of Soul Archive, lip reading wasn't one of them, so I had no idea what they were talking about, but clearly, they were arguing over something. As I watched, both of them bickered without me hearing a thing. The general finally noticed me and started talking to me, and Robyn then noticed and gave me a grin as her lips moved. I sighed and pointed at my ears which got me a look of confusion, and I assumed Tindick explained that I was temporarily deaf.

He pointed to the corner of his office, and I got the message that he wanted me to wait there, which would allow me to create a blind spot for me to use Door To Darkness to open a small portal near him enough to use Soul Archive. With my back against the corner and my paws behind me as well, I did just that and found a few things that made me want to immediately sink Atlas out of spite and anger. He did order Winter to start giving him reports on me during my stay at Atlas Academy like I thought he would. What ticked me off was how he viewed me as a military asset that needed to be in Atlas control or, more specifically, his control and that his plan to sweep the incident with a mob under the rug was to BLOODY FREAKING ADOPT ME, and take responsibility as my legal guardian.

Yeah, not happening. I took out my Scroll and used my backdoor programs to get a copy of James Ironwood's psychological profile and set a timer for it to be released all across Atlas and Mantle through the CCTS tonight, and I am not going to stop there either. For now, my other plans to ruin the dear general are put on hold until I can work on it in peace. I also learned the reason why Robyn was here and was for me as she knew what I did and approved of me stopping the mob, and was sure the MPs that showed up to arrest me were corrupt, so she wanted to help me out.

Robyn was trying to convince the general to investigate the MPs that showed up and gather enough evidence to convince a jury and judge that my resisting arrest was out of legal self-defense. It warmed my heart, to be honest, and I decided to trust the vigilante with a few of my secrets later when I meet her in private after Winter goes to sleep and work with her to avoid going to juvenile detention or even jail. For now, I need to deal with Tindick and see how Winter is going to handle the order she was given and see if we can trust each other.

After the two continued to talk for less than an hour and finally finished, I gave the general my report through a lengthy text message and was dismissed. I went to the dorm room I was sharing with Winter and knocked as classes should be over by now, and she should be back in the room. Moments later, the door opened, and Winter greeted me with a strained smile, not that I heard her. I texted her that my hearing was gone temporarily, and she looked at me with concern. Then her expression darkened as she lets me in, and it looked like she was going through a lot of turmoil.

I withheld using Soul Archive on her as I wanted to try and see if she was someone I could trust by following the general's order or disobeying him. As laid on my bed and focus on writing Heaven Defying Demon Empress, currently I am soon reaching the climax of the world the Demon Empress was born in and moving on by ascending from the mortal ranks to immortal ranks. Winter tapped my shoulder to get my attention, and I looked at her as she handed me a pen and paper. The ice queen started to write on her own sheet of paper, and it said.

" The general ordered me to report on everything you do while you were away."

Seeing this, I felt that Winter was trustworthy enough to learn about my second Semblance, at least. I wrote on my paper to tell her.

" I am aware."

She furiously wrote her question.

" How?"

" I have a second Semblance that allows me to copy the memories of anyone I have touched. Before you ask, no, I have not used it on you, and the only guarantee I can give you is my word."

She stared at my reply and processed what I had just told her. I then wrote.

" I am telling you this because I want to trust you, and I hope I am right to do so."

I saw Winter sigh and write her reply down.

" Thank you for your trust, but I still need to report something to the general because, in the end, I am a specialist of Atlas or will at least become one."

I considered the ice queen's words and understood that she wasn't going to disobey but wasn't going to blindly go through with the order, and I gave her an out so that she could continue her career path.

" You can report most things on me, and I will give you a heads up on what I want to keep quiet, which includes my second Semblance."

Winter simply wrote.

" Thank you."

I then told Winter what happened during the mission, and she asked a few questions and then looked aghast at what I told her about the bandit girl, Crimson. I told her my regrets as keeping things bottled up rarely ends well, and I asked her to keep quiet about my thoughts and feelings on the matter, and she complied. I then handed her the fancy coffee and pastries I got her during my stay at Mistral, and she replied on the paper.

" You didn't have to..."

" But I wanted to so accept my goodwill and enjoy them."

I smiled at her as she accepted my gifts and looked slightly embarrassed as a blush adorned her face. Time flew by, and night came to invite everyone to dreamland. As I felt sure Winter was asleep, I set up my dummy in my bed as I opened a portal to Raven first to see Jacques for myself. The former bandit saw me and smirked, but before she said anything, I texted her that I was temporarily deaf, and she frowned at the news. Raven got up from her seat and placed her hands on my ears, and I felt a strange tingly sensation then heard her say.

" Can you hear me?"

" Much better, thank you, Raven."

" Not a problem, and I am guessing you're here to see that waste of space."

I nodded, and she led me to the prison that was far enough away from Raven's camp that all of Jacques's shouting wouldn't reach her or April. I looked down to see the fake Schnee blankly staring off into space, and I could now start the next phase of my plan; I just needed to talk to Willow about what was going to happen next. The reason I don't just outright kill him is that I believe that there are things far worse than death, and despite his vices, he is still Weiss and Winter's father, and I want to give them closure that he no longer has any say in their lifes before I consider ending him.

I told Raven what I had been up to and James's plans for me, and she was more than a little annoyed with the half-metal b*stard. I assured her I could handle it, and I had a plan or at least a bare minimum of a plan. She trusted me, and I trusted her. When I am going to do my damnest to get Tindick impeached or at least disgraced enough that winning the next election is impossible for him, I started making a video and editing it to suit my needs to ruin James Ironwood's reputation. Oh, this is going to be fun, well, for me at least.