Yellowish Orange

It was a weekend as Taiyang Xiao Long got ready to drag his brother-in-law, Qrow Branwen, back to Signal Academy to grade papers. The blonde father told his daughter Yang Xiao Long as he got ready to leave.

" Yang, Qrow and I will be back by this evening, so watch over your sister."

" Sure, dad, see you later."

Taiyang waved goodbye and pulled Qrow along as the reaper tried to get drunk from drinking his flask. After several minutes Yang took out a wallet, her uncle's to be precise and got ready for the plan she had been making for a while. The Sunny Little Dragon has been planning to sneak into Atlas under her family's noses as she wants answers from Silva. As she dug out her scroll and looked for some flights to Atlas that are scheduled for today, her sister Ruby Rose came up and asked.

" What are you doing, Yang?"

" Planning a trip."

Yang took out Qrow's debit card and got ready to enter the PIN for it to pay for her ticket. It wasn't hard to get her uncle's PIN as she only had to wait for him to get drunk enough to answer her questions and forget them the next morning. While the sunny little dragon felt a bit guilty for using her uncle's money, she promised herself to pay him back later as she was tired of her life being surrounded by mystery. Why did her birth mother leave her? What did Silva mean when he said he lied in the letter he left behind? Along with a number of other questions. Ruby then asked as she saw where he big sister was heading off to.

" Yang... why are you buying tickets to Atlas?"

Yang paused as she considered how to answer her sister and went with the truth.

" Well... since Silva can't come and visit, I thought about maybe going to see him instead as a surprise."

" I want to come!"

Ruby exclaimed, looking excited at the prospect of heading to Atlas. Yang briefly recalled the last time she dragged her sister off on one of her crusades which winded up being attacked by Grimm and Silva, staying behind to give them time to escape and get help. Thankfully he killed the Grimm and wasn't in critical condition when he came back to their house. The blonde shook her head and reasoned that, unlike that time, she knew exactly where her target was, and they were going to another kingdom, not a forest where Grimm was likely to reside.

Yang quickly decided she had to take her sister as well, as she knew that Ruby wouldn't keep her whereabouts a secret from her father and uncle. The blonde told her sister.

" Sure, Ruby, you can come along, but we have to keep this quiet because, as I said, it's a surprise, and that includes Dad and Uncle Qrow."

" But Yang, how are we supposed to get to Atlas by ourselves?"

At her sister's query, the blonde brought up a world map on her Scroll and showed her.

" Look, Ruby, we are right here, and Atlas is here. That's not far, right? Especially by airship."

" True, we can reach Atlas in a couple of hours, find Silva, have him take us on tour, then come back home tomorrow! I need to pack my things!"

The little reaper disappeared with a burst of rose petals into her room, and Yang felt even more guilt at taking advantage of her sister's naivete and innocents but stuck to her guns. In this aspect, the blonde takes after her mother, Raven Branwen, because the former bandit chief can be every bit as stubborn and determined as her daughter. Yang did not take up this self-imposed quest of hers lightly, as part of the reason she took matters into her own hands was the reluctance and awkwardness her father and uncle displayed when she brought up going to visit Silva herself.

The two older men made excuses or tried to change the topic away from going to see Silva or even talking about him in greater detail, like who his family is or where he is from originally. This reminded Yang a bit too much of how they acted when she tried to get information from them about her birth mother and knew the answer to her question about seeing the snow leopard faunus, it was a polite no. Ultimately, the sunny little dragon decided to take matters into her own hands by hook or crook. After getting two tickets for tonight to Atlas, Yang sets up her decoy in her room with a blonde wig and some extra pillows to buy her some time before her dad and uncle find out where she goes off to and tries to stop her.

Yang also went to Ruby's room to do the same as she dug out an old black wig that she had to try and pretend to be her mother to walk a mile in her shoes; when she was younger and a bit more naive. The blonde saw her sister pack several of her secret stashes of cookies along with some spare clothes in a travel bag and wryly smiled at the little cookie monster. As Yang sets up Ruby's decoy with some pillows and the black wig, the little reaper asks, looking curious at her sister's actions.

" Yang, why are you putting a wig on my pillow?"

" Just making a dummy while we're off to Atlas; I want to get back home before dad finds out that we went to another kingdom."

Ruby started to harbor some suspicions about her sister and asked as she stopped trying to cram more cookies in her bag.

" What's really going on, Yang?"

Yang paused, then sighed as she begged her little sister in a calm tone.

" Ruby, can you please just trust me and not ask any more questions."

The little reaper saw the look of desperation in her sister and assured her.

" I always trust you, Yang, but answer me this are we going to get in trouble for this field trip?"

" Probably... but you can place all the blame on me, so you don't get punished."

Yang answered while looking a bit sheepish and told her sister that she would take responsibility for their actions. Ruby smiled and replied, knowing that this was important to her big sister, considering the length she was going through.

" Okay, Yang, let's get ready to leave for Atlas!"

" Thank you, Ruby."

The sunny little dragon hugged the little cookie monster in gratitude for the trust she was given. No plan survives first contact and always falls apart at the unexpected; these are the lessons Yang will soon learn from her trip to Atlas.

***

My name is Silva Branwen, and I never thought I would have to get in contact with Mistral's black markets again under these circumstances. I am with the Ace-Ops trying to track down a bandit tribe that attacked a supply convoy with armed escorts from Atlas. I had the Ace-Ops stay behind as I went to the information broker I am most familiar with to find out what I needed. I entered the bar and saw Lil' Miss Malachite of the Spider's organization, and she greeted me.

" Ah, Silva Branwen, how nice to see you after all these years, and what brings you to my establishment today?"

" Just doing a job for someone and need some information."

I answered the woman as I took a seat in front of her and she asked me.

" This someone wouldn't happen to have something to do with your guests from Atlas?"

" Unfortunately, yes."

I am not surprised she knew about the Ace-Ops and my involvement with them, as she is the most prominent information broker in the kingdom. I sent her the list of items stolen from the raid on the supply convoy and told her.

" I am looking for whoever sells those items on the black market."

After going over the list, she told me.

" It will cost you."

" I got it covered."

She smirked at me and informed me.

" Give me a couple of days, and I will have your information."

" I look forward to hearing from you soon."

I got up and left as I could only wait for the time being, but first, I better talk to Tindick and have him pay for me as I rather not spend my own money for his sake or Atlas's for that matter. Since I am back in Mistral, I might as well grab myself something good to eat as I am sick and tired of Atlas Academy's cafeteria slop and bring Winter something nice as well. Some good coffee beans would probably make her happy, along with some pastries that last a while. Thankfully, my favorite ice queen enjoys coffee as a beverage and not just something to help her stay awake to study.

The Ace-Ops can fend for themselves; after all, their Atlas's elite team.