Archive of Our Own ^beta

Chapter Text

Volume 1: Start

On Remnant, located on the Eastern edge of the Kingdom of Vale, was Beacon Academy. Its large tower rising high to meet the clouds as it stood above the grounds of Vale. The Academy was one of the most prestigious combat schools in the entire world. On this day, new students were arriving to pass the entrance exams to attend and train to become Huntsman, the defenders of all life against the monsters known as Grimm. Many of these new students had just gotten off the airships, and now one of these future defenders of humanity from the creatures of Grimm…was gawking at every weapon that came within her line of sight.

"Yang! Yang! Look, that guy has a collapsible staff!" said the girl as she pointed excitedly at the weapon in question. Just as she turned around, she gasped as she noticed another amazing armament and immediately started fawning over that. "And she's got twin battle pistols!" if possible, the girl almost appeared to float towards the weapon as if she were literally on cloud nine, only for a strong hand to grab her hood and pull her back.

The girl in question was a fifteen-year-old with black hair ending in red tips. She was wearing a black long-sleeved blouse covered by a red cloak and hood with a high collar and red trim on the sleeves over a black waist cincher on the front, as well as a skirt of similar design with red lining. On her feet, she wore a pair of black stockings and black combat boots with red laces. The oddest thing about her, however, was her eyes, which shimmered a vibrant silver, a color that was a rarity.

This was Ruby Rose. Huntress in training and soon to be student at Beacon Academy. After impressing Headmaster Ozpin by stopping a robbery committed by infamous crime lord, Roman Torchwick, she was given pass to attend his school two years ahead of when she would normally attend.

The one who pulled on her hood was a much taller girl with long, curly blonde hair that went all the way down to her knees and lilac eyes. She was physically well-built, wearing a tan jacket with a short yellow crop top underneath, with both being designed to expose her stomach. A pair of black shorts with a brown belt covered her waist while long orange socks and brown leather boots covered her feet. On her neck, she wore an orange scarf, while her wrists were adorned with fingerless gloves and yellow bracelets that in truth were her weapons.

Her name was Yang Xiao Long, and she was Ruby's older half-sister. Right now, she was trying her best to prevent Ruby from going overboard with her love of weaponry and hopefully get her to interact with people.

"Whoa there, slow your roll sis. They're just weapons," Yang told her excitable little sister.

Ruby looked at her with mock aghast, as if she was offended by the words that came out of her sister's mouth, "JUST WEAPONS! They're extensions of ourselves Yang! They're apart of us! And they're so cool."

"Why don't you swoon over your own weapon instead? Aren't you proud of it?" Yang asked. At her question, Ruby pulled out her weapon. A large red custom made red and black scythe that Ruby hugged as if it were a teddy bear.

"Of course I love Crescent Rose," she replied, "But I just love seeing other weapons. It's like meeting new people, except better."

At that, Yang playfully pulled Ruby's hood over her head, "Ruby, come on. You need to make some friends of your own. There's plenty of people here for you to meet."

"But, why would I need to do that if I have you?" Ruby asked.

"Well about that…" Yang said as she was suddenly swarmed by all her friends, "MYFRIENDSAREHEREGOTTAGOBYE!" she and the group ran off so fast that it sent Ruby spinning in place. She asked a barrage of questions to her now gone sister who didn't hear any of them.

"Wait! Do we go to our dorms first? Where are our dorms? Do we have dorms?" and like that, she plopped on the floor…right into someone's luggage.

"What do you think you're doing!?" asked a shrill, high pitched voice.

Ruby, recovering from her disorientation, looked up and saw the person who asked. She was a pale, blue eyed petite young seventeen-year-old with snow white hair that was put into an asymmetrical ponytail on the right side of her head. She wore a white dress that went from a pure white to a more light blue color as it went down with a snowflake design at the hem and white wedge boots on her feet, as well as a small coat with bell-like sleeves and an identical color scheme to her dress. She was currently looking at Ruby with an angry expression.

"Uh, sorry?" Ruby tried to apologize, but she was interrupted by the white-haired girl again.

"Sorry! Do you have any clue how much damage you could have caused?" she…asked? Yelled? Yelled. Definitely yelled.

"Uhhh…" was Ruby's only response as she tried to help pick up the briefcases that she ended up scattering. She gave one to the girl in white, only for her to snatch it out of her hands.

"Give me that!" she yelled before she proceeded to rant on how what she was carrying was Dust from the Schnee Quarries, but Ruby struggled to listen because the girl in front of her shook the Dust vial, causing Dust to enter Ruby's nose. And just as she asked/demanded, "What do you have to say for yourself?" Ruby sneezed.

"AAAAAACHOOOOO!"

BOOOOOOOOOOM!

And this resulted in a large explosion that enveloped them both. The vial of dust flying from the white-haired girl's hand.

"UNBELIEVABLE! Look at what you did you-" The girl started to yell at Ruby again, until…

"Hey. YOU!"

A new, deep voice forced itself into the very one-sided attempt at conversation. Both girls looked to the source to see a tall man walking their way. He was broad shouldered with white hair much like the aristocratic girl, but his was wild and seemed to loath order as it stood up. His eyes were heterochromic, his left an emerald green while his right was a blood red, with both glaring at the white-haired girl. He wore a red sleeveless turtleneck shirt with a black stripe going down the center, with his hands, one of which carried the Dust vial, covered by fingerless gloves that stopped just short of his elbows. He also wore a large belt with black baggy pants and steel-toed boots. Perhaps the most eye-catching thing about him was his weapon. On the back of his waist was a large sword, but this sword was massive in size, looking more like a large slab of metal. It was sheathed diagonally with the hilt of the blade on his right.

"The hell are you doing?" He asked, clearly not giving a second thought to pleasantries.

"What am I doing? I'm telling this walking safety hazard-" she tried to say, but was immediately interrupted.

"From what I saw, the only reason that happened was because you shook a vial of Dust in her face," he said, glaring right at her as he towered over her. "Tch, but what do you expect from a Schnee? They fuck up and somehow it's everyone else's fault."

The girl, now identified as a Schnee, was fuming as her face turned red with rage, "How dare you! You know nothi-"

"Look snow bitch. Want my advice? Crawl back to Atlas where you belong. At least there you can step on people and get payed for it like a good little jackass who thinks they own the fucking world," the man sneered. If it were possible, Ruby was sure she practically heard steam from the Schnee girl's head as her whole face flared up once more with fury. Rather than chastise the man further, the Schnee girl snatched her Dust vial from him and gathered her things, storming off to the Academy.

Ruby, not wanting to leave the 'conversation' on such a bad note yelled, "I promise I'll make this up to you!"

"Don't bother kid, she's a waste of time," The man said as Ruby turned to him, "You're better off ignoring her."

"Uh, thank…you… miste-hey wait!" Ruby tried to thank him for helping her, at least, that's what she thought that was, but the man just turned and walked towards the Academy as well, seemingly ignoring her, "Hey, wait a minute! At least let me say thanks or something!"

"Look kid, I didn't do that for you," he said, not even bothering to look at her as he walked away with his hands in his pockets, "I did it because a snot nosed high-and-mighty bitch needed to be put in her place. How about you head home? Last thing this place needs is a babysitting service."

"But I'm a student here!"

That seemed to stop the man in his tracks as he turned to Ruby, not looking…okay, he still looked kinda mad, but at this point, Ruby was assuming that was his default expression. He raised an eyebrow and asked, "Aren't you a little young to be here?"

Ruby responded with, "I'm fifteen. Okay, that's kinda young, but not that young. I just got moved up by a bit," she tried to turn the conversation to him, "What about you? Aren't you a little old to be here?"

The man replied, "I'm eighteen, and last I checked, it's less odd than skipping a grade. Look, kid, I don't know why the hell you got moved up and honestly, I don't give a shit. Right now, I'm heading to wherever the hell the main hall is."

And with that, the man left, leaving Ruby behind as she slumped to the floor and laid on her back, "Welcome to Beacon," she muttered to herself.

As she laid on the ground, she heard footsteps and saw a hand enter her field of vision. "Need a hand?" a voice said.

Ruby looked up and saw a young, blonde man with blue eyes wearing white body armor, a black t-shirt underneath, blue jeans, and sneakers offered his hand to help her up. She gladly accepted. As she stood up, she noticed something about him.

"Aren't you the guy who threw up on the plane?"

Chapter Text

"Well girls, we made it! Beacon Academy!" said a chirpy, upbeat voice as she and her friends got off their airship.

The owner of said voice was an energetic, tan-skinned, seventeen-year-old woman with light brown hair who possessed a large, bushy squirrel tail with the same brown color as her hair. Her attire consisted of a large orange short-sleeved overcoat with black trim that she left open midway from the bottom, underneath which she wore a black crop top that left her toned midriff exposed. On her hands she had orange fingerless fighting gloves and on her feet were long black stockings with orange steel-toed combat boots over them. Lastly, she was wearing orange shorts with twin cross-shaped tonfa attached to the sides.

To her left was a scarlet haired girl of average height and identical age with emerald green eyes wearing a battle uniform consisting of a beige shirt, beige pants with a black waistband, gloves, and combat boots with cross symbols. Over this was a beige cloak along with a small, apron-like dress that bore a flower design on its waist. On her head was a winged hat with a blue eye at the center. On her side was what appeared to be a collapsed shield folded into a small fraction of itself with what appeared to be pages inside it and a blade sheathed in it. She carried herself with a calm, composed, almost sisterly demeanor towards the tan girl's exuberance.

To the left of the squirrel girl was a petite girl with blonde hair that went down to her mid-back and emerald eyes. She wore a sleeveless white undershirt that stopped just above her navel with a red tie. Over the undershirt, she wore a short blue mantle with yellow lining. She also wore a blue miniskirt with black shorts underneath and a large belt that had twin criss-cross holsters carrying two large hand cannons behind her. Lastly, she wore black stockings with blue steel-toed boots on her feet and a pair of shooting gloves on her hands. Unlike her friends, she was shyer and more timid in demeanor.

"I-I don't know about this Makoto," The shy blonde said, addressing her brown-haired friend, "I'm kinda scared."

Makoto then took her friend into a one-armed hug using left arm, smiled lightheartedly, and said, "Come on Noellers! We passed all the tests, we were at the top of the class, we're basically all set to kick Beacon's ass!" While Noel still looked apprehensive, she did smile and giggle at her friend's energy.

"If I may interject Makoto, you were in the top because of your combat aptitude," said the red-head in a sisterly tone, "Beacon is a far more academically inclined school compared to Primary school. They're not going to let up on you just because of your fighting skills."

At that, Makoto slightly deflated, "Yeah, yeah, I know. But come on! We're at probably the best fighting school in the world! Don't tell me you ain't excited Tsubaki."

The redhead, now identified as Tsubaki, smiled and replied, "I never said I wasn't excited Makoto, but I don't think we should get ahead of ourselves. After all, schools like Beacon will divide students into teams of four, and there's no guarantee that we will all end up on the same team."

At that, Noel started to look apprehensive again. She didn't like the idea of ending up on any team that didn't have her friends with her. She wasn't exactly comfortable around new people. Seeing her friend's fear, Makoto squeezed her one-armed hug even harder, "Don't you worry a hair on your head Noellers, Makoto's gonna make sure we all get on the same team no matter what it takes."

As they walked, they overheard chatter from other students. Some expressing excitement to attend the Academy, other's clearly thinking to highly of themselves and believing that the place would be a cake walk, and one that sounded like a girl that was geeking out over swords and guns in the background somewhere. However, after walking for a while, Makoto stopped with Noel still in her left arm as she noticed someone.

Leaning in the shade against a tree was a pale woman with dark hair and amber eyes. She was wearing a black vest connected in the middle by a silver button with a white cropped undershirt, as well as a loose scarf around her neck that was similar in color to her hair. She also wore white pants that connected to black stockings with black heeled boots adorning her feet. Her most striking feature, however, was the black bow on her head. The woman was reading a novel of sorts, but Makoto couldn't make out what the title was. What she could make out though, was that her bow would occasionally twitch and move without any wind or outside source to cause that movement.

"Uh, Makoto," Noel asked, "Why are you looking at that girl?"

"Call it a hunch, Noel," Makoto said, "I'm gonna talk to her," she then removed her arm from Noel's shoulder and started walking toward the girl under the tree.

"Makoto," Tsubaki warned, "She doesn't seem like the type to want to interact with people. Maybe it's best you leave the matter alone and try again later?"

Makoto in response gave them a determined stare, "Well, remember back at Primary school? I didn't want anything to do with anyone either 'till you guys came in and helped me. Trust me, I know what I'm doing," And with that, she continued her walk to meet the reserved girl under the tree. When she got there, she wondered what to say to make the best first impression on this girl. After thinking it over for a second, she knew just what to say.

"Sup," she said. Nailed it.

The girl just gave a small, barely audible "Hey," and flipped to the next page of the book she was reading.

"So," Makoto continued, "Whatcha readin'?"

"I'm currently reading a book, or at least, I'm trying to," she responded with a blank stare, clearly signaling to Makoto that she wanted to be left alone.

"Alright, alright, I get it, buuuuut…" Makoto then looked around and saw that the other students were either on their way to the main hall or they were too far to hear the one-sided conversation, "Can I just ask you a question? Please?"

"Ugh," the black-haired girl responded with exasperation, "Fine, ask one question, then can I please read in peace?"

"Why are you hiding your ears like that?"

At the question, the girl's face dawned a shocked expression and swerved her head to look at Makoto, "H-how did you…"

Makoto simply replied, "You're bow twitches every now and then without anything to cause it, like say, wind or running your hand through your hair. Plus, it looks way too much like a pair of cat ears for its own good."

At that, the girl's expression became embarrassed and nervous. Makoto, wanting to ease her tension, told her, "Hey, don't worry. Doesn't look like anyone else's noticed, and most people don't go lookin' for what they aren't trying to find. Besides, one Faunus to another, your secret's safe with me."

At that, the black-haired Faunus' apprehension dwindled somewhat. She quietly said, "Thank you," before she started to walk away. However, Makoto put her hand on her shoulder before she could get very far.

"Look, I get it, you want to be seen for who you are, not what you are. Trust me, I went through that too. Worst time of my life back in Primary," Makoto said, her tone conveying empathy, "But I don't think keeping closed off is gonna help you in the long run. I tried and it really didn't work, but I got a lot better when I opened up and found my friends," at that, Makoto gave a brief glance back to Tsubaki and Noel, who were watching Makoto from afar with curiosity in their eyes, "You don't have to open up about every little thing, but I think you should try opening up bit by bit."

While she couldn't see the girl's face, Makoto could tell that she was still not very keen on the idea, "Tell you what, how about me and my friends be your friend. You can test the waters with us and maybe after some time, you can decide if you want to open up more. Sound good?"

The girl then turned to face Makoto as the squirrel Faunus removed her hand from the cat Faunus' shoulder, her eyes still looking rather ambivalent to the idea. After a few seconds of consideration, she said, "I…suppose that it wouldn't hurt. But don't tell them my secret. If they're gonna find out, I'm going to tell them in my own time, and only after I'm sure I can trust them. Deal?"

"Deal!" The squirrel Faunus replied. She stuck out her hand and said, "Name's Makoto Nanaya. What's yours?"

The black-haired girl held out her hand and shook Makoto's, giving her name as she did so, "Blake. Blake Belladonna."

"Well Blake, ya want to meet my friends?" Makoto asked.

Blake nodded slightly, "I suppose."

At that, Makoto waved at Noel and Tsubaki to come over and introduce themselves. "Greetings, my name is Tsubaki Yayoi. It's nice to meet you," Tsubaki said as she approached. She then gestured to her left, "And this is Noe-" she stopped and noticed that Noel was now hiding behind her.

"Oh, sorry about Noel Blakey. She's, like, super shy," Makoto told Blake.

"It's fine," Blake replied. She walked around to meet the blonde girl, who looked up a little to meet Blake's eyes, "My name is Blake Belladonna. Nice to meet you."

"N-Noel. Noel V-Verm-milion," Noel stammered, walking out from behind Tsubaki to stand in front of Blake, but still looking nervously to the floor as she did so.

Now that everyone was introduced, Makoto proceeded to grab everyone and gathered them all into a large group hug, "Aww, see? We're bonding! Don't worry Blakey, all of us'll be BFFs faster than you can say-"

BOOOOOOOOOOM!

A large boom erupted far back from where the students originally got off the airships, causing the four to look in the direction of the noise. They all saw a large dust cloud, leaving them to assume that an explosion just occurred.

"W-what was that!" Noel cried out, hugging Makoto as tightly as she could.

"From the looks of things, it would seem someone just dropped a very volatile Dust capsule," Tsubaki inferred. All of them saw what looked to be two people at the epicenter of the explosion.

"So, uh, should we go help them?" Makoto asked.

"As much as I think we should, it would also be bad practice to be late for the introduction speech in the assembly hall. Besides, based on the size of the explosion, it was nothing lethal or life-threatening," Tsubaki answered. While they wanted to help, they were still students at the end of the day, and they had an assembly to get to, "Besides, I can see someone going to help them already," she then pointed to a white-haired man walking to the scene of the explosion, "I'm sure they'll be fine."

"Well in that case, we better get going," Blake said, "I believe the main hall is this way," she pointed to the general direction of their destination, and so the four went and began their lives at Beacon Academy.

Chapter Text

Ruby and her new companion, Jaune Arc, found themselves in the main hall of Beacon Academy, which was filled entirely with upcoming students. She began to look around for wherever her sister was. She didn't have to look for long as she overheard her sister calling out to her.

"Ruby! Over here! Saved you a spot!" Ruby looked to the source of the voice and saw Yang waving to her.

"Well, gotta go Jaune. See you later!" Ruby told Jaune as she went to stand next to her sibling, and also berate her for ditching her.

"So sis, how's your first day been so far?" Yang asked, putting her hands on her hips as Ruby caught up to her.

"What, you mean after you ditched me and I blew up!?" Ruby angrily said to Yang.

"Oof, meltdown on your first day sis?" Yang said with a cheeky grin.

"No. I mean, I literally exploded in front of the entire school!" Ruby nearly yelled.

Yang looked somewhat surprised and a bit concerned, "Wait, you're being serious?"

Ruby decided to fully explain the events from earlier, "Look, I tripped over a rich girl's luggage! Then she got mad. And then I sneezed. Then she got mad and started yelling. Then this guy showed up and started yelling at her. Then she stormed off and I felt really, really bad. Then I tried to talk to the guy, y'know, thank him and all, but then he just walked off and acted all mean and left me, then-"

"Whoa, whoa, hold up, what's this about a guy being mean to you?" Yang asked, her eyes narrowing and flaring red for a second.

Ruby nearly facepalmed at that, "Yang, a girl was yelling at me and you're focusing on the guy being mean?"

"Ruby, as your elder sister, it is my sacred duty to protect you from the greatest evil known to man: boys." Yang told her sister and an overly dramatic tone.

"All while you flirt with every single one of them." Ruby dryly said.

"Hey, I can't help it when a cutie pops by," Yang said, back her usual self, "But going back, you got yelled at? Get the name?"

"All I know is that her last name's Schnee and-"

"YOU!" the familiar voice of the girl from earlier yelled out from behind Ruby.

"Crap, not again," Ruby muttered under her breath. She turned and saw the Schnee girl from before glaring at her.

"You're lucky we weren't blown off the side of a cliff!" she yelled with her hands on her hips, glaring at Ruby with her pale blue eyes.

"Look lady, while I'd love to punch you in the face for yelling at my sister, I don't want to get detention juuust yet," Yang said, restraining herself from trying anything with the girl that was testing her patience. She calmed herself and said, "Look, my sister's sorry, okay, so why don't you just cool it and try to be friends."

"Good idea sis," Ruby said as she cleared her throat to properly introduce herself, "Hello there, my name's Ruby. What's yours?"

"It's Weiss," she responded, "And if you really want to make it up to me, then here," she then gave Ruby a pamphlet that said 'Dust for Dummies and Other Inadequate Individuals', "Read that and never speak to me again."

At that, Ruby started to get frustrated, "Look, Weiss, can't we just get along! We could try going to get school supplies together. Can we?"

"Yeah, and we can paint our nails, try on clothes, and talk about cute boys like tall, dark and brutish back there," Weiss said in a voice that was clearly sarcastic and pointing in the background to the same man who got on her case previously, who only spared a passing glance as he leaned on a wall with his arms crossed.

Unfortunately for Weiss, Ruby didn't pick up on her tone and got excited. "REALLY!?"

At her response, Weiss just blankly stared at her for a good five seconds and bluntly said, "No," causing Ruby's excitement to fade as she looked to the floor with her arms hanging limp at her sides. Before any more failed attempts at smalltalk could continue, the sound of a microphone coming on filled the auditorium, and they all looked to see Headmaster Ozpin standing on the stage, Professor Goodwitch at his side.

"I'll keep this brief," he began, "You have all traveled here today searching for knowledge. To hone yourselves and acquire new skills. When you finish your time here, you plan to dedicate yourselves to protecting the people of Remnant. But I look amongst you now, and all I see is wasted energy; in need of purpose and direction. You assume that by gaining knowledge, you will have a clear understanding of how to direct this energy. But your time here at Beacon shall only reveal that knowledge can only take you so far. It is your choice to take the first step."

As Goodwitch dismissed the students, varying reactions took place among the crowd. Many students seemed confused by his words, while others reacted with indifference. Ruby and Yang seemed confused not by Ozpin's words, but by how he said them. "Yang, did Ozpin seem…off to you?" Ruby asked her sister.

Yang replied, "Yeah, it was kinda like he wasn't really there, was it?"

With that, Weiss proceeded to walk off, walking right past the white-haired man from earlier. "Hmph. Brute," she intentionally said loud enough for the man and any in the area to hear her. In response, the man just glared at her as she walked away.

Night had fallen over Vale as the soon-to-be students of Beacon Academy had all gathered in the ballroom. Many were sprawled on the floor in sleeping bags, while others walked around and interacted amongst each other. A few were just trying to relax, while others mentally prepared themselves for the challenges that would follow them the next day.

Tsubaki had just finished cleaning herself off and headed to the area where she, Noel, Makoto, and their new friend, Blake, had decided to rest. She changed out of her standard outfit and was now wearing an elegant, white nightgown that reached her feet, which were left uncovered as she walked to her friends' sleeping area.

She had to admit, Vale and its warmth was a nice change of pace from the colder climates of Atlas. Overall, the place seemed looser with itself than Atlas' rigidness. Still, she couldn't help but miss her home. She missed her family, the Yayoi manor that she loved to play hide and seek in with her friends, such as Weiss, Jin, and even little Whitley on the rare occasion his father allowed. Out of all the friends she could remember from when she was young, she especially missed Jin. She wondered how he was doing at Atlas Academy, and if he missed her as well. Despite wishing that she had more of home with her, she was glad that she could be here with the friends she made from Sanctum Academy. She couldn't imagine life without them.

Noel had changed into a large, white dress shirt and light blue shorts. She was sitting on top of her sleeping bag, listening intently to Makoto as she told a rather exaggerated tale about her childhood adventures with her siblings. Tsubaki was certain that most of them were made up. No ten-year-old, even a gifted fighter like Makoto, could kill 100 Beowolves with a rusty spoon.

Blake was in a black yukata with a purple undershirt and a matching black skirt. She still wore that bow over her head. She must really like the accessory, Tsubaki thought to herself. Blake was reading a copy of 'The Man with Two Souls' and despite her seeming apathetic to Makoto's own tale, she seemed to be listening in as she sat and leaned against the wall with a candle providing her reading light.

Makoto's sleeping attire was…questionable. She changed out of her normal clothes and was now wearing what was basically a black sports bra with black shorts that barely qualified as shorts, showing off a lot of skin. Her busty and attractive physique was drawing quite a bit of attention from most of the boys (and some of the girls), but she either didn't notice this or didn't care. Tsubaki was pretty sure she saw some of the onlookers trip over other students when they saw her.

"And then, the mighty Goliath loomed over my head," Makoto told her 'story' in a dramatic tone, "I was disarmed, my treasured spoon taken from me when I jabbed that finale Beowolf in the eye. As the beast made a move to crush me underfoot, I saw my hope for victory: A rock!"

From the expression on Blake's face, it looked as though she was struggling not to roll her eyes at Makoto's tale, but the small smile on her face did show she was enamored to a degree. Tsubaki may question the validity, but she wouldn't deny that she had fun listening to the story as well.

"I took the rock into my hand and chucked it right into the Goliath's eye. My enemy blinded, I jumped upward and slugged it in the face! The beast down, I went on to skin it and make a nice coat for my mother's birthday," Makoto concluded as she started to lie down on her back. Noel giving a small round-of-applause.

"That was amazing Makoto!" Noel said as she stopped clapping.

"It was…fine," Blake said under her breath.

"Daww, don't hide it Blakey, you know you loved it," Makoto said as she hugged Blake at the side. Blake herself didn't seem phased much by the sudden contact and just kept to her book like she wasn't being hugged at all.

"In any case, I believe we should prepare to go to sleep. Our initiation will be tomorrow, and rest will let us be at the top of our abilities," Tsubaki said, reminding her friends of the events they needed to prepare for.

Makoto just closed her eyes and said, "Uhhhg, alright mom. Even though I don't wanna, I'll try and sleep."

Tsubaki nodded and looked to Noel, who looked down nervously and rubbed her arm. "Noel, what's wrong?" Tsubaki asked.

"It's…It's just, what if we all end up on separate teams?" Noel asked, still looking to the floor.

"Noellers, I already promised that I'd make sure we're all a team," Makoto said, but Tsubaki knew that she legitimately had no method of keeping that promise. That was up to how the initiation was set up and what rules for partnering were established, but they wouldn't know until tomorrow.

"I just don't like the idea of being on a team without you guys," Noel told them. She was never much of a people person, but if the odds weren't in their favor for initiation, then she'd run the risk of being stuck on a team of complete strangers, which in Noel's case, was a nightmare.

Surprisingly, after being silent for the most part, Blake spoke up and said, "If it means anything, I'd like to be on a team with you. If you'd allow me of course."

Tsubaki saw Makoto smile at their new friend. It seems her efforts to help the recluse open up was starting to show itself. Noel also smiled at that statement. "Thanks," she said, "But I'm still scared of being without Tsubaki and Makoto. I just don't know anyone here."

At that, Makoto stood up and said, "Well then Noel, I think Dr. Makoto Nanaya has just the antidote for your anxieties. Follow me!" she then grabbed Noel's hand and pulled her up, walking in a random direction in the room.

"W-wait! Makoto!"

"You said you don't know anyone here, right? Well it's time to turn some strangers into buddies!"

"Hmm. Makoto's nice," Blake told Tsubaki, who remained behind to go to sleep, "You and Noel are lucky to have her. She's tiring, sure, but caring."

"Indeed she is." Tsubaki replied with a sigh and a smile on her face. Indeed she is, she then put her noise cancelers on and proceeded to go to sleep.

"Makoto, wait! We really should just go to sleep," Noel said loudly to Makoto as she dragged her along.

Makoto didn't listen and continued to pull Noel while looking for someone she could make friends with. Obviously, she wasn't planning on having Noel interact with everyone in the room. That was both impossible with the time they had and not something Noel was ready for just yet. But, if she could at least help her interact and make friends with a few people, then the odds of her being on a team with people she was comfortable around would increase by juuusst a smidge. It was better than nothing.

Alright, let's see here, who here looks like they'd be good friends for my Noellers, Makoto looked around and saw a shirtless, muscular orange-haired boy with blue eyes who had a lecherous look on his face as he looked in their direction. Nope, not happening. I know there's the ol' 'Don't judge a book by its cover' saying, but this guy just comes off as a total jackass.

She kept looking and saw a white-haired girl wearing a blue nightgown and a recognizable emblem on it. Lookin' at her, I'm guessing she's a Schnee, Makoto thought, Seems a bit too uptight though. Maybe Noel needs to start off here with someone more down-to-earth, Makoto once again looked around and then she heard a voice.

"Shut up! I didn't get to take my friends with me to school. It's weird not knowing anyone here."

There it is! Common ground! Makoto mused with excitement. This is just what Noel needed; someone that she had something in common with which to start bonding over. She looked for the source of the voice and saw two girls lying on the floor; one a blonde with lilac eyes in an orange tank top with a cool flame emblem and black shorts, the other a younger looking girl with black hair that was red at the tips, silver eyes, and wearing a black top with white pants featuring a rose design.

"Alright Noellers, ready to make some friends?" Makoto asked her friend, who still looked apprehensive about what she was doing.

"O-okay," Noel stammered out. With that, the two walked to the two students on the floor. Makoto prepared to introduce themselves.

"Hellooooo fellow students!" a cheery voice called out to her and Ruby.

Yang and Ruby looked up to see two students greeting them. One of them was a brown-haired squirrel Faunus wearing a pretty attractive sport bra and short shorts, while the other girl was a blonde with a more diminutive demeanor in a white shirt and blue shorts. "Name's Makoto Nanaya, this here's my bestie, Noel Vermillion," The squirrel girl introduced herself and her friend, "Nice to meetcha."

Yang decided to introduce herself to the two new girls first, "Sup. My name's Yang. This is my little sister, Ruby."

Ruby, in response, waved and gave a small, "Hi."

"Sorry if we're kinda getting too personal, but we couldn't help but overhear that your sister was having some trouble regarding friends," Makoto then laid down on her stomach to meet the two sisters at eye level, "Any chance you'd wanna be friends with us? You can never have too many, after all."

And opportunity arose. Yang saw the perfect chance to help her sister open herself up more, "Sure thing Makoto. Come on Rubes, we can get your friend count from negative one to just one now!"

"I thought you just said there was no such thing as 'negative friends'," Ruby dryly told her.

"Then that's even better! Why don't you two sit down here and we can get to know each other?" Yang directed the two to right in front of her and Ruby. Makoto and Noel both sat down cross-legged in front of them. Surprisingly, the shy Noel was the first to speak after they sat down.

"S-so, Ruby. You're, uh…c-can I ask how old you are? You look a lot younger than Miss Yang," Noel stuttered.

Huh, first time I've been called 'Miss Yang'. Feels, weird. And not a good kind of weird, Yang thought. If anything, it kind of made her feel old.

"Fifteen. I just got moved up from Signal by a couple years," Ruby said, but rather apprehensively. Yang felt it made sense, since her sister didn't want to be seen as 'The Bees Knees', after all.

At that, Noel looked amazed, staring at Ruby with wide eyes, "Wow! That's amazing, Ruby!" then she got a curious look, "So, was that what you were talking about earlier?"

"Eh, sort of. I just, I had some friends back at Signal and…well, getting moved up means I didn't get to bring them along," Ruby looked down at the floor with a sad expression.

They all sat in silence for a good half a minute. Suddenly, Noel stood up and laid down to Ruby's left, saying, "If it makes you feel any better, I don't have many friends here either. I-I mean, I have Makoto and Tsubaki, and we just met Blake, but, m-maybe…maybe we could be friends too?"

At that, Ruby seemed to light up, and just as quickly sat upright and chirped out, "Sure thing!" and followed that up with, "So what do you like to do for fun?"

"Uh, I like to b-buy things online," Noel said. She still stuttered, but she was coming off as more into conversing with her sister, "What about you?"

"Well, I'm a bit of a weapons dork. I like all kinds of weapons. Even built my own customizable scythe," Ruby said with a proud tone, making Yang smile. When it came to weaponry, Ruby took great pride in her knowledge.

"Wait, you built a scythe!?" Noel asked with a much louder and shocked tone than her previous quiet volume, "That sounds dangerous."

"I'll admit it was pretty dangerous at first, but then my Uncle Qrow taught me how to use it and now I'm all…" Ruby then started making random martial arts poses with her hands and made some very adorable karate sounds, "So what kind of weapon do you use?"

Noel, now more confident with Ruby, smiled and replied, "I have twin shift-hand cannons. They're called Bolverk."

"Ohh that's so cool!" and their conversation continued as Makoto sat down next to Yang.

"And 'Operation: Help Noel Out of Her Shell' is a success."

At that, Yang turned to her and asked, "Wait, you were trying to help your friend open up?"

"Yuppers!" Makoto replied, "I know that I should probably just let her make friends on her own, but Noellers is shyer than a shut-in. Sometimes the best thing you can do for a friend is give them a little push, y'know?"

"Preachin' to the choir, sister!" Yang responded and held out her hand for a fist bump, which Makoto gladly returned.

They watched as Ruby and Noel began conversing at an increased volume. From the happy look on Makoto's face, it was likely that her sister was bringing Noel out much faster than what was the usual norm for her.

Before their conversation could continue, a familiar voice called out, "What is going on here! Some of us are trying to sleep!"

Weiss Schnee walked up to them; her hair let down with her in a blue nightgown on as she berated them for making too much noise.

Pot meet kettle. You're not exactly the textbook definition of quiet either Schnee, Yang thought to herself.

"Okay guys, maybe Weiss is right, we should probably start going to sleep," Ruby said, clearly trying to diffuse any arguments that would happen.

"Oh, so now you're on my side!?" Weiss yelled back. Clearly, Ruby's attempt at peacemaking wasn't working.

"I was always on your side!" she fired back.

"Seriously Snow White, what's your problem?" Makoto asked.

"Yeah, my sister's only trying to be nice!" Yang responded as well.

"Your sister is a hazard to my health!" Weiss snapped back.

"WILL ALL OF YOU PLEASE SHUT UP!"

The entire group then looked to Noel, who shockingly screamed at all of them to zip it. She looked downright angry at all of them, though after a second it passed and she looked like her shy self again and immediately hid behind Ruby.

"S-sorry, I just didn't like all the yelling. Please stop," she muttered under her breath, though from the looks of things, everyone was able to understand her.

For a second, it looked like Weiss was feeling guilty, judging by the sad look on her face. But she went right back to having her normal arrogance, crossing her arms and looking away from the group. "Fine. Whatever," she said haughtily, "I need my rest anyway. Besides, I'd rather stop drawing a crowd."

Confused at first, Yang looked around and saw that a lot of students were staring at them. "Uh, right," Makoto said, "Noel, we should probably get going. Nice meeting you guys," and she started walking back to her sleeping spot.

Noel started following her as well, but not before she turned back and faced Ruby. "It was nice meeting you to Ruby. I-I hope we can be on the same team. I-if you want, that is," she said, swiftly stammering out the last part before speed walking after her squirrel-tailed friend.

Yang turned to Ruby and saw her smiling widely as she muttered, "Yeah, hope so to," before she got into her sleeping bag.

"So," Yang whispered to Ruby with a smile, "Weiss aside, I'd say this day was a win, right? You made some new friends and we're starting Beacon tomorrow."

Ruby smiled back and whispered, "Yeah, I guess today was a win."

Yang then laid on her back and after a few minutes, drifted to sleep.

Chapter Text

Weiss woke up, hearing a student rambling "It's morning!" at a very loud volume. She looked for the source and saw an orange haired girl talking at high speed with a much more composed black-haired student with a pink line in his hair. Both of them were already dressed in their combat gear. Rather than chastise the girl for making so much noise, she realized that, it being morning and students already getting dressed, it would be better for her to prepare for initiation as well. As those two showed, other students were getting ready, and it would be unbecoming of a Schnee if she were late.

She quickly went straight to the washroom to freshen up, bringing her normal clothes to change into when she was finished. As she showered, she thought back to when she first arrived at Beacon. How that clumsy girl knocked over her luggage and caused a large Dust explosion, as well as how that uncouth brute called her a bitch and insulted her.

Thinking about those two just made her angry, but at the same time, she couldn't help but feel sorry about the girl. Admittedly, perhaps she was too hard on her. She would admit that perhaps she shouldn't have shaken her Dust vial in the girl's face, though that still didn't excuse her for tripping into her luggage like a klutz.

From looking at her, she did seem younger than the norm for Beacon Academy, perhaps only 14 or 15, so maybe she was just ditzy and inexperienced? Weiss thought, as the girl certainly gave off the air of, well, an airhead.

Perhaps instead of yelling at her, the proper thing to do would be to set an example that she should follow, she thought to herself. It was the sensible decision. She was a Schnee after all, and it was her duty as a Schnee to reflect how a proper Huntress would act.

Now finished showering, she dried off, brushed her teeth, got dressed, and went straight to the locker room to collect her weapon for the initiation. As she approached her locker, she saw a familiar head of red hair standing next to the squirrel Faunus and blonde girl from last night. At first, she assumed her to be Pyrrha Nikos, the Mistral Champion and most likely to end up on her team (they were the best after all). However, as she got closer, the girl became more familiar to her. And then it clicked in her head. She approached the three students and called out to the woman.

"Tsubaki?"

The redhead turned to face her, and Weiss saw a face that she hadn't seen in seven years. She was older now, but it was undeniably the same girl she'd play with when she was a child.

"Weiss, is that you?" as soon as those words left her mouth, a warm smile found its way onto Weiss' face as she ran up and hugged her old friend. The Yayoi heiress gladly returned the hug as well.

"It's so good to see you! How long has it been?" Tsubaki asked, though clearly in rhetoric as, being Tsubaki, she already knew the answer. Weiss decided to play along.

"Seven years," Was her response, "I can't believe how much has changed. You've grown up so much."

Grown up was the right phrase. While Weiss was naturally petite and short, Tsubaki had grown to be taller than her and more…developed in certain areas. Not that Weiss was jealous of course.

"Hold up," the squirrel Faunus from yesterday asked, "Tsu, you know this lady?" Weiss puffed at her statement, as it sounded very dismissive of her. Not helping was that she was looking at her apprehensively while her blonde friend was hiding behind her tail, only slightly looking out at her from behind it.

"Oh, right," Tsubaki the faced the other two and directed their attention towards Weiss, "Makoto, Noel, I'd like you to meet Weiss Schnee. We were close friends growing up back in Atlas."

Weiss looked at the other two, the ones she met last night. While she wasn't exactly thrilled with them, she wasn't bothered too much by their presence either. Besides, these two were apparently Tsubaki's friends, so they couldn't be that bad. Right?

"So," Weiss started, "How did you all meet?"

"Well," the squirrel Faunus, Makoto, began, "We all met in class at Sanctum Academy. Long story short, we ended up helping each other with a few issues and now we're besties," While she smiled, she also had a look that said, 'We're not getting to deep into it'. Realizing that she wasn't going to get anymore of an answer until later, Weiss simply nodded.

Wanting to move to the topic of potential teams, Weiss turned to Tsubaki and asked, "So, Tsubaki, have you decided who you want to be on a team with?"

"Well, I was hoping to end up on a team with Noel and Makoto," she gestured to her two friends, "But at the same time, we are uncertain how initiations will be, so for all I know, anyone could end up on the same team as anyone else."

"From what I hear, Pyrrha Nikos is attending Beacon. Considering her reputation and skill, I was hoping to end up on a team with her. Though if you can be on my team as well, then all the better!" Weiss could see it now, hers and Tsubaki's intellects combined with Pyrrha's battle prowess, they would become the most unstoppable team in the entire school.

Breaking her from her revere of teaming up with the best candidates to be on her team, a familiar, gruff voice walked by, "Typical Schnee, already weeding out their 'tools'."

Weiss, Tsubaki and the other two turned and saw the white-haired brute from yesterday. Walking away with his back turned to them. Before Weiss could reprimand him, Tsubaki did the job for her and said, "Excuse me. But I won't allow you to cast such judgements on my friend. You're being very rude to your fellow students."

The man turned around and faced them, focused solely on Weiss and Tsubaki. Looking them both up and down, he sighed, "Great, another uptight rich brat. Just what this place needed."

Weiss felt her face flash red with rage again at the man's words. He was judging them based off their material wealth and deeming them as pampered, spoiled manipulators. Weiss was already sick of people seeing her as an extension or copy of her father, and she wasn't going to let it slide any further, especially not by this oafish brute who clearly didn't know what he was talking about or who he was talking to.

Before she could verbally assault the man who insulted both her and Tsubaki, the squirrel Faunus, Makoto, jumped in and glared at the brute, "Look asshole, I don't know what beef you have with quote 'uptight rich brats' endquote, but you ain't insulting my friends while I'm here. Got it?"

The three of them collectively glared at the abrasive man in front of them, while said man glared at all of them with equal hate and rage in his eyes. Just then, a quiet voice squeaked out, "Um, could you guys please stop fighting. It's m-making me nervous."

All of them looked to Noel, whose green eyes focused on the floor as she pressed the tips of her index fingers together. Makoto and Tsubaki looked sympathetically to Noel while Weiss merely glanced at her then turned back to the white-haired brute. Much to her surprise, he had a look of shock on his face when he looked at Noel. She didn't understand why though, as there didn't seem to be anything about Noel that stood out and none of Noel's actions indicated that she remotely knew who this man was. His reaction to her was odd to say the least.

The man's shocked reaction morphed back into a scowl and he turned his back to them, "Tch, whatever." and with that, he walked away from them.

As he left, Makoto started fuming, "Jerk. Who the hell does he think he is?"

"Let's not dwell too much on it, Makoto. It's best we just ignore him," she then looked to Weiss, "Are you alright, Weiss? You seem to have some familiarity with that man."

Weiss sighed, "We met at the airstrip. After that clumsy girl knocked my luggage over and I shook a Dust vial that made her sneeze and blow us both up, which I'll admit, I really shouldn't have done but that's beside the point so anyway, HE just walks in and starts treating me like garbage. He even insulted my family saying that all we do is blame people for others' failures and telling me to crawl back to Atlas and, and, and-" Weiss started ranting about the whole thing, her volume increasing with each second. She would have gone on longer had Tsubaki not grabbed her shoulders and calmed her down.

"Easy Weiss. I'd say that you just need to ignore him from now on. Avoid each other's orbits if you will," she said, before she gained a guilty look on her face, "My friends and I saw the whole thing from afar, but we didn't really see or hear anything, so I didn't recognize you. Sorry about that, Weiss."

"It's fine," Weiss replied, "In all honesty, given how long it's been, I'm surprised you even recognize me from up close."

"Speaking of that whole debacle, have any of you guys seen Blake?" Makoto asked, "I haven't seen her since this morning."

"Oh, she said she was going to the cliffs where she heard the initiation would be. She said she wanted to get there early," Noel responded. She seemed far more confident and reassured when she was talking with Tsubaki or Makoto.

Just then, Beacon's intercoms chimed and Professor Glynda Goodwitch said, "Would all first-year students please report to the Beacon cliffs for initiation."

"Well," Tsubaki said, facing Weiss and the others, "I guess we better get going."

The four of them proceeded to walk out of the locker-room. As they walked out, Weiss saw out of the corner of her eye and saw a red-headed woman with emerald eyes, her hair tied into a ponytail. She was wearing bronze corset armor with a dark maroon miniskirt and long gloves extending past her elbows of similar color. She also wore armored greaves on her boots and had her weapons carried on her back; a spear and circular shield to be precise. Standing next to her was a bumbling blonde with blue eyes wearing white armor over a black shirt and blue jeans with sneakers.

It was easy to tell that the person in question was Pyrrha Nikos, the champion of Mistral. As much as Weiss wanted to go talk with her regarding teams, she seemed too engrossed in her conversation with the scraggily blonde man. Oh well, if luck was on Weiss' side, they'd hopefully end up on a team together along with Tsubaki.

So far, Jaune's day had been going relatively well. Sure, he got picked on by a ginger haired guy for his "baby pajamas", he had a lot of trouble finding his locker and weapon by extension, he forgot to pack his favorite comics from home, and his shoelaces came undone after he finally found his locker and he promptly ate floor…

…But on the plus side, he made a new friend, so that balanced things out.

Said new friend in question was a beautiful red-headed woman named Pyrrha Nikos. She helped him up when he fell and the two started having a conversation. Pyrrha was oddly elated when she was talking to Jaune, which oddly made itself more known when Jaune told her that he had no idea who she was. Still, she was incredibly friendly, and Jaune Arc wasn't one to turn down friendly conversation.

The two of them talked as they made their way to the initiation cliffside. Jaune told her all about his mastery of fighting games, his skills at different card games, and his impressive comic book collection. Pyrrha, surprisingly, was listening intently, which Jaune didn't expect, but wasn't bothered by in the slightest. The conversation later moved to what they did before Beacon. Jaune had to leave some things out, but he told her about his family and seven sisters, how his great-great-grandfather used their family sword, Crocea Mors, in the war, and that he dreamed of being a hero like his family members before him.

Pyrrha, by contrast, didn't enjoy talking much about her time before Beacon. She only really brought up that beforehand, she attended Sanctum Academy and that she grew up in Mistral. Well, Jaune wasn't one to pry, and he had secrets of his own, so he decided to end the topic then and there…

…Right as someone tripped him.

Jaune fell to the floor with an "oof" as he landed face first on the ground. He looked up to see the same ginger haired student had held his leg out and made him fall.

"Watch your step, dork," he said in the most arrogant tone Jaune had heard in his life.

As the jerk walked away. Pyrrha helped him up. "Thanks, Pyrrha," he said.

"You're welcome, Jau-" Pyrrha began, but stopped abruptly and looked at him with concern and confusion, "Uh, Jaune, you have a bruise on your head."

"Wha?" Jaune felt his forehead and immediately felt a stinging sensation, causing him to reflexively wince and pull his hand away from the bruise, "So I do."

"Why didn't you activate your Aura when you fell down?" Pyrrha asked.

"Uh, my what?" Jaune asked, having no idea what she was talking about.

"Wait. Do you… not know what Aura is?" Pyrrha asked. From how she asked, having an Aura must have been a serious deal for students.

Play it cool Jaune. Don't say or do anything to give away how you really got into Beacon.

"Pfft, of course I know what Aura is…. just, can you tell me what Aura is...So I can make sure that you know." Jaune said with all the charisma he could muster.

Nailed it.

Pyrrha then explained to him that Aura is the manifestation of a person's soul. How it carries the burden of mankind and shields their hearts. From how she explained it, it basically functioned as a sort of shield that also allowed people to heal wounds and strengthen themselves by channeling it throughout their bodies. Jaune wasn't sure what to think. He never learned this, but from what Pyrrha said, it sounded like a basic think for a Huntsman-in-training to know. It…bothered him. He wanted to be a hero, to be just like the Arcs that came before him. How could he be that when he didn't even know the most basic things that anyone here would know?

Waking him up from his melancholy, Pyrrha walked up to him and was now staring him in the eye. "Uh, Pyrrha." Jaune began, "What are you-"

"Jaune, I need you to close your eyes and concentrate," Pyrrha told him as she placed a hand to the side of his head and another on where his bruise was.

"Uh, Okay," Jaune replied as he did so, not knowing exactly what was going on.

As he stood there, Pyrrha began saying what sounded like a mantra of sorts, "For it is in passing that we achieve immortality. Through this, we become a paragon of virtue and glory to rise above all, infinite in distance and unbounded by death. I release your soul, and by my shoulder protect thee."

When she finished, Jaune opened his eyes and saw that Pyrrha was slumped over, almost exhausted. "Pyrrha. You okay?" Jaune asked, concerned for his friend.

"Don't worry Jaune, I'm fine," Pyrrha told him, "I just activated your Aura. From the looks of it, you got quite a bit. Your bruise is all healed up," she pointed to his forehead.

Upon her mentioning, Jaune touched his forehead, and sure enough, the stinging sensation was gone. Actually, he felt stronger overall. Guess this is what an Aura feels like, Jaune thought to himself.

"In any case, we better get going. Initiation won't wait for us to arrive for it to begin," Pyrrha said. And the two continued to walk to the Beacon Cliffs.

"So Pyrrha," Jaune said, "I hope you don't mind me asking, but by any chance do you…have any plans for what kind of team you want to be on? I mean, not that I have any plans for teams, but it's fine it you do, but it's also fine if you don't, just asking if-"

"Jaune," Pyrrha interrupted his rambling.

"Yes."

"I'm planning on letting the chips fall as they may when it comes to teams. But personally, I wouldn't mind being on your team. If you'd have me of course," Pyrrha said with a warm smile on her face.

"O-oh, well in that case, you'll always be invited to Team Jaune Arc." Jaune said, trying to bow like a courtly gentleman as he did…

…only to stumble and nearly fall. Thankfully, Pyrrha helped him stay balanced.

As he stood upright, Pyrrha let out a light giggle, prompting Jaune to do the same. The two of them continued to the initiation site together. Jaune hoped that if he ended up on anyone's team, he'd end up on Pyrrha's. But knowing his luck, what are the odds of that?

Well. This is it. Noel thought to herself as they all arrived at the Beacon Academy cliffside. The students were directed to stand on these metal platforms that clashed against the grassy floor.

As Noel looked around her, she saw many of the other students take their positions, her friends included. Makoto was standing next to Blake, having an idle conversation, while Tsubaki and Weiss stood side-by-side, flashing each other brief smiles. Noel also saw Ruby standing next to her sister, Yang, a blonde student in white armor that was standing right next to her on her left, Pyrrha Nikos herself, a black-haired man in green conversing with an orange-haired girl who looked like she had enough energy to put Makoto to shame, and lastly, that white-haired man from before.

Now that Noel got a decent look at him (she was too busy hiding behind Makoto's tail and looking down to see him well), she couldn't help but think he looked…oddly familiar. Noel knew for a fact that she never met this man once in her life, so why did looking at him stir these feelings of familiarity in her?

Pulling her out of her thoughts was Professor Ozpin saying, "For years, you have all trained to become warriors. Now, your abilities shall be put to the test in the Emerald Forest," as he said this, he gestured to the forest far below the cliffside.

"Now," Glynda continued for Ozpin, "I'm sure all of you have heard the rumors regarding teams. To put an end to these rumors, as of today, you will each be given teammates."

"And these teammates will be with you for the remaining time you attend Beacon, so I suggest you choose wisely. With that in mind, you will be partnered up with the first person you make eye contact with upon landing in the Emerald Forest," Ozpin concluded.

WHAT! "WHAT!" Noel thought, with Ruby inadvertently vocalizing her thoughts.

"Once you have your partners, make your way to the Northern end of the forest. Keep in mind, that the forests are home to many Grimm, so you'll be facing opposition along the way," The Headmaster warned them.

If Noel wasn't nervous before, she was now. Not only did she have to contend with Grimm at every corner of the forest, but now she had the stress of being permanently stuck with someone, possibly someone she didn't know or would hate her. Please let my partner be one of my friends. Please let my partner be one of my friends. Please let my partner be one of my friends.

While Noel mentally chanted the mantra in her head, Ozpin continued explaining, "We will be grading your overall performance during the initiation. However, we will not be helping you at any point. When you reach the northern end, you will find a temple containing many relics. It is you and your partner's duty to bring one relic back here. Afterward, we will evaluate your performance returning with and guarding said relic, and grade you appropriately. Any questions?"

"Uh, yeah," Noel turned to her right and saw that the blonde boy had raised his hand. "Um, profe-"

"Good. Now take your positions," the Professor said. Either he didn't hear the blonde, or he didn't care. Noel wasn't sure how she felt about either scenario.

Turning to her left, she saw that the students were beginning to be launched into the Emerald Forest, one-by-one. It was a good thing that she loaded Bolverk with their high caliber, gravity Dust propulsion rounds before the initiation began. She was originally planning on knocking Grimm back at first but using the gravity Dust to control her descent would make for a good landing strategy. Plus, she could use them to catch up to either Makoto or Tsubaki, so she'd be close to where they landed. With any luck, she and her friends would be partners.

"Uh, sir. I h-have a question," The student next to Noel asked. "This 'landing strategy'. What is it exactly?"

Apparently, he was too caught up in his nervousness to look to his left to see what said 'landing strategy' was. Sounds pretty familiar, huh, Noel? Noel thought to herself.

"No," Ozpin replied as if it were a casual business conversation, "You will be falling to your destination."

As Ozpin said this, more students were being launched. Noel looked to her left and saw that Tsubaki, Blake, and Makoto had already been launched. Oh no. Noel was now worried. She was distracted by the conversation between the student and professor and she lost track of where her three friends went. She didn't see any of their respective trajectories, so she wouldn't be able to find them. She looked and saw that Ruby and Yang had yet to be launched.

Ok, just calm down Noel. Yang and Ruby are still here. Just follow their trajectories and partner with them. Easy peasy.

"So..." the student from before continued, "Uh...are we getting parachutes?" he asked as another student was launched.

"No," Ozpin responded again, "You will create your own landing strategy."

As this was happening, Noel looked and saw that Yang and Ruby were launched (Yang donning a pair of sunglasses for some reason) and started following where they would potentially end up. But as she did...

"What exactly is a landing strateg-" were the man's final words before being launched into the forest, flailing his arms wildly as he lost all control, "-YYYYYYYYYYY!"

Noel's attention was diverted from her gracefully falling friends to the flailing blonde that had just been launched. The sight of it caused her to worry. With how he was falling, he would suffer serious injury and leave himself without Aura when he landed, and that would give the Grimm enough time to rip him apart. She then looked back to Ruby and Yang's fading forms.

Okay Noel, think. Either partner up with your friends and hope someone else saves him, or save him now and get stuck with someone you don't know. Think.

In the split second Noel had when her platform started motioning to launch her, she knew what she needed to do.

Noel was now launched into the air, the forest becoming a green blur beneath her as the wind . Focusing on the blonde male from earlier, she drew Bolverk into her hands and fired behind her to increase her speed, allowing her to catch up to the falling student. As soon as she got within close range, Noel made a move to grab him, holding him tight as they began to fall to the forest below.

"AHHHHHHHHHHHHH!" Was all that came out of the man's mouth as he screamed and held on for dear life.

"Hold on!" Noel said, focusing her efforts on cushioning their landing.

She pointed her left arm down and fired Bolverk in an effort to slow their descent. While the effort slowed them to a degree, her using her right to hold the student, coupled with the extra weight, meant they weren't slowing down fast enough to make it a soft landing.

Seeing that they would have to brace for impact as they approached the top of the trees, Noel yelled out, "Brace yourself!" and spun the two of them in midair so he was behind her and her back faced the quickly approaching tree tops, and guaranteeing he'd suffer the least damage.

Noel winced as she felt many branches crash into her back, followed by a cry of pain when her back crashed into a sturdy tree trunk. Noel felt herself start to black out as she fell to the forest floor below.

Chapter Text

"BIRDY! NO!"

That was the first thing that came out of Ruby's mouth as she fell to the Emerald Forest below when she accidentally killed an innocent bird. Using Crescent Rose, she hooked herself to a branch that she fast approached, spinning and releasing the blade after she lost enough momentum to make a safe landing. As she landed, she immediately started moving North to get to the relic, but before she did that...

Gotta find Yang! Gotta find Yang! Gotta find Yang!

As she ran, Ruby began calling out her sister's name. Desperately trying to find her so they could become partners. But after a few minutes of running and calling out to her, she found no luck.

This is bad. What if I can't find her? What if she ends up with someone else? Ruby thought to herself. She started forming a plan in her head for who else she knew that she could be partners with if Yang got paired up before she found her.

Okay, who do I know that I can partner up with? Ruby started a mental list of who else she knew. Oh, there's Jaune. He's super nice. He's funny. Buuut probably not very good at fighting. She winced as she imagined the blonde in a fight with Grimm which...didn't end well for him. Okay, who else? Noel! She's shy, but she has cool hand cannons and she's as nice as Jaune. Ruby pictured her and Noel on a team, but she imagined Noel hiding behind a book. There's also Makoto. Bubbly, cheerful, strong looking. She kinda reminds me of Yang looking back. As her mind swam through her limited options, she heard the cracking of branches coming from a nearby bush.

Ruby stopped upon hearing the noise, "Hello." She looked around to see if she could find the source. All she could see were tall trees in all directions. The sheer amount of tree trunks interrupted by visible bushes, rocks, and boulders that pelleted the area. Ruby continued looking, until she heard a rustling from the bushes right behind her.

Cautiously, she turned to the source of the noise and pulled out Crescent Rose in its rifle form, holding it so that the barrel was pointed towards the shrubs facing her. She slowly walked to large bush, mentally preparing for either a fellow student to come out so she could greet them, or a Grimm to shoot. When she approached the bush, she slowly lifted her hand to move the leaves out of the way, still keeping her other hand on the trigger. She quickly moves the bush's leaves...

…only to find nothing was there.

Huh, I could've sworn I heard the noise coming from here. Ruby thought. Perhaps the stress of worrying over who her partner would be was causing her to hear things. Still, Ruby refused to let her guard down. However, just as she put her hand back below the barrel of her gun and set to turn around, a shadow loomed over her and from it came an inhumane growling.

Rather than slowly turn, Ruby instead burst to her left and ran right towards a tree. She jumped and landed her feet onto the trunk, opening Crescent Rose to full scythe mode as she did so. Using the tree as a platform, she jumped off and sped right towards her would be attacker, scythe at the ready to hack it to pieces. The brief second before Ruby connected her slash to the neck revealed the opposing Grimm to be a Beowolf, one that immediately lost its head with its body sent crashing toward the ground. Both the decapitated head and corpse began to dissipate when Ruby's feet hit the floor.

Just then, more rustling from the other bushes in the area. As Ruby stood up, two more Beowolves shot out from the bushes while another four moved in from behind the large boulders. Apparently, they were attempting to spring a trap for an unsuspecting student and hoped to ambush them 6 to 1.

Pretty bad odds... well, for them at least. Ruby thought as she smirked, now getting to do one of coolest things Huntresses and Huntsman got to do: Kick evil monster butt.

The Grimm surrounded her from all sides and lunged at her, trying to attack from every angle. Ruby burst skyward until she reached the height of the surrounding trees. Facing down at her enemies, she shifted Crescent Rose to its rifle mode. Taking aim, she blasted the heads off of two of her attackers in rabid succession; their bodies falling limp to the ground and slowly fading away.

As Ruby fell down, she shifted her weapon back to scythe form and aimed herself towards the remaining four, hoping to cut them all down in a single strike. However, three of them managed to collect themselves and move away from her line of sight as she readied to attack.

One of them wasn't so lucky.

Ruby brought Crescent Rose's blade down on the unlucky Grimm, slicing it down the middle; the Grimm started fading away as its split halves fell. She then turned to face the remaining three Beowolves, holding her scythe at the ready. Her opponents snarled at her and one of them motioned to charge with sharpened claws primed to strike.

Suddenly, a primal yell roared out from behind the three beasts and a red clad figure lunged out at blinding speeds. He brought his enormous blade down on the centermost Grimm, pulverizing the Beowolf and causing it to make an almost humorous 'yelp' sound. Dust and dirt were sent flying as Ruby shielded her eyes from it all.

Within the dust cloud, Ruby could make out the details of the fight as she saw the silhouettes of the student and the remaining two Grimm. The Grimm that stood directly behind the figure attempted to slash the man with its claws, but the man backflipped over it with sword in hand, not at all bothered by the weight of the weapon. Said Grimm then tried to backhand the lone figure, but he ducked under the attack and proceeded to physically grab the beast by its neck, lifting the Grimm off its feet. The Grimm, in desperation, tried to slash at the man again, but instead was met with a blade impaling it through the chest before its claws could connect any hits. The body fell limp and faded away as the man swiped his blade through the air, pointing the tip to the ground from a diagonal angle.

The dust cleared, allowing Ruby to better see the ensuing fight. Ruby saw that the man who was fighting was the same white-haired, heterochromic man that she met after Weiss yelled at her the other day. Both his and her attention were directed to the last Beowolf, moving and encircling its new opponent with caution. As the man's eyes followed the beast, sword now resting on his right shoulder, Ruby noticed that the Grimm was subtly moving towards one of the large boulders that littered the area. Ruby saw what it was trying to do and yelled, "Look out! It's gonna throw-"

The Grimm didn't hesitate when it was close enough and, with great effort, grabbed the large boulder and proceeded to chuck it. Much to her shock, the boulder wasn't heading for the man, but instead it went straight towards her!

Ruby prepared to dash out of the way, but before she did, the white-haired man rushed in the way of the boulder's path and proceeded to cleave it in two. Just as he did, however, the Beowolf attacked from directly behind the thrown boulder, backhanding the man and knocking him right into Ruby, sending them both flying back several feet.

As Ruby got to her feet, she saw the man snarl and rush forward. He lunged upward into the air and activated a mechanism on his sword, elongating the blade and rotating it 90 degrees, a scarlet energy emitted from behind it. Ruby's jaw nearly dropped as she gasped; her eyes filled with wonder and excitement. He's using a scythe! And it's so much like Uncle Qrow's! Oh, that's so cool!

The older student gave a roar of anger as he brought his scythe down on the Grimm that had leapt up to meet his attack head on. It instead found itself cut down diagonally; the two halves falling unceremoniously to the forest floor as they started to dissipate. The man landed feet first, spinning his scythe and shifting it back into a sword before sheathing it in the holster on his belt.

After seeing the man in action, Ruby let out an excited squeal, "That. Was. AMAZING!"

The man then turned to Ruby, who continued with her gushing. "That was just awesome! When you swooped in and crushed that first Grimm! But then you lifted one by the neck! How did you get that strong? Where did you get that weapon? It turned into a scythe just like mine! I never thought I'd get to meet someone else with a scythe! Oh, we could be scythe buddies and-" Ruby would have continued further when she noticed the man walk away from her. "Hey! Wait up! We're supposed to be partners now!" Ruby called out as she followed him.

"Look kid." The man said, not bothering to turn to face her as he continued to walk. "I don't do "partners", so how about we pretend we never saw each other?"

Ruby pouted as she rushed in front of him, forcing him to stop, "But that's not how this works. Ozpin said that the first person we make eye contact with is our partner. I was hoping to run into my sister, but-"

"So go find and bother her. I don't need some brat bothering me." He said, crossing his arms and glaring at her.

Ruby, now getting frustrated with the man, crossed her arms and glared at him in kind. "I am NOT a brat! Take it back! You... you big jerkface!"

"Riiiight." The man's voice was just laced with sarcasm as he said that, rolling his eyes as well. "Totally not a brat." He then sighed and said, "Look, you seem like a good kid, so you're better off partnering with someone else anyway. I work better alone, so go find your sister and pray to the gods that she hasn't made eye contact with anyone yet." He then started moving past Ruby, but she grabbed his hand to keep him there. Didn't work since he just ended up pulling Ruby and almost making her trip, but it did at least get him to stop again.

The man turned to Ruby and looked as though he was about to tell her off again, but Ruby decided to pull out her secret weapon; the eyes.

Ruby looked at him with the most pleading face she could muster, which admittedly worked best when she had sad music to play, but this would have to do. The man just looked apathetically at her, so she upped the ante with a pouting lip and a whimpering dog sound. Not even Uncle Qrow could resist the sad Zwei face, so this man shouldn't either. To his credit, he did a pretty good job at seeming to be unaffected, but after another thirty seconds...

"GAH! FINE! I'll be your partner! Just stop staring at me with those eyes for fucks sake!" He yelled out in frustration, facepalming as he did so.

Ruby couldn't help but smirk with her victory. Yep. The sad Zwei face works every time.

Now having a partner, Ruby exuberantly jumped up and gave him a one armed hug, drawing him down to her level as she excitedly said, "Yay! Don't worry mister, you won't regret this! When we finish, you'll say, 'Wow, Ruby Rose is super, duper cool... and we'll be besties for the resties.'"

"Ok. One, if we're gonna be partners, don't talk like that. And two," He then grabbed the back of her hood as he stood up, lifting her off the ground to meet his height, "Don't grab me like that either. Got it." Before she could answer, he dropped her, landing her on her feet as he kept walking the way he was before. Ruby, not wanting to get left behind, followed after him.

The two walked in awkward silence, which Ruby decided to fill by whistling. This didn't seem to bother the man as he never yelled at her to stop. After a couple minutes of this, Ruby decided to try and get to know her new partner. "Hey." She said, the man stopping to face her, "Since we're gonna be partners, I think we should get to at least know each other's names." She then held out her right hand, "You already know mine, Ruby Rose. What's yours?"

He stared at her hand for a few seconds, not responding, but he then took his right hand to meet hers and shook it, "Ragna."

Ruby waited for him to continue, but he didn't. "No last name?" She asked.

"No." Ragna said blankly and removed his hand from hers, returning to walking through the Emerald Forest. Ruby decided that that was enough for now. If nothing else, she knew her partner's name. 

Maybe this won't be so bad, Ruby thought to herself as she continued following Ragna.

Chapter Text

Blake traversed the forest, jumping and swinging across the tree tops as she looked to the forest floor below. While the main priority Ozpin gave her and the other students was to first find a partner then make their way to the north of the forest to collect the relic, she decided to focus more on the relic, remaining high in the trees so as to avoid direct eye contact with anyone.

While doing so, she didn't see any students, only being alerted to their presence by the sounds of gunfire, blades cutting through Grimm flesh loud enough to be heard from afar, and the occasional explosion.

Granted, this was only a temporary solution to her partner situation, as she needed to find someone who she knew she could work with. So far, she only had three options; Makoto, Tsubaki, and Noel.

Tsubaki seemed like a capable fighter and both of them did share a love of books and a thirst for knowledge. But at the same time, she carried herself with this sense of nobility that was common for those from Atlas, and considering Atlas' reputation, she wasn't sure on being her partner, despite her kind demeanor.

Noel certainly seemed sweet and caring, as well as quiet, but at the same time, that same shy demeanor didn't paint her fighting skills in a positive light. Blake was sure that Noel was a decent fighter, but she wasn't sure if she could be one who would reliably have her back when it came to life-or-death combat.

And then there was Makoto. Out of all of them, Blake felt that Makoto was the one she could most reliably partner with. Her energy could be tiring, but at the same time, she also felt like the one of the three she could trust the most. It wasn't just the fact that both of them were Faunus, it was also because Makoto seemed to be relentless in her mission to get her to open up, and Blake couldn't help but admire that. Not to mention that besides Professor Ozpin, she was the only other person here at Beacon who knew her secret.

Makoto. I may not have known her for long, but she'd definitely be my choice. Blake thought to herself as she stopped swinging and perched herself on a high branch to get a sense of her current surroundings.

From the look of things, she was about to enter a small clearing in the forest, where the grass stopped and dirt took its place for a brief moment. It was devoid of any trees or even the boulders she saw scattered about; an ideal spot for a battleground, and considering where she was and what she was doing, it was an inevitability that said fight was going to happen, but she needed to get her bearings first.

She took in every inch of the surrounding. Due to the lack of trees in the clearing, it didn't give her much room to swing around and have airborne attack vectors in the event of Grimm showing up, but it certainly gave her plenty of room to maneuver around whatever she would face. No environmental factors to either get in the way or assist me if I need them. Perfectly neutral ground. she thought. While she wasn't looking for a fight, it never hurt to be prepared for the inevitable.

Mulling over her potential partner, Makoto seemed to radiate this sense of exuberance and warmth, like she'd always stand by someone that she considered a friend. For as much as she found the constant energy tiresome, Blake couldn't help but also find it soothing as well. She also seemed to carry herself with this sense of honesty as well. Makoto didn't hide what she was (not that she could) and, if anything, took pride in the fact that she was a Faunus.

Not like me. Blake would admit, she wasn't ashamed to be born as a Faunus, but she felt this sense of shame due to hiding herself like she was. She wished she had even a fraction of Makoto's bravery to stand tall and take pride in herself.

"HIIIYYYYAAAA!"

Interrupting Blake's thoughts was the sound of a familiar voice yelling out. She looked down from her perch and saw a large black figure flying to the right and crashing into a tree, knocking the trunk off its roots and breaking the tree in half. The Grimm, which Blake could now see was an Ursa Minor, shook its head and glared at the one who knocked it back. Blake turned to the left and saw the familiar figure of Makoto walking up to the Grimm, cross-guard tonfa equipped, now standing on the other side of the clearing directly facing the Ursa.

Brimming with confidence, Makoto stretched her arms and proceeded to converse with the Grimm, "So, Ursi, any chance you've seen my friends around here? One of 'em's a redhead with a wing hat, one's got a bow and is, like, super moody, and the other's super shy and adorable? I tried asking your friend, but it came down with a pretty bad case of dissolved into ash." The Ursa just growled in response as it glared at her. "Yeah, that's what I thought." Makoto then bent into a boxing stance, bouncing up and down as she waited for her opponent to make its move.

Blake, for her part, decided to watch and wait as things played out. Makoto clearly believed she could take on the Grimm, and Blake herself wasn't sure if her interference would aid or hinder the squirrel Faunus' combat, especially since she didn't know how Makoto fought. Best to wait for an opening where she could kill the Grimm in a single strike, then meet with Makoto.

The Grimm gave a feral roar and threw the broken branches off itself as it charged at Makoto, who smirked in response.

As it charged, Makoto side-stepped its attack and spun, using her tail and the momentum it built up from charging to bat it away toward Makoto's left, knocking it down and planting its face into the dirt beneath their feet and sticking its butt upwards. Blake saw that Makoto had a glint in her eye and she immediately knew what the squirrel Faunus was going to do.

Makoto ran to her comically trapped opponent and, as she reached it, proceeded to kick the Grimm's rear hard enough to launch it out of the hole it made and send it into the air. Makoto then moved a bit forward and turned, clearly intending to attack the Grimm once it landed. She pulled her right fist back and, just before the Ursa could make landfall, she struck, sending it flying back with immense force right into the tree Blake was perched on. Blake remained undeterred by the disturbance as the Ursa fell to the floor and began to get back up.

With the Ursa now directly beneath her, Blake decided to make her move. She leapt down from her perch and pulled out Gambol Shroud in its sword form. She struck the Grimm's unarmored hide, slashing downward as she descended. That served as the final blow for the Ursa, as it fell to the ground and ceased all movement.

Seeing that it started to fade away, Blake turned to Makoto, who was now walking towards her. While she maintained an ambivalent appearance, she internally couldn't believe her luck. She got the partner she wanted right off the bat.

"Nice one Blakey." Makoto congratulated as she put her hands on her hips. "Bit earlier would have been nice though."

"I was waiting for an opening to end the fight as fast as I could." Blake replied as she sheathed Gambol Shroud. "So, what exactly happened?"

"Weeellll...it all started whe-" Makoto began, but before she could continue...

"Please, stop. No exaggerated stories right now Makoto. Just the real thing." Blake said as she put her hand to her head. She certainly didn't mind Makoto's (admittedly entertaining) tall tales, but now wasn't the time for any of them.

At the request, Makoto pouted and said, "You're no fun. Anyway..."

(A few minutes earlier)

"HELLLLOOOOOOO! NOELLERS! BLAKEY! BAKI! WHERE ARE YOU GUYS!? Makoto yelled out. She was determined to find her friends, but the thick foliage of the forest seemed to make itself her mortal enemy in this regard.

"Hey forest!" She yelled out, though not at the same volume as she was prior, "Any chance you could throw a gal a bone and let me run into my friends, like, super fast?" she obviously wasn't expecting the forest to talk back, but at this point, she'd take a talking forest over nothing.

Before she could yell out again, the rustling of leaves drew her attention to a large bush that seemed to cover a large area behind it. It was so thick that it even covered an entire tree trunk despite it being mostly to the bush's left.

"Huh, wasn't actually expecting that. Thanks forest." She said to absolutely no one, deciding to just go along with what she was saying earlier. She walked up to the bush and moved it aside, finding not any of her friends, but a lone Ursa Minor sniffing about for nearby prey amidst the bushes further back, somehow not sensing her...or hearing her loud yelling from earlier for some reason.

Well, not what I was looking for, but eh, I could use the warm up. Makoto though to herself as she equipped her tonfa and decided to make her presence known to the Grimm in front of her.

"Excuse me, Mr. Monster Bear." Makoto started, gaining the Grimm's attention as it turned to face her. "I don't know if you've noticed, but I'm looking for a few gal pals of mine. Any chance you can point me in their direction?" she playfully asked in rhetoric, hoping to make this as entertaining as possible.

Either the Grimm was just being a Grimm, or it knew she was mocking it, as it snarled in fury and charged right at her.

Makoto merely grinned as she ducked low. Rather than dodge, as soon as the Grimm was directly above her, she responded to its charge with an uppercut, stopping it in its tracks and sending the Ursai upward.

Not giving it a second to recover, she ran right towards it, throwing a haymaker right into its face and knocking it into a nearby tree. Once more, she followed up with a flurry of punches, each stronger than the last. Before she could finish it off, she felt as though something was watching her. After the last punch was made, the spike of her tonfa piercing the Ursa's head, rather than turn, she instead blocked the oncoming strike using her tail.

She then turned her head to meet what could only be described as a shocked expression on another Ursa. Well, for as much as Grimm could express shock anyway. "Betcha' didn't see that coming, now did ya." she said as back kicked the Grimm away from her. As it flew back, she then charged right at it, her arm and tonfa coated with a golden glow that expanded as she landed her punch.

"HIIIYYYYAAAA!"

The strike unleashed all the energy she had built up from fighting the previous Ursa Minor, sending the Grimm flying through several trees and bushes, with Makoto giving chase.

"...And that's how we got here." Makoto concluded. Though as she did, she gained a worried expression on her face.

"What's wrong?" Blake asked.

"It's nothing, just..." Makoto sighed, "I'm worried about Noel. I kinda promised that we'd be partners in all this and I guess I can't help feeling a little...well, shitty that I couldn't keep that promise."

Seeing that her friend was down, Blake put a hand on Makoto's shoulder, causing her to look Blake in the eye, "Don't worry. From what you said, Noel can hold her own. With any luck, she and Tsubaki got paired up, so she's in good hands." she said, doing her best to comfort her friend. "Besides, I'm sure we'll meet them along the way to get to the relics."

In response, Makoto gave her a rather cheeky grin and replied, "Y'know, for someone who sticks her nose in books most of the time and never talks much, you're not half bad at these 'Feel Better' speeches." She winked at her, causing Blake to blush.

"I-I just said the first thing that I thought would help. I'm not really good at-" Blake started saying, but Makoto cut her off.

"Relax Blakey, just messing with ya." She then gave her a brief hug before facing her again, "But seriously, thanks. I kind of needed that." She then started looking around, "So, you wouldn't happen to remember where we're supposed to go, would ya? Those dumb Ursai threw me off."

Blake looked around and saw the Beacon cliffs just above the trees. She then looked in the opposite direction and pointed, "Ozpin said that we were to head North to find the relics. North is in that direction."

She then looked to Makoto, who had her hands behind her head in nonchalance as she smiled at her. "Lead the way, oh wise one."

Blake couldn't help but smile as she started traversing North, Makoto just behind her.

Chapter Text

Jaune Arc was not having a fun time.

First, he got launched in the air in the middle of his question and had no idea how to land himself. Then a blonde girl with green eyes, who he later learned was named Noel Vermillion, saved him at the expense of losing track of her friends that she wanted to partner up with and ended up injuring herself for her troubles.

Way to go Jaune, now she's stuck with a useless partner just because YOU had to be so incompetent, he berated himself for his and Noel's current predicament.

While Noel was able to recover after a couple minutes thanks to her Aura, it still didn't assuage Jaune's guilt over how he ended up causing her to miss her friends. All because he flailed around like an moron and needed to be saved from possible death by his lack of foresight. He should have been better than this. He needed to be better than this.

"Uh, J-Jaune?"

Noel's voice rattled him out of his internalized self-loathing. He turned to face her and saw that she had a look of worry and guilt on her face.

"Are you okay? Y-you seem angry." she asked. Great, and now she thinks I'm angry at her. Way to go, Jaune.

"Sorry Noel. I'm not mad." he stood in silence for a few seconds. "Okay, fine, I'm mad, but I'm not mad at you. I'm mad at myself. Because I couldn't...oh, I don't know, figure out how to land myself, you lost track of the people you wanted to partner with." he then looked to the floor, "Instead, you got stuck with me."

He then felt something on his shoulder, causing him to look up and see that Noel had placed her hand there, looking him in the eye with a face that was simultaneously nervous and caring.

"Jaune, it's okay. I know I'm not going to be partners with Tsubaki, Makoto, Blake, Yang, or even Ruby, and I'm...I'm still kinda freaking out on the inside." she said as she then looked down for a moment before she looked back up at Jaune. "But this was my choice, and you looked like you needed help. I'm a Huntress-in-training, and it's my duty to help people when they need it." she then removed her hand from his shoulder and reached behind her back to grab her other arm's elbow. Smiling, she said, "Besides, you're not really that bad. It's...it's actually kind of easy for me to talk to you, being honest."

While Jaune momentarily lit up at her kind words, he deflated somewhat as one of her phrases stuck out to him. You looked like you needed help. But he was training to be a Huntsman, and they were the one's that were supposed to do the saving, not be saved. Guess I'm off to a 'great' start, huh? First thing that happens to me here at Beacon? Get saved like a lovable idiot.

He couldn't be that idiot. He needed to be the hero, not the damsel.

Before he could thank Noel for her kind words, however, her happy expression turned shocked and she pushed him to the side. "LOOK OUT!" she yelled as she pushed him away; her diving in the opposite direction as she did so. In the wake of falling, Jaune saw a black blur rush past where they were standing.

Jaune ended up gracelessly falling flat on the floor. When he lifted his head, he saw that Noel had dove into a somersault and swiftly pulled out her twin handcannons, pointing the barrels at a black monster, a Grimm, that looked a lot like a pig. Noel's face became deathly serious as she kept her guns facing the monster.

Jaune couldn't help but be shocked by Noel's sudden change in demeanor. Mere moments ago, she was acting a lot like those shy wallflower-type characters that he saw in cartoons growing up. Now, she was holding her firearms like a trained killer from a superhero comic.

The sudden personality change was...actually kind of terrifying when Jaune thought about it.

Not one to stay down, Jaune picked himself up as fast as he could and rushed to attack the Grimm, Corcea Mors in hand. He brought the sword down on the Grimm's white plating, but instead of the desired effect of cutting through it, he instead found the sword only cut partially through the armor, jamming the side of the blade into the skull-like plates. The Grimm, more annoyed by his attack, shook him off and rammed him with its tusks, knocking him back several feet. As Jaune started to get up, he noticed that the creature was now focusing its attention on Noel.

The Grimm pig, with his sword still lodged in its armor, began charging at her, rolling into a ball as it did so. Noel, rather than duck and cover, just stood there, deathly calm as the Grimm barreled towards her. At the last second, she jumped into the air and leapt over the Grimm as it rolled. While she soared, Noel did...something to her guns that caused them to merge into an even larger gun. She then took aim at the Grimm now directly below her and fired, sending the pig falling down to the floor on its back with a loud squeal.

All Jaune could do was stare slack-jawed as Noel landed on the floor, holding her massive shotgun which she promptly split back into the smaller pistols they were previously. In his head, he had a hard time processing what just happened.

Okay, so she goes from sweet, to deadly, then she takes her guns and makes a bigger gun, then she jumps over the thing and blasts it in one shot! Jaune thought, still shocked at Noel's feat and the fact that her shotgun blast proved far more effective than his attempted sword attack.

"Hey, are you okay, Jaune?" Noel's voice called out to him, snapping him out of his thoughts.

Jaune looked up and saw Noel's hand held out to help him up. Despite his inner troubles about needing to be saved again, he swallowed his (admittedly small) pride and took Noel's hand. As he got up, he asked, "How did you do that? My sword couldn't even cut through that thing's...uh, bone...plates." he said, not exactly sure what to call the Grimm's armor.

Noel turned and walked to where she killed the Grimm, the beast itself seemingly nowhere to be found, but his sword remained. As she walked to it, she answered, "That Grimm was one I learned about called a Boarbatusk. Its armor plates make it hard to kill when you attack it from the front, but its underbelly is vulnerable." as she said this, she picked up his sword from the ground with a small grunt. "I just fired at the last minute when it was uncurling from its ball form in midair. It's not much, really." she walked back to Jaune, holding out his sword with both hands, left hand on the blade and right hand on the handle, as she looked down shyly as if she didn't just kill a monster using a large cannon and extremely precise reaction time.

Jaune then looked at his sword, his face reflecting off the surface. All he could do was sigh and look at his reflection in shame. "I'm sorry, Noel. I...I messed up. You're better off finding your friends. I'll just get in your way."

"B-but Jaune! You shouldn't say things like that! I mean, yeah, I wish I had Tsubaki and Makoto with me now, but that doesn't mean I'm upset that your my partner." Noel exclaimed with a shocked expression.

"No Noel. I mean you need to find them because I'm worthless in a fight." Jaune said, slumping to the floor as he did so. "I mean, just look at what happened. I went in, sword swinging, and all that happened was I got disarmed and knocked back like a wimp. I can't have your back in any of this. I barely have mine."

The two of them just sat there in a state of uncomfortable silence for a good couple minutes, Jaune unable to see Noel's expression as he looked to the floor, stuck in a state of melancholy. He heard the grass crunch beneath Noel's feet and looked to see that she had moved beside him and knelt down to his level. Before he could say anything, Jaune became surprised when Noel wrapped her arms around him from his side, enveloping him in a small hug.

"Jaune, I-If I'm being honest. I'm scared. I don't really know what I'm doing half of the time and if I didn't have Bolverk, I'd be even more useless than you think you are." She then moved from her position to look Jaune in the eye. Her green eyes shimmered with a mix of nervousness and compassion. "But you're much stronger than you believe yourself to be. I mean, look at what happened just now! Sure, your sword attack didn't work, but you didn't even hesitate. You just went in there sword swinging without any fear. I end up freaking out on the inside when that happens, but you didn't. You're a lot braver than I am."

Jaune couldn't help but be surprised by what he was hearing. Noel, a bad fighter? He thought to himself. But she just blasted that Grimm like it was nothing! How can she call herself a bad fighter after that?

"W-what do you mean you're a bad fighter? You just killed that pig monster in one shot! I couldn't even dent it!" Jaune exclaimed, still shocked by Noel's view on her abilities.

Noel opened her mouth to speak, but Jaune just continued, "Look at you! You faced that thing head on and didn't get a scratch on you! If that doesn't make you a good fighter, I don't know what does. I mean, I'm part of this big family of heroes, but look at me. I can't swing a sword right, I can't fight, and I get knocked back whenever I try. I thought I could just waltz in and be a hero like they were, but instead I just floundered like a damn idiot."

Noel just sat there next to him, as if she was contemplating his words, before she looked down and said, "T-thank you, Jaune. But like I said, I'm really not as good as you think. Whenever I see a Grimm, I start freaking out on the inside. All these monsters we have to fight scare me. Even the small ones. I know it looks like I'm in control, but I really don't know what I'm doing half of the time, so I just...flounder too, I guess."

Both of them sat there in uncomfortable silence, leaving Jaune to ponder what to do or even say next. Noel clearly looked like she could hold her own in a fight, unlike him, but she didn't see it that way. From how she kept talking herself down, it was almost like she saw herself as...well, as a burden. It was also clear from how she talked about it that she didn't like it either.

Well, that sure sounds familiar, huh Jaune? He thought to himself.

"So...I guess were both just a couple of goofballs just floundering around, huh?" Jaune asked, feeling more positive than he did before.

"Yeah...I guess we are." Noel replied.

At that, Jaune started to get up from his slumped position on the floor, with Noel following suit as she stood up alongside him. "Alright, so, we have no idea what we're doing, we're probably the worst fighters at this school, and we're in a forest full of monsters that are out to kill us." Jaune recapped their current situation. "Did I miss anything?"

"Nope, that about sums it up." Noel said, "We're probably gonna mess up, but..." she then held out her hand as if waiting for a handshake, "If we mess up, then we'll mess up as a team. Right partner?"

Jaune, now smiling, reached out with his hand and shook Noel's, "Right, partner."

The two retracted their hands and just stood there for a bit, Noel having a confused look for a brief bit before it shifted to embarrassment. "S-so, uh...you...wouldn't happen to know where we're supposed to go. Would you?"

At that, Jaune stammered, "I-I don't know. I was hoping you knew!"

And with that, he added another thing to the mental recap: They were lost.

Crapbaskets, was Jaune's only thought at that moment.

Chapter Text

Weiss found herself wandering within the Emerald Forest as she went on her way to locate the relics Ozpin assigned them to find.

Well, that wasn't one hundred percent accurate in reality. Weiss was actually looking for a partner to aid her. The primary reason was that she believed that if she found a suitable partner, it would increase their chances of success. Weiss was already a natural talent, so combining her efforts with the efforts of another student that matched her caliber would suit such a need.

The second reason, and one that she utterly loathed to admit, was...well, because she was lost.

A few minutes after she had landed, she simply wandered through the forest in what she believed to be North given that it was the direction Ozpin stated the relic was located in, but the constant foliage that seemed omnipresent no matter where she went made doing so by herself an impossibility. The tall trees even covered her view of the sky, only allowing rays of light to shine down onto the forest below, so she couldn't just look for the cliff and go in its opposite direction. Despite all her training, forest grounds were not exactly an environment she was familiar with. Her lack of a means to naturally tell the four cardinal directions didn't help her situation either.

Ugh, stupid forest. Stupid trees. Weiss thought to herself. While she was certainly thinking more...unprofessional and crude thoughts towards her current environment that she would never vocalize around others (a Schnee should never contaminate their tongue with such vulgarity after all), could one truly blame her? This forest was an utter pain to deal with, and not because it was infested with Grimm.

Because of the frustrations of the forest, she made it a point to find herself a proper partner first, and in this scenario, she only had two options that she could only hope were available: Pyrrha and Tsubaki.

Now, Pyrrha was the most obvious choice given her illustrious reputation. Four time champion of the Mistral regional tournament, top graduate of Sanctum Academy, known far and wide as the pride of Mistral that even the current ruling Empress of said kingdom held in high regards. Really, who wouldn't want to have her on their side?

And given Weiss' own scholastic achievements, natural talent in rapier combat and Dust, as well as her vast array of knowledge in all academic subjects, she was the most logical and deserving student to be Pyrrha's partner.

However, while Weiss would never say it out loud, partnering up with Pyrrha didn't seem like it was not going to be an option.

You'll have to face the facts Weiss. Pyrrha is almost too renowned for her own good, and that reputation attracts people. The rest of the students will have already started searching for her as soon as they landed, and someone else would have already succeeded in finding her by now. She reluctantly thought to herself.

It made the most sense. Pyrrha's reputation would draw other students in like moths to a flame, with Weiss being only one in a large group. Considering the time she wasted on trying to find North so she could retrieve the relic first, it was all too likely that another student had managed to find the pride of Mistral first before she shifted gears towards trying to find a partner of her own. Despite Weiss believing that only either herself or someone on her level deserved to be affiliated with Pyrrha Nikos, the odds of them being partners was not in her favor.

So as far as options went, Weiss saw her only logical choice as Tsubaki.

Despite the years that had passed between the two, Tsubaki hadn't changed a bit. She still carried herself with the poise, elegance, and wit of a woman befitting her station. Not to mention she told off that arrogant brute from earlier, which was already a major plus in Weiss' eyes.

Her only real issue with Tsubaki was that she had no idea how she fought.

The last time she saw her friend was back when they were both ten years old, a time when both of them were required to put their focus into their duties as heiresses to their family names. Naturally, neither of them were training at that point, so Weiss had no idea what her fighting style would be or how it would compliment hers.

From what I could tell, her weapon looked like a collapsible shield with a sword attachment, so perhaps hers would have some similarities to Pyrrha's. Weiss thought as she ran the possibilities through her head. That could work to her benefit, seeing as she watched all of Pyrrha's tournaments and knew exactly how she fought. So, if Tsubaki's fighting style was similar, then she could work with it.

Cristle

Snapping her out of her musings was the sound of a broken twig. Weiss drew Myrtenaster into her left hand in response, looking for where that sound could have come from.

Cristle

She heard the sound again, though this time she was able to identify the source. Turning behind her, she noticed a series of trees that gave way to darkness, preventing her from seeing what lurked within. Until she saw it.

Eyes as red as blood moved within the shadows, slowly approaching her. As she readied herself, she saw another set of crimson eyes, though they stood lower than the first pair, then another, then another...

And soon Weiss found herself surrounded by a small pack of Beowolves, numbering at nine total as they began stalk and surround her, likely to cut off any possible escape roots she could have taken. The largest, the Alpha, stood right behind her.

Alright Weiss, just remember your training. Left foot forward. She thought to herself as she moved her left foot forward, Not that forward!, before retracting it by about an inch. She slowed her breath, and then...

NOW!

She held the hilt of Myrtenaster to her face and dashed forward to meet her first opponent as if gliding on air. As soon as she reached the beowolf, she impaled it through the center of its chest, the fire Dust within her rapier's chamber setting the Grimm ablaze.

She swiftly made a full 180 degree turn from her left, slicing away at two charging Grimm with a single, elegant slash. Now only six Grimm remained.

None of them moved, the Grimm seemed to be purveying her movements, as if trying to figure out what she would do next. Weiss, in turn, eyed all of her opponents as she pointed Myrtenaster's tip at Alpha in the center, uncertain of what their move would be as they snarled and growled at her.

The alpha looked to its left and right at individual beowolves and growled at both of them, as if communicating something, most likely a plan of attack. But then...

Schink!

Suddenly, an orange blade came out of the Alpha's torso, impaling it from behind. Faster than either it and Weiss could react, the Alpha was then pulled back into the bushes behind it, the blade revealing itself to be more of a whip in the process. A series of noises signifying slashes and impalement followed from behind the bushes as the rest of the Grimm pack looked to where their leader had vanished, as if they were processing what had just happened.

Just then, a familiar figure in beige jumped out of the bush and into the air, holding in her right hand the orange gladius blade that impaled the Alpha and in the other what looked to be a collapsed shield. Tsubaki then ran forward to another Grimm, her left hand forward as a glow enveloped the weapon it held. Just as she reached the Grimm and it moved to strike at her, a bright light erupted from the shield, which Weiss, now with a closer look, saw was more akin to a large Grimoire or a tome. This light caused the Grimm to stumble back as it reached for its eyes, blinded by the flash. With it unable to defend itself, Tsubaki took the opportunity to slash at its unprotected chest, leaving it to collapse on the floor.

After her kill, Tsubaki jumped into the air and landed right next to Weiss with a twirl. The Yayoi heiress then turned to Weiss and flashed a warm smile. "Good to see you Weiss. Sorry to drop in like this."

Weiss smiled back and replied, "It's alright. I was hoping that I would run into you, though definitely not under these circumstances."

"Same here." Tsubaki said, before looking back at their opponents. With their pack leader dead, the rest of the Grimm snarled at them, as if they were unsure of what to do now. Tsubaki then said in a stern tone, "I have an idea, as soon as I jump into the air, I need you to close your eyes, and as soon as I say "now", cover the area in ice. Sound good?"

Weiss wasn't one who enjoyed being told what to do, but from the sound of it and the no-nonsense look on her face, Tsubaki had a plan set up. After a brief second, Weiss nodded and watched as Tsubaki jumped high into the air. The rest of the Grimm followed Tsubaki's movements and all looked up. In that time, Weiss switched Myrtenaster's chamber with Ice Dust and closed her eyes. Within her closed eyelids, she saw a brief flash of light and heard the howl of all the Beowolves, sounding as if they were in pain.

"NOW!"

At Tsubaki's command, Weiss spun and impaled Myrtenaster into the ground, covering the entire ground with ice. She opened her eyes and saw that all the Grimm were frozen in ice up to their wastes, leaving them immobilized.

Tsubaki then landed next to her and stood up, "Now duck!" She yelled out. Weiss then knelt down as Tsubaki's blade shifted, turning into a long whip with a bladed end that she swung around at each of the Grimm from her stationary position, decapitating each and every one of them in a single move. She then retracted her whip back into its blade form and sheathed it into her tome/shield combo. Weiss, in turn, stood up and pulled her blade from the ground; the ice melting and causing the fading Grimm bodies to fall slump on the damp, grassy floor.

"Sorry again about not helping earlier." Tsubaki said as she faced Weiss. "I was trying to find Noel and Makoto, but then I overheard your battle. I needed to assess the fastest way to kill all the Grimm before I could jump in. Are you alright?"

Weiss shook her head and replied, "It's alright, your plan worked in the end. So there's nothing to worry about."

Tsubaki nodded and smiled. "Well, in that case, it's best we get moving." She then pulled a circular device out and started walking in one direction, only to stop when she saw that Weiss wasn't following. "Weiss, are you coming?"

"Uh." Weiss started and said, "How exactly do you know that this is the right way?" Before she quickly added, "N-Not that I'm lost or anything! I definitely know which way the relics are. I just...want to confirm that you know, y'know?" Weiss quietly hoped that she gave nothing away when she added that last part.

Tsubaki then reached out the hand that held the circular device. Weiss walked up to get a closer look and saw that it was a compass. "Professor Ozpin said that the relics we were to collect are at the forest's Northern end. I was just lucky that I had one on hand in case of necessity is all."

Note to self: Next time I end up in a forest for whatever reason, bring a compass, or a map, or just...something to keep track of direction, Weiss thought to herself.

"I see." Weiss said. "In that case, could you take the lead here? I could certainly do so just fine, but I think the one of us with the compass should do so. I mean, it's your compass after all."

"Well, I don't have any issue with that." Tsubaki said before looking back to the compass and continuing the direction she was originally walking in. She then turned to Weiss and said, "Oh, and by the way, Weiss? It's okay to admit that you're lost. If I didn't pack this thing, I'd be as lost as you." Adorned on her face as she said this was a smile that Weiss was certain was cheeky, though it still managed to somehow be regal and sympathetic as well.

At her statement, Weiss sputtered, "I-I'm not lost! I just...those Grimm threw me off, okay!" She crossed her arms and turned her head as she closed her eyes. She was fairly certain that Tsubaki could see right through her lies, but she wasn't going to admit that, no thank you.

As if bemused by her statement, Tsubaki simply giggled and sighed wistfully, "Well alright then. Though you being lost does remind me of when we played hide-and seek around my family's estate. Remember? You got so lost that you stopped hiding and ran everywhere to try and find me, and we had to call the house's security to find you?"

"I-I-I..." Weiss could only stutter as her face turned red with embarrassment from that old memory. Looking back now, she would admit that it wasn't too terrible in retrospect, but still.

"Okay, fine, I guess it's kind of like that." Weiss reluctantly replied as she sighed. "But DO NOT tell anyone about that. I'd rather no one else know about that."

"Don't worry Weiss, it's just an old memory that this all reminded me of. It's nice to see you haven't changed too much." Tsubaki said, gently smiling as she looked back down at the compass. "Now, I believe the relics are this way." She then continued back to walking North.

Weiss followed after her. Not that Tsubaki could see it, but Weiss was smiling heavily at the moment. In part because she lucked out and got to be partners with someone she knew she could work with, and also because she had her old friend back with her.

Chapter Text

"RUBY! WHERE ARE YOU!?"

Pyrrha heard someone calling out nearby. When she initially made landfall, she did try her hand at looking for Jaune, but she was unable to find him. True, she did say she'd let the chips fall where they may, but a part of her really wanted Jaune to be her partner in this. It wasn't just because of his kindness and endearing nature that drew her to him, he also treated her like an actual person. He was the first person who saw her and didn't see her reputation, mainly because he didn't seem to know who she was.

"RUBY!"

The person that was nearby and out of Pyrrha's sight at the moment, however, wasn't Jaune. From the sound of it, the person was a woman and was looking for someone else.

While Pyrrha wanted to help her out, she felt it would be detrimental to both of them in terms of partnering. This person clearly wanted to partner with someone else, whoever this "Ruby" was, and Pyrrha had her sights on another. Going to her meant that they would both have to be partners with each other, therefore preventing them from pairing off with the people they wanted to team up with.

Suddenly, she heard what sounded like feral growling coupled with gunfire. It was coming from the same area that she heard the woman calling from, signifying that she was now combatting Grimm.

Pyrrha, not one to abandon a fellow student in need, stormed off in the direction she heard the noise coming from; Milo and Akouo in hand.

When she got close to the area, a black shadow rushed at her, prompting Pyrrha to raise her shield as she charged and bashed said shadow, knocking it forward. This sent the Grimm, which she could see was an Ursa, flying back towards the woman she heard before, who countered with an uppercut that sent the beast flying into the air.

Pyrrha then heard a growling to her right and saw that another Ursa was charging her. She quickly threw Akouo at its face before retracting the shield to her hand with polarity and shifting Milo into rifle mode. Firing off two shots to her disoriented opponent, knocking it back, she then ran forward and drop kicked the Ursa, sending it flying back into a nearby tree. Before it could gather itself, Pyrrha finished it off by throwing Milo in it's javelin form directly at it, impaling the Grimm through its mouth and killing it in an instant.

Having finished her opponent off, Pyrrha then turned to her fellow student, whom she could see was a blonde woman with lilac eyes in a tan jacket, and saw that she was putting the finishing touches (or in this case, punches) on her opposing Ursa.

The blonde woman then turned to her and said, "Thanks for that, but I could've taken them, y'know."

Pyrrha smiled and said, "Well, as a huntress-in-training, it wouldn't sit well with me if I didn't help a fellow student, now would it?" So far, so good. The woman didn't break out into any form of fangirling or awkward adulation. Hopefully this meant she could meaningfully interact with her.

"Yeah, guess I would have done the-" The blonde started before she stopped herself and a face of realization hit, "Hey, wait a minute. I know you!"

Aaaaand there it is. Well, there went any chance of a mutual partnership.

"You're that fighter chick from the cereal boxes!" The girl in front of her exclaimed.

Pyrrha only had one thought in her head at the moment. What.

"Yeah, saw you on some of them when I was shopping for groceries." she said, smiling at her. "Didn't buy any though."

Pyrrha rubbed the back of her head and replied, "Well, I wouldn't recommend it. It really isn't a good brand."

The blonde held out her hand, "Anyway, name's Yang."

Pyrrha reached her other hand out to shake it, "Pyrrha."

"And that seems to be the last pair." Glynda said as she watched Yang and Pyrrha make eye contact from the many monitors placed throughout the Emerald Forest. "From the looks of things, those two should get along just fine."

So far, in Glynda's eyes, there had been multiple partnerings that seemed well adjusted with each other that would lead to efficient cooperation for when they collected the relics. The partnerings of Weiss Schnee and Tsubaki Yayoi, Jaune Arc and Noel Vermillion, and Blake Belladonna and Makoto Nanaya, all bore fruitful results given the positive interactions they have all had since becoming teammates. Even Lie Ren and Nora Valkyrie, despite her misgivings that they wouldn't work out due to how opposite they were in personality, seemed to get along swimmingly.

As far as the individual students went, the most concerning among those pairs were Mister Arc and Miss Belladonna.

Jaune Arc's overall fighting skills didn't match up with what his transcripts described him as. According to them, he was an average fighter with decent Aura control. Nothing remarkable, but nothing terrible either. However, his display throughout initiation had at this point been consistently less than average. She had made it a point to let Ozpin know as such, but he didn't seem to respond, likely because he was enraptured by the rest of the student performances so far. Hopefully, Mister Arc's lackluster performance was just a symptom of the initiation's stress and not an indicator of his actual...abilities.

Blake Belladonna however, was another story. She was a former member of the White Fang, a peaceful organization turned terrorist group, and while she did claim to want to turn around from the violent past of the organization, Glynda couldn't help but be cautious in regards to her presence at Beacon. When she questioned Ozpin about it, he was quick to bring up Qrow, former member of the Branwen bandit tribe. In response, Glynda just as quickly brought up Raven and how, in the end, she went back to the bandit tribe's way of life, unable to be found. Ozpin, however, was very determined with his decision to enroll Blake, stating that she genuinely wanted to put the past behind her and that she wouldn't turn out like Raven did. Glynda still had her doubts, but Miss Belladonna did seem fairly well-adjusted with a good head on her shoulders, and her current partnership with Miss Nanaya had been nothing but positive so far. Really, most of the pairings had been positive.

However, the problem pairing for initiation came in the form of Mister Ragna and Miss Rose.

When Ozpin had decided to enroll an exuberant, reckless fifteen year old here at Beacon, Glynda had let him know how much she believed it to be a poor decision. Now, while Miss Rose was a prodigy with such a sophisticated weapon, her careless behavior, which would have resulted in a lot more collateral damage than she intended to stop, was a red flag for Goodwitch. She knew that Ruby Rose was a good student at heart, but she clearly had a tendency to think with her heart rather than with logic.

But if she could give praise to Miss Rose for anything besides her scythemanship and strong moral compass, at least she wasn't Ragna.

That man is going to cause this school many problems in the future. I just know it. Glynda thought to herself as she watched the older student walk away from Miss Rose, who dejectedly followed him.

When Mitsuyoshi, aka Jubei, one of the legendary Six Heroes, approached Ozpin and called in a favor to have his protégé attend Beacon Academy, Ozpin's words were, "Who am I to say no to an old friend?" While Glynda didn't know the full history behind Ozpin and Jubei, she was fairly certain that it was tied to one of Ozpin's past lives. But more to the point, she was expecting Jubei's apprentice to be many things: honorable, disciplined, and noble. So far, Ragna had proven to be the complete antithesis of her expectations.

Now, Ragna's strength, skills, and overall fighting abilities had proven to be quite stellar and matched exactly what she would hope to see with someone who had been trained by one of Remnant's greatest warriors. His personality and character, on the other hand, was another story.

He had proven to be an uncouth rebel who refused to play things safely, lashing out at his enemies in reckless abandon and letting out a myriad of vulgarities when he so desired. He also refused to work with others, as whenever he and Ruby encountered Grimm, he'd rush in and kill them all without any regard for his partner, often ignoring her and not even giving her a chance to help out. A major facet of this initiation was working in unison with each other, and Ragna had so far refused to work with his partner either in combat or in conversation.

So far, the partnership between those two had been a negative one, as their personalities just clashed with each other.

While she felt sorry for Ruby given her poor luck with her partnership, the rules were quite clear in regards to them, so nothing more could be done about it. All that was left was for either Miss Rose to adapt, or for Ragna to be properly disciplined. Glynda was already setting out plans for the latter.

"I know that look Glynda."

Glynda looked up from her tablet and looked at Ozpin, who had a knowing smirk on his face.

"I can understand your frustration with him, but have some patience."

"Ozpin, with all do respect, he's so far been nothing but incorrigible throughout the entire initiation." Glynda responded as she placed a hand to her head, "I can just tell he's going to be a problem."

Ozpin simply took a sip from his mug and replied, "Funny, we also have some rather uncouth students in this area as well." Glynda looked at the video feed Ozpin was looking at and saw one of the students, Cardin Winchester, she remembered, roughhousing with his partner instead of focusing on the relic.

"You seem to be singling Ragna out for his behavior despite it not being uncommon among student initiations to have one or more of his ilk in every semester." Ozpin said, though in an inquisitive manner, as if he was expecting her to answer an unasked question.

"It's just, well, we know who trained him, so given that knowledge, I...I was expecting better." Glynda replied.

Ozpin looked at Glynda before wistfully smiling, saying, "Would it shock you to know that there was a time in my life when I was much the same as him?" That actually did shock Glynda to an extent. Granted, she knew about Ozpin's past lives, but she didn't know any of them were anything like that. He looked out to the forest and continued.

"What happened was that I met many good people. People who helped uplift me through my trying years, and it was because of my experiences with them that I became a better man than I was before."

He then looked back to Glynda with a smile on his face. "If anything, I believe Ragna could not ask for a better partner than Miss Rose. She's someone whom I believe will be able to bring out the best in him."

Glynda remained silent as she went back to her tablet and watched the students. While Ozpin's assessments had always seemed a tad odd, they usually bore fruitful results. Ruby was the cheerful optimist, while Ragna seemed the aggressive pessimist. The two just naturally clashed with each other, but if Ozpin was correct, then hopefully Ruby's kindness would rub off on her partner.

"Hmm, it would seem the students are about to have some unexpected company." Ozpin said, stirring her out of her thoughts.

She looked to him and followed his line of sight, seeing an all too familiar house-sized avian Grimm; a Nevermore. It flew about in the sky and seemed to be closing in on something. She looked back to the camera feed and saw that none of the student pairs were reacting to its presence, except for one, Ruby and Ragna. Ruby had her weapon in its sniper rifle configuration and firing on the beast that was diving after them while Ragna had his blade drawn and prepared to fight. It appeared that their lack of cooperation, or more specifically, Ragna's overwhelming attitude problems, had gotten them in a bind and drew the Nevermore out.

Well, if nothing else, hopefully this will teach him to keep his attitude in check. Glynda thought to herself as the Nevermore's talons scooped the two students up and lifted them into the air.

Chapter Text

"Alright feather face! Soon as I get out of this, I'm ripping those fucking wings off!"

"RAGNA! NOT HELPING!"

"NEITHER IS LETTING THIS FUCKING THING FLY US AROUND!"

At the moment, Ragna's frustration had reached an apex as they were flown around by the large Nevermore that decided to piss on his day even further. He'd basically been doing his own thing, killing off whatever Grimm decided to screw with him, and making his way to the forest's relics. Ruby kept whining about "working together" and "letting her help", but that wasn't his problem. She couldn't carry her weight? Why should he let that stop him.

Unfortunately, amidst all the arguing he and his partner did, they managed to attract this obnoxious bird to them and it scooped them up for an unwanted ride. And now they were just flying around, probably getting taken back to wherever the Nevermore set up its roost so it could kill them there.

I can work with that. Soon as this feathered fuck lets us go, I jam Aramasa right down its throat, Ragna thought to himself as he savored the idea of tearing this thing's head off.

"Hey Ragna!" Ruby yelled over the wind roaring in his ear. "I got an idea!"

"Save it brat!" Ragna shouted back. "Soon as this thing drops us, I'm killing it myself!"

"Look Ragna! Can you just hear me out FOR ONCE! I think I know how to kill this thing and get us to where the relics are!" Ruby yelled back.

Ragna was about to yell at her to fuck off, but before he could, the gears in his head started turning. The Nevermore takes them back to its roost, he kills it, but then what? Bird bastard probably lives way further off from where the initiation is. If he kills it then, he and Ruby would be too far off from the initiation site to finish in time. They'd probably be declared KIA or just get kicked out of Beacon for failing the initiation if they did come back.

Granted, Ragna honestly didn't care about being here. It was basically something his master forced him to do (after his master kicked his ass in a sparing match on a bet regarding coming to this place), wanting him to "make friends", "grow up", and "socialize" or some shit like that. But while he didn't care about this place or being here, Ruby, on the other hand...

Gods fucking dammit, Ragna thought to himself. "Fine!" He then yelled to Ruby, "The Hell's your bright idea anyway!?"

Ruby seemed to smile brightly despite her predicament. "Okay! First, we need to get out of this thing's talons!"

"I ALREADY KNEW THAT, DAMMIT!"

"JUST WATCH!" Ruby then managed to get her hands free, both of them holding on to her weapon. She then clung one hand tight to the talon and the other to the trigger on her gun as she aimed up at the bird's underbelly and fired. The Nevermore's flight path was disturbed before it continued. Ruby kept firing and as she did, Ragna felt the talon holding him loosen. Realizing what his partner was doing, Ragna grabbed onto the claw and prepared for the moment the Nevermore would let go.

"SCRRAAAAWW!"

The Nevermore cried in pain as it let go of its prey, clearly hoping that they'd fall to the forest floor far below and die. Unfortunately for it, both Ragna and Ruby were now holding onto its legs as it flew.

"Okay! Now we need to get onto its back!" Ruby yelled out.

"And just how the Hell are we supposed to do that!?" Ragna asked.

"Like this!" Ruby then turned her weapon into its scythe mode from earlier and impaled it into the Grimm's flesh, causing it to cry in pain as Ragna held on tight to its leg. Seeing his partner use her weapon to climb the Nevermore, Ragna drew his weapon into a reverse grip and drove it into the Grimm as well, using his other hand to grab its feathered body as he climbed to the back. Repeatedly stabbing the Grimm did make it a challenge though, given that it kept trying to shake them off, but he managed to get to its back along with Ruby.

Holding on to the back of the Nevermore, Ragna yelled, "Great, now we're on its back! What now, just get it to fly us to the relics!?"

"Yeah, pretty much!" Ruby said with a smile.

"And just how the fuck are you gonna make this thing fly us there!?" Ragna incredulously asked, not seeing where she was going with this.

"LIKE THIS!" Ruby then drew her scythe again and impaled the Grimm, but this time she stood up and drove the scythe's blade even further into the Nevermore's back. The Grimm once again flew erratically as if to try and shake them, but Ragna held tighter as Ruby drove her scythe further into the beast's back. She then twisted the blade, moving its handle to the right and making the Nevermore cry in agony. Much to Ragna's surprise, this also caused the monster to turn to the left slightly, as if trying to follow the blade to lessen its pain.

"Oh, I get what you're getting at." Ragna said, realizing Ruby's plan. He then drew Aramasa and shifted it to scythe mode as well. Much like Ruby, he impaled the metal blade into the Grimm's back, once more causing it to wail in pain as it tried divebombing for a brief second to shake the students off, but both of them and their weapons held tight.

"Alright! So now we just gotta get this thing to where the relics are!" Ragna yelled with a smirk on his face.

"Yep!" Ruby said with a more exuberant and chirpy smile. "Look!" Ragna looked where she was pointing and saw the cliffs where Ozpin and Goodwitch resided far in the distance.

"He said that the relics were opposite to those cliffs, right!? So we just gotta fly opposite from them and look for where they are!"

"Huh, fuckin' A." Ragna replied. "Alright, let's go!"

The two of them turned their weapons in unison, forcing the Nevermore to fly them to where the relics may be. All the while it kept struggling so as to knock them both off.

Well, looks like we made it, Makoto thought as she and Blake found themselves staring at a stone ruin in the center of a grassy forest clearing.

"Y'know, this place was a lot easier to find than I thought it was going to be." Makoto thought as she and Blake jumped down from the small cliff they were on.

"I suppose the hard part of the initiation was supposed to be all the Grimm in the forest." Blake said as the two of them walked into the stone ruin. Makoto looked around and saw numerous chess pieces set on platforms in a circular position. From how it looked, it seemed like there were two of the same piece in either black and white. It looked like a few of them were already missing. If these were the relics, then some of the others must have gotten here before they did.

"So...do we just pick one each and start heading back? Or do we have to choose something specific?" Makoto asked Blake, unsure how exactly this worked.

Blake hummed to herself and looked at the individual chess pieces that remained. She then walked to one of the platforms and picked out a white rook piece.

"Well, it looks like that's that." Blake said as she looked around. "I guess we should head ba-"

There was a sudden rustling of foliage that caused both Makoto and Blake to turn to the source of the sound. They saw two familiar figures walking towards the small temple clearing. One was that Weiss girl from the locker rooms earlier, the other...

Makoto's eyes brightened as she ran forward to greet her friend, "TSUBAKI!"

Said girl then looked up from the circular thing in her hands with widened eyes as Makoto launched herself right at her. Surprisingly and impressively, Tsubaki managed to not fall to the floor and stand tall as she returned Makoto's hug with all the strength she could muster up.

"Good..to see...you to...Ma...ko..." and it was at that moment from her friend's lack of breath that Makoto realized she was accidentally crushing her. Realizing this, she immediately let go.

"Heh, sorry Tsu. Got a little excited." Makoto said as she rubbed the back of her head. Rustling from behind her indicated that Blake had moved to her side as well. "So where have you been? Seen Noel anywhere?"

At that, Tsubaki shook her head. "No, I didn't find her anywhere. We tried calling out to her on the way here, but we didn't see or hear her anywhere. She must have landed farther off from us."

"Shit," Makoto said as she looked to the side, away from the small group that had now formed. As she looked back, she sighed and said, "Well, guess all we can hope is she got paired off with either Ruby or Yan-"

BANG! BANG! BANG!

She was suddenly stopped by the sound of shotgun fire as she and the rest of the impromptu group looked towards the direction of the sound. She equipped her tonfas as each of the others brandished their respective weapons, expecting a fight.

The gun blasts continued as a Boarbatusk was sent flying out of the trees and onto its back; a scarlet-haired woman in gladiator-style armor jumped out of the trees the Grimm had just came from, landing on top of its stomach and impaling it with her sword. The woman then stood up and Makoto immediately recognized her; the illustrious Pyrrha Nikos.

"Hey! I wanted to kill that one!" A voice Makoto recognized called out to the champion. Sure enough, Yang ran out of the trees and stood right next to Pyrrha, stopping to catch her breath.

"I'm sorry. I wanted to end the fight as fast as I could, so I needed to make a quick follow up." Pyrrha said apologetically to her boisterous partner.

"YO, YANG!" Makoto called out to the blonde. Said blonde and her partner then turned face the group that had just formed. Upon seeing Makoto, Yang smiled.

"Hey, Makoto." She then ran up to the group with Pyrrha in tow. When they got to them, Makoto raised her fist towards Yang expecting a fist bump, which the blonde gladly gave. "Good to see you." Yang said.

"Same here." Makoto replied, before her face became somewhat worried. "Any chance you ran into Noel around here?"

Yang shook her head in reply, "Sorry Makoto, wasn't exactly looking for anyone besides Ruby."

"Pyrrha Nikos."

The two then turned to Weiss, who was now looking at Pyrrha with a look of...reverence? "It's an honor to meet you. I'm Weiss Schnee, but you can just call me Weiss." The Schnee said with the biggest smile she had ever seen on her face and holding out her hand for Pyrrha to shake.

"Nice to meet you as well, Weiss." Pyrrha said in a calm, neutral tone, but Makoto could tell from the look in her eyes that she was rather uncomfortable with the attention the Schnee gave her.

"No, the pleasure is all mine. It's truly an honor to meet a masterful fighter and champion such as yourself." Weiss replied. From Makoto's perspective, it almost looked like Weiss had stars in her eyes.

I can't tell if Schnee's trying to kiss up to Pyrrha or just plain kiss her, Makoto thought to herself.

A roaring sound emitted from trees further in the distance. The group then turned to see an Ursa wobbling towards them, only to fall down and reveal another student who presumably killed it.

"Ah man. I broke it."

The student said as she looked over her kill. Said student was an orange-haired girl with blue eyes wearing a black sleeveless vest and a white t-shirt with a heart-shaped cut out that exposed a bit of her cleavage in addition to a pink skirt with white boots. She also wore silver armor that seemed to wrap around her waist, chest, and neck, as well as pink, fingerless gloves on her hands with white sleeves covering her elbows. In her hands was a large white war-hammer.

"Nora!" A male voice called out, followed by said man walking up to the girl, now named Nora. The man was raven-haired with pink eyes and a pink streak going through his hair. He wore a green tailcoat with black and gold trim with pink trim at the edge of the sleeves, as well as white pants and black boots. In his hands were a pair of green fire arms with blades attached to them.

"Don't...EVER...do that...again..." The man said, panting and trying to catch his breath. Not seeing that the girl had already wandered off to the stands holding the relics.

She then picked out one of said relics (from the looks of it, the same one Blake picked out) and proceeded to...sing?

"I'M QUEEN OF THE CASTLE! I'M QUEEN OF THE CAST-"

"NORA!"

"Coming Ren!"

The exasperated yell from the man, now known as Ren, broke Nora out of...whatever that was supposed to be, as she excitedly saluted and skipped back to her partner with the relic in tow.

"Okay, that was officially, the weirdest thing I've seen at Beacon so far." Makoto said out loud to no one in particular.

"Agreed." said Weiss.

"No arguments there." from Tsubaki.

"Yep." Blake.

"Amen to that." Yang.

"Definitely." Pyrrha.

"AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHHHH!"

What sounded like a pair of two loud, girlish, high pitched squeals come out from another corner of the clearing, once more causing everyone to turn to the source. Out of the trees ran...

Noel!, Makoto thought as she saw her friend running towards the entire group. Accompanying Noel was some blonde, scraggily boy with white armor, jeans, and a black t-shirt who was somehow screaming at a higher octave than Noel.

The two of them stopped right in front of the group, both of them gasping for breath as their heads faced the floor. Immediately seeking to comfort her friend, Makoto moved up and placed her hands onto Noel's shoulders, getting her to look at her in the eyes. Tsubaki followed suit, walking up to them and rubbing Noel's back to help calm her. Out of the corner of her eye, Makoto could see Pyrrha comforting the blonde guy for some reason.

"Okay Noel, breath." Makoto said as her friend stopped gasping and breathed in and out. "What happened?"

"B-b-b-bug. Gi-gi-giant b-b-b-bug." Noel stammered out as she pointed to where she ran from.

Tsubaki then opened her mouth to question Noel, but then they heard the sound of rustling trees and breaking bark from the same area of the forest that Noel and her partner just ran out of. From the sound of it and look of it, entire trees were being knocked down by whatever was chasing them.

Blake and Tsubaki were the first to have their weapons drawn. "Everyone, get ready." Both of them said almost in unison. Makoto re-equipped her tonfas as everyone else drew their weapons, including the scraggily blonde, who just had a sword and shield. Noel drew her guns, but stayed in the very back of the group.

As the trees fell down, Makoto saw the Grimm that Noel was talking about. It was an enormous scorpion Grimm with an amber stinger. It's body and claws covered in bone armor with its ten orange eyes staring at them like a predator to its prey. A Death Stalker.

"SCRAAAAAAAAAAWWWWWW!"

Before either party could make a move to strike, a loud, cawing noise sounded from the sky. They all turned their attention skyward and saw an enormous black avian Grimm.

Shit. A Nevermore, Makoto thought as their problems now doubled themselves.

At least, that's what she initially thought, but then she saw that the Nevermore was flying and swerving...rather erratically.

As it flew, the Nevermore did a roll in the air, and Makoto saw that it had two figured on its back. Both of them looked to be cloaked in red and wielding what looked like curved blades that were impaled into the Grimm's back; both of them seemed to be holding on for dear life.

"Wait." Noel said as she was looking upward. "Isn't that Ruby and that scary guy from the locker rooms earlier?"

When Noel said that, Makoto looked back up and saw that one of the figures was indeed that one jackass from earlier, and from what she could make of the other's hair color, Ruby was definitely up their too.

Apparently, those two decided to hitch a ride on a friggin Nevermore like it was an airplane and flew it all the way here.

Yang promptly yelled out a summary of what she was thinking right now.

"WHAT THE FU-

-UCK! THIS BITCH IS REALLY HARD TO STEER!"

As Ragna yelled, Ruby grunted and struggled to keep her position. The whole "Ride a giant Grimm to the relics" idea probably wasn't her greatest plan, but it was the closest one she could think of at the time amidst the whole "Impending death directly below them" thing. And now it looked like the idea was starting to wear out its welcome. The Grimm was really getting desperate to shake the two of them off.

Ruby looked around, trying to figure out where they could drop off safely, and then she saw a clearing with a stone ruin at the center of it.

Wait, that must be where the relics are! Ruby thought as she realized they made it to the relics.

But what really drew her attention was the large group of students that were gathered in front of a large, scorpion-like Grimm, a Death Stalker as Ruby recalled, that had just arrived as it knocked down the last of the trees in its way. While she couldn't make out all the details from this high up, she did see a very recognizable head of long, blonde hair.

"Ragna! We need to land the Nevermore over there!" Ruby yelled, pointing to the relics and to the group of students below.

Ragna looked to where she was pointing and yelled back, "Well how do you think we're supposed to land this thing!? Don't think you've noticed, kid, BUT THE AUTO-PILOT'S A FUCKING CRAPSHOOT!"

"Look! We need to get it to start flying low to the ground! Get it to face the Death Stalker!" Ruby yelled as she started trying to get a plan into motion.

Before any of that could happen, the Nevermore flew into a barrel roll to try and shake them off once again. Ragna managed to dig his feet in and hold on tight to his weapon, but Ruby found herself slipping as she hung on to Crescent Rose. Her grip weakened until...

"OH NO!"

She slipped and started falling to the ground far below.

As she closed her eyes and braced for the fall, she stopped. She opened her eyes and saw that Ragna had grabbed her by her hood and kept her from going down.

"Really bad time to start screwing up, idiot!" Ragna yelled, as aggressive as ever. That didn't stop Ruby from smiling, thankful for the save.

As he said that, the Nevermore's roll had ceased and Ragna stood her back to where she had impaled her weapon.

"Alright, let's try this again!" Ruby said to her partner, "Ready?"

"Let's go!"

It was a struggle as the Nevermore kept trying to fight control away from them, but they managed to get it to face the Death Stalker as it flew directly towards it. From what Ruby could see, she saw that the girl in beige flashed a bright light at the scorpion Grimm, likely blinding it, and the girl in black wrapped a large ribbon around its claws as it shielded its eyes. She could also see that Weiss had frozen its stinger tail in place on the ground when it tried to impale her.

Good, that means it won't be able to dodge this. Ruby thought to herself. She didn't know what the others were doing, but it looked like their plans coincided with one another's. From how they were flying, it looked like the Nevermore was flying close enough and fast enough.

"Okay Ragna, now I need you take take your sword out of this thing and cut it's head off!" Ruby relayed to Ragna.

"Finally!" Ragna smirked as he removed his weapon from the Nevermore's back. He then quickly made his way to the neck and proceeded to swing his scythe, decapitating the monster in a single blow. The Nevermore couldn't even let out a whimper as it was killed, and just like Ruby had hoped, its wings were still fully spread out, guiding (or swiftly gliding/crashing) them to their target.

"Alright Ragna, looks like we're low enough! Get ready to jump!"

So far, Nora's day could be described as awesome.

She got to eat pancakes, pulverize a bunch of Grimm with Magnhild, partner up together (but not together together) with her bestie, Rennie, and now she was taking part in a large super battle with a Death Stalker.

Well, not all of them got to join the fun though. Tsubaki asked the other blonde girl and the blonde guy to sit this out for a bit since they were really worn out and not in a fighting position at the moment. The blonde guy looked depressed, but the girl, Noel if she could remember correctly, was super happy about it. Something about "scary bugs".

Anyway, they all started this big fight. Nora and Ren, alongside Pyrrha and the taller blonde, got to distract the bug; Nora by hammering its head, and Ren, Pyrrha and Yang by firing at its legs. The Stalker tried to impale the white girl as she ran around it. Before it could remove its stinger though, Makoto grabbed it and forced it back into the ground with some really cool strength. She jumped away and the white lady impaled her sword into the ground, making ice coat the tail and freeze it in place. Tsubaki then charged the monster with her weird eyeball weapon glowing bright; as soon as she reached its face, a large light erupted and the Stalker covered its eyes. Blake took the opportunity to wrap up its claws with a large ribbon so it couldn't use them, keeping them locked in a shielded position.

"Alright, it's trapped. Let's get the relics and go." Blake said.

"Aw, what!" Nora cried, unbelieving that they were done already. The blonde girl that helped distract it seemed to agree.

"Yeah, we have this thing where we want it! Can't we just kill it first?"

"Listen, there's no point in doing so. We have an objective and we can't afford anymore distractions." The white-haired girl said.

"Weiss' right. We need to get-" Tsubaki started, but before she could continue.

"Uh, guys, what's that?!" The blonde guy asked nervously as he pointed upward.

The group looked to where he was pointing and saw the headless body of the Nevermore they saw those two red students were still riding on (which is awesome), and from the looks of it, they were about to crash right into the large Death Stalker.

"I-I think we might want to move away from the giant b-bug." the blonde girl that stuck back had said.

"Yeah. What Noel said, we need to move now!" The blonde guy yelled out as those two started running back to where the relics were.

All of them ran back to the small temple at the center of the clearing and as they did, the Nevermore corpse flew overhead. Nora and some of the others looked back and saw the two figures in red jump off right as it as it crashed into the immobilized Death Stalker, knocking the monster back into the trees.

The taller red guy was holding a scythe blade that he shifted into a sword that he rested on his right shoulder. The girl in the red hoodie also held a scythe that she sheathed and put behind her.

That. Was. AWESOME! Nora thought to herself as she saw the whole spectacle.

"Aw yeah! Chalk one up for team Scythe!" The hooded girl cheered as she held out her fist, expecting a fistbump from her partner, who just looked apathetically at her arm.

The girl kept her fist raised, not once showing any sign of dropping it. The man sighed and relented, giving her a fistbump that didn't seem to have much effort put into it, but the girl didn't seem to care.

"Yang. Di-did your sister and that guy just kamikaze a giant Nevermore corpse into a Death Stalker!?" Nora heard Makoto ask loudly. She looked back and saw that the squirrel Faunus was talking to the tall blonde, whom she now knew was Yang. Both of them were just staring at the spectacle completely, slack-jawed by it all with their arms limp at their sides.

"I'm...still trying to process what just happened." Yang said, looking like she had just seen some intense shit. Which she technically just did.

Don't worry Yang, I've been there. Oh, I've been there. Nora thought, though with a tinge more melancholy than she would have liked.

From atop the cliffs, Glynda and Ozpin continued to watch the events unfold. Of all the things Glynda thought would happen at this semester's initiation, that was not one of them.

"Well, that's one way to traverse the forest." Ozpin said, completely nonchalant about what those two students had just done.

Glynda looked at Ozpin slack-jawed. "Two of our upcoming students just recklessly road a Nevermore across the entire Emerald Forest and THAT's your response!?"

"Quite." Ozpin replied as he sipped from his mug. "I've seen such strategies employed before. Besides, recklessness and craftiness have a tendency to go hand-in-hand."

Glynda remained silent as she went back to watching the students.

Mental note: Stock up on aspirin. Something tells me I'm going to need it. Were Glynda's thoughts as she continued viewing the video feed.

"Ruby!"

Ruby turned and saw her sister waving at her alongside Makoto, Noel, and Jaune. Excited to see them, she ran at near full speed, crying "Yang!" as she sped up to hug her. But just as she reached her sister...

"AND NORA!"

An orange haired girl in white and pink with a hammer/grenade launcher on her back jumped right in front of the two and cut her off, causing her to stop in her place and Yang to jump back.

Ragna then walked next to her and looked at the temple where the relics were. "Chess pieces?" He said, "The relics are chess pieces?"

"Looks like it." Ruby said as she petal boosted forward to get a closer look. She decided to go with the white knight piece. "Guess each pair just takes one?"

"Oh crap!"

Ruby turned and saw Jaune running up and grabbing the nearest chess piece he could. Much like Ruby's and Ragna's, it was a white knight. "I almost forgot to get one. The whole giant scorpion thing threw me off." He said, rubbing the back of his head in an embarrassed fashion.

"Same here." Noel said, equally embarrassed as she joined Jaune's side.

"There's no shame in that, Noel. I believe we all got caught up in the fight against the Death Stalker." One of the red-heads, this one in beige, said as she walked up to collect a relic as well. The one she picked up was a black pawn.

Behind her, Yang collected her pair's relic from the pedestals as well. Much like Tsubaki's, hers was a black pawn.

"Well," Weiss said, "I think now would be a good time to-"

Suddenly, a large piece of a fallen tree flew overhead, causing all of them to duck. Ruby looked to where it came from and saw the Death Stalker get back up. It had taken a severe beating, as it was now missing its tail and it looked like a few of its eyes were ruined, but it stood, and it looked pissed.

"How is that thing still standing!?" Yang yelled. "You guys drove a Nevermore into it!"

"Clearly it's more resilient than we thought." The gladiator girl next to Yang said.

"Tch, whatever, just need to beat it down till it stops moving!" Ragna exclaimed as he drew his sword and ran straight at it at full speed.

"Ragna, wait!" Ruby tried to stop him, but he was already halfway to the monster.

Ragna then lunged into the air at the monster and brought his blade down, intending to strike at its head. The Death Stalker instead brought up one of its claws and blocked his sword strike, knocking him back on his feet. The Grimm then slammed its other claw on top of Ragna, who blocked the attack with the flat edge of his blade. Rather than slam again, the Stalker instead opted to try and crush Ragna under its claw, with Ragna managing to hold it up, though it looked like he was struggling as he did so. Suddenly, the Death Stalker grabbed Ragna with its free claw and proceeded to slam him flat on the ground. Not giving him any reprieve, it brought its claws down on him again twice over.

Ruby rushed as fast as she could and drew Crescent Rose into its rifle mode, firing on the Death Stalker's eyes as it raised both its claws to crush Ragna, leaving them uncovered. The Stalker winced back in pain as she managed to shoot out two more of its eyes, leaving it with only five left (three on the left and two on the right).

As soon as she reached Ragna, she grabbed him and used her Semblance to pull him back to the group. She only managed to get halfway across the clearing before Ragna's hand grabbed her face and pushed her away from him, knocking both of them to the floor. Ruby looked up and saw Ragna stand and glare at her, though not with the vitriol he glared at Weiss with over a day ago.

"What the Hell, brat!" He yelled. "I didn't ask for your help!" He then hoisted his sword back onto his shoulder and tried to run back and fight the now recovering Death Stalker again, but this time Ruby was fast enough to rush in front of him and hold her arms out to stop him.

"Get out of my way, idiot. If I don't kill this thing it's gonna annoy us all the way back to the cliffs." He narrowed his eyes at her again, but this time Ruby returned with an equal glare at him.

"Look Ragna, we're supposed to be a team here, and every time I try talk to you or fight alongside you like we're supposed to be, you brush me off and do your own thing. Now, you're doing it again, and it's not working!" Now Ruby was yelling at him, hoping to get him to listen like he did on the Nevermore. "I'm trying to help, so just let me help!"

"For the last time, I don't need your help! Never asked for it in the first place!"

Now Ruby just crossed her arms. "Didn't look like it from where I was standing. Besides, I didn't ask for your help up there when I was about to fall, but you helped me anyway. So quit acting like some angsty loner who doesn't care, because I know you do!"

All Ragna did was just glare at her, not saying a word. Getting tired of the yelling, Ruby sighed and said, "Look, we don't need to fight this thing, okay. We have the relics, we just need to head back to the cliff."

After another thirty seconds of glaring, Ragna eventually relented, saying, "Fine. But I don't like this."

"I'm not saying you have to Ragna, now let's get moving!" Ruby exclaimed as she started making her way to where she remembered the cliffs to be with Ragna following suite. She turned to face the rest of the large group and yelled out, "Come on guys, the cliffs are this way!"

So Ruby moved as fast as she could without using her Semblance to try and reach the Beacon cliffs. For a brief instance, she turned back and saw that the group was following her.

They all ran and eventually found themselves at the cliff; it was high above them as they were surrounded by stone ruins and bridges. As Ruby tried to find a way up, the crashing of trees made her turn around to see that the Death Stalker was in hot pursuit of them, more enraged than ever.

As they started running across a stone bridge, Noel fired shot after shot towards the Death Stalker from afar, frantically trying to keep the monster away.

She must really hate bugs, Ruby thought.

However, as Noel turned to face the group and run further from the Grimm as it closed in on her, she tripped and fell to the ground. In panic, she collected herself and tried to stand, but stopped when she saw the looming shadow of the Death Stalker's claw over her. Before it could crush her, Jaune ran over and held his shield overhead, blocking the attack with more strength than Ruby thought he possessed. However, similar to with Ragna earlier, the Grimm used its free claw to grab at Noel, holding her in its claws as she panicked and screamed; unable to fire her weapons as her arms were restrained in the Death Stalker's grip.

"NOEL!" Ruby heard Makoto, Jaune, and the beige dressed red-head call out in worry. She looked around and saw Blake and Ragna and immediately put together a plan.

Ruby rushed to Ragna's ear and whispered her plan before rushing right to Blake's and doing the same. Both nodded, given the circumstances, and got into position; Blake using her ribbon to swing to the top of a nearby pillar while Ragna stood beside her.

"Ready?" Ruby asked her partner, to which he nodded and drew his large blade.

Ruby then jumped into the air as Ragna swung his sword with all his might at her and she planted her feet on the blade's flat edge, using the momentum to propel herself forward straight at the Death Stalker. Pulling out Crescent Rose, she spun as she neared the arm of the claw holding Noel captive and proceeded to slice it off with a single slash. As she landed in the grass behind the Stalker and the bridge, Noel was released from the removed appendage and started to fall to into the fog covered abyss below. Blake took her cue and grappled her ribbon onto the bridge as she swung down after her. She managed to catch the falling blonde and proceeded to swing their way back to the bridge top, landing with the girl in her arms carried bridal-style. As she landed, the three who called out to her before rushed to her side to make sure she was okay.

Just as the Death Stalker started to recover, Ragna rushed forward with his weapon in its scythe form, crimson energy pouring out from the other end of the blade. He proceeded to impale the monster from its chin (if it had one) beneath the bone plated armor. Before it could make any moves as it screamed in rage and agony, Ragna gripped his scythe with both hands and proceeded to hoist the Grimm overhead, lifting it right off the ground with a roar of might. Ruby and the rest of their group could only watch, feeling somewhat intimidated by the strength he displayed, as he swung away, sending the Death Stalker flying off the bridge and falling into the fog-filled void below them.

As Ruby ran back to the bridge to rejoin the group, she saw that many of them, such as Nora, the green clad man she was with, Jaune, and Noel all looked in amazement at the display of strength that Ragna had just shown.

"Woah..." Jaune said as he was still slack-jawed by what just happened.

"Now THAT, was awesome." Nora said, resting her hands on the handle of her hammer as her partner nodded.

"It was also kinda scary." Noel said as she tried to avoid eye contact.

"That...was a thing that just happened." Yang said.

Ragna, for his part, didn't seem to care much for the attention he was getting and elected to ignore them all as he walked past them. Wanting to break up the tension and gawking, Ruby decided to speak up.

"I think we should head to the cliffs now before anymore Grimm show up."

She got nods of agreement in response as they all began making their way back to the top of the cliffs.

"Cardin Winchester, Dove Bronzewing, Russel Thrush, and Sky Lark. You have successfully retrieved the black bishop pieces. From now on, you shall be be known as Team CRDL (Cardinal). And you will be led by Cardin Winchester." Noel heard Ozpin say into the microphone as the loud, watchful crowd cheered on the newly formed team.

If she wasn't nervous before initiation, she was now, since the team she was supposed to be part of now had to stand up and in front of a large crowd that would stare at them, or laugh, or-

"Weiss Schnee, Tsubaki Yayoi, Pyrrha Nikos, and Yang Xiao Long, please step forward." Interrupting her thoughts, Professor Ozpin called the students up, including Tsubaki and Yang. The four students stepped up and stood in front of Ozpin.

Guess I won't be with Tsubaki's team, Noel dejectedly thought to herself.

"The four of you returned the black pawn pieces. Your team shall be known as Team TSYP (Zap). Led by Tsubaki Yayoi."

Noel saw Tsubaki give a brief bow and she also saw that Weiss had a surprised look on her face, though it quickly shifted to what looked like was trying to be a warm smile. Next to her, Pyrrha and Yang congratulated her friend on the position. Noel didn't really find it that shocking that Tsubaki got the position of leader if she were being honest with herself.

Back at Sanctum, she always led us around. Always knew what to do. If anyone could lead a team, it's her. Noel mused as she thought back to their times at primary school.

"Makoto Nanaya, Nora Valkyrie, Lie Ren, and Blake Belladonna." Ozpin called the students up as they made their way to him, once more causing Noel grief that she wouldn't be on the same team as either Makoto or Blake.

"You four have successfully retrieved the white bishop pieces. Your team name shall be Team BRNN (Brine), and you will be led by Blake Belladonna."

Now it was Blake's turn to look shocked as Makoto and the other girl on her team, Nora, rushed and hugged her with smiles on their faces. With how blue Blake's face was turning, it looked like she was about to pop with the amount of strength being put into the dual hug. Thankfully, they seemed to realize this and let her go, though Makoto retained a one-armed hug around Blake's shoulder.

"Finally, Noel Vermillion." Ozpin started.

Hooo boy. Noel thought as her nerves started to get thrown into overdrive and blood rushed to her face.

"Jaune Arc, Ruby Rose, and Ragna." The Professor continued. The other three members of her team had all walked up without any nervousness to them.

Dammit Noel, stop shaking and be just a little bit as confident as your team! Noel tried her best to walk forward, though there was still a nervous gate to how she moved as she stood next to Jaune. As she stood there and looked to the floor, hoping nobody saw her face, she felt a hand touch her shoulder. She looked up next to her and saw Jaune and Ruby offering her sympathetic smiles, as if saying, "It's okay, we're here with you." Noel felt her nervousness die down a bit as she looked both of them in the eye.

Though, she did get somewhat concerned when she looked at Ragna, who unlike the other two, just looked ahead and seemed content to just ignore her, though she couldn't blame him for that. What still bothered her was how familiar he seemed. Even the name, Ragna, felt familiar, as if she knew someone with that name before, but she couldn't put her finger on it.

"The four of you retrieved the white knight pieces. Together, you will be known as Team RNJR (Ranger). Led by Ruby Rose."

As the crowd clapped, Noel turned her attention to Ruby to get her mind off the large audience. She saw that her friend was shocked that she was given the leadership position. Jaune smiled at her and was clearly happy for her, but Ragna just looked apathetic to the whole thing.

Well, Noel thought, at least I have Ruby and Jaune on a team with me. It wasn't the same as being with Tsubaki and Makoto, but it felt close enough.

It was around nightfall as Makoto and her team walked to their dorm room amidst the velvet carpeted floors in the dormitory's white halls. Blake, now the leader of their small group, led them to where their dorm room was, while Nora excitedly bounced in pursuit as Ren calmly kept pace with her.

As Blake stopped at a door on the right, Makoto saw that Noel was just entering the door directly next to their dorm room, with Ragna immediately behind her.

"Oh, hey Noellers." Makoto then rushed up to hug her, this time being careful not to accidentally crush the girl like she did with Blake, and Tsubaki, or Noel herself a few times.

Her shy friend returned the hug, "Hey Makoto." There was a tiredness to her voice, indicating that she was ready to take a nap.

"You gonna be okay?" Blake walked up and asked. "You seemed really jumpy back there when the teams were being presented."

Noel sighed and said, "Yeah, I'll be fine. It was just being in front of a crowd is all. Though I'm also nervous about not being with you guys though." She then stammered out, "I mean, don't get me wrong, I'm okay with Ruby and Jaune, it's just..." She then started falling silent at the end.

Blake then walked up and rubbed Noel's back as Makoto hugged her from the other side. "It's okay Noel. Like you said, you have Ruby and Jaune on your team, and they're pretty nice. Besides, we're right next door, so if you ever need anything, just knock, okay?" Makoto said as she comforted her best friend.

"Okay. Goodnight you guys." Noel finished as she turned to enter her dorm room, though not before waving at Makoto and Blake one last time as she closed the door behind her. Ragna moved to open the door himself before Makoto stopped him.

"Not you. Blake, could you and the others go to our room please? Me and grumpy here need to have a little...chat."

Blake nodded and motioned for the rest of her team to head into their dorm room, while Nora whined out, "But I wanna see the fight." as Ren dragged her back. Makoto and Ragna just stood alone in the hall, her glaring at him while he just apathetically stared her in the eye.

"Look Ragna," She started. "Let's get one thing clear. I don't like you. After what you said to my friend earlier, I'll be blunt, you're an asshole."

"Uh huh, riveting." Ragna said as he cracked his neck, clearly not caring about what she was saying. "And I'm supposed to care what you think because, why?"

"Because my best friend is on your team now." Makoto continued, trying to keep her temper in check. "Noel's one of the sweetest, most caring people I've ever known, and...I owe her a lot. But she's also the most sensitive, so let me keep it simple." She then grabbed Ragna's collar and drew her fist back as a means of intimidation. "You do anything to hurt her. Hell, you so much as make her shed a single tear, and I'm gonna rip one of your arms off and beat you senseless with it. We clear?"

If her attempt to intimidate him worked, he didn't show it. He just stared at her, but then he broke out a slight smirk and said, "Alright. I can respect that. Fine, I'll try to be nice with your friend. Of course, you try anything, and don't cry to me when you're the one who ends up on the pavement."

Figuring that was the closest she'd get to an agreement, Makoto drew her fist back and let go of his collar, "Well, now that that's settled. I'm going to bed. But remember Ragna, I'm watching you." She then turned to head to her room, but before she did...

Oh crap, almost forgot!, She thought as she turned back and grabbed Ragna's shoulder to stop him from going into his room.

"Hey, what the fu-"

"Look Ragna, before I forget, I need to tell you something and I need you to pass it along to Ruby and Jaune without Noel knowing." Makoto said, her voice in a panicked whisper.

Ragna just sighed and asked, "Okay, I'll bite, what is it?"

"No matter what, never eat anything Noel cooks. Trust me, you guys will live longer."

While Makoto sure as Hell didn't like the man in front of him, she genuinely didn't want him to eat any of the...stuff Noel, for lack of a better term, creates when she cooks. No one deserves to go through that.

Ragna's face, for the first time in their conversation, went from apathetic to perplexed. "Ooookay? I'll...pass it on then." Makoto then let him go, letting out a sigh of relief given the crisis she just barely averted, and started going back to her room, hearing the door to Team RNJR's room open and close behind her. She then opened the door to her room...

"Waaaaah!"

…and saw Blake and Nora fall down right in front of her. Ren just laid on his bed with his eyes closed.

Makoto just looked down at her two teammates, "Where you eavesdropping on that?" She asked.

"Uh, no.", "Yes", "I was against it", came the responses from Blake, Nora, and Ren respectively.

Makoto just stared at all of them before yawning and saying, "You know what, doesn't matter. Tired, and first day's tomorrow. Need sleep."

And with that, she started preparing for bed and for her first day at Beacon Academy.

After the students had all left to their dorms for the night, Ozpin made his way towards his office at the top of Beacon's tower. He bid his staff to have a splendid evening before he took off, grabbing a cup of hot coco along the way.

All-in-all, this was going to prove to be an interesting year.

As Ozpin walked into his office, he took in the surroundings. From the large window overlooking all of Vale to the gears encompassing the ceiling, but what drew his attention the most was the presence that he could sense in his chair, which faced the aforementioned window.

This presence. Oh, he knew this presence all too well.

Ozpin lowered his mug from his face and sighed, "Hello, Rachel."

The chair swiveled around, revealing a girl with crimson eyes who looked no older than thirteen, but all parties currently within the room knew she was older; much older. Her long blonde hair was done up in twin pig-tails using black ribbons that looked almost like the ears of a rabbit, and she was dressed in a black gothic dress with white ruffles on the sleeves and hem, as well as an upside-down cross design on the bottom of the dress.

"Hello, Mister Wizard." Rachel said in a cheerful tone. She made it a habit of calling him by that nickname since his time as the old hermit long ago. It annoyed him at first, but he grew used to it, though that was the only option since Rachel had no intention of not using that name. "Quite a cast of characters your school has collected this semester, hasn't it?"

Ozpin smiled. "Yes." He said, "It's shaping up to be an interesting year." He then placed his mug on his desk as he continued to talk to the head of the Alucard family.

"So, why are you here, Rachel. And sitting in my chair for that matter?"

At the question, Rachel dawned a playful smile and said, "Now Mister Wizard, you don't expect me to stand around and wait for you to arrive. That would be exhausting and unbecoming of me. As for your former question, can I not stop by to visit an old friend?"

"Well, you most certainly can." Ozpin said. "But you never do. So what's the real reason why you're here?"

"Skipping the pleasantries then. Good to see that old oaf you once were hasn't completely vanished. I missed making fun of that imbecile."

The girl's face turned from playful to deathly serious. "I sensed Terumi's presence in Vale recently." She said, no longer carrying the playful tone she had earlier.

Ozpin's faced turned to shock. If Terumi was in Vale...

"Have you been able to track his movements?" Ozpin asked. equally as serious as the vampire in front of him.

"I'm afraid not. He's a slippery little snake, and he's managed to avoid my line of sight so far." Rachel replied, "But I've been able to identify one of the people he's collaborating with. You recall the crime lord, Roman Torchwick?"

"Yes." Ozpin said, musing over what Terumi could want with someone like Roman. "One of my students, Miss Rose, recently prevented him from robbing a local Dust shop."

"An adequate feat for a mere child." Rachel shifted to a condescending tone for a moment before she returned to talking as she was previously, "However, Terumi has more than just Roman on his side. The problem is I can't sense or see who they are. It seems that Terumi is granting them some form of protection from my sight, as he's hiding their movements from me, but Torchwick is exempt from it."

Ozpin immediately knew what Rachel meant. "You mean that Roman is just being used as a front." He didn't even ask, he just knew.

"Yes, and an expendable one from the looks of it. It seems Terumi isn't even trying to hide that fact from us." Rachel continued, "What's more is that this isn't just Terumi managing to hide his movements across Remnant. There's been something in the air. Something that's hiding not only him, but all those that he's aligned with from me."

Ozpin pondered on this. Could it be Salem? She's never had this kind of power before, but I don't know anyone else who could be behind this.

As if reading his thoughts, Rachel answered, "Before you get any ideas, it isn't Salem. Whatever this is, it feels different from her. It feels...primal, if I can find a word that can properly describe it. Whatever mythical powers are at work are unlike those we've encountered in the past, Mister Wizard. I suggest you prepare for them."

She then got up to leave, looking out the window and at Vale one more time before saying. "And Ozma," which made him even more worried. She never referred to him by his true name unless things were truly dire. From the sound of it, while they weren't dire now, they were going to be soon. "The Silver-eyed child and Jubei's mongrel? Keep close watch on them. They will both have important roles to play in the coming battles. I fear that many of your students will." A swarm of rose petals erupted from her feet, and like that, she vanished, as if she was never here.

I fear that many of your students will. Rachel's words played in Ozpin's mind. That was the last thing he wanted. This battle against their enemies wasn't meant to be fought by teenagers and students, so bright and innocent to the true darkness that plagued the world. He wanted to avoid bringing any of the students into it. But now that was starting to feel more like a fantasy.

No. Ozpin thought to himself. I will not allow them to be forced into this war.

He'd do what he could to ensure that what was to come was not a burden his students needed to bare.

Chapter Text

"Yang, it's time to wake up."

Yang was stirred out of her slumber when she heard a soothing voice call to her. Despite that, she refused to leave the comfort of her bed. Then a more high-pitched voice yelled out:

"Yang Xiao Long, you dunce, wake up this instant or I'm grabbing an ice bucket and pouring it on you!"

Now that got her up, albeit reluctantly as she grumbled and rose from her bed. She rubbed her eyes and yawned as she saw that each of her teammates where already dressed in their Beacon Academy uniforms. Each of them were wearing brown shoes with plaid skirts and black tights alongside white blouses and dark maroon vests.

"Why's everyone dressed already?" Yang asked, trying to fight off another yawn as she did so.

"We're getting ready for class, and we needed to wake you up." Pyrrha said, smiling as she did so.

Yang turned to look at her alarm clock, which showed that it was 7:45 a.m., "Isn't class supposed to be at 9:00? Why are you guys all dressed up so early?"

Tsubaki was the first to answer, "Well, we wanted to get ready early. Our dorms are a bit of a ways off from where our first class is supposed to be, so it'd be better for us to prepare ahead of time so we're not in a rush to get there."

"That, and, uh..." Pyrrha started before she nervously petered off.

"What?" Yang asked, not sure what was wrong.

"Well, it's just, that..." Pyrrha again started but stopped. Weiss ended up finishing in her stead.

"It's your hair."

Yang looked offended as she ran a hand through her treasured golden locks. "What's wrong with it? If you're expecting me to get a haircut, no way in hell."

"It's nothing like that Yang, I assure you." Tsubaki said, "It's just that, well, it seems like a lot of work to manage, so it would probably be a good idea to get started now."

"My hair doesn't take that long to fix up." Yang replied with indignation, "It only takes, like, thirty minutes tops."

"…You do know that you're not helping your case, right?" Tsubaki said after a brief moment.

"Ugh, fine, I'll start getting ready." Yang said as she got her change of uniform and went to the shower to freshen up for the day. As she did so, she contemplated on her teammates and reluctantly regretted that she couldn't be on her sister's team.

While she did want to help Ruby out of her shell, she was at least hoping to be by her side in the end and on the same team. How else was she supposed to help her little sis if they were separated? Now, from what she saw of her teammates, she at least had confidence that her sister would be fine. They seemed like pretty decent people, that one jackass notwithstanding, and from the looks of them, Yang knew Ruby would be fine in the end.

Her team, on the other hand, was a different story.

Now, she didn't have any issues with Pyrrha. Her partner was a sweet person and a total badass. Who wouldn't like her? It was the other two that she had issues with.

Yang's problems with Weiss were fairly obvious given the white-haired girl's attitude towards her sister. She came across as bossy, rude, and entitled, all of which were things that Yang knew were gonna drive her up a wall in the foreseeable future.

Tsubaki, while much better than Weiss, was way too strict for Yang's liking. Sure, she was nice, but she acted so...rigid. She acted on this by-the-book rule-abiding mindset. While that was something Yang could understand, where was her sense to cut loose and have fun?

She finished cleaning and changing as she finished her thoughts, walking out of the bathroom in her beacon uniform. The rest of her teammates stood waiting for her.

"Alright, done. So we just head to class now?" Yang asked her team leader.

Tsubaki looked at her watch and said, "Well, it's currently 8:18, so I'd say that we should. We can pick up breakfast along the way."

At the mention of breakfast, Yang placed a hand on her stomach as it growled. She then smiled and said, "Alright, lead the way boss lady."

In response, Tsubaki sighed and said, "Yang, I understand that it's a nickname, but I'd appreciate if you didn't call me that. Just Tsubaki would work well. 'Boss lady' just sounds wrong to me."

And with that, she started walking out the door with Weiss following after her. Pyrrha turned to Yang and just gave her a small shrug before following suit as well. Yang couldn't help but groan as her stomach growled again. At this point, she was too tired and too hungry for the whole uptightness of at least half her team. Hopefully they'd lighten up later down the road.

"Thank you! Come again!"

Nora was having a magnificent time as she sold her customer an Ursa skin rug, right from the back of the Grimm she killed not a few hours ago.

At the moment, she was wondering when Ren would get back from skinning those Beowolves. They had pelts to sell and they needed to keep up with their customer base.

Just before she could pull out her scroll to call him, the smell of butter and syrup entered her nostrils. Floating out of her spot, she closed her eyes and followed the sent to wherever it could be. When the smell became super strong, she opened her eyes and saw Ren wearing his usual clothes and a "Kiss the Cook" apron standing in front of her and holding a plate of delicious, fluffy pancakes with butter and syrup.

Nora, seeing the yummy food in her best friend's hands, immediately dove for it, only for Ren to sidestep, causing her to fall face first on the floor.

As soon as she got off the floor, she looked to Ren with a look of betrayal in her eyes, whining, "Reeeeen! WHY!?"

"Sorry, dearest Nora. But if you want these pancakes, then you must do something for me first." Ren said, almost in a sinister tone.

"Anything!" Nora said with her hands clasped together. So long as she got those fluffy delicious pancakes, she didn't care what she had to do.

"It's very simple. Wake up." Ren said.

Uh, what? Was the first thought that came to Nora's head. What did he mean by "Wake up"?

In response to her confused silence, Ren replied, "Well, guess I have no choice." Before he pulled out a foghorn and pressed down.

HOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOONK!

"AHHHHHHH!" Nora woke with a fright as she stumbled out of her bed, landing face first on the floor. She could hear the sound of Makoto laughing and Blake stifling her giggles.

Not even bothering to get up from her position, she instead pointed to where Ren was based on the sent of pancakes that she could smell through the carpet.

"You. Are. Evil." She said with her voice muffled by the carpet.

"Uh, Nora, you're pointing at the desk. I'm right here."

Nora looked up and saw that she was, indeed, pointing at a desk with a plate of pancakes on it. She then looked around and saw Ren (still holding the godsforsaken horn), Blake, and Makoto standing in their PJs. Well, technically, Ren wore the same clothes he always wore, so they sorta counted as his jammies. Blake was wearing a...yukata? That's what Nora assumed it was called. And Makoto was just wearing her underwear, or at least what looked like undies since they could have been a sports bra and shorts for all she knew.

Deciding to ignore that for now, Nora then moved toward the breakfast food, but stopped when she saw that it was just one plate...for one person.

"Ren, where's the rest of it?" Nora asked.

Ren was about to answer, but before he could, Makoto raised her hand high and said, "We ate it all."

Nora found herself stumbling and let out a whine, "You guys started breakfast without me!"

"It was rather necessary." Ren said in reply, "The alternative was to wake you up with everyone else and risk you eating it all."

Nora was about to retort that she wouldn't eat it all, but then she thought back to all the other times Ren made breakfast and how it'd all find its way into her mouth, even if it was for both of them.

"Point taken." Nora relented before sitting down on the bed and digging into her meal. After two seconds, the entire stack was gone and the plate was cleaned. As she licked off the last bit of syrup from the plate, she felt eyes on her, prompting her to look up. She saw that Makoto and Blake were staring at her wide-eyed while Ren didn't even react, given how many times he's seen her eat her food before.

"Wow. Just...wow." Blake muttered out.

"I've got some big eaters in my family, but damn girl." said Makoto.

As if in response, Nora burped out and said, "Yep."

"So, Nora." Ren started, "You were muttering something in your sleep. Was it the dream again?"

The dream? Nora thought, before asking, "Oh, you mean that recurring one I keep having about killing dozens of Ursa and selling Ursa skin rugs?"

"Last time you had it, you told me it was Beowolves. And that there were only two of them." Ren responded.

"I'm pretty sure it was Ursa. Besides, beating up a dozen Ursa is a better story than a dozen Beowolves, don't ya think?" Nora said with her usual joviality.

She heard a gasp of excitement emanate from Makoto, who sat down right next to her, "You tell your own stories?" she asked.

"Yup! Awesome stories just happens to be my middle name." Nora said, smiling at her new friend's excitement.

"Actually, her middle name is-"

"Hush you." Nora said, but found that Makoto said it at the exact same time, causing the two to look at each other.

Makoto smiled and said, "Oh, I think you and I are gonna get along just fine. Let me tell you about the time I beat up a Goliath with a rusty spoon."

Before Nora could burst with excitement, she heard Ren sigh and say to Blake, "You have one too?"

"Yep." Blake said, crossing her arms with a smile, "They're wackos. But they're our wackos."

"Agreed."

After they finished talking about them right next to them, Makoto continued in her story, with Nora entranced by every detail.

Ruby woke up after a restful night of sleep, greeting the day with a smile and saying, "Good morning guys." In a drowsy but happy tone.

When she received no answer, she opened her eyes and looked to her right and saw that Noel and Jaune were still sleeping in their respective beds. Noel hugging a small panda plushie and Jaune was drooling and wearing...a onesie?

Aw, they look so cute. Ruby decided not to wake them up just yet since she couldn't help but find the two of them adorable as they slept.

The turned to her left to greet her partner, "Morning Rag-"

Only to stop when she saw that no one was in the bed.

Her confusion turned to panic when she saw that her partner was missing. She started darting and zooming all over the room to try and find him, looking under the beds, in the closest, in the bathroom, but to her increasing dread, she didn't find Ragna anywhere.

Amidst her search, noise came from the two occupied beds, causing Ruby to turn to them. It seemed all the noise she made in her search caused Jaune and Noel to stir as they both woke up. Noel simply yawned and rubbed one of her eyes while Jaune stretched and said, "Alright, alright, I'm up, what's with all the-"

"Ragna's gone!"

Ruby's panicked yell caused both of them to snap awake as they jumped out of bed.

"Wait, what!?" Noel was the first to respond to the shocking news.

"Why would he just up and leave before we could start the first day?" Jaune asked, wondering why their grumpy teammate would leave.

"I don't know," Ruby said before her face became more determined, "But we have to find him. He's our teammate, and we're not giving up on him."

"Right." Jaune said first as Noel nodded along, herself gaining a determined face.

Ruby, glad to have her teammates on board in their search, said, "Alright, then let's let Operation: Find Ragna comme-"

"What the hell are you guys doing?"

The sudden voice sprang up from behind Ruby as she turned and saw that Ragna was back and just walking into the room. Unlike the rest of them, he wasn't wearing any pajamas and instead had on the same clothes he wore from the day prior.

"You're back!"

Ruby then sprang from her position and wrapped her arms around his neck to hug him. Unfortunately...

"What did we say about grabbing, kid?"

Then a strong hand grabbed the back of her pajama shirt and pulled her off him, holding her up. Ruby awkwardly laughed and poked her index fingers together as she looked down before saying, "Sorry. My bad."

Ragna then dropped her and walked to the closet, looking like he was going to get his uniform. The rest of the group just stood there as they watched their teammate before Jaune broke the silence.

"So, uh, w-where were you exactly?"

"Sleeping."

That answer seemed to confuse them. Ruby couldn't really wrap her head around what Ragna just said. He left his bedroom in the middle of the night while they were all sleeping...to sleep somewhere?

"Wait, why would you leave the bedroom to sleep somewhere? Where were you even sleeping?" Noel started asking, inadvertently vocalizing the questions Ruby found herself asking in her head.

"Under a tree." Ragna bluntly answered as he picked out a uniform.

Now even more confused, Ruby asked, "Why where you sleeping under a tree? You have a bed here, that doesn't make any sense."

He didn't answer and just ignored the question as he walked to the bathroom and shut the door behind him, leaving the rest of them to just awkwardly stand there.

Jaune was the first to break the silence by saying, "Well, at least we know he didn't ditch Beacon on the first day, right?"

Ruby just said, "Uh, yeah, I guess," while Noel quietly mumbled out a "sure".

A minute later, Ragna was out and dressed in his Beacon uniform, which was a dark maroon tuxedo and pants with a white undershirt, though he seemed to forgo the tie.

"Alright scrawny, it's all yours." Ragna said as he indicated towards Jaune, causing the blonde male to stutter out a "oh, right, thanks." and rush to the closet to grab his uniform and then head straight for the bathroom to change and get ready. Ragna, meanwhile, just leaned against a wall and crossed his arms.

Looking back, it might be a little awkward sharing a room and a bathroom with two boys, Ruby thought to herself.

A couple minutes later and Jaune walked out in his uniform and said, "It's all yours ladies."

"You can go first Ruby." Noel said, "I can wait."

Ruby thanked Noel and swiftly grabbed her uniform and went to the bathroom in a flurry of rose petals. As she changes, she couldn't help but question why Ragna decided to sleep away from the rest of the group. Sure, he came across as a loner (much like Uncle Qrow), but she couldn't get why he'd want to sleep under a tree of all things when he had a nice and comfortable bed here in their dorm room.

After about 30 seconds, she was changed and ready.

"Alrighty, all yours Noel." And like that, Noel grabbed her stuff and went in to change. She got out fairly quickly, though unlike Ruby's uniform, Noel opted to keep her red tie from her normal clothes.

"So what now?" Jaune asked, "We don't have class until 9:00."

Ruby checked the clock and saw that it was 8:00. "Well, as team leader, I decree that our first order of business is to unpack and make this room our own." While saying this, Ruby pointed to the sky and struck a heroic pose.

"Let this be our first act as the newly formed Team RNJR. Together, we shall conquer the evils of bland and boring dorm rooms as we make our room the greatest in all of Beacon's known history! Now, are. You. WITH ME!"

"AYE!" Came the responses of Noel and Jaune as they excitedly thrust their hands up. Ragna just kept leaning against the wall.

"Whatever. Not like I got anything better to do." Was his response.

Okay, after this. I need to get 'Operation: Get Ragna to stop being a grouchy pants' up and running, Ruby thought as her partner's constant attitude was beginning to get on her nerves.

The group got to work on setting up their dorm room. Jaune unpacked and started filling shelves with a bunch of comics and games, some of which were some card games Ruby had as she made a mental note to make some trading deals with her teammate later on. Noel took out and placed on her bed what could only be described as a large mountain of plush animals. Bunnies, dogs, teddy bears, panda bears; if it was an adorable plushie, it found its way onto Noel's bed. Ruby also noticed that she was trying to find a place to hide a book she was holding in her hands, before discretely putting it underneath her mattress, thinking none of her teammates saw her do so.

Probably her diary, Ruby mused as she decided never to so much as look under Noel's mattress for the sake of her teammate.

Ragna, on the other hand, just threw what looked like an over-the-shoulder bag into the closet and went back to leaning on the wall, only instead of brooding, he looked like he was waiting for everyone else to finish.

"Uh, R-Ragna." Noel asked, "You're not gonna unpack?"

"Already did." He said, clearly not wanting to talk further.

"Oh."

Ruby decided to continue and unpack all her belongings, including some of her favorite fairy tales and weapons tips magazines, and she ushered the entire group to step back and look at their work.

"Ah, now this is the most magnificent room ever conceived at Beacon Academy," Ruby marveled as she spoke in an accent that she saw on tv once. "And Ragna, we need to work on your side of the room. Kinda dull."

"Anyone know what time it is?" Ragna asked, ignoring Ruby's statement.

"Let me check," Noel checked her scroll, "Uh oh, guys it's 8:45. We need to get to class now."

"Then let's get moving!" Ruby exclaimed as she was the first to rush out the door and her teammates followed.

Weiss sat in her seat in the middle row of Professor Port's class as the clock ticked 8:55, signifying that class was about to begin. To her left sat Tsubaki and to her right sat Yang and Pyrrha respectively. The professor himself had just arrived and was patiently waiting for 9:00, as well as for any students that had yet to arrive. Within the room, Weiss noticed a large black crate that occasionally rocked to the side. The red eyes that flashed within signifying that the instructor had a live Grimm in class with him, likely to use as an example.

Blake and her team arrived a bit later than they did, with Makoto and their leader taking the time to warmly greet Tsubaki when they arrived. While Weiss didn't want to say it out loud, something about how Makoto and Tsubaki interacted...bothered her. She couldn't exactly pin down what bothered her about their interactions that made her feel uneasy. While Faunus usually made her uncomfortable, she knew that it had nothing to do with that, which was another thing that bugged her. If she was simply discomforted by that fact, then it would be easy to understand what bothered her, but this felt different, and she just couldn't tell why.

"Sorry we're late!"

Interrupting her thoughts, the door slammed open and in rushed that Ruby girl and her teammates, Arc, Vermillion, and that brute.

"Not at all Miss Rose, you and your team are..." Professor Port began as he checked his watch. "Right on time in fact! Now, take your seats so we can begin."

As the four of them took their seats, the professor began his lesson.

"Now, the Grimm are known throughout our world as many names; monsters, demons, and prowlers of the night. But once you graduate from this prestigious academy, you shall know them by only one name: Prey. Ha-ha!"

The professor was met with awkward silence at his attempt at humor. While Weiss didn't find things to be too interesting just yet, it was clear that he was trying to make his lesson more enjoyable for the less academically inclined students here.

"Uh...anyway," He continued after an awkward stumble, "The four kingdoms of Remnant serve as safe havens for these monsters that have engorged every nook and cranny of this hostile world. When the time is right, it will be up to you, the Huntsmen and Huntresses of the next generation, to protect the innocent from the very world that seeks to do them harm."

"But before all that, allow me to tell you the tale of a handsome young man...me!" He exclaimed, "It all started when I was a boy..."

As the professor continued to, well, not so much teach but rather gush about himself after a while, Weiss looked around as she saw that Tsubaki and Pyrrha were diligently taking notes and paying close attention, while Yang only seemed to pay attention, but otherwise didn't seem to do much else as she just listened to the..."lecture", if it could be called that. Over to where Team BRNN sat, the only two members that took the class seriously were the team's leader and the member with the pink strand in his hair, Ren if she remembered correctly, while Nora and Makoto looked like they were on the verge of falling asleep. Well, Makoto was on the verge of falling asleep, but if nothing else, she put in effort to try and stay awake, while Nora looked to already be slumbering through class. Weiss swore she heard her mutter something about "pancakes" while she snored.

And then there was Ruby's team. Their leader showed no sign of paying attention, instead dedicating her time to drawing and showing Noel the pictures, which the blonde laughed at with stifled giggles. Jaune, meanwhile, ended up falling asleep and laid face down on his desk. And Ragna just kicked his legs onto his desk and leaned back in his chair with his hands behind his head. Seeing this frustrated Weiss as she stewed silently in her anger.

On some level, Weiss was starting to feel bad for Ruby. Granted, she didn't thing the younger student would make a good leader, given how inattentive and careless she was. But she had to put up with someone who was incompetent to the point where she wondered how he even managed to get accepted for Beacon in the first place and a thug who antagonized people without reason and didn't know the first thing about respect towards his peers. And while she didn't want to think negatively of Noel, given her friendship with Tsubaki, she couldn't help but find the blonde's borderline neurotic anxiety to be something that would frustrate any leader regardless of who they were.

Really, why else would Ozpin put Ruby in charge of her team? She was ultimately the best of a bad lot, so it's not like there was any other solid option for leadership.

"So, the moral of the story?" Professor Port said as he finished his story. "A true Huntsman must be honorable, dependable, strategic, educated, and wise! Now, who among you believe that they possess these traits."

Weiss moved to raise her hand, determined to show that she knew and understood what a Huntsman was about, but before she could...

"Ah, young Ragna!"

To her shock, she looked down and saw that Ragna had raised his hand first with the same uncaring attitude he had as he sat down.

Does that brute honestly think he possesses the traits that define a Huntsman!?, Weiss thought with outrage at the older student's delusion that he was anywhere close to what a true Huntsman was.

"So, you believe yourself to carry the aspects that a protector of man has, do you?" Port asked inquisitively. Rightly, he didn't believe Ragna had those traits either. Weiss was silently glad for the teacher's perceptiveness.

"Tch, no." Ragna said, much to Weiss' surprise. "There's a Grimm there and I'm guessing you want a student to fight it. I'm bored, and I want to kill it, that's it." He continued as he pointed to the cage.

So, he just wants to kill the Grimm, Weiss thought, still angry. Granted, Ragna seemed under no illusions that he wasn't what a proper Huntsman could be, but did he really believe that being one was all about killing Grimm? That was all he seemed to care about.

Port, in response to Ragna's bravado and nonchalance, simply said, "Very well then. Step forward and face your enemy." Where he indicated to the Grimm shaking the cage it was trapped in.

While Weiss knew it was wrong to wish misfortune on someone, a small part of her silently hoped that the Grimm would be more than Ragna could handle to teach him some humility. Besides, if that happened, the teacher would have to step in and put the Grimm down, so it's not like it would cause too much trouble if that happened anyway.

Finally, Ragna thought as he stood at the center of the classroom wearing his standard attire; brandishing Aramasa into a reverse-hand grip as he faced the unopened cage. After all that boring prattle, he could at least see some action.

"You can do it Ragna!" Jaune yelled out from the desks.

"Go Ragna!" Noel called out.

"Yeah, represent Teeeeeaam RNJR!" Ruby said last amongst them.

Ragna elected to ignore his teammates. Whatever the Grimm was, it was small enough to fit in a cage barely bigger than a student. Not like he needed any good luck to take it down.

Professor Bore walked up to the side of the cage and pulled out what looked like a cross between a blunderbuss and a battle axe and lifted it overhead. "Aaaaaaand..." he said as he brought it down, "Begin!"

The locks on the cage broke against the teacher's weapon swing. releasing the Grimm inside...

"A Boarbatusk?" Ragna said, rather disappointed by the Grimm he was fighting, before thinking to himself, Geez, this'll be almost too easy.

The Grimm charged at him as he stood there, waiting for it to come close. When it was in range, Ragna swung Aramasa, striking at the Grimm's tusks and batting it away with an obnoxious squeal and sending it flying into the wall, leaving a crater as it fell to the floor on its hooved feet.

"Ho ho, such impressive strength!" Ragna heard the teacher praise.

The Grimm then charged again and spun in the air, rolling into a sphere as it did so. Ragna held Aramasa in front of him to block the attack; sparks coming off of where the Grimm's spinning form met his blade. Before he could push the Grimm back...

"Come on Ragna, kick its butt!" Ruby exclaimed.

"You can do it!" came from Jaune.

"Yeah, get 'em Ragna!" was said by Noel. Though as she said it, Ragna found himself hearing that same voice in his head, but this one was far younger and brighter.

Yeah, get 'em brother!

Dammit, shut up already! Trying to concentrate. Ragna thought in frustration as he tried to stave off the memory.

However, this distraction caused the still-spinning Grimm to push him back. Ragna's hands went up into the air as he was knocked back several feet, with the Boarbatusk landing on its feet in front of him. Aramasa flew out of his hands and landed behind his opponent, impaled to the ground.

"You no longer have your weapon. How will you respond?" The teacher called out.

Ragna found his frustration growing at what just happened. Sure, he'd been disarmed before, but not by a Boarbatusk of all things. These things were practically a dime a dozen and as effortless as Beowolves. Something like this shouldn't be giving him any trouble.

The Boarbatusk charged him again, only this time Ragna jumped over it and landed far behind it where his sword had landed as the Grimm crashed into a wall. Ragna grabbed Aramasa and held it in his right hand behind him, flipping it into a reverse-grip as he did so. Before he could charge at the Boarbatusk now that it was vulnerable, a high pitched voice yelled out...

"Ragna! Try attacking its stomach! It's unarm-"

Oh, for FUCKS SAKE, Ragna though, now on his last nerve. A dark aura flaring around his body as he turned to face the source of his annoyance.

"SHUT THE FUCK UP YOU DAMN BRAT!" He yelled at the silver-eyed girl.

Ruby's expression quickly turned from encouragement to hurt, while Jaune and Noel were taken aback with fear in their eyes; Noel in particular ducked with her head poking out from behind her desk. Ragna calmed himself and did his best to ignore their expressions as the aura around him subsided. No more distractions, he needed to kill this thing and get it over with.

Looking back to the Grimm, he ran headfirst at it as it rolled towards him. Just as he closed in, he swung Aramasa upward, knocking the still rolling Grimm into the air. He then jumped and followed it as it uncurled from its ball form, grabbing it by its tusks and swinging it back down to the floor below, landing it on its back in a crater. He immediately followed up by pointing his blade towards the pig's underbelly as he came back down, impaling it as he landed with one knee on the floor. Still thoroughly frustrated by the events, Ragna then grabbed the tusks of the impaled Grimm and pulled with all his might, ripping the monster's head off and throwing it aside in anger; the decapitated head hitting the desks as students dodged it.

As Ragna stood up, he heard the professor say, "Well...that's certainly a tad more...uh, visceral than how most students kill a Grimm in this class. Nevertheless, excellent work. Now, I'm afraid that's all the time we have for today..."

Ragna ignored the rest of Bore's words as he stood there looking at the fading body of the Grimm, frustrated by the effort it took to kill that Boarbatusk. Normally, he'd kill these things way quicker than that and with less fuck ups by his lonesome. But this one knocked him away. This one disarmed him. And all that happened because...

He looked at Ruby, Jaune, and Noel, glaring at them with anger in his eyes. In response, Jaune looked down to the floor, Ruby's face gained an even more pained expression, and Noel...

Noel looked like she was about to cry.

Dammit, Ragna thought as he walked out of class, trying to ignore the looks on his teammates faces. The last thing he needed was the thought of making that face cry. He'd already seen it more than he'd like.

He started walking down the halls, intent on getting away from those three. But just as he made it around the corner...

"Ragna! Wait!"

He looked behind him and saw those three following after him.

"What's wrong?" Ruby asked, still having the pained expression from earlier. "Why'd you just leave like that?"

"Gee, I don't know," Ragna retorted with anger laced into his voice, "Maybe it had something to do with the fact that three obnoxious brats kept bugging me when I sure as shit didn't need them yelling in my ear!"

"Ragna, we were just trying to help." Jaune said.

"Well, did you ever stop and think that I don't need any of your godsdamn help!?" Ragna yelled as he fully turned to face the three of them, a brief dark aura flared up as he did so.

When the three backed away, he took a deep breath and continued, "Look, I would have been just fine if you idiots just shut the hell up. I never needed any help with something like that before, and I don't need any help now!"

He then turned and started walking away before stopping and continuing, "Shit, I didn't even want to be on a team in the first place, but now I'm stuck with you three. So just do me a favor and don't bother me ever again. You're the last thing I need right now."

He then walked away, not wanting to look back nor face any of them.

As Ragna walked away from them in a huff, Ruby looked to the floor, completely downtrodden by what had just happened.

Great, She thought to herself, First day as team leader and I completely screw things up with my partner.

She suddenly felt that eyes were on her, causing her to turn and see that teams TSYP and BRNN were just behind them.

"Oh," Ruby muttered, "You guys saw all that."

Yang walked up to her and gave her a quick hug, "Yeah, we saw. I wouldn't worry too much about it Rubes. He's just being an asshole."

"But he's my partner!" Ruby exclaimed, "We're supposed to be a team and I just...I messed up and now he's mad at all of us."

"Guys," Makoto said, "You didn't do anything wrong here. All you did was try and encourage the guy. He's just blowing up at you for no good reason."

"Excuse me."

All of them looked and saw Professor Ozpin walking towards them.

"Oh, Professor Ozpin, sir." Weiss said, trying to sound professional as she slightly bowed her head.

"Is there anything we can help you with, Professor?" Tsubaki asked in a more composed manner as she clasped her hands in front of her skirt and bowed her head in a similar manner to her partner.

"Yes, I believe I can help with this matter. I already sent Professor Port to go talk with Ragna regarding his behavior. Would the eight of you kindly give us some space. I'd like to speak with Team RNJR privately." The professor said as he indicated to Ruby and her teammates.

Ruby saw the reluctance in Tsubaki, Makoto, and Yang's eyes, but in the end, they relented and the eight of them walked away from Ruby and her team. Just before they left, Ruby saw Weiss turn towards her with a look of sympathy in her eyes before turning back to her team and walking along with them.

As they were left alone with the professor, Noel slumped and said, "We messed up, didn't we?" Her tone completely dejected.

"Well, yes and no." The professor said, with Ruby looking at him in shock. "True, the three of you may have caused trouble for him, but it was with the best intentions and none of you were aware that it was problematic. Mistakes happen, and it's only been the first day. I should know, I've made more than I've been able to keep count of."

Ruby and her teammates sat in silence for a brief moment until Noel spoke up and said, "Um, p-professor. Do you think it was a mistake making us a team? I-I mean, Ragna doesn't seem to like any of us very much."

"Miss Vermillion, I didn't put you to a team. The four of you became a team through happenstance during the initiation." He replied, "So let me offer this question; do you three believe that it was a mistake?"

His question silenced the three of them before he continued.

"As teammates, a major facet of your duty is to support one another and help each other through hardship. Now, you certainly tried to do so with Ragna, but perhaps you may need to try a different approach in doing so."

"A different approach? What do you mean by that?" Jaune asked, genuinely confused.

"What I mean, Mr. Arc, is that Ragna doesn't seem used to being on a team. He's in an entirely new scenario, and as such, he reacts negatively in an effort to try and force things back to how he prefers them. Maybe what must be done is to help ease him into the idea of being on a team rather than expect him to be a team player when you expect him to be, don't you think? Now, the three of you are good students with good hearts. That much I saw during the initiation, and I trust you all to do what you believe is right."

With that, he walked away, leaving the three of them to ponder on his words.

Fucking dammit, Ragna thought to himself as he laid down beneath a tree, trying to get his mind off his teammates. No matter what he did, he kept jumping back to how he yelled at them, how saddened they looked, and how Noel looked at him.

Just. Stop. Thinking about it! Ragna tried to silence his thoughts on his previous actions. He didn't need to care about them. They just got in the way and they'd still get in the way if he kept them around. The last thing he needed were distractions.

"Greetings, Mister Ragna."

Ragna opened his eyes and looked up to see Professor Bore walking up to him. Sensing a lecture coming in, he sighed and stood up.

"Hey professor," Ragna replied apathetically.

"May I ask what you're doing down there?" Bore asked.

Ragna just crossed his arms and replied, "Nothing."

"Well, I must say, that was quite an impressive display you showcased back in my class. Certainly a bit more graphic than most, but it suits you well as a fighter. And I must say, I don't think that Boarbatusk saw it coming, ho ho!" He praised, which ended in laugh.

"Would have been easier if I wasn't distracted." Ragna muttered to himself.

"Distracted?" Bore asked before continuing, "You're referring to your teammates?"

"Look old man, I don't need a bunch of deadweight holding me back. Never needed it before, so I don't need it now." Ragna said as he looked away and slowly started walking off, trying to end this line of conversation as fast as he could.

"That's preposterous!"

At Bore's statement, Ragna stopped and turned to him, "What!?"

"Now, while your teammates may have distracted you in your eyes, they only desired to encourage you. Do you know why they did so?"

"Tch, why the hell does it matter?" Ragna asked.

In response, the professor continued, "It's because they care about you and want to support you. It's all part of being on a team."

Ragna chose to remain silent, not wanting to engage in this conversation, but the professor spoke anyway, "You know, Mister Ragna, you remind me of someone I once knew."

"Oh let me guess, I remind you of you, don't I?" Ragna asked, his voice filled with sarcasm.

"Actually, yes."

At that, Ragna looked back to the professor, raising an eyebrow as he continued, "I was young, brash, and most of all, foolish. I believed that I didn't need anyone to solve all my problems, and that I didn't need to bother with forming bonds with others."

Ragna was actually caught off-guard, mainly because the teacher was actually talking seriously without any humor or that obnoxious boisterousness in his voice that he had during his little ego monologue from class.

"When I came to Beacon and became part of a team, I scorned the idea of working with others. After all, I did everything on my own before, so why would I need anyone now? That ended when I found myself biting off more than I could chew, and it felt as if I had no way out, but in the end, my team did come to save me. Despite how I scorned them and wanted nothing to do with them, they still came to my aid, not out of obligation, but because they considered me their friend and saw helping me as the right thing to do, and I found opportunity to return the favor and help them in kind."

Ragna was once again silent, though rather than his normal look of defiance, he had an inquisitive look to him as he stared at Professor Port. He could understand what the old man was saying, but he didn't know how exactly to react, or even what he was supposed to do here. For a long time, it had just been himself and Master Jubei, traveling all over the place as he learned how to fight and harness his abilities. Even if he wanted to, he didn't know how to let the others in since for as long as it mattered, he never had anyone else outside his master. Sure, before Jubei, there were...others...but...

Ragna then shook his head and placed a hand to his forehead, as if trying to stave off a headache, or a bad memory. Now wasn't the time to think about it.

"My point, Ragna, is that whatever the past may have been for you, you aren't alone anymore. You have a team that wants to be there for you and will need you in turn later on. While it may be frustrating for you, but you're here to learn how to be a Huntsman, and if experience has taught me anything, it is that no Huntsman can truly stand alone."

"Kind of late for that." Ragna replied, breaking his previous silence as he looked away again, "Pretty sure I burned that bridge already, so there's no point in wasting time on it."

"Ha! Believe me, if people were that easy to shake off, my daring team would have left me to fend for myself against that dreadful Beringel." Port exclaimed, his voice now regaining his bombast from class. "While it's not something you have to do now, I suggest you simply talk to them when you're able. I earnestly doubt you've even put an ember to that bridge."

Ragna just went back to silence for a moment as he heard the professor start walking away. Against his better judgement, he found himself turning to face the retreating figure of the instructor and said, "Okay, let's pretend that I buy into this crap and say that you know what you're talking about. Well, where the hell am I supposed to even start anyway? Not like I've ever been on a team anyway."

In response, he stopped and turned around, smiling and saying, "No one is perfect Ragna. We can only do our best. In this case, just be the best that you can be. Not the best fighter you can be, but the best person you can be. In doing so, you'll be the best teammate that they can ask for."

As the old man walked away, Ragna leaned back against the tree he was under originally and slumped to the floor.

Best person I can be? Ragna thought, I'm barely a person worth a damn. How the hell am I supposed to pull that off?

Still, if there was one thing the old man was right about, it was that the rest of Team RNJR were persistent, Ruby especially. Ragna couldn't see her giving up on trying to be friends with him anytime soon, and the rest would likely follow suit. If Ragna really was gonna be stuck with them...

"Grr." Ragna growled as he stood up, "Fucking...fine. Guess I have nothing to lose anyway, may as well give it a shot."

Night had fallen and in the Team RNJR dorm room. The light of the broken moon illuminated the room alongside Ruby's reading light as she studied for tomorrow's classes, or at least she tried to. Besides finding the questions more difficult than she was used to, she also couldn't get her mind off the entire fiasco with Ragna earlier today.

She wanted to help her partner and make this team feel like an actual, welcoming team, but she wasn't sure how. Sure, she was super anxious and didn't know how to interact with others all that well, but she still wanted to make friends, even if it was hard for her. Ragna, however, seemed to scorn the idea. How was she supposed to help ease him into being part of the team when he made it clear that he didn't even want to be here in the first place?

Turning to check in on her other teammates, Jaune was laying on his bed, reading one of his comic books. Based on the frown on his face, it didn't look like he was enjoying the content, though after everything that happened, Ruby doubted she could even read a weapons magazine without her mood turning sour.

Noel, however, sat on her bed with her legs crossed as her scroll's light lit up on her face. From the looks of it, she seemed to be texting someone, most likely Makoto or Tsubaki, though she also had a rather sad face as well.

Before Ruby could get the idea to try and cheer them up, she heard the door to their room open. She turned and saw Ragna walk in, his face rather awkward for someone who mostly scowled for most of yesterday and today.

"O-oh, Ragna, you're back." Noel was the first to respond to his return.

"Hey," Ragna said before silently staring at the floor. "Look, I-"

Before he continued, Ruby found herself speaking up and said, "Ragna, I'm sorry that I distracted you during your fight. It's just...I've never been on a team before and I wanted to encourage you the best I could. Your my partner, and, well, I just...I just wanted you to know that I was looking out for you."

Ragna just stood in silence for a few moments, causing Ruby to wonder if she messed up. However, Ragna simply sighed, rubbed the top of his head, and said, "Look, kid, I just wanted to say that...that I'm sorry for blowing up at you earlier. Just not used to this shit yet."

"Well, to be fair," Jaune piped in, "I don't think any of us are. We still want to keep going at it. I mean, I don't know if you want to be a team player since you don't seem to like being on a team but we're willing to give you a chance. Wait, I mean we're hoping that you'd be willing to give the whole team thing a chance though you don't exactly have to if you don't want to but we'd really appre-"

Before Jaune could continue with his rambling that even Ruby found impressive, Ragna butted in and cut him off, "Try shutting up before you run out of air."

Jaune immediately shut up, to which Ragna back-peddled and said, "Sorry. Look, I'm not good at this whole team shit. Don't know how to be a part of one, but I'm willing to go the distance and try to be the best teammate you guys need. Just hoping that even after all that crap I said earlier, you'd be willing to have me."

Ruby found herself being the first of them to perk up and immediately jumped off her bed to land right in front of Ragna, saying, "It's okay, Ragna. And as team leader, I promise to be the best leader and partner you could ever ask for, right guys?"

"Y-yeah. Ragna, you can be kinda scary, but we're still your team. Nothing is going to change that." Noel said as she twirled a strand of her hair.

"Same here. We also promise to be the best teammates you can have too." Jaune said enthusiastically.

At that, Ragna actually gave a small chuckle and said, "Thanks."

"Now let's group hug!" Ruby exclaimed as she moved to hug her partner, only for said partner's hand to press against her forehead and keep her from moving.

"Kid," Ragna said with exasperation, "What did I say about this?"

"Right, uh, sorry about that. I kinda keep forgetting." Ruby said as she rubbed the back of her head.

The two of them just stood in silence for a few moments while Jaune and Noel remained sitting on their beds. Eventually, Ragna sighed and said, "Y'know what, fuck it. You get one, but just one."

And with that, Ruby rushed forward and hugged Ragna with all her might, with her feeling Noel and Jaune bump in as well to join the team hug. Ragna still felt apprehensive, but he seemed more welcoming, if only a bit. After a couple moments, Ragna pushed them all off him, but not very forcefully, and said, "Alright, alright, that's enough. I'm going to bed, so unless you guys need anything, good night." And with that, he started walking out the door.

"Hey, where are you going?" Jaune asked.

Ragna turned back and replied, "Outside to sleep. Where else would I be going?"

"Actually," Noel started, "That's something I was wondering about. Why don't you sleep on your bed?"

Ruby was also curious about that. Hopefully, her partner would be willing to answer.

"Well," Ragna started, "My master and I travelled all over the place when I was training. Most of the time we'd sleep under the trees or on the ground, maybe sometimes in a cave to get some shelter from the weather. After a few years of doing that, I just got used to it."

Ruby pondered on Ragna's explanation, before a lightbulb went off in her head and she rushed to the window, opening it to see a large tree right outside near their dorm room.

"If you need to sleep outside, why not out there?" Ruby pointed to the nearby tree, "It's close enough to our room, so we'll still be close by in case you need us for anything, or if we need you for something."

Ragna then looked out the window to see where Ruby was pointing. After looking at the tree, he said, "It'll do." And proceeded to jump out the window, landing feet first on the ground that was three stories bellow them.

As Ragna walked to his resting spot, Noel joined next to Ruby and yelled out, "Uh, g-goodnight Ragna!"

Ragna paused for a second before raising a hand as he laid down at the foot of the trunk. Ruby didn't hear him say anything, but she was fairly certain he said "goodnight" under his breath. Ruby waved goodnight alongside Jaune as the in-room members of Team RNJR started preparing for bed. Ruby smiled as she began to doze off. The first day didn't really have the best start or middle, but she was glad she and her team could at least meet a solid end of the day. In her book, a pretty good start to the beginning of their journey to become Huntsmen and Huntresses.

Chapter Text

Makoto and her teammates were walking down the streets of Vale early in the afternoon. Makoto walked directly behind Blake with her hands on the back of her head as she thought about her time at Beacon so far. It had been a couple days since their first day at Beacon Academy, and so far, things had been rather uneventful.

Classes were either too hard or just plain boring, mostly because Professor Port was too much of a snooze to listen to (and kind of full of himself in Makoto's eyes) and Professor Oobleck talked so fast that she barely understood a word he said. The only fun classes she had so far being combat classes with Professor Goodwitch since she got to punch things and fight. While she hadn't gotten the chance just yet, she was hoping to fight either Ragna or that Cardin asshole and kick them to the curb at some point. The former's dickheaded attitude and the latter's bullying and racism were getting on her last nerve.

Though if she had to be fair to the former, at least Ragna was making an attempt to try and be nicer with his teammates, which included Noel, so at least that was there. He still acted the same with damn near everyone else though, but progress was progress. Cardin, on the other hand...

One punch. All I need is one punch to that fucker's face and I'm good. Makoto thought with a smile as she fantasized a one-sided brawl with that asshole.

"So fearless leader." Nora's voice interrupted Makoto's thoughts, "Where are we going again?"

At her question, Blake sighed and turned to face the energetic orange-haired girl, "I told you back at Beacon where we were going. Why didn't you ask before we left?"

"I forgot. Think I was distracted when you told me the first time. And I didn't want to be rude when we were walking out." She replied.

Makoto thought back to when Blake scheduled a trip to a small book shop, saying that she had some history books for Oobleck's class to pick up. She also remembered Ren coming out of the bathroom wearing only a towel around his waist and gathering his clothes before returning to the bathroom to change. Nora seemed to have her eyes on Ren's bare chest that entire time. Not that Makoto could blame her in that case, given that Ren without his shirt was very attrac-distracting.

"Nora, we're going to a book store." Ren said, reminding his friend.

"Aw, but books are so boring. Can't we go to an arcade? Or maybe see a movie? There's a Spruce Willis film in theaters that I want to check out at some point." Nora whined.

"Sorry Blakey, but I gotta agree with Nora. Not exactly the most bookish kind of gal here." Makoto threw her two cents into the ring.

Blake looked to both of them, placing a hand on her hip and saying, "Well, Tukson has more than just old history books. He's also got some comics that I think you can look into. His motto is "Home to every book under the sun" after all."

"You sound like you know him well, Blake." Ren said.

Blake went silent as she turned and continued walking ahead, "We have some history with each other. I guess you could say that he's...an old family friend of mine."

Blake's tone became somber for a second, which Makoto was able to pick up on. Considering that she called Tukson an old friend, it was likely that he knew that she was a Faunus. She decided not to pry on this, especially in front of Ren and Nora.

The quartet continued walking and Blake eventually stopped in front of a store, prompting Makoto and the others to look up at the sign that said "Tukson's Book Trade". Blake entered first, and the rest of them followed suit.

The store was rather small, with many books lining the shelves neatly. At the front desk sat a man looking through what appeared to be a catalog of sorts. He was a rather muscular man with black hair that ended in side-burns on his face, as well as hazel eyes. He wore a dark red-ish purple shirt with a white undershirt. The man proceeded to greet them without looking up from his catalog.

"Welcome to Tukson's Book Trade. Home to every boo-" as he spoke, he started to look up and saw who had entered, causing him to stop. Smiling, he said, "Oh, Blake. Haven't seen you in a few weeks. Good to see you again."

"Good to see you to, Tuk," Blake said with a smile.

The man, who Makoto now knew was Tukson, looked at the rest of them and said, "So, Blake, who are your friends?"

Blake gestured to them and replied, "These are my teammates, Makoto, Nora, and Ren." She pointed out each of them as they were introduced with all of them waving to the book owner.

"Teammates? Oh, so you got into Beacon!" Tukson said before smiling even brighter than before, "Congratulations Blake. Probably wasn't easy."

"I can assure you, it was not," Blake said.

"I road an Ursa!" Nora yelled out in excitement.

"Just don't ever do it again," Ren said.

"No promises," at Nora's reply, Ren simply raised his palm to his head.

Makoto decided to start looking around to see if there was anything she'd like, since she sure wasn't going for the history or non-fictional stuff that Blake was looking for, she asked, "Got any comic books?"

"You'll find them on the front shelves," Tukson replied.

Makoto and Nora went to the front shelves and stated browsing the comics. Makoto saw and felt that "every book under the sun" was a good slogan for Tukson's shop. He had nearly everything. Every available issue of X-Ray and Vav, Camp Camp, the whole she-bang.

As she browsed, she saw Ren browse through what looked like a cook book section and held up a book titled Yums and Nums while Blake spoke with Tukson at the front desk, inquiring about history books, specifically those pertaining to the Great War. That made Makoto's mind jump back to Oobleck's class and internally groan. She really wasn't looking forward to that since history was already one of her dodgiest subjects.

She then heard Tukson say that he had some copies in the back and that his assistant was checking stock before he yelled out, "PENNY! Can you please bring out World of Remnant: The Great War Volumes 1-5, unabridged?"

At the loud, but kind request, Makoto looked up from her browsing position and saw someone walk out of the back carrying five heavy looking books in their left hand with little effort. This person was an orange-haired girl with green eyes who looked to be of similar age to all of them. Her hair was cut short and curly with a lock that stood out on top and a cute pink bow on the back of her head. She was wearing a light grey blouse that left her shoulders exposed under a dark grey skirt which had two green lines that went up to the middle of the dress. On her feet were black stockings that featured green lines running along the side with black shoes. She greeted all of them with a kind, exuberant smile while waving with her right hand.

"Salutations, shoppers!"

The four of them looked up to meet the new face. Nora was the first to greet her by rushing up to her in the blink of an eye. "Hi! Name's Nora. That's Ren, Blake, and Makoto. We're team BRNN, soon to be most awesome team at Beacon, hold your applause." Nora said rapidly as she introduced them all to her. "What's your name?"

"Well, as Tukson previously stated, my name is Penny Polendina. I've only started working here within the last two weeks as an assistant. Pleased to meet you all," Penny said with a chipper tone that matched Nora's. She then put the five books on the front desk with a loud thud before turning back to greet everyone. Nora reached out to shake her hand, and Penny did so with such gusto that Nora was comically shaken in an almost cartoon-life fashion. The Valkyrie girl even had to shake her own hand while wincing from pain when Penny retracted hers.

Penny clearly had a lot of strength to her if she could do that with Nora. Thankfully, Nora didn't seem miffed by the shaking or inadvertent pain. Instead, she went back to cheerfully trying to get to know the new girl in front of them.

As they all greeted each other, Makoto found herself paying most attention to Penny's facial features. Aside from the freckles, Makoto recognized Penny's face and green eyes from somewhere. After a couple seconds, a metaphorical lightbulb went off in her head as she thought, Huh, just get this girl some blonde hair dye and extensions and Noel's got herself a twin sister. Her mother did always say that everyone's got at least one look-alike somewhere out there in the world, but Makoto never expected to run into one of her best friend.

"BRNN, huh? So I guess you're the leader, Blake?" Tukson asked, shaking Makoto out of her musings regarding Penny's appearance.

"O-oh, it's really nothing. Still not sure why I qualified anyway," Blake stuttered a bit as she looked away from the group.

"Blake, did you see how things went with the Death Stalker? You and Tsu just took charge at the drop of a hat, almost like it was second nature. If you ask me, I'd say you make a pretty good leader," Makoto encouraged her friend as she wrapped her arm around her shoulders. Blake's cheeks turned a light shade of red at the praise.

Suddenly, faster than either of them could blink, Penny was standing directly in front of them, staring intently at Blake with a large grin as she cheered, "You've become the team leader? That's truly sensational! Congratulations Miss Belladonna!" she proceeded to shake Blake's hand similar to how she shook Nora's earlier, with the effects being even more pronounced as Blake's form became an almost shaken blur. When Penny let go, Blake awkwardly thanked her and proceeded to turn around, blowing on her red, almost swollen hand.

"So, in celebration of this momentous occasion, I would like to grant you all a 75% discount on all purchases today!" Penny chimed with brightness in her voice, apparently unaware of her accidental crushing of Blake's hand. Though even Blake seemed to forget about the pain as she turned around wide-eyed at the mention of the discount.

However, before Makoto could beam at their good luck, Tukson interrupted, "Whoa, whoa, Penny, let's not get crazy here. I still got a business to run and you can't just go around giving people big discounts just because of some big event. Remember last time a few days ago? You tried to let that one kid get all his purchases for free because it was his birthday? We almost lost the whole graphic novel section."

Penny then looked back to Tukson and asked, "So no discounts today?"

Tukson rubbed the back of his head and answered, "Well, I didn't say 'no discounts' at all. Just don't go with those large pie in the sky numbers. Maybe a 50% at most is what I'm saying."

Penny then grinned again and faced them again, "In that case, you will all receive a 50% discount on all purchases for today!"

Tukson sighed, "Alright, that'll do. 'sides, I guess I can let it slide for an old friend anyway."

Makoto could have sworn she heard a squee come out of Blake's mouth for a moment, though if she asked, she was pretty sure Blake would say it was her imagination. In any case, Blake almost immediately rushed to the front desk and asked, "So, with that in mind, any chance you have the remaining 4 Volumes of..." she then turned to face her team as she leaned forward and whispered into Tukson's ear. Makoto couldn't make out what she asked for.

At that, Tukson gave an almost knowing smirk and said, "Okay, Penny, could you go to the back room and bring in the box that has 'Blake Belladonna' written on it?"

Penny then saluted and said, "Yes, Mr. Tukson!"

"We've been over this, you don't-" But before he could finish, Penny was already gone, "have to...call me...Mr."

"So," Ren said, finally deciding to speak up, "She's...out there."

"Ren!" Nora said in mock aghast.

"I'm not saying that's a bad thing, Nora. You of all people should know that."

"I know. But she seems super fun!"

"She can be a bit of a handful," Tukson interjected, "But she's a good kid. Probably just hasn't had much time to socialize."

Makoto looked to the man at the desk while Blake asked, "What do you mean by that?"

Tukson replied, "What I mean is that while I don't know much on her background, from what she told me, her and her father have been travelling throughout the kingdoms for a while now. They only recently moved here for the Vytal Festival, something about wanting to get to watch the event up close. I figured that it's just been her and her old man for the better part of her life, so she doesn't really know how to interact well with others."

Makes sense, Makoto thought to herself as she mused over Penny's quirks and eagerness in interacting with almost everyone. Smiling, she looked to Tukson and said "Well, if you ask me, I'm glad you were willing to hire her. She looks like the kind of gal who could always use a friend."

Tukson chuckled and replied, "Hey, who am I to deny someone just because they're a little weird."

Close stepping indicated that Penny was close approaching. Sure enough, she came in carrying a small box with Blake's name written on it as she happily said, "Here you go Miss Belladonna! Volume's 4-8 of the Ninjas of Love series."

At that, Makoto looked back to Blake with a surprised expression while her partner turned a bright red and buried her face in her hands. Behind them, Nora made a loud "Huh?" noise while Ren eyes only slightly widened (at least Makoto thought so) as he looked at Blake. She had to admit, of all the things to learn about her partner, learning she was into a kinky erotica series was not one of them.

Then again, it's always the quiet ones. Makoto mused as her surprised look gave way to an amused smirk, Speaking of, wonder if Ren has a seductive side. If he does, then Nora'll be in for a treat later.

"Penny," Tukson chastised with his face buried in his hand in exasperation, "We really need to have a talk on customer-product confidentiality."

"Oh! I apologize Miss Belladonna. I didn't intend to reveal anything, I promise!" Penny, with a guilty expression, bowed her head to the point where she was practically at a 90 degree angle. Blake tried to calm the girl down and let her know that it was unneeded, but Penny seemed rather intent on apologizing continuously till the cows came home. Seeing as this would not end anytime soon. Makoto looked at Ren and the two silently agreed to make their purchases while Blake was busy with Penny.

Aside from the history books and Blake's smut novels, Makoto and Nora agreed to share the comics they decided on getting while Ren purchased the cook book he was browsing earlier, saying that it had some recipes he wanted to try his hand at. Makoto swore she saw drool coming out of Nora's mouth when he brought that up. After the purchases were complete, Makoto looked and saw the whole "apologize-off" thing with Penny was still going. Deciding to put an end to it, she walked up and gave Blake a light tap on the shoulder.

"Blakey, we got everything, think we should get going?" Makoto interrupted, causing Blake to turn and stammer.

"Oh, OH, definitely!" she then turned back to Penny, "It looks like my team and I have to go now, so you really don't need to apologize for anything anymore. It's fine, really."

And with that, she waved and said goodbye to Tukson while she damn near pushed the three of them out the door as fast as she could, with Ren carrying their purchases, all while Makoto could hear Tukson's stifled laughing. As they left, Penny was heard shouting something along the lines of "Don't worry! I'll make this up to you!"

As soon as they were around the corner, Blake stopped and the three of them turned to their leader, who was in the middle of catching her breath. As they stood their in silence while Blake collected herself, Nora raised her hand and breathed, but...

"Not. One. Word." Blake raised her finger, with her tone almost daring them to speak about what just happened.

"What, me? Pfft. I wasn't going to say nothing," Nora said as she innocently whistled. Blake glared at her with flushed cheeks as she started walking ahead of the group, but before she could get very far...

"So any chance I could borrow one of your ninja books? Personal reasons if you catch my drift?" Nora asked, with Blake only groaning in response.

"I mean, if you're not gonna let her borrow it, you could always let me borrow it," Makoto said, causing Ren and Nora to look at her, "What? I also have needs you know."

"Just..." They all turned back to Blake, whose face was completely crimson, either from anger or embarrassment, "Let's just get back to Beacon."

And with that, she speed walked (or rather, speed stomped) ahead of them. Makoto was admittedly starting to feel bad about all the teasing, given Blake's reaction. As they walked to keep up with their leader, she whispered, "Think we should apologize?"

"Well," Ren intoned as he held the bags containing their books in his hands, "After everything back there, I get the feeling that Blake doesn't want to hear anymore apologies for the day."

"Point."

"I told you guys, it's fine!" Blake yelled back, clearly being able to hear them, "Can we just get back to Beacon and not talk about this anymore, please!?"

"Alrighty then Blake! Just let us know when you need some alone time in the room," Nora joked. Makoto couldn't help but snicker a little.

"UUUGH!" Blake groaned, but she did ultimately slow down enough for the rest of them to catch up.

Eh, I'll make it up to her later when she cools down, Makoto thought, For now, just let her vent a little.

Chapter Text

It was a bright, weekend day at Beacon Academy. Seeing as there would be no classes today, Tsubaki opted to do one of her favorite hobbies whenever she was given free time back at home.

Painting.

Currently, she was sitting on a flat, circular chair near the landing strip that the students arrived at on the first day. She was wearing a white painters coat and a ruby colored painters hat as she made a portrait of Beacon itself, capturing the rising tower in the distance.

At the moment, she was coloring in the sky, which was a majestic shade of blue with fluffy white clouds circling at the height of the main tower of the academy. Capturing every detail possible was Tsubaki's current priority as she held her thumb up to measure scale properly. Just as she was about to add the clouds in...

"Sup Tsubaki!"

Maintaining her posture, she turned around and saw her teammates, Yang and Pyrrha, greeting her. Both of them were wearing their full combat attire.

"Oh, hello you two." Tsubaki replied politely, "May I ask what you guys are doing?"

"Oh, we were just going to get some practice in."

"Well, I don't see anything wrong with that." She said, "Go on then, I'll continue as I am."

She then returned to painting her portrait, when suddenly...

BAM!

She winced at the loud and familiar shotgun sound that came from far behind her. Reluctantly, she turned and saw that Yang and Pyrrha were sparring with each other. They were far enough that it wouldn't worry her about their battle coming close to her, but the noise that they were making in the process was rather irritating.

SHING!

Deciding that she needed to intervene, she got up from her seat and walked over to them; Pyrrha currently blocking Yang's punches with her shield.

"Excuse me! Would you two please stop for a moment!" Tsubaki yelled out, getting both of her teammates attention.

"Yes, what is it, Tsubaki?" Pyrrha asked.

"Why are you two practicing out here? I thought you were going to the combat class arena for practice."

"I'm sorry, Tsubaki. It's just that they combat arena is currently preoccupied." Pyrrha said apologetically.

"Yeah, last we saw, Ragna was using it to spar with one of the upper-classmen teams. I think it was Team CFVY? Maybe?" Yang said as she scratched her chin with her finger. "If you want, we could try finding somewhere else to spar."

In response, Tsubaki shook her head and said, "No no, your training and self-improvement are more important. I'll just try my best to put up with the added volume."

"Oh, uh, thank you Tsubaki." Pyrrha responded kindly, "And don't worry, we'll try our best not to distract you. That's a lovely portrait by the way."

Tsubaki thanked them for the compliment and walked back to her seat so she could continue. The sounds of gunfire and metal continuing from behind her.

Just ignore it, Tsubaki. Don't let anything distract you.

She continued her painting and was able to tune out the sounds of the sparring match behind her to a moderate degree, barring the one or two occasions when they would yell out.

Things were coming together well. She was almost finished painting the bright, cloud filled sky. She just needed to a couple more clouds...

"Um, Tsubaki?"

...And Weiss' voice cut her line of thought.

Trying her best to maintain a calm demeanor for her friend's sake, she turned to face her and forced the best smile she could, "Yes."

"I was planning on practicing my summonings around here. That won't interrupt anything, will it?" Weiss asked.

It won't interrupt me anymore than you are now, Tsubaki bit her tongue and refused to voice such thoughts out loud, instead saying, "Of course not. Find a good spot and feel free to practice at your leisure."

"Great, thank you."

"Don't mention it."

She watched as Weiss walked to another area within the immediate vicinity and created a glyph with her Semblance, pointing Myrtenaster to the glyph as she did so. She could hear the sound of gunfire and metal returning where she knew that Pyrrha and Yang were sparring. She was getting sick of the interruptions, but she didn't want to voice these concerns. She didn't want to risk saying anything rude now that her temper was flaring up.

Just ease up a little now, Tsubaki, She told herself mentally, You're almost done anyway. Just finish the sky, and take the portrait back to the room to dry. Simple.

She worked her best through the distractions, focusing every once of her attention on herself, her brush, and her canvas. She dabbed her brush into the white paint and continued her work on the clouds of Beacon's sky. She almost done now, with just one more cloud remaining...

CRASH!

Suddenly there was a loud ringing in her head and everything was blurry as she felt herself hit the floor. She clutched the side of her head as she heard the muffled cries of Yang and Weiss getting closer to her.

When her senses came to, she saw Pyrrha right next to her, getting up and also clutching her head. Tsubaki looked around and what she saw made her heart sink.

The portrait she was working on was completely destroyed. The canvas had been torn apart with paint and various colors scattered everywhere.

"Tsubaki, I'm so sorry!" Pyrrha said as Tsubaki turned to her. The gladiator girl bowing her head in shame. "It was my fault! Yang and I were sparring and then I accidentally got too close and cut off a bit of Yang's hair. She got mad and then-"

"No no, it's my fault. I was the one who got pissed off and punched her into you without thinking." Yang said as she did the same as her partner.

Tsubaki did her best to head their apologies, but internally, she was seething. She had worked long and hard on her perfect canvas. Everything was going so well and it all ended up ruined!

Rather than voice her frustrations, she instead wordlessly picked herself off the floor and started walking away, not heeding the concerned calls of her teammates as she did so.

As angry as she was, she didn't want to lash out at her team. She was supposed to be their leader, and she needed to maintain control of herself and set a proper example. That meant she couldn't let her anger take hold and make her say or do anything she would regret.

She picked up the speed as she made her way to her team's room and let herself in before loudly slamming the door shut and landing face first on her bed.

She just laid there and stewed in her anger, refusing to let it be seen or let it out. Suddenly, she heard a knock on the room door.

"Uh, Tsubaki?", Pyrrha's voice could be heard through the wooden door. "Is it okay if we come in?"

Tsubaki, in response, turned her head to the side so that her voice wouldn't be muffled and said, "Sure, it's your room."

She returned to having her face planted on the bed, preventing her from seeing her teammates walk in. But she did hear steps that stopped rather close to her bed, signifying that they were all next to her.

"Tsubaki, I just want to say that I'm sorry. I didn't mean to ruin your painting." She heard Yang say.

"It's my fault as well. Please forgive me." Pyrrha said as well.

Tsubaki lifted her head from the bed and saw her three teammates looking at her with concern and guilt in their eyes. Weiss had also brought the ruined painting materials and canvas back with them. She sighed and said, "Look, it really isn't as big of a deal as you're making it out to be, so please, just drop it. I forgive you, so let's just leave it there."

Pyrrha, despite the crestfallen look, did seem to drop the issue and started to move to her bed, but Yang dawned a determined face and grabbed Pyrrha's shoulder while Weiss moved beside the blonde; an equally determined look on her face as well.

"Tsubaki," Weiss began, "Until recently, we may have been out of contact for several years, but back when we used to play, you had a habit of suppressing yourself whenever you were upset about anything. Clearly, that hasn't changed at all."

Yang spoke after Weiss finished, "It really doesn't take knowing you to see that you're still pissed off. Holding it in ain't healthy, so just let it out. We can handle it."

Tsubaki kept her tongue bit down. She could understand what Weiss and Yang were saying, but as much as she wanted to scream out her anger, she just couldn't bring herself to say it. Instead she looked down and refused to face them.

She then felt a weight lay itself on her bed next to her. She looked up and saw Weiss sitting to her side.

"Tsubaki, it's okay," Weiss said in a gentle tone, "You don't have to hide you you really feel from us. We're a team, right?"

Tsubaki just sat there in quiet contemplation and stared at her childhood friend.

"It doesn't have to be now if you don't want. You can let it out any time you desire." Weiss said as she moved to get up, but Tsubaki was quick to place her hand on Weiss' shoulder and stop her.

"No, you're right, it's just..." Tsubaki began before she stopped herself.

"It's just...what?" Yang asked.

After some urging, Tsubaki sat up on her bed and took a deep breath before speaking again, saying, "I'm supposed to set an example for you guys. I'm the leader, so I should have a better sense of control over how I feel, but...well, I clearly don't."

"So, that's it?" Yang asked as she took a seat next to Tsubaki on her opposite side, "You just feel you have to be a Miss Perfect and you get angry when you can't keep it up?"

Tsubaki looked down and nodded in shame. She then felt Weiss pull her in and envelop her in a hug.

"Tsubaki, take it from me, I'm not perfect, and I doubt anyone of us are." Weiss said. "You don't have to hide yourself from us just to set an example. If it means you're constantly straining yourself just so you don't accidentally hurt us, then I don't think it's worth the effort."

"She's right, Tsubaki," Pyrrha chimed in as she moved in front of the TSYP leader. "Believe me when I say, trying to be this example for others out of obligation or otherwise is very...taxing, to say the least."

"Besides, we're all kind of screwups in our own way," Yang said as she placed her hand on Tsubaki's shoulder. "Odds are, we're definitely gonna need to get yelled at or something else just for all of us to get a point."

Tsubaki felt a wetness rolling down her cheeks, which she wiped away with her arm before saying, "Thanks guys. I guess I just got a lot more...well angry than usual because this is the first time I've painted a portrait in a long time."

"Really?" Weiss asked, causing Tsubaki to turn to her, "So you took up painting over the years?"

"Yes, and between training with the Izayoi, studies, and all other tasks that I had to do as heiress to the Yayoi name, I had less and less time for my hobbies as I continued. They became something of a rarity being honest. Even when I went to study at Sanctum Primary, I was still rarely found the time. So, needless to say, you can imagine my frustration when all the hard work I did got ruined."

"Sorry." Pyrrha once again apologized, with Yang following suit.

"No, it's fine. I think I've gotten over it now." Tsubaki informed them. "Still..."

They all just sat there quietly for a moment before Yang got up from her spot and said, "I think I know how to make it up to you. Just wait right there for one second."

As she said this, she ran to the closet and started throwing things out, as if looking for something.

"Where is it? Come on, I know it's here." Tsubaki heard her say, before she loudly went, "AHA! Found it!"

She practically bounced back to the group and pulled out what appeared to be a polaroid camera. "I know that a normal group picture isn't gonna replace all that work and dedication entirely, but I figured, y'know, thought that counts?"

Tsubaki nodded as Yang motioned for all of them to get into different positions before taking a position herself. She then held the camera above them all and pressed the button, causing a bright flash as a photograph came out of the polaroid.

As Yang took it and held it up to the group, Tsubaki couldn't help but feel amazed as the photograph formed. It showed each of them close together, smiling in the same direction. Part of her had to stifle a chuckle when she saw that Yang had made a pair of bunny ears behind Weiss' head, something that she saw Weiss give Yang a bit of stink eye for.

"It's...It's not perfect, obviously, but it's amazing nonetheless." Tsubaki said Yang have her the picture and let her hold it. She then looked to the empty wall where she was planning to put the portrait she was working on and got an idea.

"And I think I know just where to put it."

She then got to work on setting things up. She gathered some tape and other materials, specifically her art supplies, and started setting them up to be put to the wall. Weiss, Pyrrha, and Yang all got in on it as well and helped her out, with Yang and Pyrrha putting the finishing touches on the wall itself while Tsubaki and Weiss finished the sign. They then took the completed sign and hung it on the wall, while Tsubaki took the photo and applied some tape to the back of it, allowing it to stick to the wall. The four of them stood back and admired the work.

Tsubaki looked up at the sign she and Weiss made and read it in her head.

"Wall of Memories".

It wasn't what she was expecting nor what she wanted there originally, but it was marvelous all the same.

Chapter Text

Ruby couldn't help but beam with excitement as she and her teammates walked to the combat arena. Combat class was her favorite class out of all of the courses here at Beacon. No boring lectures. No odd philosophical questions that they gave them to ponder over. Just her, her opponent, and her sweetheart kicking their butts.

As for her teammates, Jaune and Noel seemed to be rather apprehensive on Miss Goodwitch's class. Ruby could sort of understand that. Neither of them seemed to like fighting all that much, and in Jaune's case, he wasn't exactly very good at it since the last time they were here, he would have ended up getting the tar kicked out of him had Goodwitch not intervened.

Then again, he was pretty unlucky to end up facing Yang first. And accidentally cutting off a strand of her hair with a sword swing.

Ruby couldn't help but shudder at that memory.

"GET BACK HERE AND DIE LIKE A MAN YOU LITTLE BITCH!"

"SOMEBODY PLEASE HELP ME!"

"Miss Xiao Long! Enough!"

So yeah, nothing but bad memories for the poor guy as far as combat class was concerned.

Ragna, on the other hand, was almost smiling. Well, smile was still a rather rough way to put it. It would be more accurate to say he was smirking. So far, the only things that interested him here either involved fighting and killing Grimm. Made sense since when he always seemed to try sparring the upper classmen. When she asked him why, he just said, "Fighting any of the other first years would be a waste of my time. I'm looking for a challenge."

Considering how strong he was, Ruby guessed that, for the most part, it wasn't just ego talking. Still, he didn't strike her as smug, just...easily bored by anything else here at Beacon if she could find a good way to put it. His opponent the first time around was some guy named Sky Lark. Ragna didn't even try and just punched him hard enough to send him flying out of the arena.

The four of them found their seats on the bleachers. Ruby decided to look around and see if she could find Yang. Sure enough, she and the rest of her team were sitting a few seats above her team. Yang noticed her and waved, with Ruby waving back. Seeing Tsubaki sitting beside her, Ruby elbowed Noel to get her attention, then indicated behind her. Noel and Tsubaki smiled at each other and waved.

"Hey, Noel, you're friend's over there." Ragna gruffly said, pointing to their far left and indicating Team BRNN's location in the sea of other students.

Blake was the first to notice them and got Makoto's attention. They both waved hello, with Makoto mouthing a greeting from her position. Noel did the same, sharing a warm greeting from her position.

Just as everyone started to get settled, Miss Goodwitch walked in and made her way to the center of the stage.

"Alright students, it's time for sparring class. Now, can we have some volunteers for our first match for the day?" Goodwitch called out.

Several students raised their hands, Ruby trying to raise hers the highest.

"Miss Rose." Goodwitch called her name.

Ruby then pumped her fist and whispered "Yes!" to herself as she sped to the side of the arena.

"Alright, now who would like to be Miss Rose's opponent?" Glynda's question caused several hands to be raised up. The only people who didn't were the members of her team, given that members of the same team couldn't fight one another in combat class.

Ruby heard Goodwitch ponder to herself before calling out, "Miss Xiao Long, please step forward." Ruby couldn't help but feel excited. She and her sister were getting to spar each other.

Yang made her way to her side of the arena and said, "Don't worry sis, I'll go easy on you."

Ruby couldn't help but smirk and fire back, "Don't hold back on my account, Yang. You'll regret it."

Goodwitch then walked to the side and exited the arena, leaving Ruby and her sister at center stage for the brawl.

"And, begin!" She called out as the arena's screen showed their Aura levels to the rest of the class.

Yang was the first to move, busting forward with Ember Celica and launching a charged punch aimed right for Ruby's stomach. Ruby was quick to dodge by firing Crescent Rose to direct her left before speeding straight behind Yang; dropkicking her in the back before backflipping away.

Remember, Yang's Semblance let's her take any damage she takes and return it back, Ruby thought to herself and what she knew about her sister's fighting style. Better to make quick hit-and-run attacks. Strike at her and get away until you get her Aura into the red.

Just as Yang charged at her, Ruby waited for her to come close. As soon as Yang was close enough to her sister, she jumped into the air; her fist raised as Ember Celica was about to fire. Ruby saw what Yang was planning and ran forward, blurring close to the edge of the arena and turning with Crescent Rose in its sniper rifle form. Seeing that Yang's back was now facing her, she dug herself into the ground and began firing at her sister's unprotected back. Yang stumbled forward with each shot, her Aura draining with each hit.

A click indicated that Ruby had run out of ammunition, prompting her to remove the current clip. Before she could load up a new one, Yang had turned and was now charging at her; eyes having shifted red. Unlike previously, she unfolded Crescent Rose back to its scythe form and ran towards Yang as her sister fired, dodging each shot with a quickly timed burst of speed, before getting close enough to strike; she spun, using the momentum she gathered and the snath of her weapon to knock Yang away, sending her flying back before the elder sister caught herself and stopped herself on her feet. Yang cocked Ember Celica and threw two belts of concussive ammunition into the air; they perfectly landed in her gauntlets' chambers, reloading her weapons.

So far, so good, Ruby thought as she quickly reloaded Crescent Rose. She checked both hers and Yang's Aura levels. She was still in the green while Yang was now in the yellow. She just needed to keep her distance and directly attack when able before getting away. Yang hit hard and fast, so all her older sister needed was a few good hits to take her out, and she wasn't planning on giving her the opportunity.

Unlike before, Yang didn't immediately charge at her, instead walking across the edge of the arena, with Ruby doing the same in the opposite direction. She watched Yang, working to anticipate her next move. Her sister looked like she was done being reckless and was probably planning something out.

After thirty seconds of the two of them prowling the arena, Ruby made the first move, she fired three bullets at Yang, hoping to get her moving. Instead, her sister fired on them, causing an explosion that enveloped the arena in dust and smoke, blocking Ruby's view.

Crap, I can't see her!

Ruby frantically looked around, trying to see where her sister might come out from.

Then to her right, she saw a shadow rushing right at her. Quick to react, she rushed forward and slashed at it. Instead of being met with the sound of metal hitting an Aura, she instead heard the sound of crumbling stone. As her attack ended, she looked back and saw that what she slashed was actually a large piece of the arena.

Ruby had fallen for her sister's trick.

As the dust started to settle, she saw the outline of a shadow right behind her. She turned and brandished Crescent Rose to attack.

It was too late.

Before Ruby could make her move, she found herself knocked into the air and launched above what was left of the dust cloud. The wind had been knocked out of her, taking her focus away. She could barely see her sister jumping right into the air and stopping just above her. A single punch sent her flying down to the arena floor, kicking up another cloud of dust that dispersed as soon as it arrived.

"Owie." Was all that Ruby could say in a high pitched wine as she felt her Aura break from impact and heard her sister land next to her.

"Oh crap. Ruby, I'm so sorry." Yang said apologetically as she leaned down to check on her; she placed her hand behind Ruby's head and gentle lifted her upper body up. "I was only trying to knock your Aura into the red, but I may have gotten too worked up and went to far and-"

"Yang, ngh," Ruby said as she struggled to pick herself up. "It's fine. I can walk this off."

The sound of rubble moving drew their attention to the arena as Professor Goodwitch used her Semblance to lift and reassemble the pieces of the arena. Soon enough, all the damage Yang caused had been completely undone, as if there was never a battle in the first place. They then saw the professor walk up to them.

"While that was a remarkable display of ingenuity Miss Xiao Long, I strongly recommend you learn to practice restraint when dealing with opponents. You don't want to inadvertently break someone's leg, now, would you?"

"Y-yes professor."

"Good, now Miss Rose, I suggest you report to the infirmary to make sure your injuries aren't anything too severe."

"I'll handle it!" Yang said as she scooped Ruby up in her arms and rushed her out of the room.

"Yang! Wait! I can take myself there." Ruby protested as she was taken into the halls, the door to the arena now far behind them.

"Well, looks like we're minus one now." Ragna grunted out as they all watched Yang carry her sister out.

"That was intense." Noel muttered to herself as she looked down. The entire fight made her feel rather self-conscious. She had just seen her leader and said leader's sister fight with such speed and strength that she had no hope of ever achieving or doing well against. The more she watched the other students in these combat classes, the smaller she felt.

Jaune noticed that Noel looked rather sad and asked, "What's wrong?"

Noel looked to Jaune with an embarrassed expression and looked away before saying, "I-it's nothing, really."

"We all know that 'nothing' means something, kid. So just spit it out." Ragna bluntly told her.

"I," Noel stuttered before she partially turned her head to Ragna, "I just...Ruby just blitzed all over the field and Yang was so strong. I guess I kinda feel insignificant. I mean, Ruby can snipe and she's much faster than I am. And I know that you're super strong just like Yang is, not to mention I needed Jaune to save me at initiation. So..."

And she petered off, not knowing how or if she could finish. Ragna just raised an eyebrow in what she assumed to be contemplation. She looked down again, only to feel a hand on her shoulder and saw Jaune smile at her.

"Noel, you really shouldn't feel so down about yourself. You have one of the coolest weapons here. Uh, no offense Ragna." Jaune stopped to apologize to their taller teammate. Ragna didn't even respond and just put his arms behind his head and leaned back.

"Now where was I? Oh, right. You got to show off what you could do at initiation and you even saved me from the Boarbatusk and the Death Stalker. I mean, if you didn't start shooting at it when you did, I probably would have flown off into the sky."

"He he." Noel turned red as she scratched her cheek. It wasn't so much her precisely shooting to get the monster to fling him off its tail. It was more like the sight of the giant bug freaked her out so much that she just unloaded everything she had at that moment on it hoping to kill it. What Jaune was praising was really just dumb luck on her part.

"Look at it this way, kid." Ragna spoke up, eyes closed in his relaxed position, "Even if you suck shit, you're still better than scrawny over here."

"Ragna!" Noel cried out, "That was mean!"

"Noel, it's fine, really." Jaune said as he shook his hands in front of him, trying to diffuse the situation, "It's just Ragna being Ragna is all." He then muttered, "Not like he's wrong anyway."

Before Noel could say anything, Goodwitch's authoritative voice called her and the others back into reality, "Mister Winchester, step forward."

Noel looked and saw the tall, armored figure of Cardin Winchester walk to his side of the arena. He had a smug smile plastered on his face as he rested his mace on his shoulder.

"Any volunteers to be his opponent?" The professor called out, which was followed my multiple students raising their hands. Noel could hear Makoto even loudly saying "Pick me! Pick me!" in the background.

"Miss Nanaya." Goodwitch called out to the squirrel faunus, "Take your place in the arena so we can begin."

Noel saw Makoto borderline skip her way down to the arena center as her tail swished back and forth. She seemed rather excited, but Noel couldn't really tell why. Either way, she wasn't going to discourage her friend's exuberance. Instead, she nervously yelled out, "Good luck, Makoto!" And waved to her friend. Makoto turned and waved back before giving Noel a thumbs up. To her side, Noel saw that Ragna was now sitting straight, albeit with his arms crossed, as he was now intent on watching the match with the rest of them.

As the two opponents stood face-to-face, Glynda raised her hand and yelled out, "Begin!"

Cardin was the first to attack, charging with his mace raised overhead to slam down on Makoto. Makoto, for her part, rushed quickly and met his charge head-on with incredible speed. In almost the blink of an eye, she was right below Cardin in a crouching position.

The next thing Noel saw was Cardin being sent flying into the air as Makoto had just uppercut him in his chin. The attack itself was a strong one, having sent Cardin's Aura from green to yellow in one hit.

As Cardin grunted and picked himself up, Makoto just casually bounced in a boxing stance, punching the air as if all of this was just a warm-up.

"C'mon. Try harder." Makoto said, sounding like she was trying to rile her opponent up.

Cardin stood up fully and muttered something loudly. Noel couldn't quite make out what it was, but she was pretty sure it was something along the lines of "squirrel-tailed freak".

At that point Noel knew that Cardin was as good as dead.

Once more, Cardin rushed towards Makoto, this time with his mace on his right with the intent on batting her to the side. Rather than charge like she did last time, Makoto just stopped bouncing and stood still with her arms crossed. When Cardin neared her, he swung straight for Makoto's head.

Instead of the result the jerk was expecting, he found that Makoto had blocked the attack with her tail.

"So," Makoto said loudly in an even tone, "Ya wanna repeat that 'squirrel-tailed freak' comment?"

Makoto then proceeded to grab Cardin by his armor and lifted him off the ground with one hand. She then used her tail to repeatedly deliver physical blows to his face over and over again. Noel knew from watching Makoto fight that her tail was strong, each attack carrying half the force of one of her basic punches, which were nothing to sneeze at. By the final punch, Cardin's Aura was down to almost 1%.

With his Aura completely drained, Makoto unceremoniously dropped him and let him fall to the floor in a slump, leaving him to struggle to pick himself up.

"Well done Miss Nanaya." the professor praised as she walked to the arena to meet the two combatants. "Mister Winchester, maybe next time you'll think twice before you needlessly anger your opponent."

"Tch. Whatever." Cardin loudly winced out as he limped back to his seat.

"Now, Miss Nanaya, please take your seat."

Makoto walked back to her seat with a smile and pep in her step. As she passed by Noel and her team, she gave her a high five before rejoining the rest of Team BRNN.

"Alright. Now, while I'll call on volunteers, I would like to see the more...docile among you show an interest in this. It's all for your own improvement." Glynda said as she checked her tablet. "Now, who wants to be part of our next match?"

Amidst the many students that raised their hand, Noel felt that Glynda was calling for her to volunteer based on her statement. She didn't participate in the previous combat class since they had ran out of time to continue with matches. It was mostly because these fights involved sparing in front of the other students and, well, Noel wasn't very good with crowds.

"Miss Vermi-"

"I'll do it!"

Noel looked and saw that Jaune was now standing up with his hand raised high.

"With all due respect Mister Arc, I believe I was calling Miss Vermillion to the arena."

"I-it's okay, he can take my place. If t-that's fine with you professor." Noel stuttered.

Professor Goodwitch simply sighed and said, "Very well, but you'll be fighting in the next match after this one to compensate. Mister Arc, please enter the arena."

Jaune turned to her and gave her a thumbs up before walking down to his side of the arena. At that, Noel realized what was going on.

He saw that I was too scared to go up there and took my place. Noel couldn't help but be touched by the kindness of Jaune's gesture.

"I wouldn't rest easy kid." Noel heard Ragna say, "I'd say Jaune just bought you a minute before you have to face the crowd. Maybe an extra thirty seconds at most."

"Y-you don't know that." Noel nervously said, trying to argue in Jaune's favor, "He can last longer."

"Miss Schnee, please enter the arena." Goodwitch called out.

Noel and Ragna's eyes followed the heiress' rather dignified and confident steps toward the arena. As she entered, Ragna said, "Scratch that. Scrawny's only got thirty seconds."

"Ragna," Noel said as she tried to keep her voice low, "Can't you just be encouraging of him for once!"

"When he actually starts being competent in a fight, then maybe."

"Begin!" Glynda's yell signified the start of the fight. Jaune kept himself behind his shield as Weiss drew her rapier sword and held the guard close to her face.

The two students just stood for a moment, as if gauging the other's movements.

Jaune was the first to attack. He kept his shield up as he drew his blade and charged directly at Weiss, who simply caught the attack with her blade and redirecting him with his momentum to push him in his continued direction. This allowed her to be right behind him to slash away with an attack that sent him rolling to the floor. Jaune, thankfully, was able to walk off the pain and roll to get back to his feet quickly.

Noel silently cheered for her partner, but even she could tell that Weiss far outclassed him in pure bladework. The most he could do against a swordswoman of Weiss' caliber was play the waiting game and look for openings, and the Schnee Heiress wasn't giving him any.

Before Jaune could do anything else, Weiss was on him, jabbing his shield in an attack that pushed him back before following up with a downward strike, which Jaune was thankfully able to block with his sword.

Jaune, through great effort, was able to push Weiss off him, but Weiss then held her saber with its tip pointed upwards, causing a yellow glyph to appear beneath her feet.

Weiss then blitzed forward and slashed away at the blonde before appearing behind her and slashing at him again, and again at his side, and again at his front. Whatever she did to speed up, even Noel was having a hard time keeping pace with how fast she was moving. All Jaune could do was swing wildly in a vain attempt to try and hit his opponent.

Just as Weiss moved to land her final strike, Jaune's luck improved and instead of getting slashed with the tip of her sword one more time, Weiss found herself speeding headfirst into Jaune's swung shield. The attack knocked her far back, almost reaching the edge of the arena as Jaune, nearing exhaustion and due to the recoil of his attack, fell on his butt and gasped for breath.

"Huh, I'll be damned, he actually landed a solid hit." Ragna said, praising Jaune's fighting for a change, even if it was halfhearted.

Noel was also impressed by the attack. She looked to the large monitor and saw that it was also a pretty devastating hit. The attack had managed to knock Weiss' Aura down to half in a single blow, likely thanks to the momentum from her speeding up combined with the amount of force Jaune was pushing into his attacks.

"Enough." Glynda called out. Signaling the stop of the match.

Wait, huh? Noel thought as the professor took center arena.

"Mister Arc's Aura has entered the red. Since these matches utilize tournament style rules, this means that he's no longer able to continue." She then gestured to the screen, and sure enough, Jaune's Aura was now at 20%.

"That's...okay...teach...I...can still..." Jaune sputtered out between individual gasps as he laid on the floor.

"Mister Arc, while you're determination is admirable, you should learn not to expend all your energy. Gauging your Aura will let you better learn to take defensive strategies." Miss Goodwitch advised as she called the students off her stage.

Weiss was the only one to leave the arena, a hand to her face as it was still aching from Jaune's last attack. Jaune just laid on the arena, still drained and unable to move.

Ragna sighed as he suddenly got up and walked to Jaune's position. He picked him up and hoisted his teammate onto his shoulder, carrying him back to their seats and setting him down on the bleachers.

While trying to get himself in an upright position, Jaune caught his breath and muttered, "Sorry I couldn't last longer, Noel."

Noel, rather than talk, just nodded and gave Jaune a grateful smile, letting him know that she was okay and that he didn't need to apologize.

"Miss Vermillion, please enter the Arena."

Goodwitch's voice called to her, making Noel tense with fear. She was going to have to fight in front of a crowd. A large, scary crowd. And none of her team would be up there with her to ease her nerves.

She felt a hand on her shoulder and looked to see that it was Ragna this time. He looked her directly in the eye and said, "Look, try pretending that the only people that exist are you and whoever the hell you're fighting. I don't know shit about nerves, but give it a shot and see if that'll work."

"I...thank you." Noel sincerely thanked her teammate as she walked slowly to her spot in the arena. Once she arrived, Glynda called for an opponent to volunteer and after a few moments called out, "Mister Ren."

Out from the bleachers walked that quiet guy in green from Blake and Makoto's team. She heard the orange-haired girl from their team shout "Break her legs Renny!" as he walked down.

Just pretend no one's there. Noel thought to herself as she tried to take Ragna's advice. Just pretend it's just you and you're opponent.

As he took his place and drew his twin guns, Noel did the same and drew Bolverk, pointing the barrels straight at him as she tried to psyche herself up.

The professor called out, "And beg-"

Just before she could begin the match, the sound of a swinging door stalled her and Noel (and most of the other students) found themselves turning to see Yang had just returned. "Sorry to interrupt. The doc said that Ruby had to stay to make sure nothing was too damaged for her Aura to patch up and I wanted to stay, but she insisted I come back, so here I am." The tall blonde said as she awkwardly waved at them all. "Anyway, don't mind me, just continue."

Miss Goodwitch, despite seeming a tad miffed at being interrupted, simply continued and shouted, "Begin!"

Pretend it's just you and your opponent. Noel repeated that in her head as she took aim and fired upon Ren, who proceeded to dodge each bullet with a myriad of ducks and rolls before returning fire himself.

Noel dodged each bullet as best she could, spinning, jumping, and pirouette twirling around each bullet before, during her last spin, she combined Bolverk into shotgun form and fired close to her opponent.

Ren dodged the first scattershot, albeit barely, as a few bullets grazed him and damaged his Aura, before running and jumping onto the barrel of her shotgun. He then proceeded to jump once more and spin kicked Noel in the chest, knocking her away and sending her to the floor. She felt a good chunk of her Aura go with her as she dodge rolled to the side to avoid another hail of fire from his pistols.

"GO REN! GO REN!" The cheering from the orange-haired girl disrupted her thoughts, causing her to lose focus and see the crowd of students. All of them felt like they were watching her.

Noel froze, her posture became more awkward as she felt herself shiver from the attention of the crowd. Her mind went blank as she struggled to figure out what to do next and...

Pain enveloped her front as she felt Ren fire upon her before he ran forward and struck at her again with a cross slash using the blades on his pistols. The attack knocked her onto her back as she felt her Aura drain even further.

She didn't bother checking on her Aura. Odds were that it was too low to continue. As she struggled to pick herself up again, she contemplated on if she should just forfeit now. Not like she could deal with the crowd watching her and...

"Go Noel! You can do it! Keep going!"

"Get up you damned idiot!"

Noel froze as she heard Jaune and Ragna's voices loud and clear as they cheered her on. Suddenly it felt like the only people in the crowd were just her teammates. Through their encouragement, she found herself gaining strength and began picking herself up, focusing on not just her opponent, but also on the voices of her team that lifted her spirits.

As she got up, she could see Ren running towards her once more, intent on slashing away the remains of her Aura while she couldn't fight.

She proved faster, as she quickly blocked his blade attack with Bolverk. A surprised expression was on his face as the metal clanged against each other.

With newfound confidence, Noel took her second pistol and aimed right at Ren's face, firing at point-blank range. Her opponent was knocked far away and landed on his back, but was quick to use that momentum to roll to his feet.

The two of them were now staring each other down. Ren holding his twin pistols in a cross-guard while Noel held Bolverk at her sides. Both watched each other as to anticipate the next move. Despite her regained boldness, Noel could feel that her Aura was on its last legs, and considering the point-blank shot her opponent just took, so was his. The next move could very well determine the fight.

Noel and Ren both ran right at each other as fast as they could. As they neared, Ren spun and aimed a powerful kick directly at her head. Noel swiftly got to her knees and bent low, sliding right beneath his attack. In that second, she recombined Bolverk into its shotgun form once more and pointed it right at Ren's undefended back. The close range shotgun blast sent him flying away, knocking him right out of the arena. Noel could hear him groaning in pain as she holstered her guns.

"Way to go Noel!" She heard Jaune clap out. Hearing this also made her aware of the crowd again, and she regained her awkward demeanor from earlier as her face heated up.

"Boooo-OW!" Noel looked up and saw the orange-haired girl that was cheering for Ren earlier rubbing her elbow while Makoto gave her an angry glare. She didn't need to think too long on what happened.

Glynda walked up as Ren picked himself off the floor and made his way back.

"Well done Miss Vermillion." The professor praised, "Though, as a recommendation, I suggest you learn to deal with crowds."

"I, uh, t-thank you." Noel said as she gave a slight bow before rushing back to her seat as fast as she could.

Well, that was quite the match, Pyrrha thought as both gun wielding students returned to their seats.

So far, she had spent her time analyzing and trying to understand the fighting styles of the individual students from other teams, though she had a hard time without personally fighting them herself.

Shaking her thoughts was Miss Goodwitch calling out for a volunteer for the next match. Pyrrha raised her hand high, hoping to fight at least once today, as many other students did the same.

"Miss Nikos, please enter the arena." Glynda called out.

Pyrrha turned to her teammates and said, "Wish me luck, guys."

"Best of luck, Pyrrha," Tsubaki said.

"Yeah, you're gonna kick ass!" Yang exclaimed. She then turned to Weiss and asked, "What up, Snow Queen, you're not gonna wish her luck?"

Weiss simply said, "It's Pyrrha, she doesn't really need good luck. She'll win easily."

Well, being wished good luck would be appreciated, Weiss. Pyrrha thought to herself as she walked down to the arena.

"Any volunteers?" Glynda's words were met with very few people raising their hands. Pyrrha couldn't help feel frustrated by it all. She didn't really mind who her opponent was so long as they got to have a nice, friendly spar. Unfortunately, not many people in her age group wanted to do so, mostly because they were convinced they'd never win.

"Mister Ragna, step forward." Glynda called as the tall, white-haired swordsman of team RNJR entered the ring.

She and Ragna stood across from each other, both of them having drawn their weapons. Ragna held his blade behind him in his right hand with a reverse-hand grip. Pyrrha opted to keep her shield at the ready in her left arm while she firmly held Milo in sword form in the opposite hand.

"Begin!"

Ragna and Pyrrha both charged at each other; their blades clashing when they met at the center. Sparks flew off where they met as the blades slid off one another. The clash soon became a contest of strength, one where Pyrrha was finding herself overwhelmed as Ragna used his sword to push her away, sending her back a few feet.

Before she could make another move, Ragna jumped high into the air and raised his sword overhead, clearly intent on slamming it down upon her. Pyrrha saw the attack and threw her shield upward to knock her opponent down. Instead, Ragna batted the shield aside with one hand and continued his downward strike. Seeing that there was no time for attack, Pyrrha instead rolled out of the way and retrieved her shield.

Suddenly, a powerful wave of force and gust of wind pushed on her back and knocked her forward. Pyrrha rolled with the sudden force and turned around to face Ragna. She found that he was now standing in the center of a large crater, picking his blade up and hefting it onto his shoulder.

Pyrrha lifted her shield and shifted Milo to rifle mode, taking fire at Ragna's exposed flank. Her opponent responded by rushing towards her one more, raising his sword to block her shots. The sheer width of the blade kept most of her bullets off him, but a few managed to strike at his knee and shoulder, getting absorbed by his Aura and dealing damage.

As he neared, he swiped at her, prompting Pyrrha to bend backwards to dodge, lightly manipulating the blade to keep it off her. Ragna then brought the blade overhead once more and brought it down on her again. In the blink of an eye, Pyrrha sidestepped the attack and used the sword as a jumping off point, kneeing Ragna's face and causing him to let go of his weapon, making him stumble back. The gladiator followed up by sweeping his legs and knocking him to the floor. But Ragna easily jumped off and recovered, backflipping away and getting distance.

Pyrrha briefly checked on hers and Ragna's Aura levels. She had only taken minor damage while Ragna's Aura had just entered the yellow. For now, the odds seemed to be in her favor. He was deprived of his weapon and she was still at near full vitality. Still, she couldn't let her guard down.

Instead of making another attack, Ragna cracked his neck then his knuckles before saying, "Not bad. Looks like that rep. of yours isn't all smoke and mirrors after all."

"I'm glad that I'm providing you a challenge." Pyrrha stated curtly.

"Guess I'm gonna have to take off the kiddie gloves if I'm planning on winning." Ragna stated, looking like he was about to charge again.

Pyrrha prepared herself and shifted Milo back to its rifle form, preparing to fire. Instead of running straight at her, Ragna lunged for her, but what drew her attention most was that now his right arm was coated in a dark aura.

The same aura that he had when angered back on the first day.

The aura's sudden appearance distracted Pyrrha enough that she almost didn't fire on her assailant. Thankfully, she came to her senses and unloaded two more shots into Ragna's undefended left, doing more damage, but not deterring his attack as he forced himself forward.

As soon as he reached, he threw his shadow-coated punch, which Pyrrha was able to block with her shield, but some of the aura moved past the shield and briefly made contact with her. As it did, she suddenly found herself overcome by this unsettling, creepy feeling. For a fleeting moment, it felt as if her life was in danger, that she was on the verge of death just from contact with this black shadow.

Before she could assess this, however, Ragna threw a left hook coated with the same dark aura aimed right at her face, the unsettling feeling that came over her having distracted her from blocking or counterattacking. The attack sent her flying to her left and she landed on the floor far away from her opponent. She felt her right ear ringing from that last hit.

As Pyrrha tried to get up, something felt...wrong. She felt...heavier, like she was submerged deep underwater. When she managed to stand, she saw that Ragna, rather than follow up on his attack, had instead went to retrieve his sword and re-armed himself. He turned to her and held the blade in his usual reverse-grip and charged at her once more.

Pyrrha moved to deflect his attacks, but she found herself struggling more than previously. Each sword swing of his felt as if there was more weight to it, or rather, her strength had fallen. She found it harder to use her Semblance, and she felt heavily exhausted; her limbs felt heavier, and her movements were more sluggish. Even standing felt like it required more effort on her part.

Ragna's last attack knocked her back as she landed on her feet. She gasped for air, struggling to catch her breath. She looked to check on her Aura levels and was shocked with what she saw.

Her Aura had been knocked down by more than half, leaving her at 30%. But what truly shocked Pyrrha the most was that Ragna's Aura had somehow increased. It went from yellow back to green, standing at 76%.

B-but that shouldn't be possible. Pyrrha had never seen someone manage to recover their Aura mid-combat at such a level before.

Before she could ponder on this any further, she heard Ragna charge at her again, this time with his sword coated in the dark aura. Not wanting to get hit with the attack again, Pyrrha focused all her efforts on defense as Ragna came at her with a low sword slash before shifting to a downward strike. As Pyrrha blocked the attack with her shield, she could feel the dark aura assaulting her despite her efforts to prevent it. She could feel herself growing weaker, as if death itself was closer.

Putting every ounce of strength she could muster into her shield, she pushed Ragna's assault away and managed to get some distance. The foreboding feeling of death was gone now, just like before. However, she felt herself grow even more exhausted, all from staying under that dark aura.

So that's his Semblance, Pyrrha realized as she gasped for air and tried to fight off the fatigue, That aura drains anything it touches. Weakening his opponents while strengthening himself.

Pyrrha checked their Aura levels once more to be certain. Sure enough, she was down to 21%, just barely above the red, while Ragna's Aura had further increased to 81%.

At this point in the match, Pyrrha knew that she had no chance at winning. If she exerted herself any further or tried anything, it would most likely end in failure. She only had one option left. Steadying herself as best as she could, she sheathed her weapon and looked to Miss Goodwitch.

"I yield."

The professor nodded and called the match in Ragna's favor. Her opponent, for his part, sheathed his weapon behind him and started walking back to his team while the professor used her Semblance to patch up the damage done to the arena. Before he could get very far, Pyrrha managed to walk up to him and held her hand out, "Good match." She said, the fatigue she felt slowly fading.

Ragna just stood there and looked to her hand for a moment before hesitantly reaching out and shaking it, responding, "Uh, thanks."

Just then, the bell rang and signified that class was over, "Well, I'm afraid that will have to be the last match for today." Professor Goodwitch said, "For those of you who participated today and found themselves lacking, learn from the losses on what went wrong and how to improve. For those who succeeded, don't take your victories as a sign that you don't need further improvement. Revise what you know and le-"

"I'm back!" The door slammed open and Team RNJR's leader, Ruby Rose, stood in the doorway. "They said I'm all good and set to return to class. So what I miss?"

"Uh, sorry." Pyrrha loudly said from where she stood as she rubbed the back of her head, "You kind of missed everything."

She heard a loud whine from Ruby as Ragna walked off with the rest of his team. She saw the students stand up and prepare to leave, so she did the same and went back to her team.

When she got back to them, they were all staring at her wide-eyed at her, especially Weiss.

"What?" She asked, genuinely confused.

After a few moments of stuttering, Weiss composed herself and said, "S-sorry, I just...I didn't think it was possible to see what I just saw."

"To be honest, I'm actually rather glad." Pyrrha said, "It's nice to have someone who can challenge and even best you in a fight. I think it gives you a goal to aspire towards."

Weiss remained silent, having a confused expression before cycling to an understanding expression. Tsubaki spoke up, saying, "So, something that I'm having trouble understanding is how his Aura increased during the battle."

"When I was fighting, I felt myself growing fatigued and drained whenever that black aura hit me." Pyrrha explained as they walked out of the room, "I believe his Semblance allows him to drain the Aura of his opponents on contact and amplify his own."

"Well that explains why we didn't see him use it against any Grimm." Yang said, "If it only drains Aura, it wouldn't work on anything without it."

"Hmph, so he's not only a brute, but a leech as well." Weiss haughtily said as she crossed her arms, much to Pyrrha's ire.

"Weiss, enough." She said, defending her opponent, "Like it or not, Ragna won fair and square on the backbone of his own abilities. His Semblance may be...disturbing, but I see no reason to judge him for it."

That seemed to quiet Weiss on the matter, though it seemed pretty clear that she wasn't happy about it.

As her team walked away, Pyrrha couldn't help but think back to her fight and the feelings she had when Ragna's Aura made contact with her. For as much as she didn't want to, she couldn't help but find it creepy. It felt like the attacks went deeper than just draining her Aura, but she couldn't understand why. Maybe if she fought him again, she would be able to better understand. She'd get her chance soon enough.

Chapter Text

"Man, I don't know about you guys, but I'm beat." Jaune said as he stretched his arms. It was near the end of the day and he and the rest of his teammates were walking back to their dorm room after a long day of classes. They were currently in the school courtyard as the sun set.

"So, when you say beat, you mean as in tired, or as in 'I got my butt wupped'?" Ruby joked with a giggle.

"H-hey, I was not expecting her to be that fast, alright!" Jaune sheepishly tried to defend himself. Sure, he wasn't a very good fighter, but he also wasn't expecting Weiss' Semblance to let her do that.

He then felt a hand on his shoulder and Ragna's voice said, "Ruby, you and Noel go back without us. Me and Arc here need to have a talk."

Jaune really wasn't liking the tone in his voice.

"Sure, we'll meet you guys there." Ruby said as she and Noel briefly waved goodbye to both of them.

As soon as they were out of earshot, Jaune turned to Ragna and asked, "So, Rags. Can I call you Rags?"

"If you want to get punched in the face, then go ahead." Ragna grunted as he glared at him.

Jaune awkwardly laughed to diffuse the possible anger his teammate may have had and continued, "Uh, anyway, what do you need?"

Ragna crossed his arms and said, "Simple, you suck shit at fighting."

At his statement, Jaune looked down and grumbled, "I know that already. Why do you have to bring it up?"

"Because I'm gonna train you."

Jaune became shocked and looked up to his taller ally, before slowly saying, "You want to...you want to train me?"

"Yes. Now don't make me have to say it twice." Ragna bluntly told him.

"D-do I want to know why?"

Ragna went silent for a couple moments before saying, "You're this team's weak link. We get into a scrap, you'll either be the first to die, or the first of us that needs to get saved. And I'm not going to put up with that shit, so we're gonna work to make sure you can actually fight worth a damn."

Jaune was at a loss for words. On the one hand, he was being offered to be trained, and by Ragna, which is kinda shocking in its own right considering his...personality. And given what he saw Ragna accomplish at initiation and during the sparring matches, he could help him become a really strong fighter. Maybe even a great hero.

On the other hand...

"Sorry Ragna, but I'm gonna have to say no." Jaune said melancholically, "I want to be a good hero, and I want to be able to reach that point on my own. What good would I be if I couldn't get there myself? I just hope you understand."

Just before he could turn, Jaune felt a hand grab at the back of his uniform shirt and he found himself hoisted up.

"You don't get it, do you, Arc." Ragna said, this time with a frustrated twinge to his voice, "When I say I'm going to train you. I'm going to train you. You don't get a say in this."

Jaune then found the next few minutes of his life encompassed by getting forcibly dragged away across campus against his will while his protests fell ears that very deliberately ignored him.

Jaune and Ragna stopped on the grassy areas in front of the building that housed their dorm rooms, Roughly close to where Ragna usually slept.

"Alright, here's how it's going down. When I was training, my master would have me go all out and try to land a hit on him in a fight while he did everything to stop me. So, we'll do the same."

"How does this, uh, help, exactly?" Jaune asked.

"Simple, besides improving stamina and physical combat, it'll let me gauge how much work I have to do to get you to actually fight competently. So..." Ragna then took on a fighting stance. "Ready..."

Jaune looked nervously around, "Uh, wait, we're not using our weapons-"

"Now!"

The next thing Jaune knew, he was reeling on the floor as everything felt fuzzy. He could here Ragna sigh and grumble, "We'll try that again, just actually be ready this time."

"So," Ruby said as she performed maintenance on Crescent Rose, "What do you think Ragna needed Jaune for?" She had changed into her pajamas a few minutes earlier, although she was wearing a pair of maintenance goggles.

Noel sat cross-legged on her bed and wrote in the same book that she hid underneath her mattress. Unlike Ruby, she was still wearing her uniform, though she took off the overcoat and tie. "Maybe he needs help with schoolwork or something?" she said.

Ruby pondered on that before she shook her head, "Not likely. Ragna's doing decently in class. Nothing outstanding, but he's doing okay. Maybe he wanted to help Jaune with something?"

While Noel went silent in thought, Ruby could have sworn she heard something from outside. Just to make sure, she asked, "Noel, are you hearing what I'm hearing?"

Noel nodded and said, "I didn't know if I was just hearing things, but it looks like I'm not."

The two of them moved to the window and opened it. Ruby saw Ragna and Jaune in what looked like a fight. Jaune kept attacking, but Ragna always dodged or blocked everything the blonde threw at him while retaliating in kind. Each attack from Ragna knocked Jaune back and left him in pain, but he seemed determined to keep at it.

"What are they doing?" Noel worriedly asked.

"From the looks of it, I think they're training." Ruby surmised.

They both silently watched their partners continue in the admittedly one-sided sparring match. Ruby couldn't help but be impressed with how brutal and effective Ragna fought without his weapon. Sure, she loved weapons and Ragna's blade was magnificent, but she also admired how some people could make their entire body into a weapon in and of itself. Just because she couldn't fight well unarmed didn't mean she couldn't admire those who could.

And speaking of, Jaune seemed to share that deficiency with her as well, seeing as every punch and kick he threw was rather crude and easily telegraphed. But what really impressed Ruby was how, despite being out of his depth, he kept at it and would not relent. Sometimes good determination was just as impressive as being a good fighter.

"Wow, they're both really working hard." Noel said.

"Yup." Ruby responded with much emphasis on the 'p'.

Noel then backed away from the window and said, "When they're done, they're gonna need something to help them get back into shape."

Ruby turned to look at the blonde gunner with an inquisitive look while Noel appeared lost in thought as she placed a hand under her chin. She then lit up, as if she had an idea.

"I know! I'll prepare a nice meal for when they get back!"

Ruby couldn't fully understand why, but Noel's statement made a massive pit of nervousness form in her stomach. Earlier, Ragna did tell her and Jaune about what Makoto told him regarding Noel and the kitchen, but they didn't really take it seriously or understand what Noel's friend meant by it. Now that Noel was declaring her intent out loud, however, it made Ruby feel...disturbed for some reason.

"A-are you sure that's a good idea?" Ruby asked nervously. She didn't even know why she was nervous.

"Yup. All that exercise will work up an appetite, so I need to make sure that their bellies are full to get them back up to snuff." Noel then ran to the closet and reached for something. She pulled out what looked like a chef's hat and proceeded to put it on, but it was marred with black spots as if it was on fire at some point.

The nervous pit grew larger with each second.

"Be right back, Ruby! I got a meal to prepare!" And before Ruby could move to stop her, she was gone.

Ruby just sat there in silence, before stating, "This...this isn't good."

She had no idea how right she was.

Blake had already changed into her sleepwear and laid on her bed, reading one of her novels. This was not Ninjas of Love, but one of her...tamer novels. She would only reserve those for when she had some alone time.

Right now, she was in the middle of reading Corpse Doctor. A classic tale on the dangers of mankind learning the horrors and responsibilities of creating that which was not meant to be made.

However, the rest of her team was here, so she couldn't enjoy her less than appropriate literature at the moment. Makoto was still fully dressed in her uniform and lying down on her stomach, headphones on and listening to music. Blake could hear it from her position, and from what she could tell, it sounded like that one tune, Alexandrite, if she remembered correctly, that she heard once while flipping through radio channels.

Beside the team BRNN leader was Nora, who had swapped to her pajamas and was now jumping on her bed, much like how a happy-go-lucky ten-year-old child would.

Ren, meanwhile, was busy in the shower.

Either way, Blake was about to finish the next chapter...

"The forbidden one has entered the sacred land."

Suddenly Makoto stood up completely ramrod straight and spoke in an emotionless, monotone voice and had a face that could only be described as horrified.

"Makoto, what's-"

But before Blake could get much out, Makoto grabbed her and Nora before either of them could react. She then ran straight for the bathroom and threw both of them in there. Blake felt pain as she landed face first into the wall while she heard Nora go "ow".

While she collected herself, Blake heard Ren move the shower curtains and turned to see his head peaking out from behind. "Uh, do you three mind? I'm kinda busy."

"No time. Gotta board up before she finishes!" Makoto somehow managed to get some wooden boards, a hammer, and several nails and proceeded to blockade the crap out of the bathroom door, locking them inside.

Before any of them could get an answer, she then shut the lights out, muttering to herself about "Can't give any indication that we're here" or something. Since Blake could still see just fine, she saw Makoto enter a fetal position in the corner while Nora started to aimlessly walk around.

"Hey, what gives Makoto? I can't see a thing! Whoa!"

The orange-haired girl then tripped and fell right into the shower, with Ren still inside.

"I'm just gonna tune out that cavalcade of embarrassment." Blake muttered to herself as she took a seat next to Makoto, all while she could hear a high-pitched squeal that could only be described as a completely embarrassed and probably scarlet-faced Nora.

"Makoto, what's going on?" Blake asked her partner.

"One of the most horrific things to ever show itself on this or any world," the squirrel Faunus muttered with complete horror, "Death Dinner."

Weiss had just finished studying for the day, and had decided to take a load off by doing her nails. Currently, she was painting them the same shade of white as her hair and making sure they were done as precisely as she could manage.

After finishing all the nails on her left hand, she looked to the rest of her team and saw that Yang was lying on her back, reading a magazine while Tsubaki and Pyrrha were currently adding photos to the wall. She remembered when Yang took them earlier that day after classes as the four of them posed for each one.

Looking back, a wall of memories was a pretty heartfelt idea, and she was glad to be a part of it. It was...liberating, getting to make goofy faces and silly poses for pictures. Weiss struggled to remember when she had that much fun.

The last time was back when Tsubaki, Jin and I all played together. Weiss reminded herself. It was so long ago and so marred by what came after that the memory was sometimes fleeting.

She saw the pictures that the two redheads were adding and recognized a few of them from Pyrrha's match with Ragna during combat class. Weiss didn't remember seeing Yang pull out the polaroid camera during then, but then again, she was pretty focused on the fight itself.

Weiss still struggled to believe that Pyrrha could have lost that fight. She was Pyrrha Nikos! The Invincible Girl and Pride of Mistral! Undefeated in all her battles, yet some uncouth thug with a sword that was clearly compensating for something and a monstrous Semblance swoops in and defeats her?

The Schnee heiress just found it hard to accept that someone like him could have truly won against a fighter of Pyrrha's pedigree.

She shook her head and decided to waste her thoughts on that brute later. Right now, she had another hand of nails to paint over.

"Tsubaki? Tsubaki, what's wrong?" Weiss heard Pyrrha say. She turned and saw that her friend was now standing completely straight and seemed almost frozen in place. She walked over to get a view of her face to better understand, and it looked like she was staring off into the distance. Her face was completely frozen in terror as her eyes looked to a place so far that it may very well not exist.

Just as Yang got up to check on her, Tsubaki immediately ran to her bed and picked it up over her head. She then ran straight to the door and turned the bed onto its side, as if trying to barricade the doorway.

All Weiss could do was stand there, completely perplexed while holding out her hand to let her nails dry as she struggled to figure out just what had gotten into their team's leader.

As soon as Tsubaki finished barricading the door, she then moved to the room's windows and proceeded to lock all of them. At this point, Weiss was getting tired of the confusion and just decided to walk up to Tsubaki.

"Tsubaki!" She said, grabbing her friend and forcibly turning her so they stood face to face before shaking her from side to side, "Snap out of it!"

Tsubaki blinked before she seemed to calm down and Weiss released her, though she still seemed very frightened. "Right. Sorry." She said before she grabbed her shoulders and tried catching her breath.

"Seriously, what's gotten into you?" Yang asked.

"Noel has entered the kitchen. I can sense it." Their leader said in an ominous tone.

Weiss and the rest of Team TSYP just looked at each other, not understanding why that was invoking such a reaction from their leader.

"Okay," Pyrrha spoke up, "Maybe I'm missing something, but what's the big deal."

In the blink of an eye, Tsubaki was right in front of Pyrrha and grabbed her by the arms, looking her in the eye with a face that looked like it had stared into Hell itself.

"You don't understand true nightmares until you witness what culinary monstrosities she births in the kitchen!" Tsubaki spoke, sounding much less like the refined leader they knew, and more like a crazy homeless person.

"Okay, now I know you're talking nonsense." Yang said as she moved to the barricade, "And with that, I'm outta here."

"NO!"

Tsubaki suddenly ran in front of her and blocked Yang off, much to everyone's surprise.

"Until I am certain that the horror has passed, no one gets in, or out, of this room."

All of them just awkwardly stood there. Seeing as Tsubaki would not budge on this, Weiss simply sighed and said, "Well, I may as well finish my nails. Yang, any chance you can help me with my toes?"

Jaune gasped as he felt the wind knocked out of him again. He had no idea how long he'd been trying to land a hit on Ragna, but the only thing he did know was that he had yet to actually succeed.

"Again." Ragna called out while he stood in a fighting stance.

Through his growing frustration, he managed to sluggishly push himself and charged yet again. Once more, he failed to land a blow and was kneed in the stomach by Ragna. This time, he was able to fight through his pain and used his position to elbow Ragna in the back. This didn't seem to get a reaction out of him though, but he did cease fighting and said, "Take five."

Jaune collapsed onto the floor and panted. He felt like he was drenched in sweat as he gasped for breath. He thought fighting against Weiss was taxing, but simply sparring with Ragna felt like a weight class of its own.

"How...long...have we...been...here!", Jaune panted out as his lungs desperately took in air.

"Two hours." Ragna stated.

Jaune found himself with energy from the sheer nonchalance of Ragna's statement and his own surprise. He bolted up and looked around, seeing that it was now nightfall and that the sun had almost completely set. The broken moon hung over the sky.

"How the hell did I not notice that!?"

"Simple," Ragna said as he shrugged and stood in front of him, "You were too busy trying to land a hit that you didn't notice time go by. Happened to me a few times."

Exhaustion took hold of Jaune again as he slumped back down to the floor. "Ragna. Look, I'm really grateful that you want to help me out. But I don't know if this is gonna work. Maybe I should just train on my own."

"Do that and you'll get nowhere." Ragna bluntly told him, "You've already noticed this, but you fight about as bad as a blind old lady, which is pretty fucking...", He then stopped and gained a look as if he just remembered something and continued, "No, wait, I take that back. I KNOW a blind old lady that could kick my ass, so you technically fight even worse than that."

"Thanks for the vote of confidence." Jaune deadpanned.

"Why do you even want to get better on your own anyway? In case you haven't noticed, none of us are self-taught, so what the hell makes you think you can mentor yourself?"

Jaune looked away from him. He didn't know how to say it. He just wanted to belong at Beacon, something he knew he didn't deserve. Cheaters didn't deserve to belong at this place, so he felt he needed to earn his place here and do it of his own achievements. It was the only way he knew how to feel like he could truly belong here. But he couldn't say that.

"I..." Jaune started, "I just...I want...", He sat himself up and looked to the floor, finding it easier to talk to than Ragna, "I just want to belong. Everyone here is a skilled fighter. You, Ruby, Noel, Pyrrha, but I'm just...just the worst! I need to get on your level. To show that I can make it here, but if I can't do that on my own, then what does it matter!? I'll just be piggybacking off of someone else if I do that. It needs to be my own success. That way, for once in my life, I can look at myself in the mirror and say, 'Great job Jaune, I'm proud of you', but I don't think I can do that if I constantly need help!"

He just sat there in silence as he felt like he was going to cry. He just felt all of his emotions explode out of him all at once. He half expected Ragna to just tell him to 'stop whining' or something like that. Much to his surprise, he heard the grass crunch right next to him and Ragna just sat down beside him. His face seemed uncharacteristically less glowering than it usually was.

"Jaune," Ragna started, speaking for once in a calm tone, "Who are you trying to prove yourself to? Yourself? Or someone else?"

Jaune didn't know how to respond. Firstly because of how Ragna was acting towards him now, and secondly...well, how do you respond to that?

"I...I don't even know anymore." Jaune admitted, "I come from this big line of warriors and heroes. All the way back from the Great War. I wanted to be just like them, but I could never go the distance. Mom and dad didn't think I could do it, and I don't know if I can now. Guess I'm just the rotting branch on the family tree that's waiting to fall off."

Everything just went quiet as Jaune wrapped his arms around his legs and sat there. But then, Ragna spoke up.

"Jaune. I'm an orphan. I grew up with a little brother and sister that got adopted into their own families while I stayed behind. I never knew where I came from and as far as I can tell, I never will." Ragna's words made Jaune turn to face him, shocked with how the normally aloof member of the team was opening up to him, "I'm about as close to a nobody as you can get. If bloodlines determined shit like you're talking about, then who do you think would be on the floor after all that?"

Jaune just remained silent as all of this sunk in.

Ragna continued, "You know how I got that way? My master took me in and trained me. Gave me an outlet and all that other crap. And back when I started, I felt pretty damn hopeless to. So trust me, I know what that's like." He then managed to give off an actual ghost of a smile and said, "Besides, I guess you're not as hopeless as you think. I mean, you did manage to land a hit on me in two hours. Can't even begin to tell you how long it took me to hit Jubei."

"Wait," Jaune asked, "How long did it take you? Uh, just curious."

Ragna pondered as he leaned back and laid down on the grass, "About three or four months."

"Three or four MONTHS!" Jaune yelled in shock.

"Damn straight." Ragna gained an almost nostalgic smile as he talked, "First day of training, I think I spent the whole day trying to land just one punch to that old geezer's face. Didn't eat or sleep a wink, even when he told me to call it quits and just get some rest. At that point, I was just too pissed to give up. I remember when I finally landed a hit after a few months of that crap. Old bastard beat the crap out of me, but his exact words were 'I'll be damned, you actually managed one! Not bad you little brat!'. Probably the happiest I felt in a long time at that point."

He then sat back up and looked Jaune in the eye, saying, "Point is, you actually managed to make more progress in a couple hours than I did in a few months. If you ask me, you got more potential than you're giving yourself credit for."

Jaune was taken aback by Ragna's words. The gruff member of the team was telling him that he actually had potential to be a hero. It felt...gratifying. He felt more confident from the uplifting words and felt like he could keep going. He found himself getting up and returning to a fighting stance.

"Alright, let's keep going then." Jaune said with newfound resolve...until he found himself yawning.

"Yeah, no." Ragna said as he got up, "Sounds to me like you need a breather right now. We'll keep at it tomorrow. Just expect Hell, got it."

Jaune nodded, now feeling prepared for whatever Ragna could throw at him.

The two of them made it back to their dorm room. When they got there, they saw Ruby sitting on her bed with a nervous expression.

"Kid, why do you look like someone just committed a murder and you saw the whole thing?" Ragna asked.

"I...I don't know." Ruby admitted, "All I know is Noel went to go cook something for you guys and for some reason that's making me nervous."

"Wait. Ragna," Jaune began as he turned to the older student, "Didn't you tell us that Makoto told you that Noel should never cook."

"Yeah...you don't think-"

"Oh, you guys are here!" Noel's voice entered the room, "Perfect! I just finished making you two a nice casserole."

Jaune and Ragna slowly turned around, and were horrified by the...the thing in Noel's hands.

It was a plate that contained a mass that she called casserole, but it looked nothing like casserole. The way it wreathed and moved seemed almost out of touch with reality. The color was all wrong, and Jaune didn't even know what color that was supposed to be, or if it even existed. The odor that seeped out smelled like something that would make a landfill full of rotten meals smell like a field of flowers. It was as if this...this thing's only purpose for existing was to be loathed by all. And it was succeeding.

How could Noel. Sweet, loving, kindhearted Noel, create something as grotesque and nightmare inducing as this!?

"I didn't know how much would be enough for two people, so I ended up making enough for all four of us. Hope you like it." Noel said, eyes closed and with a smile, completely oblivious to the evil she was holding in her hands.

"O-oh," Jaune quietly let out, "W-well, who...who wants to go first?" No one answered, "Uh, guys."

He looked around and saw that Ragna and Ruby were gone. He also saw that the room window was open, meaning they likely jumped out of it.

He then looked back to Noel, who looked just as confused as he did over the disappearance of their teammates. "I guess it's just us." Noel said as she held out the...casserole expectantly.

Jaune forced himself to keep looking at it before he sighed and resigned himself to his fate. He grabbed the spoon on the plate, and prepared to take his first bite of what could be his last meal.

"I...think...we're...safe..." Ruby said as she panted between breaths with Ragna right beside her, who was panting and gasping for air in equal measure.

"What...the FUCK was that!?" Ragna yelled as he caught his breath.

"I think we now know why Makoto didn't want Noel cooking. Like, ever," Ruby said, now breathing normally as she stood at full height.

"Yeah, no shit," Ragna looked around and seemed to notice something, "Hey, where's Arc?"

Ruby looked and saw that Jaune wasn't with them. If he wasn't, then he didn't jump out the window with them, which means...

"Oh crap, he's still in the room with the nightmare meal!" Ruby realized.

Ragna gained a look of horror on his face that matched Ruby's in equal measure. Before either of them could get so much as a word out, a loud explosion sound and a wail of pain was heard from where they ran from.

"You don't think..." Ragna began.

"I do. And I know it was," Ruby finished. The two of them immediately ran back to their room, knowing Jaune was in trouble.

"So, let me get this straight. Your 'casserole' somehow, in some way, caused him to get second-degree burns on the outside of his body! How the fuck is that possible!?" Ragna yelled his question as Noel sheepishly and timidly sat next to Jaune as he laid in the bed of the nurse's room. Much of the burned areas of his body were covered in bandages. Thankfully, much of the damage was mostly external and not internal. Noel was still having a hard time wrapping her head around that one.

Alongside them, Teams BRNN and TSYP were also here with her. Makoto and Tsubaki having come to check on her while the rest were there out of curiosity.

"I-I don't know," Noel admitted as she looked at Jaune, "I was so sure I was getting better, a-and I just wanted to make a nice meal for you two since you guys were training so hard."

"Noel," Tsubaki interjected, "You do remember that Sanctum's kitchen needed to be rebuilt from the ground up from your previous cooking attempt there?"

"Y-yeah," Noel admitted as she looked to the floor.

Makoto looked at Jaune, who seemed to be waking up, and said, "I gotta admit, this is actually an improvement. You're food didn't kill anything this time."

"Wait, your cooking killed someone!?" Weiss shouted out as everyone except Tsubaki and Makoto gained a shocked expression.

"No, no, not a person," Makoto explained, "Her soup killed a Beowolf. So, long story short, I got jumped by a Beowolf and in desperation, jammed a thermos of Noel's soup down its throat to try and break away. The soup made it melt into a godsdamn puddle." she then shivered and muttered, "I can still hear the death screams of that monster."

Blake didn't seem convinced, "Okay, now I know you're just making that up."

"I'm afraid that this is the one story of Makoto's that is 100% factual," Tsubaki chimed in, "I should know. I was there."

"Ugh...what happened?" Jaune said as he came to.

"Jaune!" Noel happily cried as she hugged him.

"Ow."

"Oh, sorry," She apologized as she let go.

"It's fine," Jaune said, "It's really nothing."

"Jaune, I'm so sorry. I thought I was getting better and did everything right this time, and I wanted to make something special for you and Ragna since I saw that you guys were training and-"

"I told you, it's fine," Jaune insisted, "I can walk this off." He attempted to get back up, but found that he couldn't move very much before it looked like he was in pain again.

As Noel put a hand to his head to help him rest, one of the school nurses and Professor Ozpin walked in.

"Professor Ozpin," Pyrrha spoke up first. "Is something wrong?"

"Well, I think I'll let the good news come first." Ozpin said as he gestured to the school nurse.

The nurse cleared her throat and said, "Well, the good news is that Mister Arc looks like he'll make a full recovery. He just needs two full days of bedrest and he'll be good to go."

Noel sighed with relief, as did almost everyone else as the nurse continued, "It looks to be a result of his rather abnormal amounts of Aura. He's recovering at a much faster rate than one would expect."

Noel beamed with happiness as she looked to her partner, who seemed equally relieved and happy. She was just glad that he would be okay and that her failed attempt to make a good meal for her friends didn't permanently hurt him.

"Unfortunately," Ozpin's voice chimed in, "Or fortunately, depending on who you ask, this is for you, Miss Vermillion."

She turned and saw that Ozpin was holding out a piece of paper for her. She took it from him and started reading, sensing her friends lean in behind her to read it as well. After reading the first few lines, she was shocked.

"A RESTRAINING ORDER!" Noel cried out. "I've been banned from the dormitory kitchen!?"

"Well, you would be, but this currently applies to everyone since whatever you did in there has led to us needing to quarantine and disinfect the entire kitchen until further notice."

All Noel could do was slump face first onto the side of Jaune's bed and she let out a whine. She'd hoped she got better at this to the point where this wouldn't happen again. Not helping matters was the sound of everyone else, Jaune included as she heard him wince, laughing good-heartedly at the whole thing.

Still, she couldn't help but be happy that Jaune was okay, and soon she found herself smiling and laughing along with her friends.

(Meanwhile)

Hidden away in a dark laboratory facility, a series of scientists in white lab coats clicked and pattered away on their keyboards and and tablets as they monitored the subject locked away in the massive test tube at the center of a circular room.

In the pavilion above them, they and the subject were being monitored by two distinct individuals.

The first was a green-haired man dressed in a black dress suit with a black overcoat and a fedora of the same color. He wore a pair of brown steel-toed boots and was watching the subject at the center with narrowed, almost closed off eyes. He watched with his hands in his pockets, carrying with him an air of indifference that covered something far more sinister.

The second individual looked more extravagant, as if dressed for an opera. He was a man with short blonde spiky hair with a beard stubble on his chin and he wore a golden mask that made his eyes appear blank white. He wore a purple dress shirt with a black line running down the middle as well as white pants with purple steel-toed boots. Said boots also oddly had an adornment that closely resembled Philips head screws. Adding to the extravagance of his appearance, he also wore a flowing purple cloak with a large, popped collar. The cloak was held around him by a cross-shaped buckle.

"Well, looks like Subject 13 is coming along quite nicely," The green-haired man said, his voice carrying a friendly tone, but one that felt like a farce to those who knew him well, "Care to tell me when we can expect it to be ready, Relius?"

The extravagantly dressed man, now known as Relius, turned to his acquaintance and spoke with a deeper, almost apathetic tone, "Subject 13 is nearing its final stages of completion, Terumi. It will soon be ready for combat testing."

"Well then, may as well give sleeping beauty the good news," The green-haired man, Terumi, said as he casually jumped off the pavilion and landed a ways from the center. The scientists close to him reacted with shock and fear, some even backing away as he began moving.

Terumi walked to the center of the lab towards the central tube as the scientists timidly continued their work, none of them wanting to do anything to offend him. Those that did usually were never seen again, and the few that were were always left in gruesome positions.

When Terumi reached the brightly lit tube, his eyes opened wide, which revealed them as almost snake-like in appearance, as he gazed upon the subject and took in its appearance.

The subject in question was a thin female who appeared quite young, perhaps on the verge of adulthood, and was pale skinned with ash-white hair that went all the way down to her feet as it flowed and moved within the liquid. She was wearing a light blue bodysuit that left her arms and feet exposed. Injected into her back were a series of injector needles and tubes. One such tube was injected into where her right eye was. As she was being watched, she spasmed and twitched in her slumber, as if she was suffering from a nightmare.

Showing no care for the girl's state whatsoever, Terumi loudly knocked on the glass and yelled, "Yoo hoo, wakey wakey! Ground control to dumbass doll, wake up!"

A smug smile appeared on his face as the girl's left eye opened, revealing it to have a deep, sunken shade of red. The girl didn't show any sign of reaction to her master's demeanor towards her. In fact, her face gave no emotion at all.

"Good ol' doctor Clover over there says you're almost ready to start getting to it. So how 'bout it No. 13? You ready to start laying waste?" Terumi asked with a smile that bore his teeth.

The girl within the stasis tube gave no acknowledgement to him, only continuing to blankly stare ahead. Terumi's smile faded as he glared at the girl before he narrowed his eyes once more. "Still as brain dead as ever, huh," he then shrugged and turned to walk away, "Well what more can you expect from a mere toy?"

As he walked away, Terumi said out loud to the scientists, "Put her back to sleep and make sure this one doesn't break down! Last thing I need is to scrap such an oversized piece of trash."

Terumi then exited the room and the scientists all worked to put her back into hibernation. As her eye closed, her lips moved, as if trying to say a word. What that word was, nobody knew, or cared to know. But to those who could hear her, it would sound like a cry for help. A cry for someone. She was crying out a name.

"Ragna..."

Chapter Text

"Yes mom, I heard you. Look, I'll be home real soon, alright?" said a girl talking on her scroll, "My shift just ended, so I'll see you in 20 minutes. Kay? Love you bye."

She rapidly said the end of her sentence to end the call before her mother could start rambling.

The girl in question was of average stature, roughly 17 years of age, with light brown hair and blue eyes. She was wearing a green t-shirt with blue overalls and an apron that said 'Goliath Grill' which she was currently removing and hanging up. On her shirt was a name tag that said 'Susan Browning'".

"Hey boss!" She yelled out, "My shift just ended! I'm heading home now, 'kay?"

"Sure thing. Just make sure you punch your time card out. Got it Sesame?"

The girl grunted and muttered, "It's Susie. Swear, you'd think he'd remember it."

Nevertheless, she did as instructed and punched in her time card before she left. She crossed the parking lot to the bike rack and unhooked her emerald green bicycle and proceeded to ride down the street.

It was getting dark out, the broken moon hung overhead as the sun faded in the distance. Still, Susie did enjoy the nice, quiet night. Barely any cars in the street, so she could drive closer to the middle of the road, mom's 'It's too dangerous' rhetoric be damned.

Much as Susie loved her mom, she could such a worrywart at times. The most dangerous thing out there was miles away and in the forests. What kind of Grimm did she have to worry about in a city?

Just as Susie rounded a corner, she rode over a sewer grate and felt a bump as the wheels of her bike went from dry asphalt, to cold metal, then right back to asphalt.

Suddenly, a loud, metallic 'THUNK' noise came up right behind her. Susie stopped and turned around, only to see nothing but the sewer grate as it spun and rolled back into place.

Strange, I know I didn't hit it hard enough to make it move like that, She thought.

She decided not to worry about that and just went back to riding in the direction of home.

Susie turned right and this time moved to the sidewalk to avoid an oncoming car as the headlights made its presence known on the road. As she road, she swore she could see what looked like a black shadow on the building next to her for a brief second, but she put it out of her mind. It was dark out, so she was probably just seeing things that weren't there.

"SHING!"

"WHAAAAHHH!"

Suddenly, Susie found herself flying into the air and before she knew it, she landed painfully on the concrete below. She shut her eyes tight and clutched her knee, which felt in the most pain. As she opened them, she saw that the pant leg of her overalls had been torn and that she was bleeding profusely at her leg.

She managed to focus away from the pain enough to get a look at her bike, which was not only totaled, but also had its front tire slashed through. It looked like a sharp blade had cut clean through it vertically.

Now Susie was getting scared. Something like that shouldn't be possible.

Unless someone was following her and caused her to crash.

Thoroughly freaked out, she got up and proceeded to limp her way home as fast as she could. She was in such a rush that she didn't even bother waiting for the light to change as she crossed the street. If there was really something after her, it wouldn't wait.

Turning briefly, she looked for what or who it was that could have attacked her. As she frantically looked around, she saw a shadow move on the rooftop of one of the buildings.

It looked like the same shadow she saw earlier.

"Not seeing things. Definitely not seeing things!" Susie loudly said as she started forcing herself to run, biting down the pain as her wound screamed at her to stop.

Just gotta get home. Just gotta get home.

She repeated that in her head. If she could get back to her house, she would be safe.

Seeing that she wouldn't be able to make it back the normal way, she saw a familiar alley and rolled into it, hoping to take a shortcut to get away faster. As she ran down it, she looked back and couldn't tell where the shadow was, the darkness of the alley making it impossible to see.

She looked forward and saw street lights. The light at the end of the metaphorical tunnel in reach, Susie pushed herself forward despite the pain in her leg as she rushed out of the alley and back into the streets.

The pain was beginning to overwhelm her and she was losing her breath. Seeing an opportunity to catch her breath, she stopped underneath a familiar street light that she used to pass every day growing up. She panted to catch her breath as she looked around her, not seeing that dark shadow anymore. Susan sighed in relief. It was just one more block, and she'd be home and safe.

Suddenly, her reverie was snapped when the street light above her went out and she heard a cackling sound coming from straight above her as the light of the broken moon cast a shadow that covered her whole body. Slowly and fearfully, she looked up, and was filled with horror at the sight.

The shadow that had chased her wasn't some ordinary stalker. It was a hideous blob of amorphous shadow that oozed and shifted in place as it looked down on her. That horrendous cackle shook her to her soul.

It was a monster!

Before she could make a break for it, she found herself ensnared in a large, boney claw that came right out of the shadow. She was lifted up as the blob stood tall. Suddenly, a white, crude mask with three holes in it appeared, as if this was the face of the beast. There was no expression on the mask, yet the cackle spoke volumes.

Then the shadow spoke, and these were the last words she ever heard:

"Feast..."

As she was consumed into the shadow, all she could do was scream.

It screeched at an unlistenable octave as it finished feeding on her, dropping what was left of her body like a worthless stone.

Her Aura was weak. Her soul was unsatisfying.

It starved. It needed a true meal.

"Not...enough...not...ENOUGH!"

It crawled, clinging to shadows. It was not strong. It needed to feast. It needed to get its strength back.

"Need...food...where...is...Aura..."

It clung to the walls of a building and climbed. It needed more. Find vantage point. Find food. It was simple.

At the top, it looked around for food. It smelled Aura in people. Many who slept, but they had little. It then noticed the spire in the distance.

"Beacon...Academy..."

Home to warriors who trained their Auras. Many bodies with souls. Strong, powerful souls. Powerful souls meant powerful Auras. Many meals for it to feast on. Enough food to satisfy its hunger.

But they were strong. It was weak.

It returned to smelling for the souls in buildings nearby. It would strengthen itself on morsels first.

Then, it would truly feast.

Chapter Text

Almost...and, GOT IT!

Jaune thought as he timed his swing just right. Unfortunately for him, he narrowly missed as Ragna ducked under it and spin kicked him in the back of the head, sending him to the ground.

Dammit!

It had been almost five days since he was checked out of the school infirmary. After eating Noel's, for lack of a better term, abomination, Jaune was actually shocked with how fast he managed to recover from it, but his Aura helped him recover at an alarming rate.

But despite all this being told about how he had an absurd amount of Aura and seeing the results for himself, it still bothered him that he couldn't figure out just what his Semblance was. Unlike with Aura, which he was only able to get thanks to Pyrrha unlocking his, he had no idea how to unlock his Semblance, assuming it was something he could unlock at all.

And it wasn't like he could just walk up to Pyrrha again and ask "Hey, could you teach me how to unlock my Semblance?" and figure it out. This was something he felt he had to do by himself. Besides, what if when he asked Pyrrha, she got curious and started figuring out how he got into Beacon? Even if she didn't, she could tell her teammates about how he asked and they would start getting suspicious, and Weiss and Tsubaki seemed far more likely to inform Professor Ozpin of their suspicions than anyone else was.

Thankfully, he was able to get a book from the library recently about Aura and Semblance and was intent on reading it so he could figure out for himself once he had the free time. Right now, however...

"Too slow!"

He was getting sent through Hell by his teammate as he was thrown overhead and only stopped by Ragna's sleeping tree.

Jaune groaned as he slowly fell to the grassy ground and landed on his back. He got up and rubbed his head as he shook off the pain. While training with Ragna was still a complete Hellhole, it was slowly getting easier. The older student kept to his word and put him through Hell almost every single day since he got out of the infirmary, but Jaune kept at it and it slowly felt like he was getting better at it. It still took him a long time to actually land a decent hit, but he was also getting kinda better at avoiding Ragna's attacks and withstanding his strikes. While Jaune wasn't exactly what could be called a boastful person, he would like to boast that taking a full strength hit from Ragna and getting back up was no small feat, so the fact that he could do that somewhat comfortably now was probably a good sign of improvement.

"Need to work on your speed, Arc. That last one would have connected, but I could still see it coming a mile away," Ragna said as he cracked his knuckles before re-entering his fighting stance.

Jaune couldn't help but grin as he got up and charged at Ragna again with a jump kick that was easily dodged as Ragna grabbed his leg and threw him away. Luckily, Jaune was able to catch himself mid-air and land on his feet with only some wobbling and arm-flailing to catch his balance.

"Again," Ragna called out, with Jaune once more rushing at him to meet his challenge head on.

Noel turned away from her partner and Ragna's ongoing training session as she closed the window and went back to writing her poetry. She was having trouble coming up with good lines for one and thought that the outside training from her two teammates would help to provide her with something she could use, but she was still drawing a blank.

Right now, she was all alone in her team's dorm room. Ruby had convinced her older sister to take her shopping for something in Vale and they had even convinced Pyrrha to go along with them, Tsubaki was busy hanging out with Weiss and Noel wasn't too keen on being a third wheel, and Makoto and Blake were at the library studying. More accurately, they were at the library and Blake was helping Makoto study given her friend's...less than stellar aptitude for her non-combat oriented classes.

So, she found herself alone without much to do. She tried studying, but she got pretty bored and almost fell asleep. Her usual poetry was a bust since she couldn't figure out anything to write on. And for fairly obvious, but still frustrating reasons, she wasn't allowed anywhere near the kitchen. All of this left her rather bored and admittedly kind of lonely.

Sighing, she gave up on writing a poem and slipped her book back underneath the sheets of her mattress. As much as she loved writing them, she couldn't let anyone read them, ever. She was sure she's die of embarrassment if they ever read her book.

"THUMP!"

Noel froze and jumped a little when she heard a noise come from the dorm room closet. For a split second, her mind went back to the days of when she thought there was a monster in her bedroom closet and her parents showed her that there was nothing to worry about.

Now, in her mind, Noel knew that there was nothing scary in the closet, but she still nervously walked over and opened it to see what that noise was.

She looked in and saw nothing, but she did see that Ragna's bag had fallen over and poured out a wooden box with a crank in the side. From what Noel could tell, it seemed to be a music box.

Noel looked perplexed as she knelt down and picked the box up. Silently, she wondered why Ragna had something like this.

She was about to open it before she paused for a moment, wondering if she should considering it was Ragna's personal property. Her curiosity won out in the end and she proceeded to open the box. Upon opening it, a melody played as the crank spun.

The music the box played was so beautiful. Noel was so taken by the melody that she almost didn't notice the photo inside the box that was underneath the lid.

On the photograph were three children. One of which she immediately recognized as a young Ragna. But he looked different.

For one, his hair and eyes were different colors. Instead of the ash white hair and heterochromic eyes that she knew from her teammate, he instead had sandy blonde hair and vibrant green eyes. Despite the difference, Noel could easily tell who he was. But appearance wasn't the most striking thing about how he appeared in the picture.

The most striking thing to her was how Ragna smiled. He had a toothy, adorable grin that looked like it could light up the darkest caves. It was such a far cry from the near constant glowering frowns and sardonic smirks of the present day Ragna that Noel was surprised by how well she could recognize it.

Seeing it made her wonder just what happened to him to make the happy child in the photo grow into such an angry, crude individual.

The second child in the photo had the same hair and eye color that Ragna did, but his hair was cut short and styled more naturally compared to Ragna's wild hair. His appearance kind of reminded Noel of Jaune, if Jaune had green eyes rather than blue. Unlike Ragna, he had a more timid demeanor as he smiled, almost looking like he tried to hide behind the elder brother.

Noel smiled and said, "Jin was always such a shy guy."

Her face suddenly morphed to shock as she shook her head and placed a hand to her forehead, feeling like she had a headache.

What was that!?, Noel thought as there was now a persistent ringing in her head, How do I know his name? Wait, how do I know that they're brothers? And how do I know him at all!?

Noel was about to close the box and put it away to concentrate on clearing her head, but then she saw the last person in the photograph.

It was a little girl standing in front of Ragna with the same hair and eye color as the other two, but if Ragna's happy face could light up a cave, hers looked like it could light up a city. Her appearance carried an exuberance that Noel had only seen in the likes of Ruby and Makoto. But that wasn't what shocked Noel the most about her.

This little girl looked exactly like her.

Suddenly, it felt like her head exploded as Noel dropped the music box, stopping the melody as it closed and fell, and rose up, clutching the sides of her head in pain.

Noel screamed as the pain became overwhelming. She ran to her bed and buried her face into her pillows in a desperate effort to stop the pain, but nothing could silence it. The ringing just grew as she clutched her head.

The agony grew even worse as she suddenly felt her mind become bombarded with images and voices, all of which felt more like memories.

"Brother, can we play tag?"

"Sure. I'll be it first, so don't let me catch you!"

"Big brother, I'm scared. I...I think bits of the moon are gonna fall on me."

"Jin, don't be scared. Nothing's gonna happen. No parts of the moon have ever fallen, so the won't fall on you. And if they try, they gotta answer to me."

"Yeah! Big brother knows what he's talking about."

"What's wrong? You look tired."

"Are you okay, Saya?"

I'm...*yawn*…I'm okay.

Noel gasped for air as if she had been underwater this whole time and had only just come up.

"That...t-that was..."

Those memories felt so real, like she was actually there. But she couldn't have been there. She couldn't be this 'Saya'. She was Noel Vermillion, daughter of Edgar and Claire Vermillion.

"But...w-what if..."

Noel got up put the music box back in Ragna's bag and left the room. She couldn't take this anymore. She needed to get away. She needed to clear her head.

Jaune huffed and gasped for air as he felt like he was on the verge of passing out. He still hadn't landed a hit yet and he was starting to run on fumes.

"Take five, Arc," Ragna called out.

At that, Jaune slumped to the floor and landed right on his back. Even if this was getting easier to deal with, he had a hard time believing he was still alive after all that. Whatever training Ragna's master put him through, it must have been pretty intense if this was even a fraction of what his older teammate had to go through.

As he caught his breath, he heard the grass crunch as he saw Ragna looming over him. "Still alive, Arc?" He rhetorically asked.

"Yeah," Jaune said he looked at the sky through the tree's leaves, "I think if I could survive living with seven older sisters, I can probably survive this."

"Well then, hope you're ready to put your money where your mouth is. Next round's not gonna be pretty." Ragna said, but there was a sardonic smirk on his face as he crossed his arms.

As Jaune sat there and rested, a thought came to his mind. "Hey, Ragna," Jaune said as he sat up, "Speaking of siblings, you said you had a brother and sister, right?"

"Yeah..." Ragna began.

"Well, what exactly were they like?" Jaune asked, before realizing that this was probably a personal question and sputtering, "Y-you don't have to answer if you don't want. I'm just curious and all that, y'know? I mean, I've got a bunch of sisters and then I remembered that you brought up-"

"Jaune, unless you happen to like asphyxiating, shut it." Ragna said, now sounding more like his usual pissed off self.

"S-sorry," Jaune sheepishly apologized.

Ragna seemed to cool off as he sat next to Jaune and laid his back on the ground, hands resting behind his head and closing his eyes as he said, "Look, it ain't your fault. It's not exactly something I try to think about. But..."

He opened his eyes and continued, "If you really want to know, then fine. But don't go blabbering it to the others. Got it?"

Jaune then placed a hand on his heart and said, "You have my solemn vow as an Arc that I will not tell any person a thing."

Ragna sighed as he laid in silence for a moment, making Jaune wonder if he was going to say anything. He then said, "My brother's name was Jin and my sister's name was Saya. We all grew up together in an orphanage. Can't bother to remember what it was called after all these years." Ragna then grunted as he continued, "Probably for the best since some of the kids there were kinda dicks."

"What do you mean by that?" Jaune asked.

"I mean they liked to pick on Jin and Saya half the time," Ragna then smirked and said, "Made giving those little shits black eyes all the more satisfying."

"Speaking of..." Jaune started since he wasn't exactly comfortable talking about small children beating each other black and blue, "What were they like? Uh, your brother and sister, I mean."

"Well," Ragna started as he looked lost in thought, "Saya was always the cheery kid. She could smile and brighten up damn near any room she walked in," The older student then smiled as he seemed to reminisce, "She always liked to run and jump all over the place, but she'd get sick easily. Jin and I always helped take care of her whenever she got like that."

"Huh, she...she actually sounds a lot like a kid version of Ruby, you think?" Jaune said as he thought back to how cheery and upbeat their team leader always was.

His statement seemed to make Ragna think as he gained a contemplative look and said, "Y'know what, she actually kinda was like that."

Ragna then became silent again for a moment before continuing, "As for Jin, well he..." he then stopped and looked to be in thought again.

"What?" Jaune asked, "What was he like?"

"I guess..." Ragna began once more, "Well, I guess he was a lot like a small version of you."

Jaune's expression became surprised as he faced Ragna, "Me?" he asked.

"Yeah. Well, except he wasn't an idiot half the time."

"Oh ha ha." Jaune said dully as he then decided to lay on his back as well. "So, he was a lot like me?"

"Pretty much. He was always the shy, awkward kid. Made him easy for others to pick on. He always liked to read whenever he could." Ragna then smiled again, "Thing I remember the most was how he was always scared that chunks of the moon were gonna fall from the sky and land on his head. I always thought it was dumb and didn't get it, but I guess some fears don't need to make sense."

"Well, I can safely say that I've never been scared of the moon or its pieces falling on me," Jaune replied as he sat up, "Sounds like you and your family were happy together."

Ragna went silent and Jaune turned to face him. His expression wasn't happy or even his usual anger. He looked...sad.

"Yeah. We were." Ragna almost whispered as he got up.

Jaune was starting to get worried as Ragna stood and asked the older student, "A-are you okay, Ragna?"

"Fine, Jaune," Ragna answered with his back turned to him, "I'm fine. Let's just keep training. Think we've put that off long enough."

While Ragna's tone was back to his usual gruff self, Jaune could tell that the past topic made him rather melancholic. In response, Jaune reluctantly nodded and said, "Alright, but if you ever need to talk about it, I'm here. Okay?"

For a moment, Ragna was quiet. He then turned to face Jaune with a face that gave no emotion before he gave a small smile and said, "Thanks."

Ragna then entered a fighting stance. "Ready?" He asked.

Jaune entered a fighting stance as well nodded. "Ready."

It was rather quiet as Weiss studied and took notes from her textbook on the history of the Great War. Though the silence of the room may have had to do with the fact that it was currently just her and Tsubaki in their dorm room at the moment. Yang's younger sister had taken the other half of their team to go shopping in Vale, leaving Tsubaki and Weiss behind to do as they pleased at Beacon.

While Weiss decided to spend her time studying, Tsubaki seemed to lounge on her bed and read a large book that read Fairy Tales of Remnant. From what Weiss understood, it was a large compilation of the various tales and stories that were recorded throughout history over the years. Now, Weiss remembered that she read a number of fairy tales in the past, but she had trouble recollecting them.

Curiosity took over as Weiss closed her textbooks and walked over to where Tsubaki laid and asked, "So, Tsubaki, what are you reading?"

Tsubaki looked up at her and replied, "Well, if you mean what story I'm currently on, it's actually one of my favorites growing up. Do you remember the story of Hakumen and the Dragon?"

Weiss placed her hand underneath her chin as she became lost in thought. She tried to recollect that tale when the memory hit her.

"Oh! I remember that one. The Silver Knight, Hakumen, singlehandedly fights and kills the enormous Grimm Dragon, right?"

Tsubaki smiled and nodded, "That's the one. I always loved those ones about when heroes rise up against impossible odds and bring justice back to the land."

"More like you just loved any old story that had Hakumen in it," Weiss said as she snickered when her friend's face turned red.

"I..." Tsubaki then turned her head away, "I just always found him to be so inspiring, okay."

"Sure you do," Weiss said with sarcasm in her voice.

She remembered now how Tsubaki always admired the mythological folk hero from reading the many fairy tales that featured him, even getting her nanny to make her a Hakumen doll when she was five. Growing up, she liked to go on and on about how Hakumen was one of the greatest heroes ever and Weiss even remembered how Tsubaki would make a bunch of heroic poses and quote Hakumen's boasts and one-liners from the many tales of his exploits. Like the one folk story about how he singlehandedly destroyed an entire army bent on wiping out an encampment of refugees, or the other story about how he and many others rose up and slayed an ancient Grimm said to be the first of its kind. That one was always Tsubaki's favorite if she could recall.

Creation accounts for the Grimm were always finicky. They had been in existence since long before the dawn of the Four Kingdoms, so a variety of different stories trying to paint an origin for them got funneled and carried through the passage of time. Some said that they were the product of a wrathful god of darkness whose name had been lost to time, while others say they were spawned from the body of an even bigger Grimm called the Black Beast. Weiss always preferred the former since it gave a more defined answer for the Grimm's origins while the latter never explained where the Black Beast, a Grimm in the fables told about it, came from while gods in myth usually didn't need an explanation for their existence, but she remembered Tsubaki and even Jin always loved the latter more since it was more action packed and ended with humanity's triumph as it was a classic tale of mankind succeeding against the forces of evil.

Now that she thought about it...

"Hey," Weiss said, getting Tsubaki's attention, "You remember when you, me, and Jin tried writing our own adventure stories? Jin would write them, you drew the pictures, and I narrated them?"

Tsubaki pondered before her face lit up at the memory. Said face devolved into snickering of her own as she said, "Yeah, and you always stumbled on the bigger words when you had to say them."

Weiss blushed as she puffed her cheeks and said, "Hey, I was seven!" she said, "That's perfectly normal!"

Tsubaki's snickering became a full-blown laugh as Weiss' face kept its red shade. As soon as she stopped, Weiss continued and said, "You know, looking back, I guess I shouldn't have been all that surprised you took up art later. You always drew me and Jin pretty nice."

"Hey, remember when I drew Jin in robot armor? He kept saying he looked weird." Tsubaki said as she smiled and reminisced.

"Yeah," Weiss replied before she looked to the floor and started wondering something, "By the way, what happened to Jin?"

Tsubaki's face fell, making Weiss' heart stop, "Please tell me nothing bad happened."

"No, it's not that it's..." Tsubaki paused before continuing, "I don't really know how he's doing these days, honestly. The last time a met with him was eight years ago, and the last I've heard from him recently was from idle gossip at my family estate. They said he was at Atlas Academy."

That surprised Weiss. From what she remembered about Jin, he was always such a shy, timid boy. He never came across as much of a fighter and was far more book smart, preferring to read alone before they became friends. Heck, when they were first introduced, he hid behind his mother's skirt and kept sticking his head out because of how shy he was. Weiss honestly couldn't imagine him becoming a Huntsman or even a Specialist like her sister was.

"So, why would he be in Atlas Academy anyway?" Weiss asked, "He's not really a fighter."

"People can change overtime, Weiss," Tsubaki said, "But, well, do you remember Yukianesa?"

Weiss nodded. While she'd never seen it physically before, she'd seen pictures and heard members of the Kisaragi family talk about it. It was the sacred ancestral sword of the Kisaragi household. Apparently, what made it so unique was that, like Tsubaki's Izayoi, it could only be wielded by a scant few. But while Tsubaki's weapon was an heirloom that would only work for her bloodline, Yukianesa would only allegedly work for those it deemed deserving of its power. At least, that's what she heard. She had no idea why that was the case, but because of that, very few members of the Kisaragi family had ever wielded it.

Tsubaki sighed and said, "Eight years ago, Jin wielded the weapon," she explained, "His grandfather named him his heir."

Weiss gasped in shock, "That..." she started before she looked down, feeling saddened for some reason, "I should be happy for him. That sounds like such a great honor. Why am I not happy for him?"

"I think I know why," Tsubaki said as she sat up next to Weiss and looked down at the floor alongside her, "It's because being heir to a family legacy is both a great honor and a cruel responsibility. While you and I were always going to carry that weight for the names of Yayoi and Schnee, Jin had countless elders ahead of his name. He should never have had to bare that burden, but now he has no choice."

The two of them just sat there silently before Weiss got an idea. The Vytal Festival would be coming up this year and would be hosted in Vale. That meant many students from the Academies would be staying at Beacon for lodgings, and that included Atlas.

She then perked up and turned to Tsubaki and placed a hand on her shoulder, saying, "Hey, I'm sure he's alright. I...I'd like to think we've handled it decently enough so far, so maybe Jin's been doing well these years too? Besides, he'll be here when the students start coming in for the Vytal Festival. We can meet him then. It'll be just like the good old days."

Tsubaki smiled and proceeded to hug Weiss, which she gladly returned.

"Yeah," Tsubaki whispered, "Just like the old days."

(Meanwhile)

Much was going on in the training room as the hard light environment of blocky structures hummed from the battle occurring within its walls.

One of the students fighting found herself knocked back by incredible force as a katana slash cut away at the last of her Aura reserves. The student in question was a girl with light skin and green eyes whose hair was orange with blue streaks done up in a pair of pigtails. She wore a light blue midriff baring cropped top and a pink miniskirt with purple shorts underneath. On her feet were scarlet colored roller blades and some feet away from her was her weapon; a pair of silver nunchaku. Her most striking feature was her pink cat tail.

"Neon! You alright?"

The vibrantly colored cat Faunus looked up as one of her teammates rushed in to check on her. He was wearing a white shirt with a dark vest over it as well as loose tie around his collar and dark pants with silver shoes. On his left hand was a fingerless glove and in his right hand was his trumpet weapon.

"Yeah, I think I'll be okay, Flynt." She answered the Team FNKI leader.

Just as Flynt smiled and stood up to get back into the fight, a storm of ice arrows flew in his direction, knocking him into a grid wall and pinning him to it as his Aura was rendered inert. He groaned in pain as he cursed under his breath.

Only two of Team FNKI remained standing, the first being Kobalt, a tall, fair-skinned man with long blue hair that was styled into twin low ponytails and was wearing a blue shirt and dark jeans that were covered with twin blue pauldrons on his shoulders and armor on his legs, with dark blue combat boots on his feet. His hands had fingerless gloves, the left of which had a blue gauntlet on it. He had blue eyes that reflected anger at his opponent.

The second and last of the team was Ivori. He was tall like his companion but with darker skin and silver hair. He wore a white suit jacket with detached sleeves and beige accents that left his chest exposed as well as a gold choker around his neck. He also wore white pants with beige boots. In his right hand, he held his whip at the ready as his brown, glasses covered eyes tried analyzing their opponent for any immediate weaknesses, but none could be found.

Standing in front of them was the opponent that had been besting them singlehandedly so far. He was a blonde student with cold, piercing green eyes that reflected nothing but disdain for those in front of him. He was wearing a sleeveless blue coat with gold trim and a red interior, underneath which he wore a sleeveless white tunic alongside black arm guards with black fingerless gloves. He also wore white pants with blue steel-toed combat boots. Much like his jacket, the boots had gold trim on them. In his left hand, he held a katana with an emerald green hilt sheathed within a blue scabbard.

This man was Jin Kisaragi. Heir to the Kisaragi family and one of the strongest students in Atlas Academy.

"Pathetic. If you're finished wasting my time, I'd advise you give up now and spare me the trouble." he said with apathy lacing his voice, making it clear how little he felt of them as opponents.

Kobalt's face shifted to one of anger as he was the first to charge at Jin with his gauntlet arm raised to strike at his opponent's face. Faster than he could blink, he felt incredible pain in his chest as ice and frost covered the front of his body, causing him to collapse on the floor.

Jin pointed his katana at Ivori. Its blade looking as if it were made of permafrost, yet it was far more durable than the hardest steel.

Ivori kept his distance as he lashed with his whip, making it wrap around the blade of the katana. He then pulled, intent on disarming his opponent. Instead, Jin simply pulled back and dragged Ivori along with his weapon, surprising the last member of Team FNKI with his strength.

As Ivori was pulled in close, Jin spun and slashed his blade against Ivori's back, making him cry in pain as he fell to the floor and felt his Aura drop. His defeat caused the training room lights to flash red, signaling the end of the match and a system reset for the entire room, causing the Team FNKI leader to fall to the floor as the wall he was pinned to vanished.

"You..." Kobalt said as the ice on his chest dissipated and he tried to force himself up, "You guys alright?"

"Yeah..." Ivori groaned as he laid on the floor.

Neon was already up and was helping Flynt to his feet by putting his arm around her shoulders. She looked to her teammates and said, "We're okay."

The members of Team FNKI turned to see Jin walking out of the training room. Ivori decided to put his best foot forward and be a good sport about the match.

"Good match Jin."

However, their opponent seemed content to ignore them and continue walking away as if Ivori hadn't spoke at all.

Kobalt grunted and called out, "Hey asshole! He's trying to be nice here! Least you could do is say something like "Thanks"!"

Jin stopped and turned his head back, glaring at the bluenette with cold disgust. Without even blinking or bothering to raise his voice, he said, "I don't answer because I won't waste my breath on worthless trash."

With that, he walked out of the room, leaving the defeated team to stew in their anger and frustration.

"Jerkface," Neon said, "Who does he think he is!?"

"Like to take that bastard down from his high horse." Kobalt seethed.

Flynt now stood up fully as Neon let him go. "We'll fight him again and win next time. He ain't invincible." he said. The rest of the team nodded at their leader's affirmation.

As they were left in anger, Jin continued down the halls of Atlas as he returned to his dorm room. As he walked he was greeted with looks of either admiration or scorn from the students as he walked by. He was called many things, ranging from "The Pride of Atlas Academy" in reverent tones to "The Ice King" in either condescension or fear from the various students.

He ignored them all as he found it hard to care. He didn't care for the praise he received from Atlas' instructors for his intellect and skill, nor did he care for the hatred leveled at him for his natural superiority to them by both blood and ability.

These days, he found it hard to care about anything at all anymore.

Chapter Text

Yang smirked as she felt the wind blow in her face. It was midday as she rode her trusty motorbike, Bumblebee, into Vale with Ruby sitting in front of her and Pyrrha sitting behind her. It was a little uncomfortable, but she hadn't gotten the money to properly invest in a sidecar for her bike just yet, so this would have to do.

Yang didn't mind taking her little sister to go shopping for new weapons magazine issues, and potentially some new weapon parts to add to Crescent Rose while they were here, but the blonde was insistent that they invite Pyrrha along with them. Despite being partners with the redheaded champion of Mistral, Yang knew very little about her personally, and that fact bothered her. They were partners, so shouldn't they get to know each other?

So that's where this impromptu three women shopping trip came in. It was 33% Ruby's request, 33% a chance for Yang to truly connect with her partner, and 33% getting to spend some time with her sister. The extra 1% was because Ruby needed a ride to get here and after she crashed poor Zippy when dad helped her practice driving, Ruby was basically banned from attempting to drive anything until she was 16. Yang was pretty sure that Ruby was mentally counting the days until she could start practicing driving again.

"Yang! Stop here!" Ruby called out as Yang found a place to park and stopped roughly in front of a store that was named 'Guns, Nuts, Bolts, and Dolts'.

They all removed their helmets as Ruby smiled and gestured to the store. "Here we are, the holy grail of any practicing weapons connoisseur!" she announced, "Where you can gather all your weapon's needs and wants."

Yang felt her shoulder being poked and looked to see Pyrrha, who whispered, "Your sister sure seems to love weapons a lot, doesn't she?"

"Yep! You're looking at the older sister to the foremost weapons fanatic on Remnant." Yang pointed back at herself with a smile. She then reached to her sister and put her in a headlock before rubbing the top of Ruby's head with her knuckles.

"Yaaang!" Ruby adorably whined, making Yang laugh a little.

"Chill sis, just messing with ya," Yang said as she let her go. Ruby shook her head and tried to straighten out her now messed up hair as she turned back to the store and struck a heroic pose with her hands on her hips.

"Great! Let's go!" and with that statement, she entered the shop. Yang followed after her sister with Pyrrha close behind.

They entered and Yang took in the smell of metal as she looked around the shop. There were already a few customers here, most of them perusing the wares of the store while she saw that one was already making her purchases.

Red rose petals danced around the place as Ruby giddily looked through the store, stopping at a series of weapon components specific to sniper rifles. Yang nudged Pyrrha and indicated to a section that had polishes for shields and blades, hoping to help her find something she would like.

"So, Pyrrha," Yang began, hoping to start a conversation, "What made you want to go with the sword/spear and shield combo as your weapons?"

"I decided to go with something that could compliment my Semblance," Pyrrha said as she browsed, "My Semblance is Polarity. It allows me to manipulate magnetic fields and control anything metallic in nature. When I started training, I figured that a metal, bladed shield would compliment that ability, and it would let me more subtly manipulate and bring my weapons back whenever I threw it. Plus, it makes it useful for avoiding attacks when almost all weapons around these days are metallic."

Yang brightened and replied, "Cool, it's kinda like what I did with my bad boys here," she then gestured to Ember Celica in their bracelet forms on her wrists, "My own Semblance lets me take any damage I take in and throw it back as added power. These babies help me get in close and take the pain while dishing it back twice over."

Pyrrha looked to her and smiled, "Well, that's certainly an interesting way of fighting. Not the most practical, but it is effective."

Yang kept up her smile before she realized something and started chuckling slightly.

"What's so funny?" Pyrrha asked with a look of genuine confusion.

Yang stopped herself and said, "Oh, nothing. It's just, you've got a Semblance that lets you avoid any hit and I've got a Semblance that only works when I get hit. Pretty ironic, huh?"

Pyrrha looked to be in thought before she started chuckling as well.

"Yeah, pretty ironic."

The two continued their shopping before Yang found herself some yellow glossy paint for her weapons. From what she could understand, it was meant to be long lasting and could help the weapons it was applied to avoid wear and tear. While most would say the look of your weapons didn't matter so long as they functioned well, Yang would tell them, "What's the point in kicking ass if your weapons don't look their best?"

As Yang picked out her purchase, she saw that Pyrrha decided to pick out a polisher for her blade/spear/gun. Seeing as the two were ready, Yang decided to find Ruby so that the older sister could pay for all their purchases today.

Before they could get very far from their current isle...

"OH MY GOSH!"

Yang looked and saw a blonde girl wearing a red sweater and brown skirt. She didn't seem any older than Ruby. Before Yang could ask what the girl wanted, she started screeching, "It's PYRRHA NIKOS! I CAN"T BELIEVE IT!"

Suddenly, the other shoppers in the store started swarming the Mistral champion, admiring her and asking for her autograph. Yang noticed that Pyrrha had a rather uncomfortable expression on her face.

"What's up?" Ruby asked as she burst to Yang's side, rose petals floating to the ground around her.

"Nothing much, just that Pyrrha's fans are a wild bunch it seems." Yang answered. In response, Ruby hummed next to her.

After a few minutes, the mob dissipated and left the store happily. Yang and Ruby watched them leave before turning back to Pyrrha, who looked relieved to see them go.

Yang couldn't really blame her. It'd be annoying if a mob of fanatics interrupted her day for whatever reason just for autographs and other crap like that.

The three of them went to the main counter to buy what they wanted; Yang's weapon paint, Pyrrha's blade polish, and Ruby's set up parts for sniper upgrades as well as some new issues of 'Weapons Magazine'.

Before they could even get a word in, the store clerk asked, "Say, Miss Nikos, any chance I could take a picture with you? The guys are not gonna believe that I actually got it."

"Uh..."

"How's about I throw in a 35% discount on your purchases and the other two's for today?"

"Deal!" Ruby gasped and exclaimed.

"Wait..."

Ignoring Pyrrha's protest, the store clerk was already on their side with his camera and stood right next to Pyrrha, snapping the photo. Yang was able to get a good look at it, but she saw that Pyrrha's smile was incredibly forced, as if it took all her effort to not let it twist into a frown.

"Thanks!" he said before he scanned all their stuff and Yang paid with her credit card.

The three of them left the store carrying bags. Yang took note of the sad expression Pyrrha had and elbowed Ruby to, getting her younger sister's attention as she gestured to her partner. Ruby's face turned red and she looked down.

"Uh, sorry about that Pyrrha," she began, "I just really wanted these parts to upgrade my Crescent Rose and then I heard 'discount', so I jumped at it."

Pyrrha didn't even look back and just said, "It's...it's fine Ruby."

Yang tried to reach out, but she found herself stopping and retracting her hand. Before she attempted again, she heard a loud growling noise that was easy to recognize. Yang turned to face her sister.

"Ruby," Yang began, "Was that you?"

Ruby shook her head, and Yang could tell she was being honest.

"Sorry." Pyrrha said. Yang and Ruby turned to her and saw that her face was bright red as she had a hand on her stomach as she smiled and continued, "I guess I'm just hungry."

Yang, now smiling at her partner's improved mood, walked to and got on her bike.

"Well hop on," she said, "I think I know just the place to grab some grub."

Her partner and sister hopped onto Bumblebee and she pressed the gas to drive off.

Yang pressed the brakes and brought Bumblebee to a complete stop in front of a small noodle bar that was named 'A Simple Wok'. The sign depicting two guys with straw hats serving noodles.

The three of them walked up to see what was available before an elderly clerk walked out to greet them. As he opened his mouth, Ruby gasped.

"Oh, you're that shopkeeper that ran 'From Dust Till Dawn'." her younger sister exclaimed. Yang realized she was referring to Roman Torchwick's robbery that she stopped before she was invited to Beacon.

The man simply smiled and nodded before Ruby continued.

"Is your shop okay? I'm sorry about the window."

The man nodded and simply waved his hand, as if to say that it was no big deal.

"Well, in any case, we'd all like some food, please?" Ruby said as she sat down, with Yang and Pyrrha taking the seats to her right. They each had a look at the menu.

"Hmmm," Yang hummed to herself as she looked before saying, "I'll get the regular ramen. Can't go wrong with the classics."

"I'll get the same." Ruby said.

"And I'll have the noodle salad, please?" Pyrrha answered.

The kind man nodded and, in the blink of an eye, disappeared into the kitchen in the back and returned with their orders; hot and freshly served.

Yang proceeded to dig in and loudly slurped up her noodles. She saw Ruby doing the same, only much faster. Pyrrha, much to Yang's surprise, gobbled up hers faster than either her or Ruby did, practically finishing hers in 30 seconds.

"Huh," Yang said as she stopped eating, "I was not expect-"

She then found herself interrupted when Pyrrha let out a loud belch. She then covered her mouth as her cheeks matched her hair color.

"Excuse me." She said, embarrassed by what just happened.

"Holy shit!" Yang, exclaimed, "Didn't know you had it in you."

Pyrrha just blushed again and looked away to hide her ashamed expression. Yang tapped her shoulder to get her attention.

"Hey, it's nothing to be ashamed of. Here, check this out."

Pyrrha turned to face her and Yang put a hand to her chest before she gave a belch of her own, this one louder than Pyrrha's. The sight made Pyrrha stop blushing and caused her to laugh uncontrollably. Yang laughed along with her. After her partner's downtrodden behavior earlier, it was nice to make her feel better.

"Thank you, thank you." Yang said, "Yang the belching queen, champion of the after meal burb off since, hey!"

Yang stopped and noticed that Ruby was reaching over to take what was left of her ramen. Ruby looked up and awkwardly smiled.

"I, uh...I ran out."

"Ruby, you don't just go around taking my food if you run out!" Yang said as she gritted her teeth.

Ruby then gained a teasing smile and said, "Aww, is Yang getting...Yangry?"

Yang groaned at the awful pun, making Ruby laugh. Behind her, she could hear Pyrrha giggling as well.

"Really?" said Yang as she facepalmed.

"Come on, Yang, queen of punning around doesn't like my puns? Ow how you wound me dear sister." Ruby said melodramatically as she put a hand to her head in faux hurt.

"Rubes, we've been over this. I only ever made one pun, just one, and it was back when I was your age back in Signal." Yang removed her hand from her forehead and placed it under her chin as she leaned onto the counter, "I swear, you make one shitty pun, and the world will never let you forget it."

"It's alright Yang," Pyrrha said, "After all, it was pretty...punny."

That last one made Yang groan even harder as she planted her face onto the counter with a loud thud. From her position, she could hear Ruby and Pyrrha laughing out loud.

"Well hello there."

A flirty, obnoxious sounding voice came in from behind them and they turned to face it. Yang saw that it was a tall, attractive black haired man with blue eyes and wearing a biker jacket. He seemed to be of similar age to herself and Pyrrha.

Either way, he looked like a pain in the ass.

"Can we help you mister?" Ruby asked politely.

"No," he replied as he walked up to Pyrrha and started getting into her personal space, "But maybe I can help you. What's a hot celebrity like you doing in a place like this?"

Yang grew angry as the man was harassing her partner. She then turned to Ruby, who also had an angered expression. Both of them shared a look, with Ruby's look conveying a message that Yang easily understood.

You want to hit him or do you want me to?

Yang gave her her own look that said, Let me handle this.

Yang turned to face the guy as his face was getting obnoxiously close to Pyrrha's, who was backing away with a very discomforted expression. But before Yang could throw a punch...

SMACK

"OWWWW! THE FUCK!"

The bastard was knocked away by the shopkeeper, who batted him aside with a broom.

He got back up, holding his face as he yelled, "The fuck was that for old bastard!?"

In response, the shopkeeper leveled an angry glare at him and beat on the counter, making a sign from the ceiling drop that said, "No harassing the customers". He then held up the broom again, as if daring the asshole to try anything.

"Whatever." With that, he walked away. Good riddance.

Yang looked at what food she had left and gave the bowls to the shopkeeper. "I think we're good for now," she said as she gave him her credit card and payed for the meals, "Thanks for warding the asshole off by the way."

The man smiled. With their meals payed for, the three of them got up and proceeded to Bumblebee.

"Hey, Pyrrha," Yang began to ask, "Are you alright?"

Pyrrha simply nodded and said, "I'll be fine."

Ruby got in front of her and said, "Pyrrha, having jerks treat you like that is not okay. How can you be so nonchalant about it?"

Pyrrha stopped and took a seat on the sidewalk. Sensing that she wanted to talk, Yang and Ruby sat down beside her.

"It's just..." Pyrrha began, "It's been this way for me for a long time now. When I started winning tournaments and becoming famous for my accomplishments, at first, I loved it. The limelight, the attention, the sense of victory. It was all so exhilarating. I wanted to soar higher and higher. But by the time I reached the highest peak, I started to see just how far away everyone else was. And to make matters worse, I had no way back down."

Yang and Ruby looked at each other. Yang was having trouble understanding the metaphor and Ruby seemed equally lost. Seeing this, Pyrrha sighed and explained it to them. Her tone throughout having a sense of resignation to it.

"My constant victories had left me on a pedestal, and life on that pedestal became lonely and miserable. I had no friends to speak of. I only had fans who's affection for me was superficial. Any who wanted to start a relationship with me or be my friend only wanted to do so for my status, not because of who I am. All I ever wanted from then on was just to have a friend. Even one who just cared about me for me. But I was alone, treated not as a person, but as a symbol; a trophy that everyone could gawk at."

Pyrrha said that last part with a tone of complete bitterness and revulsion, and Yang understood what her partner was talking about. To live a life like that, Yang honestly couldn't imagine how lonely she must have felt all these years. Yang instinctively moved closer to her partner and hugged her, hearing Pyrrha gasp as she did so. She could feel Ruby do the same.

"I'm sorry, Pyrrha." Yang quietly said to the redhead.

"Pyrrha," Ruby said, "We honestly don't care about those kind of things. Status, money, or any of that stuff."

"Yeah." Yang said as she started to brighten up, "If no one else wants to see you for the sweet, loving person you are, then we will. How 'bout it, Pyr? Friends?"

Pyrrha looked to both of them as she sat there. Tears started welling in her eyes, which she proceeded to wipe away as she smiled and enveloped both of them in a hug.

"Thanks you guys."

Yang smiled and hugged back as tight as she dared, "What are friends for?"

As she retracted, Pyrrha's smile went down a bit as she sighed, "Still, while I know it won't happen for me, I wish I could just for a day be a normal girl. No fans or paparazzi or pervs at my heels. Just me and my friends spending a day together without getting interrupted. Y'know what I mean?"

Yang nodded while she saw Ruby put her finger under her chin in contemplation before she lit up, as if a lightbulb and asked, "Pyrrha, I'm gonna need your measurements."

"Wha?" was Pyrrha's only response as a blush spread on her face.

"Trust me, I have a plan." as Ruby said this, Yang gained a confused look, wondering what her sister was planning.

With her face red, Pyrrha leaned to whisper into Ruby's ear, to which she nodded. Then, in a burst of rose petals, she sped off across the street and around the corner, leaving Yang and her partner to stare at the direction she went in confusion.

Shrugging her shoulders, Yang pulled out her scroll and started up a game of 'Immortal Warriors', a fun fighting game that she liked to play with Ruby and especially Uncle Qrow whenever she got the chance, though it still frustrated her that she had yet to beat him. She then showed Pyrrha the game.

"So Pyr, how about a round or two while we wait for Ruby to come back from whatever she's doing?"

Pyrrha looked at the screen and said, "Yang, I don't have this game."

"Oh," Yang said. Rather than ask her to download the game, she realized that it would be unfair to play against someone with no experience with it. Instead, she gave her the scroll, "Well then, instead, I'll show you how to play."

Yang spent the next fifteen minutes showing Pyrrha the ins and outs of the game. How to string combos together, how to avoid certain combos, and what worked best with which character. To her credit, despite having never played the game, Pyrrha seemed to be learning fast. She even managed to score a win against the AI opponent once. The redhead even seemed to be really getting into it, as she was playing more vigorously while licking her upper lip.

Just before Pyrrha could select another round, rose petals covered their vision and Yang saw that Ruby had returned and was carrying two bags with what looked like a sleeve sticking out of one of them.

"I figured that the best way to have a normal rest of the day is if we get you a disguise." Ruby answered, "So what do you say, Pyrrha?"

Pyrrha looked at the bags, then back to Ruby before she looked at the bags again, clearly lost in thought from the younger girl's proposal. She smiled and gave a determined nod at the request. Ruby gestured for Yang and Pyrrha to follow her, with the youngest of their trio leading them to a public bathroom nearby.

Ruby held the bags to Pyrrha as she gladly took them and walked into the bathroom, leaving Yang and her sister to wait outside. Yang had to admit, part of her kinda felt like Pyrrha's bodyguard, protecting her from unwanted attention. As if on reflex and to match the mood, she pulled out her sunglasses and crossed her arms as she looked opposite to the restroom door, making herself look more like a badass agent or security officer.

"Hey, Yang." Ruby asked from next to her, "You got a spare set of sunglasses I can use?"

Yang checked her pockets to look for a spare pair, but all she found was an old pair that was just some dollar store star shaped lenses. Seeing as it was all she had, she handed them over to her sister, who gladly took them and put them on before crossing her arms and matching Yang's previous posture. While Yang couldn't exactly read her sister's mind, she could easily read her expressions, and from Ruby's posture and smirk, she probably thought she was the most badass bodyguard in the world right now.

She wasn't. But she was definitely in the running for most adorable at the moment.

"Alright guys, I'm ready." Pyrrha's voice called from behind them. Yang and Ruby turned to get a look at their friend.

Pyrrha had completely changed out of her usual armor, which was now in the bags Ruby gave her, and she dressed in a form fitting pair of blue jeans with red sports sneakers on her feet. Her upper body was adorned in a green shirt with bright blue stripes that was underneath a bright white sweater that she left open. She had also undone her usual ponytail and let her hair cascade down her shoulders. Topping off the look was a pair of square framed glasses with false lenses.

Hair and eye color aside, she looked nothing like the proud champion that most would recognize at a glance.

Yang whistled as she lowered her sunglasses to her nose and said, "Well hot damn, you look like a totally different gal."

"Well, that is the idea after all." Pyrrha replied with a giggle before she noticed Ruby tapping her foot as she looked at her with a contemplative look.

"Something wrong, Ruby?" the disguised girl asked.

Ruby held out her hand and raised her index finger, telling her to give her a moment. She then reached into her pocket and pulled out a black sharpie marker and poked it on Pyrrha's left cheek, much to the redhead's surprise. This granted Pyrrha the illusion of having a beauty mark, something that she naturally didn't have. Yang could see the idea Ruby was getting at; by giving their friend a distinct feature that everyone knew she didn't possess, it reduced the odds of them seeing through the disguise.

"Now you look completely unrecognizable." Ruby complimented as Yang pulled out her scroll so Pyrrha could see her reflection in it.

As Pyrrha admired her new appearance, Yang and Ruby removed their sunglasses. The three of them returned to Yang's bike.

"So, what now?" Pyrrha asked as she took her seat behind Yang.

"Right now, there's an arcade I want to check out." Ruby answered as Yang revved up Bumblebee's engine and drove off.

Yang stopped in front of a brightly lit building that had the name 'The Joust' in bright neon lights.

Yang and Ruby walked towards the entrance, but stopped when they noticed that Pyrrha wasn't following them. They turned around and saw that she was nervously looking at the ground with her hands folded in front of her.

Understanding her apprehension, Yang walked up to her and gently wrapped her hands around the redheads arms. "Pyrrha," she began, "It's okay, no one's gonna recognize you. It'll just be the three of us having a normal, non-fan interrupted day. Alright?"

Pyrrha shook her head and replied, "No, it's not that. Well, actually, it's a little bit of that, but the last time I remember being in an arcade was when I was really young. I'm...kinda nervous since this is the first time in years I'm going back to one."

"Pyrrha, arcades are all about fun, games and food." Ruby chimed in, "There's really nothing to be nervous about. You're just overthinking it. Just relax and have fun."

This seemed to calm Pyrrha down enough that she nodded and followed them into the building. As soon as they entered, they were bombarded with the sound of lasers, gunfire, occasional exclamations of "WINNER!" from arcade machines, and bonking noises from hammer games as players sat and stood at every corner.

As Yang looked around, she turned to notice that Pyrrha was standing in awe of the place. The sight made Yang both happy that her partner was enjoying the sights and saddened now that she understood that it was a long time since she genuinely had this much fun.

"Alright," Yang said, "Here's how we go abou-"

Before she could get anymore words out, Ruby had already run off to get herself some tokens and start playing the machines.

"Okay, I guess it's just us then." Yang looked to Pyrrha and gestured for her to follow.

They stopped in front of one of the token dispensers. Yang put in some of her lien and gave plenty of tokens to Pyrrha.

"Come on, let me show you the ropes with some of these."

Yang showed her to a shooting game where the purpose was to kill more Grimm than your opponent. They both put their tokens in and proceeded to play.

It went very poorly for Yang.

"WINNER!"

"Damn it! How do you keep doing that!?" Yang yelled in frustration.

Pyrrha just gave her a humoring smirk and replied, "Maybe you should think twice about challenging someone to this kind of game when their weapon is a rifle?"

All Yang could do was sigh in acknowledgement before perking up at the next game, Wack a Wolf. It was something more up her alley; just bash the Beowolves as they came to score points.

Sure enough, this round went to her.

"WINNER!"

"Ha! Eat that Pyr-" Yang began her gloating before she realized that she shouldn't say her partner's name out loud and give her away, quickly coming up with a secret identity to give her, "Uh, I mean, P-Patricia?"

Pyrrha looked around and saw that no one seemed to hear her, so she gave her a thumbs up before feigning frustration at her loss.

"Oh Yang, you have bested me. Woe unto me for my failure."

Huh, so Pyrrha is not a good actor, good to know, Yang thought to herself as she bore witness to Pyrrha's "performance".

Not wanting to dwell on her partner's atrocious attempt at acting, the two walked around to find another game. Yang saw that the racing bike games were open and pointed to it before turning and seeing that Pyrrha wasn't next to her anymore. Instead, she was walking towards a crane machine game.

Yang followed and looked to where Pyrrha's eyes were pointing. She saw that the redhead was staring intently at a wooden toy horse in the machine, almost seeming lost in a trance. Wondering what was up, Yang tapped Pyrrha's shoulder, causing her to jump with a yelp and face the blonde brawler.

"So, you gonna answer why you went all blank when you were looking at that toy horse, or is this a private thing?" Yang asked.

Pyrrha shook her head, "No, it's not that," she then looked back to the toy in the machine, "It's just...I used to have one of those when I was a little girl. I played with it almost every day. I remember when I'd pretend I was riding on it killing Grimm and saving lives like an action hero."

"Well in that case, let's go reclaim your childhood." Yang declared as put a couple tokens into the crane, starting it up. She then moved aside for Pyrrha to take the controls.

Yang watched as Pyrrha moved the claw over the horse and proceeded to lower it, only to miss it and waste an attempt.

"Oof, maybe you should let me have a go?" Yang suggested.

Pyrrha shook her head and put her own tokens in. She gained a determined look as the crane whirred to life again.

"I got this Yang," Pyrrha told her, "Just go have fun. I'll see you in a bit."

Yang stared for a bit and shrugged, deciding to go check out and play the other games. She'd see Pyrrha in a bit. It wouldn't take Pyrrha that long to win the game, right?

Pyrrha vs. the Crane: Attempt #2

"Ugh," Pyrrha groaned as the claw missed the wooden horse yet again. She came closer that time, but she still didn't get it.

Not giving up, she pulled out two more tokens and inserted them.

"Alright, this time."

Pyrrha vs. the Crane: Attempt #6

The horse actually made it into the claw this time, but fell out of it immediately as it lifted.

"Shit!" Pyrrha cursed as the game reset itself. She was closer that time but the precious little horsey still eluded her.

Two more tokens were inserted and she began her next attempt.

Pyrrha vs. the Crane: Attempt #15

Almost there. Almost there!

Pyrrha's thoughts were giddy as the claw picked up the horse and moved it to the exit port. These failing attempts were taking a toll on her, but it would all be worth it once that beautiful wooden mare was in her hands. It just needed to get over the pit and let it...

"Excuse me miss."

"WAHH!"

Pyrrha found herself scared as she heard a voice from right behind her. She jumped and crashed face first into the glass of the crane game as she watched in horror as the horse fell back in with the other toys. Her heart sank as her face took on a crestfallen expression.

"Uh, sorry. It's just that my little brother wanted to play and you've been playing for a while now-"

The rest of the man's words drowned out as Pyrrha slowly turned to him. Looking at his face with nothing but pure malice in her eyes. This moron had cost her the horse, and he had earned her rage as a result.

"Walk. Away."

Pyrrha didn't so much as say it, but rather, growled it. She looked at the man's terrified expression as he pulled his younger brother away in fright, disappearing from around the corner.

Pyrrha smirked before her mind caught with what had happened and she grew disgusted at herself for what she had done. She had just terrified a young man and his little brother away, and for what? A toy horse that reminded her of the simple days when she was just a happy little girl content to play with her toys, dream about protecting people from monsters, and didn't have to put up with all this obnoxious fan bullshit.

It needed to stop, she could just walk away from it and be done.

Just as she started to leave the crane's vicinity, she couldn't move. She heard the jingle of tokens in her pocket and looked into it, seeing that she still had plenty to spare. She looked back at the crane and the toy.

Pyrrha sighed and said to herself, "Just one more game, and that'll be it." she then put the tokens in for what she was certain would be her final attempt, "Just one more, and you're done."

"I'll take...the guitar!" Yang declared as she submitted her earned tickets and the cashier handed her the guitar.

Yang smirked as she held it in her hands and gave the strings a good strum, I am so gonna melt some bones with this bad boy.

Ruby was standing beside her and had submitted her tickets as well. She earned far more than Yang had and the fruits of her labor was a soda drinking hat and a bb gun that came with its own belt and holster. Slurping filled the air as Ruby drank fizzy grape flavored soda from the straws that dangled from the hat.

Yang looked around and saw that Pyrrha hadn't met with them yet.

She must still be at the crane.

"Rubes, let's head to the crane," Yang told her sister, "That's where I last saw her."

The duo walked to where the crane was and rounded the corner. Yang's jaw almost dropped with what she saw.

Pyrrha's hair was completely disheveled from what she could tell. As Yang walked close, she could hear mumbling coming from the redhead, repeating the mantra of "One more time, one more time, one more time."

Yang was now officially worried.

As Yang approached, it looked like the crane failed to pick up the toy again. From her position, she could see Pyrrha shaking. Cautiously, she tapped Pyrrha's shoulder.

"Uh, Pyr-"

"WHAT THE FUCK DO YOU WANT!?" the redhead screamed as she faced Yang, scaring her and sending her falling to the floor in shock at her partner's state. Her eyes were bloodshot and crazed, as if she'd been doing this for hours when it had only been maybe forty minutes at most since she started playing.

Yang looked up at the redhead who was breathing heavily and angrily glaring at her before a look of realization dawned her face as she calmed down and kneeled to help her up. Her face shifted from realization to remorse as she did so.

"I'm sorry," Pyrrha said, "I got so obsessed with winning that toy and I just got lost in it all."

As Yang got up, she gave her partner a gentle hug, assuring her that she didn't hold any ill will about it.

When Yang released her from the hug, she said, "I think maybe we should head back. You okay with that?"

Pyrrha nodded, but before they could even begin walking away...

"WINNER!"

Yang looked and saw that Ruby had decided to have a go at the crane and won, pulling out the wooden horse that Pyrrha wanted to win.

As Pyrrha saw this, she went wide eyed as her arms went slack at her sides.

Ruby casually skipped to Pyrrha and held out the toy, giving it to her. Pyrrha just continued to stare.

Yang gently shook her partner. "Pyrrha," she began, "Please talk to me."

Pyrrha's shock broke as she rushed forward and enveloped Ruby in a strong, loving hug as she spun with her in her arms.

"THANK YOU! THANK YOU! THANK YOU!"

"Pyrrha...please...can't...breath..."

Pyrrha dropped Yang's sister, who bent forward in an effort to catch her breath and said, "I'm sorry." as she straightened out her disheveled hair.

Ruby assured her that it was okay and placed the wooden horse in the redhead's hands. Pyrrha proceeded to nuzzle and hug the toy like a lost pet.

"Excuse me, miss."

They directed their attention to the voice and saw that it was a young, dark skinned man with scarlet hair in a manager's uniform who was currently staring at Pyrrha.

"I'm afraid I have to ask you to leave. You've been scaring many of the players away."

Pyrrha turned red as Yang looked around, and sure enough, the place was rather empty at the moment.

Yang turned to the manager and said, "Don't worry, we'll be leaving in a minute. Sorry about the trouble."

The man nodded before he looked at Pyrrha and stared intently.

"Strange, you look oddly familiar."

Pyrrha looked away as Yang and Ruby looked at each other nervously. Yang wondered if the man would see through Pyrrha's disguise.

Just as her fears came, they went as he shrugged and said, "Can't really put my finger on it though. I guess you just have one of those faces."

The three of them sighed as he walked away before making their way to the exit.

"You doing alright there Pyr?" Yang asked, figuring that now she could refer to her partner by name since they were out of earshot from anyone.

Pyrrha nodded and replied, "Yes. Even with that whole crane thing," she said with a hint of frustration in her voice, "It was nice getting to just be normal for a while."

"We should probably head back to Beacon soon," Ruby said as she hopped onto Bumblebee.

"I know a shortcut we can go through," Yang said as she and Pyrrha sat behind the youngest of their group.

After they got their helmets, Yang revved the bike up and drove off to the shortcut.

"Whoa," Yang said as she stopped, and Ruby could see why.

Police officers stood in front of the large series of apartment complexes that Yang used as a way to get through quickly in the past. Either their cars or security tape blocked off the roads, and Ruby could see armed officers behind them, seemingly looking for something.

One of the cops approached and said, "Sorry, but this area is blocked off. I'm afraid you'll have to find a different route."

"Is something wrong, officer?" Ruby asked.

"Sorry, but I'm not authorized to inform civilians," he said sternly, "Rest assured, we have it well under control."

Ruby didn't really like this. If there was something wrong here, she felt that maybe she could lend a hand. They were clearly trying to find someone or something, but what? Was it a crook? Did a Grimm somehow make it into the city?

She wanted to help, but she wasn't exactly allowed to given the circumstances.

"Yang," Pyrrha said from behind the blonde, "If it's alright with you, I think we should let them handle it. They seem to know what they're doing."

The redhead then smiled as she continued.

"Besides, I think it'd be nice to take a more scenic route back to Beacon."

Yang turned to Ruby and said, "Sorry Ruby, not much we can do here even if we could. Just let them handle it, alright?"

Ruby just nodded reluctantly as Yang drove away from the crime scene and took a different route back to Beacon.

"Aura..."

It looked from atop the building as it smelled them. Three powerful Auras driving away.

True meals to satisfy him were now in reach, but it couldn't feast now. Too many cops to put up with, and they were too close together.

It needed to devour them one at a time. At the moment, it could handle one student, but not three.

It planned as it watched them vanish into the distance. They left a scent behind. A trail could follow. But for now...

"Feast..."

There were plenty of police in the area. The few that it tasted were more satisfying than the others it had eaten the night before.

Its plan was now in motion. First, it would devour as many police as it could to strengthen itself. Then it would follow the lingering scent of the three Beacon students. It would consume any other morsels it could along the way.

Then finally, its main course could commence.

It let out a shrill cry as it dove back into the building. So many souls to eat. So little time.

Chapter Text

Ragna spun as he swung Aramasa in its scythe form, practicing in his usual spot outside where Team RNJR's dorm room was located.

It was late in the afternoon and he was having some time to himself, so he decided to spend it practicing scythe combat. He'd admit that he preferred his sword over his scythe, but at the same time, he didn't want to get rusty with Aramasa's alternate form.

He decided to give Jaune time off training so he could practice alone. Unsurprisingly for him, Jaune was fine with that, saying that he needed to read a book on Auras and Semblances anyway. Made sense to Ragna, seeing as the kid didn't seem to know how to use his own Aura properly. Ragna also didn't think this was something he could help him out with anyway, seeing as that require having to explain his own Semblance, something he loathed even having to begin with, much less talk about.

"Hey Ragna!"

The chirpy voice called out and Ragna looked up at the window to see Ruby waving at him.

"What do you want, kid?" Ragna asked.

Ruby jumped down from the window and landed on her feet. Ragna could see that she had Crescent Rose holstered on the back of her belt.

"It's just that I figured you could use a sparring partner," Ruby said as she pulled out her weapon, "The only other person I've fought against that has a scythe is my uncle, and I was hoping that we could show each other a few tricks. How 'bout it?"

Ragna stared for a moment. On the one hand, he'd rather just practice by himself. It gave him some peace and quiet, which he didn't get much of these days. On the other hand, getting to fight someone else with a scythe was a pretty interesting prospect. He hadn't fought anyone like that since the old hag showed him how to use one.

Ragna smirked and said, "If you think you can keep up kid."

He spun Aramasa and held it one-handed in his usual reverse hand grip behind his back. Ruby drew her weapon into its scythe form and held it with both hands as she took a fighting stance of her own.

The two dashed right towards each other, with Ragna attacking first with a wide swing intended to bat Ruby aside. Instead, Ruby jumped overhead and struck downward with her weapon. Ragna responded with a quick block that sent her away as she landed on her feet.

Ruby smirked, making Ragna wonder what she was planning. She then pointed the scythe blade away from him and to her right before she jumped into the air and pulled the trigger, making her blitz to her left as Ragna tried to track her movements.

Another gunshot was fired and she blitzed straight towards him. Ragna swiftly grabbed the handle of Aramasa with both hands and timed his attack just as she came close. Instead of knocking her away, Ruby spun midair and deftly avoided the slash, striking at him and gashing his Aura as she stopped some feet behind him.

Seeing that her back was turned, Ragna spun and attacked with a wide reaching swing that Ruby was able to somersault over. Right as she landed, she spun her scythe and swung it right at him, slashing his arm and damaging his Aura even further.

Ragna's frustration grew, and instead of attempting to hit her with a scythe attack again, he instead reached forward and grabbed her by her collar, swinging her overhead and slamming her onto the ground with enough force to knock her a few feet into the air. Ragna followed up his attack by forward thrusting Aramasa at her, pushing her far back and into the building wall, leaving a small crater where she crashed.

Ruby shakingly got up, using her weapon to prop herself, and smiled at Ragna.

"Wow Ragna, you're really strong." she complemented.

"Well, I did warn ya." he replied.

"Still, your whole scythe technique is kinda off."

Ragna raised an eyebrow as Ruby's voice became critical in an almost practiced manner.

"You use a lot of wide attacks with your scythe and they're kinda easy for me to dodge," Ruby elaborated, "Granted, it fits you, but I think you could adapt and use something more direct and precise."

Ragna shook his head and said, "Yeah, well I prefer using either a sword or my fists. Just practicing to make sure I don't get rusty with it."

"Still, you should really consider working more on it," Ruby said to him as she walked up, "Picture all the cool combos you can chain together by switching the two weapon forms. You could start out in sword mode then surprise them with a scythe and wipe out a bunch of badies at once."

Ruby continued going on about the combination possibilities for a few minutes, almost never seeming to pause for breath. Ragna was inclined to just tell her to shut up, but he decided against that, instead letting her finish.

"-and not to mention that if you swing so wide like that, you're putting too much momentum out there and you're gonna lose control over it," she finished.

"Fine, you got a point, but man you're starting to sound just like the old hag," Ragna grunted as he ran a hand through his hair and scratched the back of his head, "Except you're a lot less bitchy than she was."

Ruby gained a curious look and asked, "Uh, who are you talking about?"

"The old lady who showed me the ropes on using a scythe. My master had me train with her for a few months while we were in the area."

Ragna's statement was met with a gasp as Ruby ran right up to him and got uncomfortably close to his face.

"You met another scythe user?" Ruby asked as she grabbed his shoulders, "Tell me everything! What was she like? What did her scythe look like? How did she fight? What's her-"

Ragna interrupted her by once again grabbing her hoodie and pulling her off of him and putting her on the ground before answering, "Can you just cool it with the questions, kid?"

"Uh, sorry," Ruby apologized before she lit up again and asked, "So, can you at least tell me what she was like?"

"Well..."

"No no no! Your stance is all off kid!"

"Alright, now you listen hear you damn old bat, I've done this thirty times for the last hour! How the fuck is my stance still off? I'm doing it exactly like you said!"

"What's that kid? Can't hear your whining very well. You're gonna have to speak up."

"Oh fuck you! You're blind, not deaf."

"Well did you ever stop and think that your technique sucks so bad that it's making me lose my sense of hearing? Do it again! And get it right this time!"

"She's...kind of an old bitch, but she means well," Ragna answered.

"Hmm, she sounds like my uncle," Ruby mused, "He's kind of a jerk sometimes, but he's really nice when you get past his attitude...and alcoholism."

She then smiled and said, "Actually, he's kind of a lot like you. You're pretty nice when you're not being all angsty and rude."

"Tch, don't presume too much, kid," Ragna grunted as he went back to practicing.

"No, I'm serious," Ruby said, grabbing Ragna's attention again, "You've been helping Jaune train this whole time and you can be pretty civil around us. It's pretty refreshing."

"Oh please, I'm only helping the idiot so he doesn't get himself killed."

"You wouldn't help him at all if you didn't care," Ruby didn't even flinch at his statement, "Face it, you're one big softie under all that brooding."

Ragna went silent for a moment before he retorted, "Shut the fuck up."

At his response, Ruby laughed. All Ragna could really do was just grumble at her amusement.

As Ruby wiped a tear from her eye and her laughter subsided, she asked, "Hey, if it isn't too much trouble, could I maybe try using your scythe?"

Ragna thought about her request for about half a second before he gave her his answer.

"No." he bluntly said as he crossed his arms.

"Aww, come on," she wined, "Can't I at least hold it? Pretty please?"

"No kid, you're not going to. And don't try that damned face again. It ain't gonna work."

"Can I at least ask questions about it?"

Ragna thought for a moment. Unlike her request to hold it, he couldn't find any harm in just answering questions about it.

"Fine." Ragna said as he shrugged.

Ruby practically jumped into the air as she started walking away, confusing Ragna.

She then turned and said, "Come on, let's walk and talk."

Ragna grumbled for a bit as he followed her, easily keeping pace.

"So, something I've been wondering about," Ruby said as they walked into the dormitories, "Your scythe gives off this red glowing blade at the end of it when it's active. I've never seen anything like that, and I've seen all kinds of weapons."

"Well, from what I can understand, that's because Aramasa channels the Aura and Semblance of whoever's using it," Ragna explained as they walked down the hall, "At least, that's how my master explained it."

"That sounds awesome!" Ruby exclaimed as they rounded the corner and stopped in front of the elevator, "Are you sure I can't try it out? I really want to see what it'd do if I channeled my Semblance through it."

"Get over it kid, you're not gonna get to use it. Ever." Ragna told her with indifference.

Ruby looked disappointed, but thankfully she didn't wine about it. Instead, she moved to push the button to call the elevator, but before she could, it opened on its own, revealing Noel and her two friends walking out, Tsubaki and Makoto if Ragna remembered correctly.

"Oh, hey Ruby," Noel said kindly to their team lead. She then looked at Ragna and became far more shy as she looked away, "A-and hello to y-you as well Ragna."

That was something that bugged Ragna. For the past few days, Noel had been acting odd around him. Every time they were in the same room, it was like she was desperately looking for a way to get out and not face him, and when they had to be in the same room for either class or other related stuff, she did everything she could to avoid eye contact. He really didn't understand why that was. She didn't have this problem with Ruby and Jaune, not to mention that she didn't have any issues talking with him before a few days ago, so what the hell happened that caused her to act like this?

Ragna was fairly certain that he hadn't said or done anything to warrant this kind of behavior. He'd know if that was the case.

Granted, while it bugged him, he was partially kinda glad about it on some level. Her wanting to avoid him meant that he didn't have to interact with her as much as usual. Something that he admittedly found hard was just facing the kid every day, especially because of her resemblance to-

"So, where are you guys going?" Ruby's question interrupted his thoughts.

"Well," Makoto answered, "Tsubaki here agreed to help us study at the library. I was gonna ask Blakey if she wanted to join, but she's asked for some alone time to read back in our dorm room. Ren and Nora went to one of those 'All You Can Eat' buffet type restaurants."

"Huh, you'd think they'd have had dinner by now." Ruby said to herself.

"Oh, they did," Makoto answered, "This is Nora's 'second' dinner."

"Given what you've said about her eating habits," Tsubaki interjected, "I don't know who to pity more. The restaurant owners who are about to lose most of their food, or Ren for the bill he will receive."

"Probably both, what do you think Noel?" Makoto asked, but they all saw that Noel was not in the elevator anymore. "Uh, Noel?

"Guys, the library's this way!" Noel's voice called from across the hall. Ragna and Ruby turned to see her waving, though she appeared to go frigid when he faced her.

Seriously, the hell's her deal with me?

"We should be on our way," Tsubaki said as she walked out of the elevator.

"See you guys later," Makoto said as she followed her friends.

Ragna entered the elevator while Ruby waved goodbye to them before walking in and pressing the button to take them to the third floor where their dorm room was located.

"So Ragna," Ruby said as she squeaked her shoes on the floor, "You've been noticing how Noel's been acting around you lately, right?"

"Yeah, and your point is?" he replied as the elevator dinged when they passed the second floor.

Ruby turned to him and said, "Ragna, I know for a fact that you're just as bothered about it as I am. Do you remember saying or doing anything that led to this?"

Ragna just leaned against the wall and shook his head.

"No, and I know for a fact that I didn't do anything to tick her off." he replied, "So why don't you go ask her what her problem is?"

"Well, I think it'd be better if you talked to her," Ruby answered as the elevator dinged and she walked out, "I mean, I can help, but if it's between you two, then you guys have to sort it out. I don't want our team to start being all awkward with each other, y'know?"

Ragna rolled his eyes as he kept pace with her and they walked down the hall to where their room was.

"Last time I'm gonna say it kid. I didn't say or do anything to her. How she wants to act around me is her shit to deal with, not mine."

"Even if it isn't your fault now, it will start to be if you keep ignoring it," Ruby grumbled under her breath just loud enough for Ragna to hear her as she crossed her arms.

The two of them approached their dorm room. While Ragna didn't really live inside the room itself, he still used it to study by himself on occasion or when he had a private moment to himself to listen to his old memento; a music box he brought along with him. The music usually helped ease any frustrations he had at a moment.

"Oh, hey Jaune," Ruby greeted as the Arc walked down the hall, looking crestfallen for a moment before he perked up at the sight of them.

"Hey guys, what's up?" Ragna could tell from the tone of Jaune's voice that his demeanor was rather forced at the moment. Seeing this, he sighed.

"Okay, what the hell happened?"

"Eh?"

"Jaune, I saw it to," Ruby said before Ragna could continue, "You looked kinda mopey for a second. Something wrong?"

Jaune looked downtrodden and seemed reluctant to answer. Ragna was about to try and force it out of him, but after a moment, he sighed and opened up.

"It's Cardin Winchester," he answered, "I was reading out on one of the school benches and suddenly Cardin and his team jump me and threw me into a nearby dumpster. To top it off, they took my book."

Ragna clenched his fist as he felt his blood boil for a second before he calmed himself.

"You gonna be okay Jaune?" Ruby asked as she walked up to him.

Jaune just shyly smiled and said, "Yeah, I'll be fine. It's not like this is the first time it's happened either."

"Wait, WHAT!" Ragna exclaimed. This was the first time he heard that Jaune was having this problem in the first place.

Jaune just held his hands up and said something about it not being a big deal, but Ragna didn't hear him. Instead, he pushed past him and started looking for Team CRDL's room.

A lot of things tended to piss Ragna off. Crap like unwanted physical contact, making loud noises, or stuck up ass wipes who act like they're better than anyone thanks to having the right connections. But if there was one thing he couldn't stand, it was a godsdamn bully. And he was gonna make this asshole hurt before the end of the day.

It took a few minutes, an elevator trip to the uppermost floor, and some asking around, but he finally found Team CRDL's room. Not wanting to waste any time, he knocked loudly on the door of their room. Sure enough, one of their members, who he couldn't recognize nor care to remember, answered the door.

"Yeah, what do you wan-"

Ragna didn't even let him finish. Instead he kicked the door open and knocked the asshat back into the room as he entered. As he walked in, the rest of them got up or turned to him. Ragna immediately recognized the ginger haired tall one as Cardin.

"OWWW! WHAT THE FUCK!?" The guy he kicked through yelled in pain.

"Alright, what do you want, dipshit?" Cardin crossed his arms as he asked.

Ragna glared at him, redirecting all his hatred at the moment towards him.

"Simple, asshole. You took something that belonged to one of my teammates. I'm here to get it back."

Cardin just smirked and said, "Oh, you mean Jauney boy's book. Yeah, see, were kinda using it right now. Dove over there needed some spare paper for an art proj-"

In a second, Ragna grabbed him by the scuff of his shirt and dragged him to the nearest window.

"Hey, what the fuck!? Let me g-"

Ragna ignored him as he proceeded to slam Cardin into the window, shattering the glass and holding him outside where a steep fall awaited him.

"Here's how it's gonna go fuckstain. You're gonna give that book to me and I'm gonna return it to my teammate," Ragna snarled, "Unless you want to become a black mark on the pavement, that is."

Ragna saw Cardin's attempt to look brave turn fearful as he faced the rest of the team. They all look afraid and unsure of what to do. Ragna turned back to Cardin.

"Decide some time today, bitch. My arm's getting tired."

"O-okay, fine," Cardin stammered as Ragna dragged him back into the room and threw him to the ground.

As Cardin was scrambling to get up, one of the team members, whom Ragna was assuming to be Dove, handed him the book. Ragna snatched it from him and proceeded to walk out of the room.

Before he left, he turned to face all of them and gave a declaration, "Listen up jackasses, from now on, you pick on anyone on my team, you have to answer to me. Got it?"

The four of them nodded rapidly as Ragna slammed the door shut and walked back to his room with Jaune's book in tow.

That'll teach that fuck not to mess with my teammates, Ragna thought to himself.

"Do you think I should have stopped him?" Jaune asked his leader. He'd been gone for almost ten minutes, but Jaune was nervous that Ragna was about to do something drastic.

"I don't think you could have stopped him if you tried," Ruby answered, "Maybe I should have sped up in front of him? I think I could've talked him down if I did that."

The two of them were waiting in their dorm room. Jaune, rather than lay down on his bed, instead sat to the side of it and leaned against the mattress. Ruby did lie down on her bed, but rather than rest, she just watched the door to their room.

Jaune saw her perk up as the door creaked open and revealed a somewhat less pissed off Ragna walking in. He also saw that their older teammate was now holding his book under his right arm.

"Ragna," Ruby began, "What exactly did you do?"

In response, he shrugged and said, "I held the fucker out his own window and threatened to drop him."

"Ragna!" Ruby admonished.

"What? I wasn't actually going to drop the bitch. You think I'm an idiot?"

"No," Ruby answered as she sighed and crossed her arms, "A temperamental hothead, on the other hand..."

"Hey, I got Arc his book back," Ragna said as he tossed it to Jaune, who did his best to catch it, "So as far as I care, I see this as an absolute win."

Ruby just facepalmed as Jaune looked at his book. He didn't really know how to feel at the moment. On the one hand, yes, he was grateful to Ragna for standing up for him and getting his book back. But there was this nagging feeling that came up as a result. It was that he couldn't just fight back against Cardin and his team by himself when they jumped him. It was that he needed someone else to do the job for him.

It was just more proof that he didn't belong here.

He needed to prove himself. He'd been training hard, now he needed to show that he could go the distance.

"Ragna," Jaune began, getting the white-haired man's attention, "Thanks for that. But next time I have to deal with Cardin, let me handle it on my own, please?"

"Arc, I swear to the gods, if this is like that whole 'I can only get better by myself' bullcrap you were moaning about earlier-"

"Just trust me on this one," he interrupted, "I've been working hard, and I think I can deal with a basic bully by this point. But I need you to trust that I can do it."

Jaune gave Ragna a determined look while Ragna just stood there with his arms crossed, not budging in the slightest.

Ruby moved to Jaune's side, giving Ragna the same determined look as she said, "Ragna, stand down. I think we need to trust Jaune to do this, don't you?"

Jaune felt touched at Ruby's words. He remembered when Noel showed belief in him both at initiation and during combat training, he remembered Ragna telling him that he was off to a better start in his training than he was, and now Ruby was expressing faith in him as well.

He didn't know what to say or even think at all of it.

Ragna uncrossed his arms and sighed, "Fine, but don't expect me to just sit back and let shit happen, got it?"

"I'm not asking you to, I'm just saying that after you've been helping him out, maybe now would be a good time to actually show some faith in him to fight his own battles every now and then."

Ragna nodded before he walked to the dorm room window and opened it.

"By the way, tell Noel I said goodnight."

And then he jumped out to where he usually slept. Ruby stuck her head out the window and said goodnight to her partner along with a wave before she closed the window and jumped back onto her bed.

Jaune smiled as he got on his bed and went back to reading on Semblance...

"...what the heck?"

And saw a bunch of scribbles and doodles all over the pages. Many of them were rather...suggestive in nature. Jaune quickly closed the book as his face turned red.

"What is it, Jaune?" Ruby asked as she got up and sat next to him.

Jaune covered his face and handed Ruby the book, "Cardin's team messed up my book."

He saw Ruby flip through the pages before she quickly closed it, her face also red, "All in favor of destroying this book, say aye."

Jaune raised his hand and said, "Aye."

And so they did.

Chapter Text

The sound of a steel mace clashing against a shield reverberated within the combat arena as Glynda watched the two students battle each other. Just as Cardin Winchester was about to make an underhand strike, Jaune Arc deftly avoided the attack and delivered a sweeping kick to his opponent's feet, knocking him on his back. The taller student then rolled and picked himself back up as fast as he could before he struck at Jaune again, the handle of his mace meeting Arc's blade as the two clashed against each other.

Overall, Glynda found herself rather impressed with Mister Arc's performance these past few classes. Initially, he displayed very little in the way of combat capabilities even after initiation. However, whether he found a spark of inspiration or just maintained solid practice within the weeks since school began, he had improved leaps and bounds beyond what he was achieving previously.

Arc attempted to spin his wrist to flick the mace out of Winchester's hands, but he slipped up and ended up loosing his sword in the struggle as well, knocking both weapons away. Rather than scramble for it, he instead struck at his opponent with a headbutt, sending Winchester stumbling back a few feet. For his part, Arc clutched his head in minor pain, almost as affected by his own attack just as his opponent was.

Despite his improvement, Arc's swordplay was still incredibly clumsy and uncoordinated. Still, he managed to make up for it with unarmed tenacity and combative skills.

Seeing the fatigue both fighters were displaying, Glynda decided to check their Aura levels to see if the match should come to an end. So far, both Arc and Winchester's Aura's were at less than half, Winchester's slightly higher, but still not enough to call the fight in either's favor.

Neither side attempted to retrieve their weapons as instead, Winchester rushed forward, intending to tackle Arc while he was dazed from the previous headbutt. Instead, Arc rolled back onto the floor as Winchester neared, using his shield as a platform to push his opponent off in the direction of his attempted charge. The result sent him landing on his front as he slid across the floor on his armor and over the edge of the arena, landing on the auditorium floor.

"And that's the match!" Glynda called out.

"As you all can see," she continued as she gestured to Mister Winchester, who was picking himself off the floor, "Mister Winchester has been knocked out of the arena. In a tournament style duel, this means that he has been eliminated from the match and the round goes to his opponent."

Glynda turned to Winchester and said, "Mister Winchester, perhaps it would be in your best interest to not be so reckless when you fight? Throwing yourself around like that against a more pragmatic opponent is a recipe for disaster."

"Whatever," he said as he walked back to his seat in a huff.

"Mister Arc," Glynda then turned to the blonde student still standing in the arena, "You've improved immensely over the course of these classes. However, I would advice that you practice your blade work. Make sure you cover all your bases."

"R-right. Thanks Miss Goodwitch," Arc replied as he bowed slightly and returned to his seat. Out of the corner of Glynda's eye, she could see his teammates congratulate him, with even Mister Ragna giving him a pat on the back for his efforts.

The bell rang, signifying that their class was over. Glynda turned to face the entire class as she spoke loudly for all of them to hear.

"Now students, do remember that the Vytal Festival is a few months away!" her loud statement was met with excitement buzzing around the various students, "Soon other students from the different academies will be arriving here for the tournament! Practice and improve upon where you stand now! Remember, if you choose to compete in the Festival, you will not just be representing Beacon Academy, but all of Vale as well! Dismissed!"

Her conclusion was met with the students leaving the classroom. Some were in high spirits, such as Teams RNJR and BRNN, while others were stewing in bitter anger from failure, the most notable she found being Team CRDL.

Great, the dynamic duo is rambling on again, Ragna thought to himself as he rolled his eyes and ate his lunch while Nora and Makoto were blathering one of those made up tales they liked to tell.

Currently, most of the students were eating in the cafeteria for lunch. He sat next to Ruby while Jaune and Noel sat directly across from them. Makoto and Blake sat to his immediate left while Nora and the quiet guy, Ren if he remembered correctly, sat directly in front of them. At Ruby's right was her older sister and Pyrrha while in front of them was the Schnee and Tsubaki.

Ruby and her sister seemed intent on listening to the two while Tsubaki and Pyrrha only seemed to half listen. Schnee filed her nails and was content to ignore the whole thing while Blake and Ren just sat and let the two run their mouths. Jaune was just hungrily eating his lunch, but Noel...

Noel looked like she was listening, but it seemed more like she was forcing herself to. If anything, it was like she was doing everything in her power to force her attention on her friend. Every once in a while, she seemed to sneak a small glance at him before she forced her attention away.

Ragna still couldn't figure out just what the hell Noel's deal was with him, but he was starting to lose the ability to care. He decided that it's better to just let her deal with it. No matter what Ruby tried to say, it wasn't his problem, and Noel didn't seem to want it to be his problem either, so why change that?

"Oh, tell them about the part where the Beringel grew wings and breathed sparkly fire blasts at us and we had to slingshot a house at it!" Nora loudly told Makoto, who's face fell slightly as she groaned.

"I would have, but you kind of spoiled it for everyone here."

"Dang it! Sorry everyone."

"It's fine," Tsubaki said, "I'm sure it would have been...interesting, to say the least."

She then lightly elbowed Schnee to get her to pay attention, which made Ragna chuckle slightly.

"Uh, yeah," Schnee stammered out as she put the file away, "I'm sure it would have been fun, right?"

"Huh," Jaune said as he came up from his food, "Sorry, I wasn't really paying attention. My bad."

"Eh, that's fine," Makoto replied before turning to Blake, "What'd you think, Blakey?"

Blake merely rolled her eyes and shrugged, "It was fine, but maybe you should try to go more for realism instead of...whatever that was."

"Ugh, everyone's a critic," Nora grumbled out. Almost everyone started chuckling at that, even Ragna found himself going along with it.

The only person who didn't was Noel, who looked down at her food.

Jaune saw this and was the first to react, "Hey, Noel, is something wrong?"

"N-no, everything's fine," Noel said, but she wasn't very convincing.

"Noel, you've been like this for a while now. Maybe," Ruby said to her, sneaking a glance at Ragna before continuing, "you should tell all of us what's wrong."

"Yeah, come one Noellers," Makoto said as she leaned in, "You can tell us."

But Noel didn't budge. She just looked down and shook her head, "Guys, I told you it's nothing. Can we please just drop it and eat lunch?"

"Alright," Jaune said reassuringly as he put his hand her shoulder, "If you don't feel comfortable now, you don't have to talk about it just yet. We'll wait till you're ready."

Noel started to perk up and nodded, though she still looked a little down.

Maybe I should talk to her about whatever's wrong, Ragna thought. As much as he didn't really want anything to do with Noel's problems, seeing her sad just felt...wrong.

"OW! T-that hurts!"

Ragna was snapped out of his thoughts when he and the rest of the group's table heard someone shout in pain. He turned and saw Cardin pulling on the ears of one of the upper classmen, a rabbit Faunus with mocha colored hair that Ragna recognized as Velvet Scarlatina, one of the members of Team CFVY. The rest of his cronies were laughing and making fun of her.

The sight infuriated Ragna as he clenched his fist and gritted his teeth, trying to rein in his anger.

"Alright, that's it!" Makoto stated as she stood up and glared at them, "I'm gonna give those jerks a piece of my mind!"

Makoto stomped up to them and started yelling at them, but amidst all that, Ragna just heard one of them call Velvet and Makoto 'a couple of freaks' as Cardin pulled on Velvet's ears even harder, making her cry out in pain.

Enough.

Ragna got up and headed up to them, with Makoto prying Cardin's hand from Velvet's ear and pushing him off before checking to make sure she was okay. Ragna instead focused in on his true target.

As soon as he reached Cardin, he slugged him hard enough to send him flying across the lunch room.

The other members of CRDL froze for a second as Ragna faced them, but they snapped out of it and attempted to dogpile him.

Big mistake.

Ragna ducked under the unified attack and grabbed one of them by the leg, throwing him into the window and shattering the glass. The second one got up and rushed at him, but Ragna was faster, grabbing him and slamming the bastard into the table, shattering it to pieces as students backed away.

"What the hell, jackass!" Cardin yelled, prompting Ragna to turn to him. He glared at the bully with all the hatred he held and walked up to him, batting aside another member of CRDL as he charged at him, throwing him into the wall and leaving a large hole in it that led outside. Ragna ignored the calls of concern from his team and the others, instead focusing all his rage on the asshole he was approaching.

"Seriously?" Cardin whined, "So what, I ain't allowed to have any fun as long as you're arou-"

Ragna cut him off when he reached out and grabbed his throat before lifting him off the ground.

"ACK!"

Ragna could hear Makoto's voice as well as Ruby's and Tsubaki's in the background yelling at him to stop what he was doing, but he couldn't care less right now. This fucker needed to be taken down a peg.

"So," Ragna growled in a low voice reflecting all his anger, "How does it feel? Being helpless, and at someone's mercy?"

Cardin just made a choking noise as he glared down in anger and fear.

"Welcome to what bastards like you put others through. And for what? Because you get off on it? Because you're all sick assholes who need to kick someone down just so you can feel good about yourselves?"

As he ranted, Ragna's mind went back to one of the most enraging sights he'd ever seen in his life.

Opening a convoy.

Dozens of Faunus looking terrified and as if they'd been through Hell.

And him tracing it back to the source to find something far worse.

"Well, I'm not gonna stand for it, bastard!" he yelled as his hand tightened its grip around Cardin's neck, "Never. Again!"

"Ragna! STOP IT!"

Noel's voice yelled out, and suddenly, Ragna clamped his eyes shut as an old memory assaulted his mind.

"R-Ragna. You need to stop."

"Why? I'm just trying to keep you and Jin safe from those jerks."

"You'll keep getting yourself hurt. I-I don't like seeing you hurt yourself like that."

The memory ended, and Ragna became aware of what was happening around him. He saw Cardin was barely breathing as he choked him, and he overall looked weaker, as if the life had been sucked out of him. Ragna looked at himself and saw his Aura had flare up.

He'd lost control. His Semblance, Soul Eater, had gone active.

He dropped Cardin and backed away in disgust. Not in the bully, but in himself.

He watched as Cardin grabbed at his throat and hyperventilated as he started recovering from the affects of Soul Eater before looking back to Ragna with absolute fear on his face.

Reality hit him as Ragna looked around. His teammates were looking at him with shocked expressions. The rest of the students looked at him with terror in their eyes. He saw the bullies he had just beaten down, all thrown about and groaning in pain. He didn't feel a shred of guilt for what he did to them.

But with what he almost did to Cardin...

Ragna clutched his head and stomped out of the cafeteria in a huff, ignoring everyone as he headed for nowhere in particular.

He needed to clear his head.

"H-holy shit..." Jaune said right next to Noel. She herself was completely shocked by what just happened.

The sheer brutality Ragna displayed when dealing with Team CRDL was one thing, but what he almost did to Cardin was a different one altogether.

The way he talked was the angriest she'd ever heard him, and he was almost always angry about something, so the level of unbridled hate he just displayed was just insane.

And then that aura came back. That same terrifying black aura.

She'd seen how it worked against Pyrrha in their match, but here it looked like it was actively sucking the life out of his victim.

It was almost like Ragna wanted to kill him.

But he didn't. Instead, he threw him back and walked away. As he did, Noel saw a look of disgust on his face. One that didn't seem to be directed at anyone in particular.

No one else at their table spoke. None of them knew what to say, or even how to properly react to everything.

Teachers came in a couple minutes after Ragna left somewhere, asking what had happened. Noel heard the students explain things in terrified voices, though Makoto was able to bring up Team CRDL's bullying, with Velvet seemingly reluctant to confirm it. Noel was at least grateful for that. She could tell that Ragna's rage was directed at them specifically because of their bullying, so hopefully he'd get a reduced punishment if it was seen as defending another student.

Ragna didn't like bullies very much.

Suddenly, that same pain entered her head again, though thankfully weak enough that she only closed her eyes tightly in response. Once more, the memories began.

"Hey! Leave her alone!"

"Or what? Get lost or your next."

"I don't care! No one makes my sister cry!"

Noel opened her eyes wide as the memories ended. They were becoming more frequent, especially as she was around Ragna. Thankfully, it seemed like her friends were too caught up in the current events to notice her headache.

They...confused her. She didn't know what to think of them, or if she even wanted to think about them at all. So she did her best to ignore it, and that meant doing everything she could to ignore Ragna.

In any case, she watched as the teachers took the unconscious and groaning members of Team CRDL to the infirmary while they sent for one of them to get Ragna and bring him to Professor Ozpin.

Noel only hoped that if they were going to punish him, they wouldn't be so harsh. He was only trying to protect someone the only way he knew how.

"Hmm, serves that brute right for being so excessive," Weiss said. Clearly, not everyone shared Noel's wish.

Ruby was quick to come to his defense, "Weiss, I'm not saying that Ragna wasn't too extreme, but those guys were bullying another student. Can't you cut him a little leeway?"

"Ruby," Tsubaki interjected, "There's a very clear difference between telling someone off for being in the wrong, and using excessive force that could kill someone. Even though Cardin was being a disgraceful bully, what Ragna did is even less excusable."

"Hate to say it, but I think I have to agree," Blake said, "I've seen that kind of violence in people before, and it looked like Ragna was just one step away from crossing the line."

The look on the black-haired girl's face seemed to Noel like she was remembering something painful and Ragna's actions reminded her too much of it. She felt it best not to ask any further.

"Guys, Ragna's our friend," Jaune said as he got up from his seat, "Did he go overboard? Yeah, but I know that his heart was in the right place."

"Same here," Ruby agreed as she got up and started heading for the exit, with Jaune following after her.

"Uh, Rubes, where are you guys going?" Yang asked.

"To find Ragna and help sort this out," Ruby then turned to Noel, "You coming?"

Noel looked around nervously, looking at the rest of her friends, as well as Makoto who was just now walking back after comforting Velvet. She wasn't sure what to do.

She genuinely wanted to have her teammate's back on this, even if she disagreed with his actions, but with all these confusing memories and him inadvertently being the cause of them, she didn't know if she wanted to go since that would mean facing him.

"Noel," Tsubaki's voice interrupted her thoughts. She turned to her as she said, "It's fine for you to go with them. While I believe that his needless brutality was completely unwarranted regardless of his intent, he is still your teammate. So if you need to go talk with him, it's fine."

Noel nodded before getting up and walking with Ruby and Jaune to wherever Ragna was. For now, she needed to but this whole memory debacle behind her and focus on helping her teammate through his problems.

No matter how much she didn't want to put up with these painful memories, her needs didn't matter right now.

Ozpin sat in his seat as he stared at the eighteen-year-old sitting directly in front of him; arms crossed, looking to the floor and acting like he didn't care. But the guilt-ridden look in Ragna's eyes told him all he needed to know.

He'd seen that same guilty expression himself long, long ago. He'd seen it whenever he looked in the mirror, constantly dwelling on the mistakes he'd made and the pain they'd cause.

It was one thing to look at your own reflection and despise what you saw. It was another thing to have a reflection that so closely resembled one that once belonged to you (and that was something that he found both perplexing and unsettling) have that same sense of self-loathing all on his own; their existence and being entirely separate from you.

In any case, Ozpin sighed and asked, "Well, Ragna, would you like to tell me what happened?"

"Tch, not much I can say that you weren't already told before I got here, now is there?"

He was deflecting. That much, Ozpin could tell. It wasn't that he was shifting the blame, more so that he simply refused to open up about it. He was burying the guilt within himself rather than let it out.

That was a road he'd been down more than he could count. And it was a road that never had a happy ending.

"True," Ozpin responded, "I know the side of the story told by my staff, the side told by the recovering members of Team CRDL, and the side given by the students, including the one you protected," he then took a sip of his hot chocolate before continuing, "But I'm missing the final piece of the puzzle. Your side of the story."

Rather than respond, he simply grunted and refused to make eye contact.

Ozpin moved his drink to the side, but before he could continue, Ragna spoke up, "How about this. I'll give you my side of this shit if you answer one question."

"Very well, ask away," Ozpin said.

"Why the hell weren't you guys doing anything?"

Ozpin raised an eyebrow, "I'm not sure I follow what you mean."

"Cut the crap, you know exactly what I mean," Ragna responded, glaring daggers at him, "I'm pretty sure Cardin and his merry band of fuck heads have been picking on her and maybe others since day one of class. What I want to know is why you and your lazy ass staff haven't been doing their fucking job."

Ozpin saw what he meant. Truth be told, while Team CRDL's behavior was troublesome, outside the one witnessed incident where Cardin Winchester launched Jaune Arc in his own locker, which Glynda properly reprimanded him for, he hadn't received any reports of outright bullying from either the teachers or the students. He had a hypothesis as to why, but it was just that, a hypothesis.

"I understand your frustration, Ragna. Truthfully, we haven't received many reports regarding these kinds of incidents," he began, "While I can't give you a complete answer as to why, I do believe that it is likely that Team CRDL has been rather careful to hide their harassment of other students so as to avoid consequence. The students themselves are afraid of making things worse for themselves, so they choose not to bring it up."

Ragna looked like he was about to yell, but he stopped himself and became almost contemplative.

"Well, it's still horseshit," he muttered, "And what about Velvet? I've actually sparred with her team before. They're all second years, and I know for a fact that she could kick their asses as easily as breathing, so why doesn't she stick up for herself?"

Ozpin folded his hands in front of his face as he spoke, "I believe that answer lies in her nature. Both in her first year and throughout her second, Velvet has proven to be kindhearted and concerned for others beyond measure, but perhaps too much for her own good," he took note of the confused look on Ragna's face before he went on, "What I mean is that Miss Scarletina likely allows herself to be their target so that they won't go after other students far weaker than them. It would certainly explain why we've never received any reports from her regarding trouble with harassment from other students."

"Yeah, well if you see her before I do, tell her that's a complete load of shit," Ragna scoffed as he crossed his arms, "The asshole squad's been picking on one of my teammates. So maybe she should rethink her idea of 'protecting weaker students' if that's the best she could come up with."

"True, I'll let her know if I see her. Albeit with less crassness, obviously." Ozpin replied, "Additionally, we'll make it a point to put further scrutiny on Team CRDL as well as other students with similar behavior to avoid further incidents like this one. Just as well, Team CRDL will properly be punished for their grievances," he then smiled and said, "I must admit, your needless anger aside, it is remarkable how you've managed to grow in the past few weeks since you began."

"What?"

"When we first met, you made it no secret that you didn't want anything to do with my school," Ozpin said as he took another sip of his beverage, "I find it rather interesting how defensive you are now of people you previously wanted nothing to do with, even the ones whom you have no reason to be concerned with."

"Oh please, it has nothing to do with that," Ragna retorted, though Ozpin could hear him mutter a 'well, mostly' beneath his breath, "I just can't stand seeing jackasses like Cardin pick on anyone."

"And that brings us to the bigger issue, when you assaulted Team CRDL in response to their actions, you ended up almost killing Mister Winchester via strangulation," Ozpin said as he gave Ragna a stern look, "But as I said, I want to hear your side of this story. So please tell me what happened."

"It wasn't that. Well, not entirely anyway," Ragna loudly muttered as he looked down to the floor, "I just got so pissed at them all that I..." he sighed and continued, "I can't really say I lost control. I knew what I was doing. Gave into my anger and...I ended up using my Semblance on him."

"You mean Soul Eater?"

Ragna nodded. Jubei had warned Ozpin ahead about Ragna and his Semblance. An Aura that allowed him to drain and potentially devour the souls of others. Just from that description alone, it was clear how devastating that power would be against any human or Faunus, not to mention anyone who had that kind of power would be seen as a terror on their own. While he knew that Jubei had been training Ragna to control it as well as harness it in combat, the boy clearly hated using it.

After today, it was easy to see why.

"I see," Ozpin said to himself before he turned his attention back to the student in front of him, "And you were able to stop yourself because you recognized that you had gone too far in your anger, I take it?"

"No," he said, "I heard Noel yell at me to stop. I just...came to my senses after that."

"Hmm," Ozpin hummed as he took another sip.

It seemed that Ragna truly had grown close to his team, considering that Miss Vermillion was able to calm him down. Perhaps they could better help him with controlling his rage.

Ozpin placed his drink aside once again and said, "You don't have to take my advice, but I suggest you at least give it consideration before I send you on your way. Let those around you that you trust serve as your anchor. When you feel as if you're being pulled too deep into an abyss, rely on them to pull you back from it."

"Great," he replied sarcastically, "Any other weird ass proverbs you pulled out of a cereal box that you think will help."

"Alternatively I could set you up for anger management sessions with Miss Goodwitch."

"Yeah, no. I'll pass on that shit," Ragna got up from his seat and was about to make his way out, but Ozpin stopped him.

"Not so fast," Ozpin said, "While Team CRDL will receive punishment for their past grievances, you still haven't for your actions today. Considering the mess you made at the cafeteria in your rampage, I'd say the best punishment for you would be to clean up after yourself," he then smiled playfully, "Don't you agree?"

"Fine," Ragna grunted before he continued to the elevator door, but before he entered, he let out a low, "Thanks," as he exited the room.

As soon as Ozpin felt Ragna's presence leave the immediate area, another took its place. One that was right behind him.

"Well, I will admit, watching a mongrel sink its disease ridden fangs into meaningless worms was certainly entertaining. If only for the first four seconds," the sarcastic, haughty voice of Rachel Alucard said as she walked out from behind, her cat familiar, Nago, in tow as she stood in front of his desk.

"So, you've found a way to sate your boredom?" Ozpin asked.

"Oh don't be so simple minded Mister Wizard," Rachel replied as she snapped her finger. In response, her familiar shifted into the form of a large chair that she took a seat in, "If I wanted to watch your unruly children waste time beating each other senseless, then it would be a sign that my sensibilities have dulled."

"Any reason why you've decided to drop by that doesn't involve insulting my students, or me for that matter?" Ozpin questioned as he reached into his desk and pulled out a tea kettle and poured two cups for both him and the vampire. He usually kept it warm just in case Rachel decided to make it a habit of popping in unannounced.

Rachel took her sip and hummed, "Well congratulations Mister Wizard! Your tea making skills have improved from awful, to mediocre. An apt improvement."

Ozpin said nothing, since at this point, he was just too used to Rachel's needless barbing to care about it when directed at him these days.

"In any case," she said as she put her cup down, "I've sensed a presence in Vale recently, one that felt rather odd." her face scrunched, "It felt not dissimilar to the presence I briefly felt years ago. You recall the Sector Seven incident?"

Ozpin's mind went back to what he'd heard. The reports of Doctor Relius' experiments. The research division's dissolution. And the facility explosion that wiped out many of the scientists as well as Relius himself.

Personally, he, Rachel, and their main allies never truly believed Relius had died, but they could find no trace of him after that. Odds were, if he was still alive, he was completely off the grid, but officially as far as the world was concerned, he was dead.

In any case, he hadn't heard much. He wasn't all that connected to the former research division of Atlas, nor did he have eyes and ears inside at the time to let him know what was going on.

However, he knew someone who did...

"You'll have to ask Glynda for more regarding that," Ozpin admitted, "She was far more connected to them than I ever was."

As Rachel nodded, she took another sip of her tea. Ozpin mused that for someone who thought so little of his tea making abilities, she sure had no problem drinking it.

"Well, on the matter of Sector Seven," Rachel said as she placed the cup on his desk and pushed it towards him, indicating that she didn't want any more, "I was able to recently contact Kokonoe regarding Terumi's resurgence in Vale."

"And how did that go?" Ozpin asked. From what he remembered, it had been a long time since any of them came into contact with Jubei's daughter. The last time they did was after she and her associates retrieved something called 'Lambda' from one of the 'deceased' Doctor Relius' hidden research facilities. How she managed to find it was something she refused to elaborate on. Not to mention that she refused to tell or even show them what this 'Lambda' was.

"Oh, the usual," Rachel replied as she rested her head on her right palm, "Her stubborn insistence that she has no need for our aid, that she'll find and kill Terumi herself, and telling me, and I quote her directly...well, actually I won't because she often barbs her tongue with repugnant language that is far beneath my standards."

"I just only hope that you can convince her to join our cause fully, and soon," Ozpin said as he turned his chair to face the sky outside, "Terumi is likely planning something big if he's more or less announcing his presence to us now. And I'm afraid he's targeting Beacon's vault."

"You believe he's working with Salem?"

"No. More like he's pretending to ally himself with her for his own ends. You and I both know that Terumi won't be subservient to anyone unless he's after something for himself and they happen to have it."

He heard Rachel hum behind him as well as the sound of her standing.

"Regardless, I'll ponder on something that can remedy our current predicament. Until then, try to keep your students in line."

The sound of a snapping finger reverberated throughout the room, and Ozpin no longer sensed her presence as the smell of roses left.

He was now left alone to muse to himself what they needed to do next.

Chapter Text

Ruby sat confused in her seat as Professor Oobleck darted all over the room at speeds even she struggled to comprehend. Currently, the history professor was going over the history of the Faunus Rights Revolution and how the rest of the Four Kingdoms tried to isolate them to the isle of Menagerie.

At least, she thought that was the part he was on. His rapid pace made his class one of the more confusing here at Beacon.

Ruby looked around as she sat next to Noel and Jaune. She saw Team TSYP, Team BRNN and Team CFVY sitting around, either diligently taking notes as fast as they could, such as Tsubaki, Weiss, Blake, Pyrrha, Ren and Velvet, or just closely paying attention, like Makoto and Yang.

She couldn't help but feel her heart sink when she saw the empty seat where Ragna should have been. After the whole fiasco at the lunch room, he and Team CRDL were being punished for their actions; CRDL for their bullying which would no longer be tolerated, and Ragna for his excessive brutality against them.

Ruby wondered to herself what they were doing anyway.

This fucking sucks, Cardin thought to himself as his team and Ragna all stood in a line while Goodwitch and Ozpin gave them a boring lecture on 'responsibility' and crap like that before giving them brooms, dustpans, a replacement window, and wall repair tools.

"Considering the mess that the five of you made here, you will be responsible for cleaning up after yourselves," Goodwitch said, "You will clean up the shattered table, replace the broken window, and fix the hole that was made in the wall during the 'tussle' you were all part of. Are there any questions?"

"Yeah, one comes to mind," Cardin said, "Why do we have to do this? In case you haven't noticed," he the pointed towards Ragna and glared at him, "He's the one who actually did all that shit!"

Ragna glared at him and Cardin felt a wave of fear wash over him. He wasn't using that same Aura from before, but just looking at the guy was now giving him the willies. He turned away and faced the angry face of Goodwitch, which was actually easier for him to look at.

"Consider this your punishment for all your previous acts of harassment against your fellow students," she said in a stern tone, "From this moment forward, you will be watched very carefully."

Great, just what we needed, Cardin bitterly thought to himself. He and his team were careful not to draw attention from the teachers when they had fun since every adult here was apparently a killjoy. Their only real slip up was when he pulled the rocket prank on Jauney boy and he thought Goodwitch was looking away so he could pull it off. Unfortunately, she turned around faster than he expected and caught him.

Now they wouldn't be able to do anything like that anymore if they were always being watched.

"Before you begin, are their any other questions?" Ozpin asked. Dove was quick to raise his hand.

"Uh, yeah. Why isn't she cleaning this?" Dove asked as he pointed to Goodwitch.

That...was actually a good point. The lady had a Semblance that was basically 'rewrite the environment with my brain'. She could clean this up faster than any of them could, so why was she not doing that?

Ozpin just chuckled at the question and said, "Well, if she did that, none of you would learn anything, now would you?"

Everyone on his team, himself included, groaned. The only person who didn't groan was Ragna.

"Well now," Ozpin said, "Get to it."

Whatever he was doing, Ruby hoped that it wasn't too strenuous.

"Now, do we have any students in here who have been subjugated or discriminated against due to their Faunus heritage?" Oobleck's question pulled her back in.

She looked around and saw some students raise their hands. Among those she recognized were Velvet and Makoto, though Velvet looked more reluctant to raise her hand while Makoto had a rather sour expression on her face.

"Absolutely dreadful. Remember everyone, this is the type of ignorance that leads to violence," he paused to take a sip of his coffee.

Just what the heck is in that stuff that makes him go this fast, Ruby thought to herself.

"I mean, just look at the White Fang for example!" he continued, "Once a peaceful protest group, now a violent extremist organization precisely because of human ignorance and prejudice."

He then zoomed over to another part of the classroom and faced a different section of students, "Now, who here can identify what was considered the turning point during the revolution's third year?"

Dang it, I can't remember, Ruby had trouble remembering what that battle was. All she could remember was that it was something that started with 'Fort'.

"Yes, Miss Schnee," Oobleck called out.

"The Battle of Fort Castle!" Weiss loudly and proudly declared.

Oh, that's what it was called, Ruby mentally smacked herself on the head for forgetting. How could she forget that? It was a simple enough name to remember and...actually kind of redundant the more she thought about it.

"Correct! Excellent work Miss Schnee," Oobleck praised before he took another sip of his coffee, "Now, who here can tell me what the Faunus' advantage over General Lagune's army?"

"Oh pick me! Pick me!" Ruby heard Makoto yell as she turned and saw her bouncing up and down, "I actually know the answer for once!"

"Yes, what is the answer, Miss Nanaya?"

"He attempted to ambush at night, but most Faunus have night vision on their side," Makoto proudly answered, "He underestimated his opponents, got his butt whooped, and was captured."

"Very good, Miss Nanaya. Following the Faunus victory at the Battle of Fort Castle, the-"

The bell rang, though Professor Oobleck didn't seem to notice and continued talking as if class wasn't over.

"Uh, professor," Jaune raised his hand, "The, uh, the bell just rang."

Professor Oobleck stopped mid-sentence and seemed to realize that fact.

"So it has. Very well, class dismissed!"

Ruby quickly grabbed her books and was out of the door as her teammates followed.

"So," Jaune began, "How do you guys think Ragna's doing with his whole punishment thing?"

"From what I heard," Pyrrha's voice chimed in as Team TSYP walked in next to them, "He's working with Team CRDL to repair the damage caused to the lunchroom during their altercation."

That made Ruby frown. Ragna's anger towards Team CRDL was the entire reason he was even in this mess to begin with. Putting them in the same room didn't seem like such a good idea.

"Not to call the teachers dumb or anything," Yang said as they all walked through the halls, "But doesn't that seem like a really bad idea, given what he did to them?"

Apparently her sister shared the same concerns she had in this regard.

"I'm certain that the staff knows what they're doing in regards to correcting their behavior," Tsubaki entered in, "It's likely that they want to try and have them learn to cooperate with each other, or at least tolerate one another."

"So they all better learn to shape up. If not, then they may be viable to get suspended," Weiss interjected before muttering, "Though considering what Ragna did, I'm still shocked that he's being let off this easily."

"W-Weiss," Noel said, drawing everyone's attention to her, "I-I know that you and Ragna don't really like each other, but he's actually kinda nice when you get to know him," she then looked away from everyone before continuing, "He was just trying to help protect someone."

"Noel, I believe we've been over this," Weiss said, "I'm not denying that Ragna actually had good intentions, nor am I denying how wrong Team CRDL's actions were. But Ragna appeared to have almost kill Cardin. By that point, his intentions don't really matter."

Ruby had a hard time saying anything after that. She still stood by the intent of Ragna's actions; protecting someone who needed help. But she still had to admit that Ragna came very close to ending the life of a fellow student. Bully or not, that wasn't something that anyone was going to overlook. But as he walked away, Ruby saw a look in Ragna's eyes.

Remorse.

She believed that Ragna was truly sorry for what he did. Heck, he even stopped himself beforehand, so even he realized what he was about to do and kept himself from going too far.

As they walked, her team eventually split off from Team TSYP, with her and Noel waving goodbye to them. Jaune, on the other hand, seemed rather lost in thought.

"Hey, Jaune, are you doing alright?" Ruby asked.

"Huh. O-oh, yeah," Jaune said, "I'm doing alright. It's just...nevermind."

"It's just that you seem out of it," Ruby continued, "So I was wondering if you'd be willing to talk about it? If you have a problem, we're here to help you sort it out."

"No, I'd..." Jaune petered off before he found his voice and continued, "I'd rather wait till Ragna's done with his thing and the whole team's here. I feel that if I'm gonna say it, it should be to the whole team."

"Y-you sure you can't tell us now?" Noel stammered out her question.

Jaune shook his head, "Sorry Noel, but this is something I've been thinking about for a while now. And I feel that if I'm gonna say it, it should be to the entire team."

Noel nodded, albeit reluctantly.

"Well," Ruby started, seeing Noel's trepidation and wanting to lighten the mood, "on the plus side, we're now heading to my favorite class in the school."

She then paused for dramatic effect before enveloping both of them in one-armed hugs.

"WEAPON MAINTENANCE!"

Cardin grunted as he applied plaster to the broken wall. Meanwhile, his teammates were sweeping up the shattered glass while Ragna was picking up the broken pieces of the table. Meanwhile, Goodwitch was watching all of them from the far off corner.

"This is your fault, y'know that asshole?" Cardin spat at Ragna.

"Oh sure," Ragna scoffed, "Keep blaming others for your shit, see where that'll get you in life."

"Blaming othe- YOU TRIED TO KILL ME!" Cardin lashed out and glared at the older student as he stopped what he was doing, "So what? It's my fault YOU attempted that shit on me!?"

"No, that was my own mistake. I got too pissed off and went too far," Ragna admitted after a moment, sounding weirdly apologetic. Why? The fact that he tried it meant he wasn't sorry about it, so if he was faking it to save face, it was an oddly dedicated attempt.

Before Cardin could think much on that, Ragna glared at him, "What is on you though, is you being a raging dick and fuckhead. First to my teammate, then to others."

"So?"

"So wake the hell up, dipshit!" Ragna yelled, stopping his portion of the clean up, "You ever stop and ask what they feel whenever you put them through that shit?"

Cardin scoffed in return. Just what was so important about that? It was all just fun and games and shit. Growing up, none of that mattered, and his parents never seemed too concerned with how his 'roughhousing' affected people. Hell, when it came to those animals, they said it was perfectly okay, so why did this suddenly matter now?

"Yeah, well what about you?" Cardin retorted, "How's what I'm doing any worse than what you tried to do to me? Huh? Any explanation for that?"

"Simple. Unlike you, I ain't going out of my way to be a shit to people I want nothing to do with," Ragna explained as he got back to work, "And also, what I did was a one time thing. Not justified, but I understand that and don't want it to happen twice. YOU just keep going out of your way to fuck with anyone just for fun."

Cardin was about to retort when Ragna continued, "So, let me ask you this. If I picked on you every single damn day just for shits and giggles, doing the exact same thing you do to other students here, how would you feel about that?

"Well, I-" Cardin began before he stopped, unable to get the words out.

I...I don't know.

If he were being honest with himself, he didn't really know the answer. He'd never once been in a situation like that growing up. If that happened to him, how would he feel about it?

The closest he felt to that was...

"Welcome to what bastards like you put others through. And for what? Because you get off on it? Because you're all sick assholes who need to kick someone down just so you can feel good about yourselves?"

…was what Ragna just recently put him through. It was terrifying. He felt weak, both physically and mentally. He was completely helpless and there wasn't anything he could do about it.

"So, judging by your silence, I'm guessing your answer is that you ain't got a damn clue," Ragna said, "Tch. Figures that you're just some pompous brat."

As Ragna finished cleaning up the broken pieces of table, he put them in a large garbage bag before he grabbed a broom and moved to help clean up the window pieces with the others.

"Okay then," Cardin growled as he turned to Ragna, who's back was currently facing him, given that he was sweeping up shards of glass at the moment, "Let's reverse that. Do you have any idea what that's like?"

"Yeah, been like that a pretty good chunk of my life actually."

Cardin fell silent. Ragna didn't yell or growl at him. Instead, he just said that with all the nonchalance of someone asking to pass the salt at a table. Like it was a basic aspect of his life.

"I ain't going into the details, so if you want to know that crap, don't bother asking," Ragna said, "But long story short, it ain't pretty for anyone. Doesn't matter who you are."

At this point, Cardin noticed that even his teammates had stopped working and Ragna was just casually sweeping by himself. Either he didn't notice that the others had stopped working, or he didn't care.

"Tch, what a load of shit," Cardin muttered before yelling, "You expect me to just buy that like it's nothing?"

Ragna stopped working and turned his head to face him; single red eye glaring at him with a mix of anger and indifference.

"Believe what you want. Right now, I just want to finish this shit and never see your face again."

Well, at least we can actually agree on something, Cardin thought.

"But here's what I want to know," Ragna continued, "All you do is go after people you think are easy pickings for you. So why the hell do you even want to be Huntsmen, aka defenders of the mankind, in the first place?"

"Easy, to kick Grimm ass, why else?" Cardin answered.

Ragna turned away from them and started muttering at his answer. He couldn't make out all of it, but it sounded something along the lines of 'too fucking familiar' if he heard it right.

"Okay then," Ragna opened up again as he turned back, "Let me give you a little perspective. Picture that your lives are on the line and the only people who can save you are the same people you spent your entire life beating up on. Do they have any reason to save your asses after all the shit you put them through?"

"Ehem!" Cardin turned and saw Miss Goodwitch walk over with her riding crop in hand, "This is all very riveting, but need I remind you five that you have a job to do and that you need to get back to it?"

Cardin felt himself grow fearful as he ran right back to applying wall plaster to continue patching up the large hole in the cafeteria wall while the rest of his team helped Ragna out with sweeping up the glass shards.

As they continued, Ragna's final question kept echoing in his mind, and he couldn't understand why.

"Ragna! You're back!" Ruby exclaimed as Jaune looked up from his comic, seeing that their aggressive teammate had just entered their room, returned from his punishment.

Ragna, in response, just lazily waved his hand, "Hey."

"Um, Ragna," Noel started, "Are...are you doing okay?"

Well, at least she's trying to talk with him now, Jaune thought to himself. He didn't really know what problem arose between Noel and Ragna that made her so skittish around him, but it looked like she was starting to try and move past it.

"Look guys," Ragna said, "Sorry about losing it earlier. I just got so pissed off when I saw that and...well, you know the rest."

"Ragna, you really don't have to apologize to us. If anything, Team CRDL should be the ones apologizing for being jerks to everyone," Ruby said as she walked up to Ragna, "Granted, you almost killed Cardin and that's bad no matter how it goes, but it's in the past now. So don't get all mopey or close yourself off again, alright?"

As she got right in front of him, she put her hands to her hips and continued, "Besides, you're our friend. That means we all stick up for each other no matter what."

Ragna just sighed in response and walked over to sit on his bed. Looking back, Jaune realized this was the first time he'd actually used his bed for anything. Ruby took a seat next to him.

"Look, I'm not saying that it won't happen again," Ragna said, not really looking to anyone in particular, "I've never been good at keeping control. I guess...what I'm asking is if you guys are willing to pull me out of it whenever I get too pissed off?"

"Ragna, as your team leader, I vow that you can count on us to knock some sense into you when you need it no matter what it takes!" Ruby said with full exuberance as she moved to hug her partner before she stopped herself, "Uh, it it okay if I give you a hug right now?"

"You have three seconds," Ragna bluntly said. Ruby was quick to envelop him in a brief, but strong hug before she released him and directed her attention towards Jaune.

"Alright, now that you're here, Jaune said that there was something he wanted to say, but he wanted all of us to be here," Ruby said, "Well Jaune, we're all ears."

Time to face the music, Jaune nervously thought to himself as he took a deep breath and looked at all his friends.

"Look, for these past few weeks, you've all been supportive and honestly the best friends someone like me could ask for," he began, "Even when I was down, you helped me back up in your own ways. You've all put a lot of confidence in me, more than I think I deserve to be honest. And sorry if this sounds cheesy or silly, but I need to be upfront with you guys, because it just feels like if I keep it from you, I'll just be holding you guys and myself back and...and..."

He then took a deep breath and closed his eyes, as if ready to brace for impact.

"I cheated my way into Beacon."

There was silence as he kept his eyes closed.

"W-what do you mean?" he heard Noel ask.

Jaune sighed as he opened his eyes and looked down to the floor. There was no going back now, so he continued, "I mean that I never went to combat school like you guys or earned my place here. I...I managed to get my hands on some fake transcripts so I could attend. I've always wanted to be like the other warriors in my family that came before me, but I couldn't go the distance. I thought that if I came to Beacon, I could make them proud and be just like them, but everywhere I looked, I just saw how pathetic I was. Everyone here could outpace me in a heartbeat, and there was no way for me to keep up with anyone."

There was a brief moment of silence.

"What made you decide to tell us?" Ruby asked with an even serious tone.

"Because you're my friends," Jaune responded as he now looked them all in the eye, "And like I said, you've all helped me out and had more confidence in me than I ever felt for myself. Ragna helping me with training, you and Noel encouraging me no matter how hopeless I was. Seriously, I just floundered all over the place. Heck, I still kinda do. Heh."

Jaune gave a small chuckle to himself as he continued, "My point is, I'm telling you guys because...because you all deserve the truth, and I don't think I'd be able to help move this team forward if I kept lying to you guys about that."

Once again there was silence. Jaune was nervous on what his teammates' reactions were going to be. He'd just admitted that he didn't belong here at Beacon and that he'd snuck his way in here. A part of him was terrified that the people in front of him were going to loath him and oust him for the failure he was.

But...a larger part of him told him that things were gonna be okay.

"So, you cheated your way into Beacon," Ruby started, "That doesn't make any difference to me. You're still our friend, and nothing's gonna change that."

Noel nodded and smiled, "Yeah! We socially awkward dorks have to stick together," before she backpedaled and turned to Ragna, "N-not that you're a dork Ragna. I mean-"

"No, I got what you were trying to say," he gruffly interrupted before looking back to Jaune, "But honestly, I don't really give a shit about that kind of crap. If anyone else finds out and tries to cause problems because of it. Let me know, and I'll make sure they don't say a word."

"Just make sure you don't go overboard like back at the cafeteria," Ruby pointed out.

"Ugh, I get the feeling you're not gonna let me live that down, are you?" Ragna groaned.

"Well, you're the one who asked me to, and I quote, 'pull you out of it whenever you get too pissed off', so to be completely fair, you literally asked for this."

Jaune found himself bursting out in laughter as Ragna practically buried his face into his hand. He could also hear Ruby join him, and even Noel was giggling a bit.

Overall, he felt much lighter than he did previously. Like an enormous weight that he didn't know he was carrying had been removed.

Chapter Text

It waited. Oh how long it waited.

It finished its meals within the city, none able to catch it, and then it sniffed out the trail of the three students from Beacon Academy.

It followed their scent. It stopped for morsels along the way, until it finally arrived at its destination.

But it couldn't feast just yet. To devour one student now would surely draw forth the attention of others.

It was strong now. It had fed, yet it wasn't full. It could handle a single student, perhaps even a few.

But it doubted it could handle any more than that, let alone those damnable staff protecting them.

So it waited. Hiding just on the outskirts, getting close enough to catch the scents of their Auras. It refrained from feeding on anything while in the area. It couldn't allow its presence to be known here.

They were so delectable. So intoxicating. None of them wise to its hidden presence as it stuck to shadows. It was patient. It could wait.

But then it smelled two whose Auras made the wait unbearable.

A boy and a girl. Both were blonde of hair, and both acted like morons, yet they were unique. The boy had a greater amount of Aura than anyone it'd devoured before, and the girl's Aura gave off a unique scent that it had never encountered. It just couldn't be described.

The wait for the perfect opportunity to strike was killing it.

But then...Opportunity arose.

The...Familiar woman told the students of a trip to the location called Forever Fall. A perfect opportunity to finally sate its hunger.

The forest carried many Creatures of Grimm. People died against them all the time. It could pick them off without drawing too much attention to itself.

Oh how it wanted to eat those two blonde ones first, but with their Auras, they must have been rather strong, perhaps more than it could handle, despite their buffoonish fronts.

Perfect sense. Stupidity is a mask for cunning and might. Why else would they have such power to them?

For now, it would focus on the other students. Avoid the instructor, eliminate any Grimm that would interfere with its hunger, gorge itself on such delectable meals...Then the main course.

It followed the group, cackling to itself as it hid from them underneath the Bullhead. It was excited for what was to come.

"Alright everyone," Ruby heard Professor Goodwitch call out as she took in the beautiful foliage of the forests of Forever Fall, "Now, I know that these sights may be impressive to you, but do keep in mind that we're not here for that. Remember, we're here because Professor Peach needs you to gather the sap from these trees for her. I'm here to make sure all of you come out of it alive."

The teams all stood at attention. Ruby looked around and recognized Teams BRNN, TSYP, and CRDL among them. The rest she couldn't really make out since they always tended to blend into the crowd.

Glynda held up a full jar of red colored tree sap in her hand, "Here's your objective. Each individual student is to fill one jar of sap and bring it back with them. Now be warned, these forests are filled with Grimm, so be careful and make sure you stay with your teammates. We'll meet back here at around 4:00. Stay safe."

When she finished, Ruby could see the other teams diverging off to get started. Cardin and his cronies briefly glared daggers in their direction, or more specifically Ragna's direction, which her partner returned with equal measure. She then looked to Noel and got an idea to kill two birds with one stone.

Metaphorically, not literally.

"Okay everyone," Ruby declared, getting her teammates' attention, "Here's the plan; we'll split up into teams of two and help each other collect the sap."

"Jaune," she pointed to the blonde knight, "You're with me. We'll try and gather sap around this area."

As Jaune nodded, she looked to the last two members of her team, "Noel, you're with Ragna. You guys'll try gathering sap just a little bit North of this area. Got it?"

Noel raised her hand, "U-uh, can I partner with Jaune instead, please?" she nervously asked as Ragna gave a brief nod before he started walking in the given direction.

Ruby shook her head in response, "Sorry Noel, but Ragna's gonna need some long-range support and you have the best range here."

Noel rubbed her elbow before reluctantly nodding and followed after Ragna. Once the two were out of earshot, Ruby felt Jaune poke her shoulder.

"Uh, Ruby," he said, "Can't you be Ragna's long range support if Noel doesn't want to? I mean, you have a sniper rifle and all."

"Jaune, this is for both their sakes," Ruby replied, "Noel's still acting all weird around Ragna and he doesn't want to do anything about it. So partnering them up could help them iron a few things out."

"You sure this is gonna work out?"

"Trust me Jaune, I'm 90% positive it'll work!" Ruby proudly declared, "I mean, that isn't 100%, but it's better than 89%."

"Well, if you're sure, then okay," Jaune said as he pulled out his given jar, "So, which tree should we start off with?"

Ragna wiped a bit of sweat off his brow as he finished filling his jar with the red sap. Why one of the teachers whose name he couldn't bother to remember needed this stuff, he had no idea.

Meanwhile, Noel just awkwardly stood behind him, not saying or doing anything. Hell, she wasn't even looking at him given that her back was turned to him as she just whistled to distract herself from whatever it was that bothered her.

Ragna had to admit, while he tried to just ignore Noel's increased trepidation towards him, it was now officially annoying him. He also got the sneaking suspicion that Ruby put the two of them together for this assignment specifically because of this.

"Fuck it," Ragna said loud enough for Noel to hear. At this point, he was done dealing with this shit, "Okay, Noel, what's your problem?"

He turned to face her, which was rather difficult considering that she still had her back turned to him and seemed to just be looking around.

"I-I have no idea what you mean," she stuttered, trying to change the subject.

"Noel, look at me," Ragna bluntly said as he leaned against the tree and crossed his arms. Noel turned to face him, but her eyes seemed glued to the floor.

"You've been acting odd around me for a while now," he began, "Whenever I go into the same room as you, you look like you're desperately trying to get out. I so much as say a word to you, and you duck your head out of the conversation. I'll admit, that last one is kinda normal for you, but you just suddenly started acting like that around me like a coin flipped. Did I do anything to piss you off?"

Noel, rather than speak, shook her head and tightly closed her eyes.

"Okay, then what's with the way you're acting then?"

"I... it's just..."

"Well, spit it out! Idiot!" Ragna yelled, finally fed up with Noel's trepidation and refusal to give a clear answer.

Noel then looked straight at him, eyes wide before she closed them tightly and clutched her head in pain. Ragna's frustration left as he moved to her side.

"Noel!" he loudly said in concern as he placed a hand to her back, "You alright?"

Noel didn't answer for a moment. Instead, she continued to clutch at her head before her eyes opened eyes again and looked at him, the pain she was feeling seemingly gone.

"Y-yeah, I'm...I'm alright," Noel answered, "I've just been having these headaches for a while now."

Ragna nodded before he began to wonder something, "So, let me get this straight. You've been off lately, because of a damn headache?"

"No, it's not that, it's..." Noel began to say something before she stopped herself and looked down.

"You know what," Ragna said as he went back to the trees, "Just forget it. Let's just get the sap already."

"I... I went through your stuff and saw your family!"

Ragna's eyes went wide as his head snapped back to face Noel, who was looking to the side to avoid facing him.

"What!?"

"I-It was when you and Jaune were training," she answered, "I heard something in the closet fall over and I saw a music box fall out of your bag. I got curious and opened it and I saw your little brother and sister and I noticed that the little girl looks just like me!"

She said the last part so rapidly that Ragna was barely able to tell what she said, but he still understood her.

So that's why she's been like this, Ragna thought to himself.

"I'm sorry I went through your personal belongings," Noel apologized as she twirled a strand of her hair between her fingers, "And I'm sorry I've been avoiding you lately. It's just...I didn't want things to be awkward because of the whole resemblance thing...and..."

"It's fine."

"Huh, wait, you're not mad?" Noel asked with a look of shock.

Ragna shook his head, "No, I'm not. You should have just said something. Being honest, I was trying to ignore the whole resemblance issue."

Noel looked confused, so Ragna continued, "When I first saw you, it was like I saw a ghost. But I knew what my sister was like, and I know that you're not her. The last thing I wanted to do was project, so I just ignored it. I didn't want to see you as a replacement."

The two of them fell silent for a moment before Noel found her voice and spoke up, "I understand," she said, "If you don't mind me asking, what was she like?"

"Geez, you're just like Jaune," Ragna grunted, though he did let out a ghost of a smile as he continued, "She was kind and energetic. Always exuberant no matter what. Even if she got sick, which happened a lot, she'd always try to run around and play."

"I wish I could have gotten to meet her," Noel said with a smile, and for the first time in a while, she looked Ragna straight in the eye without any shyness.

The sight made Ragna dawn a smile of his own, "Yeah, you two would have gotten along great."

Ragna reminisced about those old days. Back when he, Jin, and Saya would either just run around or laze about, watching the clouds overhead in the day. He remembered how he and Jin read Saya bed time stories when one of the caretakers was unable.

He just hoped that the Jin and Saya were happy, wherever they were now.

"So," Ragna said as he exited his musing, "You need help getting your jar of sap filled, or you think you can do it on your own?"

"I think I can manage, if that's alright," Noel replied as she walked to one of the trees, empty jar in hand, "Though, could you watch my back in case any Grimm show up?"

"Count on it," Ragna said with a firm nod as he followed after her.

"Say, Ragna. How do you think the others are doing?" Noel asked, "Ruby and Jaune, I mean."

Ragna pondered for a moment on how they were doing.

"Ugh," Jaune groaned as he went cross-eyed, "I think I'm allergic to this stuff."

To his side, Ruby propped him up against a nearby rock and comforted him, "Just get some rest, okay Jaune," before she picked up his half-filled jar, "You can leave everything else to me."

"Eh," Ragna shrugged, "Knowing them, I think they'll do alright. Let's focus on your jar right now."

Noel nodded as she proceeded to retrieve the sap from her tree. Ragna's eyes wandered all around their surroundings, looking out for any potential Grimm that could sneak up on them.

"Stupid...fucking...asshole..." Cardin muttered to himself as he struggled to get the sap out of the tree, having barely filled his jar to about a third before giving up on the stupid tree in front of him.

Of course, his frustrations were more focused on Ragna at the moment. Ever since they finished repairing the lunchroom, Beacon teachers had been watching him and his team like hawks to prevent them from having their usual fun. It was all so infuriating, but since he couldn't lash out his anger in the only way he really knew how since it would get him into more trouble, he could only suck it up and stew in his rage.

But what kept frustrating him the most about the whole thing wasn't what Ragna did to him or how he got him into trouble, oddly enough. No, what frustrated him most was Ragna's final question to him.

"Picture that your lives are on the line and the only people who can save you are the same people you spent your entire life beating up on. Do they have any reason to save your asses after all the shit you put them through?"

For whatever reason that he couldn't understand, it just wouldn't leave his head.

Why the hell does it bother me so much?, Cardin thought in anger, I mean, what does it even matter? I won't ever need help anyway, so it's just a pointless question!

"Uh, Cardin, you doin' alright?" he heard Dove ask, "You look like you're about to punch something."

"I'm fine!" he yelled as he snapped his head towards him, causing Dove to flinch as he continued, "I'm just...fine. How's your end on sap collecting going?"

Dove nervously gestured to the jar he held in his hands, which was only half-filled. Cardin then looked to the rest of the team and saw that Sky had just barely managed to fill his jar while Russel's jar only had a small amount, verging on empty.

"Shit," Cardin cursed as he shoved past Dove, "Why did we end up in the shitty side of the forest?"

"Relax Cardin, we just need to find better trees," Russel said.

"Well we shouldn't have to!" Cardin once again yelled in frustration as he faced his team, "Why should we? I mean, I've never had to put up with crap like this before, so why the hell should I put up with it now? Huh!?"

His anger slowly left him as he saw the fearful looks on his teammates faces, "Uh, guys," he started, "What's with the faces? You looked like you just pissed yourselves."

"M-maybe I did," Sky said in terror as Russel pointed.

Wait, Cardin realized that his teammate was pointing right behind him. Before he could turn, he saw that a shadow was covering him, making him too afraid to turn back.

Suddenly, a horrendous cackle sent shivers down his spine as a pitch-black tendril wrapped around his waist.

"HeheheeHAHAHAHA! Devour...you...DEVOUR...YOU!"

"AAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!"

A loud, girly scream filled the air, surprising Ragna as Noel stopped gathering sap.

"What was that!?" Noel yelled, nervously looking around.

"I don't know," Ragna said as he drew his sword and pointed, "But it sounds like it came from that direction."

He immediately ran in the direction where the scream was coming from as fast as he could with Noel following behind him. The screaming continued and got louder the further he ran.

When he brushed past the bushes, he stopped, shocked at the sight directly in front of him.

What the hell is that thing!?, Ragna stood almost slack jawed at the monster in front of him; a pitch-black amorphous mass wreathing in ways that he didn't think possible. It bore a white mask with three holes in it, almost functioning like a face. From out of its body, arms waved in panic and he could make out Cardin Winchester's face screaming in pain an terror.

"SOMEBODY PLEASE HELP ME!"

Ragna didn't even hesitate. He charged forward and delivered a slash to the mass, dispersing some of it and exposing part of Cardin's body. Ragna quickly grabbed Cardin's arm and pulled as hard as he could, yanking him right of the monster and getting him away.

As soon as he was out of the way, Noel started unloading bullets onto the beast, causing more and more of it to disperse away, making the rest of Team CRDL visible.

Rather than charge in again, Ragna slammed Aramasa into the ground with all his might, sending a powerful wave of force that billowed the air, forcing the creature weakened creature off of the rest of them.

"You guys alright?" Ragna asked as he planted Aramasa's tip into the ground and held the pommel with his right hand. The rest of Team CRDL panted and groaned in pain.

"Y-Yeah, I thought we were gonna get eaten," one of them said.

"B-But Grimm don't eat anything," Noel said before turning to Cardin, "Why would this one try to eat you?"

Cardin instead refused to answer and just looked to the floor with a face of either embarrassment or confusion. Ragna ultimately couldn't tell which.

"Hahahahahahaha!"

Ragna turned to face the cackling and saw that the Grimm was still alive, now standing upright with a number of boney claws and blade-like appendages. In response, he picked Aramasa from the ground and gave it a brief twirl before holding it in a reverse-grip.

"Cardin," Ragna said as he half-turned his head towards the bully, "You and your team get out of here. We've got this."

"Hey, you don't have to tell us twice," one of them, Dove if he could remember correctly, said, "Come on guys, let's go!"

The three of them started running away, but Ragna saw Cardin stand and look back before looking forward to him before looking back again and running with his team, leaving Ragna and Noel to face the Grimm.

"What are we going to do Ragna?" Noel asked, "We don't have a plan or anything."

"Don't care," Ragna said dismissively, "Just kick its ass 'till it stops moving."

The monster kept cackling incessantly until it just stopped. After a moment, it did something Ragna never thought possible for a Creature of Grimm.

It spoke.

"You...smell...like...me..." it rasped out, "Don't...want..."

"I-It can talk!?" Noel practically screamed.

Ragna gritted his teeth as he felt a drop of sweat on his brow, "How the hell is that even possible?" he asked, struggling to comprehend it. And just what the hell did it mean when it said that he smelled like it?

"You..." it then directed its attention on Noel, "You...smell...delicious...must...DEVOUR!"

Ragna saw Noel grow nervous and fearful after the monster's declaration. Ragna gritted his teeth and glared at the monster.

That's not going to happen you disgusting freak.

Before he could move, the creature melted into the ground, as if it wasn't there. Ragna and Noel started to frantically look around the environment for where it could pop up.

Ragna felt something move and looked to Noel's feet, seeing the tar-like sludge of the monster form beneath her.

"Get out of the way!" Ragna yelled as he rushed up to her and pushed her aside, knocking her to the floor as the monster's sludge enveloped him.

Trapped inside and unable to move, he could hear the creature's cackle surrounding him from every angle. He could hear Noel's muffled crying of his name, and he could hear the muffled sound of erratic gunfire that ate away at the creature enough that he could see the outside for brief moments. He could also hear the sound of Ruby and Jaune's voices crying his name.

No way in Hell I'm letting this damn monster eat me!

Ragna felt his anger rise as he struggled to break free. He concentrated his wrath inward and opened his eyes, letting his rage explode out all around him.

The resulting wave of dark energy blew the monster off him and splattering it all around the forest area. He felt himself grow stronger as...

Wait, Ragna thought, What!?

It didn't make any sense. Whenever he used his Semblance on a Grimm, it may damage or kill them but it didn't grant him any energy back thanks to their soulless nature. Using it on this Grimm had the same effect as it would have if he used it on any ordinary human or Faunus, and that could only mean one thing.

This...this Grimm, it has a soul!?

"Ragna, you alright?" Ruby asked with a concerned look in her eyes as she approached him. Before he could answer, the black sludge started congregating together at where they were standing, forcing them to jump back as it merged and reformed into the same monster.

"Aura..." the monster muttered again as it cackled, "Give...me...your...Aura!"

"This thing can talk!?" Jaune asked in shock, "I thought Grimm weren't supposed to talk!"

"I don't think this thing is a Grimm," Ragna said, gathering everyone's attention.

"What do you mean?" Ruby asked as she donned a serious expression.

"I mean that when I was trapped inside it, I used my Semblance to get out," Ragna explained, "My Semblance works by draining the Aura of whoever I use it on, so if I could do it to this thing..."

"Then it has an Aura," Ruby concluded, "But Grimm can't have Aura."

"So if it's not a Grimm, then what is it?" Noel asked as she aimed the barrels of her guns directly at the monster.

"Blonde...ones...filling..." the creature said loudly enough for all of them to hear, "Feel...drained...need...to...EAT!"

Ruby gained a worried face as she turned to Jaune and Noel, "Guys, it's after the two of you. Noel, you'll be long-range support while Jaune will provide you with defense. Just stay out of this thing's reach."

Both of them nodded as they retreated to a further back position. Ragna briefly turned to them and saw that Noel had combined her weapons into a sniper rifle and jumped into one of the trees.

"Got any ideas kid?" Ragna asked as he returned his focus to the monster in front of them.

Before Ruby could so much as get a word out, the thing charged for them with boney claws in an attempt to slash at them, but they both dodged right in time as Noel started firing upon it, making it scream in pain as it focused its attention to her. Before it could get in close, Jaune charged in and bashed it back with his shield, knocking it away. Ruby then converted her scythe into a rifle and fired away at it, diverting its attention away from the two blondes as it snarled in fury.

"We know that it's mainly after Jaune and Noel, and we know that your Semblance works on it," Ruby explained her plan, "So we just need to weaken it enough so that it won't be able to eat any of us and you can weaken it enough so we can kill it. Got it?"

Ragna nodded. He didn't really like having to use his Semblance at all unless he needed to, but considering what they were facing and how it desired to eat his teammates, he had no issue.

Ragna held Aramasa with both hands, "Let's go!"

Cardin had no idea how long he or his team had been running.

All he knew is that they passed by Jaune and that kid leader of his, who were running to the rest of their team and that they still had a ways to go before they made it to the rendezvous point.

Suddenly, he stopped. He wasn't sure why, as he wasn't out of breath, but he just stopped as his thoughts wandered back to the creature. The Grimm that tried to eat him.

And then his mind flashed to Ragna and his blonde friend saving him and his team.

"Just...why?" Cardin found himself asking. He saw his teammates stopping as well and asking him what the hold up was, but he didn't listen.

He didn't have any reason to help me, Cardin thought, He could have just let me die. He almost killed me himself, so it sounds like something he would do, but he didn't. Why did he save me?

"Cardin!" he heard Russel yell, "Snap out of it, we need to run!"

Instead of meeting his teammates in the eye, he turned and looked back to where they ran from. He could still hear the gunfire from two different sources. They were still fighting that thing.

And here he was, running away.

"I'm going back," he declared.

"Are you insane!?" Sky yelled, "You saw that thing! If we went back, we'd all get killed!"

"That didn't stop them," Cardin said, "That bastard hated us, but he saved us when I yelled out for help. I need to return the favor."

Dove ran in front of him and stretched his arms out as if to try and stop him, "Dude, you're talking nonsense. So what if he helped us out? It ain't worth going off to die. Plus, he's plenty strong, just let him and the other guys deal with it."

Cardin felt himself grow angry at his teammate's words. They all practically owed those two a life debt, but they were willing to just let them die after they saved their asses?

"Fine, you run," Cardin snarled, "But I'm going back."

He then pushed past Dove and ignored the protest of his teammates, running back to the carnage that he was rescued from, intent on returning the favor.

Damnit, Ruby mentally cursed as she dodged another spike mass from the monster.

Executing her plan was a lot harder than she thought it was going to be, in large part because whenever they got close, the creature would morph and turn into anything it could to keep them at bay.

Spikes, drills, tentacle whips, it was pulling out all the stops to keep them away from it, making ranged attacks their best option, with Ruby unleashing bursts of rifle fire while Noel laid down sniper support from her treetop.

Their attacks were doing damage, but not a considerable amount. Any damage it took, it just regenerated thanks to its body structure, and any time Ragna was about to smash it to bits with his sword, which was covered in his dark Aura, it dove into the ground and reformed away from him.

That was another major problem. Her plan involved Ragna draining it enough for them to be able to kill it, but the creature now tried everything it could to actively avoid him like a plague. They needed something to knock the monster down so Ragna could get in close and finish it, but neither her rifle nor Noel's sniper shots from afar seemed to be able to do the amount of damage needed, and Jaune's second attempt to cut it down was met with claws and blades against shield and sword that ended after a short altercation with Jaune needing to jump back.

They needed something with enough force to knock it down, but they couldn't find an opening to manage that. She wasn't even sure if it could be knocked down in the first place.

"YEEEAAAAAHHH!"

Suddenly, Cardin Winchester rushed right out of the bushes, getting the monster's attention right as he neared. As soon as the creature turned, it's...face, if it could be called that, was met by Cardin's mace, sending the blob flying back and crashing into a tree, shattering it and knocking it down, reducing it to a stump.

Realizing the opportunity, Ruby commanded, "Ragna, now! While it's down!"

Ragna nodded and jumped into the air, the tip of his blade pointed right at the monster and impaling it as he landed. The same dark Aura enveloped Ragna's body and his sword as it glowed a crimson hue, draining the creature.

"Get...off..." the monster rasped weakly. Ruby started to feel...well, not sorrow, but rather, pity, for the monster that tried to eat her friends. It just looked so desperate to escape, but Ruby knew that if it did, it would just continue trying to devour random people. If not them, then certainly others. Best to just put it out of its misery now.

"Not so tough now, are ya?" Cardin snarked as he rested his mace on his shoulder. Ruby paid closer attention to the creature though.

It seemed odd, but this thing could communicate and as Ragna showed, it has a soul. Ruby was having a hard time understanding what it was. It couldn't be a Grimm given what they just witnessed, but it certainly looked like a Grimm.

"Get...off...get...away..."

The monster's voice seemed to get stronger.

"GET AWAY FROM ME!"

In a burst of strength, it spasmed and threw Ragna off, knocking him onto his back before he rolled to his feet.

"Kill...you...KILL...ALL...OF...YOU..."

"Uh, Ruby," Jaune said as he and Noel joined the rest of the group, "Please tell me you have a Plan B."

Ruby stood defiant, but internally, she wasn't sure what to do. She looked around, trying to figure out a secondary strategy, trying to factor Cardin into it now that he was here.

Just as Ruby opened her mouth to speak, she felt herself be lifted into the air by an unseen force. She looked around and saw her friends and Cardin be lifted into the air as well.

"Hey, what the hell!" Ragna cursed out.

"Professor Goodwitch!?" Noel's words directed Ruby to where the blonde gunslinger was looking and saw that their teacher had indeed come to their aid. The professor stared at the monster and, for reasons Ruby couldn't understand, had a look of...remembrance when she faced it.

Had she fought something like this before?

"Students, return to the Bullhead," Goodwitch ordered, "I've already called for the rest of the class to return as well. I will meet you there shortly."

"But we can help!" Ruby cried out.

"No arguments! Now go!" Goodwitch yelled, and with a flick of her riding crop, the five of them were sent flying through the woods with startling precision until they were safely placed at the student rendezvous point where the Bullhead was waiting. The open door revealed the other teams sitting inside, including TSYP, BRNN, and the rest of Cardin's team. Upon landing, Ruby saw her older sister, Tsubaki, Pyrrha, and Makoto get up from their seats and run right towards them.

"Ruby!" Yang ran up to her and enveloped her in a hug, "Are you okay?"

"Yeah, I'm fine," Ruby answered as Pyrrha hugged her with equal measure, "I didn't get hurt if that's what you mean."

"We're fine," Noel said as Makoto hugged her and Tsubaki checked up on her as well. The grass crunched and Ruby turned to see that Blake had just arrived as well, concern etched on her face as she looked at Noel.

"You guys sure?" The bow wearing girl asked, "From what the rest of CRDL was screaming about, it must have been some Grimm."

"Actually, we don't even know if it was a Grimm," Jaune said as he raised his finger, "But I think we should all just get on the Bullhead and wait. Goodwitch is an actual Huntress. She can handle whatever that was, right?"

Ruby nodded before she muttered, "I still wish we could have helped though."

Yang shrugged as they all started walking to the Bullhead, "Well Rubes, sometimes you just gotta trust that some people can handle things like this. I'm sure she'll be fine."

Ruby sighed but reluctantly agreed as she and the rest of her team took their seats on the airship and waited for their teacher to return from her battle with the monster.

So well. Everything was going so well.

Just pick off the students and eat them. But one had to scream and draw in others like maggots on a corpse.

Then it had to face the one with that scent. It was reminded of its own stench, and it hated that stench.

And worse, he and the rose colored one kept it from those powerful, delicious Auras that it desired. They would have kept it filled for a long time.

It was weak once again. The student who stank of itself had drained it of its strength. Was this what it was like to be sucked dry like those it hungers for?

It was irrelevant anyway. It was too drained to continue fighting, and it had no way of combating the Huntress standing in front of it. It needed to get away. The woman looked so familiar, but that just made it want to get out of here even more and...

Odd, rather than attack, the Huntress puts her weapon away. It is illogical. Huntsmen and Huntresses fight with weapons. Why would she remove her weapon?

She approached, but in a manner akin to human surrender, holding her hands in the air to the sides of her head. An attempt to make it lower its guard no doubt. Why else would she-

"Roy, is that...is that you?"

The woman's question perplexed it. This woman acted as if they had interacted in the past, but it had never heard the...name...

Roy.

PAIN! The pain overtook it's mind. It screamed for it to stop as flashes came into its head.

"Oh, hello there. You must be new. My name is Litchi Faye-Ling, but you can just call me Litchi if you want. This is my friend."

"Glynda Goodwitch, though I prefer to go by Glyn for short. It's a pleasure to meet you. And you are?"

"Well, my name's Lotte Carmine, but I like to go by...

"Roy...I... am..."

It was...he...was...

"Roy, it's me. It's Glynda. You remember, right?"

"Glyn...Glyn...da?"

The woman's voice was bringing these memories. They needed to stop.

"Get...BACK!"

He...it sped off into the forest and vanished into the ground.

Hiding would be the best course of action now. Too weak to fight and defend. Hide and recuperate.

And deal with these memories.

Jaune sat in relatively uncomfortable silence as the Bullhead flew them over the Forever Fall and made its trip back to the Beacon landing strip.

Professor Goodwitch came back from her fight with the monster, and she didn't seem to have a single scratch on her, though she seemed rather distraught for some reason that he couldn't understand. She simply went to the cockpit and sat next to the Bullhead pilot, not saying a word even to the rest of the class.

At the moment, most of his focus was on Cardin Winchester, who was currently glaring out into space, ignoring the rest of the Bullhead.

"Hey, Cardin," Jaune said, trying to break the ice, "I just want to say, um...thanks for helping us out back there."

Cardin refused to face him and simply crossed his arms, "I didn't do it for you guys, I just...I guess I was just returning the favor."

Jaune smiled, "Still, we're all thankful for it. Right guys?"

Ruby and Noel both nodded and smiled, while Ragna ignored the conversation. Ruby saw this and elbowed him in his side, getting his attention.

"Huh, oh. Uh, yeah...thanks for that. I guess," Ragna said to Cardin, trying to avoid eye contact.

"Yeah," Ruby said as she looked at Cardin with a smile, "We're all training to become Huntsmen and Huntresses, and helping each other is just something we do."

In response to Ruby's words, Cardin awkwardly rubbed the back of his head. For a split-second, Jaune thought he saw a look of shame on his face.

Jaune could hear him quietly mutter to himself, but he couldn't make out the exact words. He didn't say a word after that and was quiet for the rest of the flight back to Beacon.

Still, something was different about him now. It was subtle, but Jaune could tell that he seemed to have a newfound weight to him. It was clear that everything that happened today had a powerful effect on him whether he realized it or not.

Either way, Jaune wondered if Cardin would go back to how he was before and ignore this weight, or if this was a mark of change for him.

Guess I'll just have to wait and find out, Jaune thought to himself as he leaned back in his seat, the hum of the Bullhead's engine filling his ears as he felt exhaustion overtake him.

I can't believe it. He's alive.

Glynda's thoughts remained focused on her encounter with what was once an old friend. She remembered seeing what he became.

The destruction of the facility.

Believing him to have died.

But now? Now she knew for certain that he was still alive. He tried to devour her students as what he was now. In her eyes, the best thing to do was end him so he couldn't do the same to anyone else. It was her duty as a Huntress to protect the innocent.

But she owed it to a friend, one who never stopped believing he was alive, to help save him, assuming he could be saved at all.

She walked the halls to her office, mentally preparing herself to call someone she hadn't contacted in years.

As she entered her office, she took a deep breath as she walked up to the simple, mahogany desk and swivel chair that occupied the other end before she walked to sit down.

"Lien for your thoughts, Miss Glynda?"

The voice startled her as she heard it come from the seat of her desk, which turned to reveal Rachel Alucard sitting in her seat with a playful expression.

"What are you doing here?" Glynda asked in frustration. After today, she was not in the mood for the vampire's games.

Rachel responded by resting a hand under her chin as she leaned into one of the arm rests, "I was planning on questioning you about the Sector Seven incident today and what you witnessed that day, but from the looks of things, something recently came out of the shadows of your past, has it not?"

"Just tell me what you need to know and get out."

"My my, temper temper," Rachel snarked, "Earlier I sensed a presence enter Vale that I recall sensing vividly when your former facility of employment collapsed. I sensed that same presence again today," she then looked Glynda dead in the eye, "And from the looks of things, you know exactly what that presence was."

Glynda sighed as she reminisced on who the monster used to be, "His name was Lotte Carmine. He was a friend of ours."

"Ours?" Rachel asked.

"Look, I need to make a phone call, so could you please just leave?" Glynda pleaded, "If you want to ask questions about him, do it later. Right now, I have something more important to do."

"Bold of you to presume that what you intend to do next takes precedence, but very well," Rachel got up from the seat and walked up to her, "I shall take my leave for now, but we will be speaking of this matter again later. You can be assured of that."

A small storm of rose petals enveloped Rachel, and like that, she was gone.

"How Ozpin can put up with her is something I'll never understand," Glynda muttered as she took her seat and dialed on her scroll. As it connected, she opened her desk drawer and pulled out an old picture frame. She looked at it and recollected as the other line answered.

"Hello, this is the Faye-Ling clinic, I'm Linhua. Are you calling to schedule an appointment?"

"Linhua, I need to speak with Litchi. Tell her..." Glynda sucked her breath in and steeled herself, "Tell her it's Glynda Goodwitch."

"Oh..." Linhua sounded hesitant, but then said, "Alright, please hold for a moment."

The line went silent for a second, barring the sound of footsteps and Linhua calling Litchi in the background. After a few more moments, she heard Litchi's voice.

"Hello, Glyn. Are you there?"

For a second, Glynda didn't answer, finding herself overwhelmed from hearing the voice of her oldest friend for the first time in years. She reminded herself why she was calling though, and answered, "Yeah, it's me, Litchi."

"It's so good to hear from you again," Litchi said, sounding happier than Glynda thought she would be when she imagined talking with her again, "How many years has it been?"

"Too many to count," Glynda answered, "But that's not why I wanted to talk to you."

"I see. So what do you need?"

Better not waste time, Glynda thought as she answered, "It's Roy. I found him."

The line went dead silent for what felt like an eternity that in reality only lasted mere moments.

"Y-You mean," Litchi found her breath as she responded, "You mean you know where he is? Where?"

"I ran into him at Forever Fall. He was attacking some of my students," Glynda answered, "Listen, Litchi, if it were up to me, I'd have just killed him for what he tried to do. I know you think he can be cured from what he's become, but I just don't see how that's possible. We don't even know what he is now. But..."

Glynda took a deep breath, "But you never gave up hope that he was still alive, nor did you give up on wanting to save him from what he is now, and your my friend. So I owe you that much," she then looked back down at the old photo frame and said, "Do you understand?"

There was silence on the line again before she heard Litchi sigh and reply, "I... I understand Glyn. I just...I know he can be saved. I just know it."

"Well, in any case, when will you be able to come to Vale so we can find him?" Glynda said, "The sooner, the better."

On the other side of the line, she heard Litchi sigh once again before she said, "Glyn, I can't just leave everything right away. The people here in Mantle barely have proper medical attention as is, and there are so few clinics here to take care of them. Not to mention that I have a few important appointments that I need to take care of within the next few months. I'll be there as soon as I can, but I need to make certain that I have everything finished here first and to make sure that Linhua can manage everything on this end by herself while I'm in Vale."

"Just know that I'll be there when I can," Litchi continued, "I'll message you ahead of time for when I'll be able to arrive."

"I understand," Glynda replied as she placed the photo on her desk.

It was a group shot featuring her and her old colleagues. She appeared much younger physically and her hair was shorter, at the time being styled into a bob cut. To her right was a young Litchi Faye-Ling, a pale-skinned woman whose black hair was tied into a ponytail that hung on the left side of her head and whose violet eyes shimmered behind her glasses. At Glynda's left was Lotte Carmine, then a pale-skinned man with dark hair and glasses that were opaque, hiding the color of his eyes.

The remaining three included Kokonoe, a pale-skinned pink-haired cat Faunus with a grouchy demeanor sitting in a chair at the far right of the image next to Litchi. Like Roy, she wore glasses, though hers weren't opaque and did nothing to hide her apathetic, amber eyes. In her mouth was what to anyone unfamiliar with her appeared to be a either a cigarette or white toothpick, but Glynda knew that it was actually a lollipop.

To the far left and standing next to Roy was a man and woman, both having blonde hair, though the man's was short and somewhat spiky while the woman's was naturally long flowing. The man was clean shaven and had cold, piercing blue eyes. The woman's eyes were the same color, but instead of cold and piercing, hers were warm and friendly. They were Relius Clover and his wife, Ignis.

Lastly, each of them were adorned in white lab coats. The bottom of the photo frame read 'Sector Seven Research Team'.

"I'll see you then, Litchi," Glynda finished before she hung up.

Chapter Text

Pyrrha bent backward and ducked under Ruby's scythe, Crescent Rose as the younger student called it, and made minor adjustments as it neared her face. Just as she came back up, she flipped over Ruby and used her shoulders as a platform to launch herself into the air as Yang attempted to strike her from behind, resulting in the blonde accidentally punching her sister away.

"Woops. Sorry Rubes," Yang apologized as Ruby picked herself up.

"It's fine," Ruby replied, "Still got some Aura left."

The three of them had the day to themselves and were using that free time to spar in the training area. Yang made a bet with all of them that whoever lost first in the match had to buy dinner today and the winner got to pick where they would all go. After the terms were made, Pyrrha became dead set on winning that bet.

The sound of a sniper rifle being set off made Pyrrha turn to Ruby's direction in time to see the silver-eyed girl flying right at her with blinding speed. Pyrrha managed to be just fast enough to spin out of the way of the attack, only for Ruby to strike at Yang and knock her away, sending her flying.

And unfortunately for the poor blonde, she had been far too close to the arena's edge when Ruby made her attack, resulting in her being knocked out and into the stands, denting one of the bleachers as she crashed into it.

"Ruby!" Yang yelled out from the bleacher she was knocked into, "What was that!? I thought we were gonna kick her butt together!"

Ruby laughed and innocently put Crescent Rose behind her back, "Sorry sis, but all's fair in love, war, and free dinner!"

"Agh, Nooooo, betrayal! My one weakness," Yang melodramatically acted out as she fell to the floor and laid in mock death for a second before she immediately got up and took a seat in one of the bleachers that wasn't dented from her crash.

"Well Pyrrha," Ruby said confidently, "I hope you like strawberry cake, cause that's what we're eating later when I win!"

"Strawberry cake is not dinner, Ruby!" Yang yelled out from her spot.

"Sorry, didn't understand a word of what you just said!" Ruby yelled back as she held her scythe with both hands in her usual fighting stance.

Pyrrha held her shield up and shifted her spear into a sword; she slammed it against the shield twice, mocking her opponent to try something.

Rather than immediately rush towards her, Ruby instead shifted Crescent Rose into its rifle form and fired. Pyrrha quickly blocked the gunfire with her shield, briefly holding it to her face before she heard two shots of sniper fire. She quickly turned in time to see Ruby bursting to her left before firing once again and propelling herself right at her.

Pyrrha prepared to bat Ruby aside with Akouo, but instead, the leader of Team RNJR spun and a flurry of rose petals surrounded her. Instead of the desired result, Pyrrha hit nothing but air as the petals scattered and blocked her vision.

She was then knocked off her feet and into the air as everything seemed to slow down around her. Pyrrha turned her head and saw that Ruby had gotten right behind her and swept her off her feet. The silver eyed girl struck at her with her scythe and cut into her Aura as well as knocked her away. In response, Pyrrha slammed her shield on the ground as she was in the air, sending her upward and giving her enough time to spin and adjust herself; she panted as she landed on her feet.

That last attack did a pretty significant amount of damage, Pyrrha assessed her current predicament, At the same time, she doesn't have much Aura left thanks to the earlier damage she took from both me and Yang.

Pyrrha gave a confident smirk and made a fast rush towards her opponent. Just as she made a slash, Ruby vanished in a flurry of petals, but her shadow cast by the ceiling light gave away that she was now right above her.

Perfect.

Pyrrha looked upward and saw that Ruby was about to take aim at her with Crescent Rose's sniper form. Before she could fire, Pyrrha shifted Milo into its javelin form and activated its boosters, throwing it up at her opponent. Ruby managed to dodge via spinning to the side, barely avoiding the thrown spear, but Pyrrha smirked as she concentrated on the javelin, redirecting it to circle back around and attack Ruby from behind.

Ruby couldn't react as her cape was snagged by the rocket-propelled weapon, which turned once more and impaled the ceiling of the room, knocking her into it and making her drop Crescent Rose. Pyrrha caught the dropped sniper rifle as Ruby flailed helplessly on the ceiling above her, swinging back and forth from her snagged cape. To the side, Yang was laughing like a madwoman at her sister's hilarious predicament.

"Get me down! Get me down!" Ruby yelled in rapid succession as she flailed about.

"Do you admit defeat?" Pyrrha said with a smile as she strapped Akouo to her back.

"Never! I shall never submit!"

"Hmm, a shame," Pyrrha mused out loud as she turned to Yang, "Yang, what say we head to the movies for a bit? Mayhaps your sister will be in a more surrendering mood when we return?"

"Mayhaps she shall be," Yang said, playing along as she got up, "Let us depa-"

"WAIT! I changed my mind! I surrender!" Ruby screamed while flailing her hands.

"Alrighty then Ruby, just hold still and I'll have you out in a jiffy," Pyrrha held her hand out as it gave off a barely visible dark red energy, which also appeared on Milo as it started to shift and shake before it fell out of the ceiling. Carefully as she could, she slowly floated Ruby as close to the ground as possible before she let go and let her land on her feet. As soon as she landed, Ruby pried Pyrrha's javelin from her cape.

"Well, I hope you like salad, Ruby," Pyrrha said as she held her hand out for Ruby to return her weapon, "Cause that's what we're getting for dinner tonight."

"Ugh, why?" Ruby whined as she complied and gave Milo back to her.

"Well," Yang said as she walked up to them, "You want to grow up big and strong like your big sis, don'tcha?"

As she said this, she flexed her right arm. To anyone else, it would seem like she was trying to prove a point.

To Pyrrha, it was clear that she was just showing off.

"Really Yang?" Apparently, Ruby saw this as well, "You're showing off now?"

"Aw, is little Rubes jealous?" Yang teased as she grabbed Ruby into a bear hug.

Pyrrha laughed at the display of sisterly affection as Ruby managed to comically wrestle her way out of the crushing hug. Having bonded with the Rose/Xiao Long sisters, she'd gotten used to seeing them do this kind of thing. Seeing it and even partaking in it with them made her happy that she finally had actual friends, and that she could be part of their lives as much as they could be part of hers.

"Uh, hey."

Pyrrha's musings were interrupted by a familiar voice. She turned and saw that the interrupter was Cardin Winchester, who had a rather awkward expression on his face.

"Can we help you?" Yang asked, clearly not in the mood for Cardin's antics, assuming that was why he was here.

Pyrrha personally doubted that though. In the past month since they had all returned from the Forever Fall and...whatever it was that Ruby's team ended up fighting, Cardin and his team had been oddly quiet. As far as she knew, he didn't pick on anyone after that, but he made no attempts to be nice to anyone either and seemed content to just ignore and be ignored.

So why was he approaching them by himself right now?

"Look, uh," Cardin began before he pointed to Ruby, "you, what's your name?"

"Uh, Ruby," she responded, unsure of where Cardin was going with this.

"Right. Anyway, I'm looking for Ragna. Since he's your teammate, any chance you've seen him?" Cardin asked.

Ruby crossed her arms, "Well, that depends. Why do you want to know?"

Smart, Pyrrha thought. For all they knew, Cardin could have been looking for a fight with Ragna.

"Look, I'm not looking to start anything," Cardin said as he held his hands up in surrender, "I just want to ask him something. That's it."

Silence took over the room as Pyrrha stared at the man in front, gauging whether he had any ill intent. So far, she couldn't see any, but after his previous behavior, she wasn't sure if it was a ruse or not.

"Alright, he's around outside where the dorms are training with Jaune. But you better not try anything," Ruby warned him as she pulled out Crescent Rose, "Got it?"

Cardin nodded and simply walked away. No obnoxious comebacks or snarky whatevers, he just walked away.

"Hey, you guys notice that he's been, well, off these past few weeks?" Yang pointed out.

"Yes, I've noticed that as well," Pyrrha said, "If he's not looking for a fight, what do you think he'd want with your partner, Ruby?"

In response, Ruby simply shrugged, "No idea. Any hypotheticals?"

Pyrrha thought about what Cardin could want from Ragna. If he wasn't looking for a fight or to get him into trouble, then maybe he just wanted to talk? If so, then about what?

"Well, if you ask me, I think we should just let those two handle it," Yang interjected and made Pyrrha cease her musings, "So, what time should we all get set for a group dinner?"

"Okay Jaune, I think that's it for now," Ragna said as he reached his hand out to Jaune, who was currently lying on the ground trying to catch his breath.

"Yeah...got it...thanks..." Jaune said between breaths as he grabbed Ragna's hand and pulled himself up, "Actually, I have a question."

"Shoot."

"What about sword training?" Jaune asked, "I mean, my weapon is a sword and I don't really know how to swing it right. I figured since your weapon is also a sword, you could give me some pointers."

"That's..." Ragna started before he stopped and scratched the back of his head and looked away from the blonde, "That might be a bit more complicated."

"How exactly?"

"Well, let's just say that sword training for me was a lot more...unorthodox, if I could put it correctly." Ragna answered.

Though looking back, unorthodox might have been an understatement. When Master Jubei started training him with a sword, he mainly showed him the basics of several sword forms that he knew by heart. After that, he gave Ragna the freedom he wanted in coming up with his own technique, saying that he wanted Ragna to develop his own personalized fighting style that suited him using the basics of those forms as a backbone.

Needless to say, he wasn't exactly sure on how to teach Jaune about swordsmanship given that his own education in that regard was so out of the norm.

As Ragna scratched his head, trying to figure out how to teach the kid, he eventually just said, "Look, the most I can do is show you the barebones basics, but after that, you're probably gonna have to look up a thing or two on blade combat in a book."

"It's fine. You've been a great help with this as is, so anything that I can use to get better would work," Jaune said while giving Ragna a thumbs up.

"Okay, go get your weapon and we'll see if we can get started," Ragna told his teammate.

"Hey!"

Oh you have got to be fucking kidding me!

Ragna turned and saw Cardin walking their direction with an impassive gaze.

Ragna leveled a glare at him, "What the hell do you want?"

Cardin, surprisingly, just held his arms up, "Look, I just want to talk, okay. I got something to ask."

"And why should I give you the time of day?"

"Because..." Cardin stammered off, "Look, I just have one question. After that, I'll be out of your hair for good. Got it?"

Ragna just crossed his arms and continued his glare. He wasn't sure what the asshole's intentions were, so he couldn't let his guard down. At the same time, he was doing his best to keep his temper in check. He didn't want a repeat of what happened last time.

"Hey, Ragna," Jaune said, getting Ragna's attention as he turned back to face him, "I say let him talk. He hasn't done anything in a while and...well, just give him a chance and see if it'll work. Not like you have anything to lose from trying, right?"

"Alright, fine. Guess you have a point," Ragna said as he turned back to face the bully, "Jaune, training's canceled for today. This is between me and him."

"Uh, are you sure?"

"Just go already!" Ragna and Cardin surprisingly said in unison, much to Ragna's shock. Jaune stammered and an okay and walked away.

Once he was out of earshot, Ragna tried again with a more even tone, "Okay, Cardin, what do you want?"

"I just want to know why you saved me from that...well, whatever that thing was a month back at Forever Fall."

Ragna's face gained a confused expression before Cardin further explained, "Look. I know for a fact that you hate me."

"Gee, what was your first clue?" Ragna asked, voice laced with sarcasm.

"Anyway," Cardin continued, "My question is why you went out of your way to save me? I'd expect you to just leave me to die."

"And you'd expect that because...why?"

Cardin looked away, as if he didn't want to say whatever was on his mind.

"Because...it's what I would have done, okay? Reverse the situation and that's what would have happened!" Cardin shifted to yelling as he spoke, "There, I admitted it. Happy!?"

"Ecstatic," Ragna snarked before he continued, "As for why I saved you. Well, why wouldn't I? Don't get me wrong, I barely restrain the urge to punch you in the face just from looking at you alone, but even then, saving you'd be the right thing to do."

He then turned and began to walk away, "You have your answer, so if you'll excuse me, I'm gonna go do literally anything else."

Before Ragna could get very far, Cardin spoke, "So, you went out of your way to save my life for no other reason except because it was just the right thing to do?"

"Couldn't be anymore clear dumbass."

After Ragna finished, he continued walking away, not really sure what he was going to do with the rest of his day.

Then again, they managed to finish with the dorm kitchen after Noel's...thing, and it's been a while, Ragna thought, Maybe I could try making some food for a change.

"Because it was the right thing to do, huh?"

Cardin spoke out loud to himself as he watched Ragna leave.

He still struggled to process what the white-haired man just said. Despite everything that happened, despite the fact that Ragna loathed him and made that fact no secret, he still went out of his way to save his life simply because he saw it as the right thing to do.

He also remembered how that girl, Ruby, told him that helping each other was just something that they were supposed to do.

I've...have I ever done that before?

He couldn't remember a time where he ever saw someone and decided to lend them a hand. All he could remember was getting into scraps that he started and laughing at others' expense when he won.

That was all just for fun and games back then, but now?

Now he just didn't know anymore.

Cardin began walking away from the area, feeling as though he had a lot to think about.

Chapter Text

It was around 3:30 in the afternoon at the school library. Weiss hummed to herself as she buried her nose deep within her history book regarding the Kingdom of Mistral. They were having a history exam about it in the upcoming week, and she and Tsubaki wanted to study with their team to prepare for it.

However, the other half of their team had plans of their own. Yang was busy doing something else, she said she was going into town to 'get information' on something while Pyrrha went off to ask Ragna for a sparring match, saying something about wanting to learn more about him through combat. Weiss couldn't help but silently hope Pyrrha would succeed in getting back at the man for their previous sparring match from around the start of the year.

With half their team out doing their own thing, Tsubaki asked her friends, Noel and Makoto, to join in with them to study together. At the time she asked Makoto, Blake was in the same room and was invited to join them.

"So, could you repeat that again?"

The squirrel Faunus' question irritated Weiss for a moment, since it made it clear that she wasn't paying attention. Tsubaki, currently standing up with her history book in her right hand, simply sighed and pinched the bridge of her nose with her left hand, though clearly not from frustration, but more so exasperation.

"Okay Makoto, but please keep up," Tsubaki calmly said as she re-asked the question, "Now, of the four kingdoms, Mistral is the most unique in that contrasting the rest, it was allowed to maintain its monarchy even after the rest of the kingdoms dissolved theirs. Why is that?"

"Uh..." Makoto looked through her book and then shrugged, "He...uh...yeah, I got nothing."

Tsubaki sighed once again, "Makoto, you really need to brush up on this. The exam is in a week."

"So? That's plenty of time," The squirrel Faunus said in nonchalance.

"Makoto," Blake said, "Don't you think that maybe you shouldn't be so casual about this? It's not a good idea to let your grades suffer like this."

"Not to mention that given your current track record, I'd say you'd need more than a week to get this down, which is time you don't exactly have," Weiss snarked to herself. She winced as she felt a glare on her and turned to see Makoto giving her a mean look.

"Well excuse me, snow queen," Makoto snarked back, "But some of us are better on battlefields than classrooms. I managed to mainly pass based on athletics and combat abilities."

"All the more reason you need to work on this Makoto," Tsubaki gently chided before giving Weiss a look that more or less said 'be nice', "You can't just keep coasting by on physical abilities alone."

"Yeah yeah, I hear ya," Makoto groaned as she fell face first on the table, "But why does this stuff have to be so boooorriiiiiiing?"

Seriously, how are you friends with her, Tsubaki? Weiss thought to herself as Makoto picked her head up. Given how...opposite this woman was to the Yayoi heiress, Weiss struggled to understand just what her oldest friend saw in her that made them so close to each other.

And the thing that kept bugging her about it was that Makoto being a Faunus just didn't bother her. That frustrated her the most because if it was the case, then she'd easily be able to understand her dislike and move on from there, but it wasn't. She just couldn't understand why she felt this way.

Not to mention that, especially in recent weeks, she started having similar feelings about Noel, which contributed to her confusion over them. Within the past month, Tsubaki had been inviting her two friends from her time at Sanctum Academy to join in on many of their own team activities, and it was starting to get to her as it continued. These two didn't bother her at first, so what was it about them that was bothering her now?

"Okay, Noel," Tsubaki turned to the blonde, "Same question. Why was the Mistral Imperial family allowed to maintain their societal positions when the rest of the kingdoms dissolved their own monarch systems?

"Oh, uh," Noel stammered as she gave her book a quick read, "Because the people of Mistral really liked them?"

Well, I suppose that's one way of putting it, Weiss thought. While she had similar thoughts about Noel like she did with Makoto, at least the blonde was making a stronger effort in her studies.

Tsubaki nodded, "Correct. The emperor and his wife, Empress Hades the First, were well loved by many noble classes of Mistral. They didn't want to see their rulers removed from their position, and the idea that they could be removed enraged them and would have prompted a violent uproar. Mistral was nearly torn apart by civil war, and the kingdom wouldn't have survived had all kingdoms at the Vytal Conference not agreed to allow them to maintain their position while at the same time implementing the council system as well."

"And because of that, the kingdom of Mistral is now the only one of the four kingdoms to maintain their standing monarchy following the events of the Great war," Blake continued for the red-head, with her voice having a 'matter-of-fact' tone to it, "However, part of their agreement at the Vytal Conference was that while they maintain their position as the Imperial family, they no longer have the same level of political power. All major political decisions are determined by Mistral's council. The royal family is more or less just a figurehead for the kingdom and not an outright driving force behind the kingdom's decisions like it was in the decades preceding the Great War."

Weiss couldn't help but nod in approval at Blake's answer. She didn't know or understand much on Team BRNN's leader, but she was glad that said team had such a sensible and intelligent person in charge of them.

"Well, either way, I'm beat," Makoto yawned as she stretched, "Can we call it done for today?"

We've only been here for thirty minutes you dolt! Weiss thought furiously.

Blake then comically bopped Makoto on the head with one of her books, eliciting a yelp from the squirrel Faunus as the BRNN leader said, "Makoto, we've only been here for half an hour. That's barely any study time."

Yes! Thank you! Weiss silently thanked Makoto's team leader for once again being the sensible one.

"But that half hour was exhausting," Makoto whined, "Can't we at least take a break? Fifteen minutes tops?"

"I wouldn't mind a break either," Noel agreed, "I mean, if it's okay with you guys, of course."

"Very well," Tsubaki said after a quick sigh, "I suppose a short break would barely be an inconvenience."

Seriously Tsubaki!? How can you condone this kind of laziness!?

Weiss felt her frustration reach a boiling point as her right eye started to twitch. If she had to put up with any more of this idiocy that somehow managed to become the best of friends with Tsubaki, she felt she would explode.

Instead, she got up from her seat and walked away from the table.

"I'm going to go get another book," her voice barely hid her frustration as she walked away to the section regarding Mistral.

As she looked for another book on Mistral to study with, the same questions kept coming. Why did both Makoto's and Noel's presence bother her so much? As much as she wanted an answer to the nagging question in her mind, she kept finding herself shoving it down and trying to ignore it, but that only seemed to make it even worse.

"Weiss," Tsubaki's voice called out, leading to her turning to see her leader standing at the end of the section with a look of worry on her face, "Are you alright?"

"I'm fine," Weiss responded, though her tone was unable to hide her frustration this time.

"Weiss, when someone says they're fine with that tone of voice, it means the opposite," Tsubaki then walked up to her and pleaded, "Please, just tell me what's wrong."

Weiss remained silent for moments, refusing to look her friend in the eye for fear that she would give in and let everything out, especially since she couldn't even understand why this was bothering her so much.

"Weiss, you once told me not to hold back how I feel," Tsubaki said as she grabbed Weiss by the side of her arms, forcing the Schnee to look her friend in the eye, "Now I'm asking you to do the same. Please, just let me in."

Seeing the pleading look in her friend's eyes, Weiss took a deep breath and said, "It's about Makoto and Noel."

"Why? What's wrong?" Tsubaki asked.

"It's just...I just...I can't understand how you all can be so close with each other," Weiss explained, though now refusing to look Tsubaki in the eye, "I mean, you're all just so...so different from each other and I don't get why you're all friends."

The two became silent for a moment, with Weiss unsure if she offended her childhood friend. Before she could speak to apologize and just go back to the table, Tsubaki spoke first.

"Weiss," she began, "It's true that all of us are completely different from each other in more ways than we can count. But none of us care about each others' differences in the slightest. When we all became close back at Sanctum, it didn't matter where we came from or who we were before. We all grew to just cherish each other no matter what. It was admittedly a rocky beginning for all of us, but we moved past it the more we learned about each other."

"I...I understand," Weiss said.

"Weiss, if I may ask, how long have you been feeling this way?"

"Around the past few weeks. I think it may have started up sooner than that, but I don't know." Weiss answered as best as she could. Her answer gave way to silence as the two just stood there; Tsubaki's face scrunched in contemplation.

"Weiss, I think I understand what's wrong here," Tsubaki spoke up as she reached out and held Weiss' hands, "While I've made new friends in my life, that doesn't invalidate our past friendship at all. They're as much your friends as they are mine, so you don't have to be envious of them."

"W-what!?" Weiss screamed in shock as she jumped back. Her face felt as if it was ablaze, "I'm not jealous!"

"You're blushing angrily, you reacted to what I just said as if someone just told you that you have a plague, and you claim to have been feeling this way for weeks now," Tsubaki told her with a completely straight face, "If it isn't jealousy, then what else could it possibly be?"

"Maybe I just blush easily and have that kind of reaction every now and then! Ever think of that!?" Weiss snapped back with a glare.

"Weiss..."

Weiss tried to keep up a glare but found that she couldn't as she just exhaled and slumped, "Okay, fine, maybe I'm the smallest, itty bittiest bit jealous. Okay."

Tsubaki nodded and gave Weiss a quick hug before she pulled back and held her by the sides.

"Don't worry, I don't blame you for feeling this way. I'm just glad that you could tell me."

"Just don't tell the others, please?" Weiss begged, "I don't want to make things awkward for all of you."

"AAACHOOOO!"

The loud sneeze directed Tsubaki and Weiss' attention to the end of the section, where they saw Blake, Noel, and Makoto ducking their heads from around the corner. In Makoto's case, Weiss could briefly see her wiping her nose, indicating that she was the one who sneezed.

"Where you three eavesdropping on us?" Tsubaki asked indignantly.

"It was my idea," Blake said as she poked her head out and walked out, "I got curious with what you were saying and I snuck close by to hear."

"And we tried to stop her, then we got maybe a little too invested in listening in to stop," Makoto included as she walked next to Blake.

"We're really sorry!" Noel blurted out as, rather than walk in with the others, she merely poked her head out.

Weiss felt her face heat up again in anger at them for listening in on her very private talk with Tsubaki, but before she could berate them, Tsubaki spoke first as she walked up to them.

"It's fine, just please don't make it a habit," she then gestured towards Weiss, who reluctantly walked up to them.

"Look," Weiss said, "Y-you already heard all that, so you already know about the whole thing. I just hope things aren't going to be awkward from between all of us."

"Pfft, of course things are gonna be awkward, Snow Weiss," Makoto said, prompting an embarrassed glare from Weiss due to the demeaning sounding nickname before she found herself in a one-armed hug as Makoto stood at her side and looked her in the eye.

"But you know what they say, you ain't truly friends until you all go through an awkward moment together."

Noel beamed as she stepped in, "Yeah! Like the time you and Tsubaki walked in on...me...vocalizing...a-actually, forget I said anything," Noel said as her face turned beat red and she grabbed her hair to cover it.

Makoto and Blake laughed as the squirrel Faunus released Weiss from the hug and affectionately tousled Noel's hair.

"Eh, don't sweat it Noel," Makoto said as she retracted her hand and stage whispered to her blonde friend, "If you think that's bad, wait till you hear that Blake's favorite book series is Ninj-MMPPH!"

Before she could continue, her leader immediately rushed over and clamped her mouth shut with both hands, leveling an embarrassed glare at her.

"Do NOT finish that sentence!" Blake all but screamed out before retracting her hands in disgust and shaking one of them off as Makoto giggled up a storm. Weiss could make out that Makoto had licked them to get her to remove them based on how she briefly saw her tongue sticking out and how she could see a small layer of saliva on Blake's left palm.

"Ehem!"

Weiss and the rest of them turned to see the angry figure of the school librarian who was pointing at them and indicating for them to get out.

"Uh, can we help you, ma'am?" Makoto asked.

The librarian then beckoned for all of them to come forward. As they did so, she pointed to a sign that read 'NO LOUD NOISES'.

Oh, Weiss thought, realizing that they had been making nothing but loud noises for the past several minutes.

"Aw, cheer up guys! So we got banned from the library for a few days, no biggie!" Makoto said as they all sat on an outside bench, "I mean, it could've been a lot worse."

"Please don't encourage fate to come down on us," Blake replied as she opened her textbook back to the Mistral section, "Now, where were we?"

"Wait, what about our break?" Makoto asked.

"Makoto, most of it was spent with you, Blake, and Noel eavesdropping on us and all of us getting removed from the library," Tsubaki reminded, "Needless to say, the fifteen minutes are up."

Weiss found herself holding back a giggle as Makoto faceplanted on the table and whined about wasting the break as Noel comforted her and Blake eased her back into the study material. Meanwhile, she saw Tsubaki smile and chuckle at their antics.

Weiss had to admit, she was starting to see some charm in Makoto and Noel that felt like it was growing on her. Sure, she was still admittedly still somewhat bothered, but it didn't feel as bad as previously.

Seeing how much Tsubaki seemed to cherish them, she figured she could learn to have them around as well.

Chapter Text

It was about one hour until midnight as the broken moon was unseen, hidden behind the clouds in the sky above Vale. Their slow movement may as well have been reflexive of the slow, arduous process of having a SDC shipping truck get inspected at the warehouse checkpoint before making its run to a Dust shop across town for security reasons.

Currently, this was Officer Blaine Stevenson's existence as he impatiently tapped his finger on the steering wheel of his truck, just waiting for them to finish checking for all accounted Dust crates.

"Come on, hurry up with the checkup! The sooner I get this done, the sooner I can end my shift!"

Blaine's complaints were thankfully answered when inspector gave the all clear, signifying that all Dust crates were secured and accounted for.

"Finally," Blaine was about to drive, but noticed that they hadn't opened the front gate yet. Before he could ask, one of the other officers walked up to the front window next to him.

"Hey, just be sure you're careful while you're out there," he warned, "Bunch of our trucks have been going missing lately. Guys are assuming the White Fang are behind it. Try to keep to public roads as much as you can."

Blaine grumbled, but nodded. He had been hearing the recent rumors about increased White Fang activity, but he had yet to see any of it for himself. If he had to focus on taking public roads, he couldn't use his normal shortcuts to save on time, and at this point, he just wanted to get back home and get some rest.

"Fine," Blaine replied, "Just open the gate so I can get moving."

The official nodded and signaled for them to open the front gates. As soon as it was open enough for his truck to get through, Blaine pressed the accelerate and proceeded to drive out of the current SDC operated warehouse.

After about ten minutes of driving, Blaine found himself growing tired. He took a quick swig of his coffee to keep himself awake, but it was starting to taste bitter and felt less effective.

"Great," he yawned, "Just what I need. A long drive on a long night. Better see what's on right now."

He turned on the radio and started cycling though channels. He went through a news report on the recent White Fang activity that he quickly shifted from, a commercial for a new kind of bug repellent, and the music channel which was currently playing 'This Will Be the Day'.

He decided to stick with the music channel as he turned up the volume. If nothing else, it would help him stay awake.

As he stopped at the designated sign, he noticed that this was where one of the routes one of his usual shortcuts was located. It was a more private road out of the public eye that few took, but it was good for cutting through and getting to certain places faster.

The Dust shop that he needed to make his delivery to was certainly one of those places.

He pondered on the warning he received and questioned if he should. After all, the road was also a good source of trees surrounding the sides and a convenient hiding place for any Fang attackers. Was cutting a 45 minute drive down to about 20 worth the potential risk?

"Nope, stay focused Blaine," he defiantly said to himself, "Just take the public road and try not to fall asleep."

Ignoring the temptation to take his usual shortcut, he continued down the main road and drove the route he was assigned, taking another drink of his coffee. It wasn't working well, but that didn't mean it wasn't working, after all.

As Blaine drove, he made a sharp turn to the left and continued driving on the highway for five minutes. After a while, he briefly noticed that the cars were few and far between. The absence of other vehicles was making him rather anxious.

Suddenly, the truck jostled...

"W-WHOA!"

…and he found himself desperately steering the truck as best as he could to the side of the road in an attempt to get it under control.

Once he finally had it settled down, he pulled out his flashlight and gun and proceeded out of the truck, his only company being the chirping crickets in the grass.

Blaine walked to the side of the truck and noticed that it was closer to the ground than it should have been. Looking down, he saw that two of the tires were flattened somehow. He looked back to the road and saw nothing but smooth, dried asphalt for several yards. Nothing on the road could have popped the tires. So what could have done this?

Before he could react, he felt himself slammed to the ground, overwhelmed by pain. He then felt something, or someone, pin him down as he struggled to get up. Red blocked the vision in his right eye as he felt blood trickle down from his forehead.

"Well, that wasn't so hard. Boys, start patching up wheels!" a voice called out.

Out of the corner of his eye, Blaine could see two grunts wearing black and white uniforms as well as Grimm-like masks come out from the shadows as they opened the back of the truck and got to work on repairing the damaged wheels. Blaine struggled to get out of the grip of whoever held him down, but they were too strong. As he continued, he ceased as he felt something sharp prick the back of his neck.

"I'd stop struggling if I were you," the voice said, "See, my partner here really doesn't like that. Makes things less fun for her if you manage to break out and run away."

The owner of the voice walked up in front of Blaine, making his eyes widen as he saw who it was. The person was a tall man wearing a white suit with black pants and shoes. On his head was a bowling hat over his orange hair that covered his right eye and a grey scarf around his neck.

"R-Roman Torchwick!" Blaine yelled in disbelief.

"Oh, I didn't know I was in the presence of a fan of my work," the crime lord said with a smug expression, "Y'know, now I'm almost tempted to let you go. Almost."

"W-Why are the White Fang working with you!?" Blaine asked, "You're a human. Why would they work with a human like you!?"

"Hmmm, that's a very good question you bring up," Roman placed a hand under his chin before shrugging, "Eh, why the hell not?"

He then kneeled down to closer to Blaine's level before he continued, "You see, the Fang and I have something very special in common. We both need large amounts of Dust, but unfortunately for us, we both hate paying for it. So, we're...appropriating some for ourselves. We got a few side projects we all want to work on and we need lots of this stuff to make them work. I'd say sorry in advance, but that would be a lie."

"Roman, wheels are all done!" one of the White Fang grunts called out.

"Oh, goody. Well done boys!" Roman congratulated as he spun his cane before resting it on his shoulder, "Oh, and by the by, the only reason I told you all that was because my friend holding you down hasn't had much fun lately and she's come a long way from Mistral to help me out right now. Neo, have fun, but remember we're on a tight schedule."

Roman then walked away and Blaine heard him enter the front of the truck as he was lifted up and thrown to the grass. As he tried to pick himself up, he got a good look at his attacker. She was a rather petite young woman with hair that was half pink, half brown, with an eye color he couldn't make out in the dark. Her outfit consisted of a white cropped jacket over a brown corset with brown pants held by a dark colored belt.

The smile on her face terrified him as he begged her to stay away. Instead she approached and unsheathed the blade in her umbrella.

She stood over him, and brought the blade down.

"Well, nice to see she's having fun," Roman smiled as he bit down on a cigar as the driver's screaming began to cease. He attempted to light it, but the lighter refused to work with him.

"Argh! Come on, stupid light!" Roman gritted his teeth in anger as no matter how many times he flicked it, the lighter just wouldn't spark a flame.

The passenger seat opened and in walked Neo, now covered with splotches of the driver's blood on her clothes. As she sat and fastened her seatbelt, she held out her hand for the lighter. Roman obliged and gave it to her, wanting to see if she could make it work any better.

Sure enough, Neo managed to spark a flame on her first try, much to his annoyance. She held it out towards his face, letting him bring the cigar to the flame. As soon as it was lit, he took a deep breath and let smoke pour out of his mouth and nostrils.

"You make sure to load the body up in the back of the truck with the hired riff raffs? Don't want to leave too much of a bread trail," Roman asked his partner. She gave a curt smile and nodded.

Roman smiled and proceeded to drive to their commandeered warehouse. Best part about this route was that their destination was only ten minutes away.

Just as he started driving, he felt Neo poke his shoulder prompting him to look her way. She looked at him with an wanting expression that he was all too familiar with.

"Neo," Roman chastised, "You know that we can't be out too long and that the warehouse is just a skip and a hop away. Can't you just wait for us to drop off the Dust with the animals in the back before we go get you some?"

Neo clearly wasn't intent on listening, as she now had a pleading expression with a pouting lip. For added measure, she turned on the radio and flipped to the saddest music station she could find.

"Alright, fine," Roman gave in, "We'll take a detour and get some for you. But can you quit it with the sad eyes? You know I hate that."

Neo clapped and sat with her legs crossed as Roman drove away from their designated route and made a quick stop.

Though he wouldn't lie, he liked this part of finishing a heist as much as Neo did.

"MMMMmmmm..." Roman hummed to himself as he sat in his main seat in their current warehouse of operations, licking away at a strawberry ice cream cone.

Next to him, Neo, who had changed out of her blood covered outfit and into a similar one without the blood stains, had her fill of a triple scoop dark chocolate with an expression of delight on her face.

This tended to be their favorite part of finishing a successful heist, or a failed one and needing something to feel better; good old tasty after crime deserts.

"You know," Roman said as he licked the ice cream off his lips, "It's funny how ice cream parlors have more effort put into guarding their sticky frozen goods than these SDC trucks do with guarding their Dust."

Neo gave a humorous nod as she finished the first scoop of her ice cream.

"If you ask me, these law enforcers should be thanking us," Roman continued, "I mean, we basically show just how crap their security is, so we're actually helping them improve when you think about it."

Neo then gave Roman an admonishing look.

Roman responded with a shrug, "What? If it's too easy, it loses it's charm. Money and resources just don't feel earned if there's no fun in taking them in."

Neo gave him a dull face that just screamed 'Whatever floats your boat' before she jumped back and dropped her ice cream, briefly looking down at it before she dawned a furious glare. Roman got up from his seat and tried to comfort her from whatever made her react like that.

"Neo, what's wrong? Is..." he stopped when he noticed that Neo was now glaring directly behind him and realized what was going on as he sighed, "The creepy phantom chick just popped in, didn't she?"

He turned around to see said phantom, whose body was entirely concealed by a dark-purple, high collared cloak with a light-violet zig-zagging pattern going from the hem to the white scarf that held the cloak closed. She also wore a large pointed hat that shared her cloak's color.

The phantom just stared silently at them. At least, that's what Roman thought she was doing. He couldn't really tell considering her face was covered.

"So," Roman said as he walked up to her, trying to break the ice cautiously, "I'm guessing you're here to bring Neo back to Haven?"

His question was met with nothing but dead silence. She didn't even speak in the creepy whispering that he'd seen those phantom or wraith-like monsters do in movies. Somehow, he found that to be even creepier.

If Roman was being honest with himself, Phantom, as his 'bosses' called her, creeped him out even more than they did. Sure, the higher ups may have been threatening and terrifying in their own ways, but Phantom's uncanny appearance and deathly silence just gave him the willies. About the only thing he could take solace in was the fact that unlike his current employers, who were a lot more volatile and not above either threatening him or worse, she was docile and only seemed to follow orders.

Though it certainly made him shudder to imagine what would happen if those orders involved bringing him to task just because her superiors told her to.

Roman felt Neo poke at his side, to which he turned and saw her nod. She looked to Phantom and took her place beside the cloaked being. The second before she left, she waved goodbye to him. Before he could wave back, the two disappeared as if they were never there to begin with; the only sign that Neo had been here being the dropped ice cream on the floor.

"Ah, to be young and part of an infiltration operation. I am so proud of her," Roman mused to himself as he wiped a fake tear from his left eye. He looked back to the floor at the melting ice cream, "Should definitely get one of those animals to clean that up. Don't need my warehouse getting stains all over it."

He proceeded to walk out of the room before one of the White Fang grunts opened the door.

"Hey boss, the re-"

"Oh, Jeffery, just the man I wanted to see!" Roman interrupted, not letting the idiot get another word in.

"Uh, my name is-"

"Yeah yeah, look, see that," Roman said as he wrapped his arm around 'Jeffery's' shoulder and pointed to the ice cream on the floor, "Could you do me a solid and clean that up. Thank you. Mop over in the corner, Ciao!"

Roman then lightly shoved him into the room and slammed the door before he could protest. He then walked down the stairs to the main area, whistling to himself as he spun his cane on its handle. As he neared the final steps, he looked at all the animals standing around a table that had a map of Vale on it. Marked in red were the various districts that made up Vale, such as the residential district, the agricultural district, the industrial district, the commercial district, and the home of upper class twits. Also marked in red was the areas where those dumb, irritating boys in blue were most prevalent. Marked in white were the supply roots they had been robbing. Circled in yellow was a series of Dust shops they were planning on robbing in the weeks to come.

"Well boys!" Roman called out, gaining everyone's attention, "How goes Operation: Taking Candy From Babies?"

"Uh, boss," one of the grunts began, "We were wondering-"

"I know, I know, the name of our operation needs workshopping," Roman interrupted, "But cut me some slack, naming these things is almost harder than pulling them off."

"That's not what we meant," another one, this time a woman, pitched in, "How much Dust are we gonna need anyway?"

"Gentlemen, let's just say that I have...expectations, for how much we'll be needing," Roman said as he lit a cigar and took a breath, "And this," he gestured towards all the surrounding Dust crates that he and the White Fang had been gathering these past several weeks, "Is just the tip of the iceberg. So don't you worry a hair on your head regarding the details. I do the thinking, you all just have to do the...doing."

Roman then slapped his face, "Dammit, that sounded better in my head."

He then felt a buzzing in his pocket as he looked and saw his scroll flash. The ID number was...

Oh joy, it's her.

"Could you fine gentlemen please excuse me for one second? I have to take this." Roman walked out of the room and went to a more secluded area as he accepted the call and placed the scroll to his ear.

"Hello, Roman," a sultry voice answered from the other side.

"Cinder, hey..." Roman said, not wanting to get on the woman's bad side, even if she was on a completely different continent at the moment, "So, Neo arrive back to you?"

"Yes, she's currently with Mercury and Emerald back in the dorm room. So how goes our Vale operation?" Cinder asked, "I would ask Neo, but you know why I can't."

"Cindy, can I call ya Cindy?" Roman asked quickly before continuing to avoid drawing her ire, "I've got Vale on lockdown. We've got plenty of Dust already and plenty of heists ahead of us. Soon I'll have more Dust for this...whatever it is you're doing than you'll know what to do with. Speaking of, why do you need all this Dust?"

"That's not something you need to concern yourself with, Roman," Cinder answered evenly, "So long as you succeed in your assigned task, you'll see no trouble from either I nor Hazama. Understood?"

Roman internally groaned at the mention of that green-haired bastard's name. As much as Cinder frustrated him, she was at least civil with him, most of the time anyway. Hazama, on the other hand, just loved throwing jabs and insults his way at every opportunity he got. That wasn't even getting into when Roman tried aiming his cane to the bastard's face and not only did he laugh it off, but he batted the cane out of his hands, manifested this green snake-chain, and started slamming him all over the place.

Even though the wounds had long since healed, Roman could still feel occasional phantom pains where they once were.

On top of that, when Neo moved in to protect him, the green-haired freak started wailing on her with an alarming amount of hatred. It...disturbed him how much Hazama seemed to hate Neo.

He was just grateful that Cinder stepped in to stop him, but he remembered how terrified Neo looked when she looked at Hazama from that point onward, and honestly, Roman couldn't blame her.

"Roman," Cinder's voice called him out of his thoughts, "I said, understood?"

"Huh, oh, yes, completely understood Cinder," Roman said as best as he could, "Good luck on your end."

"And best of luck on yours. Make certain that you don't fail," and with that, Cinder's line went dead as Roman dropped the scroll in his pocket and sighed.

"These people are gonna be the death of me. I just know it."

Chapter Text

Pyrrha smiled as she took in the sights of the streets of Vale. Everywhere, shopkeepers and various workers were decorating the city with multicolored streamers, balloons, and other such ornaments as the Vytal Festival moved closer and closer. She even spotted the elderly shopkeeper that ran 'A Simple Wok' putting up a large sign that read 'WELCOME TO VALE!', clearly meant for the visiting competitors. When he looked her way, he gave her a friendly wave, which she returned in kind.

"I can't believe the Vytal Festival will be here soon!" Tsubaki said in excitement, drawing Pyrrha's attention away from the surrounding decorum and towards her team leader. Unlike the rest of their team, she was the only one still wearing her school uniform while the rest changed into their normal attire.

"I know! This is absolutely amazing!" Weiss said with a brief hop to her step, clearly sharing in her partner's enthusiasm.

"It's good to see you two so enthusiastic about all this," Pyrrha said. Not that she could blame either her or Tsubaki for their excitement. She was just as thrilled about the Vytal Festival, remembering when she used to watch the events on tv as a young girl. In fact, watching the Vytal Festival is what inspired her to start partaking in the Mistral Regional Tournaments throughout her teenage years.

Tsubaki nodded, "There's just so much to enjoy. The Vytal Festival celebrates the cultures of all four kingdoms!"

"It has everything!" Weiss added, "Dancing!"

"Parades!" Tsubaki continued.

"And the Vytal Tournament!" both of them said in unison, "It's going to be so amazing!" Tsubaki practically bounced as she spoke, "And isn't it remarkable just how much planning and forethought goes into organizing this entire event?"

"It's practically breathtaking!" Weiss agreed as she nearly swooned.

"Well, you've both managed to make this whole thing sound boring, so I guess that's impressive," Yang said with a sigh as Pyrrha giggled while Tsubaki and Weiss gave the blonde the stink eye before they all continued walking before finally coming to a stop in front of a railing that gave way to the sight of the Vale docks.

"Tsubaki, if I may ask," Pyrrha began as she covered her nose to protect it from the bombarding stench of fish, "Why exactly are we visiting the docks?"

"Yeah!" Yang agreed, "I'd honestly rather be spending my Friday afternoon doing literally anything else."

"We both heard rumors that students from Vacuo would be visiting somewhere today," Weiss answered as she placed her hands behind her back, "Tsubaki and I agreed that as Beacon's representatives for the tournament, we should be the first to welcome our fellow students to Vale."

Pyrrha wasn't completely convinced that this was the actual reason Weiss and Tsubaki wanted to come here.

"Huh, neat," Yang replied, "So what's the real reason?"

Apparently Yang agreed.

Tsubaki sighed and said, "Because we want to assess the strengths and weaknesses of our potential opponents so that we'll have an advantage."

"So I take it that's why you told us to leave our weapons back in our room?" Pyrrha asked, as she was wondering why their team leader told them to do so. She just didn't want to say anything.

"You have to admit, it is a sensible choice," Weiss said, "If we do meet our potential opponents, they won't see our weapons and therefore assess how we fight based off their appearance, and in turn plan strategies around that."

She then turned to Pyrrha and said, "Though in your case, it's likely that they already know your fighting style and capabilities," she then turned away and gave her ponytail a flick, "Not that it matters, as I doubt any of our opponents from Vacuo would be able to hold a candle to you."

Pyrrha couldn't help but look away, feeling uncomfortable by Weiss' statement. Though she was sure the heiress meant well, it still bothered her that one of her teammates only saw her as their team's Invincible Girl and ace in the whole for the upcoming tournament.

She felt something grab her hand and turned to see Yang giving it a comforting squeeze. Pyrrha gave her a warm smile and gladly returned the gesture.

"Hey, what's happened here?" Tsubaki said out loud. Pyrrha looked to her leader and saw that Yayoi's attention was focused on what looked like a crime scene. Wordlessly, she started walking towards it with Weiss following suit. Pyrrha gave a quick look to Yang, who shrugged as they started following after Tsubaki and Weiss.

As the approached, they stopped at the yellow tape that blocked any from entering the area. Multiple detectives of the VPD were looking over the damages while one was writing on a data pad.

Tsubaki was the first to speak up, "Officer, may I ask what happened?"

"A robbery happened recently," the officer answered as he walked to one of the other detectives, "Second Dust shop to be hit this week."

"I hope no one was hurt," Pyrrha said quietly to herself.

"Man, these robberies confuse the hell out of me," one of the detectives said out loud, "They left the money like last time."

What? Pyrrha thought, now equally as confused as the detectives. Whenever she heard of robberies occurring on the news, the object stolen was always either money or an object worth a great sum of money. She'd heard of Dust being stolen before, but even then, the money was taken as well. Why would said robbers leave the money behind? And more importantly, what were they doing that would require them to steal only the Dust?

"I'm thinking this might be the White Fang. How 'bout you?" Pyrrha heard one of the detectives say.

"I'm thinking that I don't get paid enough to deal with this shit," the other officer said as he removed his sunglasses and walked away to converse with the rest of the investigation, leaving his partner to his own devices.

"White Fang," Pyrrha heard Weiss nearly growl out as she turned to see her white-haired teammate clenching her fist as she looked down to the floor, "What an awful bunch of bastards!"

Pyrrha's mouth went agape at Weiss' declaration. The amount of hatred in her voice was downright palpable, and that was without factoring in that this was the first time she had ever heard Weiss curse like that.

"I doubt that the White Fang are behind this, Weiss," Tsubaki said, putting her two lien in, "They're a terrorist cell, not a collective of armed robbers. It doesn't make sense for them to steal Dust from stores in Downtown Vale like thieves in the night."

"Plus, my sister fought that Roman Torchwick guy and the cops never caught him," Yang added, "So odds are he could be the one going around robbing these places."

Weiss looked away from all of them and grunted, "Doesn't change what a bunch of degenerates those White Fang monsters are."

"Weiss..." Tsubaki tried reaching for her friend's shoulder, but she brushed it off and started walking away.

Pyrrha still had trouble processing Weiss' anger. She'd never heard Weiss get that angry before, but it seemed that the White Fang were what could bring this kind of rage out of her.

"GET BACK HERE YOU DIRTY APE!"

"Hey! I'll have you know I bathe at least once a day!"

The overheard yelling drew all of their attention as they ran back to the docks and looked to one of the recently docked ships, seeing two sailors giving chase to a tan, yellow haired, teenager with a monkey tail.

"Thanks for the ride guys, but this is where we part ways!" The Faunus said as he jumped off the side of the boat and landed right on the docks.

"Someone catch that no-good stowaway!" one of the sailors yelled out.

Just as he said that, the tailed teenager jumped and hung upside-down from a lamppost using his tail and pulled out a banana, "Hey, I'll have you know that I'm a great stowaway! You guys didn't actually see me until we got here, so I think my stowaway skills speak for themselves!"

Well, he's certainly...upbeat, Pyrrha thought, not sure what to make of this person. On the one hand, he seemed to be illegally sneaking himself aboard a ship to Vale. But he was taking almost everything in a casual stride that had a certain charm to it.

Just as he was about to bite into his banana, one of the detectives from the investigation Pyrrha and her teammates saw before threw a rock at him and ordered him to get down. Instead, he just threw his banana peel at one of their faces. He then swung up to the top of the lamppost and jumped off, rolling and running to the stairs leading to the streets as the detectives gave chase.

He and the chasing detectives ran past Team TSYP, leaving four rather surprised by the sudden turn of events.

"So," Yang began, "Do we...go after them? Or are we just gonna-"

"Quick! After him!" Weiss yelled as she was the first to give chase with Tsubaki right behind her.

"I'm guessing this wasn't what you were expecting for a Friday afternoon?" Pyrrha asked her partner as she began to follow after them.

"Nope!" Yang responded as she ran alongside her, quickly keeping pace with the rest of the team.

Penny hummed to herself as she walked down the sidewalk on her way back home. She just got off work with Mr. Tukson at his book store, though today was admittedly rather slow for the shop. Given that the city was now preparing for the Vytal Festival, they didn't receive many customers lately.

Not that Penny minded, she was just happy to help Tukson out and even have occasional conversations with him. She was glad that she was able to have a friend that she could talk to. While she understood the need for all their travelling, since she and her father knew it was for safety reasons, it still bothered her that it made making friends an impossibility. Not helped by the few people she was able to interact with for extended periods of time being rather put off by her. She remembered how her father insisted that while it would take time, she just needed to find someone who accepted her for her, and she could also remember how overjoyed she was when Tukson accepted her job request and not only allowed her to work for him, but also didn't seem bothered by her...eccentricities, as some called them.

Though given that he was a Faunus hiding his animalistic features, he already knew a thing or two about people being put off by him.

As she walked, her gaze briefly turned to a nearby window that showed her reflection. Walking towards it, she got a closer look as she brushed a hand through her currently orange locks.

"Hmm," Penny mused out loud, checking the roots of her hair, "I do not seem to require any more just yet, so I suppose I can give it more time."

Before she could think any further, her instincts kicked in and she darted to the side; her back practically hit the window she was looking at as a monkey Faunus ran right past her. As soon as he ran by, two people who looked like police officers, a blonde woman, a white-haired lady in a combat skirt, and two red-heads, one in a school uniform and one in gladiator armor from the looks of it, also ran by in what looked like a chase after the tailed man.

As they all ran, Penny saw the Faunus jump onto one of the buildings, causing the two police to give up their chase. The white-haired girl, however, summoned what appeared to be glyphs and used them as platforms to climb the building. The glyphs remained for her teammates to jump across as they continued the chase while the policemen sulked in defeat, turning to her direction as the glyphs vanished.

They do not look happy, Penny thought, Perhaps I can say something to help cheer them up.

As they neared, she saluted, "Salutations, officers! You sure gave him a mighty impressive chase!"

The two officers said nothing and just wordlessly walked past her as she stood and kept her hand in salute.

After a few minutes of standing by herself in the near empty sidewalk, Penny sighed and let her arm down. It seemed that her attempt to cheer them up did not go as she hoped it would.

"Oh well, I best head home now," Penny said to herself as she continued down the sidewalk to get home.

Get back here you lawbreaking Faunus riff-raff! Weiss mentally screamed as she chased after the monkey Faunus, who jumped across another building.

Weiss summoned more glyphs to help close the gaps and allow her teammates to cross the buildings. As they made it across, the Faunus instead jumped off the building. Weiss approached the edge and saw that he was running down an alleyway. Not giving up the chase, she jumped down as well and continued after him, running after him as he rounded the corner.

She ran, ignoring her feelings of exhaustion as she rounded the corner and saw that the end of the alleyway led to a dead end, with the Faunus stopping dead in his tracks. Weiss smirked in victory as she slowed down and neared him.

"We...have...you...now...you...degenerate..." Weiss said between pants as when she got close enough, she bent down with her hands to her knees to catch her breath.

"Weiss...slow...down..." Tsubaki panted out as Weiss heard her approach.

"Yeah...we..." Pyrrha panted before she managed to catch her breath, "Just give me a minute to breath."

"I'll say this Weiss, you sure didn't skip leg day," Yang said, sounding like the only one of them who wasn't tired.

"You know, I'm kinda used to getting chased by pretty women," the Faunus stowaway said, "But this is definitely a new one."

Weiss, now angered, looked at him and stomped in his direction, yelling, "You don't get to talk you degenerate! What were you planning on doing after you got off that ship? Come to steal something while in Vale? Are you an agent of the White Fang? They said you stowed away on that ship and you admitted to it, so what else could you be here for?"

"Weiss!" Tsubaki chastised as she pulled her back, "Tone it down, now!"

"Wait, hold up," the Faunus said, "I think there's been a misunderstanding here. I'm actually a student here for the Vytal Festival."

Weiss was almost tempted to laugh. Did he really expect them to believe such an obvious lie?

"Oh please, you can't expect us to believe that?" Weiss said as she pointed right at him, his response was to reach into his pocket and pull out a wallet, out of which he pulled out a card.

"Here, it should explain some things," he said as Tsubaki took the card from him. Pyrrha and Yang surrounded her as Weiss remained where she was and glared daggers at the Faunus.

"Yep, this checks out."

"What!?" Weiss almost screamed as she rushed to Tsubaki's side and got a look at the card. Sure enough, it was a legitimate student ID with the Faunus' image on it and his name; Sun Wukong, age 17, Haven First Year.

"Yep, name's Sun Wukong. Leader of Team SSSN from Mistral, and here for the Vytal Festival!" he said as he smiled and pointed his thumb towards himself.

Weiss was having a hard time processing this. This man, Sun Wukong, was an actual student from Haven Academy and even a team leader, yet he unapologetically stowed away here. Why? He could have just waited for when the Mistral students were supposed to be arriving.

"Wait, why are you stowing away in the first place?" Pyrrha asked, "Why didn't you wait for when the Mistral students would be getting here?"

Sun shrugged, "Well, I wanted to get here early, y'know? See the sights, hit the town, all that jazz. Besides, I heard that today was the day Vacuo students from Shade Academy were supposed to be arriving, and since I grew up in Vacuo before moving to Mistral to go to Haven, I figured I'd come along."

"You could have just purchased a ticket to come to Vale at this time if you didn't want to wait for when the Mistral students would be arriving," Tsubaki interjected as she gave Sun his ID back, "By sneaking aboard a ship like that, you're making more problems for yourself and for others."

"Eh, it just seemed like fun," Sun casually said, "Figured I could see the sights early and have some fun sneaking aboard a ship to get here. Two birds with one stone."

"Are you kidding me!?" Weiss screamed as she felt her anger reach it's limit as the insipid oaf backed up a bit, "You mean to tell me that you flagrantly go about breaking the law, potentially tarnishing the credibility of yourself, your team, and your school, all because this is your idea of fun!?

"Whoa whoa, cool it snow angel," Sun held his hands up, "It ain't hurting anyone, so what's the big deal?"

"Uh, no offense Sun, but she kinda has a point," Pyrrha said, "It would probably reflect badly on Haven if you get caught doing that."

"Then I won't get caught," Sun shrugged, "I'd like to think I'm good at that."

"Well, we caught you, didn't we?" Yang pointed out.

"I'd like to think of it as just deciding not to vault over the buildings just yet," Sun cheekily retorted.

Before he could continue any further, Weiss had enough of his casual attitude towards his actions and summoned multiple glyphs to hold him down.

"Whoa, what the hell!?" Yang yelled out.

"Weiss, that's enough!" Tsubaki yelled to her, but Weiss wasn't having it right now.

"You," she growled at Sun as she neared, "Are a complete and utter inconsiderate moron!"

"Look I-"

"No, you look! You're acting like wanting to have fun gives you grounds to just ignore the law like that! Today you're stowing away, well what about tomorrow!? What if you decide 'Hey, I'll go about stealing something right from under someone's nose. Not like their business depends on it or anything' and go through with it? Ever consider that? Of course you didn't, you only have one functioning brain cell and it's just used for your own cheap thrills!"

"Hey!" Sun indignantly said.

"Okay, Weiss sto-" Yang tried to interrupt, but Weiss refused to let her talk.

"STAY THE FUCK OUT OF THIS XIAO LONG!"

Yang almost immediately backed up with a look of shock on her face. All of them did. Weiss turned back to Sun, who looked equally shocked, and continued.

"So tell me, Sun, how long are you going to keep this up before it all escalated to you actually hurting people? Before you decide to axe off people for fun? It's illegal, but as long as you don't get caught, it's all fun and games, right? Or how about stealing entire train cars of Dust? Or making a little girl's life miserable just because everything you do pisses her father off so much!? If you can't see that, you're no better than those bastards in the White Fang!"

"Weiss, STOP IT!"

Weiss yelped as she found herself shoved to the wall by Tsubaki. Weiss almost yelled at her, but instead found herself shrinking back at the withering glare her friend was giving her.

"You're angry, I understand that, but you're going too far. Now take a deep breath, and calm down," Tsubaki told her. Weiss did her best to calm herself amidst her fear and anger, breathing deeply as she felt her rage lower. As she did so, the glyphs that held Sun in place dissipated and he was free to move again.

Tsubaki let her go upon seeing that she had calmed down before turning to Sun, "Mr. Wukong, I suggest you follow us back to Beacon. You can explain everything to Professor Ozpin there and let him decide what should be done."

"Uh, okay then," Sun said, apparently rather shaken up by her rant from earlier.

"And Weiss," Tsubaki turned to her and gave her a stern look, "We will talk about this later. For now, let's just get back to Beacon."

Weiss nodded as she wordlessly followed the group out of the alleyway. She couldn't understand why, but she felt a growing sense of shame build up inside of her.

It was nightfall as Blake walked down the halls of the dorms by herself. She'd just left the school library, having wanted to spend some time reading to herself. She managed to find a private corner so that she could better enjoy the books from her...personal collection without worry of mockery.

After finishing one of the volumes, she noticed that the sun had went down and decided that enough was enough for today, leaving the library and heading back to her dorm room, where she was sure that the rest of her team was either sleeping, or in Nora's case, jumping everywhere like a hyperactive child on a sugar rush.

Such a line of thought made her question what Nora would be like on an actual sugar rush, but Blake didn't want to entertain any ideas that could potentially lead to Beacon Academy being destroyed.

"It's because of what the White Fang have been doing to my family!"

That muffled, angry sentence made Blake stop dead in her tracks, almost dropping the books she carried in her arm before turning to the door that housed the muffled cry.

That...That sounded like Weiss, she thought. She quietly placed her books on the floor and approached Team TSYP's door, placing her ear on it so she could listen.

"For the longest time, the White Fang have been at war with my family. And I mean an actual war, with people dying. I've seen company executives get killed off, family friends go missing, and around two months before the semester started we've had an entire train car full of Dust stolen. Everything they did made my father furious, and having to be around him when he was like that was...taxing for me."

As Blake listened, she couldn't help but feel her heart sink with each deed Weiss brought up that was leveled against her family. Yet the last one made her mind run a million miles in an instant.

I-is she talking about...no, she couldn't possibly mean...

But she knew that's exactly what the heiress meant.

"Well, that explains why you went all mega-pissed at Sun when he snuck aboard a ship," Yang's voice said behind the door, "Also explains why you were pretty damn adamant on the White Fang being behind those Dust store robberies when that cop brought it up."

What?

Blake had a hard time believing what she was hearing. The White Fang robbing Dust stores in Vale? She didn't want to believe it.

But deep down, she knew it was a strong possibility, if not an outright certainty.

She lifted herself up from where she was listening in and gathered her books before she walked away, feeling like she'd burn alive if she stayed there any longer.

"Weiss," Tsubaki started before continuing in a stern tone, "While I can't pretend to understand what that was like, as I never went through those circumstances, I still don't think that should give you grounds to behave as you did earlier today."

Her expression softened just a tad when she saw her friend become crestfallen, but she maintained her previous demeanor as best as she could.

"Look, I won't act like there wasn't a purpose or reason behind your anger, and Mr. Wukong's actions were certainly less than legal and are being properly punished by the professors, but at the same time, it isn't right for you to treat him as if he's no better than the White Fang."

At that, Weiss shot up, her anger having returned, "But he's a scoundrel! Even if he's a Haven student, he clearly has no clue how detrimental his actions are! How else is he going to learn that if I don't spell it out!?"

"Okay, Weiss, chill out," Yang said before her face contorted in disgust for some unknown reason for a brief second, "Look, being a rule-breaker aside, Sun seems pretty nice, so maybe try to give him a chance to show his better qualities?"

Pyrrha gave a curt nod, "I'm with Yang on this one," she then turned to Weiss, "Weiss, have you ever heard the story called The Savage Man?"

Weiss shook her head. Even Tsubaki had to admit, she had never heard of that story either.

"It's about a man named Victor Modo." Pyrrha said as she recounted the tale, "He was a kind man, who only wanted to live in peace, but he was unsightly in appearance and had a tendency to steal due to growing up alone with no way to support himself. Yet because of this and his appearance, he was treated as a monster and seen as no good by the people of his town. One day, all the abuse he received broke him, and he killed four of the people who hurt him before he was executed. Even before he was executed, he still did wrong things, but he was a good person at heart, and it wasn't until years of others giving him no hope, guidance, or help that he snapped as he did."

Pyrrha then leaned in and said, "My point from this is that while yes, you were right in calling out the wrongness of his actions, if you maintain this attitude towards him, especially with the level of aggression that you have now, then won't he eventually feel obligated to live up to how you see him?"

Tsubaki saw that Weiss just looked down, opting to remain silent. She felt her stern gaze soften as she placed a gentle hand on Weiss' shoulder, causing her to look up.

"Weiss, you don't have to say anything right now, but I think for now, we should just table the conversation. It's getting late, and we need to get some rest. Just think about it for now and we'll continue later, okay?"

She remained silent for another moment before she gave a reluctant nod. Tsubaki nodded back and gave her friend a brief hug, after which the four of them started preparing for bed.

Blake couldn't sleep. No matter how hard she tried, she just couldn't relax enough to close her eyes and dose off. She hadn't even bothered to change into her yukata, instead just taking off her boots and trying to sleep in her normal clothes.

Part of it may have had to do with her teammates, specifically Makoto and Nora's, loud snoring, but it mostly had to do with what she heard from Team TSYP's room earlier.

A part of her refused to accept that the White Fang were responsible for what Weiss accused them of. They'd never needed so much Dust as to rob several Dust stores from what she heard.

But then her mind kept jumping back to many months ago, back on the train in Forever Fall.

The one she and...and her partner attacked.

With what the White Fang had become, with what she had let it become, she reluctantly wouldn't put what she had heard past them either.

She got up and walked into the bathroom before closing the door as quietly as she could. She turned on the lights and started splashing water on her face before she looked at her reflection. As Blake stared, she pulled off her bow, revealing her hidden cat ears. She looked down at the ribbon in her hand with a mixture of anger and sadness.

Look at you, she thought with disgust, Hiding from the White Fang, hiding from your teammates, hiding from him. Running and hiding are all you know how to do.

"That's not..." Blake tried to convince herself, "That's not true."

But if it isn't, then why am I still here, while the White Fang are out there in Vale hurting people?

"But I don't know if that's true." she said as tears started to well in her eyes.

Stop lying to yourself, you know it is.

"Blake?"

Hearing the familiar voice, she snapped back and saw Makoto standing in the now open doorway with a concerned look.

"You okay?" she asked as she walked in and closed the door.

"Yeah," Blake said as she sniffled and wiped her eyes before she tried to put her bow back on, only for Makoto to stop her; her partner's hazel eyes looked back into hers with compassion and worry.

"Blake, you don't have to hide it from me," Makoto said, "What's wrong?"

"It's..." Blake tried to say, but she couldn't find the words, "I overheard Weiss talking about something when I walked by her room. Can we just leave it at that?"

She couldn't tell if it was to her dismay or relief, but Makoto shook her head before she pleaded, "Blake, you're holding a lot of shit inside and it's really eating you up right now. Please, just let it out. Let me help."

Blake looked down as she felt conflicted. She wanted to tell her partner to just drop it and go back to bed, but she couldn't bring herself to do it.

"I overheard her talk about the White Fang being behind a series of robberies in Vale," she explained after a short sigh, "I just...I feel like a coward just sitting here doing nothing while they're probably out there causing more pain."

"White Fang. You mean the terrorist group?" Makoto asked as her face turned inquisitive, "I don't get it. How exactly is it bothering you this much? I mean, it's not like you were a member of the White Fang or anything, so what's the bi-"

As soon as those words left Makoto's mouth, Blake did everything she could to hide her pain at being reminded of what she was, even though she knew it was just coincidence that Makoto just so happened to be correct. But she clearly didn't hide it well enough, as Makoto's face shifted from confusion to realization as her hand covered her mouth and her eyes became shocked.

"Oh...Oh my gods, y-you were..."

Blake almost bolted out of the room, but before she could, Makoto got in her way faster than she could react.

She didn't know what to expect. She expected anger, betrayal, to be yelled at by her partner. Something like that was expected.

Instead, she felt her entire body go ridged as Makoto enveloped her in a warm, soft hug.

"Blake, it's okay," Makoto whispered before she let go and pulled out of the hug. Blake didn't know what to say as her vision became misty and she turned back to her partner.

While she couldn't say anything, as her mouth just wouldn't work, she instead leaned forward and enveloped her friend into a thankful hug, conveying all her gratitude into this gesture. Wetness ran down her cheeks as she felt Makoto gently run her back and return the hug, letting her know everything was fine, that the revelation of her past hadn't ruined anything.

As she retracted, she wiped her eyes and whispered, "Thank you. I really needed that."

Makoto nodded, "Feeling better now?"

Blake looked back at the ribbon that made up her bow in her hand. While she felt better, she still felt the nagging feeling of guilt inside. That if what she heard was true, then she couldn't just sit back and do nothing like she always had. She needed to get up and do something.

"A little, but not completely," she admitted, "I think it's that with the White Fang out there, I can't rest easy," she then tied the ribbon back onto her head in its bow form, once more hiding her ears, "I'm going to Vale. If they really are behind this, then I need to stop them."

"Say no more," Makoto said, her face dawning a cheeky smile, "I'll help you out."

"No," Blake said with finality. She had to do this on her own so that no one else got hurt. Makoto tagging along would put her at risk.

"Blake, you should know by now that you saying 'no' sure ain't gonna stop me," Makoto said defiantly with her hands to her hips, "I'm not gonna just sit back while you go out and probably risk your life on this. You need someone to watch your back."

Blake just stared at Makoto for a second before she realized something and said, "Even if I kept saying no, you'd sneak out and follow me, wouldn't you?"

"Yep," Makoto replied with an audible pop as she emphasized the 'p'.

All Blake could do was sigh and bring her hand to her face, "Alright you can come, but we can't tell anyone about this."

Makoto nodded as they both exited the bathroom, both seeing that their teammates were still fast asleep. Blake got her boots on and retrieved Gambol Shroud while Makoto got dressed and holstered her tonfas on her hips before going to the desk and taking out a sticky note pad and started writing on it.

"What are you doing?" Blake asked in a hushed whisper.

"Giving us an alibi so Nora and Ren won't suspect anything," Makoto said as she showed Blake what she wrote. Blake couldn't help but facepalm internally as she read it.

"'Went out to get milk. B back l8ter.' Makoto, they're never gonna fall for that," Blake admonished as quietly as she dared, "And why would you write it like that?"

Makoto just gave a quick shrug before replying, "Well, it'll have to do. Ready to go, partner?"

Blake nodded and the two silently tip-toed there way out of the room with Makoto sticking the note to the door as they left.

Good, now we just have to sneak out without anyone noticing, Blake thought to herself. Though with everyone probably deep asleep in their dorm rooms at this hour, the odds of them getting spotted where rather unlikely.

Ragna snapped awake and sat up to the sound of a twig being crushed and scrambling footsteps on the concrete from around the corner. He looked in the direction of the noise and saw two figures running out of the dorm from afar. His curiosity peaked, he got up and lifted Aramasa from its planted position on the ground and sheathed it before he went to see who those figures were while trying to remain hidden. Thankfully they both seemed to stop at the statue in front of Beacon, letting him get close by hiding behind one of the nearby pillars. He squinted his eyes to see who they were, briefly widening them in surprise when the two figures became more recognizable.

"Blake and Makoto," Ragna whispered to himself, "What the hell are they doing?"

It looked like they were talking, but he couldn't make out what they were saying. He focused his hearing on trying to listen in on their conversation. The most he could hear was Makoto saying something about 'investigating' and Blake said what sounded like 'where they attacked' before they both started running straight for the city.

As Ragna got out from behind the pillar, he watched as they disappeared into the night before he pulled out his scroll and sent a message to Ruby, letting him know where he'd be going. With the message sent, he started chasing after them, making sure that he would not be seen.

Something was up, and he intended to find out what it was.

Chapter Text

Ruby yawned as she stretched her arms in her bed, trying to wake herself up. Despite her morning exhaustion, she couldn't help but feel excited. It was a Saturday! That meant no classes or lectures to deal with, just her and her team getting to have fun for a whole day. Granted, she planned nothing out for a day like this and felt that she needed to get a binder to mitigate that, but she was sure she could wing it for today and manage without one for now.

"Guys, time to wake up!" She loudly said as she turned to her sleeping teammates, "It's Saturday! Let's have some fun!"

Jaune and Noel started to move and wake up. Just as Ruby heard Noel yawn, she went to their dorm window and opened it to wake Ragna up.

"Hey Ragna! Wake-"

She stopped herself when she saw that Ragna wasn't in his usual spot and that there was no sign of him.

"Okay Ruby, we're up," Noel said as she walked up, "How's Ragna doin-"

Much like Ruby, Noel stopped and snapped awake when she saw that Ragna wasn't there.

"Oh no, please tell me he didn't actually leave this time!" Noel said with worry as Ruby made an effort to calm her down.

"Noel, stop," she said, "Look, Ragna wouldn't have left without a reason. Maybe he went to one of the classrooms or teachers or something?"

"Part of me kinda sorta doubts that if I'm being honest," Jaune said, now fully awake.

Ruby gave Jaune a dirty look and was about to retort before she got an idea, "I know! I'll just call him and ask where he is! No biggie!"

"But what if he doesn't answer?" Noel asked.

Ruby wasn't even going to entertain that thought. She knew Ragna would answer if she called ahead, she just knew it. However, as she opened her scroll, she saw that she had one unread message sent to her last night. As she opened it, she saw who it was from.

"Guys, Ragna left me a message last night!" Ruby exclaimed as Noel and Jaune swarmed her to read what he left with.

Ruby cleared her throat and read the message out loud, "'Saw Blake and Makoto sneak off campus and into Vale. Heard Makoto say something about an investigation. Gonna follow and see what they're doing. See you after I figure it out.'"

That got the metaphorical gears in Ruby's head turning. Just why were Blake and Makoto out so late? Where were they going in Vale that needed investigating?

"Think we should follow after him?" Jaune asked.

Ruby nodded, "If he ends up getting in trouble, then I don't want him to face it alone. Can't say I was expecting to spend a Saturday quite like this, but I can manage."

The three of them all agreed to go to Vale to lend Ragna a hand, and if Blake and Makoto were in trouble, they'd help them out as well. All of them got dressed and proceeded out of their room with their weapons and gear in tow. Just as they were about to go down the hallway, however...

"Hey guys! Where ya headed?"

They turned and saw Nora was awake and in her pajamas, though she hardly looked tired. Right behind her was Ren, who was currently bleary eyed and dressed in his usual attire.

Do they know where half their team is? Ruby thought to herself before asking out loud, "Uh, guys, where are Blake and Makoto?"

"Oh, they left a note on the door saying that they went out to get more milk. Though looking back, it's pretty suspicious since our room doesn't even have a refrigerator and the dormitory fridge usually gets restocked on its own, so I have a hunch that it was merely an alibi," Nora concluded as she put on a monocle that she got from...actually, Ruby had no idea where she got it from.

"Nora," Ren said in exasperation, "I told you that five minutes ago."

"Really?" Nora said as she turned to her partner, "Huh, must have still been half asleep."

Ruby had no idea how to properly formulate a response to that.

"Guys, we think we may have an idea where they are," Jaune said, apparently unfazed by Nora's...Noraness, "Ragna sent us a text that he saw them going into Vale to 'investigate' something, but we have no idea what it is. We're about to head to Vale to find Ragna and the others."

Ruby nodded and continued, "You guys want to come with? They're your teammates after all."

Both of them nodded before they went back into their room and, in less than half a second, slammed the door open, both dressed and ready with their weaponry. At this point, Ruby wasn't going to question how Nora managed to change into her armor in less time than it took to blink.

"Let's go! To Vale everyone!" Nora yelled, probably waking up some of the other students, as they ran out of the dorms and headed straight for Vale.

Blake wiped the sweat from her brow as she and Makoto walked on the sidewalk. She felt drained, and not from exhaustion, but from failure. The two of them had been at it all night, investigating the robbed stores in search of any callsigns or clues that the White Fang really were behind those robberies. Blake hoped against hope that they weren't behind them, but deep down she knew that they were. Another major part of her search was that she was also desperate for any clues that could give them an idea on where they would attack next so that she could stop them. When no clues turned up, she and Makoto spent the rest of the night surveying the closed Dust shops and stores that had yet to be attacked, but nothing came of it.

"Hey, Blake," Makoto's voice drew her out of her melancholy as she nodded her head towards a café they had stopped in front of, "Let's get a bite, we've been at it since midnight. I think we need a break."

Blake was about to protest before she heard her stomach growl. She loathed to admit it, but she was tired and starving from last night. At this point, Blake really did need a few minutes of rest.

She nodded as she and Makoto went in and ordered some food before bringing it outside. Makoto got a chestnut parfait and some coffee while Blake got a croissant and tea.

The two of them ate in silence. Well, Blake was the silent one for the most part seeing as Makoto wolfed down her parfait in seconds with a lot of loud munching.

After she drank some coffee, Makoto looked Blake in the eye and asked, "So, Blake, what's your story with..." she then looked around and saw that no one was around to be listening in on them, "Y'know, with the White Fang?"

Blake hesitated to answer that question. That was something she was hoping she wouldn't have to face, and having to talk about it in any capacity meant that she'd have to face it. She was hoping to get away from it, to get away from the violence and bloodshed her former brothers and sisters had caused in an effort to gain mankind's respect, and she was hoping to get away from...from him. But here she was, chasing after them with her friend.

At this point, she resigned herself to having to come clean. Makoto had been a dear friend to her for the past few months since her semester at Beacon began. She respected her secret and helped keep it hidden. Not to mention that there was just something about her, whether it be her exuberance or unending kindness, that made her want to be open with her. Blake ultimately decided that now, her friend deserved the truth.

"I guess you could say I was born into the group," she began, "What do you know personally about the White Fang?"

Makoto shrugged, "Not much other than what I've heard on the streets. Former peace protest organization goes terrorist cell and launches a bunch of attacks on mankind. I only started really hearing about them in the last few years."

"Well, their leader used to be my father," Blake said, with Makoto's face becoming shocked in response.

"Wait, huh?"

"It's a long story," Blake cleared her throat as she explained, "The White Fang was originally a symbol of peace after the Faunus Rights Revolution, meant to bring unity between humans and Faunus, but that obviously didn't happen. Faunus were still considered lesser beings to mankind and were subjected to discrimination and scorn."

"Oh believe me, that part I'm all too familiar with," Makoto admitted with an almost sneer.

"I'm sorry for what you had to go through," Blake empathized.

"It's fine. Anyway, continue," Makoto said, trying to get back on topic.

Blake continued, "As a result, the White Fang rose up to become the voice of our people. My father and I were all there for every protest rally and boycott in the pursuit of peace. I thought we were finally making a difference, and my father did to. But I guess I was just being too naïve for my own good to see what was really happening."

Blake's look became dark as Makoto looked upon her with eyes full of concern, "Five years ago, my father decided to step down as the leader, becoming Menagerie's chieftain instead. Sienna Khan took over the White Fang after that, and she brought with her a new way of thinking. Peaceful protests became organized assaults. Boycotts against shops that refused to serve or hire us became arsonist attacks that burned them to the ground. We assaulted people, destroyed property, and hijacked cargo from companies that employed Faunus labor."

"And you want to know the thing that disgusted me the most?" Blake continued as her voice grew angrier, "Those same methods ended up working. Because of what we were doing, people were treating us like equals. Not out of respect...but out of fear. Mankind treated us like monsters, and we became everything they called us!"

"Blake, breathe. Deep breathes," Makoto tried to calm her down. Thankfully, she could feel the anger leaving already.

"Thanks," Blake said with sincerity, "Anyway, I couldn't take it anymore, so I left. I ran away from them. I hated how I used my skills to help them and wanted to do good, so I chose to become a Huntress, and hid who I was from everyone."

"Whoa," Makoto said as Blake concluded her story, "That's...that's a lot to take in."

Blake nodded as Makoto asked, "So, if you don't mind me asking, why now? After you heard what Weiss said, why are you trying to stop them now?"

"Because it's my fault," Blake admitted, "I watched the White Fang devolve into a terrorist organization, and I just sat there and did nothing while they caused strife and death. I just...if they're here, then I need to put a stop to them."

Makoto nodded and gave her a warm smile. Blake felt something flutter in her chest at the sight, but she also felt lighter overall, as if she had been luging an anchor this entire time and she had just been given the key to removing it.

"Well, good to see you ain't gonna sit on your ass anymore if that's the case."

Blake stood up in shock and looked upward to where the voice came from. On top if the roof of the café was Ragna, sitting on the side of the building with his legs hanging over the edge and his blade sheathed behind him.

"What the fuck!" Makoto cursed, "When did you get here!?"

"I've been tailing both of you all night," he admitted as he jumped down from the building, "Kinda shocked you guys never noticed."

"How did you even know we were out?" Blake asked, "We didn't make any noise in the dorms."

"But you made plenty of noise outside the dorms, and I sleep under a tree outside the window of my dorm room," Ragna shrugged as he looked at Blake, "So, you're trying to track down some White Fang shitbags and kick there asses out of Vale out of a mix of a guilt complex and because they threaten people, am I correct?"

"Uh, yeah, more or less," Blake said, "Are you going to try and bring us back to Beacon and report us to Ozpin?"

Ragna looked at her like she just grew a second head, "Do I look like a fucking teacher's pet to you two? I'm here because I saw you both leave, got curious, and went after you. Now that I know what you're doing, I want in."

"No, not happening. Absolutely not!" Blake shook her head rapidly as she walked out of the café gate, "I originally wanted to do this on my own. That way no one would get hurt except for me."

"Then why the hell's Makoto here?"

"I may have convinced her to let me tag along," Makoto said, "Look, Blakey, I don't like him tagging along any more than you do, but if we do run into your old crew, odds are we could use some extra muscle."

"And it ain't like I'm giving you a choice." Ragna said as he crossed his arms.

Blake, understanding that she was on the losing end of the argument, growled and threw her hands up in frustration, "Fine, just don't do anything excessive like you did way back with Cardin, got it?"

Ragna sighed as he followed her, "I knew I wasn't gonna live that down, but fine, we'll play by your rules if it'll keep you from bitching the whole time."

Blake and Makoto glared at him as the three of them began walking.

The sound of liquid draining from her stasis tube filled her ears as she lowered to the metallic floor. She opened her eyes and saw her physical appearance through the reflection in the glass. She saw her blonde, long-flowing hair go down her back and make contact with the grey bodysuit she wore. Her green eyes stared at herself as another figure entered her vision.

He was a human male with dark skin and brown hair that had what appeared to be a few white streaks in it, signifying advancing age. His attire consisted of a standard lab coat, much like those worn by the other scientists at this facility, underneath which he wore a white shirt under a red vest with a tie of pink coloration around his neck, as well as dark grey pants and black shoes.

"Oh! Uh, excuse me, Miss Kappa, have I disturbed you?" he said

"My designation is Kappa-10. I am not classified as 'Miss Kappa'," she answered.

"Oh. well, uh, they gave me orders to bring you to the main combat testing chamber. So, yeah..." he said, once more in a demeanor rather abnormal compared to the other researchers here. She followed him as the cylindrical glass containment unit lifted and allowed her to exit.

The two walked down the sterilized, white hallway side-by-side, she started noticing more of his abnormalities. He did not carry himself with same level of pride as the others did. He seemed rather discomforted by his fellow workers, as whenever they passed by one of them, he would shirk away or avoid eye contact. Lastly, when she was being led to testing or analysis on her parameters, the researcher would always lead and direct her, but this man instead allowed her to walk directly beside him and occasionally sent her a look that she could not describe. The others would not spare her a glance.

She could not tell if it was because he was new here or not, as while she held no recognition of him, the same could be said for the rest of them as well, as they acted so similar that they blended in regardless of their physical appearances.

"Excuse me," the man said as he stopped, which prompted her to do the same, "I'm sorry for being a dunce, just forgot that I never introduced myself properly to you. My name is Pietro Polendina."

He then held his hand out and his face shifted to a smile. She was confused by the gesture. Why was he holding his hand out?

And why would he refer to himself as a 'dunce'? That was meant to refer to individuals of low intellect, yet if he was here, he objectively could not be one.

He still held out his hand and had the same smile on his face. She could not understand why he was doing either of those. However, he did give her his name, and that likely meant that he was expecting her to give her name as well. It seemed rather pointless, as he previously showed that he already knew her identification number and designation, so there was no purpose to restating it.

But regardless, he was for all intents and purposes, a superior to her, so she had no option but to respond.

"Kappa-10."

His smile faltered just an inch, which...bothered her for reasons she could not understand. She gave him her designation, as was expected, but he seemed unhappy with it.

"What is wrong?" As soon as the question left her mouth, she wondered why she asked that. She did not intend to and she never questioned the researchers beforehand, yet without thinking, she did so here. Was it a defect in her programming?

"It's nothing, really, it's just..." he stopped himself before continuing, "I guess it just doesn't sit well with me for someone to have a number for a name."

Her designation...bothered him?

"Well if you're alright with it, then that's fine with me, but how about I give you a nickname?" he asked, "Take me as an example, growing up, friends called me 'Pete'. What would you like to be called?"

She was unsure how to react to that question. She had never been asked a question once in her existence. She had been given orders and commands, but never asked if she wanted something.

What would she even do with a name, much less a nickname, to begin with?

"I...I do not understand," was all she could respond with.

"Hmm," he placed a hand to his chin and hummed to himself, "Well, so long as you're okay with it, would it be alright if I gave you one?"

She could only nod. He gave her another smile that made her feel something. It was a confusing feeling that she did not remember feeling before, but it made her feel warm. Safe, even.

"Well, how about..."

"Penny. Penny darling, food's ready!"

The voice of her father promising delicious food woke her right from her slumber as Penny Polendina jumped out of bed and stretched her arms. She looked in her bedroom mirror, which was attached to a desk that had randomly scattered arts and crafts, as well as her plush toy cricket, Jiminy, on it. She smiled as she saw her reflection, looking as she normally did only sans her bow and with her usual night attire of a mint green shirt and black pajama pants. She headed to the kitchen where her father was, her bare feet running along the floor of the apartment.

"Good morning dad!" she greeted with exuberance as she entered the kitchen.

"Actually darling, it's closer to noon. Figured since it was a Saturday, I'd let you sleep in and we could eat brunch later."

Her father, Pietro Polendina, now dressed in a beige shirt with a red vest over it as well as mustard colored pants with brown shoes, was bringing the plates of rice, baked beans, and pork to the small dining room table. As he set them down, he rolled over to her with his arms stretched out, with Penny rushing towards him to fill them with her embrace.

As they hugged, Penny felt her smile fade for a moment at her father's predicament. Gone was the use of his legs, bounding him to a wheelchair, and the stress of having to move around frequently to prevent those people from finding them had taken a toll on his physical health. His hair had gone almost entirely white from stress and he was balding on the top of his head. He needed purchases of medication to deal with his cough and other health issues.

And despite that, he still smiled. He still did everything he could to take care of her and keep her safe, often to the point of neglecting his wellbeing. So Penny did her best to smile as well. He said that it didn't matter how much hardship he went through so long as at the end of the day, she got to live her life and be happy, and she was happy, even if seeing her father like this negated it to a degree. So she kept smiling, if not for her sake, then for his.

"You know father, if you had woken me up a few hours earlier, I could have helped you cook brunch today," Penny said as they released from the embrace.

He grimaced, "No offense dear, but last time you cooked, I ended up getting a stomach ulcer. Didn't look much like food either."

"I know, I'm not a proficient chef, but I won't get better if I don't try," Penny retorted, "Besides, you always cook for the both of us, and I'd like to be able to do the same."

"If we get the chance, maybe we can see about getting you some cooking lessons if you're interested," Pietro said, "Gonna be a while though, all things considered, but I'll see if I can manage one eventually."

Penny beamed at the thought as she sat down and dug into her brunch.

"RAGNA!"

"BLAKE!"

"MAKOTO!"

Noel was getting worried as she and her friends kept calling out the names of their three missing teammates repeatedly. They'd been searching all morning for those three and so far, no luck. It was already almost noon and nothing had come up from their search.

"We could try calling them," Nora suggested.

Ren shook his head, "I tried calling Blake and Makoto earlier, but they didn't pick up. So either they don't have any reception wherever they are, or they're deliberately ignoring our calls for whatever reasons."

"Same with us," Noel said, "Ragna didn't pick up either. What do you guys think they're doing?"

"Ragna did mention on his text that Blake and Makoto were 'investigating' something," Ruby brought up, "So maybe they're hunting a criminal down and need to keep quiet?

"Maybe, but what kind of criminal would they be hunting anyway? Did Blake or Makoto ever say anything that could give us a clue?" Jaune asked as he looked to Nora and Ren, both of whom shook their heads.

"No dice, sorry Jaune," Nora said, "Nothing I remember from hanging out with Makoto is giving me any ideas and Blake is about as reserved as Ren," she then turned to her partner, "Uh, no offense Ren."

"None taken."

"Well, in any case, I'd say our best bet at finding them is to cover as much ground as possible," Ruby declared as she got to the front of the group, "Okay, so Nora and Ren will explore Vale's downtown area while me, Noel, and Jaune try exploring more of this area. If we find anything, we call each other to meet up. Sound good?"

Noel nodded with the plan alongside the others. Splitting up into their teams would make the search go faster.

"Alright, then let's get to searching!"

And with that, Nora and Ren headed towards their search area with Nora giving a goofy salute as they ran off while what was currently available of Team RNJR started heading to the lower West of Vale's downtown.

As they began their search anew, Noel could only wonder where Ragna was and what he was doing.

"So, seeing as your search turned up jack and shit, any other ideas?" Ragna asked, currently walking behind his two acquaintances as the three of them travelled down an alley.

"Well's coming up empty on plans at the moment," Makoto admitted as she walked with her hands behind her head.

"It'd be so much easier if we had any clues as to where they could attack next," Blake said, hand under her chin in contemplation, "But nothing on any crime scenes we went to had any clues and the other Dust stores in town that we watched were never touched."

Ragna hummed to himself. So none of them had any ideas as to where the White Fang could strike at next and didn't even have a rumor to chase.

"I think I have an idea," Ragna said as he got their attention, "Let's just say I'm familiar with the shadier parts of cities like this one. Usually places like those have informants that have all kinds of information they pick up. They go after any rumor they can find like moths to a flame. I'll head there, see what I can find, and I'll call you guys ahead of time with what I got."

"How exactly do you even know about all this?" Makoto asked.

"Spend more than a few years of your life travelling all over the place, going through cities and seeing their shitty underbellies, and you learn a thing or two," Ragna informed them, remembering his and Jubei's travels throughout the years and when a job of his tasked them with tearing out a chunk or two of the criminal underworld.

He looked up at the fire escape of one of the buildings they were next to before looking back at them, "I'll head there now. You'll hear from me when I find something we can use."

He then jumped to the fire escape and used it to vault to the roof of the building before he headed where he remembered where to go. Hopefully this wouldn't take too long.

"RAGNA!" Ruby yelled out again in search for her partner with Jaune and Noel behind her, calling out his name with equal volume. They had been searching for the past two and a half hours since they and the two members of Team Brine had split off into groups, though they technically had to spend one of those hours to stop for lunch since they had all gotten hungry, but that technically qualified as searching seeing as they asked everyone in the fast food joint if they had seen anyone matching either Ragna, Blake, or Makoto's description. They even tried calling Ragna again right after the fact, but once more he didn't respond.

"You guys don't think he's in trouble, do you?" Noel asked, "I mean, if they're getting involved in some kind of criminal stuff to try and stop it, do you think he may have gotten captured or something?"

Jaune shook his head, "Nah, if he is, I'd feel more sorry for the criminals."

"I'm with Jaune on this one Noel. Ragna's pretty much our team's big gun," Ruby said before she sighed, "And given how aggressive he tends to be, odds are he's more likely to cause trouble than get into it."

"Well, big gun or not, we don't leave a man behind," Jaune said, "Even if we technically didn't leave that man behind and he left us though not really!"

"I...I think I followed that," Noel said before she pulled out her scroll and gestured for them to surround her. They looked and saw that she pulled out a map of Vale, "So, we already searched this area. Now where do we search?"

Ruby looked at the map, contemplating where else their friends could be.

Blake paced back and forth on the roof of a building while Makoto laid down on her back. It had been a few hours since Ragna left to gather information and it was already the afternoon. While she knew that information gathering wasn't the most timely process, she was getting restless.

"Blake, you're stressing out," Makoto said in a 'matter-of-fact' tone.

"No, I'm not," she responded, though even she wouldn't be convinced by her tone of voice.

"Uh huh, and vampires are real, there's a giant death satellite orbiting the planet, and we're nothing but characters in a half-assed story written by an idiot who never plans far ahead in life," Makoto replied, her voice oozing sarcasm.

Blake growled and ranted, "Okay, fine! Yes, I'm stressed out! It's been hours but we haven't heard back from him, and in that time the White Fang could have committed gods know what gods know where in Vale, and we're just sitting here on a roof waiting for the most violent jackass at Beacon to call us for what could be incorrect information! So yes, I'm stressed out! Why aren't you!?"

"I guess I've just mastered the art of bullshitting and pretending I'm cool on the outside," Makoto shrugged.

Blake was unsure how to respond to that. Before she could open her mouth to try, she felt a buzz from her pocket.

Finally! she thought as she pulled her scroll out and held it to her ear. From the corner of her eye, she could see Makoto stand up to get a listen.

"Ragna, what did yo-" Blake began before...

"FUCK YOU ASSHOLE!"

"Excuse me!?" Blake said with indignation. The voice clearly wasn't Ragna's but for a moment she thought it was directed at her.

"Hold up," Ragna's voice cut in as what sounded like a physical hit came through on the other end.

"ARGH!"

"There we go," Ragna continued, "Anyway, sorry that took a while on my end. Had to go through a bunch of assholes before they could spew out something I could use."

"D-did you..." Blake started with a nervous edge to her voice, "Did you kill any-"

"What? NO!" Ragna loudly stated, the sound of the groaning of some of the thugs in the background seemed to validate his declaration, "Gods no, damn you're fucking paranoid. I just beat the snot out of enough of them until they gave some decent information on the White Fang. Keep in mind, it's all just rumors, but it's more than what you started off with."

"So, what did you find out?" Blake asked.

"That there's gonna be a large, and I mean freighter-sized, Dust shipment straight from asshole central coming in this afternoon. Odds are, if they're going after Dust, they'd want a piece of that overstuffed pie."

"Okay, so we'll head to the warehouses at the dock area and have a stake out. Wait for any signs of trouble," Blake pieced together as she felt her stress go down just a tad. If nothing else, they now had a lead.

"I'll meet you guys there," Ragna concluded as he hung up.

"Oh! Stakeout!" Makoto said in excitement, "And me without my binoculars."

"We better get moving. Come on." Blake said as she started jumping across rooftops towards where she knew the docks were, Makoto following behind her.

Penny hummed to herself as she walked home from the grocery store as the sun set and the sky turned a warming shade of orange; bags of food in her hands. She had taken notice that their refrigerator was running low on food and her father originally declared that he'd be going to get more later, but then he started coughing and Penny had to help him with his medicine. After seeing that, Penny made the offer to go and get the provisions herself since she felt her father was in poor physical condition to do so. It took some convincing, but he agreed to it so long as she was careful and brought a sweater to keep warm since it would be cold out.

"MAKOOOOOTO!" she stopped in her tracks as she heard a yell from around the corner she was walking towards.

Her curiosity peaked, she rounded the corner and saw Nora and Ren, her two new friends from the bookstore, yelling at the sky. Or rather, Nora was yelling at the sky while Ren seemed to be looking around.

"Nora, Ren?" Penny opened as she garnered the two's attention.

They both turned to her, "Oh, hiya Penny!" Nora greeted before looking down, "Nice sweater."

Penny looked down and saw that she was gesturing to her lime green hooded sweater with a large blue whale design on the front, "Thank you," she replied, "May I ask why you're shouting your friend's name at the sky?"

Ren opened his mouth to speak, but Nora beat him to the punch.

"They both ran off to investigate something last night," she explained, "We've been trying to find them all day, but we got nothing right now."

"'They'?" Penny questioned to herself before she realized what Nora meant, "Oh! You mean both of your Faunus friends have gone missing?"

"Wait, what do you mean 'both'?" Ren said as his expression became confused, "Makoto's the only Faunus on our team."

Penny became curious at his statement. How did they not know that Blake was also a Faunus? She wondered why before she realized what that meant.

Blake had been keeping that hidden from them. Meaning she had just outed her.

"Oh no," Penny said as her expression became downtrodden, "If you weren't aware already then she clearly didn't want you to know. I shouldn't have said anything."

"Wait, wait, wait!" Nora repeated as she grabbed Penny and held her up by her arms, "Are you telling me that Blake is secretly a Faunus!?"

"Uh," Penny stuttered, as she wasn't sure if she should continue, but the metaphorical and literal cat seemed to have been removed from its bag, as the saying went, so all she could do was reluctantly nod and answer, "Yes. She's a cat Faunus to be precise. She has cat ears."

"But she doesn't have cat ears, she has..." Nora said as she dawned a face of realization as she dropped Penny to the ground, "...a...bow..."

They all stood there in silence for moments. As they did, a gust of wind picked up and Penny could have sworn she saw a tumble weed blow by at their side.

"Y'know, looking back, it's rather embarrassing that we never noticed," Ren spoke up, "I mean, she has a massive love for tuna, she's terrified of dogs whenever they get brought up, and there was that one incident with Nora and the laser pointer."

Penny wasn't paying much attention to Ren, as she was more concerned for Nora, who currently looked like her entire body had locked itself in place.

"How do we fix your friend?" Penny asked, hoping that this wasn't a permanent thing.

Ren simply pulled something out of his pocket, from the looks of it a permanent marker, and removed the cap before putting it near Nora's nose. The frozen expression on Nora turned to one of delight as she closed her eyes and hummed, "Mmmm...pancakes," before they snapped open and she looked around frantically.

"Huh! What!? Where am I!? Where are the pancakes!?"

Penny was at a loss for words as to what she had just witnessed. She looked towards Ren, who simply said, "Pancake scented permanent marker. Good for when she sleeps through half of the day and refuses to wake up."

"I curse the day you bought that demon tool," Nora muttered out loud, "Making me think that there are pancakes when there's nothing."

"In any case, Blake being a Faunus doesn't matter to us. Right now, we need to find her and Makoto," Ren said as he gave a slight bow towards Penny, "We apologize for troubling you. We need to get back to finding out friend."

Ren turned to continue his search with Nora following behind him. Before they could get very far, Penny called out to them, "Wait! Let me help you find them."

Both of them looked at her with confused expressions before looking at each other, then looking back at her. Nora scratched the top of her head and asked, "Sure, but can we know why first?"

"I suppose my reasoning is that I wish to atone for accidentally outing her when she wanted to remain hidden," Penny explained, "Also because I have yet to make amends for when I accidentally revealed that her purchased books were a series of erotic novels. Besides, it would not be right for me to stand idle when I can help both of you."

Ren nodded, "We won't turn down any help we can get. Do you think you can manage and carry those as well?" he gestured to the bags still in her hands. Penny looked down at them and gave the two a curt nod.

"Well then Penny, welcome to 'Operation: Find Blake and Makoto Before We Pass Out From Exhaustion'," Nora's long, inexplicable name for their search was met with silence. Another tumbleweed passed by them.

How does this city have tumbleweeds? Penny wondered to herself.

"Let's get moving," Ren said as he and Nora went back to searching for their friends, calling out Blake and Makoto's names, with Penny now following suit, calling to the missing members of Team BRNN with as much vigor as her companions.

Damn I'm tired, Makoto thought to herself as she yawned. She and Blake were sprawled atop one of the rooftops of a building at the freighter yard. It was nightfall, with the sound of chirping crickets filling her ears as they oversaw the SDC shipment.

They'd been here since roughly 5:00 pm and had been watching the entire shipment of freight containers get offloaded and organized. Throughout that whole time, no White Fang activity had occurred.

"You sure those informants' info was any good Ragna?" Makoto asked the white-haired swordsman, who was crouching down and holding the pommel of his sword with the tip of the blade impaled into the roof they were on.

"Like I said," he shrugged, "Info from these fuckers can be fickle, but this is the best lead I could wring out of them."

"Guess we'll just have to wait and find out now," Blake said. And right as she said this, the wind began to bellow around them. Makoto looked up and saw a Bullhead enter the area, searchlights looking around for a landing zone before it descended at the center of the cargo containers and opened its ramp, out of which walked multiple black-hooded people wearing white masks that resembled Grimm. Makoto overheard one of them say something about preparing towing cables. While she had never seen them before, she was fairly certain who these people were.

"That them, Blake?" she asked, keeping a quiet tone.

"Yeah, that's them," Blake said, voice laced with a mix of apprehension and sadness at the sight. Makoto wanted to comfort her, to tell her that what they were doing wasn't her fault, that there was nothing she could do back then and that she was doing something about it now, but before she could even try, a voice from down below caught her attention.

"Alright! What's with the hold up!? Pick things up now, animals! We're not exactly inconspicuous at the moment!"

She looked down and saw that the owner of the voice was a bowling hat wearing man with orange hair and a white suit. What shocked her most was that this man was a human, and yet he was working with an anti-human terrorist group.

Makoto turned to her current company and saw that Blake and Ragna had a look of shock on both of their faces.

"I recognize that guy," Ragna began whispering to them, "He's Roman Torchwick, a crime boss that operates in Vale. Never had any run ins with him personally, but I know him by word of mouth."

"This just doesn't make any sense!" Blake whispered as loudly as she dared, "The White Fang would never work with any human, least of all someone as despicable as him!"

"Okay, so what's the pla-" Makoto started to ask before Blake unsheathed her blade and walked off the edge of the roof, "Blake? Blake!" Makoto whispered as loud as she could when she ran to the edge and saw that Blake was already running behind the cargo freights to get in closer.

"Looks like we're doing this the hard way," Ragna said as he placed his blade on his right shoulder and prepared to jump off to try and fight, but Makoto got in his way.

"No, we can't just go around rushing in sword swinging for this, we need a plan."

"So what do you think your leader's doing?"

"Obviously she's trying to sneak in clo-" Makoto said before she was interrupted by a loud declaration.

"Brothers of the White Fang! Why are you aiding this scum!?"

Makoto turned back and saw from her rooftop position that Blake, who had removed her bow, was now in the open and was holding Roman at blade-point as the White Fang surrounded her.

"You were saying?" Ragna said in what Makoto was assuming was a smug tone. She didn't really care if it wasn't.

"Not. The. Time. Asshole." she replied, a strong punctuation on each word.

Suddenly, the wind roared around them as two more Bullheads hovered above the White Fang, Blake, and Roman. And suddenly...

BOOOOOM!

Ren turned his head in the direction of the loud noise, and gaped in shock at the large cloud of smoke coming from the docking bay just a few buildings away from them.

"Holy shit, what is that!?" Nora exclaimed from behind him.

"I believe that is an explosion," Penny said matter-of-factly.

"Odds are, that's where they are," Ren surmised as he drew StormFlower, "Nora, let's go, they may need our help. Penny, stay here. You'll be safe."

He and Nora then began running in the direction of the explosion, hoping it wasn't too late to help.

"Huh?" Ruby turned and was left shocked at the large smoke cloud that was several buildings and streets away from her team's current position.

"Holy crap that's one big explosion!" Jaune said in panic.

"You don't think that Ragna's over there, do you?" Noel asked, shaken by the sight.

Ruby's shock turned to determination, "If he is, then he's gonna need some backup," and with her declaration, she began running as fast as she could, wind bellowing in her ears as she ran across streets and alleyways to get there as fast as she could.

Roman scowled as he aimed and fired Melodic Cudgel's explosive rounds upon the cat Faunus, but she was able to dodge each and every one of them with her annoying Semblance and some irritating acrobatics. He fired one more, which she dodged by running to his right and past some containers, hiding her from view.

"Come out, come out little cat," Roman taunted, trying to get the nuisance to come out. As he walked where he saw her run off, a large shadow enveloped him as he looked up to see a man dressed in red and hoisting a massive sword overhead dropping down on him. Quickly, he rolled out of the way as the man came down, but found himself knocked away and to the ground by a large gust of wind.

Roman got up and looked back to see the man get up out of a large crater he created before spinning his oversized sword and making the blade extend and turn at a ninety degree angle; a red, blade looking energy pouring out from behind it as the man hoisted the scythe on his shoulder.

"Great, just what I need, another annoyance with an oversized gardening tool," Roman disdained as one of the Bullheads flew overhead and dropped out several White Fang animals to surround their prey. He smirked and motioned for them to attack.

His expression soured as he watched the scythe wielder dismantle all of them. He swung with wide arching attacks that batted the animals away, and used sweeping kicks and hard punches to send them to the floor or knock them out. The last of them he grabbed by the throat before spinning and throwing the damned animal right at him. Roman ducked to the side to avoid the idiot before opening fire with another explosive round.

The man quickly turned the scythe back into a sword and batted the round away like it was a baseball, sending it flying towards a Dust crate behind him. Roman covered his eyes with his arm as a massive explosion shook the entire dock. It was so loud and powerful he almost didn't hear the loud cry of "GERONIMO!" coming from his side.

Next thing he knew, he was knocked to the ground again with the taste of gravel in his mouth. As he got up, he turned to see that his assailant was a squirrel Faunus with a bushy tail and orange attire and armed with cross-guard tonfa.

"He's mine!" the voice of that cat Faunus got his attention as he turned back and saw her about to strike at him; cleaver in one hand, sword in the other. He reacted as fast as he could to dodge and counter every slash and cut, which he felt he was doing pretty damn well at since he knocked her back, but then her equally annoying squirrel friend and the gruff guy with the blade tagged in and started piling on attack after attack. The squirrel she could take just fine, but the other man's attacks had so much force put behind them that it was starting to get overwhelming. Eventually, the man grabbed Melodic Cudgel's handle and side kicked him away, knocking him flat on his back and depriving him of his weapon.

Roman got up to see the three surround him, the man spinning Melodic Cudgel before he slammed it over his knee, snapping the weapon in two and tossing what remained aside.

"Okay, at first I was annoyed," Roman said before he sneered, "Now I'm pissed."

He gave a short whistle, signaling the hidden White Fang soldiers to come out from their hiding spots, surrounding the annoying kids that were ruining his day.

While that diverted the two animals' attention, the man didn't seem to care and pointed the edge of his blade at Roman's chest.

"Anyone tries anything, and I drive Aramasa through his gut, got it!?", his declaration, to which Roman could not tell if he was bluffing or not, seemed to get the soldiers and the other two Faunus to hesitate.

Aw, they actually care for me as an employer, almost makes me feel bad about using these animals as a means to an end, Roman thought before he looked up in contemplation, Actually, no it doesn't. Guess I better let her have some fun now.

Roman gave a chortle, getting everyone's attention, "Tell me, you ever gamble, meathead?" he smiled as he saw his insult seemed to anger the man, "Cause let me give you some advice I learned early in the business: Never show your full hand at the start. Neo!"

In the center of the three stooges, Neo appeared out of nowhere, knocking the swordsman away with a quick umbrella jab before kicking and sweeping the cat away and squirrel to the ground respectively. She then walked up to him and reached out with her hand, which he took as she helped him up. He then turned back to face the meathead, cat, and squirrel with Neo at his side.

"So, how about round 2?" Roman jested as the not-so-threatening threesome got up and started huddling together as they were surrounded. Just before he could order an attack though.

"Hammer..."

Roman heard a high-pitched voice from above and mentally facepalmed as he turned to face it.

"DOWN!"

A pink blur slammed a war-hammer into the ground as it landed in the center of the White Fang group. The resulting shockwave knocked all of them away, with Roman and Neo standing their ground. Making matters worse, as they got up, green bullets were let loose on them, forcing his minions to scatter about to dodge them. Roman looked to see that a boy in green was firing upon them from atop one of the cargo freights before jumping down to meet with his previous foes.

The cat and squirrel Faunus both seemed elated by the sudden arrivals and happily greeted them, with the squirrel hugging them in the most saccharine and tooth rotting way imaginable.

"So," the cat started as she brandished her weapons, everyone else in her side doing the same, "How about that round 2?"

Terumi couldn't help but smirk to himself as he saw the whole thing play out from afar via binoculars. Despite having other things to do that he felt would be more worth his while, he did make it a point to check up on their little Vale operation every now and then just to make sure idiot orange and the ice cream whore weren't gonna get cold feet on them.

If he had to be honest, watching Roman's previous heists had been a complete snooze, but now things were getting interesting. On one side was team dumbass schmuck and their squad of flea bags, and on the other was team dumbass kids and their two fleabag members. No matter who won, he got to have some decent entertainment for the time being. Roman wins? He gets to watch a few snot nosed dipshits get axed off. Snot nosed dipshits win? He gets to revel in idiot orange's humiliation after the fact.

So far, things had been loud and over-the-top. The dumbass in red, who had a face that was so familiar to him seeing as he really wanted to make it cry like a bitch, was fighting solo with the ice cream bitch while the other four were taking on the small White Fang army and Roman, who was hiding behind them with a machine gun since his walking stick got snapped like a twig.

While the four kids were handling the fleabags well enough, the white-haired man was struggling against the bitch. She was managing to dodge every sword swing and land some minor damage with quick umbrella strikes. They didn't do much, but it was all adding up for her. Not to mention that each time he came close, it turned out to be another of that whore's fucking illusions that he oh so hated.

"I'll give you this you damned bitch, you're at least making this fun for me," Terumi said to himself as he watched the fight play out, more entertained by the one-on-one battle than the large group fight currently happening at the docks.

But seriously, why is that mutt's face so familiar? he thought as he tried to piece together where he saw that face. Then he got a better look at the man's sword and it hit him.

He remembered where he saw that face.

It was a long time ago. A long, long, long time ago. And the soul behind that face last time he saw it was one he loathed more than anything.

His face contorted into anger for a brief moment, but then...he laughed.

"Well," he began as he cooled down, "Now things are getting interesting."

As he got back to watching the fight, he noticed something out of the corner of his eye and saw what looked like a girl hiding on a roof, her face obscured by a green hood. Just what was she doing here? Backup perhaps? And for who?

This was probably a very bad idea, Penny, for a moment, was regretting her choice of following after Ren and Nora as she watched the ensuing chaos from the rooftop of one of the buildings close to the all-out fight.

It was a mix of curiosity and a desire to help that drove her to follow after them after a moments respite, but at the same time, it was fear that held her back. If she engaged in combat, would it alert those people to her current living arrangements in Vale? She did not want to be taken back to those godsforsaken labs. She did not want her father to be killed because she was careless with remaining hidden. She did not want to lose her freedom.

But her friends looked like they were in trouble. They were holding their own well enough, but they could only hold out so much. It would not be long before they exhaust and get overwhelmed. She wanted to do something about it.

Then she saw the one member of their party struggling alone against the oddly colored girl with the umbrella. What struck her about him most was his face. The hair and right eye were of incorrect color, but that was the same face she had seen time and again.

She had seen it in her slumber while in stasis at the lab. In happy memories that were on a near constant loop. Memories that she could not understand then, but in time grew to hate as they reminded her of what freedom truly was, of something she never thought she would have. Then her freedom was granted, and she grew to ignore them, feeling only the faintest attachment to the two boys in the memories.

And now, one of them was here, grown up and struggling against his opponent.

She wanted to do something. She needed to do something.

Penny stood tall and walked to the edge of the roof, surveying the environment and her opponents before she smiled to herself. She shouldn't need to fully activate for this. Best not to escalate an already escalated situation.

"Battle mode, 50% activation. Lux Sanctus unit, engage," she said in a nearly mechanical tone as eight moderate-sized blades surrounded her before they floated behind her.

Now, she was combat ready.

Terumi was almost slack jawed at what he saw. For a split second, he didn't know how to react before he started laughing once again.

"Now this is gonna be a party!" he exclaimed before his amusement enveloped him once again and he laughed like there was no tomorrow.

Ragna wasn't sure what he was supposed to expect when he decided to follow Blake and Makoto when they snuck out. After hearing about Blake's past in the White Fang and that they were trying to track down her old gang to stop them, he was expecting a heavy fight. What he wasn't expecting were two things.

The first of which was the godsdamned obnoxious woman, whose appearance reminded him of ice cream for some reason, constantly dodging or redirecting all of his attacks and frequently making illusions of herself that shattered like glass when he actually managed to land a hit.

The second was some girl in a green hoodie that obscured her face dropping down with a bunch of swords floating around her. Whoever she was, she got the White Fang's attention by striking at a few of them with her blades, knocking them away and causing more to run straight at her. She then spun the swords rapidly, creating a barrier from them that knocked them away one-by-one as they got close.

Ragna looked at his opponent and saw that the newcomer had distracted her.

Finally, he thought as he launched himself at her and coated his right leg with his dark aura, striking her with an overhead kick that sent her flying. The aura helped to rejuvenate some of his lost strength from constantly taking that bitch's attacks.

Unfortunately, she opened her umbrella and stopped in midair before floating down. Ragna could tell that she looked fatigued from his previous attack, which likely did more damage on her Aura than she was expecting combined with the drain. Rather than continue the fight, she gave him a glare and jumped back, vanishing into thin air with no sign of her.

He looked and saw that the tide seemed to have turned in their favor, as the rest of the White Fang grunts had been taken out and Roman was now by himself fighting off Ren, who currently had the upper hand.

That didn't last very long, since the roaring of air signaled that they had more company to deal with. Ragna looked up and saw that three more Bullheads had entered in and primed their weaponry on them. Ragna quickly shifted Aramasa into its scythe form and spun it rapidly in his hand to block as many shots as he could. The mystery girl got in front of Team BRNN and spun her blades again and formed a shield that protected them as they got close to her.

Ren fired on the Bullheads while the mystery girl launched four of her blades at one of the Bullhead's wings. She then motioned as if she was pulling and the airship started tilting closer and closer to the ground before the wing broke apart, causing the ship to spin out of control as the grunts inside of it jumped out. The now empty ship crashed into one of the containers in a fiery explosion.

Everyone seemed to be in a mix of shock and awe at what just happened. As things started to calm down a little, Team BRNN started talking with the newcomer, Nora even exclaiming 'Penny' when she saw the girl's face. With how they started interacting with her, it looked like they were all already familiar. Before Ragna could process the how and why, he saw Roman attempt to make a break for it.

"Oh no you don't!" Ragna exclaimed. But before he could rush after him...

SHINK!

"ARGH!"

Ragna suddenly felt nothing but pain everywhere. His mouth tasted like copper as blood started coming out of it. He looked down and saw a sharp cylindrical blade coming out from his chest where his heart was; the blade itself was red with blood. His blood. He put what little strength he could muster into looking back to see his attacker as he heard everyone else call out his name in panic. The attacker was that same woman he was fighting before, now carrying a smug, victorious smirk on her face.

He tried to fight back, mustering any strength he could just to elbow her and cave her face in, but he didn't have the strength to move any more than he could. He suddenly felt the blade leave his body as blood came pouring out.

As his vision faded and the world started to go dim, the last thing he heard was the cries of his allies. But the cry of 'Penny' shook something inside him. Her cry sounded familiar. It sounded like...

"Saya..." was the last word he said as everything went black.

"No..." Blake heard Penny mutter as she saw Ragna's body go limp and fall to its knees. There was no way around it, he was dead, killed by that monster who smiled so proudly at her act.

"Way to go partner!" Roman yelled out, "That's one less annoyance to put up with, now let's get out of here!"

Blake turned to face Roman as she felt raw fury run through her entire body. Before she could act on her anger...

"You FUCKING BASTARD!" Penny screamed with rage and launched two of her swords at him. He quickly dodged and threw what looked like a...

"Grenade!" Blake yelled out as Nora snapped to action and fired grenade of her own from her launcher. The explosion blocked their vision for a second before it ceased and the smoke cleared. Roman still stood there, the same smug expression on his face as one of the Bullheads landed far behind him and the other dropped another group of White Fang troops that took aim at them from behind Roman.

"Neo, let's not waste anymore time. We need to get moving," he said as he gestured his head to their ride behind them.

The woman, Neo, started walking away from Ragna's corpse casually. Blake almost charged at her in rage, but before she could, she froze.

Neo had also frozen, as she was stopped when a strong hand grabbed her arm and kept her from moving.

It was Ragna. He was alive.

"Ragna!" Penny cried in relief as Ragna stood up, much to the shock and confusion of everyone including who he now held in place. Blake, meanwhile, couldn't shake the feeling that something was off about him.

Something's wrong here, Blake thought. She was elated to see that Ragna was still alive, she just felt that something was now wrong with him. She just couldn't understand what.

She quickly grew to understand what she felt as Ragna grabbed Neo by her throat and proceeded to choke her out and a dark aura enveloped him. But rather than what happened the last time she saw this, he raised his right arm and the aura enveloped it before it turned into a giant claw. The entire arm was pitch-black, with four fingers that were as sharp as blades and a glowing red center at the palm. Crimson, pulsing veins ran throughout the entire arm.

"Neo!" Blake heard Roman cry out in rage and concern. She didn't even know someone like him was even capable of caring about someone else.

Ragna's claw enveloped Neo, making her wince in pain as the claws tore into her skin. She tried to defend herself with her Aura, but Ragna's own superseded hers and started to drain the life out of her. Blake saw Ragna's face as he did this.

Rage. That's all there was. Nothing but pure, unending wrath that looked like something from Hell itself.

"Fire! Come on you bastards!" Roman yelled as he took aim with his gun and fired at Ragna.

The bullet struck Ragna in the head, making him drop Neo to the floor, who panted and ran straight past the White Fang before collapsing behind them. Roman was quick to pick her up and carry her in his arms.

"Kill that son of a bitch, NOW!" Roman ordered as he made a run for the Bullhead while the rest fired on him. Bullets riddled Ragna's body as they knocked him back bit-by-bit. Penny and Makoto attempted to rush to his aid, but Blake held her arms wide to stop them. She felt that doing so would get them hurt or even killed, but she didn't know if it would be the gunners or Ragna himself who would be responsible.

As they stopped firing, Ragna just stood there limp, his right arm having returned to normal. The dark aura returned and suddenly, his wounds started healing. Bullets that were trapped in his body where forced out and the stab wound where his heart was impaled had now closed. The only evidence that he had even been injured at all were the holes in his clothes.

He suddenly looked up, and roared, sounding not like he normally did, but like a savage monster. His sword was now glowing, flashing red as the dark aura coated it. Hoisting the blade overhead, he brought it down in front of him. Blake would have expected a wave of force or a massive gust of wind to blow everyone away.

But that didn't happen. Instead a wave of pure shadows was launched at the group of White Fang soldiers, enveloping half of them as they screamed. Blake was horrified, both at what was done and at the wave itself. If gave off a red hue overlapping with its pitch black color. She could have sworn that she even saw a monstrous face on it with rows of fangs and pupil-less red eyes.

He launched another dark wave, this time to his right, with the wave plowing through several Dust crates. The ensuing explosion was almost deafening as everyone covered their ears and closed their eyes.

J-just what on Remnant is going on!? was all Blake could ask herself as madness ravaged the docks.

This...This is just too much.

Terumi had already found the entire dock battle a joy to behold given the circumstances. He got to watch a face he loathed get his ass kicked by the fucking ice cream bitch, watch said bitch get her face knocked out, see Roman's day ruined, and know that on old toy of his group's had made itself known.

But now? Things were just getting better and better. Throughout the entire time, he just couldn't stop laughing from sheer joy at the sight that most would deem horrifying.

As his laughter finally died down, he mused, "Y'know, I should let the her know about this," before he looked back at the chaos and fire that danced in the night and smiled, "But man this is just too much fun to look away from!"

After all, he'd been itching for this day to finally come, and now that it had, he'd relish in every second of it.

Chapter Text

Rachel sighed to herself as she closed her eyes and sat alone on Nago's chair form in the rose filled gardens of her castle after what had been a rather boring day for her. She'd read her books, she'd attempted to track down Terumi and his acquaintances wherever they lied, she tried getting in touch with Kokonoe again regarding 'Lambda' or if she knew the whereabouts of their old foe.

Of those three things, only the first was of any success while the other two went nowhere. Tracking the monster down proved as strenuous as ever and Kokonoe was just as unwilling to cooperate or elaborate on anything as she was previously. Even that overgrown red cyborg and woman whose idea of bottom-wear was borderline nonexistent refused to elaborate on anything their immediate and only superior knew, though she supposed she made the mistake of assuming that they knew much of what went on in Kokonoe's head to begin with.

About the only other thing that happened today that wasn't a waste was that she'd recently met with Jubei and saw that he now had a new protégé, a blonde-haired girl who now wielded the Muchourin. If nothing else, at least another Nox Nyctores was now in their possession and away from their enemies.

Interrupting her rest, though certainly not in an annoying manner, was the sound of footsteps from behind her. She turned within her seat and saw her butler, Valkenhayn R. Hellsing, dressed in his usual gentleman's suit with gold trim, gold vest, and black steel-toed shoes. In his hands was a tray with both a warm Meissen teapot and teacup, both of which featured a rose design.

"Forgive me for interrupting your rest Madame Rachel," he said, conveying warmth and respect in his elderly tone, "But I believe you requested tea on this fine evening."

Rachel gave a polite nod, "Of course. You have my thanks, Valkenhayn."

She watched as he placed the tray on the table in front of her and poured her a cup of tea before adding a single lump of sugar. She kindly took the cup from him and had a small sip. Neither too hot nor too cold, and delectably sweet. Just as she enjoyed it.

"An impeccable job as always, Valkenhayn," Rachel complemented.

In response, he gave a bow and said, "I'm pleased that you're pleased, Madame."

She gave a short nod of thanks before returning to her tea...

Ragna! Stop!

We need to get out of here!

What was that thing he just blasted out!?

Don't know, but we need to get to higher ground!

…until she found herself bombarded by an overwhelming force of power. One carrying overwhelming anger and hatred. She dropped her teacup, which shattered on impact with the floor, spilling its contents all over the ground.

But she didn't even think of that as the world around her became muffled noise; the wind, Nago, Gii, and Valkenhayn's cries of concern, they all just washed over her as her eyes clamped shut. All she could hear were the cries of panic and terror from children as the wrathful force of might screamed out. She could hear it echoing across her entire realm as if it shook her home to the foundation.

But only she could hear it. Only she could feel it.

What is this!? Rachel screamed in her mind as she clutched at her skull to mitigate the pain, This power feels...it feels so familiar! What is it!?

And then within the darkness of her mind, the force took shape. She saw Jubei's protégé, Ragna, coated with a blackened aura as he lashed out at all around him like a savage animal. But then she saw a shadow behind him. It wasn't a human shadow. It was something far, far worse. Something she hoped she would never have to see again in her lifetime.

"Madam Rachel!"

As the screaming slowly started to die down, though never fading away, Rachel opened her eyes and saw Valkenhayn, Nago, and Gii, all looking at her with great worry.

"Are you alright my lady?" Gii asked.

"What in the name of all the gods happened?" Nago followed suit.

While Rachel wanted to answer their concerns, she was still overwhelmed by what she had just sensed. What she had just seen.

"It...it can't be..." Rachel said as she looked down at her hands. She was trembling. For the first time in the longest time, she was truly terrified, "It mustn't be..."

"Madam Rachel," Valkenhayn's voice drew her attention back to those around her. She looked back to her family butler as he continued, "What did you see?"

Rachel did everything to calm herself down, taking slow, deep breaths until she had regained her normal composure. Once that was accomplished, she answered,  "Valkenhayn, I need you to bring Ozma here. It is of utmost urgency that I inform him of this."

He gave her a determined nod, "At once Madam Rachel," he said as he stood up, "But may I ask what this urgency is?"

Rachel gave him a haunted look, unsure of how to truly describe what she just sensed. Nonetheless, Ozma needed to know.

"One that even alone could very well herald the destruction of all life on Remnant," she said, "Now bring him here as swiftly as you can."

Ruby felt like her lungs and legs were on fire as she ran to the source of the commotion as fast as she was able to. She used her Semblance whenever possible but could only manage for short bursts at a time. She briefly stopped to catch her breath when she heard even more explosions and saw Bullheads flying towards the source.

After seeing them, she felt like running as she was did nothing but waste time, so she improvised. She vaulted to the top of one of the buildings and got a better glimpse of what was happening over there through the scope of Crescent Rose. From afar, she saw one of the Bullheads crash in blazing explosion, though from what, she couldn't tell, in large part due to the darkness of night, and another drop several people garbed in black and white. Ruby felt her heart drop when she saw those people, as she recognized the masks they wore and had seen them on the news.

"The White Fang," Ruby whispered to herself. Not wasting anymore time, she shifted Crescent Rose to its scythe form and proceeded to leap from building to building trying to get close.

As she neared, however...

BOOOOOOOM!

Another massive explosion occurred, this one far bigger than any of the previous ones. Seeing this, she ignored her exhaustion to the best of her abilities and ran as fast as she could across the rooftops, leaping the distances between the buildings before she finally arrived at the source.

Ruby gaped in shock at what she was witnessing. The entire site was in flames. Cargo freighters were destroyed beyond recognition, and she could have sworn she saw bodies lying on the floor. Scared, she jumped off the roof she was on to get close and inspect.

She ran up to the nearest body and stopped as she recognized the uniform. It was a White Fang soldier, but his uniform was in tatters and he looked like a shriveled husk of a man, as all the life had been sucked out of him. It reminded her of...

No, Ruby thought, He wouldn't. I know he wouldn't.

"RAGNA!" Ruby called out, hoping her friend was nearby. Instead of being met with her friend calling back, she was met with a growl from behind her.

She nervously turned and saw the source. Out of the flames walked the growling figure, one that she couldn't make out as the light of the flames blinded her from seeing who it was, but she saw the blade in the figure's right hand, and recognized who it was from that alone.

"Ragna!" she said with happiness as she ran to get close, but that happiness died down as she saw Ragna fully.

His entire face was consumed by pure wrath. His clothes had several holes in them, as if he'd just taken a beating of some kind, yet he showed no sign of injury. Instead of speaking, he snarled and growled like a rabid dog. To make matters worse, his entire body was wreathed in a dark aura and Aramasa flashed scarlet.

Is that...is that his Semblance? Ruby thought in complete shock. The dark aura surrounding him like it did during his sparring fights and when they fought that odd monster gave the impression, but that couldn't have been it. She'd never seen or heard of anything like this before, and the sight left her terrified.

"R-Ragna, I-is that you?"

Upon Ruby's nervous question, Ragna roared and charged right at her, blade in hand as if he was going to take her life. Ruby just stood there, unable to comprehend or understand what was going on.

"RUBY!" another voice chimed in as Ruby found herself pushed out of Ragna's warpath and carried to the top of one of the buildings.

As soon as she was put down, Ruby saw that her savior was Blake, and she also saw that the rest of Team BRNN and a girl in a green hoodie were here as well.

"Blake, Makoto, you guys are alright!" Ruby exclaimed as she pulled them both in for a hug, which they returned.

As soon as she retracted, she asked, "What's going on? What happened to Ragna?"

"We don't know!" Makoto exclaimed, "It happened after that one psycho chick stabbed him in the back and now he's gone mental!"

"Wait, WHAT!?" Ruby cried out, shocked and concerned about what she'd heard just happened. Everyone looked scared out of their wits as another roar was heard. Ruby looked over the edge to see Ragna launch a shadowy wave at another corner of the docks, completely destroying whatever got in its way.

D-did that dark wave have a face! Ruby could have sworn she saw crimson, pupil-less eyes and snarling, jagged teeth on that last attack.

Ruby had to do something to stop this, but trying to fight Ragna directly wouldn't end well for her. He was already much stronger than her on a normal day. A head-to-head fight like this would just get her killed.

But maybe...maybe I can try reasoning with him.

Now determined, Ruby jumped off the building, much to everyone's protest, and holstered Crescent Rose. She walked slowly to her friend and held her hands out, trying to seem as unthreatening as she could.

"R-Ragna, it's me," Ruby said as she neared, "Y-you remember me, right?"

That certainly got his attention, as his head snapped back before his whole body turned to face her. His face still contorted in pure rage. As Ruby got closer, she could see that the sclera of his right eye had turned pitch black while the red iris gave off a burning glow.

"Ragna, it's going to be okay. I'm not going to hurt you, just...calm down," Ruby said in an effort to sooth her friend. While he didn't seem to calm down, he made no move to attack. That seemed like a good sign in Ruby's eyes.

"You remember what you told me?" Ruby asked, her voice becoming more determined as she continued, "You told me, Noel, and Jaune to help you whenever you got like this. Remember?"

Ragna said nothing, but he tilted his head to the side. Ruby couldn't tell if it was in contemplation of something else.

"Hey, Ragna, remember how we got on the back of a giant Nevermore and road it during initiation?" Ruby asked, trying to see if she could jostle Ragna's memories to snap him out of it, "Or the time you cooked lunch for all of us and made Noel jealous of how good a cook you were?"

As she continued asking questions to bring Ragna back down to Remnant, he clutched his head, almost as if he was in pain from her words. Ruby wanted to stop for a second, but she pressed on.

I'm sorry Ragna, but if this will calm you down and bring you back to normal, please just bear with it for a little.

"Ragna, I know you're in there. This isn't the real you," Ruby said holding her hand out to her partner, thinking back to their time at Beacon. Sparing with him, seeing him open up and smile around them more, watching him and Jaune train, both of them giving Noel advice to boost her confidence, laughing when he lost at a video game to her as he took it in stride...well, after a few minutes of grumbling anyway.

"Please, come back to us." she begged, hoping that she was getting through to him.

As Ragna kept clutching his head in pain, Ruby felt a burning sensation in her eyes. From her perspective, it was like a white light was enveloping the corners of her vision. It grew to the point where she couldn't handle it anymore and her right arm rubbed away at her eyes in an effort to stop the burning sensation that was overwhelming her.

Suddenly, it stopped. The sensation was gone, and Ragna's growling had ceased. Instead, she heard the sound of groaning and a sword clattering on the ground.

She moved her right arm away from her eyes and saw Ragna on his knees, rubbing his head in a manner similar to how Qrow did after a bad hangover. The dark aura was gone, his sword lying flat on the floor without its ominous glow. As he looked up, she gazed into his eyes and saw that his right eye had returned to normal as well.

"Ruby?" Ragna asked. Rather than respond, Ruby felt joy overwhelm her as she rushed forward and gave him the biggest, strongest hug she could muster.

"YOU'RE BACK!" Ruby exclaimed as laughter escaped from her lips.

"Okay, what the hell just happened?" he asked, sounding confused as Ruby released him from the hug.

"Wait, you don't remember?" Ruby heard Ren's voice ask as she turned and saw Team BRNN approach them.

"No," Ragna answered, "The last thing I remember was seeing Roman make a break for it, then I just felt this pain in my chest. After that, I'm suddenly getting hugged by Ruby and the docks are on fire for some reason."

"Wait, you guys were fighting Roman Torchwick?" Ruby asked. She remembered her first encounter with that man many months ago when he tried to rob the Dust shop she was at. It was what led to her getting to attend Beacon in the first place and it was a surprise for her to learn that her friends went out to fight him.

"You mean to tell me that you don't remember getting stabbed by that one psycho chick, shooting out a bunch of dark blasts all over the place, and going on a rampage that blew up the entire dock?" Nora asked, either not hearing or ignoring Ruby's question.

Ragna just shook his head as he stood up, looking around the place. Nearly the entire dock was either ablaze or in ruins. Ruby saw him gaze at the carnage he unintentionally caused before he looked at the corpses of the White Fang.

"I did this?" Ragna asked, his tone sounding despondent.

Ruby grabbed his arm and gave it a reassuring squeeze, "Ragna, it wasn't your fault," she said to him, conveying empathy to him, "You didn't have any control over what you were doing."

"GUYS, WE'RE HERE!" Jaune's voice called out. Ruby turned and saw that he and Noel had finally arrived, both of them running to them as fast as possible, though they also looked like they were running short on breath.

"Hey...guys...sorry...we're..." Noel panted out before she finally caught her breath and looked up, only to gasp in shock at the state of the docks.

"What on Remnant happened here?" Jaune asked, equally as shocked as his partner.

"It's a long story," Blake answered.

"You mean like the story of why you hid that you were a Faunus from us?" Nora asked as Ren facepalmed. Ruby felt shocked at the revelation.

"Wait, Blake's a Faunus?" Jaune asked.

Blake just leveled a small glare at Nora, who sheepishly rubbed the back of her head.

"How did you guys figure that out anyway?" Makoto asked.

"Oh, we didn't," Nora answered, "But Penny knew and she told us by accident, right Penny?"

When no one answered, Nora started looking around and saw that whoever she was asking wasn't in the area.

"Wait," Ruby started, remembering the other girl who was with them, "You mean that girl in the green hoodie?"

Nora nodded and went on a long explanation of how Penny accidentally told her and Ren that Blake was a Faunus, how she agreed to help them find her and Makoto, how she fought alongside them using a bunch of floating swords and how she pulled down a Bullhead by herself. Ren even had to clarify that what Nora was saying was true when Ruby expressed disbelief at some of it, specifically the Bullhead part.

She would have liked to meet her, seeing as she helped them out. Maybe they could have been great friends, but it seemed like that wasn't meant to be.

Still, Ruby couldn't help but wonder where she ran off to.

Just as she thought things were winding down, the sound of approaching police sirens interrupted that as multiple police cars entered the scene.

"FREEZE! PUT YOUR HANDS UP!"

"Fan-fucking-tastic, now the cops decide to show up," Ragna grumbled as he raised his hands up. Ruby did the same, hoping that she'd get a chance to explain themselves for what happened.

"Really, that's it!?" Terumi exclaimed, frustrated at the lackluster conclusion to the chaos.

He'd been hoping that the guy in red with that fucker's face and sword would completely destroy the docks and kill off those pests. Would have made for some good turmoil he could use to break him and that miserable old cane carrying fuck later on.

But no. That silver-eyed bitch just had to waltz in and calm him down with the obnoxious power of friendship. Making matters even worse, the lost weapon had disappeared without a trace again.

Granted, he supposed it wasn't a total loss for him. He now had his sights on two valuable assets that could be made use of later down the road, and now he knew that another silver-eyed warrior was present and available. He had many plans for what he could do to her, but he'd keep them benched until the time was right.

Before he turned to leave, he saw two more people enter the scene, both of them blonde. The scrawny boy didn't look like anything special, but the girl...

He couldn't tell if it was the light from the flames or the darkness of night or both at once, but that girl looked startlingly familiar. He just couldn't get a good enough view of her face to tell why though.

Either way, he decided that was enough for tonight. Roman and Neo turned tail and ran, the worthless mutts they fought alongside were mostly dead, all that was left was to meet up with the other three and give Roman his punishment for failure. That thought made him smile. Nothing made him feel better more than seeing the agony in another man's eyes. With a quick snap of his fingers, Phantom appeared behind him.

"Phantom, do take us to meet up with the others. We all have a business meeting to get to," He said as a sinister smile etched its way onto his face.

Penny ran down the street and entered the building where her and her father's apartment was. After seeing that girl, Ruby if she recalled correctly, solve the crisis with Ragna, she felt it best to get out of there and return home. She had used her abilities and didn't want to risk staying in the same spot for fear of discovery. That was the last thing she ever wanted to happen.

As she entered the hallway where her apartment room was, she slowed her run down to a simple walk and thought over everything that had happened. How she agreed to help Ren and Nora find their friends, how they saw the explosions and told her to remain there while they went to investigate, how she refused to listen and went to help, how she saw...

How she saw Ragna almost die...and how he went berserk after the fact.

It was all so much for her to process in conjunction with how she, for the first time since her escape, engaged in combat.

What if one of them witnessed it? Penny asked herself, Would they find me here?

She approached her apartment door and gave it a quick knock, hoping that her father was still awake. Another thing she was nervous about was if her actions would worry her father. He was the kindest, most loving person she had known in her life, but he always worried about her. She could understand why, but she didn't like it when he did so, if only because it added to the amount of stress he already had to go through.

The door opened and her father answered, eyes widening as he whispered her name in relief.

She was quick to envelop him in a gentle hug, which he warmly returned, to reassure him that she was okay, that nothing had happened to her.

As she exited the hug, she sheepishly looked to the floor and said, "I...I failed to procure our groceries. Sorry dad."

"Don't worry about it darling," he said happily with a tinge of exhaustion, "I'm just glad you're safe."

She nodded as she walked in, taking off her shoes and leaving them at the front carpet as her father closed the door behind them. She was unsure how to explain to her father the events that occurred today.

"Dad," she started as she faced her father, "Do you wish to know why I was late today?"

"I would, but if you don't want to tell me, it's alright then," he said, "I don't want to force the issue."

Penny gave a thankful nod, "Thank you father, but I feel like you should know what happened. It's...it's rather important."

After a quick sigh, she sat down on the couch as her father neared her, "I...there was a commotion at the docks. I saw people that I consider friends in danger and...and I partially activated to fight the aggressors."

There was silence for several moments. Penny looked to the floor, not sure how her father reacted, as he made no noise at all in that brief time. Eventually, he rested a hand on her shoulder, prompting her to look up.

"Penny, it's okay," he said, "I understand. Your heart was in the right place."

Penny gave her father a quick hug and said, "I'm sorry if I worried you. I know you are already under enough worry as we are now."

"And while I'm glad you followed your heart and helped your friends," he said as she retracted, but remained close, "I can't help but be concerned that it may have drawn the wrong kind of attention."

Penny gave a short nod, "That's what I'm worried about as well, but I was wearing my hood the entire time, and no one saw me summon my blades. I think if I become discovered and questioned, I could try to play it off as me having a Semblance that allows me to levitate swords."

Her father frowned, not seeming convinced, "It could work, but I don't think that'll fool everyone. Especially who we're hoping to fool."

While Penny agreed with her father on that, especially since it had its own holes and was a rather flimsy excuse, it was the best way she could spin up a story if questioned about her abilities. If there was another alibi she could come up with, she needed a lot more time.

Just as Penny opened her mouth to speak, her father began coughing. It wasn't a small cough either and went on for several seconds. Getting worried, Penny rushed to the kitchen and grabbed a glass and filled it with water. She also searched and found the container for her father's medicine.

Her father took the pill and drank the water, but he didn't completely stop coughing for a good few seconds. When that was done, he looked better, but tired. It could have been because the medicine typically induced drowsiness as per its description, but Penny was certain that it was more so because his previous worrying for the past few hours exhausted him.

"We should get you to bed," she suggested. It took some convincing, but her father reluctantly agreed to get some rest.

She took the rear handles of her father's chair and helped roll him to his bedroom. As Penny walked him in, she took in the sight of her father's cluttered desk; research notes on Aura and various theories scattered around. Even though he had left that life behind to keep her safe, he was still a scientist at heart.

After stopping his wheelchair at the side of his bed, she carried him out of it and laid him down before draping the blanket over his body as he gave a loud yawn.

After a brief, tired chuckle, he said, "Huh, I'm supposed to be taking care of you, but here you are, taking care of me."

Penny smiled, "I would like to think we take care of each other," she then gave her father as gentle a hug as she could, "Good night, dad," she whispered before she turned to leave and rest herself, giving another wave goodnight as she closed the door, leaving it open only a small crack.

"Thanks for helping us back there, Professor Ozpin," Ruby said, grateful to Beacon's Headmaster for clearing things up back at the police station.

After the police took them in, they were all questioned in regards to what happened, some of them even sounded accusatory. She remembered hearing Blake and Makoto bringing up that the White Fang were launching an assault on the docks and that they were trying to stop them, which was true, but the police at the time either were unsure on their story, or in one jerk's case, distrusted them solely because Makoto was a Faunus.

Thankfully, one of the cops called in Professor Ozpin and he helped clear things up with them. Further helped by them finding the...the corpses of the White Fang that Ragna killed during his rampage, which did lend credence to their story.

Still, he told them that while things were cleared up with the police, he wanted all of them in his office when they got back to Beacon for further questioning. Ruby was certain that they were still in trouble, but it was better than being thrown into jail.

"It's no problem Miss Rose," Ozpin said with a smile as they exited the Bullhead and he started leading them, "Just don't make it a habit for us to meet in interrogation rooms late at night."

All Ruby could do was rub the back of her head as her face heated up from embarrassment. She and the rest of her team, as well as Team BRNN, continued following Ozpin to his office. However...

"Ruby!"

Her sister's voice called out to her and as soon as she turned, she found herself enveloped in a worried hug.

"Are you okay?" she asked frantically, "We just heard what happened."

"Don't worry Yang. I'm fine," Ruby replied as she returned the hug before her sister let her go. From the corner of her eye, she saw Weiss giving a passive glare at them with her arms crossed, Tsubaki hug Noel and Makoto while Blake looked down and rubbed her arm.

She probably feels responsible for us getting into trouble like this, Ruby thought as she saw the guilt-ridden expression on Blake's face. Before she could think too much on it, Pyrrha also walked up to her and Yang and gave her a quick hug.

"You alright, Ruby?" she asked, voice filled with concern.

Ruby simply nodded in response. Like she told Yang, she was fine. The only thing that bugged her was...well, whatever happened with Ragna earlier. It wasn't just Ragna going on an unexplained rampage like that, it was also that odd feeling of pain she felt in her eyes when she tried to calm him down. She didn't know what that was or how to explain it, nor could she remember a time in her life where that had happened before.

"So, do you people want to explain just what you were doing out there?" Weiss asked, interrupting Ruby's musings, "Seriously, what were you thi-"

"Can it, snow bitch," Ragna bluntly said, drawing Weiss' ire, "If you're looking to point fingers at someone, you can blame me."

Huh!? Ruby thought, and it looked like she wasn't the only one, as Jaune, Noel, and Team BRNN, particularly Blake and Makoto, looked at him with shock and confusion.

"I snuck out when I heard that there was some trouble in Vale and wanted to fight it," Ragna lied, "Everyone else had to come bail me out."

"No, wait," Blake began, but Ragna sent her a withering glare that seemed to silence her. Why was Ragna so insistent on taking the blame? He was following Blake and Makoto, and they in turn followed after them as well.

"Ragna," Tsubaki said as she pinched the bridge of her nose, "Why do you insist on being such a troublemaker?"

"Tch, none of your business why I do what I do," he replied as he turned away and kept walking past everyone, including the professor, who seemed rather perplexed by his words.

"Well, if you're going to pull stunts like this, then the least you could do is not drag everyone else down with you when they happen," Weiss said as she glared daggers at Ragna, "You put your entire team at risk with that stunt."

"I'll keep that in mind," and with his last statement, Ragna just kept walking away.

"Regardless, I believe we were on our way to my office for further questioning?" Ozpin said, drawing all their attention.

He continued leading them away, this time with Ragna far in front, and gave both a goodnight and a solemn apology to Team TSYP for the late-night disturbance. As Ruby waved goodnight to them and walked with both her team and Blake's, she couldn't help but be troubled by Ragna just...shouldering all the blame. It legitimately wasn't his fault, so why would he blame himself like that?

"Welcome to the height of Beacon's tower," Ozpin said to his students as he sat in his desk, "For those who are just now visiting," he nodded to Ruby, Jaune, Noel, and Team BRNN, all of whom seemed in awe of the room's intricate design and the height they were up, "And those returning," he gestured to Ragna, who simply stood there apathetically as he crossed his arms.

"So, would anyone care to explain what happened at the docks?" he asked as he folded his hands in front of him.

Miss Belladonna opened her mouth to speak, but Ragna beat her to the punch, "Already told you, I went out and everyone else had to bail me out. Can you just let everyone else run off?"

Ozpin gave a smile, "Mister Ragna, while it is admirable that you're willing to shoulder all of the blame for this, might I recommend learning how to lie? You're not very good at it," he then looked back to the cat Faunus in hiding, "Miss Belladonna, I believe you were about to speak?"

She hesitated at first, but she found her voice and spoke, "I...I overheard that the White Fang were robbing Dust stores in Vale. I felt I needed to do something to stop them. Makoto tagged along, then Ragna followed us, and that just led to everyone else following after me. If there's anyone to blame for what happened today, it's me."

"Blake, that's horseshit," Miss Nanaya said, "If anyone's to blame it's Torchwick, the White Fang, and that psycho chick."

"But it's my fault that the White Fang are the way they are now, it's-"

"Blake, that's enough of the self-blame," Makoto interrupted before grabbing Blake's shoulders and looking her square in the eye, "Look, none of that was your fault. Could you have stood up then and fought back? Maybe, but I get the feeling it would have been a short fight, and not a good one for you. You did the only thing you could do at the time, and you went out of your way to try an stop an operation of theirs when you could have just stayed hidden."

"Hold up, hold up," Miss Valkyrie stepped in, "What are you guys talking about?"

"It's...a long story," Blake said, "I'll explain it when we get back to our room."

"Speaking of," Ozpin said, gathering everyone's attention, "While I cannot publicly condone your actions, and while I am glad to see students being more proactive when it comes to the work that we Huntsmen must do, might I strongly suggest that if you ever plan on doing this a second or even third time for whatever reason, that you try to keep collateral damage to a minimum?"

With exception to Ragna, they all had a flustered nod at his request. Ozpin had no doubt that they would likely try this again in their time here, and since he had no interest in preventing them from writing wrongs where they saw them, the most he would do was try to get them to mitigate the damage their efforts may end up causing. The last thing he wanted was for any of them to get killed in their efforts and advising them to exercise caution could go a long way.

That and if he were honest with himself, he'd also rather avoid any nightmarishly large amounts of paperwork as a byproduct of it all.

"For now, I think it would be best that you all get some rest after such a long day and that I let you off with a warning," he explained to the exhausted students in front of him, "However, do not let me catch you doing this again, understood?"

All of them nodded in understanding, with the two teams turning to leave.

"Hold up, Mister Ragna," Ozpin said to prevent the eldest student from leaving, "Rest assured, you aren't in trouble, I just have something I want to ask you."

The white-haired swordsman turned to his teammates and gave a short nod before turning back to him as everyone else left. Rather than continue standing, he pulled out one of the chairs in the corner and took a seat right in front of the desk.

"Okay old timer, what is it?"

Ozpin pulled out his scroll and activated its holo-feature, showing images of what the police showed him back at the precinct. Specifically, the bodies of the White Fang soldiers that were found on the scene.

"Forgive me if I come across as too upfront or blunt in this instance, but when I was conversing with the police and convinced them to show me what was found in the aftermath of what occurred, what caught my eye most were these," he explained as he scrolled through the various images, all of which seemed to get a reaction out of Ragna, one that looked reminiscent of how he appeared when he was first brought to his office months back.

"According to the police files, they wrote off the cause of death as being burned alive, mainly due to the large amount of fires caused by the conflict, but I think we both know that isn't the case," Ozpin then leaned in, "So may I hear what happened?"

Ragna remained silent. Ozpin mentally sighed and continued.

"Like I said, you aren't in trouble here. Having to use your Semblance, even one as...unique as yours, in self-defense is perfectly accepta-"

"That's just it," he spoke up as he looked him in the eyes, "I don't even know what happened."

That made Ozpin curious, "What do you mean?"

"I mean that the last thing I remember was getting stabbed by some crazy bitch with brown and pink hair in the back. Next thing I know, I wake up, Ruby's crushing me in a hug, and everything's on fire," Ragna answered before returning his gaze to the floor, "All I know is I caused all that shit. According to everyone else, I went on some kind of out-of-control onslaught after I got shanked and laid waste to the rest of the White Fang there. Don't even know how or why."

Ozpin mused to himself, thinking over what he'd just been told. That was something he couldn't remember encountering before. Ragna's rampage occurred after he was lethally impaled, and from the looks of the bodies, he'd used his Semblance on them. But that didn't add up. Semblance could only be used with Aura, and for Ragna to have been wounded in such a way, he couldn't have had any to draw upon. Yet if he was injured to such a degree, he'd show visible sign of it even now. But aside from the tears in his clothes, he showed no sign of injury. If anything, inability to remember the events aside, he looked to be in perfect health.

Just what happened back there? Ozpin thought. He needed to figure that out, and soon.

Ozpin stood up, "Thank you for answering, Ragna," he said, "You are dismissed."

As Ragna walked out, Ozpin turned in his seat to face outside the window at Remnant's broken moon. As he mused, he thought that, looking back, he probably shouldn't have dismissed the rest of Team RNJR and Team BRNN so early. Considering they were witnesses to Ragna's sudden fury, they could have helped paint a clearer picture on what happened back there. Either way, he had no intention of calling them back in just so he could get answers. After a long day, they all needed rest.

In the reflection of his window, he saw a portal open behind him. Normally, he would expect Rachel to appear, but instead, another figure came out of the scarlet hued vortex, one that was admittedly a more welcome sight than his master.

Ozpin turned and got out of his chair to face his old friend, "Valkenhayn," he said as he walked around to warmly greet him, holding out his hand as he approached, "It's been quite some time."

The suited, lupine Faunus gladly returned the gesture with a firm handshake, "It's good to see you as well, old friend."

As Ozpin pulled away from the handshake, he noticed that the portal had yet to vanish.

Interesting, he thought before speaking, "So, why have you decided to stop by? Surely not to catch up on old times."

"Actually, Madam Rachel sent me to bring you to the castle for a moment," the Alucard butler said before he stepped aside and gestured to the portal, "I'm afraid it's rather urgent."

"It must be if Rachel is bringing this directly to her home," Ozpin mused before he turned to Valkenhayn, "Very well, lead the way. We'll see what's troubling her."

Valkenhayn gave a nod and led the way through the portal, with Ozpin following as the vortex to both his office and Remnant closed behind him.

It's certainly been some time since I walked through the halls of this place, the headmaster of Beacon thought to himself as he took in the sights of Rachel's castle. They walked through the halls as the scarlet, unbroken moon of the realm shined through the windows. From what he recollected of his last visit, he was being led to the rose gardens.

No surprise there, Ozpin smiled at the thought, given Rachel's love for the flower, Nice to see that some things may never truly change as time passes.

Even the castle itself didn't seem to have changed that much since his last visit, or the visit before that, or even the visit before that. One thing Ozpin knew for certain about Rachel was how much she loved her father, the late Clavis Alucard, and that love seemed to extend towards preserving her home as it was when he walked its halls.

Valkenhayn stopped as they entered the gardens and stood to the side, giving him a bow, "I shall leave you two alone. She wishes to speak privately."

As Valkenhayn returned to the castle, Ozpin walked up to take a seat in front of the Alucard clan head. Approaching, something bothered him about Rachel. Despite appearing the same, there was a look in her eyes showing something he just wasn't used to seeing in Rachel.

Fear, trepidation, and anxiety. All of these were in her eyes for moments, yet that was enough for Ozpin to understand that something was very wrong.

"Take a seat, Ozma," she said, referring to him by his true name, confirming his suspicions, "What is to be discussed here is of utmost importance."

As Ozpin took his seat, he asked, "It must be if you're bringing me here directly. What happened?"

"Ozma," she started, "Before I tell you, you must understand that what I am about to tell you here must not leave this place. Only the two of us can know, for I fear how the others will react to this knowledge," she took a short sip of her tea before staring down at the contents of the cup, "I fear that how they react may be worse than if they were to learn the truth regarding Salem, or even the truth regarding you."

Ozpin felt his anxiety grow as he remained outwardly calm. Rachel was deathly serious as she spoke, far more than he'd seen or heard in a long time. If what she said was true, and it was in all likelihood, he wouldn't take it lightly.

"You have my word that what is to be said will not leave this castle," Ozpin promised, and with that, Rachel explained everything.

"So..." Nora said as she sat on her bed, "You used to be one of the White Fang before you ran off?"

Blake sat silently on her bed as she nodded. After they all got back to their room, Blake took the time to explain what she'd told Makoto this morning. She explained her past in the White Fang, the escalating acts of violence, and how she left them to go into hiding.

"Yeah," she said with guilt and shame in her voice, "I couldn't risk telling anyone. I didn't know how they'd react."

"Well, you finally told us," Nora said as she stood up, "And I say that if anyone tries anything, doesn't matter if they're White Fang after your head, racist assholes, or just vanilla assholes, then we'll break their legs, and this time I mean it."

Ren nodded as he stood beside his partner, "In all honesty, it doesn't matter to us where you came from or what you did beforehand. You're still our friend and leader, Blake. Nothing is going to change that."

Blake smiled at his words and Nora's vigorous nodding, feeling her face heat up as Makoto gave her a one-armed hug from the side.

"See?" she said, "You didn't have to worry about how the rest of the team would react."

"Guess you were right on that one," Blake admitted before she turned to Nora and Ren, "But could you promise to keep this in the team and no one else?"

Nora stood on her bed and placed a hand to her heart, "Blake, you have my solemn vow that I, Nora Hammersmith Valkyrie, will not tell another soul outside of those in this room right now."

Well, that's a step up from Nora Asskicking Valkyrie, admittedly, Blake thought as Nora changed her middle name again.

Ren muttered something about 'fourth middle name this week' before he nodded along, nonverbally promising that he'd help maintain her secret as well.

Blake yelped as Makoto then pulled all of them into a large group hug and lifted them off the ground with impressive strength.

"Aw yeah! Look out Beacon, cause Team BRNN's now bigger and better than ever!" she exclaimed as she released them from the hug. Impressively, Blake didn't feel out of breath from the amount of strength Makoto put into the hug. Perhaps she was adjusting to it?

"To commemorate the occasion, I've been working on some 'bestest friend' bracelets for each of us," Nora said, "Is what I would say if I actually did that, but I haven't started yet. I'll get to work on it right-"

Before she could continue any further, Nora fell flat to the floor, the sound of snoring emanating through the carpet.

"I think for now we should get some sleep," Ren said as he picked up his partner and placed her on her bed, "At this point, I'm exhausted."

Blake tried to suppress the urge to yawn but found that she couldn't and let one out. Next to her, Makoto did the same.

"Yesh..." the squirrel Faunus said through her yawn as she flopped onto her bed, "Imma go get shome zeez..."

Blake waved goodnight to her team despite Ren likely being the only one awake enough to wave back and flopped onto her bed as well, feeling lighter than she ever felt in a long time.

After Ruby had changed into her pajamas, she laid down on her bed, though less from exhaustion and more from being lost in thought. The events of the past few hours kept replaying in her mind. No matter how much she thought about them, she always jumped back to one thing; that pain she felt in her eyes.

It didn't feel like some form of standard eye discomfort, it felt more like something inside her was trying to burst out, but what that was she just couldn't understand.

The light that started to form around her field of vision also drew her attention. Back then, she thought it was a shining white, but upon further introspection, it didn't seem that way. If anything, the more she thought about it, the light looked less white and more...silver. Just like her eyes.

"Hey, Ruby, what are you thinking about?" Noel's voice shook her out of her thoughts as she turned to face her shy teammate, who was sitting cross-legged on her bed and looking at her.

"Nothing Noel," Ruby said quietly, "Guess my mind's still on all that crazy stuff that happened back at the docks."

Noel nodded as she looked down, "Hard to believe what happened actually happened. I can't imagine how Ragna's feeling about it."

Ruby remained silent. She tried talking to Ragna about that, specifically when he came here to change into a new set of clothes, but he refused to talk about it, and no amount of pleading moved him.

As she thought, the bathroom door opened, revealing Jaune Arc walking out in his onesie while still brushing his teeth.

"Whash up guyshh?" he asked, mouth still full of toothpaste, "Shhoming wrong?"

"It's nothing, Jaune," Ruby said as she got off her bed and walked to the window, "I'm gonna say goodnight to Ragna. You guys get some rest."

She opened the window and jumped out just as she heard Noel and Jaune say goodnight, landing on the grassy ground as she walked to Ragna's sleeping form, or rather, what looked like his sleeping form.

As Ruby got close, she crossed her arms, "Trouble sleeping, Ragna?" she asked.

"Tch, that obvious, huh?" Ragna snorted, not bothering to open his eyes as he spoke.

Ruby hummed as she took a seat next to him, deciding to just enjoy the quiet for a change. She let it all wash over her; the chirping crickets, the gentle rustle of wind, the calming light of the broken moon. It all reminded her of the camping trips she used to take with her dad back when she was a kid.

It was...nice. Peaceful. She could see why Ragna liked sleeping out here so much.

"Hey, Ragna, I have something to ask you," Ruby said.

"If it's about what happened back at the docks, then like I said, no fucking clue why I went batshit nuts." he responded, once more refusing to even open his eyes.

"It's not about that," Ruby retorted with some annoyance in her voice, "Well, not entirely anyway."

Ragna simply grunted, "Ask away then kid. Doesn't guarantee that I'll give you an answer though."

Ruby closed her eyes, took a deep breath, opened them once more, and asked, "Why did you try to take the blame for the whole thing?"

That actually got Ragna to open one eye. A deep green eye looked right into her silver ones, processing her question.

"Come again?"

"For the whole thing with the docks, you tried to take the blame for Blake and Makoto," Ruby elaborated on her question, "Why would you do that?"

Ragna went silent again, this time opening both eyes and staring at her with full attention.

"Look kid, like it or not, it kinda is my fault," he said as he sat up, "Whatever happened, I just started going wild and destroying everything. Don't know how, don't know why, but I did, and I gotta own up to that."

"Ragna, you weren't in control of yourself."

"Doesn't matter. Still did it."

Ruby just sighed as she hugged her knees and looked away from her partner, though her attention was still on him as he spoke.

"As for why else, well, you know me at this point. I'm pretty much the asshole who gets into trouble. So why not take the fall? If it means you guys get off Scott free, all the better."

"Ragna, you can't be serious," Ruby said as she stood up, "What if the consequences are more than you can handle? What if you get expelled or arrested and there's nothing we can do?"

"Then I'll cross that bridge when I get to it." he replied dismissively.

"No, I'm putting my foot down," Ruby crossed her arms, "If this happens again, and I get the feeling that it will, then you let all of us take the fall with you. No ifs, no ands, and no buts about it. Promise?"

She gave him a look that made it clear that she wouldn't tolerate him refusing to comply, but she also did her best to convey that she was hoping he'd understand and accept. They remained like this for a few more seconds before Ragna gave a small, but noticeable nod.

"Thank you," Ruby said as she turned back to the open window and walked away from her partner.

Before she entered, she turned back to him and continued, "Ragna, I just don't want to see you take more than you can handle. We're supposed to look out for each other, so please, just let the rest of us share a burden every now and then. Good night."

She then burst upward in a flurry of petals and entered the room before closing the window. She looked around and saw that Noel and Jaune were already asleep. Smiling, she climbed into her bed and proceeded to doze off, the events of the day finally catching up to her.

Ragna looked on from where Ruby left, the rose petals fading away. He thought back to what she requested of him, to let the others take the same fall he intended to take should they get into trouble again.

He knew the consequences would be pretty significant if this happened again, but if they all took the fall, what would happen to them?

For all he knew, they could all get expelled at bare minimum. Both Ruby and Jaune clearly wanted to become Huntsmen for their own reasons. In Ruby's case, to help people. In Jaune's case, to live up to his family legacy. While Noel never told him her reasons for wanting to become a Huntress, she was a kind, loving person who, despite her issues, wanted to help as much as Ruby did.

Getting expelled because of something like this would crush those dreams.

But him? If he suffered those consequences, so what? He could just opt to go back to what he wanted to do prior to his master sending him here; become a bounty hunter. Unlike them, he didn't have anything to lose from shouldering the blame if it came to that. His siblings were elsewhere living their lives without worry, so unlike his friends, he had no family to disappoint. No legacy to live up to. Nothing to lose from falling on that grenade.

If it came down to it, it was better that way.

"Sorry Ruby," Ragna muttered to himself, "But that's one promise I'm gonna have to break."

Damn those annoying kids, and damn that monster, Roman cursed to himself as he applied medical gauze to the wounds on Neo's right arm as she kept her sleeve rolled up.

They'd managed to get away from whatever that thing was and hid in one of their old warehouses, leaving the rest of the mutts to cover their escape, by which Roman actually meant that they left them to die and keep that freak of nature away from them.

Either way, he and Neo survived, as they always did.

He'd already finished patching up Neo's other wounds, and he found it disturbing how she still had this many cuts and bruises even after her Aura came back. He was no expert on it, but he was sure that her Aura should have patched up these kind of injuries by now.

Unless the damage really was that extensive.

"Neo, any idea what that freak was?" Roman asked, hoping his partner in crime had more answers than he had.

Instead, he was met with her shaking her head and a faraway expression. Clearly, she was still terrified or what that bastard did to her.

"Neo, look," Roman got her attention, "I have no fucking clue what that was, but whatever happened is in the past now, right? We survived it, so we just gotta avoid it next time we see it," he then put both hands on her shoulders and gently said, "Okay?"

Neo still looked afraid but gave him a small smile and a thumbs up. If nothing else, she seemed to be getting better.

"Well that was a disappointment," an all too familiar, seductive voice said from the darkness of the warehouse.

Oh shit, not them, Roman hesitantly turned around to face Cinder, who hid in the shadows as an open flame in her palm illuminated the dark to reveal her face. Her amber eyes having a glint of condescension as a mocking grin adorned her face. He could spot some movement in the shadows beside her as well.

"You know, for a supposed 'big time' crook, it's funny how you can't handle a bunch of kids half your age," another mocking, male voice insulted from Cinder's right. Roman didn't need to think to know who that was.

Okay Mercury, that's it! Now thoroughly sick of the insults, Roman started stomping towards the three and yelled back, "Okay, first off, you were the ones who wanted me to work with those useless animals in the White Fang! Second off, tell me how in the name of the gods I was supposed to expect one of those brats to start smashing and ruining the dock like that!?"

"Simple, you couldn't have. That's what made your failure all the more hilarious."

Upon hearing the cocky, almost trolling voice come from behind him, Roman only had one thought.

Oh no.

Suddenly, he found himself ensnared and lifted off the ground by an ethereal black snake with a green hue. The serpent-like chain coiled around his neck before he was forcibly turned around to face its wielder.

Once again, he was face-to-face with that smug, condescending, fedora wearing, green-haired jackass, who gave him a malicious and cruel look. Roman winced in pain as the serpent-chain tightened its grip on him, its owner letting out a chuckle.

Now that he was turned around, he saw that Neo wasn't where she originally was. Before he could question it alongside dealing with the pain Hazama was putting him through, the green-haired bastard suddenly reached to his right and the image of shattering glass appeared as he lifted Neo by her neck. She winced in pain as she dropped Hush to the floor. It's clattering echoing throughout the warehouse.

"Let...her...go!" Roman rasped out as the coil tightened.

Hazama clicked his tongue as Cinder and her two associates, Emerald and Mercury, stood beside him, "Now now, no need to be such whiner. We have some business to discuss after all. Granted, we already know a good deal of this shit, but it doesn't hurt to hear your side of this sad, pathetic sob story."

Hazama then pulled him in close, making look into his sinister, snake-like eyes.

"So Roman," he said with a smile that bared his teeth, "Tell us everything that happened."

Volume 1: END

Chapter Text

Volume 2: Start

Chapter 29: Battle Testing

"And that's all that happened, okay?" Roman said, clutching his throat as Terumi released him and threw Neo aside. The fool rushed to comfort his partner and help her up.

"Hm, truth be told, I already knew most of the details. Saw the whole thing myself," Terumi admitted, "Pretty fun watching you get your ass kicked like that. The other three didn't know all the details though, so this was more so for their benefit. Besides, I just wanted to hear you grovel for a bit."

Roman growled, "You disgusting fuck."

"Now now, do you kiss your mother with that mouth? Watch your language," Terumi retorted with a gleeful sneer before turning to Cinder, "Speaking of what was just witnessed, Cindy, I need to have a word with you. Care to send dipshit one and two on their merry way?"

Cinder, trying to hide her annoyance at being called 'Cindy', noticed Mercury scoff while Emerald looked like she was restraining herself from yelling at the man in front of her, though she had already told the former urchin not to try anything to piss Terumi off. The two of them knew their place in the grand scheme of things, so they relented and learned to accept his jeers and insults. They loathed it, but she couldn't care less how they felt so long as they did their part.

With a wave of her hand, Cinder motioned for them to back away, which they proceeded to do, though she noticed Emerald give Neo an odd look. Seemed almost...apologetic, from the looks of it.

"So, what do you need to tell me, Terumi?" Cinder asked.

"It's actually quite simple really," Terumi began as he took off his fedora for a moment and dusted it off before continuing, "Recently, Relius informed me that Subject-13 is now ready to be tested for combat parameters, and it'll need a tough opponent to properly test its abilities."

Cinder realized where he was going with this and smirked, "And you want me to give your weapon its workout, then?"

"Bingo," he said, placing his fedora back on, "I'd ask old Azzy, but he's gotten pretty caught up in Vacuo at the moment tangling with Koko Puff's lap dogs. Don't know on the how and why, and I don't much less care."

"Fine, so long as it's quick," Cinder agreed while inspecting her nails, "I have a feeling that our queen will want to know about what happened tonight."

"Oh you have no idea how right you are," Terumi smiled ominously, flashing his almost fang like teeth.

Having had enough of this conversation, Cinder walked back to her assistants to bring them with her to testing Site 31, where she knew Subject-13 was being held.

"Oh Cindy, one more thing," Terumi called out to her as she grunted and turned to face him, levelling a subtle glare in his direction, "Don't be afraid to go all out against Number 13. It won't be a good test of the weapon's abilities if you aren't giving it your all."

Cinder couldn't help but smirk at the prospect. Ever since she'd earned her power, she'd been savoring the idea of using it against a strong enough opponent. The Grimm her master made her fight to get accustomed to it served as little more than fodder, and now she was thoroughly bored of them, "Fine by me, but don't whine when I break your toy. You asked for it after all."

"Well, I wouldn't say there's much in the damned thing for you to break, if you catch my drift," those were his final words before he gathered for them to transport to Site 31.

Cinder couldn't help but sigh from boredom as she recollected the events that led her here. She was currently standing at the edge of a large combat arena illuminated by blue lights throughout. She looked up and saw a large viewing deck where she knew Terumi, Relius, Emerald and Mercury were staying while she played around with the former two's little toy.

Suddenly, the sound of a microphone being tuned pervaded the entire room, causing her to wince at the sudden sound and the irritating voice, "Hello hello! Cindy! Are you ready!?"

"Ugh, yes, Terumi, I'm ready to test your weapon," Cinder informed him, trying to resist the urge to throw an insult his way. As her master would remind her, it wouldn't serve their plans well if they insulted or berated their accomplices, no matter how obnoxious they were. If nothing else, her master had been working with Terumi longer than anyone else, with only Relius having worked with her for even longer, so she knew how he operated. Why she put up with him was another matter entirely, but if her master was willing to put up with him, then she would as well, for now at least.

"Alright then! Number 13, you're up!" at his call, a hatch in the ceiling opened up and a figure descended down, levitating to the illuminated floor to meet her. Cinder could make out the details of her appearance as she descended. The weapon looked like a girl similar in age to Emerald and Mercury. She had white hair that was braided, reaching all the way down to her feet, ending in a silver blade. The girl looked rather pale and sickly, too much so to appear threatening at a glance, though Cinder knew that looks could be deceiving. Adorning her body was a light-blue jumpsuit that left her legs exposed up to just above her knees as well as her hands, and what she wore over that almost appeared regal; a large white cloak with blue trim that had various symbolled talismans attached to it. The cloak itself hung around her by a large metallic collar that almost covered her mouth. Her left eye slowly opened, revealing a sunken crimson eye that contrasted the metallic eyepatch she wore on the right side of her face.

"Loading. Loading. Loading." the girl repeated in an emotionless, monotone voice as her bare feet touched the floor and looked directly at Cinder, "Subject identified. Activating Lux Sanctus: Murakumo." at the girl's word, a massive blade as tall and wide as she was manifested from above and landed behind her, floating before it glowed a vibrant light whose brightness caused Cinder to shield her eyes. As soon as the light dimmed, Cinder dropped her arm and saw her opponent's new appearance.

Number 13 still wore the same jumpsuit, but over it was a set of unique armor. The cloak replaced by shoulder guards that gave way to arm guards with blades similar to the eight that floated behind her attached to them. Her hands were now gloved, with sharp claw-like nails at her fingertips, and her legs were covered with bladed armor plating, the tips where her toes would normally be seemed sharp enough to slice through even the strongest metals. Glowing green lights covered the knees of her leggings as well as her hips and upper arms. Lastly, her eyes (or in her case, eye) was covered by a visor with a single glowing red eye at the center. Cinder believed that her new appearance, with her blades, armor, and emotionless, stoic demeanor, was far more suiting of a weapon than the frail girl who stood there not moments earlier.

"Murakumo Unit designated as Nu-13 is now online. Scanning subject," Number 13, or Nu-13 as she called herself, said as she stood still, her blades now hanging behind her in an almost wing-like pattern, "Alert. Residual magical energy detected within subject. Threat level increased."

"Interesting," Cinder admitted, "So you can detect traces of my power? In that case, let me show you their full scope," she then reached within herself and let her power erupt out. Memories of draining that undeserving pawn of Ozpin and watching as the Angel of Death pinned down her supposed savior before he could do anything brought a cruel smile to Cinder's face. Flames burst from beneath her heeled feet as a powerful vortex surrounded her, allowing her to fly up and look down on her lesser with condescending eyes, now surrounded by a fiery glow.

"Warning. Subject has been identified as a Maiden. Threat level increased to S-Class. Subject now identified as target," Nu-13 began to float in the air as her blades then shifted, all pointing at Cinder as her visor's eye glowed, "Commencing termination protocols."

Not giving her opponent a chance, she immediately started launching fire blasts at Nu-13, forcing the weapon to fly and evade her attacks. From afar, Nu made gestures with her hands and Cinder's senses flared up. Within a split second, she turned and saw a small floating black portal open behind her and a sword of crimson energy flew out of it at blinding speeds. She moved her head to the side just in time to dodge it, though it ended up taking a few strands of her hair. Before she could turn back to strike at the weapon, more black portals began to open in rapid succession as energy blades poured out of them, forcing Cinder to dodge and evade, flying all around the room while doing so.

Unfortunately, she wasn't fast enough to dodge the last one as it struck her clean in the chest, sending her to the floor as she lost a good chunk of her Aura. Just as she crashed and skidded, she up-righted herself and grabbed at the floor to stop herself, melting much of it as she did so. With a wave of her hands, Cinder manifested dozens of daggers of ice and launched all of them at Nu-13. The Murakumo spun her blades and blocked most of them, but some made it past, impacting her Aura and knocking her back slightly. Cinder smirked and saw opportunity to close the gap, flying right towards her opponent with a fiery burst of speed and dropkicked her to the floor with a loud crash that shattered much of the ground, leaving only a massive cloud of debris that shrouded Nu-13.

Suddenly, a storm of crimson dagger like blades rushed out of the cloud right at Cinder at speeds too fast for her to react towards. As quickly as she could, Cinder drew Midnight in its twin blade form and blocked as many of the energy daggers as she could, but there were just too many of them and she became overwhelmed, shifting towards protecting her face with her arms and bracing her Aura to withstand the attack. As soon as it ended, Cinder glared at her opponent, who's visor appeared to be heavily damaged.

Enraged, Cinder gathered a large amount of her magic, charging it into a blazing aura that enveloped her entire body before charged straight towards the Murakumo and unleashed it, sending the weapon flying away with a blast of pure destructive heat. Before she could smile in victory, she was met by the droning sound of Nu-13 floating back towards her as the smoke from her latest attack cleared. Nu's Aura had been broken, but she still stood against her, not even seeming the least bit phased.

"Gravity Seed deployed," at Nu's words, Cinder felt a great pressure exerted on her, making it hard for her to move. As she struggled, she noticed Nu gesture as if she was about to slam her fist down on something and looked up, seeing an even larger portal appear directly above her. Mustering all her strength, Cinder just barely managed to get out of the 'Gravity Seed' just as a massive energy blade slammed down onto where she originally was. Cinder growled as she shifted Midnight to its bow form, prepared to fight anew.

"Damn, they're really going at it," Mercury whistled as Emerald rolled her eyes, though even she would admit that the display of power clashing between Cinder and Nu-13 was a sight to behold. Granted, she'd seen Cinder use her newfound Maiden powers beforehand, but that was mainly against Grimm and creatures any Huntsman or Huntress could take out by themselves. This was an actual test of her true power, and she wasn't holding back.

Though Emerald had to admit, she was getting worried. She could make out that Cinder was starting to sweat and grow frustrated while the Murakumo remained completely emotionless to all of her assaults. While she figured that it was just a sad fact of what Nu-13 was, an emotionless weapon, it also meant that she wasn't being drained by the fight and would keep pushing herself. Not helped by the fact that when Cinder finally managed to bypass Nu-13's Aura, she kept taking attacks like usual. It was almost like she wanted to get hit. Or rather, her masters wanted her to take said hits.

"Hmm, I believe we have acquired enough data now for combat parameters," Relius said from his position, the large automaton that he referred to as Ignis standing behind him, staring ahead with cold, piercing blue optics. Emerald couldn't help but shudder every time she looked Ignis. From what she learned from Cinder and what Terumi bragged out loud, the android used to be Relius' wife until his experiments to 'perfect' something got to her. It made her sick to her stomach, just what depraved lunatics these two men were.

"Yeah, Cinder's had her fun wailing on the doll. Now it's time to break her spirit," Terumi cackled, which gave Emerald a really sinking feeling. Cinder was in danger, and she couldn't warn her about it now.

Cinder, be careful.

Blades clashed once more as Cinder grit her teeth in frustration. The weapon proved annoyingly persistent in how much she could take. No matter how many times Cinder burned her skin, drove spikes of ice into her flesh, or slashed away at her with sharp winds, Nu-13 kept getting back up and continued her assaults. The most frustrating of her attacks was when she summoned storms of crimson energy blades, leaving Cinder with little time to dodge or block, forcing her Aura to take those hits and now she was on her last legs. She refused to stand for it. She'd finally earned what was rightfully hers after so long, and this thing proved to be such an obstacle in spite of that.

The weapon's jumpsuit was coated with her own blood, tears exposing burned and ruined flesh. She'd broken Nu-13's Aura, knocking her far back and leaving more damage than any human or Faunus could ever hope to survive, and yet not only did this thing survive, but the emotionless manner she went about while fighting her left Cinder irritated.

The weapon saw me as a threat, Cinder thought, And yet it feels like she's barely even trying! Does she refuse to take me seriously!? If Nu-13 did refuse to take her seriously, then Cinder would just kill her here and now, damn whatever Terumi or Relius thought. She knew they made thirteen of these things already, so it wasn't like they couldn't make more.

"Activating self-repair protocols," the weapon's emotionless voice shocked Cinder out of her anger as a green light enveloped her opponent's body. Suddenly, all the tears in her jumpsuit and flesh were patched up. Burn scars were no longer there, her visor repaired back to normal, and her Aura even rejuvenated to a degree. All the damage Cinder had done was undone in an instant.

"Alright, now that's quite enough," Terumi's voice interjected as he and Relius teleported in via Phantom while Nu ceased her attack, "Gotta admit, pretty impressive Cindy. I think you almost made Number 13 sweat a little."

Cinder did her best to bite back her anger, but some of it flared out as flames enveloped her arms. Terumi didn't seem the least bit intimidated, if anything he seemed amused by her display.

"Overall abilities function as intended," Relius interrupted as he looked at Nu, who remained completely motionless, "Though its thought process still seems to have that one anomaly."

"Oh don't tell me, the doll still having some of its genetic progenitor's memories?" Terumi snarkily asked, "I thought you fried its brain enough that it can't remember any of that nonsense."

"I wasn't able to erase all of Number 13's memories. It seems to hold on to a particular individual within said memories," the doctor explained before looking directly at Cinder, likely to get her up to speed on what he was referring to, "All previous Murakumos had the memories of their progenitor as a result of each of them being granted part of her soul. And the strongest or most emotionally impactful memories are often the ones they hold onto most no matter how much we try to erase them. Thus far, Number 13 has been the most successful in that its memories of the progenitor's life have been completely erased, barring one that it refuses to forget."

"And just what does that have to do with anything?" Cinder asked, still in a foul mood thanks to her previous fight with the Murakumo and wanting nothing to do with it.

"At the moment, nothing of any particular concern to you specifically. I'm merely choosing to keep you informed on such matters," Relius admitted as he dismissed Nu away, with Phantom teleporting her out of the room, "This is more so something that concerns us as well as Salem, given that it's uncertain how this anomaly will affect Number 13's development moving forward."

Deciding that her anger would get her nowhere right now, Cinder calmed herself down and dissipated her flames, "Fine," she said, trying to avoid gritting her teeth, "If we're done testing your toy, I suggest we go and inform our queen of what happened recently."

"That's something you and Terumi will have to do," Relius said as Phantom reappeared and he walked towards her, "I have pressing business in Mistral. I'm sure you can handle such a task yourself," and with that, he and Phantom vanished into thin air.

Terumi turned to her and smirked, "Well, your fragile ego aside, what say we go let Old Lady Grimm know what happened? I get the feeling she's just going to love the part with the one kid's rampage." as he said this, he gained an almost knowing glint in his eyes. He knew more than what he was letting on, that much Cinder knew, but it wasn't like she could threaten him for that information even if she wanted to, so she steeled her anger and let it go for now.

Mark my words Terumi. One day, you'll get what you deserve, Cinder thought vindictively, "Very well," she said through her gritted teeth as Phantom reappeared next to them. She looked up to where she knew Mercury and Emerald were, "Have Phantom send Emerald and Mercury back to Haven first, then we'll depart."

As she left to get Emerald and Mercury, she heard Terumi cackle and snicker behind her, leaving her to growl in annoyance.

It was a relatively late hour when Relius entered the throne room of the Mistral Royal Palace. At the moment, as there were no guards or attendants present, but primarily because the one in front of him already knew he was coming ahead of time and dismissed everyone so that he could speak to her alone.

The woman in question was shrouded behind the curtains of a Chrysanthemum throne, only her silhouette visible from where Relius stood. He could easily identify her even behind the curtains due to the sheer power that radiated from her very soul. After all, very few souls on Remnant carried divine power, and only two were divine in origin.

"Empress Hades," Relius greeted with a curt bow.

"Welcome back to Mistral, doctor," the monarch said, her voice laced with subtle amusement and curiosity, "How goes the Lux Sanctus Project? I understand the thirteenth unit was tested for combat parameters today."

"Yes, and thus far, the combative capabilities of Number 13 have proven to be impressive," Relius replied as he straightened himself from his bow, "But that's not all that I must inform you about. In regards to Lux Sanctus, there was an incident at the docks in one of our associate's operations with the White Fang. It would seem that we have discovered a wayward Murakumo Unit present there."

Hades' silhouette shifted ever so slightly, "Do continue. Were you able to identify which unit it was?"

Relius shook his head, "We weren't able to identify it, but believe that it is the tenth unit. The eleventh unit is ruled out, as we know Professor Kokonoe stole it from us. And it would require a miracle for Number 12 to have survived Take-Mikazuchi. Even if by miracle it lived, it was never properly merged with Lux Sanctus before the facility was wiped out, so it wouldn't be capable of the abilities the missing unit displayed at the docks anyway."

"So Number 10 it is then," Hades mused out loud, "Considering what Salem is plotting for Vale, the Vytal Festival will be the best possible opportunity for you to retrieve our missing weapon."

"It shall be done, Empress Hades," Relius gave another short bow before he continued, "Though there was something else at the docks that I believe you would be quite interested in."

He could almost sense Izanami smile at his statement, "Do tell."

And so he explained to her what had happened at the docks. How at long last, it had returned, just as they intended.

Cinder walked to the front entrance of Salem's keep in a huff as soon as Phantom teleported her and Terumi to the crystalline landing strip of Evernight Castle. She looked around at the external environment; jagged mountains and cliffs filled with glowing purple crystal encompassed the environment as pools of what Salem called Seithr bubbled below, birthing new Creatures of Grimm. Cinder couldn't help but admire the sight, as the world around her showcased what her master was capable of, the power she wielded, and the power she'd grant her in her servitude.

Unfortunately, the sight was marred by the annoying presence of the black-haired scorpion Faunus waiting for them at the entrance. He was dressed in what he always wore; a white sleeveless jacket that left his chest exposed, white pants, and leather boots.

"Well Cinder," Tyrian started in his deranged tone, "Good to see you aren't keeping our goddess waiting," his face then soured and turned into a snarl when he saw who was beside her, "Hello, Terumi."

Cinder had to resist the urge to smile at how Tyrian threateningly moved towards their hated green-haired ally. Despite how much she hated Tyrian, there was one thing they managed to agree on; they both equally hated Terumi, even if for different reasons. She hated what an obnoxious, condescending troll the man was to her pretty much most of the time. Tyrian, meanwhile...

"Oh hey choir boy, why are you waiting outside? You miss us, or did Old Lady Grimm get tired of you sucking up to her like a three lien hooker?" Terumi mocked as casually as one would order a coffee while Tyrian looked like he was a stone's throw away from trying to cut the man's head off. Cinder knew that Tyrian was their master's most devout servant, seeing her as a Goddess, and Terumi not only openly disrespected Salem with subtle insults when he talked to her, but he also mocked Tyrian's worship of her.

Before anything could begin between the two nutcases however, the doors opened, revealing a larger, broad-shouldered man with short brown hair and hazel eyes, "Cinder, Terumi," Hazel greeted politely, though Cinder was able to tell that he was struggling to be civil with their green-haired associate, "She's waiting for you."

That seemed to be enough to calm Tyrian from attacking as the four of them went inside to where Salem awaited them. Cinder's eyes lightly grazed the internal , chapel-like architecture of the palace as they made it to the meeting room. Upon the door's opening, Cinder humbled herself as she entered the room, taking in the sight of her queen.

Her master, Salem, was as elegant as she was terrifying. Skin a deathly pale white with dark veins lining her body and ivory colored hair that was done up, she was adorned in a flowing black robe. The black sclera of her eyes and crimson glow of her irises helped convey her power and how beyond any of them she was. Salem was everything Cinder wished to be; Strong, feared, and powerful. All of which she would become through serving her, as without her, she was nothing.

"Cinder," her master greeted cordially as she, Tyrian, and Hazel all kneeled to her. Terumi just walked to his seat and rested his feet on the table, much to Tyrian's ire. Cinder ignored that for now and focused on her queen, "I trust that your operation in Vale is going well?"

"Yes my queen. The operation is running smoothly and the second phase will soon be ready," she answered as she and the others got up and took their seats.

"And how are you adjusting to your power?" Salem asked.

Cinder placed a hand to her heart and bowed slightly, "I am adjusting quite well to the powers of the Fall Maiden. Just recently I was able to put them to the test against Terumi and Relius' newest Murakumo Unit."

"And she couldn't do any lasting damage to Number 13. Pretty weak, huh?" Terumi snarked, with Cinder bristling in anger. The air in the room began to move rapidly as wind started picking up, but Cinder saw her master calmly raise a hand, telling her to cease. She choked her anger down and crossed her arms in aggravation while turning to glare out the window, deciding the view outside Evernight Castle was more appealing than anything else.

"Now, speaking of that doll, we have some pretty major news regarding Cinder's operation," Terumi explained in a more semi-serious tone, "There was an incident recently at the docks and, well, why don't you see for yourself."

As Cinder turned back to face the group, she saw Terumi place a hand on his eye and remove a contact lens that he placed on the table before pulling his scroll out. A few button presses later and the lens emitted a holographic screen that played footage of what Terumi saw of the fight that took place at the docks. This made Cinder wonder why he even needed to torture Roman for any extra details, but then again, she knew Terumi well enough to know that he was probably just looking for an excuse to make the crime lord grovel like the weakling he was.

The fight the youths put up was mildly impressive, Cinder would admit, but suddenly another youth in green wielding eight floating blades just like the ones Nu wielded entered the fray and fought against the White Fang forces. The sight made her blood boil to a degree as she clenched her fist, given that she was still furious about her previous fight with the thirteenth unit. Cinder looked to her master and saw that she was mildly curious about this individual.

"So, I take it the girl is a missing science project of yours?" Salem looked to Terumi for his response as he paused the footage.

"Yup. No clue which missing unit she is though, though we're pretty sure it's Number 10. We know for a fact that one through nine are dead since we saw them die, and Number 11 is in that annoying cat's custody. Number 12 got destroyed before it could be merged with its Nox. So that just leaves Number 10 as what this unit could be." he confirmed as he adjusted his fedora.

"Hmm, make it a point to retrieve the unit once the plan for Vale and Beacon reaches its final phase," Salem said, looking at the image with her hands folded in front of her mouth.

"Oh we will, but there's so much more to this Sal," Terumi said with one of his more unnerving smiles that almost took up the entirety of his face, "Just watch."

He played the footage again, continuing after the missing unit's arrival and right to the point where the white-haired man with the enormous blade was impaled by Neo. Then she watched as he was covered in a blackened aura and rampaged all over the docks, reducing White Fang to shriveled husks and broken corpses with powerful waves of darkness. Cinder swore she saw what looked like a face on some of them. Even she had to admit that the sight of the man's sudden rampage and the powers he displayed were disturbing.

But what drew her attention the most wasn't the footage, but everyone else's reactions to it. Hazel looked shocked, as the violence and destruction was probably not what he was used to seeing. Tyrian looked outright joyous, as if what he witnessed was the greatest thing to ever happen on Remnant. And Salem...

When Cinder looked back to her master, there was an odd glint in her eyes, one that she'd never seen on Salem's face before. It almost seemed...giddy? Ecstatic? Relieved? Whatever it was, it wasn't something she'd ever seen in her master's eyes before, and that left her confused.

"Interesting indeed," Salem chuckled for a moment before she looked to Terumi and smiled, "It would seem that what you and the doctor set up long ago is finally bearing fruit. When Vale is in ruins and when Beacon falls, bring that boy to me. Understood?"

Terumi gave her a nod before he stood up, "Well, if we're all done with the meet and monologue, I got places to be, lives to screw around with," and with that, he stood up and left. As he did, Cinder couldn't help but wonder what her master meant by whatever Terumi and Relius 'set up long ago', but she doubted any of them would tell her if she asked.

"You're all free to go now," Salem said as she continued staring at paused image of the rampaging individual. Wordlessly, the three of them stood up and exited the room, Cinder intending to return back to Haven. As she exited the room last, she turned back to her master one last time as the door closed and saw something else in her eyes. It was for a split-second before the door closed, but she could have swore she saw a semblance of longing as Salem gazed at the footage.

Terumi hummed to himself as he travelled down to the lowest level of Evernight Castle, entering a massive room whose centerpiece was a large, obsidian black floor. If one were to look more closely at the floor or have a better understanding of what the Grimm were made of, then they'd realize that this wasn't a floor, but more of a large pool, verging on the size of a lake. It was comprised of pure Seithr that was frozen solid. It'd be easy to feel sorry for any poor bastard who fell in before it was frozen, though they'd die a slow agonizing death on contact anyway.

Of course, in regards to this particular frozen Grimm pool, only one poor bastard ever fell in thanks to Salem, and Terumi didn't feel sorry for them in the slightest.

Once he stood at the center of the frozen Seithr lake, he tapped on the surface, "Knock knock! Yoo hoo! You still in there?"

Knowing that there would be no answer, he smirked and continued anyway, "Well, I just wanted to let you know that we're gearing up for the grand finale to poor old Vale. Next time you see the place, it'll be nothing but a ruin of Grimm running about, everyone dead or screaming for their lives, and one old mutual foe we used to share back in the day that's gonna give this shitty ass world the evisceration it deserves!"

He then kneeled down and looked straight down into the frozen lake with a cruel smile, "And to think, you won't be there to do a damn thing about it. How does that make you feel, old friend?" he then got up and turned around, "Oh well, all this could have been avoided if you didn't have a stick so far up your ass that you seriously thought you could do anything about her. Looks like that ego of yours cost old Ozzy what could have been his best bet at stopping what's about to come."

As he walked out, he let out one final goodbye, "Sayonara dumbass!" that was heard by no one but the occupant at the bottom of the lake. If one were down there, they'd see who this occupant was; a tall warrior adorned in white armor, crimson eyes featured on all armored sections that could do nothing but glare upward. The warrior was trapped in a position of trying to reach for the surface that he was so far from.

Here he was, Hakumen, the strongest of the Six Heroes, powerless to do anything to stop those that plotted the downfall of everything and everyone.

Chapter Text

She remembered all of it. The screams, the scent of spilt blood, the fear on the face of her mother's corpse as she fell to the ground, looking right at them, and the terror in her younger twin's eyes as they both kept hidden underneath their parents' bed. The bandits came out of nowhere, attacking their home village without remorse, stealing everything they could get their hands on while killing any who got in their way. Their mother had made them hide underneath her bed for their protection, saying that the bandits wouldn't hesitate to kill them if they were seen. After seeing them slash their mother's chest open, Luna fully believed that and kept her mouth clamped shut, doing the same for her twin, Sena.

The boots of the bandit moved around the bed, opening the room's drawers and closet, likely raiding them to see what he could take for himself, not caring a wink about the people, their parents, that he just killed. Luna bit back the urge to scream as tears filled her eyes, moving back slightly as she and Sena tried to keep away from the unnamed bandit.

Doing so proved to be a mistake however, as the wood beneath them creaked slightly, causing the bandit to stop. All they could do was wait in terror as he started moving closer to the bed and kneel down, intending to look under it. Before he could, however, footsteps were heard and another person entered the room, a feminine authoritative voice indicating that she was this monster's leader. Luna didn't know whether to be grateful that her sudden appearance kept the man from looking into their hiding spot, or more terrified now that the bandit leader was in the same room as them. All she saw of the woman was a pair of black heeled boots with black leggings that pooled over them.

"Have you gathered everything?" the leader asked in a voice that Luna swore she would never forget.

"Yeah, just about," the man said in a nonchalant tone, "So what do we do about any survivors?"

"Leave them," the woman said uncaringly, "What happened here will draw the Grimm. If they can't survive that, then that's their own fault."

"Tch, whatever you say, boss," the grunt then left the room while the woman remained behind, looking around the room, likely to find if there was anything left worth stealing. Curiosity began to overtake Luna as she slowly and quietly crawled forward, much to Sena's silent protest, to a position where she could see more of the monster that attacked her home, that killed her parents. Though she wasn't able to get her full appearance, parts of it were burned into her memory.

Her bushy jet black hair, her mask that greatly, and fittingly, resembled the Creatures of Grimm that her parents warned them so often about, and those cold, blood red eyes that hid behind it. Luna almost squeaked and backed away when she thought the woman spotted her, but if she did, she made no indication of such as she stood up and exited the room.

Luna didn't know how long she and her brother remained under the bed of their slain parents. It could have been ten minutes, maybe thirty or even almost an hour. All she knew was that by the time they mustered the courage to get up and run, the bandits were gone, and the howls of Grimm could be heard coming from the forests behind them.

So they ran for gods know how long, to the point where their legs were drained of all energy and they remained hidden in a small opening in a rock formation, too exhausted to even be scared anymore. As Luna and Sena clung to each other, all she could think of was her brother. Everything; her parents, her home, her friends, they were all gone now, but she still had her brother, and as they fell asleep, she promised him that she'd never abandon him, and he promised the same to her.

Alright Luna, just wait till the guy isn't looking, Luna thought to herself as she and Sena hid behind a number of barrels while looking at the man's food stand, selling a variety of different fruits to village goers. Just as it seemed that the vendor wasn't looking, Luna motioned for Sena to make his grab. She and her brother ran out from their position and grabbed as many apples and oranges as they could carry before running away from the stand...

"STOP! THIEVES!"

…and just in time to get spotted as they were now being chased by the same vendor. Good thing Luna and her brother learned all the ins and outs of dodging dumbass vendors over the years. They ran out of the village streets and around the corner where the chaser couldn't immediately see them. They boosted themselves over a fence using a closed garbage can and hid behind it, the sound of running footsteps telling them that the vendor had fallen for the trick and kept running past them.

With a sigh of relief, Luna pulled an apple out of her pocket and took a bite while Sena pulled out a stolen knife and began peeling an orange. Before Luna took her third bite, she felt her brother poke her side, prompting her to turn and see that he was holding the partially peeled fruit and knife towards her.

"Uh, Luna," Sena said in his usual nervous tone, "You think you could help me peel this orange? I'm kinda having trouble."

Luna looked at the fruit and gave her brother a nod, taking it and the knife from him. As she peeled the fruit's skin away, her brother asked, "Luna, how far away is the next village?"

"Don't know bro," Luna admitted just as she peeled off the last of the skin and gave the fruit to her brother, "Guess we'll just hitch a ride on a supply cart and let them drop us off. Maybe the next village will be closer to a city." at her brother's satisfaction with her statement, she went back to eating her apple as he ate away at his orange.

That was their goal at this point. For the past few years, Luna and her brother had just been travelling, wandering from village to village, stealing what they could to get by. They had no idea where exactly they were in the world, but they were hoping that with each village they wound up in, they'd get closer to a city to live in, since those were a lot less likely to get attacked by Grimm and laid waste to overnight. Maybe they could even find a more permanent home in a city, one that wouldn't be taken away from them by bandits or monsters.

As soon as she finished her apple, she waited for Sena to finish his orange, at which point she looked past the fence and checked both directions. Aside from the occasional passerby, the street was all clear.

"All clear Sena," Luna said as she climbed over the fence and waited for her younger twin to do the same. The two of them began walking down the streets, Luna keeping her hands in the pockets of her baggy long-sleeved pink sweater, the holes and tears in it exposing the plain white t-shirt she wore underneath. She gave an occasional glance to her brother to keep make sure he stayed safe. He was wearing pretty much the same clothes she was; baggy pants, loose sneakers, and a sweater with some tears in it, though his was blue in contrast to her pink. Not to mention her hair was slightly longer.

The two of them walked until they saw a large supply cart with several boxes inside. From the looks of it, the cart was heading out of the village, which was enough for Luna to quietly make her way to it with Sena in tow. She looked and saw that the owner of the cart wasn't looking and was instead talking to a large, burly looking man with a halberd, probably a local Huntsman hired to protect his cargo on the way to its destination. Luna looked back to her younger twin and nodded, climbing into the cart with Sena following after her. The two quickly hid behind a number of cargo boxes and waited for the cart to get a move on.

As soon as the cart's back door closed and it began moving, Luna sighed in relief, unsure if that was going to work or not. She gave a short peak out of one of the side windows and saw that they had already exited the village and were now on the open trail. She heard the Huntsman climb on top of the cart roof keeping an eye out for Grimm or other threats. With nothing else to do but wait until they got to this cart's destination, the two of them admired the scenery that passed by them; chirping birds flying from the trees, lush green bushes with pretty flowers, and even the sight of a small river as they crossed over an old bridge. Sometimes Luna felt like eavesdropping on the conversation between the cart owner and the Huntsman, but most of their talk revolved around potential Grimm they'd have to worry about, with her hoping that they wouldn't encounter any.

Just don't be afraid, Luna thought to herself, looking to her brother, who seemed on the verge of falling asleep, Fear draws those things close. Don't be afraid of anything. Do it for Sena's sake.

Seeing him drift asleep, she got down from the window and laid down on the cart's wooden floor as she felt her eye lids grow heavy. Her rhythmic breathing causing her to drift asleep as well.

Luna found herself jostled awake when the cart came to a sudden stop. She looked out the window and saw that it was now late afternoon, with Sena just starting to wake up as well. As she rubbed her eyes, she tried listening in on what was going on outside, and it sounded like there was a roadblock ahead of them. Driven by curiosity, she stuck her head out the window to get a better look at what the roadblock was, much to Sena's protest. Though as soon as she did, she immediately regretted it.

The roadblock as another cart much like the one they were in, only it was knocked over with its supplies spread all over the place. Luna could see brief glimpses of flies and rotting food, some of which looked like it was trampled. Worse, she also saw the Huntsman inspecting a body that looked like it had been mauled to death. There was also another body, but it was clearly female and carrying a sword, her arms and legs mangled in positions that didn't look right at all.

Savage deaths, one of a cart driver and the other of a Huntress ripped apart in ways no sane human would ever even try, supplies scattered about with no sign that any of them were taken. It was pretty clear that this was the work of Grimm, and Luna was now scared that they were still nearby, with them in their line of sight next.

She rushed back inside the cart and grabbed Sena by his sides, "Sena, we need to go, now!" she said with as much urgency as she could muster up. He fearfully nodded and the two pushed the cart's backdoor open...

"Oh gods, GRIMM!"

…just in time to hear the cart driver panic and draw their attention to what was happening at the front. A few large bear-like Grimm were attacking the Huntsman, who was doing his best to fend them off, despite a number of wolf-like Grimm also making their presence known, surrounding him and the front of the cart. Not wasting time, Luna grabbed her brother's hand and ran as fast as she could into the forests, pushing past many branches and leaves as the sounds of steel clashing against bone and screaming echoed behind them.

Luna felt her legs begin to ache as the sounds of howling and snarling started getting closer behind them. She forced herself to keep running, to make sure she and Sena got away. They needed to get away. They would not die here. Not if she could help it.

Suddenly, just as she felt her legs give out, the world around her grew dark as she and Sena found themselves falling into a deep hole in the ground, screaming the entire way down. She closed her eyes and clung to her brother tightly, hoping that this wouldn't be the end. However, Luna suddenly found that they were sliding down an incline, with it evening out the longer it went, and they eventually stopped sliding altogether. Luna opened her eyes and looked around, finding that she and Sena were in a dark cave with barely any light.

"W-where are we?" Sena asked, scared out of his mind. Luna was just as scared, but she didn't want to make it known.

"I don't know," she admitted, keeping her voice as even as she could before age looked back to where they entered from. She heard no howling or roaring, meaning that the Grimm likely didn't, or couldn't, follow them down here, "But at least we're away from those monsters," she then looked around and saw that the cave got darker further down. Looking to her brother, she asked, "Sena, do you still have that flashlight you took?"

Sena gave her a nod before pulling out the flashlight and handing it to her. She turned it on to give them a light source and looked further into the cave. Nothing but a deep tunnel down to...wherever and the sound of dripping water. Seeing no choice, she held out her hand for her brother and, after he took it, she started walking down the tunnel, hoping to find a way out.

The cave's perpetual darkness, combined with the droning sound of water droplets that persisted no matter how far they went and her slowly increasing hunger made it seem like they'd been walking for hours when it had only been...actually, she had no idea how long it'd been, given that she had no sense of time down here. For all she knew it could have been anywhere from twenty minutes to almost an hour. The only certainty she had was that her brother was still close to her, given how tightly he held her hand and how she kept looking back to make sure he was there.

Unfortunately, the flashlight was starting to dim. "No, no!" Luna briefly let go of her brother's hand to shake and slam on the light tool, hopelessly trying to get it to start up, "Please don't do this to me!"

"Luna, look!" Sena said with rare adulation in his voice. Luna looked to where he was indicating and saw a small light at the end of where they were walking. A smile found its way onto her face, her hunger forgotten as she and Sena took hands and ran straight towards the light source, happy that they found their way out. As soon as they reached the light, Luna's heart sank.

They hadn't gotten out. Instead they'd found themselves inside a large underground opening with a skylight shining down. The light itself was so far up that there was no way they'd ever be able to reach it. Luna was just about to scream in frustration when her brother pointed something out.

"Hey, what's that thing in the middle?"

Luna saw what he was pointing at. Standing at the center of the room was what looked like a staff of sorts impaled into the ground. It was long and pink, its end shaped like a heart with golden rims, within which sat a red orb. The light from the ceiling shimmered off it, granting it an almost divine visage, which felt more apparent as the staff and its surrounding ground was the only thing in the room the light would touch.

For some strange reason, Luna felt like she was drawn to it. She couldn't explain how or why as she let Sena's hand go and walked towards the staff, ignoring her brother's warning as the urge to pick up the room's centerpiece washed over her. Just as she was about to reach it, she was suddenly snapped back to her senses when her brother yelled "LUNA! LOOK OUT!" and pushed her away, knocking her to the ground. She quickly got up, but her blood ran cold at the sight.

"SENA!" she screamed in terror. Her brother's arm had been torn off as he bled profusely, whimpering in pain with tears welling up in his eyes. Luna turned in anger to what could have attacked him, but found her rage overtaken by fear when she saw what it was; a large centipede-like Grimm that burrowed into the ground and sprung up right in front of her, hissing in her face.

Luna froze, completely petrified and unsure what to do, her worry for Sena and her terror from the monster both overtaking her mind. Suddenly, she felt the same pull towards the staff at the center that she did previously and looked towards it. In a split-second she ran towards it, just barely dodging an attack from the monster in the process.

Please be a weapon, please be a weapon, please be a weapon! Luna desperately thought, reaching out for the staff as she neared it with the Grimm just behind her. As soon as she made contact, her entire world went white.

"Ugh," Luna grunted when she came to. The world around her was still pretty blurry, but bits and pieces were coming together now. As she became more lucid of the world around her, she noticed that the staff from the center of the room was now in her hands.

What happened? All I remember was touching the staff and before that...

"Sena!" she darted her head all over the place, looking for her brother. When her eyes fell on him, her heart sank as she ran to help him up. But once she reached his body, she saw that he wasn't moving anymore and lying in a pool of his own blood. He wasn't even breathing.

"He's..." Luna couldn't bring herself to finish that sentence. It's...it's just not fair! I promised I'd always protect you! That I'd never lose you! And now...now...

All she could do as her sorrow overwhelmed her was pick up her brother's body and cradle him in her arms, not caring in the slightest that his blood was coating her clothes. Her weeping echoed all over the room, cursing the Grimm for taking her only family away from her, and cursing whatever god made those monsters exist.

"Lu...Luna..."

The sound of her brother's voice snapped her head up. "Sena!" she cried, hoping that her brother wasn't truly dead. But his body was exactly the same, unmoving without a wink or whisper.

"L-Luna, is that my..."

Luna put Sena's body down and slowly backed away from it, realizing that her brother's voice was coming from inside her head. It can't be, she thought, disbelieving of what was happening right now, Maybe you died with him. Maybe this is all just some kind of torturous afterlife and-

"Luna, I-I don't think we're dead."

Luna then screamed as she fell back onto her butt, "WHAT THE FUCK!?" was the first thing that escaped her mouth, "How is this-I...just..."

"I don't know!" Sena's voice screamed in her head before he calmed himself down, "All I know is that I pushed you out of the way of that Grimm, then I was in a lot of pain and now I'm...inside your head, sorta? How'd this happen anyway?"

"Um, excuse me you two," an older, feminine voice said from within Luna's mind as well, "I think I may have an answer. Just promise me you won't scre-"

Luna wasn't quite sure what the voice said after that, seeing as she and Sena spent the next several minutes screaming in panic.

"Okay, okay, so let me see if I've got all this put together," Luna said, sitting in a corner of the staff's room as she looked to the weapon laid out in front of her, "The staff is called Muchourin, which was previously wielded by you, Trinity Glassfille. You were killed by some bastard named Yuuki Terumi and sealed your soul inside the staff to save yourself from death, with you being asleep for gods know how long. Muchourin recognized my soul as compatible with it like yours was, but since you were in it when I picked the thing up, your soul not only went into my body, but it also picked up my brother's soul too while he was dying?"

"Yes, I do believe that's everything," Trinity answered, "Are you alright Miss Luna? You seem rather...agitated."

"Oh it's nothing. I've just been trying to survive and keep my twin brother safe, and now I have some old lady in my head alongside said brother because his body died and it's all my fault," Luna said with sarcasm lacing every word, "Oh, I am just fucking peachy."

"I'm sorry for what you had to go through. I wish I was there to prevent it from happening."

"L-Luna, please be nice," Sena cut in, "Miss Trinity seems like a nice lady and if it weren't for you picking up the Muchourin, I really would be dead."

"But still..." Luna muttered, but she suddenly felt control of her body slip away from her and she was unable to move her arms and legs, Wait, what's-

"Luna, I don't want to hear you blame yourself for this. It isn't your fault at all!" Sena's voice came out of her mouth and echoed throughout the cave, much to her shock. She saw and felt her body become shocked and look down at itself in as much surprise as she had. It didn't take long for Luna to figure out who was in control now.

"Sena, are you in control of my body!?" Luna screamed within her own head, not knowing how else to react.

"I-I don't know!" Sena said out loud in nervous confusion, "I don't know how I did that! I just wanted you to stop blaming yourself and suddenly-"

"I don't care! I want my body back now!"

"Hold on for a moment, children, I think I know how this happened," Trinity interjected with a tired sigh, "Sena, you said you wanted your sister to not be so hard on yourself? I believe that it's a matter of exerting your soul's will on its vessel hard enough to take command of it. Luna, give it a try and reassert control of your body."

Luna wasn't sure if she could fully trust the voice in head. For all she knew, Trinity wanted to take control of her body so she could have a 'vessel' of her own. But at this point, she had no options. Reluctantly, she followed her advice and thought really, really hard about taking control of her body back. It took a good deal of effort, but she started to feel herself move again of her own accord, and she looked down to confirm that she was in control again.

"Phew, that scared me," Luna muttered. She didn't want to end up being a prisoner in her own body, watching it go about with her being unable to do anything. At the same time, the thought was bittersweet. While she had control of herself again, her brother didn't have a body anymore, and as much as she wanted to keep her autonomy, her brother deserved to have his own freedom as well.

"Luna, are you okay?" Sena asked, "I'm sorry about the whole possession thing. I'll stay in the back from now on."

"No Sena, it's fine," Luna admitted as she got up and picked up the Muchourin, "You can also take control when you need to. We just have to figure out how to share now."

"I fear that's something we'll need to figure out once we leave this cave," Trinity chimed in, and Luna could find no reason to disagree with her no matter how much she wanted to. Instead, she nodded and went back to Sena's body before picking it up and carrying it in her arms. Sena started to protest dragging his corpse along since it would only be a burden to her, but Luna retorted angrily.

"Sena, never call yourself a burden," she didn't want to snarl at her brother, but she couldn't help it, "You were never a burden to me when we were surviving and you're not a burden now," her voice became downtrodden as she continued, "Besides, I don't want to leave you here. I know it's too late for your old body, but I want to give it a decent burial."

"I concur." Trinity said, agreeing with Luna's decision.

As Luna started walking down one of the paths, she became frustrated as it grew darker, to the point where she couldn't see. "Dammit, wish our flashlight didn't crap out on us earlier."

Then, almost as if on her command, the red orb on Muchourin started glowing vibrantly, illuminating the way ahead of them, "Wow!" Luna whispered in awe, "How did I do that?"

"It seems you're using the Muchourin unconsciously," Trinity answered, "It responded to your desire for light and provided you with it."

"What else can it do?" Sena asked.

"Many other things, though I suggest we get out of these caverns before we discuss that further."

Luna continued down the path, which was now less of a chore to get through given the light. Despite the illumination, it was still draining to navigate, in no small part due to the number of pathways down the cave, her having to carry Sena, adding to her exhaustion, as well as her growing hunger. When her stomach started growling, Sena complained that he was hungry, which confused Luna until Trinity brought up that she was hungry as well, attributing the shared need for nourishment to the fact that they all shared a body now, and as such, bodily functions such as hunger. Luna took a short break and pulled out her last apple, eating it as fast as she could, which seemed to satisfy Luna and Trinity as well. She then continued walking down her current path for a few minutes until she saw a bright light at the end, the sound of wind reaching her ears and telling her that the path led to outside.

"Finally!" she exclaimed as she started running, the weight of her brother's body now feeling as light as a feather as she reached the end of the tunnel, finally making it outside. It took a few minutes to register that it was now bright and sunny outside, "Wait, how long were we in that cave?"

"I'm uncertain," Trinity admitted and Luna heard her hum in contemplation, "What time was it when you first entered?"

"Late afternoon, but I guess that doesn't really matter right now," Luna decided to dismiss the subject entirely. Right now, she wanted to find a good spot to let her brother's body rest. She walked around, looking for a good burial spot until she found a solid, old tree in an opening in the forest, "Sena, do you think this is a good spot?" she asked, not meaning for her voice to waver as much as it did.

"Y-yeah, I think so," Sena said, "It...it feels odd. I don't know how to describe this."

"Yeah, I don't either," Luna admitted as she placed her brother's body down, "I'm sorry."

Instead of hearing her brother's voice, she instead felt a warm presence wrap around her, like someone was giving her a hug. She picked up on what was happening and tried to convey those warm feelings back to Sena as tears ran down her cheeks. Moments later, the feeling increased even further, an older presence that was just was warm enveloped her, and she returned those feelings back. Despite what happened to her brother, Sena was still with her, and while she still wasn't sure on her, she had Trinity now as well.

Suddenly, her revere was snapped by the crashing sound of trees, drawing her attention to several trees shaking somewhere in the background as birds flew out of them. She became scared, but she felt Trinity and Sena reassure her as she pointed Muchourin in the direction of the disturbance, briefly looking back to Sena's body and moving to protect it. Whatever it was, it was knocking down trees left and right and soon enough, Luna saw it.

It was a Grimm, far larger than any she had seen, pushing past the tall trees like they weren't even there. The Grimm bore a lot of resemblance to an elephant and it looked around the area it had entered, as if looking for something or someone. Luna desperately hoped that the Grimm wouldn't notice her, but it seemed to be all for not, as it locked eyes with her and began to move right towards where she stood.

I'm gonna die. I'm gonna die! We're gonna fucking die! Luna was scared out of her mind, unable to move or do anything as the monster charged straight for her. Before it even came close...

SHING!

…its head was suddenly lopped from its body as it collapsed to the floor and its killer landed right in front of its dissipating corpse. Luna stared slack-jawed at the man as he walked towards her, making out the details of his appearance. Whoever he was, he was a very short man with a grayish white beard and he looked to be about the same height as she was, his right eye covered by an eye patch and a straw hat on his head. He wore a large orange coat that covered him down to his knees, black baggy pants that looked like they were part of what she heard was called a 'hakama' if she remembered the name of it correctly. Probably the most eye-catching part of his appearance was his dark grey tail, which split into two, signifying that he was a Faunus.

"You alright there, kid?" he asked in a gravely, but kind tone that felt comforting after what was about to happen.

"Y-yeah, I'm okay," she stuttered, still shaky from the whole thing, "T-thank you mister, b-but I need to bury my brother."

He looked past her at Sena's corpse before looking back to her with sympathy and understanding in his eye, "I see. I'm sorry I couldn't get here sooner."

"I-It's fine mister. It's kinda hard to explain, but he's sorta in my head now because of this," she explained as she held out Muchourin. The Faunus' eye widened slightly as he nodded.

"I see what you mean, though I gotta ask how you're able to wield the Muchourin. Not a lot of people can wield a Nox Nyctores," he questioned.

"Wait a minute," Trinity said as it felt like she was trying to get a closer look at the man, "Jubei, is that you?"

"Huh," Luna became confused, hearing Sena chime in with equal confusion, "Trinity, you know who this guy is?"

"Hang on, Trinity? Are you talkin' to Trinity Glassfille?" the Faunus, Jubei, asked, "How in the-"

"Children, please allow me to assume control for just a moment. I need to speak with my old friend," Trinity asked. While Luna wasn't keen on the idea, at this point, she was more willing to listen to the older woman in her mind. She nodded, and felt control of her body slip away, feeling Trinity's soul take over her body as she spoke.

"Hello old friend," Trinity said, making Luna feel a little weird as the mature, adult voice came out of her fourteen-year-old body. If the look of surprise on Jubei's face was any indication, he was just as shocked.

"Trinity," he gasped, "But how?"

"Allow me to explain everything." and so Trinity went on to explain there entire ordeal. How after her death, Trinity sealed herself inside her own weapon, how Luna picked up the Muchourin and how her brother's soul was with them as well. Jubei sat next to them, both puzzled and amazed. He then explained what he was doing there; someone named Rachel sensed that the Muchourin had become active and she sent him there to see what had happened, which led to where they were now. When all explanations were exchanged, Trinity told Luna to take control of her body again, letting her reassert her will to regain control, after which Luna explained to Jubei what was happening before she found the Muchourin; how she and Sena were trying to survive, how they were running from Grimm before winding up in a cave system, and how Sena's body died.

"Sounds like you and your brother've been through a lot kid," Jubei said sympathetically, "More than what anyone should have to go through."

"Yeah," she said before looking back to Sena's corpse, "I know he's still with me, since we're sharing a body and all that, but I promised to keep both of us safe, and this happened and I couldn't protect him." she wrapped her hands around her knees, "This shouldn't have happened at all."

"I know what you mean, Luna," Jubei said as she turned to face him, seeing a melancholic look in his eye, "Used to have a little brother myself named Tomonori. Promised that nothin' would happen to him on my watch, but...well, let's just say I couldn't keep my promise."

Luna said nothing and just turned to look ahead of her, not knowing what to say or do. After a minute, she stood up and started digging the ground under the tree to lay Sena's body to rest. She was suddenly stopped by Jubei, who looked at her with understanding and wordlessly joined her in digging, warming Luna's heart with the gesture; Sena and Trinity also felt equally touched by Jubei's aid. After a few minutes, they dug a place for Sena's body and gently put him in before covering the ground once again. As Luna gave the dirt one last pat, she gazed on her brother's burial place one last time, letting grief overtake her while feeling Sena and Trinity's assurance that everything would be okay.

After Luna finished grieving, she looked up and said, "I don't know what to do now."

As if in response, Jubei sighed, "Well, how's about I lend you a hand with that?" Luna looked at him, a curious look about his offer as he continued, "At this point, I'd like to think I may have a knack for takin' in broken kids and helpin' them with their problems. Besides, you probably need to learn how to use that Nox of yours so you don't end up hurting yourself or anyone else in the process. You alright with that?"

"I..." Luna didn't know what to say. She thought she was just going to have to go back to just wandering about, and even though she wouldn't literally be alone thanks to having Sena and Trinity's souls within her, she'd be physically alone. But this man, out of the kindness of his heart, was offering to help her without any prompting to do so.

"Luna, he seems friendly, and Miss Trinity trusts him a lot, so I think we should go with him," Sena threw in his two lien on what they should do.

"Indeed," Trinity added, "Jubei is one of my oldest friends since the Dark War. If there's anyone you can trust, it's him."

Moved by their words, she looked back to the old cat Faunus and held out her hand, "Thank you, mister Jubei."

Jubei gave her a kind smile as he took her hand, walking her out of the forest as she gave her brother's grave one final goodbye.

"Rise and shine kids!" Jubei's loud wake up call snapped Luna out of her dream. Thankfully it wasn't any of the nightmares like she had in the first week when Jubei took her in that often led to him and Trinity doing their best to comfort her, doing the same for Sena whenever he had a nightmare. But unfortunately, her dream last night was a rather pleasant dream, which made having to wake up from it all the more frustrating.

"Alright, I'm up Master," she muttered to her teacher as she rubbed her eyes and yawned and stood up, looking around and remembering that they all slept underneath a tree next to a large lake, "What're we doing now?"

"No trainin' today Luna, we're just waitin' for Rachel to come in. She's takin' us to see an old friend of ours."

"Oh, you mean this Ozma-oh, wait, sorry, Ozpin guy, right?" Sena briefly took over and asked. In the weeks since they started training under Jubei, Luna and Sena had gotten better at switching control between each other, though Sena still preferred to sit back and let Luna have the most control seeing as it was her body, but Luna didn't mind Sena having a lot of time in control of her body anymore.

However, them sharing a body with Trinity meant they were privy to a lot of information that was to be kept very tightly under wraps. Many of them heavily involved Ozpin due to things like him reincarnating and his first identity. The only people who knew about the latter were Rachel, Jubei, Valkenhayn, Trinity, and by proxy, Luna and Sena.

"Yeah, but it'll take her a few minutes to get here though. I'd also recommend you let Trinity do most of the talkin', since this is to help get her up to speed on what's gone down since she sealed herself away," Jubei said. Luna nodded, having no issue with it, though she still felt rather overwhelmed by what was about to happen. She and Sena were now part of something bigger, something that she wanted to help with, but at the same time was scared of. Part of her wanted to just have her and Sena sleep the whole thing through, let the big fights be fought by the grown ups, but that wasn't really an option. Firstly because they didn't even know if they could do that, and secondly, Luna and Sena agreed that they wanted to help as best they could to pay Jubei back for being so kind to them, despite how he insisted that they didn't owe him anything.

In any case, Luna stretched her arms and decided to walk over to the lake to get one last view of the sight before they departed. As she gazed on the majestic blue water, she looked down and saw her reflection. During their travels, she was able to find a new outfit that her master was kind enough to help her purchase, which felt weird. After stealing things for so long just to stay alive, it felt odd legitimately buying something for a change.

Luna's blonde hair had grown out considerably, now being tied into a low pony tail with a teal ribbon that was tied into a bow. She wore a white sweater vest with yellow buttons and a teal long-sleeved shirt underneath, as well as a teal skirt with white leggings underneath. On her hands were fingerless combat gloves that matched her shirt in color and on her feet were white combat boots.

The most eye catching part of her outfit was the large white hooded cloak she wore that went all the way down to her ankles. When they saw it in a store window, Trinity insisted on having it, and after Sena sided with her, Luna agreed and asked Master Jubei about getting it. He agreed and had a smile on his face as he bought it for them, saying something along the lines of "Trinity must be feeling nostalgic", and Trinity did explain to them that she used to have a white cloak back when she was alive just like the one Luna wore now.

"I take it you're ready to go?" the uptight voice with an air of superiority breached her ears as Luna turned around to face the vampire girl who looked at least a year younger than her. While Trinity trusted Rachel, having known her since before her imprisonment, Luna still didn't because of how smug and condescending she came across as, almost like she was always looking down on her. Even Sena was pretty uneasy around her, mostly because of the of the horror stories about vampires their mother read them when they were young, so he kept worrying that Rachel was gonna drink their blood when they least expected it.

Luna sighed, "Yeah, fine, take us to this Ozpin guy or whatever," and with that, she and Master Jubei walked up to her as a storm of rose petals surrounded them, making the environment shift around them.

"Right on time," Ozpin said as the swirl of rose petals subsided, revealing both Rachel and Jubei as well as a blonde girl carrying the Muchourin in her hands, something that Glynda seemed in awe of at the very sight. The girl looked around her office with curiosity in her eyes, but Ozpin sensed something interesting about her soul. Or rather, her souls, as he sensed three distinct presences, one of which seemed strangely familiar.

"Been some time, huh Ozzy?" Jubei casually greeted, "So, how's Ragna been doin' here?"

"He's been doing quite well, you'd be shocked to learn that he's made rather close bonds with his teammates," Ozpin chuckled while also maintaining an equally casual demeanor. Given what he learned from Rachel after the docks incident, he did his best not to give anything away. Wasn't that difficult, since he had centuries of experience with doing so.

"Really? Well now now I'm interested in meetin' them," Jubei smirked, "If anyone can get that boy to stop bein' such an ass for any longer than five minutes, then they must be somethin' special."

"Pardon the interruption, but I do believe that there are a few people in this room that require your attention, Mister Wizard," Rachel chimed in as she drew their attention towards the girl, "The floor is yours now."

"Uh, thanks, vampire lady," the girl said unsurely, though Rachel gave no indication that she was insulted, "Uh, hi, my name's Luna, and, uh, I have the Muchourin," she then gestured to the Nox Nyctores in her hands, "And this is my brother, Sena."

Just then, her body glowed briefly before she opened her eyes and spoke again in a completely different voice, "Uh, h-hi. My name is Sena. N-nice to meet you." The voice was young and high-pitched, but it was clearly that of a boy's.

"My word, they're just like you Ozpin," Glynda whispered with a hand to her mouth, "Two souls in a single body."

"Not quite," Ozpin responded, much to her notable confusion, "While my reincarnation does cause my soul to enter and share a new body with another like-minded individual, over time the souls inevitably become one. The souls in question here are completely distinct and will always be unique from one another. Besides, you miscounted. It's actually three souls in a single body."

"Huh?" Glynda was the only one to reach in surprise. As Rachel and Jubei both simply smiled, telling Ozpin that they knew who the third soul was.

"It's...odd, admittedly. They feel familiar to me, but I can't quite recognize them," he admitted.

"Well in that case," Jubei then turned to Sena, "Mind letting her out? Think Ozzy's in for a surprise."

"Okay," Sena then closed his eyes and glowed once again. When the glow subsided, Ozpin recognized the posture taken almost immediately, and the voice that spoke confirmed everything.

"Hello Ozpin. It's been quite some time, hasn't it?"

"T-Trinity!?" Ozpin became shocked as he suddenly realized who the third soul was. Instead of speaking, he did something that he didn't normally do; he ran up and hugged the friend that was long since thought dead, laughing as she shared in his mirth.

"It's so good to see you again!" Ozpin said in jubilation as he retracted from the hug and stood up, "Well, you seem to have gotten shorter."

"And you've certainly gotten older," she said with a kindhearted smirk before she turned to the still in shock Glynda, "Oh, I apologize for the lack of manners. My name is Trinity Glassfille."

"Wait, you're...Trinity Glassfille," Glynda began, still recovering from her surprise, "As in, Platinum Alchemist Trinity Glassfille. One of the fabled legendary heroes who defeated the Black Beast of myth Trinity Glassfille! THAT Trinity Glassfille!?"

"Uh...yes, that is who I am," now Trinity was the one in surprise due to Glynda's reaction. Ozpin resisted the urge to snicker as Glynda began rummaging through his desk and pulled out a blank sheet of paper and pen before walking up to Trinity and holding them both out to her.

"Uh, i-if it's not too much trouble, I'd be grateful if you could write your name here," she said with an embarrassed expression before she looked away in an effort to maintain a composed demeanor, "J-just to confirm that you're who you are of course! Can never be too careful!"

Her attempt at saving face didn't seem to work as Trinity looked towards Ozpin for an answer.

"Let's just say that Glynda here is a very big fan of yours" he said, "Read all the fairy tales you were either in or helped inspire."

"Professor Ozpin!" Glynda yelled indignantly, a strong blush covering her entire face.

"Did you not tell me of the time she cosplayed as Trinity for one of your staff's annual costume parties?" Rachel snarked, much to Glynda's growing anger.

"Alright, alright, that's quite enough," Ozpin interrupted before Glynda would start hurtling things at Rachel in anger, one of those things likely being his desk, "Glynda, I'd like to discuss things with Jubei, Rachel, and Trinity in private, so if you would..."

Glynda glared at Rachel for another moment before she turned to him, still rather angry, and said, "Of course, Professor."

But before she could leave, Trinity interrupted, "Um, actually, if you wouldn't mind, may I see that sheet of paper in your hand?" and pointed to the blank sheet that Glynda still held. Calming down considerably, Glynda gave the paper and pen to her and she scribbled down her name before handing them back. For a brief moment, Ozpin saw a look of joy in Glynda's eyes before she returned to her usual sense of professionalism.

"I'll leave you all to it," Glynda said as she entered the elevator and it closed behind her. As the elevator went down, a loud squee was heard coming from it before it slowly faded out and stopped altogether.

"Well, I suppose we should be getting down to business now," Ozpin said, facing Trinity with complete seriousness.

"I believe so," Trinity agreed as she took a seat, "Now, what has happened while I was out?"

Chapter Text

"Okay, just try to hold still. This may sting a bit."

"OW!"

"Sorry, but in my defense, I did warn you to hold still."

Litchi couldn't help but snicker just a tad at the sight. In front of her was Linhua, a young woman with tan skin and black hair, currently adorned in a white qipao with black tights and navy blue sandals. At the moment, her assistant was tending to the injuries of one of the members of a team consisting of her most frequent patients; a fair-skinned, yellow-eyed, blue-haired woman wearing a gray waistcoat with dark brown shorts underneath a light brown overcoat with the sleeves rolled up, ointments being applied to her heavily bruised right arm. On the lapels of the coat was the emblem of Mantle's primary protectors, the Happy Huntresses.

"Yeah, ha ha, very funny," the blue-haired woman, also known as May Marigold, said, "Sorry for letting that last Megoliath blindside me."

The person she was addressing was Robyn Hill, a young woman somewhere in her late twenties to early thirties and the leader of Mantle's protectors, the Happy Huntresses. She had tanned skin, violet eyes, and light-blonde hair that was done up in a ponytail. She was wearing a sleeveless, gray accented black coat with a red sleeveless vest underneath, as well as a brown belted waist clincher and brown pants tucked into black combat boots. Around her neck was a green scarf that had her team's emblem on it.

"It's fine," Robyn said, "I'm just glad you made it out okay." She turned to Litchi and asked, "Sure you don't want to help out like you usually do, doc?"

Litchi shook her head, "I'd love to, but I need to make sure that Linhua can handle this on her own. I'll be leaving to Vale in a couple weeks, and I'd rather not take any chances by leaving her here unprepared."

"Litchi, I told you," Linhua cut in as she shifted to wrapping May's arm in medical gauze, "I know every medical procedure forwards and backwards, I know every prescription and how the clients should take them, I know how to work with prosthetics and how to repair them, and I have all of your upcoming clients memorized by heart. You really don't need to worry, the clinic is in good hands."

"True, but what about surprise visits?" Litchi pointed out, "How are you going to handle any clients that never scheduled any appointments and just pop in without you expecting them?"

Linhua just gave her a deadpan stare, "We're in the middle of a surprise visit right now and I'm handling this pretty well, aren't I?"

"Oh, I beg to differ," May snarked under her breath, which didn't go unheard by Linhua, who tightened the gauze she was applying, "OW! Okay, that was on purpose!"

"I'm sorry, but you threw off my concentration," Linhua replied sarcastically as May glared at her. Litchi just facepalmed in exhaustion at their current behavior while Robyn gave a lighthearted chuckle and walked up to them.

"Alright you two, that's enough. Lin, just finish patching her up," Robyn said as she turned to Litchi, "So doc, what's going on in Vale that you need to go see? Doesn't sound like you're headed for the Vytal Festival."

Litchi nodded, "An old friend of mine contacted me regarding...let's just say that it's something important." She explained, "That's all I feel comfortable talking about, and I have no idea how long I'll be in Vale, but this visit means a lot to me."

Robyn gave her a nod of understanding while May's expression grew confused. Linhua, however, looked worried. Litchi had explained her past in Sector Seven to her assistant, so unlike the others, she knew what this visit to Vale entailed. She'd told Litchi that she was letting a past she didn't want to revisit back into her life, but Litchi replied that she knew the risks and was willing to take the chance.

I know I can save you, Roy. And I will.

Just as Linhua finished applying the gauze to May's healing injury, another of the Happy Huntresses, Fiona Thyme, walked in. She was a Faunus with sheep ears, the left of which had a hoop earing and the right of which had a bell earing, as well as olive eyes and short, messy white hair. She was wearing a long-sleeved shirt underneath a white armored breastplate, which itself was underneath a sleeveless green overcoat that had her Happy Huntress emblem on its left lapel. Her bright and cheery smile practically lit up the entire room.

"Guys!" Fiona said excitedly, "You won't believe what just happened!"

"The assholes high up in Atlas are actually sending support to Mantle for a change and acknowledging the people here as individuals who are actually worth a damn?" May snarked as Linhua and Robyn actually snickered. While Litchi did chuckle along with them, she'd admit that it was a rather disheartening joke, given how true it was. Even back when she was just a fledgling scientist, she frequently saw just how little those high in Atlas cared for the people beneath them. She remembered how she and Glynda stood together and clashed with those same high-and-mighty people to try and get them to provide support for those in need, but their words always fell on deaf ears.

"Nope!" Fiona then held out a sheet of paper, "Tao actually scored really well on her Vacuo history test!" She passed it around and Litchi saw that Tao had indeed made a fifty seven with two bonus points added for answering one of the bonus questions correctly. That wouldn't seem like much to anyone else, but by Tao's standards (which usually averaged out at the upper thirties to low forties), that was pretty high.

Just then, Tao Kaka herself ran in with an excited bounce to her step. She was a tan-skinned cat Faunus about nineteen years of age with red eyes and long blonde hair that was done in low twin braids, both of which ended in yellow ribbons. Her attire was a red, short-sleeved shirt and cream colored shorts that went down to her knees. On her feet were platform shoes partially covered in the front by cream colored leg warmers. Her cat tail swished back and forth in excitement.

"It's true! Tao did really good on Sheep Lady and Green Lady's new test!" she cheered as she gave Fiona a strong hug.

"Still surprised she managed to pull it off, all things considered," a third voice entered the room, its owner being Joanna Greenleaf, a very tall, tan-skinned woman with dark green spiky hair who superseded her fellow teammates in height. She wore a grey breastplate with the Happy Huntress emblem at its center, underneath which was a light beige shirt with long sleeves that gave way to green and white armor on her arms. Over this she wore a brown sleeveless overcoat with darker lapels. Despite the snark in her voice, Litchi could also tell that there was genuine pride with Tao's accomplishment.

"Well, I know how hard you've been working with Fiona and Joanna, so you've definitely earned it," Robyn complimented, leading to Tao retracting from her hug with Fiona and rushing up to hug Robyn. The Happy Huntress leader's face started to turn blue in a matter of seconds, much to the bemusement of everyone else.

"Thanks a bunches Boss lady!" Tao's infectious exuberance made everyone smile, even Robyn as she was being accidentally crushed.

"No problem Tao," Robyn quickly said in one breath as Tao let her go and grinned from ear-to-ear with her hands clasped in front of her. As Robyn caught her breath, Tao's face went from joy to sudden realization.

"Uh oh! Does anyone know what time it is?" Tao asked, looking a little worried.

"Uh," May then looked at the clock, "I think it's around 5:37 pm, right about."

Tao gasped, "Tao was supposed to get back to the Kaka clan already!" She ran out of the room, many loud noises being heard in the background, before running back in, struggling to put on a large, cream-colored hoodie that stretched down to her hips, the Happy Huntresses emblem on its upper right. It also had two large hand-stitched cat ears on the hood itself as well as rounded ends to its long sleeves that had paw print designs on the palms. Said ends each had three thin openings, which Litchi knew hid razor sharp metallic claws. As she zipped the hoodie up, she looked back to the rest of the Happy Huntresses.

"Sorry guys, but Tao needs to go back home neow," she explained, "Big sis Tora's probably super duper worried."

The Happy Huntresses nodded in understanding. "That's fine Tao," Joanna said, "Kind of our fault for holding you up with the practice test. Tell Tora I said hi, okay?"

"Yeah, I get what you mean," Fiona added, "I need to go and see my uncle soon. Don't want to worry him either. Stay safe Tao."

Tao beamed and individually hugged each of them, with May smiling despite wincing due to her injury. The cat Faunus hugged Litchi and Linhua before she headed off. As the bell on the door rang, Litchi realized something and ran straight to the clinic's kitchen, grabbing a couple boxes filled to the brim with food she'd made. She tended to cook whatever food she could for any starving citizen of Mantle she came across, and Tao's family was no exception.

Litchi ran out of the clinic and saw Tao heading out in a hurry as she called to her, "Tao! Wait up!" Her yell got the cat Faunus' attention. Tao stopped, letting Litchi catch up and hold out the boxes for her, "Here, I think you and the rest of the clan would love these."

"Wow! Are there any-"

"And yes, I made sure to include plenty of fresh meat buns in them as well. I know they're your favorite," Litchi interrupted, smiling as Tao gave her a cheerful grin and happily took the boxes.

"You're the best! Thanks Boobie Lady!" Tao thanked, though Litchi did her best not to cringe at the nickname. It was one that she was basically stuck with, given Tao's inability to remember anyone's actual name, only ever calling people by nicknames. Probably didn't help that their first meeting involved Tao not paying attention to where she was running and crashing into her, the cat Faunus landing face first into Litchi's...modest chest.

"You're welcome Tao," Litchi replied, "You take care now."

Tao turned and happily skipped away, heading for her clan's home in Mantle's slums as Litchi waved goodbye. When Tao was out of sight, Litchi returned to her clinic to see the rest of the Happy Huntresses off. While she needed to help Roy, a large part of her didn't want to leave Mantle either. People here suffered almost every day for various reasons; lack of food, ongoing Grimm attacks that severely damaged the protective walls time and again with only the bare minimum being done to fix it, poor heating systems that left many freezing, and anti-Faunus sentiments. All of this went ignored by those that lived far above them, by those who had the power to help, but didn't. She wanted to stay so she could keep helping everyone in any way she could, but she couldn't ignore Roy. This would probably be her only chance to help him, and she had no intention of letting it go to waste.

She sighed and re-entered her clinic, praying that her time in Vale, that the time it took her to save Roy, wouldn't be too long.

"This part never really gets any easier," Winter sighed to no one in particular as she walked towards the chambers of Atlas' 'guest', so to speak, in one of their maximum security facilities.

While she understood her duties and responsibilities to her kingdom, this recent revelation General Ironwood informed her of was still taking some adjusting, as it was a step beyond that and delving into the existence of fairy tales and greater horrors that threatened not just Atlas, but the entire planet.

But nonetheless, she did her duty and entered the chamber, inside which was an elderly, white-haired woman on a hospital bed with a canvas and art supplies next to it and a tea set on the other side. Winter put on the best smile she could as the woman faced her, but a part of her ached given that she knew it was all a façade she had to put up. Both to give Fria some comfort in her final days, however long those would be, and to ensure that General Ironwood could gain what he needed; the Maiden of Winter.

"Hello again, Fria," Winter greeted, being given a warm smile from the elder in return, "How have you been doing?"

"Oh, you know, same as I've always been doing," Fria replied, looking at the canvas. Winter got a closer look and saw that it was a painted image of the kingdom of Atlas from a skyward view, looking somewhat different from how Winter saw it whenever she flew in her personal Bullhead.

"It's a beautiful painting of our kingdom," Winter complimented as she poured her and Fria some tea, "It's always a delight to see that your artistry hasn't been dulled by old age."

Fria chuckled as she took her tea cup and lightly blew to cool it just a tad, "I suppose," she then looked at the painting, "I think I remember seeing this somewhere though."

"Is it perhaps a memory from your youth?" Winter asked, seeing if she could figure out where the image came from, "Maybe you saw the sight while looking out of the window of a Bullhead while travelling?"

"No," Fria frowned, "I don't remember seeing this while on a vehicle. I...I remember I was in the sky on my own."

Winter did her best to hide her surprise, though she did let out a light gasp. So, she must have seen this site when she was flying in the sky on her Maiden powers. Fascinating, Winter thought as she looked at the image again, Will I see Atlas this way as well when I become the Winter Maiden?

"It sounds like it must have been something," Winter said, distracting herself from her current thoughts. She and Fria continued to talk for several minutes longer , drinking tea and talking about Fria's experiences, or at least what little she could clearly remember. After a while, the elderly Maiden became exhausted and fell asleep, with Winter keeping her company for some time before General Ironwood called her to his office.

Winter folded her hands behind her back as she entered General Ironwood's office. It was sunset as the orange sphere in the sky behind the office windows cast the general's body in shadows as he talked to a hologram of a slim, tan skinned man with dark hair wearing a lab coat. To lesser men, the sight would appear sinister, but to Winter, it gave her superior an imposing presence that was needed for the leader of a kingdom.

"And as I've told you already, General," the hologram said with disdain at addressing General Ironwood by his title, "The Titan Project is taking up too many resources from Paladin and Knight development. It would be more efficient to-"

"One moment, Doctor Watts," he said to the man in the hologram, "Specialist Schnee just walked in, we'll continue this conversation at another time," he then cut off the hologram before the scientist could respond.

"Specialist Schnee, reporting," Winter said with a salute, maintaining her position until her general nodded, "You wanted to see me, General Ironwood, sir?"

"Yes. How is your progress with the Winter Maiden, Specialist Schnee?" the general asked. The question gave Winter brief pause. Part of her disliked what she was doing, as it was basically lying to an elderly woman, only seeing her as a carrier for the Maiden's power. It was all distressingly similar to how her father treated her mother, seeing her as a means to attain the Schnee name, company, and wealth.

But despite this, she stomached it. Unlike with her father, who's unforgivable actions were rooted solely in his greed, what they were doing was for the sake of defending the kingdoms by any means necessary, even if she didn't agree with it. It's all for the greater good, Winter told herself as she spoke up, "Everything with Fria is going well, General. Thus far, I have been the only one in contact with her," she briefly paused and looked down, "However..."

"I take it something is troubling you?" he asked. His voice didn't sound particularly empathetic to her internal plight, but Winter brushed it off as her imagination, given her focus on Fria and recent revelations at the moment.

Winter shook her head, "Forgive me, it's just that all of this is still overwhelming to me, sir," she explained, "I always knew that as a Specialist, and one serving directly under you, I'd have greater responsibilities, but this is a step far beyond that. Learning about the existence of magic, fables, and things that I never believed in, as well as beings who either are said fables or are planning on using such means to threaten all of Remnant is...daunting."

Her answer was met with silence for a few moments before he spoke up in his usual, serious tone, "While I understand your misgivings, I'm afraid you'll need to learn to cope with them as quickly as possible. Gods know I had to," he then stood up and turned to look out his office window, "Truth be told, I would have preferred to keep you in the dark about these things for much longer and only let you know in the wake of a great catastrophe such as the fall of one of the kingdoms, just to name an example. Unfortunately, thanks to recent events, neither of us have that luxury anymore."

"What do you mean? What happened?" Winter asked with slight trepidation in her voice. If he would have only told her this due to something as severe as a kingdom going under, then whatever happened must have been just as bad, if not worse.

"Ozpin informed me that the Fall Maiden has been killed, and her powers have been taken by someone serving our enemy. The most we know about her killers is that one of them was the infamous 'Mad Dog' who warded off Qrow Branwen. You know of the monster, Azrael, don't you?" the General asked, to which she gave a silent nod. She knew of the monster's horrifying strength and other disturbing rumors only by word of mouth, but a lone man who could wipe out armies of human or Grimm all by his lonesome with little more than his bare fists was a terrifying thing all on its own.

"To make matters worse," the General continued, "He also informed me that Yuuki Terumi has been located in Vale, with Qrow's reports confirming that Salem is planning something for that kingdom soon. We don't know what it is, but I'll be bringing my troops with me for the kingdom's safety."

"I understand, sir," Winter said. Admittedly, she had internal reservations regarding bringing Atlas' army to Vale, but she was certain that the General knew what he was doing.

"And while I'm there, I want you to protect and maintain Atlas in my stead," the general informed her as he turned his head, letting his right eye look right at her.

"I..." Winter had to stop herself from stammering in confusion and anxiety, as she didn't want to make a fool of herself in front of the general. He wanted her to maintain their entire kingdom while he was away for the Vytal Festival? Winter just wasn't sure if she could do that, "But sir, with all due respect, I don't think I'm capable of-"

"Winter, enough," he commanded as he turned to face her, "With me gone for the time, Atlas will be far more vulnerable, and I need someone I can trust to keep our kingdom safe in my absence, and I need that person to be you. And, as our future Winter Maiden, it seems only fitting that you be given the responsibility. I'm counting on you to pull through for me."

"I understand, sir," Winter saluted, doing her best to hide her building anxiety at the enormity of the task she was just given.

"Good. I have confidence that you will be up to the task," the General said with a confident smile, "You are dismissed. Right now I have to finish paperwork for the students participating in the tournament and put up with more of Doctor Watts' complaints."

At the general's more lighthearted tone, Winter gave a light chuckle, "If I have to put up with him while you're in Vale, then you have my sympathies," and with that as her final word, she left his office. Despite her reservations, she could only do as her general commanded, as her life was meant only to serve Atlas, its people, and its leader. She would serve the will and whims of Atlas to the very end. It was what she was meant for.

She was a soldier, after all. And as her general had taught her over the years, good soldiers followed orders.

Jin sat alone in his team's dorm room, free from the bothersome prattle of others and working on one of his assignments at his desk. It wasn't due until the a few weeks into the next semester while at Beacon, but he'd made it a habit of always working ahead to avoid procrastination. At this point, if he were lazier, like his irritating partner, he'd have enough free time to do whatever he wanted. But he refused to give himself that luxury.

"Hey Jin, how's it hanging?"

Speak of the devil, and he shall appear, Jin thought as he turned to face his partner, Kagura, who casually leaned against the doorframe of the dorm room. He was a tall, lean man with purple eyes and spiky black hair garbed in a gold-trimmed black cape, underneath which he wore a loose white shirt with black accents, as well as pitch black trousers and brown steel-toed shoes.

"What do you want, Kagura?" Jin asked the heir to the Mutsuki family in an annoyed tone to let him know to buzz off, but his partner just gave an amused chuckle.

"Yeesh, can't even say hi to my partner?"

"Considering that I'm in the middle of something far more important, no, you cannot," Jin coldly said as he went back to working.

"Cold as always, Jinny," Kagura teased, much to Jin's annoyance, especially at his use of that nickname, not that the idiot knew what it meant. It wasn't because he hated the nickname on principle, but because there were only three people on the planet who could get away with calling him that. One of them was probably dead, and the other two he hadn't seen in years, and would likely never see again.

"What have I told you about calling me that?" Jin glared at Kagura as the air around him grew colder, Kagura's breath becoming visible due to the sudden drop in heat, though Atlas' notorious 'Black Knight' didn't seem fazed by the freezing temperature as he held his hands up in mock surrender.

"Calm down Ice King, just wanted to invite you and the rest of our team for a night on the town," Kagura said, "Vytal Tournament's coming up, so I figured we could enjoy all the sights of Atlas while we're still here. I already talked about it with Ciel and Mai, and they're interested in having some downtime outside of training for the festival," he then looked up in thought, "Okay, well, Mai is, Ciel only agreed to it cause it gave her the excuse to formulate an entire schedule for tonight. What d'ya say, interested?"

"Pass. Now leave me to my work," Jin stated immediately as he turned to continue his assignments.

"Okay, seriously Jin, you really need to learn how to lighten up and have fun," Kagura said, his tone more serious than normal, "Ever since the last semester started and even after it ended, all you've been doing is working, training, studying, and generally being kind of unpleasant."

"Meanwhile, all you've done outside of training is needlessly flirt with your female peers, alongside being an irritating, lazy party animal," Jin fired back in as deadpan a voice as possible.

"Least I'm having fun," Kagura said before he sighed, "Jin, least you could do is give it a shot. Wouldn't exactly feel like we were having fun as a team if our leading man wasn't enjoying himself alongside all of us. Besides, you only live once."

"I don't care," Jin said as he went back to work, refusing to look at his partner, "Go have your fun, but leave me out of it. I'd sooner slice off my own arm than see myself devolve into laziness."

His statement was met with nothing but silence, though he could tell Kagura was still there. Eventually, his partner sighed, "Alright, fine. I'll let the others know you're not coming along. Just don't don't think how you're going about things is any way to live." The sound of Kagura's footsteps echoed down the hall before they went out of earshot, leaving Jin alone as he stopped working for a moment's respite.

Jin just couldn't understand why Kagura wanted him to partake in such vapid activities along with the other two. His life had no time for fun and joy, nor did he believe that to be possible. Any hope for such things ended a long time ago, the day his adoptive grandfather named him as the Kisaragi family heir, so why bother with trite like that? It would only get in his way.

I choose to walk alone, Jin thought, No attachments, no distractions.

He shook himself from his thoughts and continued his work.

Chapter Text

"WHOOAAAH!" Ragna yelled as he fell down and landed flat on his back, "Ow..." He shook his head and looked up, seeing that he was no longer outside his dorm, but instead in what looked like the interior of some kind of castle.

"Ragna!" Ruby's voice came from behind. He turned to her and saw that she was still in her pajamas, getting up and shaking herself off, "What's going on? Where are we?"

"No idea kid," Ragna admitted as he looked around. They both seemed to be in some kind of throne room, dark pumpkins with varying expressions littering both the stairs to the ominous, creepy throne as well as tables in the room, "But I get the feeling that it's nowhere good."

"Gee, what gave that away," Ruby dryly remarked as she also took in the surroundings, though she did grow more enamored the more she looked around, "On second thought, this place seems pretty cool. Maybe whoever owns this place isn't so bad?"

"Ruby, we were kidnapped in our sleep and neither of us have our weapons," Ragna was quick to point out their situation, "Why the fuck would you think that whoever brought us here is a decent person?"

"Uh, innocent till proven guilty?" Ruby awkwardly rubbed the back of her head while Ragna pinched the bridge of his nose. He was way too tired and too angry to deal with this shit.

"Okay, so let's focus on finding a way out of here," Ragna said as he started looking towards a hallway, which he walked straight for, "Or better yet, I find whoever owns this fucking place, beat the crap out of them, and get them to send us back the Beacon!" As he walked, or rather, stomped, he heard Ruby follow behind him, the only sound filling the air being the unrhythmic steps of his combat boots and her bare feet.

"Or, and follow me on this, you let me try talking to whoever brought us here," Ruby said as she started walking ahead of him and turning around, easily walking backwards to face him, "Look, this whole thing is kinda...okay, it's super fishy and disturbing, but we're unharmed and they just dumped us into a big fancy room, not to mention no one's trying to stop us from going anywhere, so odds are they're letting us have free run of the place?" From the sound of her voice, even she was having a hard time buying her own story here, "Okay, I know that sounds stupid, but we're kind of on their terms right now, so I don't think we can just punch our way out of here. We need to plan a way out, and we can start by figuring out why we're here first."

"Kid, I am not in the fucking mood to play nice with whoever the fuck owns this place. Minute I see 'em, they're going down."

"Ragna, no! We're not doing that!" Ruby shouted back, "So just behave, understand?"

Ragna growled and glared down at her, which she met with ease, having gotten used to it. "Fine," he growled, "But if they try anything-"

"Then you can beat them up as much as you want," Ruby finished for him, "But until we know why we're here, let's at least try to hear them out so we can plan an escape."

Ragna grumbled to himself as Ruby turned around and started leading the way to wherever they were going. Obviously neither of them knew how to navigate this place, so he was pretty sure Ruby was just winging it direction wise and hoping they got lucky and ran into whatever asshole owned this place. They turned the corner and found themselves in another hallway, but this one actually had windows leading outside, so if nothing else they could at least get a feel for where they were. Ruby looked out the window and looked around the outside before directing her attention upwards, only to suddenly jump back with a loud gasp. Ragna walked up to the window and looked outside as well, seeing what looked sort of like a spherical shaped green house.

Then he looked up, and he saw what Ruby freaked out over. It was the moon. A blood red, unbroken moon, hanging in the cloudless sky above.

"R-Ragna," Ruby stammered, now genuinely sounding afraid, and honestly, even he was terrified at the implications, "I don't think we're on Remnant anymore."

"Yeah," Ragna quietly stated before he looked to his partner, "Any change in plans, Ruby?"

Ruby looked unsure for a moment before she steeled herself, "No, we find whoever brought us here and figure out why. Maybe they can bring us back home."

All Ragna could do was grunt in agreeance, his mind now too caught up in the fact that they were probably on either another world or possibly even another plane of existence, neither of which he knew anything about. The two of them continued walking down the various hallways until they found themselves standing in a large, two-story foyer, the front door standing in front of them.

Ragna walked ahead and kicked the doors down with a loud slam, revealing a courtyard filled with gardens of vibrant red roses to them, an alabaster table with two seats of the same color at the center. He looked to Ruby, who simply shrugged and went to inspect the place, kneeling down and sniffing the flowers.

"Well, you got to give whoever took us here this," Ruby said as she gazed on the roses, "Whoever or whatever they are, they have great taste in flowers."

"Hmm, seems that you're actually rather smart for a mere child."

A haughty young voice echoed around them. As Ruby stood up in surprise at the voice, Ragna snapped his head in every direction to find where it was coming from.

"If you wish to find me with greater ease, I suggest you both turn your attention upward to the top of my castle."

They both turned their heads to where the voice told them, and saw a silhouette standing atop a spire, the red moon making it impossible to see who she was. The figure then jumped from her castle far into the air, shrouded by the night sky, before landing in the rose garden and causing the flowers surrounding her to gently float in the air for a few seconds.

The figure looked like a young girl, even younger than Ruby, wearing gothic attire that looked fitting for an uptight aristocrat. She had her long blonde hair done up in a pair of twin tails that made Ragna think of a pair of rabbit ears. She turned and faced them with a pair of blood red eyes that shimmered with a mixture of mischief, curiosity, and condescension, something that immediately annoyed Ragna.

"Greetings, I believe introduct-"

"Save it!" Ragna snapped, not in the mood for the kid's high-and-mighty crap, "You brought us here against our will, so start talking."

"Ragna!" Ruby didn't like how things were starting, but he was tired and pissed off, so he found little reason to care at the moment.

"My my, temper temper," the girl snarked, "I suppose that's what one gets when dealing with a rabid mutt."

Ragna glared at her before Ruby stepped in, waving her hands to try and cool things down, "Now hold up you guys. Let's not let things get so heated. Look, you brought us here, right? We just want to know why so we can go home."

The blonde girl thought for a second before speaking, "For now, it's best to just say that I'm here to confirm a few things and help you both to understand something important, but first," she then gestured to herself and gave a brief curtsy, "I am Lady Rachel of House Alucard. Daughter of Clavis. The first and only of my name, and the last of the vampires."

That caught Ragna off guard enough that he forgot his rage for a few seconds. This girl was a vampire? The same monsters from fairy tales that were said to feed off the blood of humans and Faunus? If she really was one, she certainly didn't look the part, since the vampires he read about were supposed to be gaunt, feral monstrosities that hunted at night. Not some aristocratic noble whose whole appearance just screamed 'I'm so much better and smarter than everyone else'.

"Wait, you mean a vampire as in a vampire vampire?" Ruby asked with trepidation, "As in, you'll drink our blood and leave us as dry husks?"

Rachel then gained a repulsed and downright insulted look, "Oh by the gods no! I've only ever drank blood once in my life, and I personally detest the consumption of blood. Besides, considering you two are an immature child and a feral dog respectively, I think I'd rather starve myself than drink from either of you if it was my only option."

"Hey!" Ruby said indignantly.

"Fuck off you damned rabbit!" Ragna followed suit.

"My, being addressed as a rabbit, now there's an insult I haven't heard in such a long time," Rachel reminisced almost wistfully, "It's almost nostalgic, really." She then walked over to table and took a seat and gestured to Ruby, "Now, child, take a seat. We have much to discuss."

Ruby looked over to Ragna before she nervously took a seat in front of the damned bloodsucker, "So," Rachel began, "I brought you here to discuss-"

"Hey!" Ragna interrupted, "Where the hell am I supposed to sit!?"

"On the floor," the vampire dismissed, "You're a mutt. That's where mutts sit. Now do be quite, the grown ups are trying to have a conversation."

"Could you please stop being so insulting to my frie-"

"That's it!" Ragna yelled as he slammed his fist down onto the table, shattering it to splinters, "I have had enough of your fucking bullshit rabbit! Now you're gonna bring us back to Beacon or I'm gonna rip your arms off, beat you to a pulp with them, and shove whatever's left in a body bag!"

The vampire just smirked, showing nothing but confidence and condescension at his declaration, "I would love to see you try, you insufferable Neanderthal."

Ignoring Ruby's protest, he lunged right after the rabbit and attempted to slug her in her obnoxious, uptight face, but his fist was met with empty air, the vampire having seemingly vanished.

"How dull," her voice permeated from behind him, "Seems all you're good at is making empty threats."

Ragna snarled and attempted a spin kick behind him, but she merely ducked under it. The next few minutes were filled with him attempting various haymakers, jabs, kicks, and strikes at her, but every time, she simply dodged, moving around like a dancer on a stage. It was as if all of this was just a fucking game to her.

"Are you quite finished boring me?" Rachel snarked with a faux yawn, "You'll never so much as land a scratch when all you do is flail angrily like a child."

Ragna felt his anger hit its peak as a dark aura coated his body. He thrusted his palm at Rachel, who once more casually side stepped, and unleashing a dark wave in the direction of his attack. He sent a downward fist at her, shattering the ground below, then a darkness-coated kick, then-

"RAGNA! STOP!" Ruby's voice called out.

Suddenly, his anger began to dwindle as his breathing slowed down. He looked to his partner, who looked genuinely frightened, not of the vampire like she was earlier, but of him. Seeing this, he snapped himself out of his anger and shook his head, trying to clear his thoughts.

"Ragna," Ruby then walked up to him, "A-are you..."

"Yeah," he replied in a low tone, clutching his head and trying to figure out why he flew off the handle like that. Sure, he'd been insulted and angered many times before, but he'd never felt anger like that. It was far more visceral than any previous time he'd gotten that pissed. He remembered getting this angry once, but he felt his wrath then was more justifiable due to witnessing something truly abominable and wanting what he felt was justice for those who suffered because of it. This was just petty insults and it angered him to that level.

"Well, it seems I've received the results I was expecting," Rachel commented as Ragna turned to her, "But it would seem that my rose garden has been ruined as a result."

Rachel's statement caused Ragna to look around, seeing the rose garden completely decimated. The flowers had all been reduced to shreds, with scattered, torn rose petals everywhere. While Ragna didn't care for the flowers, he grew frustrated with himself thanks to his actions. Once again, he'd lost control, and it felt harder to hold his Semblance back during the altercation.

"Wait, you mean you wanted this to happen!?" Ruby yelled, taking him out of his musings, "Was all this just a test of some kind?"

"Quite, I shall say that both of you have been in my attention for quite some time, and I wanted to use tonight to test two things," Rachel said as she looked to Ragna, "How well you can control your anger and by extension, your power," she then looked to Ruby, "And how well you could snap him out of it," she turned away from both of them, "Frankly, you are both impressively underwhelming."

"Okay, do you only know how to insult people?" Ruby asked in frustration, which Ragna nodded, though his mind was still on what happened earlier.

"No, I merely reserve respect for those who have earned it. So far, neither of you have earned that privilege." Rachel said as she turned to face them, "But for now, I need you both to make a promise, and I ask that you take it with utmost seriousness."

She looked towards Ruby, "I need you to promise me that no matter what trails you encounter, you'll keep this mongrel sane." Her statement made Ragna glare at her, though he kept his anger to himself.

Ruby frowned, "I'll just ignore that 'mongrel' part, but I was already planning on doing that anyway. Me and our whole team were."

"Good. Though I suggest you and your team make a token effort to get better at it. If tonight is any indication, you're rather horrid at it," Rachel looked to Ragna, "And you, I ask that no matter what hardships or pain the world will force you to endure, and in spite of the fact that you're an obnoxious, incorrigible mutt, you'll fight on, not as a snarling beast, but as a human being. To put it in simple terms that those three functioning brain cells in your head will understand, don't lose sight of who you are."

"Look lady," Ragna snapped, "I don't give a rat's ass what kind of dumbass promises you want us to make cause you sure as hell ain't entitled to that shit, especially since you just up and took us in our sleep and just started telling us off. I don't need you or anyone else telling me who I am. I'm going to fight and live as myself and no one else. Got it you rabbit haired bitch?" Ragna noticed that this time Ruby didn't seem to bother calling him out on his rudeness, and from the look on her face, she was probably done with the damn rabbit's condescension as well.

Rachel only sighed in response and said, "Very well then, I suppose it is your choice whether or not you do so, but do keep in mind the consequences that will follow if you stray from your humanity."

"Like I said, I don't need you to tell me this shit," Ragna said, crossing his arms, "And why the hell are you being so fucking vague? Quit with the cryptic shit and just spit out what you're hiding from us!"

"Hmm, I take it back, it seems you have four functioning brain cells in that insipid little head of yours," at this point, Ragna was too tired to care about anymore of her insults, "But to the point, we all carry many secrets that are as dangerous as they are powerful. Telling you what I know would be far more costly to yourselves and those around you than if I decided not to."

"Uh huh, I get the feeling that it's mostly because you're having fun keeping us in the dark." Ruby snarked under her breath. Ragna could tell she was just about done with Rachel's bullshit too.

"It's mostly my previously stated reason," Rachel replied before smirking, "Though I won't deny that there's certainly a bit of fun involved on my end as well. And when you live as long as I do, it gets challenging to find ways in alleviating one's boredom."

"Well hardy-fucking-har, glad our ignorance is entertaining to you," Ragna said sarcastically, "Now send us back before I kill ya for real."

"I suppose I've done my part, and watching you fail to land a single hit on me has gotten rather tedious," Rachel said as she snapped her fingers, causing rose petals to surround them in a small vortex that continuously increased in speed. As the vortex completely coated them, Rachel spoke once again with a serious tone, "Heed my warnings though. The fates of many may very well hinge upon your choices in the future."

When the vortex subsided, Ragna looked around and saw that he was standing underneath his usual tree, Ruby no longer in sight. The broken, white moon in the sky showing that he was back on Remnant. Before he could process what just happened, his scroll buzzed in his pocket. He pulled out the device and saw that he received a text from Ruby.

"Did that really just happen?" Her message said, "Did we really meet a vampire and get taken to another dimension? P.S. Sorry for asking by texting. I just really don't want to risk waking Jaune and Noel up."

Ragna sighed and texted back, "Yeah, all that shit really did just happen. Think we should tell the others?" After a few moments, she sent another message.

"I don't know," it read, "I don't think they'd believe us if we told them. Vampires and other realms are out of fairy tales. I wouldn't have believed it if I just hadn't gone through what just happened. Maybe we should keep it to ourselves? At least for now."

Something about that just didn't sit right with Ragna. He didn't being kept in the dark on things, which that damned rabbit was taking delight in doing. He also didn't like the idea of keeping his teammates in the dark about this either. Still, Ruby had a point that what just happened was too unbelievable and that they were still trying to process everything themselves. It was probably better to wait for the right opportunity to do so instead.

"Fine," he typed, "We'll keep it secret for now, but we better figure out a way to tell them about it later on. Good night, Ruby."

After he received a good night message from his team leader, he silenced his scroll and laid down under his tree to get some sleep. But as he slept, his dreams were haunted by the same fight from before, still trying to land a hit on the vampire. But in his blind fury, he lashed out at everything with soul-sucking darkness, and when he awoke from his anger, at his feet was the broken, drained husk of a young girl no older than fifteen. A girl with silver eyes.

Chapter Text

Ruby yawned as she got out of bed, stretching her arms and legs before hopping to the floor and walking towards her dorm room window. She opened it and gave a disappointed sigh at the sight. An empty, grass covered ground beneath the tree, with her partner nowhere in sight.

"He's not there again, is he?" Jaune asked from his bed as Ruby turned to him.

"No," she shook her head, "Don't know where he is either."

"Why does he keep doing this?" Noel sorrowfully asked as she got up, "It's been four days. Just what is he doing?"

Four days, Ruby thought. It had been four days since she and Ragna were taken to Rachel's castle without anyone else knowing. Four days since he snapped again, briefly losing control of his Semblance. Four days since he started going off on his own and staying out of contact for an entire day before returning back to where he slept, never saying a word.

"And here I thought we were already past the whole moody phase when it came to him," Jaune said, "Think we should try asking around if anyone's seen him again? Maybe the other students actually saw where he ran off to this time?"

Ruby shook her head. The past times they tried asking the rest of the student body got them no answers. Not even the teachers seemed to have any idea where he went during the day or what he was doing. She'd asked everyone she could, with Weiss even showing concern despite her hate for the man. When she asked Team CRDL where he went, they made it clear that none of them knew either, and even Cardin surprisingly displayed a lot of concern for what was going on with Ragna. It was like he just vanished into thin air in the middle of the morning and reappeared right as they were about to go to sleep. She knew why he was doing this, or at least had a solid idea why, but she was never able to confront him about it to help him through it, and she was getting sick and tired of that.

"Alright, new plan," Ruby said, "We don't go to sleep tonight and we wait until Ragna gets back, then we jump him so we can all sit down and talk the problem out. Sound good?"

"Uh, I..." Noel stammered, "I don't really like the idea of 'jumping' anyone. Especially Ragna. W-what of he gets mad about it and hates us forever?"

"He won't. I know him enough to know that he won't." Ruby replied, "Sure, he'll get mad, but he won't hate us forever. I can promise that much."

"Just a follow up, how are we supposed to hold him down long enough to talk with him?" Jaune nervously asked, "I don't really know if you've noticed, but Ragna's ridiculously strong. We try that and he'll just shrug us all off."

"I know, that's why we're gonna get some help," Ruby said as she pulled her friends in close to tell them what she was thinking, "Okay, so here's the plan..."

Ragna roared in fury as he slashed clean through another Beowolf, other various Grimm still surrounding him. It had been a few days since he started this, sneaking out into the Emerald Forest to face off against the Grimm that inhabited it. Normally, he'd take joy in cutting these soulless monsters down, but there was no fun to be had as he did so in this instance.

"Keep it together Ragna. Don't lose control." He muttered to himself as he glared daggers at all his enemies. The Grimm made for a good means of getting himself under control, as their soulless nature made it easier to subconsciously avoid using his Semblance. Even if it would increase the damage they took, it drained nothing from them, thus making it wasteful to use. So far, he'd managed to keep it together for the past few days of near constant fighting against these beasts. He just needed to go another few and he'd feel less antsy about his sudden lack of control with Soul Eater.

Thus far, a pack of Beowolves, two Ursa Majors, and a Beringel were his current opponents as he shifted Aramasa to its scythe form and ran straight for the leader of the Beowolf pack, slicing it in half as the Ursa attempted to pound him into the ground. Ragna leapt over it and delivered a downward sword slash to its contemporary, crushing its skull plated head before he spun around and slashed away at the second Ursa, bisecting it horizontally. Just as the last four Beowolves charged surrounded him and charged him from all angles, Ragna shifted to his scythe and twirled it overhead, decapitating each and every one of them just as they got close. With most of the Grimm no more, he turned to his final opponent, the Beringel.

The ape-like Grimm pounded its chest with a mighty roar, clearly trying to intimidate him. Probably would have worked if he hadn't already killed plenty of these things before in his life. It jumped into the air and slammed into the ground, sending a massive wave of upturned hardened dirt right towards him. Ragna grunted spun Aramasa's scythe form quickly before charging headfirst into the attack, shielding him from the wave before he jumped into the air, switching back to his sword and attempting to slam his saber onto the monkey.

Unfortunately, the Beringel jumped back and dodged the attack, leaving a massive crater where it once stood. Ragna looked up and saw that Grimm had ripped a nearby tree from the ground and ran straight for him, tree overhead with intent to hammer him into the dirt. Ragna stood his ground and merely sidestepped the tree as the Grimm brought it down before delivering a kick to it that knocked the makeshift weapon away.

But just as he turned to attack, the Beringel grabbed onto him and lifted him into the air before slamming him down where he once stood, deepening the crater he created. Before he could react, the Grimm slammed its fist down on his chest, shaking the ground beneath him.

"Hold on tight little one! We'll hide in here!"

"I...I'm scared."

"Don't be. Just stay close to me."

Another fist slammed. The pain coursing through him through his entire body.

"Hush. Don't be afraid little one. They sense your fear."

"It's coming this way!"

"If it gets too close, I'll distract it. You run, understand?"

Another fist. His Aura feeling like it was on its last legs.

"Shit! It's getting close. Ragna, I need you to-"

"Go away."

Another strike knocked the breath out of him.

"Go away."

Another. It felt like he would pass out as his eyes began to flutter closed.

"Go away!"

Just as the Beringel's fist moved down, Ragna saw red.

"GO AWAY!"

Darkness flared out of him, sending a wave that knocked the Beringel far back. Before it could even get up, Ragna reached for Aramasa, coating it in his dark aura before slamming it down right in front of him. A pitch black wave tore through the ground and ripped the Grimm to shreds.

Ragna breathed in and out, exhaustion taking over as he calmed down. As the dust settled, he saw where the Beringel stood. Nothing left but several broken trees, all reduced to splinters, and shattered earth scattered in front of him. He looked down at his fist and saw his Semblance coating his hand before it retreated. His exhaustion was forgotten, and the anger came back.

Damnit.

Damnit!

"DAMNIT!" Ragna roared with anger as he slammed his blade down again, launching another wave of darkness that levelled whatever forest was in its way, "WHO ELSE WANTS SOME!"

His fury was met with nothing but the wind and the flapping wings of terrified birds that flew away from their nests in the rustling trees. No Grimm met his challenge. No one was coming to face him. He was all alone.

Ragna wordlessly sheathed Aramasa behind him and walked back to the main cliff where he and the others began their initiation. In those minutes, he thought to himself on what happened. For the past few days, he'd been keeping it together pretty well, avoiding his Semblance and not losing himself to his anger like at Rachel's castle, but today it all came out at once.

As he was being beaten down, it felt like bits of his life were flashing in front of him. All memories that he hated. Memories that he kept suppressed. Of the day he unlocked this damnable Semblance. Part of him wanted to leave this place just to keep his teammates away from him. If he couldn't control Soul Eater anymore, then they'd really be better off without him.

But I can't do that, Ragna thought as he made it to the top of the cliff, Can't just up and ditch them. But how the hell am I supposed to get this under control?

"Something troubling you, Ragna?"

The familiar voice snapped him out of his melancholy as he looked up and saw Professor Ozpin, whose eyes were filled with concern.

"Not even gonna bother asking why you're here," Ragna replied with a snarl, "So just fuck off and leave me alone."

Ozpin simply shook his head, "Sorry, but I make it a point to try and help all my students, and quite frankly, these trips into the initiation site are becoming rather self-destructive."

Before Ragna could open his mouth to tell Ozpin to get lost, he was beaten to the punch, "I'm not leaving until we discuss this, Ragna. And I doubt you'd be able to force me away, exhausted as you are, so please, let's just sit down and talk." He then gestured to two large rocks situated a few feet away from each other as he took a seat on one of them. Realizing that there was no way out of this, Ragna grumbled and sat down on the rock opposite to the Headmaster.

"The hell do you want, old man?" Ragna sneered, not in the mood for talking.

"For starters, why have you been coming out here on a daily basis?" Ozpin asked, "Certainly not for training from the looks of it."

Ragna chose to stay silent for several seconds, not wanting to answer as he glared at Ozpin. But after seeing in his eyes that he wasn't going to give up on getting answers, he relented, "I've been having trouble controlling my Semblance for the past few days. I don't know why, so I'm trying to get it under control."

"And because it drains souls, you believe that constantly facing Grimm will better condition you to not use it at all." Ozpin stated, to which Ragna nodded as the teacher continued, "I can understand that your Semblance and any topics surrounding it are rather difficult, but I doubt this active repression is doing you any good."

"Better I keep it down than let it out," Ragna retorted, "That way no one gets hurt."

"You didn't seem to have too many compunctions with using it combatively beforehand," Ozpin pointed out, "Did this sudden control problem change that?"

Ragna just shook his head, "Never liked using it that much to begin with, but at least back then I could better manage it," he then sighed and looked down, "The last thing I want is...never mind, just drop it."

Ozpin just gave him a look. One that his master had given him countless times whenever he was being difficult. "Ragna," he started, "While I'd rather we just head back to Beacon Academy and deal with this subject when you are ready, it's rather clear from my perspective that you will never be truly ready. And I'd like to do my best to help you with it, but I can't do that if you're just going to dance around the issue."

"Well then you're just gonna have to shut your trap and walk away, cause I ain't talking about it," Ragna snapped in anger.

Ozpin simply sighed, "Then I suppose we'll just sit here until you're ready to open up." He then reached into his back pocked and pulled out a flask. Ragna wasn't sure what was in it, but from the smell that permeated when Ozpin opened it, it was probably hot coco.

"Fine by me," Ragna said, glaring at Ozpin as the older man sat in a far more calm and composed position. He had no intention of talking about shit he'd rather not go into, so better to just brush it aside. But Oz wasn't letting the subject go until he spilled, and Ragna doubted he could take Beacon's Headmaster in a fight at the moment, drained as he was, so all he could do was wait out the storm until Ozpin dropped it and walked away.

And so he waited. And waited. And waited. And waited. And waited.

Jeez, how long have we been sitting here? Ragna mused in frustration as he looked to the sky. There were some clouds, but none of them covered the sun, which was directly overhead, Is it already fucking noon!? He looked back to Ozpin, who simply took another sip of his drink before pocketing the flask and casually admiring the calm environment.

Ragna then realized this was a mistake. He wasn't the most patient person there was, while Ozpin had patience in spades. Waiting out the school headmaster was just begging for failure, and what little patience he had was used up already while Ozpin looked like he had all the time in the world.

"Fucking...fine," Ragna relented in frustration, "But it stays here, got it?"

Ozpin gave a curt and understanding nod, "I'm something of an expert on keeping secrets, Ragna, so you have nothing to worry about on that front."

Ragna looked over the cliff to the forest as he began, "My Semblance first activated when I was a kid, somewhere around when I was nine years old. I was with one of the caretakers helping her pick berries in a patch. Me and my siblings always called her 'Sister' both because all the caretakers were nuns and cause she always acted like an older sister to us, but I always thought of her like a mom." For a few moments, he felt the corners of his mouth curve up slightly. Those were good memories. Happy memories. Unlike the other caretakers, she didn't chastise him for beating up the bullies who picked on Jin and Saya. She read them bedtime stories to help them fall asleep, and she gave them the music box that was all he had of those times.

"It was supposed to be pretty safe but, well, it wasn't as safe as we thought it was."

"You were attacked by Grimm?" Ozpin said.

Ragna nodded, "It was just one Beowolf, but it was enough to terrify me as a kid way back when. When it first ran at me, I couldn't move. Felt like I couldn't even breath either. Sister just picked me up and ran as fast as she could. Had to find a place to hide, and she found one hidden behind a bunch of leaves and branches. When the Beowolf followed us, at first, it looked like it would just go away, but it got too close." He went silent as he tried to force down the tears that started to prick at his eyes.

"I believe I understand what happened next," the Headmaster said as he leaned forward and gained an understanding tone to his voice, "Ragna, what happened was not your fault."

"How isn't it my fault?" Ragna asked, his tone low for once as he looked to the floor, "I basically devoured the soul of the closest thing I could call mother because I couldn't control my own power."

"You were a child at the time, and you were under dire and terrifying circumstances," Ozpin replied.

"Yeah, and now I'm eighteen and I still can't get this damned Semblance under control," Ragna said as he looked down at his hand in anger. A brief dark aura flared around them, "Master Jubei taught me how to keep my anger under control so that Soul Eater wouldn't cause me any problems. Or at least, as much as I could anyway. Since he always gave me outlets to lash out at when I needed them, it was a lot easier. But..."

Ragna sighed, "Well, shit happened recently. I get angry easier, and I lose control of my Semblance easier. I tried constantly fighting Grimm, but that ain't working. Now I don't know what to do."

After his statement, they both sat there in silence. Whatever Ozpin was thinking, Ragna had no way of knowing, choosing to keep his gaze on the grass beneath his feet.

"I can't say I can give you a definitive solution to this, Ragna," Ozpin began again, "Contrary to what many would have you believe, I really don't have all the answers. If anything I'm lucky if I even have half of them, seeing as I generally just wing it most times."

Ragna actually chuckled at Ozpin's statement as the headmaster continued, "But you must ask yourself this. If your caretaker could see you as you are now, would she want you to be trapped in a cycle of repressing and unleashing your power like this? I personally doubt that she would, and I believe your team would agree with that."

That caused a pang of guilt to encroach in Ragna's chest. So far, he'd been keeping his team in the dark about what he'd been doing, trying his best to avoid them. But considering the last time he avoided them at the beginning of the first semester, they weren't taking it well in all likelihood.

"I just don't know how to get this under control," Ragna said as he looked up at the teacher, "How am I supposed to be there for my team if I'm gonna be at risk of draining their soul's whenever I get too pissed off?"

Ozpin pondered in thought for a few seconds before saying, "Ragna, as much as you probably wouldn't want to hear this, I think you need to. A Semblance, regardless of what it is, is a part of oneself. Rejecting it is the equivalent of constantly punching your own reflection because you don't like what you see."

Well, that's admittedly not inaccurate, Ragna thought. Truth be told, he really didn't like looking at his own reflection and in the early days after unlocking Soul Eater just tended to punch it, especially since the day his Semblance activated also caused his hair to shift to its white color and his right eye to gain its red hue. It became quite easy to hate looking at himself when his own visage was a constant reminder of what happened.

"So it's likely that a key to solving your control issues would be to embrace your power rather than try to keep it locked away. I cannot say for certain if that's the answer, but give it a try." Ozpin told him, giving a reassuring smile as he did so, "Now, don't misinterpret. I'm not suggesting that you use your Semblance at all times. You have a good idea on moderating it, but you doing so through attempting complete suppression is causing you more harm than good. I'm suggesting that you take the time to figure yourself out. Learn to accept something about yourself that you would normally reject." Ragna still felt unconvinced that would work, sighing as he ran a hand through his hair.

"I don't know. Feels easier said than done," he admitted, "Then again, shit like this isn't easy in the first place, ain't it?"

"No, Ragna. It never is," Ozpin then stood up. As he did, Ragna noticed a look in the old man's eyes...as if Ozpin was, in some way, familiar with a kind of accursed power like his own, "I'm only asking that you give it a try. Regardless of the origin of your abilities, they are a fundamental aspect of yourself. You think of it as a curse, but I'd like to think that even the worst of such things can be turned into something good. It's all a matter of accepting it and working with it to the best of our abilities while looking out for those we care for."

Ragna thought about it for a bit, looking down at his hand. His anger and the darkness of Soul Eater hadn't enveloped it. Was it even something he'd be able to control? It was his Semblance and an extension of himself, but he didn't know if he could do it. He didn't even know if he wanted to. But he knew Ozpin was right about one thing, he had to at least try. If not for his sake, then for the sake of his team.

"Alright, I get your point," Ragna sighed, relenting to Ozpin's advice, "I'll try, but I can't exactly promise anything."

"All that I ask is you make the attempt," Ozpin said as he held his hand out, offering to Ragna. After a moment, Ragna accepted and was helped off his makeshift seat before he and Ozpin began walking the route back to Beacon. They walked for what felt like a couple minutes before Ragna decided to try to be more conversational with the Headmaster.

"So, Professor," Ragna began, "How exactly did you know where I was anyway?"

"Remember when I said during initiation that we would be monitoring your progress? That's through the use of surveillance cameras that are never removed from the forest. So I've known about your daily going ons for the past few days now. I apologize for what's essentially a breach in privacy, but it is a necessity we take when it comes to student safety for the initiation procedures." Ozpin explained as he faced Ragna.

"Tch, yeah, well I guess it's on me for forgetting that you bugged this place."

"I wouldn't say bugged, honestly, but I understand what you mean," Ozpin said, "Regardless, in spite of the problems you've been plagued with, I was impressed by the capability you displayed with your weapon. It's called Aramasa, correct? Tell me, how did you acquire such a weapon?"

Ragna almost stopped for a second. While there was a curiosity to Ozpin's tone, it also sounded rather knowing, as if he already knew about his weapon and just wanted to hear his side of the story. Deciding he was already deep in the lion's den, he unsheathed Aramasa and held it out in front of him, "Master Jubei gave it to me near the end of my training," he explained, "He said that I reminded him so much of a friend he used to know, someone who saved his life before, and that Aramasa used to be wielded by whoever that was." Ragna then stared at his reflection in the blade, not quite feeling the anger he usually did from looking at it.

"When I first picked it up, it felt heavy, and not because of its weight. It's hard to explain, but it felt like there was some kind of legacy to it, and I just felt it the moment I picked it up. Does that make any sense?" Ragna asked as he finished explaining.

Ozpin gave a warm smile and nodded, "More than you realize, Ragna." He then held out his hand, "If it's not too much trouble, may I give it a try?"

Ragna was apprehensive about handing Aramasa over. He wasn't sure on letting anyone else handle the blade. He still wouldn't let Ruby hold it even after getting to know her. Still, and he didn't know why exactly, something told him he could trust Ozpin with the weapon. Reluctantly, he handed the weapon over to the professor.

"Thank you. Now you may want to step back a little bit." Ozpin informed him, with Ragna doing just that.

Ozpin then took a fighting stance and delivered powerful, but fluid slashes in a general direction before casually shifting the weapon to its scythe form, and emerald green energy emitted from the blade. He then performed many strong, arcing strikes before switching back to the blade and jumping into the air, performing a few aerial strikes.

The whole time, Ragna couldn't help but be amazed by Ozpin's fluidity and almost instinctual mastery of Aramasa. The way he wielded it seemed to run deeper than just knowing how to use swords and scythes. It was almost like the weapon itself was made for him.

As Ozpin finished his impromptu demonstration, he walked back to Ragna and handed him the weapon, "Sorry about that. It's just been a while since I wielded a combat scythe of that caliber and wanted to give it a try. The last time was when I made a bet with a drunken, dusty old crow." He explained as Ragna took the weapon back, "For what it's worth, given that this belonged to a friend of your master, I have no doubt that they would consider you more than worthy to wield it in their stead."

The complement actually made Ragna smile as he sheathed his weapon. Before the two could continue walking, Ragna spoke up.

"Hey, Professor Ozpin," he said, getting the man's attention, "Thanks. I...guess I needed a talk after the past few days."

Ozpin smiled, "You're welcome, and if you need anything else, know that I'll always be here to help."

Ragna nodded and the two went along as they were on the path back to school. As Ragna walked, he thought back to what the professor said. He still wasn't quite sure on it, not knowing how to accept that aspect of himself. He wasn't even sure on where he was supposed to begin.

Maybe the best place to start is seeing my teammates, Ragna thought.

"And after we've talked everything out, we have a celebratory group barbecue, any questions?"

Ruby's explanation of 'Operation: Corner and Converse' to the combined members of Teams RNJR (barring Ragna) and BRNN was met with silence as everyone looked among themselves in confusion. It didn't last long, as Nora was the first to raise her hand.

"Why a barbecue? Can't we have a large breakfast instead?" She asked. Ruby resisted the urge to groan as Ren and Blake facepalmed and pinched the bridge of their nose respectively while Makoto just snickered.

"Because barbecues celebrate major events like a sports team winning or some nondescript holiday. Solving all the issues we're having with our friend is one of them. Besides, it'd be too late for a pancake breakfast anyway," Ruby explained, "Any other questions?"

Noel raised her hand, but Ruby spoke before she could ask the dreadful question, "No, Noel, you cannot cook anything at the barbecue." Noel then distraughtly put her hand down, "Now, any questions NOT related to the barbecue and more on the plan?"

"Yeah, what the hell are you guys doing and why is there a white board with a picture of me tied to a tree with Blake's ribbon in the room?"

"Well, that's pretty simple Ragna, you see, we-" Ruby's brain then caught up to who just entered the room as she jumped back and saw that Ragna was poking his head out from behind the white board, "RAGNA! Quick, Blake, tie him up!"

"Uh, I don't have Gambol Shroud on me right now," the Team BRNN leader brought up.

"Wait, why are you guys planning on tying me up?" Ragna asked as he crossed his arms. Seeing as they'd lost the element of surprise that was so crucial to the plan, Ruby decided she may as well explain it.

"We're getting sick and worried of you constantly sneaking away for the entire day. We want to know where your going and why your going there," Ruby then burst in front of the dorm room entrance and slammed it shut before blocking it with her arms, "And we're not leaving until you tell us!"

"Fine, I was going to Emerald Forest to fight Grimm so that I could practice better managing my Semblance," Ragna informed immediately, "Professor Ozpin came over and we talked out the problem, so I think I should be okay, for now at least."

Ruby's arms went limp as she stood in front of the door completely slack-jawed. She was expecting it to be more of a fight to get him to talk, given how stubborn he tended to be, yet he just casually told them the issue like it was the easiest thing in the world. On the one hand, she was glad that it wasn't an uphill battle to solve the problem, on the other hand...

"Uh, d-don't get me wrong, I'm really happy that you aren't being as stubborn as usual about this," Ruby tried to explain, "But do you think maybe we could pretend that you were being stubborn and we could go through with what we were planning on? I kinda worked super hard on it and now I can't do anything."

Ragna pondered for less than a second, "No."

"Aww man!" Ruby slumped to the floor, disappointed that she wouldn't be able to carry out the plan she'd been working so hard on, even if it was for the best.

"If it makes you feel any better, I'm all in for the barbecue thing you guys were talking about." Ragna said, gaining a small smile, "So when do we start?"

Ruby immediately perked up and jumped into the air, "We start in a few hours! I'll get the grill set up!" She then ran right out of the room as she heard Ragna begin to converse again with Noel and Jaune. She'd ask for the exact details about Ragna's trips to the Emerald Forest later, but for now, she was just glad to have her friend back.

Chapter Text

Glynda stood alone at Beacon's main airstrip in a huff as she looked down at her watch. It was 5:30 pm, and still no sign of the Bullhead that Litchi Faye-Ling was supposed to arrive in. When she received a call from Litchi that morning telling her she'd be arriving at Beacon Academy at about 5:00 pm, she was expecting her to be a few minutes late at most, not half an hour. Glynda was beginning to worry if something might have happened.

"Don't be ridiculous Glynda," she said out loud to no one in particular, "She would have called you if something came up. It's likely that there was just a delay. That's all it could have been."

Just as she said that, she looked to the setting sun above the city of Vale and saw a silhouette. As it grew closer, Glynda realized that it was a small Bullhead, one that was seemingly modified to have a coloration. The Beacon instructor then perked up immediately, knowing exactly who was on that ship.

In just under a minute, the Bullhead landed in front of her and opened its doors, revealing a face she hadn't seen in so long. Litchi looked almost the same as she did when they last saw each other years ago, but gone was the laboratory attire they wore as members of the Sector Seven research team. Instead, her old friend was now wearing a red dress with long black sleeves, gold colored buttons aligned on the front and clasped all the way up to her neck. She also wore heeled boots and had her long hair done up in a ponytail that almost reached the floor.

For a few moments, Glynda had no idea how to react to the sight of her friend. In all these years, Litchi hadn't changed a bit, still looking to be the same well of endless kindness and beauty that she had always been when they first met. Just as she gained the will to open her mouth and speak to her friend in person for the first time in years, she found herself enveloped in a strong, yet gentle hug.

"It's great to finally see you in person again, Glyn!" Litchi happily said as she continued the hug. It took a second for the nervous pit in her stomach to fade, but as soon as it did, Glynda returned the hug whole-heartedly.

"Good to see you too, Litchi," Glynda replied as she retracted from the hug, "I'm sorry I failed to keep in touch over the years."

Litchi simply waved it off, "It's fine. I'm at fault for that as well. I should have called at some point just to see how you were doing."

"Well, I'm doing fine, for the most part anyway," Glynda said, "Teaching Beacon's students has been quite an experience, and this year we have plenty of new ones both impressive and frustrating." She then began to walk towards the academy, "But I think it'd be best to walk and talk. I've already set things up to help you get situated here."

"Glyn, not just yet." Litchi's words stopped her as she turned to face her friend, seeing the determined look on her face, "I want to find Roy first."

"Litchi..." Glynda started, but she was cut off.

"No Glyn, I made a promise to save him that I intend to keep, and I'm going to start now." Litchi stated with a tone of finality, "So please, just tell me where he is."

Glynda looked into her friend's eyes and saw that Litchi wouldn't hear any arguments. Seeing no other options, Glynda sighed and said, "Alright, I know how stubborn you can get. We'll go now, but I'm coming with you. If you're insisting on going now, you'll need all the help you can get."

Litchi gave a thankful nod, "So, where is he?" She asked as she walked back to the scarlet Bullhead.

"The forests of Forever Fall," Glynda replied while following her friend into the air vehicle, "In the time after I first called you, I was able to set up a perimeter around the place as well as security cameras like the ones we use for monitoring students during initiation. He hasn't left the area."

"Good. Let's get moving," Litchi sat in the Bullhead's cockpit and pressed a series of buttons, the machine's engines roaring to life as it lifted off and the door sealed shut. As they flew in the direction of where Forever Fall was located, Glynda couldn't help but take note of the Bullhead's interior. It was rather plain, but practical, with several medical supplies neatly organized in the back.

Seeing as they had time before they arrived, Glynda decided to break the ice with her old friend, "So..." she began, "Uh, this is a nice Bullhead you have." And she immediately tried her best not to wince at how forced she sounded.

"I've had this and a second one for a long time now," Litchi replied, with Glynda grateful that she didn't pick up on her awkward attempt at conversation, "It's not meant for combat, seeing as I had its weapons and most of the armor plating stripped down and sold off to help supply for the clinic, but I kept the Bullheads so Linhua and I could use them for emergency response purposes."

Makes sense, Glynda thought. Given her friend's occupation as a doctor in Mantle, and how much frequent turmoil and pain happened there, needing to get around fast to provide medical attention was understandable. She remembered how Litchi said that Mantle had very few clinics to support its citizens and wondered whether said clinics helped each other out or if her old friend was all alone in that regard.

"So Glyn, we should be reaching Forever Fall in about twenty to thirty minutes," Litchi said, drawing Glynda out of her musings, "I think we should play catch up on the way."

"R-really?" Glynda asked, the nervous pit returning, "I mean, don't get me wrong, I'd love to but..." she managed to catch herself and sigh in frustration, "Sorry, I guess it's just been a while. I've been so focused on my duties as an instructor and combined with all of this...I guess it's just hard letting it all back in after so long."

"It's fine, I understand what you mean," Litchi replied as she briefly turned to Glynda with a kind smile, "I remember the first few years at the clinic. I just kept myself focused so much on helping everyone that I could. Throwing myself into the work was a good distraction from all the grief caused by...well, you know," her face fell as she returned to piloting to their destination, "Glynda, I need you to be honest with me, do you think I can save him?"

The question left Glynda lost in thought. If she were being honest, no, she didn't think Roy could be saved at all. Even with those few moments of lucidity that he displayed when she tried to reason with him, they didn't even know what he was now, let alone if whatever process that turned him into that monster could be reversed. For her friend's sake, she wanted to lie, but she had to be truthful here.

"I'm sorry Litchi," she apologized, "But I don't believe he can be saved. I'll still help you with it if you believe the opposite, but just know where I stand on the matter."

After her statement, they spent the rest of the flight in silence, Litchi focused solely on piloting. Glynda worried that her honesty may have hurt her friend's feelings, but if it did, Litchi gave no indication of it.

"There it is," Litchi stated simply as the Bullhead neared Forever Fall, "Where should we land?"

"At the forest's most central point," Glynda answered as Litchi flew them in that direction. As soon as they were overhead of a small clearing at the center, Litchi descended the Bullhead and landed, the sound of the engines fading away as Glynda walked to the opening hatch and down the retractable ramp of the vehicle.

"Alright, where is he?" Litchi asked, "Think we should split up to cover more ground?"

Glynda shook her head, "Bad idea, given that Roy could potentially sneak up on us and pick us off," she replied, not willing to bet on their old friend gaining enough lucidity to recognize them a second time, "Better that we stick together to find him." She pulled out her tablet and started sifting through the camera footage recorded from the last hour as well as current live feed, "Besides, we can use the camera system to see where he is."

As she sifted through the footage, Litchi moved next to her to get a better glimpse, gasping briefly at what she saw through the pre-recorded footage. Roy still looked the same as when Glynda last saw him, but this was the first time in years that Litchi had seen him, so she could not fault her reaction, especially with what he was doing throughout the video feed.

While the perimeter Glynda set up prevented any people from getting into the forest, the same could not be said for the animals. Throughout the footage, Litchi witnessed Roy feed off of many woodland creatures, ranging from deer to birds, and reduce them to shriveled corpses. After the recordings finished playing, Glynda's friend looked horrified, both at what Roy was now and what he did, but her terror shifted to a look of determination as she looked her in the eye, telling her that she would restore him back to who he was.

Seeing that Litchi wouldn't back down no matter what, Glynda shifted to live feed and started going through the different cameras to find where Roy currently was. After a minute of searching, they saw a deer run past one of the cameras in the northernmost portion of the forest, a black shadow quickly catching up to the animal.

"He's north of here," Glynda stated as she put the tablet away, "Let's go."

The two of them then ran to where she knew the camera was, running past tree after tree, and remarkably no Grimm. That was something that caught Glynda off-guard when she first became aware of it through the footage she recorded. Ever since Roy arrived in this area, he'd not only been devouring the life force of any wildlife in the area, but also killing off any Grimm as well.

"Okay, he should be around here somewhere," Litchi said as they arrived in the area where the video feed was taken, "ROY! Where are you?"

"Probably not the best idea, Litchi," Glynda stopped her friend from calling out to Roy, "When I tried to reason with him the first time, he ran away when he recognized me. Better that we keep quiet unless you want to scare him off."

Litchi gave a hesitant nod as they continued their search, sticking close in case Roy attempted to sneak up on them. They both looked high and low for several minutes to try and find him, but before Glynda could open the tablet to see where he could be now, a rustling from the tree above them and a disturbing cackle drew her attention. She and Litchi looked up and saw the black, amorphous form that was once their friend. In a split second, he dropped down, clearly with intent to devour both of them, but they were able to jump back just before he could get near them.

Glynda was about to pull out her weapon, the Disciplinarian, to protect herself and her friend, but Litchi held her hand out and gave her a pleading look. She didn't have to say anything, but Glynda knew what she was asking and sent her a look that told her go ahead, but be cautious about it. Litchi then held both her hands up and walked up to Roy slowly, letting him know she meant no harm.

"Roy, it's...it's me," she began as she pleaded for Roy to recognize her, "It's Litchi. You remember me, right?"

Roy's pitch form held still and the mask appeared to stare blankly at Litchi, as if he was lost in thought. All three of them stood completely still, none of them moving an inch. Just as Litchi moved a step closer, Roy moved slightly back, his form looking as if it was shivering.

"L...Li...Li...Litchi..." he said as he completely froze. Despite her apprehension, Glynda felt some relief that Roy still seemed to recognize their friend. Litchi herself seemed happy as well, as she loosened up and took another step forward, only for Roy to scurry back even further.

"Roy, please." Litchi begged as she took another step, only for Roy to once more move back, "I won't hurt you. I promise."

"No..." for a moment, Glynda thought Roy's tone of voice turned somber, "Stay...away...I...hurt...you..." he then started to shake and spasm as if in pain, "Memories...memories...hurt..."

"Then let me help you," Litchi pleaded, taking one more step, "I want to find a cure. I want to help you return to normal."

"No...cure..." the spasms became even worse, "No...cure..." as Litchi tried to reach out for him, Glynda saw what was about to happen and quickly used her telekinesis to pull Litchi back to her, just barely avoiding the spikes and bone claws that came out of Roy's form.

"Leave!" He yelled, "Won't...hurt...you...either...of...you..." before either of them could make a move, he scurried back into the forest and was out of sight in under just a couple seconds. Glynda looked to her friend, who now appeared to be in shock, and attempted to comfort her, but Litchi instead collapsed to the floor on her knees, looking as if she was trying to fight back against tears.

"Litchi, I'm sorry," Glynda apologized as she knelt down and gave a gentle hug.

"I just want to help him," Litchi softly cried into Glynda's as she returned the hug, "I know I can do it, but how can I if he won't let me?"

Glynda looked back to where Roy once was and thought she saw something glimmer on the forest floor. She looked down and saw small bits of the pitch substance that comprised Roy's body. She nudged Litchi to get her to face the substance as she pointed it out. "Well, what if you had a sample?" She asked, "Maybe you can start by analyzing that to figure out a way to reverse what he is?"

Litchi then got up and knelt down closer to the splotches of the substance, tears seemingly dried now, "It's a start," she said before turning to Glynda, "Can you run back to the Bullhead and get me some test vials, please?"

While Glynda didn't want to leave Litchi alone out of concern, she nodded and ran back to the Bullhead to gather what was needed.

"Thanks again for all your help, Glyn," Litchi said from behind Glynda as they both exited the Bullhead. She turned back to face her friend, now carrying a small briefcase full of samples taken from Forever Fall.

"It was nothing," Glynda replied, "I know what I told you back on the way there and I still stand by that. I just hope you're not angry that I don't believe he can be saved."

Litchi simply gave her a sad, but understanding smile, "Don't worry, I'm not upset. It's rather understandable, being honest. I remember years ago, probably a month after I finished setting up the clinic, when I tried contacting Kokonoe regarding if she knew anything about Roy's whereabouts."

"Let me guess, she told you he was a lost cause?" Glynda guessed.

"That, and I shouldn't waste my life doing so and that I should stop blaming myself for what became of him."

You really should, Glynda wanted to say, but she bit her tongue, fearing that it would start a rather caustic argument.

"But I really think there's a chance here," Litchi continued, "I remember when we first saw what happened to him, he was completely feral and couldn't recognize anyone. Not me, you, Kokonoe, or even himself. All he could do was lash out. But today, he recognized us and he didn't attack, and he's remembering who he is. Don't you think that's enough of a sign that we can reverse what's become of him?"

Rather than respond, Glynda chose to remain silent for a moment before saying, "Regardless, we should get you settled in. There should be a spare dorm room not in use that you can take, and we'll need to talk with Professor Ozpin tomorrow about getting you a position here, perhaps as a nurse, given your current occupation. I already filled him in on Roy and Forever Fall, and he'll be willing to provide whatever resources you need."

"I'd appreciate that," Litchi smiled before letting out a yawn, "And maybe I could modify the room so I can use it to analyze-"

"Litchi, rest first, focus on everything else later." Glynda gently admonished before letting out a yawn herself, "It's been a long day, so I think we should get some rest right now."

Litchi looked like she wanted to protest, but Glynda gave her the same stare she gave to misbehaving students and she reluctantly backed down. She didn't want to discourage her friend, but given how much of a workaholic she could be, forcefulness was necessary in this case.

The two of them walked to where the unused dorm was, Litchi stating that she'd find a better place to park her Bullhead tomorrow morning. As they walked, Glynda couldn't help but feel happy despite her tiredness. Even with the matter of Roy and their old life at Sector Seven, she was glad that Litchi was back in her life. Regardless of the years between them, the doctor still considered her a good friend, and regardless of her misgivings, Glynda would do everything she could to help her friend.

Chapter Text

Yang panted as she collapsed to the floor, her clothes drenched in sweat as she heard Pyrrha's footsteps walk up to her. She opened her eyes and saw her partner, equally as exhausted but still standing, hold her hand out to help her up. Yang happily took the hand and stood up as they walked to the bleachers where their water and towels were.

"Think that's enough sparring for today?" Yang asked as she sat down and took a quick drink from her water bottle.

"Yeah," Pyrrha replied, just catching her breath, "I'd say we're done."

Yang smiled, remembering all the previous matches they had today. Since it was the last day before their second semester started, they both agreed decided on a few sparring matches before they went to go get lunch. Yang offered for it to be a whole team thing, but Tsubaki was busy contacting her parents back in Atlas while Weiss went off to do something else. What that was, she didn't know, but the Schnee heiress said something about Mistral and how the coming students reminded her of something important she needed to do. So it just ended up being her and her partner.

"Man, hard to believe the break's almost over, ain't it?" Yang asked as Pyrrha wiped her face with her towel.

"I suppose the old saying is true," Pyrrha agreed, "Time flies when you're having fun. Though I don't think the traditional definition of fun involves sparring until exhaustion."

Yang gave her partner a cheeky grin, "Well, it's definitely my definition of fun, I'll tell you that much." Her statement caused Pyrrha to laugh, something that made her feel warm inside, "How about you, what would your definition of 'fun' be?"

Pyrrha put a hand to her chin and pondered for a moment, "I'd say it's getting to spend time with my friends," but before she could continue, her smile became a lot more forced, "Not exactly something I've gotten to do before I came here though."

"Man, celebrity life sucks," Yang commented as she leaned back.

"Amen to that, partner," Pyrrha said, lifting her water bottle as if to toast the fact that all the fame and attention did indeed suck ass. The two relaxed for a moment before Yang sat up, watching her partner drink from her water bottle.

"So...guessing that because of all that crap, you never got to have many dates?" she asked, trying to make conversation. Instead, her question caused Pyrrha to choke on her drink and start coughing. Rather than answer, Pyrrha waited until her cough ceased before she replied.

"Where did that come from?" Pyrrha asked, an embarrassed blush on her face.

"Hey, just trying to make innocent conversation, Pyr," Yang answered as she held her arms up innocently.

"Okay, then let's reverse that." Pyrrha gave her a confident, amused smirk, "Given how attractive you are, I'm guessing you've had plenty of people knocking down your door, begging to go out with you. Am I right?"

Now it was Yang's turn to feel embarrassed as she turned away and awkwardly scratched her cheek, "Actually, to be honest, I..." before she could continue, her brain caught up to what Pyrrha said as she looked back to her partner, her face lightly heating up, "Wait, did you just call me attractive?"

Pyrrha gave her an inquisitive look, "Of course I did. It's pretty obvious to a lot of the students here that you're attractive, so why wouldn't I?"

"I..." Yang closed her eyes and bit her embarrassment down, "Nevermind. Anyway, I honestly haven't gone on many dates. I mean sure, I had plenty of guys back at Signal who were interested in me, and I did go out with a couple of them, but they never went anywhere, y'know? Guess they just weren't my type."

"So, what do you think is your type, Yang?"

In response to Pyrrha's question, Yang merely shrugged, "Dunno. I guess I'll just have to wait and see if I meet the right person. What about you? You got a type, or did you have any crushes in general?"

"Oh, uh..." Pyrrha became flustered again as she started playing with the hair of her ponytail in a way that Yang couldn't help but find cute, "Well, there was one crush that I had at the start of the semester, but it kinda just went away after a while since I didn't know him all that well."

"Oooo, tell me more about this prince charming that once ensnared thy heart, oh mighty Pyrrha of Nikos." Yang playfully said in her best impression of a school play narrator that she auditioned for when she was twelve.

"I-it's...well, was, Jaune."

Yang was having trouble processing that. Pyrrha Nikos had a crush on Jaune of all people? The same one that threw up on her shoes and was kind of a klutz?

"Jaune? As in, Vomit Boy?" Yang asked, "We're talking about the same Jaune, right?"

"Vomit Boy?" Pyrrha asked, "Did...did I miss something important?"

"Eh, long story between Ruby and me when we first got here. I'll probably tell you later," Yang answered before she shifted back to the main subject, "So why'd you used to have a crush on Jaune? And what caused that to go away?"

Pyrrha looked up at the ceiling, "I ran into him just before we headed off to the initiation and, whether it was because of obliviousness or some other reason, he had no idea who I was. Something like that just made something click in me, since when we started talking with each other, I was being treated like a normal person for the first time." As she explained this, she turned to face Yang again, "I was actually hoping on finding and partnering with him because of that, but I guess fate had other plans for us. Over time, the crush just faded away. Whether it was because being on separate teams meant we were never able to truly, meaningfully interact beyond our first meeting, or because I simply just got too occupied with my own team and life, I honestly don't know."

"Does that mean you were disappointed at first when you got me as your partner instead?" Yang asked, at least sounding partially saddened, but not surprised, seeing as she remembered her first interaction with Pyrrha sort of acknowledged her fame that she loathed so much.

"If I'm being honest, I was at first, but I think our partnership was for the best," Pyrrha gave her a heartfelt smile, "Because of you and Ruby, I was able to make actual connections with people for the first time. And I will always be grateful for that. Call me over dramatic, but I don't want to imagine a world where we didn't become partners."

Yang felt her face turn red as she looked away and scratched the back of her head, "Hehe, thanks partner."

The two sat there in silence, just relaxing to let the last of their exhaustion from the previous match fade away. The quiet was interrupted by the loud rumbling of Pyrrha's stomach, which caused Yang to look at her partner in bemusement, the red-head's face matching her hair. Yang was about to laugh, but felt a rumbling in her stomach as well and looked down in embarrassment before looking back to Pyrrha.

"Lunch?" Yang asked, to which Pyrrha nodded.

"Lunch."

"Well guys, welcome to Beacon Academy! Pretty different from Haven, right?"

Sun stood at the front of his team and basked in the sights of Beacon Academy. Sure, he'd already seen this when he first arrived, but he wanted to play up the awe of the school for his teammates, seeing as they were just now getting here.

"Yeah, I'll admit, it's pretty cool," his blue-haired teammate, Neptune, said as he looked around, Sun noticing that he occasionally turned his gaze to one of the attractive Beacon girls when they walked by.

"I guess, whatever," Sage grunted as his asymmetrical white trench coat bristled in the wind. Sun couldn't help but be confused by his attitude. Ever since the whole team arrived here, he'd been acting like a complete grouch, barely saying a word to him. Scarlet at least still talked to him, but there was a ting of anger in his voice half the time and Sun just wasn't sure why.

"Okay guys, can we cut with the grumpy pants act and just enjoy ourselves?" Sun asked, getting a tad annoyed with how his teammates were acting, "Team SSSN's all here, so let's see the sights!"

"Not sure if that means anything since you saw them all before us," Sun heard Sage growl out. Scarlet gave a nod while Neptune looked like he was trying to placate them.

"If it makes you guys feel any better, I honestly didn't see much since I had to spend a lot of time in detention," Sun explained as he grimaced at all the lessons and boredom he had to sit through for the past few weeks. If nothing else, it means that he wasn't exactly spoiled on seeing most of Vale's sights, so he and his team could still see them together.

"Has nothing to do with that, man," Scarlet muttered as he brought his palm to his forehead. Sun found it all confusing. If they weren't upset that he got a head start on seeing Vale, what were they mad at?

"YOU!"

The shrill voice made Sun turn around and, much to his shock, he saw the white-haired angry girl in the standard Beacon uniform, Weiss Schnee if he remembered correctly, walk up to him. She still had that scary look in her eyes from when she restrained him in those glyphs of hers, but it seemed lesser. Sun tried to hide it, but he tensed up, expecting her to lash out at him again.

Instead, her face calmed down and she asked, "Sun Wukong, correct?"

"Uuuh..." he was rather nervous and unsure how to respond. Last time he interacted with this girl, the look in her eyes made him feel like she was going to kill him. Briefly turning back to his teammates, all of whom just gave him a confused shrug, he replied, "Yeah..." he didn't want to sound like a terrified moron, but he felt he had a decent right to seeing how scary the Schnee girl was.

"I've been giving it thought for the past few weeks and after my teammates helped me realize a few things. So with that in mind..." she then gave a slight bow, "I would like to apologize for my behavior when we first met."

Uh...what? "I'm...sorry?" he asked, not sure what was going on.

"Even though your actions then still infuriate me, I'll admit that I went too far in my anger and would have hurt you had I not been stopped." She explained, standing upright, "It was wrong of me to lash out at you like that and treat you no differently than I would a common thug. I hope you can find it within yourself to forgive me for my actions back then."

"Oh, that's...that's cool. Water under the bridge," Sun stammered, still kind of afraid of the white-haired girl in front of him even when she was apologizing, though he still wasn't sure why she made such a big deal over the whole thing to begin with.

"Personally I would have liked to see you rip our 'leader' a new one," Sun turned back to glare at Sage, who was smirking at him.

Geez, what did I ever do to you? Sun thought to himself, getting rather sick his teammate's attitude.

"In any case," Weiss continued as she gestured to the academy behind her, "I was hoping to make it up to you, and seeing as your team is here, I felt the best way was to offer you all a tour of Beacon's campus."

Sun was a bit torn on this. On the one hand, it sounded pretty nice and it'd give his team a chance to explore Beacon and he didn't want to turn down the offer for fear of coming off as ungrateful, but on the other hand, he wanted to show them around himself, since a Team SSSN only outing would probably help them get over their current issues. Leaning more towards the latter, he decided his best option was to let Weiss down gently.

"Thanks for the offer, bu-"

"We'd really appreciate that!"

"Heh?" Sun turned to Sage, who walked up and gave Weiss his hand.

"Name's Sage. We'd be grateful if you showed us around," he said, suddenly acting more polite with her than he was with him just a few minutes ago.

As Weiss introduced herself, Scarlet also walked up and gave a brief introduction, leaving Sun the privately sulk to himself.

"You doing alright Sun?" Neptune asked, putting a hand to his shoulder, "You seem pretty mopey."

Sun forced his mood down and gave Neptune a genial look, "Don't worry about it, let's just go on Weiss' tour."

Neptune didn't look completely convinced, but he backed down after a second and went to introduce himself to their new tour guide while Sun walked behind him, hiding his frustrations.

Noel hummed as she took a bite of her food. It'd been a pretty uneventful day for Team RNJR so far. She'd managed to write a new poem and hide it away in her journal as well as got in touch with her parents to tell them about her time at Beacon so far. But aside from that, it was business as usual. Ragna had helped Jaune with his training, this time trying his hand at helping her partner in sword combat, and considering how Jaune was wolfing down all his food, that spoke of how exhausting it was.

Ragna, for his part, had a growing pile of food on his tray as Nora kept flinging food at him, all of which he caught with contemptuous ease and gave most of to Jaune while he had the rest. She wasn't sure on why Nora was doing this, but based on Nora's mutterings of 'teach you for stealing that last of the 'final day of break' pancakes', it probably had something to do with that. Probably didn't help that they lifted the ban that kept her from going to said breakfast buffets so she could finally get some, only to get none.

On the plus side for Noel, she hadn't had any odd visions that revolved around Ragna's past for the last couple of weeks, and by extension, no headaches.

As for their leader...well, Noel had no idea where Ruby was or what she was doing. She hadn't seen the caped girl since 7:00 today, and no one else on there team had either.

Team BRNN, who sat directly in front of them at their table today, weren't eating. Ren was trying to get Nora to give up on pelting Ragna with random food, which seemed to also include his own, while Makoto was asking Blake about what she was reading about in her journal, though the cat Faunus in hiding seemed hesitant to answer. Makoto, for her part, backed away and went back to her food, respecting Blake's wishes as the Team BRNN leader went back to reading.

After looking around, she steeled her nerves and opened up, "So, kinda hard to believe break's almost over, right?"

"Huh?" Blake looked up from her journal and gained a look of realization, "Oh! Right. Yeah, it seemed shorter than expected."

"Ugh, guess we're going back to boring classes, aren't we?" Makoto groaned.

"Personally, I've been looking forward to getting back to schoolwork," Ren commented. Before any further conversation could come up, a loud thud at the end of their table drew them in. Noel noticed that Jaune stopped trying to fill his stomach and even Nora seemed to stop attempting to hit Ragna with random food.

The source of the noise was Ruby slamming a large binder down onto the table. Noel leaned in and saw that it read 'Best Day Ever Activities' written rather sloppily in red pen.

"You guys would not believe how hard it was to find an unused binder and a bunch of blank paper," Ruby said, sounding drained and frustrated, "I mean, this is a school! You'd think they'd have these in excess, but it was like everyone was using the full supply."

"So what's it for?" Jaune asked.

"I was gonna make this whole speech about it, but I think I'll cut right to the important stuff," Ruby explained, "I spent all morning thinking of a bunch of cool stuff we could all do as friends before the day ended. It's the last day before our next semester starts and with more students coming in, I can tell our second semester will be a great one! But I want us to have a work free day of fun before all the school stuff takes over again. So what do you guys think?"

Blake looked a bit apprehensive, "I don't really know, to be honest," she said.

"Come on Blakey, you really need to relax," Makoto said as she wrapped an arm around Blake's shoulder, "It's our last day on break, so I think we could all use some R & F." Noel grew baffled by Makoto's statement, since she had no idea what that meant.

"Uh, R & F?" Ren's question made it clear he had no idea what that meant either.

"It means 'Relaxation & Fun', duh," Makoto said like it was the most obvious thing in the world. Surprisingly, Nora wasn't responding, only staring at Ragna.

Then Noel noticed Ruby turn to them and ask, "So what do you guys think? Ready to turn Team RNJR's last day of break into the best day ever!?"

"Hey, I'm okay with it if you guys are," Jaune said before looking to Noel, "What about you Noel?"

Noel looked down at what was left of her meal before responding, "If everyone else wants to, then sure. Besides, I don't think I'd want to be left out here."

"And what about you Ragna, you alright with having a 'Best Day Ever'? Ruby asked her partner as everyone turned to him.

Ragna just looked at the ceiling for a second before he closed his eyes and shrugged, "Sure, I don't see why no-"

"GOTCHA!"

Before he could finish, a sloppy joe sandwich splattered right on his face before slowly falling to the floor. Noel looked to the source and saw that Nora was in a throwing position before the orange-haired girl shifted to a more proud posture with her hands on her hips, "Victory is mine!" She exclaimed while Ren and Blake facepalmed.

Noel looked back to Ragna and saw that he was wiping the sloppy joe from his eyes before he glared angrily at Team BRNN's hammer girl. He looked down to Jaune's portion of the table and picked up a half eaten chicken pot pie before throwing it right at Nora as she basked in her victory. The force and speed of the throw was enough to send her flying back into another table, causing the students sitting there to jump back in shock.

Nora, for her part, slowly got up and looked down at the stain on her uniform before dragging a finger through it and licking it, all with an impassive stare at the one who caused it. She then took two of the lunch trays into her hands, making it clear what she intended to do.

This isn't going to be pretty, Noel thought with complete regret as the lunchroom slowly turned into a battlefield.

"And this is Beacon Academy's cafeteria," Weiss said as she went on to describe the interior and exterior details of the building as well as its history as she guided Team SSSN across the side to get to the front entrance.

"Wow, sounds...super," Sun said in a rather sleepy tone, evident by his yawning. He was clearly not invested in the architecture of the school like she was.

"Dude, be cool, she's just giving us a tour in her own way." Thankfully, the blue-haired one with the goggles, Neptune, seemed more interested in how she went about showing them around than his leader was. Weiss had to admit, he looked kinda cute, though the flirty looks he gave the other female students definitely made him kind of annoying.

"Besides, I personally think it's pretty interesting," the red-head, Scarlet, said, causing Weiss to smile.

"Just not really a fan of architecture is all," Sun said defensively as the turned the corner and made their and walked up to the front entrance. Surprisingly, Weiss saw Tsubaki rounding the opposite corner as well.

"Tsubaki! Over here!" Weiss waved to her friend and leader. The Yayoi heiress looked over to her and smiled, happily running towards her.

"Weiss! Good to see you!" Tsubaki said as she gave her a brief hug, "Just finished talking with mother and father. It went on a lot longer than anticipated, given that I was going over my entire first semester." Tsubaki then looked behind her and noticed the Mistral team, "Oh, Sun! It's been some time. I take it this is your team?"

"Yup!" Sun said, seeming to regain his energy as he introduced them, "This is Neptune, Scarlet, and Sage," he gestured towards his respective teammates, "And together we're Team SSSN." He then gestured to Tsubaki as he faced his team, "And this here is Weiss' leader."

"Tsubaki Yayoi," she said with a light bow, "It's a pleasure."

The three members of Team SSSN then introduced themselves to Tsubaki one-by-one, though Neptune gave a flirtatious remark that her leader wisely, but politely, said no to.

"So, is there a party going on and we're just fashionably late?" Yang's voice cut in as Weiss turned to see the blonde member of their team walk in alongside Pyrrha Nikos.

"Nah, we're just getting a tour of the place and getting to know each other," Neptune replied as he walked up to Yang and offered her his hand, "Call me Neptune, beautiful."

Yang gave a light grimace and shook his hand, "Name's Yang, and no thanks. I ain't interested in try hards."

"Pffft!" Weiss looked and saw Sun and the other members of his team struggle not to laugh, "She's got you there dude." Scarlet mumbled between laughs as he wiped a tear from his eye while Neptune rubbed the back of his head, face flushed in embarrassment.

"Anyway, Yang and I are just grabbing a quick lunch," Pyrrha explained while sending an apologetic look to the blue-haired boy, "Do you all want to join us?"

"Certainly," Weiss said while Tsubaki gave a polite nod. Sun gave an adulated 'Hell yeah!', speaking for the rest of his team, though the look on Neptune's face indicated that he was onboard with eating lunch as a group. However, just as Weiss was about to turn to open the lunchroom doors, they burst open and dozens of students poured out, all running past them.

"RUN!" "FOOD FIGHT!" Weiss heard two of them scream out. As the final student ran out, Weiss ran in to see what all the commotion was about, only to find herself knocked back when something splattered against her face.

As she got up and wiped her face clean of the object, she saw that it was a key lime pie. Bits of it still coating her, she looked up and screamed "WHAT THE HECK!" when she saw what was going on.

The entire cafeteria had devolved into complete pandemonium, with the members of Teams RNJR and BRNN dueling each other using food as weapons. The Arc had turned a loaf of bread and a lunch tray into a makeshift sword and shield as he tried (and failed) to defend himself from Nora Valkyrie, who was wacking away at him with a hammer made from a large stick stabbed into a watermelon, all while she was jubilantly yelling "I'M QUEEN OF THE CASTLE! I'M QUEEN OF THE CASTLE!" at the top of her lungs. Meanwhile, Ruby and Noel were engaging in long-range combat against Ren and Blake, both sides running and dodging as they grabbed any food they could and threw them right at each other, with both sides dodging each attack at equal speeds. Meanwhile, Ragna had engaged Makoto, using a large baguette as a blade while the squirrel Faunus fought back with a combination of two oversized corn cobs like they were a pair of tonfa.

Weiss wasn't one who cursed very often, and usually only did so when she was sufficiently angry, but she felt pretty safe in calling what was happening in front of her a complete and utter clusterfuck. And one that needed to be stopped. Casting her glyphs just as she watched Arc get pelted in the face with a jelly sandwich, which distracted the other RNJR members long enough for them to get pelted and force them to take cover behind side-turned table, she pushed her team and Sun's out of the lunchroom and slammed the doors behind them.

"Aw, what gives! I wanted to see the fight!" Sun whined, clearly not understanding the gravity of the situation.

"No, we need to alert the teachers," Weiss said as she wiped off a previously unseen piece of Key Lime Pie, "At this rate, the entire cafeteria is going to collapse from the chaos they're causing!"

After receiving unanimous agreement from everyone barring Sun, who tried to stay behind to watch the fight had Sage not grabbed him and slung him over his shoulder, they all ran for Ozpin's office to get him to stop the ensuing madness.

"General Ruby Rose's log. It's been over 45 minutes of what has been dubbed 'The Great Food War of the Beacon Cafeteria'. Our situation is growing ever more grim. Our forces are pinned down behind table number 5, unable to fight back as the enemy continuously bombards us. Morale is weakening by the second, and we have sustained heavy casualties among our infantry."

"Uh, Ruby," Field Medic Vermillion interrupted, frustrating the great General Ruby as she placed her war journal down and faced the nervous nurse, "How do I help Jaune? He doesn't look very good."

The leader of Team RNJR looked over at Private Arc and saw that he'd gone cross-eyed, much like when he had gotten some of the tree sap on him back in Forever Fall. "The jelly's made from a sap he's allergic to," she explained to the nurse, "Just wipe his face and get as much of it out of his mouth as you can. He should be up and running in a few minutes."

As Noel left, she went back to logging their predicament, "I worry that my men and I will not make it back home when all is said and done, so I write this to serve as my will. To my sister, Yang Xiao Long, I leave you with my secret stash of strawberry candies I have hidden under my bed back at Patch. To my father, Taiyang Xiao Long, I leave you with the money I had been saving up to buy my own motorcycle like Yang has. To my uncle, Qrow Branwen, I leave you with a coupon I found for a local tavern that gives you a free beer with a purchase of a gin. And finally, the most important of all, my dearest pet Valien corgi, Zwei, I leave you with-"

"Ruby!" She groaned as she was once again interrupted by Commander Ragna, who had a rather annoyed look on his face, "We're pinned down and none of this shit is lethal, so cut it with the 'will' bullcrap already."

"I hate it when he reads my thoughts."

"Read your tho-" Ragna sputtered before he yelled, "Kid, you've been talking out loud this entire time!"

Ruby's eyes widened as she looked down at her journal then back to her teammates before realizing that yes, she had been talking out loud for the past many minutes. "Uh, right..." She said with her face heating up in embarrassment before she steeled herself and said, "So, what's our current situation?"

Noel, having finished removing the jelly from Jaune's person, looked over the lopsided table and said, "Looks like they've stopped throwing food this way. I think they're planning something right now."

"Ugh..." Jaune mumbled as he sat up, still recovering from the jelly sandwich, "Anyone have any ideas?"

"Well, we can't just go rushing in since they'll just pelt us till we stop," Noel said as she continued surveying the room. Ruby looked above the table and saw that there was an entire floor of leftover food from here to where Team BRNN was encamped. Maybe they could use that as extra ammo, but they needed a way to get it without alerting the other team.

"At this point we may as well just throw tables at them," Ragna grunted, "We still have plenty of those."

Noel and Jaune began telling him that would probably be a really bad idea, given how it could potentially hurt them for real, but Ragna's statement made something buzz in Ruby's head as she looked at their cover, then back to the lunchroom floor. They needed a way to get to the ammunition without getting hit, and she felt her face light up in a smirk as an idea formed.

"Actually, Ragna might be on to something," Ruby said, getting everyone's attention. She gathered them all around her and continued, "Okay, here's what I think we should do..."

Blake found herself immensely confused by her current circumstances behind their table barrier. It wasn't so much the food fight and how it escalated, those she had to admit were a lot of fun, probably the most fun she'd had with her team. The thing that was baffling her at the moment was Nora, who had somehow found a green helmet that was now adorning her head as she directed their attention to a small map of Vale with drawings of battle tanks and airships littering it in random places.

"And then our mobile infantry will sneak around back and launch a surprise attack," Nora explained in a no-nonsense tone, though it was easy for Blake to tell that she was pretending, "Which will then grant our aerial forces the opportunity to bombard them with pineapple bombs. And finally, we shall rush in and finish the job with fruit mortars, thus ensuring our victory! Any questions?"

While Makoto nodded along with the idea, Blake raised her hand, having no idea what Nora was going on about, "Uh, we don't have any of those things, so..."

"She's saying that we're gonna just keep throwing more food at them," Makoto helpfully explained.

"Yeah, we'll keep doing that," Nora said, looking a bit miffed that the 'mystique' of her wording, or what little Blake found anyway, was now gone. She turned to Ren, who was acting as the lookout, "Private Ren, what's the status on enemy movement?"

"So far, haven't seen anything," Ren replied, having probably the easiest time playing along with Nora's antics, "Wait, something's happening."

"Huh, let me see!" Nora then rushed over to her partner and looked out to see what was happening, Blake and Makoto following suit. From the looks of it, the table that Team RNJR had taken cover behind was shifting around, and not a second later, it lifted off the ground and started quickly moving towards them, four pairs of feet running behind it.

"Shit! Guys, we should probably start firing now!" Makoto exclaimed as she started picking up whatever food she could and threw it at the incoming attackers with all her strength. Blake did so as well alongside Ren and Nora. In her case, she and Ren aimed for the unprotected feet while Makoto and Nora kept bombarding the table itself with cans of 'People Like Grapes' soda, managing to form a couple cracks in it. However, three sets of hands came out from behind the shield and started firing back, briefly forcing them to hide behind cover, food flying over their cover. Just as the food stopped and they got back out from their cover, a loud yell was heard overhead as Blake and her team looked up.

Oh shit! Blake panicked as they saw that Ragna had leaped into the air holding the table at its side with clear intent to slam it down on their cover. All of them quickly ducked out of the way as the sound of their cover being wrecked permeated behind her. Just as she got up, avocado in hand, she was knocked away as what felt like a cake pelted her face, blinding her for a few moments. She couldn't tell what was happening, but the panicked cries of her teammates told her they were on the losing end. Blake was just about to wipe her face and grab whatever she could to fight back, but...

"WHAT IS GONG ON HERE!?"

…the voice of Professor Goodwitch, followed by feeling of being lifted off the ground, stopped her. She could hear the confusion of her team and Ruby's as from the sound of it, they were all floating aimlessly. As she wiped her face of the food, which turned out to be a pie of sorts, she was the professor use her Semblance to clean up the entire cafeteria and reassemble everything that was either knocked over or completely destroyed in a matter of seconds before gently putting them all down.

"Children," the professor seethed as Beacon's headmaster walked up beside her, "Do not play with your food."

As Blake wiped her clothes off, she noticed Nora walk up to Ragna and hold her hand out, offering an apology for hitting him in the face out of anger. Ragna took her teammate's hand and apologized as well, saying that he didn't exactly help in the matter either. Blake then looked around to the rest of the teams and noticed that Jaune was panting, the adrenaline of what had happened wearing off while Ren was wiping his clothes of the food, leaving a bunch of stains on his uniform. Meanwhile, Makoto, Noel, and Ruby were all cheering and commenting on how much fun the whole thing was, with Nora quickly joining them after she finished apologizing to Ragna. Even Blake had to admit that the entire thing was pretty fun, given that she was struggling to hide her mirth at the whole thing.

"Ehem!" All of their attention was gathered by Professor Goodwitch, who seemed to have calmed down considerably, "Despite the amount of damage you've all caused to the cafeteria, Professor Ozpin has decided to let you off the hook, seeing as no one was hurt. But keep in mind, if you start something like this again, there will be consequences, understood?

Blake sighed in relief at that. She looked back to her team and saw that Makoto was now enveloping Nora and Ren in a bone crushing hug, which she was invited into. Despite the crushing nature, it felt pleasant and loving, making Blake feel as if nothing could ruin this day.

Chapter Text

Penny gave a despondent sigh as she sat at her apartment's dining room table, her father preparing lunch for both of them in the other room. Ever since she got back, she did her best to hide her sadness from her father, but she had a sneaking feeling that he suspected how she truly felt right now and would have to talk about it eventually.

But she really couldn't help it. All she could think about was when she left Tukson's book shop over an hour ago, and how much danger her first friend was in because of his past.

"Mr.-I mean, Tukson, why are you leaving for Vacuo?" Penny asked, worried as her boss and friend was frantically packing several boxes with the store's inventory. He'd apologized for springing this up on her at the last possible second, but he also said that he didn't have a lot of time as it was and in his hast simply neglected to tell her earlier.

"Look, Penny," Tukson said, not even looking at her as he continued to pack, "Let's just say that...well, something from my past is coming out of the woodwork and if they see me, I'm dead." He then turned to face her with a worried expression, "I need to get out of Vale to get away from them."

"So what you are saying is that these people are dangerous?" Penny asked, with Tukson giving her a concerned nod, "Then allow me help you fend them off."

"Penny, no."

"But I can fight!" she exclaimed, "I've fought before. Just a few weeks ago, I fought the White Fang at the docks! If I can fi-"

"What!?" Tukson exclaimed, his worry magnifying as he ran for the store windows and looked outside. Penny saw him sigh in relief as he walked back to her, a stern but cautious look on his face.

"Penny, you need to leave now," he said as he went back to packing his boxes, "It's for your own good."

"But I can-"

"No, look, just..." Tukson almost shouted, but stopped himself as he turned away, leaving Penny to stew in her worry.

"D-does it have to do with the White Fang?" Penny found the strength to ask, "Were you...were you one of them before?"

Her question was met with complete silence. He didn't even move as she just stood behind him, rubbing her arm in trepidation. She worried that what she had asked might have pushed him away and that she overstepped her boundaries. Deciding to respect his privacy, she turned to leave the store.

"Yes."

As soon as he answered, Penny turned back to see that he had stood up and was now facing her again, "I used to be a member of the White Fang." He said.

"Then you should allow me to help you fight them off if they come here," Penny stood firmly as she looked into Tukson's eyes, "I know I can help you with this, so please, just let me help you."

"Look, I'm not doubting that you're a good fighter, even if I've never seen you fight," Tukson walked up to her and gently placed a hand on her shoulder, "But you're still an innocent teenage girl. You have your whole life ahead of you, and the last thing that should ever happen is to see it cut short. Even if you help me out now and we do fend off whoever they send, they'll just keep sending more people after me. And making things worse, they'll send people after you too."

"Then I can fight them off as well!"

"But what about your father?" Tukson's question made Penny freeze, "You said that you've had to take care of him since he isn't well. You've got enough crap on your plate as it is, and I don't want you to add my problems to it. If the White Fang come after you, they'll come after him too."

"I..."

"Penny, I won't let someone else suffer the consequences of my mistakes," he then removed his hand from her shoulder and went back to packing, "I'm sorry, but you need to go now. The sooner I leave for Vacuo, the better things will be for the both of us."

Penny wanted to argue with him further, to tell him that she had no intent of leaving him to his troubles alone, but she knew he had a point. She didn't care if the White Fang went after her, but if they went after her father...

"I...I understand," Penny muttered sadly as she walked to the front door of the book trade, "Goodbye, Tukson."

As she left, she could have sworn she heard Tukson mutter 'Goodbye Penny' as the door closed behind her.

Those were Penny's last words to him, and with each passing second, she regretted respecting his wish to fend for himself more and more. Despite being her employer, he was also the first friend she'd managed to make, and one thing she knew about friends was that they were supposed to look out for each other. She wanted to help him, but she also wanted to respect his wishes, leaving her in her current predicament.

"Penny," her father said as he came over with a plate of rice, pork, and mashed potatoes, "Something on your mind, darling?"

"It's..." Penny wanted to just say that it was nothing, but found herself unable to, "I suppose you could say I was fired today."

"What happened?" he asked, "Why would Tukson let you go like that?"

Penny sighed as she continued, "It was not out of malice dad, it's because something from his past is coming back to haunt him, and he doesn't want me to get involved. He's planning on relocating to Vacuo to avoid it all. I offered to help him fend off any assailants, but he refused."

Pietro rolled next to her and seemed lost in thought, much like her, "What do you think you should do about it?" he asked.

"I don't know!" Penny said louder than she intended, "I want to help him! I cannot just sit by while my friend is in danger, but I also don't want to put you in danger either," she then slumped back into her seat, "The two just feel mutually exclusive."

"Penny," her father said as Penny looked to him, "You know that if it were up to me, I'd tell you to let Tukson handle it on his own. Like he said, he doesn't want to put us at risk, and I agree with him on that. But I'm not asking what I think should be done or what he thinks should be done. I'm asking what you think should be done."

Her father's question left her lost in thought. She wanted to do something, but she wanted to reconcile helping Tukson with protecting her father, and taking her former employer's warning into consideration, fighting against the White Fang without drawing attention was unlikely.

"Dad, do you think there's a compromise?" she asked, "Can I help him without putting you in danger?"

He shrugged and gently placed a hand on her shoulders, "Maybe. Now we know he doesn't want you to fight for him, but there are other ways you can help."

Penny thought for a moment. She couldn't combat any assailants that went after Tukson without too much risk, but she didn't need to fight to help. maybe...

"I know!" Penny stood up fast enough to make her chair fall back cause her father to yelp in surprise, "If I cannot physically oppose them, then I shall instead help my friend in evacuating to Vacuo so they will not get to him." She then gave her dad a quick peck on the head and swiftly put her shoes on, "ThanksforthefoodfatheritwasdeliciousbutIhavetogohelpTuksonpackupI'llseeyoulaterbye!" Penny rapidly said as she rushed out the apartment door before her father could respond and just as quickly ran out of the apartment complex, taking her usual route to Tukson's store. It normally took her thirty minutes to get there when she was walking, but as she was now, she'd probably get there in fifteen if not slightly more.

And so she ran, crossing the streets as cars were driving along, casually jumping across them while ignoring the yells of the drivers, taking care not to bump into anyone, apologizing to an elderly store clerk as she zoomed by him. Penny rounded another corner, almost at Tukson's Book Trade, then she saw something that made her stop.

Just outside of Tukson's Book Trade were three police cars, a few officers standing outside, two of which were setting up police tape while one was monitoring the front of the store. Worried, she walked up to the first officer that was setting the tape up and asked, "Excuse me officer, but what are you doing out here?"

"Sorry miss, but you need to back away. There was a murder here recently and civil-" whatever else the officer was saying turned into white noise as she felt her blood freeze and her breath hitch.

There's been a...no, he can't be. He just can't! Penny's thoughts became so erratic that she didn't even realize that she'd pushed the officer out of the way until she ran through the front door of the shop. Then she saw the scene. The two police inside yelled at her, but she couldn't hear what they said, as all she could focus on was Tukson. His body completely limp on the floor, but what disturbed her most was his head, which had been...

Oh gods, Penny just stood there as the world around her faded out, the only things recognizable being herself and Tukson's headless corpse. She felt her legs give out as she fell to her knees, her eyes growing misty as tears spilled out, choking down the urge to let out bile. Suddenly, her body felt like it was being pulled back as the world around her returned.

"Miss! Calm down!" The voice of the officer she had questioned earlier yelled as she came to. She was now being gently pushed by him out of the police boundary, "Look, based on your reaction. I'm guessing you were close to the victim. I'm sorry for what happened, but rules are rules. No civilians within the crime scene. Alright?"

Penny didn't respond, she couldn't respond. Instead, she ran away from the officer, ignoring his pleas of concern as she ran back home, briefly looking back at the store and tearfully apologizing.

"I'm...I'm sorry," she sniffled as she wiped her face, "I couldn't save you."

Penny didn't know how long she'd been huddled away in the corner of her room. As soon as she got back to her apartment, she just ran into her room and locked the door. Her father knocked on it to make sure she was okay and asked her what happened, but she told him that she just needed some space. She was grateful that he respected her wish, but she could hear the reluctance in his voice through the door as he rolled away. But right now, she just sat alone and wept, lamenting the loss of her friend, and lamenting that she wasn't there to save him.

As she raised her head from her knees, she sniffled and got up to check the time. Much to her surprise, it was already 3:00 pm.

Have I really been here for over three hours? Penny questioned as she aimlessly walked to her desk and took a seat, staring down at the drawings she had made in her time living in Vale. Some of them were of her and her dad, others were of the different parts of the city and landscapes she got to see walking around town, and one was just a minor doodle of three stick figures, all of whom were small children with blonde hair. A small image of the memories she bore when she was still a prisoner of...of those people.

"I should really divert my focus on something else," she told herself as she grabbed a sheet of paper and some crayons, intending to draw something to get her mind off her sorrow. She looked around her room for inspiration, seeing the different photos she had framed of various environments of the kingdoms, flora and fauna (her favorites being the pictures of betta fish that she took while visiting a local pet store), as well as one of the kingdom of Menagerie.

I wonder what life for Tukson was like back on... Penny began musing before she shook her head and tried to focus on something else, forcing her tears back, No Penny, just...just try thinking on something else, she went back to looking around and her eyes fell on her bookshelf, many of which she got as a result of her employment at-

Stop, she once again had to bite her grief back as she scanned the shelf, looking at titles for books on fairy tales, legends and myths, non-fictional biographies about famous kings and rulers from before the Great War, and geography books on the kingdoms. Penny got up from her seat and selected a geography book, hoping to find something she could draw to ease herself. As she flipped through the pages, she found herself stopping on images of Vacuo, its desert regions, savannahs, and oases. These were the many things that...that Tukson would have seen had he travelled there.

And now he'll never get the chance, because he was...

"Dammit," Penny quietly muttered as she slammed the book shut, tears falling to the floor. She wiped her eyes and returned to her desk seat before gazing at herself in the mirror. Her hair was without her bow and completely disheveled, and her eyes were bloodshot from her previous weeping, tear stains running across her cheeks. She was, in short, a mess.

"Maybe..." Penny sniffled, "Maybe I really should talk to someone." She needed to talk with someone to try and distract herself from her grief. Maybe she could have pulled out her scroll and called her father and they could just talk about anything to keep her mind occupied. But it was past three, and due to his declining health, he often slept at this time, so Penny didn't want to interrupt. But then she had an idea of who to talk to.

Drying her eyes once more, she pulled out her scroll and looked into small contacts list of two people; her dad, and Nora Valkyrie. Penny smiled at the fond memory of when the two exchanged contact information while searching for their friends. It gave her someone else she could turn to, and she really needed someone to turn to right now.

"801, 802, 803..." Nora grunted with each pull up she did using the doorframe of Team BRNN's closet, having ditched her uniform in favor of a white exercise shirt with pink gym shorts, a similarly pink sweatband wrapped around her head. Normally Ren would help her in keeping count, but he was busy doing push ups with Makoto, sweating buckets while his exercise partner looked barely winded as she tried to push him forward. She and her squirrelly friend agreed that, and neither of them meant any offense to Ren on this, that his stamina just plain sucked. So the two were making it a point to help him build some up.

As for their fearless leader, well, Blake was at her desk with her nose stuck in her journal again. Nora didn't know what she was writing or reading in there and she wasn't keen on telling. She'd asked Makoto earlier since she was always closest to Blake, but she said that she didn't know either. While Nora wanted to value her leader's privacy, part of her worried that it was something that'd lead to Blake getting more...well, Blakey. Maybe it was nothing, but she couldn't be too sure, especially since she'd been getting pretty mopey as of late, the recent food fight being the happiest she'd seen her act in a while.

Just as she finished her 850th pull up, she felt a buzzing sensation in her left pocket. Knowing what it was, she removed her left hand from the doorframe and continued doing her routine with one arm as she pulled her vibrating scroll out. Surprised to see who was calling her, Nora dropped down and answered, "Oh hey there Penny Pops! How's it been?"

"H-hi Nora," As soon as she heard the voice, Nora began to worry. Penny's voice sounded far more distraught and the sniffle that came right after made it clear that the odd bookshop worker had been crying before she called. In fact, her voice actually sounded far more like Noel's than her own.

"Penny, are you doing okay?" Nora asked as she sat down on the side of her bed, her tone becoming serious, "You sound a bit off."

Out of the corner of Nora's eye, she saw Makoto and Ren stop their exercise to see what was happening. Even Blake got away from her notebook and jumped over to Nora's bed to get a better listen.

"What? OH!" What sounded like clearing a throat came from the other side and Penny spoke again in an all too forced tone, "Yes, I'm fine. HIC! What of it?"

Nora still wasn't convinced, though she was sure pressing the other girl for what was really troubling her would just cause her to hang up. For now, if Nora wanted to help Penny, she needed to figure out how to she could get her to talk about it. Putting on her best happy voice, she said, "It's nothing. Hey, I've got the rest of my team here. You mind if I put it on speaker so we can all talk?"

There was a few moments of hesitation on the other end before Penny said, "S-sure. The more the merrier." With the other girl's approval, Nora clicked a prompt on her screen to allow everyone else to hear. She nodded to Makoto, who looked to the scroll and spoke up.

"Hiya Penny! How have things been?" Nora could see concern in Makoto's eyes as she asked. None of them had the full picture, but Makoto picked up on Penny's distress pretty quickly.

"Well I've...me and my father are physically well at the moment, if that is what you are referring to."

"That's good to here," Blake spoke up in a tone that gave nothing away, "So, how have things been at the Book Trade? Tukson doing alright?"

Penny's breath hitched on the other end, followed by a loud swallowing sound, almost like the other girl was trying to fight back tears. Okay, so now we know that whatever's wrong has something to do with either her boss or the store, but what? Nora thought. Was Penny fired? That was something she doubted. While it had definitely been a while since their first visit to Tukson's Book Trade near the start of the semester, the owner was nothing but kind and accepting of Penny and her oddities, reminding Nora of how Ren always accepted her no matter how exasperating she was told she was.

"I-it's...it has b-been fine. HIC! I promise you that everything is fine. HIC!" Penny tried to say, sounding like she had a bad case of the hiccups.

"Penny, pardon me for asking, but did something happen at the Book Trade?" Ren questioned, though Nora could tell from his tone that he was trying to be as cautious as possible.

"NO!" Penny said too swiftly and too loudly, followed by another hiccup, "Can we please talk about something else? Like your days? How have they been?"

From her side, Makoto moved in a bit closer and said, "Penny, I know that this is something really personal for you, but we can tell something's eating away at you inside. I know it isn't our place, but...just know that we're here for you if you need to talk about it. Okay?"

Nora began to worry as they were met with complete silence from Penny, save for the sound heavy breathing on the other end, as if she was struggling to hold her emotions in. The hammer girl looked to her teammates, all of them looking worried that they may have pushed the issue too much before a loud sobbing was heard. Nora looked back to her scroll in shock and regret as the dam had burst.

Oh shit, Nora panicked and said, "Penny, I'm sorry. We didn't mean to-"

"HE'S DEAD! HE'S DEAD AND IT'S ALL MY FAULT!" Penny's anguished cry silenced all of them. Nora's eyes widened in surprise as she didn't know what to say. She looked and saw that Makoto, Blake, and Ren were in complete shock.

Blake was the first of them to find her footing, "W-what?" Was all she could ask as Penny sniffled some more and answered.

"I-I went back to help Tukson pack up for Vacuo, b-but when I got there, the police were already in front of the store and told me there was a murder. I ran inside and I saw his headless body and...and..."

As Penny started to peter out and return back to weeping, Nora looked back to the others. Makoto had brought her hands to her mouth, eyes filled with horror. Ren was the most composed, but Nora could see in his eyes that he was as repulsed and horrified as Makoto was. And Blake...

Blake just looked like she'd blanked out. Nora saw a mixture of all kinds of emotions in her eyes: shock, horror, grief, anger, all swirling inside her at once. Her leader wordlessly stood up and walked out of the room, not even glancing at them. Makoto gained a worried expression and followed after her to provide some comfort, leaving Nora and Ren alone with Penny on the other end of the line as she continued sobbing.

"Penny, it's okay. We're here. You don't have to hold it in. Just let it all out." Ren said, trying to help calm Penny down. As he tried to put Penny at ease, Nora felt left out. She wanted to help here, but she wasn't sure how to without giving Penny physical affection, which she couldn't exactly do at the moment. It was better to let Ren handle it, as he was really could at putting people's minds at ease in dire straights. Gods know he's had to calm her down one too many times from all the nightmares she had after Kuroyuri all those years ago.

Penny sniffled one more time before she spoke up, "O-okay. Thanks for that Ren. I...I think I'm ready to talk about it."

"It's okay Penny," Nora found her voice in helping the girl cope, "We'll help you through this. I promise. Just...tell us everything that happened."

And so she told them everything. How Tukson was a former member of the White Fang who wanted to leave his violent past behind, Penny's offer to help him fend off any attackers from his former associates, him sending her home out of concern for others suffering for his past mistakes, and Penny returning over an hour later to find that he had been killed, his headless corpse limp on the floor of his former store. Throughout the whole conversation, Penny sounded like she was struggling to avoid another breakdown, but thankfully Ren was able to help her calm down, and even Nora found it easier to sooth the poor girl the longer they talked.

As soon as they finished and Penny said goodbye, promising to call if she ever needed comfort, and them promising to do anything they could to help her through it, Nora felt a mixture of emotions. Relief and happiness that they were able to help provide Penny with comfort and a shoulder to cry on, but that was suddenly overtaken by sadness for Tukson's death. While Nora and Ren obviously knew nothing of the man, it was clear how his murder was affecting Penny and Blake. She couldn't imagine what was going through their minds right now.

Blake, thoughts of her leader entered her mind and Nora suddenly found herself stricken with horror at a realization. Just like Blake, Tukson had been part of the White Fang in the past, and his killers were in all likelihood members looking to get rid of any deserters. Blake could have been killed just like Tukson, Nora realized as she ran a hand through her hair, removing her sweatband in the process.

"Nora," Ren's voice brought her out of her melancholy as she stood up.

"We should go help Blake," Nora was resolute as she said this, walking out of the dorm room with Ren in tow, intent on finding Blake to comfort her as well.

Chapter Text

Ozpin passively stared outside his office window as he watched many airships and Bullheads descend onto the air strips, letting out not only dozens of students from Atlas Academy, but also countless soldiers. The soldiers were all garbed in white armor and armed with automatic rifles. Internally, he felt a migraine at the eyesore in front of him. The fault was his own, seeing as he had Qrow warn his friend, James Ironwood, of the coming threat in Vale, and he couldn't fault the man for wanting to prepare. But this? This was just a disaster waiting to happen. Atlas was the successor to the kingdom of Mantle, which once invaded Vale during the Great War and caused untold strife. Bringing an Atlesian army to the same kingdom their predecessor invaded in what was meant to be a time celebrating the end of said conflict would do nothing but worry the populace and potentially draw in Grimm. From the looks on the faces of Professor Goodwitch and Rachel Alucard at his right and left respectively, they both agreed with his internal assessment.

"Well, nice to see that Ironwood's bringing his work along with him," Glynda said, every word laced with sarcasm.

Rachel, meanwhile, facepalmed and muttered, "What was that bloody idiot thinking? Does he honestly not see the problem with bringing an army here?"

"Now now, let's understand his perspective," Ozpin said in an effort to assuage their frustration, "Running an academy and a military makes him far more busy than most. Though I will admit that they are quite the eyesore."

The elevator door dinged at his office entrance as he turned and saw James walk in. He looked as he usually did, being clean-shaven and well dressed in a black sweater, grey coat and red tie, over which he wore a large white overcoat with suit pants of the same color. Above his right eye was a metallic object that they all knew was a neurotransmitter that aided Ironwood with his cybernetics. His black hair, gray areas notwithstanding, was well kept, and his blue eyes brightened as he entered the room.

"Ozpin!" James cordially said as he walked in, Ozpin walking up to meet him.

"Good to see you, General," Ozpin greeted as he held out his hand.

"Please, you don't have to be so formal. Call me James." Ironwood reached out and shook his hand, "It's been quite some time. And Glynda! It's certainly a pleasure to see you as well." James said as he looked to Ozpin's left, where Glynda stood. Though his expression soured when he looked to the right, "Oh, hello Rachel."

"General," Rachel replied in an impassive tone, though Ozpin could tell there was an acidic barb waiting to be traded.

As Glynda decided to step outside, Ozpin turned back to his desk and grabbed both a mug and kettle of hot coco, pouring the beverage as he spoke, "So, James, what made you decide to come all the way down from Atlas for the festival? Headmasters aren't usually ones who travel with their students." He handed the cup to James as he sat down at his desk.

James pulled out a flask and poured its contents into the cup, letting the two drinks mix together, "Well, I do love Vale this time of year. And since you're hosting the Vytal Festival, I figured now would be a good time for us to catch up."

"And yet the army standing outside of Beacon's front door certainly gives the wrong impression," Rachel said as she stood at Ozpin's right, a condescending glare on her face as she looked at Ironwood, "Tell me, did you even get the approval of either yours or Vale's council to have an Atlesian fleet be brought into the city? Or are you going over people's heads when they disagree with you as usual?"

"Rachel," Ozpin carefully admonished. He could understand her frustrations, but he didn't want this to turn into another full-blown barb trading contest between the two. Besides, he felt it best to hear his friend out.

Unfortunately, Ironwood had already started as he leveled a rather caustic glare at Rachel while he spoke in an even tone, "Understand my position, vampire. My reasons for bringing my troops here are entirely rooted in concern. We know that Terumi is here. We know that he's working with a select group to undermine Vale. We know he's working with Salem. And we know how dangerous he is. We need all the manpower we can muster if we're going to take him down. Especially if one of the people he has with him is the new Fall Maiden."

"James, while I understand what you're saying, the problem here is that we're in a time of peace, and celebrating the end of the Great War at that," Ozpin pointed out, using his tone to ease the tension between the two, "Bringing in your troops in such quantities will just terrify people, and we all know what terror leads to."

"I'm just trying to be cautious," James said.

"If this is what you define as 'cautious', then I'm rather perplexed at what your idea of 'rash' could possibly be," Rachel said with her usual level of snark. Seeing Ironwood's anger rise again, Ozpin stood up and saw fit to end the current conversation. Letting these two be in the same room any longer was a powder keg no one should set off.

"Look, both of you make valid points, but I suggest we not bicker amongst ourselves. For now, we'll do as we always have; train the best Huntsmen and Huntresses we can to help defend the world. We'll see if we can discuss this at a later time. Understood?"

Rachel simply looked away with her arms crossed and chin held high while Ironwood held silent for a few moments before setting his mug down on the desk and finally saying, "Understood, and believe me, that's what I've been doing as well," he then turned around and walked back to the elevator, but stopped and turned back just before he got on, "But let me ask you this. Do you honestly believe that your children can win a war?"

"Hah!" Rachel laughed, "That's quite funny to hear you say. You rose to your position in a time of unprecedented peace, and the kingdom of Atlas hasn't seen war in eighty years. And last I recall, your kingdom, or should I say its predecessor, lost the previous war it fought in. I should know, seeing as I saw the entire conflict myself decades ago."

Her tone then shifted from mocking to complete seriousness, "General, you would be wise not to assume you have a better understanding of either warfare or this conflict than us. Unlike you, we've seen war. We've fought in war, both behind the scenes," she gestured to herself as she said this before gesturing to Ozpin, "And on the front lines, and unlike your kingdom, we've won wars. So please, do quit while you have some dignity and stop believing yourself to be the smartest man in the room."

Ozpin saw a flash of anger on James' face, hearing the sound of a gloved fist being clenched all the way from across the room. Thankfully, the good general calmed himself and simply turned around and walked out of the room without another word. Once the elevator took him down, Ozpin sat down in his seat and turned to Rachel.

"Rachel, must you be so admonishing towards him?" Ozpin chastised, "While James obviously didn't think the ramifications of his actions through, he didn't mean any harm in bringing his troops here. He's trying to help like the rest of our allies are."

"Well, must you be so soft with the man?" Rachel fired back as she glared at the elevator door, "What that man needs to understand the stupidity of his actions is a few dozen good blows to the head. But I'm afraid that processor he calls a brain is wired to filter out anything he doesn't want to hear."

"James is hardheaded and extreme in his actions, I will admit. But he is just as devoted to stopping the likes of Salem and Terumi as the rest of us are. Besides, if you keep pushing him away like this, you'll just give him more reason to betray us later." Ozpin advised her. He knew that a lack of comradery amongst a group had led to many turncoats in the past. He'd witnessed it before with plenty of Beacon's graduates. He'd even been on the receiving end of it himself.

Rachel turned away to look out the window one more time, "And if you keep allowing him to get away with such idiocy, you'll only give him reason to go over your head and continue with his foolishness." A cyclone of rose petals enveloped her and she vanished in the wind, the flower petals fading as well.

Ozpin sat alone and thought over the points of both his allies. Overall, he did agree more with Rachel's statements, as they were not too dissimilar from his own musings when he saw the army arrive. At the same time, he could understand Ironwood's reasoning. Ozpin knew Terumi personally, so he could understand the need to prepare against him, but he also knew that the monster was a clever schemer and powerful in his own right. The army James brought would not deter him in the slightest. If anything, he'd find their presence amusing. That was perhaps one of the biggest faults in James' actions; that he refused to understand that pure power alone would not win, not with the enemies they had at least. It would just play right into their hands.

But at the same time, Ironwood's words stirred something inside him.

"Do you honestly believe that your children can win a war?" was his question. Ozpin sighed to himself as he was isolated in his thoughts.

No, James. I'm hoping that they'll never have to.

Ragna sat alone on top of the Beacon Academy dorms. He'd originally wanted to spend the morning practicing controlling his Semblance alone, and while he did that initially, it gave way to pessimistically glaring at the horizon as the airships arrived.

Fucking Atlas, he grunted in his thoughts.

"Hey, Ragna!" Ruby's voice came from the rooftop door. He turned around and saw not only her, but the rest of their team walk out, with Jaune holding out a board game that said 'Remnant: The Game' on its cover. "We're all going to the library to play some games I brought. Want to come along?"

Ragna looked to them, then back to the landing airships with a glare, "You guys go on ahead. Not exactly in the mood and I ain't gonna ruin your fun."

"Is something wrong Ragna?" Noel asked as she walked next to him and looked out, "Are those the Atlas students?"

"Yeah, and they brought along a whole fucking entourage," Ragna growled.

"Okay, so based on that, I can safely assume you really don't like Atlas?" Jaune asked. Ragna leveled a look at him that told him exactly how he felt about it, causing the blonde to innocently raise his hands up, accidentally dropping the board game and scattering a few pieces to the floor. Ragna stopped glaring and sighed as he ran a hand through his hair.

"Let's just say I've been to Atlas once and I'm not exactly a fan," he explained while Jaune scrambled to pick up the mess of pieces, "And to make shit worse, they just brought in a whole damn army. Looks to me like they're just going 'Hey everyone! Look how much more awesome and superior we are to you low lives!'. Doesn't help that they invaded this place during the Great War."

"Oh yeah, I remember Oobleck mentioning something about that. At least I think he did. Kinda hard to keep up with him," Ruby said as she tapped Ragna's shoulder to get his attention, "Look, I'm sure not everyone from Atlas is some kind of jerk. Just look at Tsubaki! She's super nice. And Weiss...well, she's Weiss, but she's not too bad." She then looked back at the board that Jaune had just finished putting together and said, "Actually, y'know what, forget the board game. We're gonna go introduce ourselves."

"No, not happening." Ragna immediately said, "You guys go on ahead, but I ain't putting up with Atlas' shit."

"Ragna, don't be like that. Besides, even if you don't want to make any friends, this is a great way for us to see what our competition will be like for the tournament. Don't want to go in blind." Ruby explained, trying to coerce him into going along, but Ragna refused to budge. So what if he didn't know shit about the competition? He'd kick their asses all the same.

"Come on Ragna, at least give them a chance," Jaune asked, having forgotten about the board game that was still on the floor, "Right now they're all strangers, and my mom always said that strangers are just friends you haven't made yet. Besides, it wouldn't be the same if all of us didn't go."

Ragna looked away and still refused to budge, no amount of pleading would compel him to go and make friends with a bunch of stuck up Atlesian pricks. He felt another shoulder tap and looked to see Noel, who gave him the same pleading look as the others were.

"I know nothing's going to convince you, but it would be nice if all of us could go. We're a team, so...p-please? I-if you would be okay with it..." Noel started asking confidently, but stammered and looked away at the last second. Kinda reminded him of when he was too tired to play, but Saya and Jin kept begging for him to play with them, and he kept doing it because they were having so much fun. But he shook his head, reminding himself that Noel wasn't Saya and never would be. She was her own person, not some copy of the family member he wouldn't see again.

He looked to all of his teammates, seeing in their eyes that they really wanted him to tag along, and it looked like at least Ruby was gonna keep at it until he said yes. Deciding that it wasn't worth putting up with the headache, he relented, "Fine, but I'm not gonna enjoy this shit. Got it?"

All of them perked up as the group walked back inside, Ragna following after them as he cursed in his head.

This is going to be very...

…annoying. Jin thought to himself as he walked off the ramp of the airship and made his way to Beacon Academy. Many of the other Atlas students were chatting amongst themselves or heading in the same direction he was. He figured it was best to find either the academy's headmaster or another staff member quickly so he could figure out where he and his team would be staying. The sooner he did that, the less time he had to spend among these nuisances.

"Wow! Beacon sure is a far cry from Atlas, huh?" Jin turned to face the teammate who voiced the question. She was of similar age to him with long blue hair tied into a high ponytail and magenta eyes that radiated amazement at their environment, though why she was so impressed, he couldn't fathom. She was wearing a scarlet jacket that was left open, revealing a red armored breastplate over a white shirt that was tucked into practical black pants, which gave way to a pair of white combat boots with golden cuffs.

"It sure is Mai. Better, less chilly weather is a major plus in my book," Kagura said as he walked right next to Jin, "And the hot babes sure don't hurt either." He then gave a flirtatious wink to a group of what looked to be second-year female students wearing Beacon Academy uniforms as they walked by, all of them giggling in response.

Jin rolled his eyes as the last member of his team shared his thoughts, "Of course that's what you would focus on." The teammate in question was Ciel Soleil. A dark-skinned seventeen-year-old with blue eyes that bore a taciturn look and navy blue hair that was both cut short and covered by a blue beret. She was wearing a plain white shirt with golden buttons and a light blue combat skirt. Adorning her hands were a pair of black elbow-length fingerless gloves and on her feet were black shoes with white boot chaps.

"Regardless, I have taken the liberty of writing out a schedule for all of us in regards to exploring this campus. The first step shall be asking where our dorm room is located so that we can finish precisely at 7:00 pm and retire for the day," Ciel continued as she pulled out four sheets of paper and handed each of them one, causing Kagura to groan while Jin wordlessly took his. Mai happily accepted hers, albeit with some confusion evident on her face.

"Seriously Ciel, let's just lighten up and play things fast and loose here," Kagura said as he tossed his schedule away, "It's a new kingdom and new school, so why don't we just drop the seriousness and have some fun."

Ciel gave him a blank stare and replied, "Rigorously scheduling every detail of the day is what I define as 'fun', Mutsuki," she then pulled out another schedule and gave it to the Mutsuki heir, "And you are quite lucky that I made spare copies."

"If we're done with the pointless commentary, we should get a move on," Jin spoke calmly as he walked ahead of his teammates and headed for the main courtyard of the academy, the footsteps of his team following behind him. Just as he made was about to walk around the school's fountain, he heard a strangely familiar voice call out to him.

"JIN! IT'S YOU!"

Jin turned to the source of the voice and saw two people running towards him. Both were about seventeen, with one having red hair and green eyes while wearing a winged beige hat, and the other had white hair tied into an asymmetrical ponytail with a small, but prominent scar on her left eye. At first, Jin was confused, having a hard time remembering who these two were, but as soon as they stopped in front of him, he immediately recognized them.

"Tsubaki?" Jin asked as he looked to the redhead, who enveloped him in a strong hug in response. He fought back against what would have been his usual response, which was to push her away, and instead allowed her to continue.

"It's so good to see you after all these years, Jinny!" Tsubaki happily replied as she retracted from the hug as the sound of snickering came from behind him. Jin leveled a caustic glare at Kagura, who was struggling not to laugh.

"It's been a long time Jin," the white-haired girl, Weiss, said as she also gave him a quick hug, Jin once again ignoring his reflexive response to allow it, "We came here to meet up with you after we heard Atlas was arriving today."

"It's...good to see you both as well," Jin finally said as he looked at both of them. Given the years that had passed between them, he almost didn't recognize either of his childhood friends, but a small part of him was glad he did. Seeing them again actually brought a small smile to his face, reminding him of the happy times they had before...

Jin shook his head as his smile faded for a moment. Right now, he wouldn't dwell on that.

"You two must have some kind of magical powers," Kagura chimed in as he stepped up, "I think that's the first time we've ever actually seen him smile." He then held his hand out and introduced himself, "Name's Kagura Mutsuki, and who might you lovely ladies be?"

"Kagura. Mind your tongue unless you want me to cut it out," Jin immediately threatened, which was met with a gesture of mock surrender.

"Uh, anyway," Mai stepped in, clearly trying to play the role of peacemaker, "My name is Mai Natsume," she then gestured towards the last member of their team, "And this is Ciel Soleil," Ciel responded with a small curtsy as Mai continued, "And together we're Team Jasmine. It's nice to meet some of Jin's friends."

"Indeed. It is rather...unexpected," Ciel said with a perplexed tone, "Regardless, we are in the middle of exploring Beacon's campus, so if you would please-"

"Oh, that's quite alright," Tsubaki replied, "But if it isn't too much trouble, would it be alright if we showed all of you around the school?" she asked as she looked to Jin, who was somewhat confounded by the offer, "It'd give us time to catch up, and Weiss has some experience being a tour guide for students staying here for the Vytal Festival. So it makes sense that we show you around."

Jin wasn't quite sure on that. On the one hand, he was actually happy to see them again and would have liked to spend some time learning about how there lives have been since they last met. But that was also the problem, as it would likely involve delving into his experiences growing up as the heir to the Kisaragi family, which wasn't something he felt like discussing. Beacon Academy wasn't a place where he wanted to start digging into his past. Then again, no place was.

Thankfully, he didn't have to say anything as Ciel spoke up, "As appreciative we are of the offer, we have a schedule planned out and a tour guide would-"

"Actually, we've kinda sorta already got plans," Kagura stepped in, "But Jin's available to take your tour."

As soon as the words left the man's mouth, Jin turned to him and spoke asked, "What?"

"Yeah, we're just so, uh, busy with Ceil's plans for her own tour of the place that we don't think we can make it," Mai added in, "But luckily for Jin, he's available to make your tour. Right everyone?"

"Bingo!" Kagura declared.

"But we need to whole team together or my schedu-"

"So it's settled, we'll meet you at the dorm later and take a separate tour. Cool? Cool. Kay bye!" Kagura interrupted Ciel just as he and Mai dragged her away against her protests, leaving Jin confused before it gave way to anger at what they were doing.

"I'm going to kill them," Jin muttered to himself.

"Sorry, did you say something Jin?" Tsubaki's question sent his mind into a panic for a few seconds before he reasserted himself and calmed down.

"No. I didn't say anything," he calmly replied before clearing his throat, "So, this...tour, as you put it. Shall we begin?"

"Certainly," she replied as she turned to Weiss, who began leading them along as she spoke.

"So, let's take you to the orientation hall first."

"Okay, looks like they're on their way," Mai said, feeling a tad bad for what they were doing, but when they saw Jin smile for the first time around those two girls, she and Kagura quickly and quietly came up with a plan to get him to spend some time with those two.

"Just know that while I understand what you two are doing, I would like to point out two things," Ciel drew both hers and Kagura's attention, "First and foremost, what you two did threw my schedule off and now I will need to redo the entire thing," she said with a tinge of anger to her voice, making Mai look down to the floor guiltily since she didn't intend to do that, "And secondly, you both are aware that Kisaragi will kill you two when he's done, right?"

Mai and Kagura looked at each other, then back to Ciel, "Eh, I'd say it's worth it to help Jin stop being such a stick in the mud for a few minutes," Kagura shrugged, "Besides, from how he looked at them and how they act, I'd say they'll definitely be a positive influence on him."

Ciel only pinched between her eyes and shook her head, "Fine, but since the original plan for today has been tampered with, Mai will be leading us."

"What!?" Mai cried out, "Why me?"

"Because I believe you to be more suitable for the task than Kagura," Ciel bluntly stated, making Kagura clutch his heart in mock pain, an exaggerated expression on his face.

"Oof, dearest Ciel, your words wound me so," Mai couldn't help but laugh a bit at Kagura's melodramatic performance. The Mutsuki heir turned to her and said, "Well then Mai, guess you're taking point. Lead the way."

Mai gave a shy nod as she looked around, her eyes landing on one of the large buildings on Beacon's campus. "Let's head there," she pointed at the building, "We gotta familiarize ourselves with this place somewhere, so come on." And so she began walking towards it, Kagura and Ciel in tow.

Blake sat alone in the Beacon library, having snuck away from her team to try and figure things out. She'd been grateful to her team for helping her through when she was mourning Tukson's death, as she wasn't sure how she could process all the emotions stirring in her at the time. Even now, there was still a pang of sorrow and guilt for what happened, but at least now she could manage it better. At least enough to focus on what was important.

"Hey Blake," Blake looked up from her journal and saw Makoto rubbing her right arm as she walked up and pointed to the seat directly in front of her, "Mind if I sit here?"

"Sure," Blake replied as Makoto took her seat.

"How ya holding up?" she asked.

"Better than before, though I guess that's not saying much," Blake shook her head as she talked, "I never got to say thanks to you and the others for helping me through it."

Makoto just gave her a warm smile, "That's what friends are for, Blakey," she then gained a more serious expression and asked, "So what have you been doing lately?"

Blake looked left and right, seeing that no one else was around at the moment. She turned her journal around and passed it over to her partner, showing her its contents as she whispered, "I'm trying to figure out what the White Fang is up to."

Makoto looked through the notebook, which contained her current working theories as to what the White Fang and Torchwick could be aiming for, before giving her an understanding gaze, "I think I get it. You want to try and stop them like back at the docks, right?"

"Yeah," Blake nodded as she further explained, "But it feels bigger than that now. Them making a deal with Torchwick, the Dust robberies, and...and Tukson's murder. They're planning something for Vale and tying up any loose ends. I can't just sit back and do nothing."

Much to her surprise, Makoto returned the journal to her and gently placed a hand on top of hers, making Blake feel a bit warm inside. She then retracted it and gave her a toothy grin, "So, how can I help?"

"Uh," Blake's mind turned to confusion as she said, "I, uh, thought you would have tried to tell me that it's too dangerous or something like that."

"You could say the same thing about the whole dock incident," Makoto said, "Blake, just in case you haven't noticed, I'm the type of gal who'd rather jump into a furnace if everyone else is so I can make sure they'll come out okay. Better to face the inferno with friends, after all."

"Right," Blake replied with a slight blush on her face, "Thanks. I guess I really could use all the help I can get here."

"Alright, so I'm guessing we gather the others and make a plan tonight?" Makoto asked, much to Blake's initial confusion, which quickly turned into vehemently shaking her head.

"No, just you and me. I don't want to put the rest of our team at risk." Blake said with as much a tone of finality as she could muster.

"Uh, I think we've all made it clear that we don't exactly care about how risky it is. Besides, you're the one who said that you could use all the help you could get." Makoto pointed out in a snarky tone, much to Blake's frustration since her words were being used against her.

"Fine, but I don't want to force this on them. If they don't want to do something like this, then we'll just let them be, alright?" Blake stated as Makoto nodded in agreement.

"Trust me Blake, we're all willing to help, whether you like it or not," Makoto said cheekily. Despite herself, Blake couldn't help but feel a grin find its way onto her face thanks to Makoto's demeanor. Though the mention of their teammates brought about a question.

"Wait, where are Nora and Ren anyway?"

"Oh, Nora wanted to challenge Yang to an arm wrestling competition. From what I saw, Ren and Pyrrha are basically being the referees." Makoto explained what the other half of Team BRNN was doing, "They even started drawing a crowd when I left. Pretty cool, huh?"

"Yeah. Pretty cool," Blake admitted with a smile.

"Come on guys! Keep up!" Ruby yelled back to her teammates, who were at the moment a far ways behind her. After they left the dorms, she let her excitement to meet with the competition from Atlas, and more specifically see what kind of weapons they had, overtake her. Just as she rounded the corner of Beacon's library...

"OOF!"

"OUCH!"

…she bumped into someone. As she got up and rubbed her head, she looked down and saw that she had accidentally bumped into Weiss, behind whom was Tsubaki and some blonde guy. For some reason, the man's facial structure looked kinda familiar, but she couldn't piece together why exactly.

"Weiss!" Ruby cried out as she held out her hand, "I'm so sorry. I was just running to see what-"

"Look, I am in the middle of something important, so I'll let it slide for now," Weiss said as she took her hand and got up, "But would it kill you to be more careful where you run in the future?"

"Ehehe..." Ruby felt her face heat up in embarrassment as she poked her index fingers together.

"Weiss, who is this?" The blonde man asked in what sounded like an annoyed tone.

"Oh, Jin, this is Ruby Rose. She's the leader of Team Ranger and a classmate of ours," Before Ruby could say hello, Weiss introduced her to the man, whom she now knew was named Jin, "She's also the younger sister to one of our teammates." Weiss then turned to Ruby and properly introduced her companion, "Ruby, this is Jin Kisaragi, leader of Team Jasmine and a childhood friend of ours from Atlas."

Ruby looked Jin up and down, her eyes landing on a sheathed blade at his left hip. Almost as soon as she saw it, she zoomed forward and got a closer look at the weapon, "Wow! Now that's a katana! What's it called? What can it do? Can it also function as a ranged weapon? What materials is it made of? How-"

"Woman, move away. Now." Jin's voice was deathly cold to Ruby, almost sounding like a promise to flat out attack her if she didn't comply with his wishes. Ruby found herself backing up as Jin spoke to his two companions, "Is she always this obnoxious?"

"Jin!" Tsubaki admonished, "Please be nice. She's only curious."

"You should also know that from what Yang's told us, she's a bit of a weapons fanatic. As far as I know, this is normal for her," Weiss said as she looked to Ruby before looking back to Jin, "Besides, I can't say I can blame her in this case. Yukianesa is a one of a kind weapon, so I'd think anyone would be curious about it."

So that's what the katana is called, Ruby thought as she found the courage to ask again, "So, if you don't mind me asking, could you tell me a bit about Yukianesa?"

"No." Jin bluntly said as he began to walk away, "Tsubaki, Weiss, if it's all the same with you two, I'd rather we continue."

Tsubaki turned to Ruby and said, "Sorry about that, Ruby. He isn't the most social person."

"Yeah, I think I can see that." Ruby muttered.

"Dammit kid!" Just before anyone else could say anything, Ragna's voice cut in and the rush of wind from behind Ruby told her that her partner had just arrived, "Next time don't leave the rest of us in the dust like that!"

Ruby turned back to her partner and replied, "I'm sorry. I just got a little too eager to see all the cool Atlas weapons. Oh! Speaking of..." She then turned to see Jin just about to enter the library, "Hey Jin! You want to at least meet the rest of my team before you go? This is my partner, Ragna!"

Jin's head almost snapped back to face them, and instead of the angry glower he had earlier, he instead had a look of complete shock. Tsubaki and Weiss walked up to him with looks of concern on their faces at his reaction. Ruby turned to her partner and found that Ragna was equally surprised, verging on catatonic when he saw Jin. Ruby couldn't understand why though. Did these two somehow know each other?

"Jin?" Ragna asked, his tone sounding almost hopeful.

Jin seemed to recover from his shock enough to respond, "Brother?"

Jin's response was met with complete silence from everyone, as if they were all trying to process what was just said.

Wait, so Jin and Ragna are-

"WHAT!?" Tsubaki and Weiss screamed in unison, interrupting Ruby's thoughts as they both frantically started asking questions to their friend.

"Are you telling us that Ragna is your brother!?" Tsubaki asked.

"I...I just...he...you...you're both...How can you two possibly be related!?" Weiss questioned, sounding far more baffled by the turn of events than Tsubaki was.

"Huh, now that you mention it, I can kinda see it," Ruby said as she looked back and forth between the two brothers, "They both kinda have similar faces."

"Are you kidding me!? They look nothing alike!" Weiss shouted. Given how she didn't really like Ragna, Ruby mused that she was just in denial.

"Guys!" Jaune's voice was heard right around the corner as he and Noel arrived. Though in Noel's case, she looked out of breath.

"Sorry we couldn't keep up, but jeez you guys are fast!" Jaune said as he looked around, "So what's going on?"

"Oh, Ragna and his brother are meeting up again," Ruby explained as she pointed towards the two siblings, who were still staring at each other in shock.

"Wait, so that's his brother?" Jaune asked, much to Ruby's confusion. Ragna told Jaune about his brother already?

"Uhh..." Noel looked like she had managed to catch her breath as she walked up a bit and stood next to Ragna, "H-hi, Jin," she greeted, though Ruby wondered how she already knew Jin's name. Did Ragna tell her about him beforehand as well?

Still, her greeting seemed to snap Ragna and Jin out of their shock, with both turning to her. But while Ragna's expression softened a bit, Jin's reverted back to the same shock as when he saw Ragna, only in the span of seconds, it shifted to a cold glare. For a split-second, Ruby thought she saw murderous intent in his eyes, but it quickly faded and gave way to mere scorn as he shook his head. He then walked into the library without a second thought.

Tsubaki and Weiss were quick to notice Jin's sudden absence, with Tsubaki saying, "Uh, well, I guess we'll just have to talk about it with him later. Come on, Weiss. We should probably continue showing him around." Weiss nodded before briefly turning back to face them all, giving them an apologetic look before she went into the library after her leader and friend.

"So..." Jaune began, "That was your brother. He seems...uh...nice? Not exactly what I was expecting though."

"Something's wrong," Ragna stated, "I saw it in his eyes. There were a shit tone of things coming up at once. I...I don't know how to describe it."

Ruby looked at her partner with worry. It was rare to hear him talk with such a despondent tone. It was easy to see that the two hadn't seen each other in years, and for the brother he knew to be so radically different, and not in a good way...well, she didn't want to think of her and Yang being in the same situation.

"I think he hates me," Noel bluntly said as she rubbed her right elbow and looked down to the floor in sadness, "He...he looked like he hated me with every fiber of who he is."

"Noel, that sounds nuts. Why would he hate you?" Jaune asked, confused. Even Ruby had to agree with Jaune. While the hatred in Jin's eyes when he looked at Noel was clear as day, Noel was one of the sweetest people she knew. Not to mention that this was their first time meeting, so he had no reason to loath her.

"Noel," Ragna opened up, getting her attention, "I think I might know why he'd hate you, but I can't say for certain. Just a theory."

"Want to fill us in, Ragna?" Ruby asked as she crossed her arms, wanting to hear this.

"Not now. Let me see if I can talk to him first," Ragna replied, and for once Ruby couldn't tell if he was just trying to avoid the topic. She decided that for now they'd put a pin in it.

"So...I guess we should just take meeting the Atlas students off the table?" Ruby asked, not seeing how they'd want to do anything else after that. The rest of her team nodded in agreement, and they all walked back to their dorm room, content to meet the new students another time when the emotions cleared up.

Noel couldn't help but find Ragna's state a tad worrisome.

For one, he was actually resting on his bed in their dorm room, something he almost never did.

For another, he hadn't spoken at all since they ran into his brother.

Not that she could blame him, seeing as just looking at Jin caused her a headache. Once again, she found herself bombarded with memories of the three siblings playing together, and this time memories of Jin helping Ragna read the little sister a bed time story.

She was able to fight the headache off though. Whether it was because the memories were less intense, or she was just too used to them at this point, she couldn't say. Right now though, she kept her focus on Ragna, who blankly stared at the ceiling, lost in his thoughts.

None of them seemed to be in a talkative mood. Jaune was trying to distract himself by reading something on his scroll while Ruby was tinkering with Crescent Rose despite the weapon being in good condition. Noel, for her part, just absentmindedly held one of the plush dolls on her bed and looked it over. Normally seeing something so cute would be enough to push away any negative thoughts. Now? Not so much.

Maybe I should try confronting the issue for once, Noel thought as she asked, "Hey, Ragna. If you don't mind me asking, what was Jin like the last time you saw him?"

In response, Ragna slowly turned to her, looking her in the eye with his usual glower. For a second, Noel thought her question made Ragna angry and she quickly backtracked, "I-it's fine, you don't have to answer!"

"No, it's fine," Ragna sat up on his bed, garnering both Ruby and Jaune's attention, "The Jin I grew up with was a nice kid. Kind of a scaredy cat and wouldn't hurt a fly. Always had a bright look in his eyes, and he was smart. Practically his favorite thing to do was stick his nose in a book and read it for hours."

"So, what happened?" Ruby asked.

"Hell if I know what's been going on in his life," Ragna sighed, "Last I saw him, he was getting adopted. Nice lady too, even if her sister was an utter fucking bitch."

"Y-you think something changed when he got to his new home? Maybe his new family wasn't nice?" Noel questioned.

"Maybe," Ragna muttered, "Of course, I won't find out for sure until I can talk with him."

They all went silent again, with Noel almost going back to what she was previously doing, but then she heard what sounded like either yelling or passionate speaking coming from outside their dorm room. She wasn't the only one either, as Ragna got up and opened the door, increasing the volume just a tad and revealing that it was coming from Team BRNN's room across the hall. Now curious, they all got up and walked to their neighboring team's door as the volume quieted down, Ruby being the first to cautiously place an ear on the door to listen in as the rest of them followed suit.

"So, let me see if I follow everything you two are saying," Nora began as she tried to process what Blake and Makoto wanted to do, "You want to go out into the city, find and track down the White Fang and that Roman guy, and you want to stop them because you don't think the cops or teachers can handle it?"

"Yup, that pretty much sums most of it up," Makoto replied with an audible pop on the first word.

"Please understand, we don't want to force you or anything," Blake said, "If it were up to me, I'd rather it just be me and Makoto so fewer people are at risk. So if you'd rather not take part, then-"

"I'm in!"

"I'm sorry what?" Nora had to resist chuckling at Blake's confused question.

"I said I'm in, what did you think I was going to say?" Nora answered.

"Uh, I thought..." Blake petered out before she sighed, "You know what, I shouldn't be surprised at this point."

"See? I told you," Makoto said as she wrapped Blake in a one armed hug, "We're all here to help no matter what."

"Not to be the one guy who drags the entire group down," Ren cut in, "But I distinctly remember Professor Ozpin telling us not to do stuff like at the docks again. I'm pretty sure this would count."

"Actually, he said not to let him catch us doing stuff like that again. So we won't," Makoto pointed out. Nora resisted the urge to smirk. Finding loopholes was always funny to her.

Ren just sat on his bed in contemplation before he inevitably shrugged, "Alright, I'm in. Someone has to make sure you guys stay safe out there."

Nora smiled brightly as her partner agreed to help, looking back to Blake and Makoto, who were equally smiling, "So then, fearless leader," Nora asked, "When do we start?"

Before Blake could answer, the door was suddenly knocked open, making all of them jump back in surprise as Team RNJR fell in, Ragna holding his leg out showing that he kicked the door down.

"Ragna! Why would you do that!?" Ruby yelled at him.

"I got tired of listening in," was his blunt answer.

"Were all of you spying on us!?" Blake shrieked.

"Blake," Ren interrupted, "You have something of an eavesdropping problem, so I don't think you can talk much here." Nora couldn't help but find it amusing when Blake's face lit up with embarrassment.

"So, I'm guessing since you overheard everything, you want to join too?" Makoto asked, being the first of them to recover from the sudden turn of events.

"The hell was your first clue?" Ragna questioned with a scoff, but before anyone could speak, Blake interrupted.

"No. No. Nope. Not happening! Like I said, I'd rather keep our numbers limited so less people are likely to get hurt, and..." she then pointed towards Ragna, "Last time we went to do this, you got impaled and then went on a fucking rampage! I'm not risking something like that a second time."

"Then I won't let that shit happen a second time. Besides, do you really think you could stop me from tagging along if you tried?"

Blake then proceeded to walk up to Ragna and glared at him right in the eyes, with Ragna glaring back in equal, if not greater measure. Nora audibly gulped at the sheer intensity of it all, with neither side looking like it was going to back down. But after a few minutes of this, Blake groaned in frustration and finally relented.

"Ugh! Alright! But if it happens again, that's it! Got it?"

"Fine by me," Ragna crossed his arms as the rest of Team RNJR began to speak up.

"Uh, Makoto," Noel began as she looked down to the floor and walked up to her friend, "Is it okay if I help? I want to be there to help you guys and..." she clenched her fist as she looked up more confidently, "It sounds scary, but...I want to face it with you guys."

Makoto's face lit up as she rushed forward and hugged her friend tightly, "That's so brave of you Noellers. Of course you can help."

"Me too," Jaune raised his hand, "I'm still nowhere near as good at fighting as you guys, but I'll help in any way I can."

"So then, if we're all in favor of becoming the youngest teams of Huntsmen and Huntresses to single-handedly take down a criminal organization conspiring against the kingdom of Vale," Ruby said rapidly as her face began to look more and more manic as she continued just before it returned to normal, "Say aye."

"Aye!" Nora quickly raised her hand, with Makoto, Jaune, and Noel following suit. Ragna and Ren both nonverbally agreed with a simple nod of the head. They all looked to Blake, who sighed, but gave a pleasant smile.

"Okay, looks like we're in this together."

"Yes! Now all we need is a plan to..." Ruby exuberantly began, but she suddenly stopped and gained a look of panic, "Oh crap! I forgot the board game back on the roof."

She suddenly ran out of the room, leaving behind a trail of rose petals. The sound of her yelling "OOF!" as she bumped into someone down the hall and apologized could be heard from Team BRNN's room.

"Well, looks like we're off to a great fucking start," Ragna snarked, with Blake shaking her head almost in reluctant acceptance.

Chapter Text

Jaune stood alone in Beacon Academy's combat arena, thrusting and swiping Crocea Mors' blade form. It was the end of the day and still a couple days from when they were planning on starting what Ruby had affectionately called 'Operation: Torching the Fang", and right now, he needed to practice. Even with all the improvement he made thanks to Ragna's training, he was still nowhere near close to as good a fighter as anyone here.

Got to get better, he thought to himself, I'm not going against Grimm like we're trained to. We're probably going against hardened criminals and terrorists.

So he practiced the different sword forms he had been reading about, getting a feel for the basics. It was still a struggle, but he couldn't let anything grow stale. Any other time, he would have had a training partner, but Ragna went off to do his own thing, and Ruby, Noel, and Makoto said they needed to talk to Yang and Pyrrha for some reason. As a result, he had to train alone this time.

"What are you doing here?"

…or at least he thought he was alone. Jaune stopped what he was doing and saw Cardin Winchester enter the room. As he walked down to the arena, the taller student had a look of annoyance, but it lacked any of the smug arrogance he had at the start of the year.

"I'm practicing," Jaune answered, "Still working on getting better with my sword, and the rest of my team's busy, so I'm on my own for now."

"Well, I was planning on practicing here, so if you could get lost, that'd be great," Cardin barked, hoisting his mace onto his shoulder. Jaune gave him a steely gaze, telling him that he wasn't backing down.

"I was here first, so the way I see it, there are two options," Jaune said as he sheathed Crocea Mors, "One, you wait till later, because I need to practice now. Or two, we practice together."

Cardin just glared at him, but there was a contemplative look in his eyes, as if weighing the options in his head, "Why would you even want to train with me anyway? Last time I remember us fighting, you won, so what's the point?"

"I'd like to think I could still learn plenty from anyone," Jaune admitted as he rubbed his head, "Plus, training's always better when you have a sparring partner."

Cardin just stood there before he relented, "Fine, whatever."

Jaune gave as friendly a smile as he could while Cardin stood across from him, mace held low in both hands. He then ran forward and swung with a powerful low strike that Jaune was able to block, though the sheer force behind it pushed him to the side slightly with a grunt. As he shoved the mace off, Cardin spun with another strike to his unprotected right. Seeing this, Jaune bent back and tensed as the mace flew just a few inches from his nose.

Seeing an opening, Jaune let himself fall to the floor and delivered a low sweep to Cardin's legs, knocking him down. Just as he rolled back and stood up, Cardin rolled on his side and did the same. The two of them faced each other down, Cardin looking as if he was looking for an opening. Then, much to Jaune's confusion, he looked down at his hand and clenched his fist, as if trying to focus on something.

Now curious, Jaune asked, "Uh, Cardin, what are you doing?"

"None of your damn business!" he yelled back, "Look, can we just fight or what?"

Jaune wanted to put the fight on pause and ask him what was wrong, but he ultimately relented and held his shield ahead while pointing the tip of Crocea Mors' blade at his opponent, signaling to continue the battle. Rather than charge, Cardin swung his mace down where he stood, unleashing an explosive blast that rushed straight ahead. Jaune panicked for a second before he rolled out of the way, the explosions grazing his Aura.

Before he could get up, however, Cardin rushed forward and brought his mace down, with Jaune raising his shield just in time to block. Once more, he struck at Cardin's legs, this time with a sword strike that knocked him to his knees, Aura flashing briefly from the attack. As Jaune stood, he held out his hand to help his opponent up, but Cardin instead pushed it away and walked to the bleachers with a frustrated sigh.

This whole thing seems familiar, Jaune thought as he walked up to his despondent opponent and sat next to him, "Something wrong, Cardin?"

"Nothing!" He yelled in anger before he calmed down, "It's just...look, why do you care anyway?"

"Well, why wouldn't I?"

"Because I've been an ass to you!" Cardin looked away, "You'd be better off just leaving me alone. Not like I deserve anything from anyone."

Jaune fell silent for a second before declaring, "Nope. I think I'd rather stay here and help you out. An Arc never leaves someone alone to sulk. Except that one time my older sister left that one kid to sulk at her 12th birthday party when she took the last slice of cake, or that one time Saphron didn't notice Leia sulking because she was too caught up talking with her girlfriend on the phone, but neither of those are here or there."

At his statement, Cardin actually laughed a bit before saying, "You're an idiot. You know that, right?"

"Yeah, but I'm the idiot who's still lending you a hand, so what's up?"

"I guess it's..." Cardin petered out before he managed to continue, "Ever since I talked with Ragna, I've just been thinking about what he said, trying to get better. To be better. But no matter how much I try, it feels like I'm not making any progress."

"Have you tried reaching out to your teammates about it?" Jaune suggested.

"Tried that. Didn't exactly work out since everyone on my team's as clueless as I am here. I've tried apologizing for the crap I pulled earlier this year, but everyone either wants to avoid me or I just couldn't find them. Tried getting better as a fighter just to keep my mind off nobody wanting anything to do with me, but I think today showed how well that's going." Cardin began ranting as he looked down at his fist and clenched it, "I mean, even after all this time, I still haven't figured out just what my Semblance is supposed to be! Even the rest of my team all have their Semblances! Can you believe that shit!?"

That last statement actually floored Jaune, at least on the inside. As far as he knew, he thought everyone at Beacon had already unlocked their Semblance and that he was the only one who didn't. But it turned out he wasn't alone in that regard, and it was from the last person he'd expect.

"If it makes you feel any better, you're not the only one," Jaune said, "I still haven't figured out my Semblance either."

"Tch, yeah, well from you that's expected," Cardin snorted before he cringed and backed up, "Crap, sorry about that. I didn't-"

"No no, I get it. Old habits and all that stuff," Jaune waved off the insult and continued, "But if you ask me, I think it's good that you're still trying, even with all the set backs."

"Starts to feel more and more pointless with how little progress I'm making," Cardin groaned as he leaned back and dragged his hands down his face.

"Well," Jaune rubbed the back of his head, "I don't know if this is...well, legitimate advice, but I once heard that a bad past tends to follow after you even when you try to do good. Even if that past gets in the way of your future, the best thing you can do is acknowledge that and just keep trying to do better. Just because you fail a dozen times doesn't mean you should just call it quits."

The both sat in silence for a few minutes, leaving Jaune wondering if what he said was wrong, but Cardin turned to him and gave an awkward smile, "That...actually sounds kinda helpful. Thanks."

Jaune sighed in relief. Guess cheesy cartoons from when he was seven years old really did have decent life advice after all.

"Look, I'm not very good at this but since I never said this earlier, sorry I was such a jackass to you before," Cardin apologized. Jaune could tell, even through the awkwardness, that he was being sincere.

With a nod, Jaune stood up, "So, if you're willing, how about we become sparring partners? I think we can help each other get better in our own ways, and who knows? Maybe we can even learn what our Semblances are along the way." He then held out his hand and asked, "What do you say?"

Cardin looked at Jaune's outstretched hand for a moment before he took it and lifted himself from his seat, "Whatever you say, partner," he said as he walked into the arena and brandished his mace, "Round 2?"

Jaune smirked as he walked to the side opposite of his opponent and slammed his sword against his shield. In that moment, they charged at each other and began to fight again.

"Wait, so you guys are going after the Roman Torchwick and the White Fang to stop whatever it is they're doing in Vale, and you don't want our help?" Yang asked as Pyrrha sat on her bed next to her. She processed what Ruby had just told her pretty easily, but she couldn't help but feel miffed that she wasn't being invited to kick ass with them.

"You guys will be helping plenty," Ruby tried placating them, Makoto and Noel both sitting at her left on Weiss' bed, "We just need you two to run interference with Weiss and Tsubaki so they don't find out what we're doing. Like, if we're in Vale investigating, make sure we don't bump into them and all that, y'know?"

"Okay, Weiss I can sort of understand, but why Tsubaki?" Pyrrha asked as she looked to Makoto and Noel, "She's your friend, so shouldn't you guys tell her?"

"Yeah, but she's also kind of a major stickler for the rules. She'd most likely try to shut the whole thing down and insist that we leave it to the authorities," Makoto explained, scratching her right cheek as she did so, "But we've all kind of agreed that local law enforcement wouldn't be much help here, so this is something we have to do ourselves."

"Plus, we'd like to avoid getting too many people directly involved, so it's just the both of our teams who'll be doing this," Noel added in.

Yang just sat there in contemplation. Part of her wanted to insist that she come along to provide some back-up whether Ruby wanted it or not. Her baby sister was going out to fight terrorists, and as much as she knew Ruby could handle herself, what kind of sister would she be if she wasn't there to watch her back? But Ruby, Makoto, and Noel were determined to make sure this was a two team operation, and the looks in their eyes told her that this was non-negotiable. Plus, as much as she didn't want to admit it, she could see the logic in limiting the amount of people directly involved.

Just then, she felt something wrap around her shoulder and looked to find Pyrrha giving her an understanding look, "Yang, I think it'd be best if we let them handle this," she said, "I'd like to think they all know what they're getting into and how to handle it." She then looked back to the trio in front of them and asked, "But if you ever need our help, any at all, you'll promise to call or tell us, right?"

The three of them nodded in affirmation, "We promise," Makoto replied as she rested her hands behind her head, "But come on, this is us we're talking about. I think we'll be A-okay."

"Okay, but I don't just want to do nothing but run interference," Yang said as she pulled out her wallet and took out a card for Junior's Club and gave it to them, "Here. I've been to this place before and interrogated the owner for information I needed, and from what Ruby told me, the thugs Roman brought to his store robbery were under this guy's payroll. Odds are, he'll probably have some intel you guys could use." As they took the card, Yang added, "By the way, don't be afraid to rough the bastard up if he's being difficult. I sure wasn't."

"Oh, I remember! You really made a mess of that place," Ruby said as an amused glint entered her eye. Yang couldn't help but smile at the memory. Beating down perverts and fighting off hoodlums. Good times.

"What did you do exactly?" Noel asked, a curious edge to her voice.

"I beat the crap out of him and his goons and left his place in shambles," she said with a smirk, "Make sure you tell him 'blondie' sent you guys. I'm sure he'll be a lot more cooperative."

The three of them looked the card over before Ruby looked up and smiled, "Thanks sis," she then got out of bed and gave her a warm hug.

"Heh, anytime Rubes," Yang replied as she gently returned the hug, "Just promise me you'll be careful. And that you'll bust some bad guy heads for me since I won't be there to do it myself."

"I promise. And consider those heads busted."

Jin was grinning from ear-to-ear as he talked with the pretty woman sitting across from him on the floor. She was as tall as Sister was, with long black hair and shimmering blue eyes. He didn't know why she was here, only that she came here with her sister, who started making a bunch of demands with the head of the orphanage, asking to see the 'best of this worthless lot'. Jin could tell she wasn't a nice person, but the woman in front of her was, as she gave a lighthearted giggle when he finished talking about the book he was reading.

"My, that's quite the story you've been reading," she said with a warm smile, "You're really smart, you know."

Jin nodded and chirped, "Thanks! Part of me always wanted to be a writer someday. I don't know if I'll be any good though."

"Well, if you ask me, I think you'll do great in that regard. You certainly know how to make the stories you love interesting," she said before asking, "What's your name?"

"My name is Jin! I live here with my big brother and little sister." Jin normally wasn't this talkative with strangers. He barely interacted with anyone here outside his brother, sister, or the nun who always took care of them. But something about this woman just made him want to keep talking with her.

"Really now?" she smiled again, "It's good that you have what sound like loving siblings. Not everyone is blessed with such a gift." Much to Jin's dismay, her smile became really sad when she said that. Even if he just met her, he didn't like seeing her sad.

"Hey little bro!" Jin's happiness came back as his brother walked in through the door with Saya in tow. He looked to the woman and asked, "Who are you?"

"Oh! I'm sorry," she sincerely apologized as she turned back to Jin, "I guess I got so caught up that I failed to introduce myself. My name is Makaira Kisaragi."

"Nice to meet you miss, I'm Ragna, and this is Saya," his brother introduced himself and their sister to Makaira. Before the three of them could get another word out, another woman barged in arguing with Sister. Said woman was Makaira's sister, who had the same hair and eye color as her, but none of the kindness.

"Honestly, you're such an unpleasable bitch! You know that?" Sister yelled, angering the woman.

"Well, if any of your riff raff were up to my standards, I wouldn't have any reason to complain!"

"Suki!" Makaira yelled at her sister as she stood up, "That's enough! And don't go around insulting anyone here!"

Jin cried in fear as he ran behind Makaira's legs and hid behind her, the two sisters glaring at each other. He didn't know much about her sister, but the fact that she was scary was all he needed to know.

"Fine," Suki said, "Let's go then. We're done here."

"No, we're not." Makaira fired back, surprising Jin, "Father agreed to let me find a child I could care for as my own," she then turned and looked down at him with the same smile she had before, "And...I think I know who."

Jin didn't know what to say as she knelt down and asked, "Would you like to come home with me? I know it's sudden, but...I would love for you to be my son."

Jin felt his face light up in a heartfelt smile. He never thought he would actually be adopted. Part of him wanted to say yes immediately and hug Miss Makaira as hard as he could, but a stray thought stopped him.

What about brother and sister?

Jin's smile faded and he looked over to Ragna and Saya, stammering out, "Uh, I...I..."

"Miss Kisaragi," Sister walked up and gave her an apologetic look, "Jin is very attached to his siblings. I'm not sure if he's ready to say goodbye just yet."

"It's no problem. If anything, I wouldn't want to split up a family who loves and cherishes each other," Makaira said before looking to Ragna and Saya, "Would you two like to come as well? I'd be more than willing to let my home be yours as well."

Jin felt his smile return in full force as Ragna and Saya joined him. The three of them hugged and spun around as Saya sang, "Yay! We're finally getting adopted! We're finally getting adopted!"

"ABSOLUTELY NOT!"

The three of them stopped and looked up at the older sister, Suki, who glared at them before turning to Miss Makaira, "Father told you that he would only allow you to adopt a single child. You're not taking in all three of these children."

"Suki, these three love each other dearly, and I don't want to split them apart," Makaira said, sounding pretty angry.

"Listen well, little sister, I could care less what you want. Father told you exactly what you were allowed to do. If you have any issues with it, then you'll have to take it up with him.  So shut your mouth and either adopt one or none, " the older sister's words silenced Miss Makaira almost immediately. She then turned and glared at the three of them, Jin and Saya hiding behind Ragna as he held his arms out to protect them, "And quite frankly, I don't understand why you would want one brat from this place, let alone three."

"Hey! Fuck you lady!" Ragna shouted. Jin saw Sister snicker at the woman's face flaring up with rage. He wanted to smile at her reaction, given how mean and scary she was, but he looked back at Miss Makaira and saw how sad she was.

"I...I'm sorry Jin," she said as she stood up, "I'd love more than anything to bring you all home with me, but..."

"Wait, before you say anything else, can you give us a few minutes? Please?" Ragna asked her. Though she seemed confused, she nodded in agreement as Ragna took his and Saya's hands and walked them to the other end of the reading room.

"Jin, you have to say yes to the lady," Ragna whispered.

"What?" Jin loudly asked before briefly turning back to face the two Kisaragi sisters, the older one looking annoyed while Miss Makaira looked concerned, "B-but I don't want to leave you guys. If we all can't go, then I don't want to go."

"Jin, this could be a one in a million chance. If you don't take it, who knows when the next person will come? And what if they don't want to adopt all of us at once either?" Ragna pointed out. Much as Jin wanted to disagree, he couldn't. People didn't come here that often to adopt kids and when they did, they never spared him or his siblings a glance.

"Look little bro, I don't want us to split up either, but I also want you and Saya to find families that you'll both be happy with, and you looked really happy with that lady. Almost as much as when you're with us."

"Big brother's right Jin," Saya said, following Ragna's lead as always, "We want you to be happy, and...and even if we don't find a family, that doesn't mean you can't."

He looked between his brother and sister, then looked back to the woman who wanted to adopt him. Even with their encouragement, he still wasn't sure.

"Jin, I'm not gonna say crap like 'We'll always be with you no matter where you go' like in those books you like to read, but I think that we'll be close enough as long as you don't forget us," Ragna smiled as he gave Jin a short hug.

"Yeah! And we'll never forget you either!" Saya cheered as she hugged Jin as well.

"Besides, maybe the world's a lot smaller than we think? We'll see each other again someday. I know it." Ragna's last declaration made Jin smile as he looked back to Miss Makaira and came to a decision.

"You promise we'll meet again?" Jin pleaded.

"I promise," Ragna immediately replied as the three of them walked back to the two sisters.

"Umm, I think..." Jin stammered for a moment and looked at the floor before he looked Miss Makaira in the eye, "I think I'd like to go with you."

Her face went from worry to surprise in moments before she asked, "W-what about your siblings? I don't wish to separate you from them."

"We talked about it, and we're okay with it." Ragna explained, "We don't want him to pass up on finding a family. Just promise you'll take care of him. If you don't, I'll find you and kick your ass!"

Jin and Saya snickered a bit at Ragna's declaration as Makaira said, "I swear on my life, I will love and care for your brother no matter what."

"Ugh, enough with these theatrics. Can you just adopt the stupid brat and go already?" her sister groaned as all of them glared at her, having had enough of her rudeness.

Ragna walked up to Makaira and whispered something in her ear. Jin couldn't hear what he said, but it sounded like 'punch her in the teeth'. In response, she covered her mouth to hold in a laugh.

"Sorry, but I'm afraid you can't. All the same, I wouldn't be opposed to seeing that happen."

Sister then kneeled down in front of Jin and hugged him, "I'll miss you," she said before she retracted and affectionately rustled his hair, "Don't ever stop being such a smart cookie, got it?"

Jin nodded before he turned and gave his siblings one final hug, "Goodbye guys. I promise I won't forget you."

"We won't forget you either," they said in unison as they let go and he faced his new mother.

She hugged him and said, "Welcome to the family, Jin."

"Jin?"

"Jin?"

"JIN!?" Jin suddenly became aware of his surroundings as Tsubaki's voice snapped him out of his thoughts.

"Huh?" He looked around and saw that they were in the school library, remembering that Tsubaki and Weiss had convinced him to study with them after classes today. Under normal circumstances, he would have preferred to do so alone, but he had a harder time saying no to either of them. Not helping matters was Kagura pretty much agreeing for him.

"Jin, are you alright?" Weiss asked, "You kind of went out of it for a few seconds."

"Yes, I'm fine. Where were we?" Jin reassured them as he went back to discussing with them about. He wasn't sure why he suddenly had flashes to the before his adoption, but he could figure out a couple reasons, them being his brother and...that girl.

He didn't want to lie to himself. A small part of him was happy to see his two childhood friends again, especially since speaking with them brought a small amount of joy, something he hadn't felt in a long time. For a few moments, he felt his happiness grow when he saw his brother again, keeping the promise he made long ago.

But then he saw...her.

"Jin." At the sound of his name, he turned around and saw his brother standing behind him, "Hi."

"Hello brother," he greeted neutrally, still unsure how to respond to seeing his brother after all these years.

All of them just sat there in silence before he heard Weiss cough and say, "Look, we're in the middle of something important, so could you leave?"

"Just here to talk with my brother for a little bit, Schnee," Ragna replied, glaring back at Weiss, "Preferably alone, if you don't mind."

"Ragna, with all due respect-"

"It won't be long," Jin interrupted Tsubaki as he stood up from his seat and began following after his older brother. Before he left, he looked back to Tsubaki and Weiss and gave them a reassuring wave. He still didn't quite understand what their grievances, especially Weiss', were with his brother, even after spending a few minutes listening to his snow-haired friend rant about him.

The two walked outside the library and stopped just to the left of the entrance, with Jin opting to lean against the wall in the shade while his brother stood across from him in the afternoon light, his shadow providing him with further shade.

"So, what did you wish to discuss?" Jin asked, hoping not to bring that girl into the conversation.

Much to his surprise, Ragna just gave him a small grin and said, "Just want to know how my little brother's been doing all these years. Is that an issue?"

"...No, I suppose it isn't," Jin replied after a moment of uncertainty, "Things have been...manageable, if you wish for me to put it in some way."

"And how's life up in frostbite central been? Your adoptive mother treating you well? Hoping I don't have an excuse to take one of those airships to Atlas so I can kick her ass," Ragna joked with a light chuckle, though Jin looked away as he spoke, not wanting to discuss anything related to that particular topic either.

Unfortunately, his brother was more perceptive than he thought and picked up on his turmoil. "Wait, do you mean she-"

"NO!" Jin yelled as fast as he could before calming down, "I mean, no. She was kind and everything any child could ever want in a mother. It's just...she's not around anymore."

The two stood there in silence, Jin refusing to look his brother in the face. After a moment, he heard his brother say, "I'm sorry."

"It's not like you knew, so don't bother apologizing." Jin looked his brother in the eye, seeing a sorrowful look through the shadows as he asked, "And what of you?"

Ragna sighed as he spoke, "More or less the same on my end. But they've been getting better. Got taken in years back."

"That's good. What about the Sister? How has she been since I last saw her?" Jin asked before he saw his brother become downtrodden and look away, "She's gone too, isn't she?" He couldn't see his brother's expression, but his nod was answer enough.

Jin did his best to bite back against his sorrow. Before Makaira took him in, she was the closest thing he could call a mother, and she was always there for him, Ragna, and Saya. Now she was gone, and he'd never get to see her again.

"And...what of Saya?" Part of Jin didn't want to ask the question, given how hard their talk was already, but he felt he needed to ask, if only to put his mind at ease.

"She got adopted somewhere around 10 years back. Some guy took her in. Seemed nice enough, but he could only take in one kid," Ragna explained, "Even mentioned that he had a son of his own that was younger than her, and Saya was pretty happy at the idea of getting to be an older sister. Hope she's doing well, wherever she is now."

"Yeah, I hope so," Jin agreed as he stood straight and turned, "If we're done, I'll be joining back with Tsubaki and Weiss. I'd rather not keep them waiting."

"Hold up, not yet," Ragna stopped him, "Speaking of Saya, I think we need to talk about the elephant in the room."

Shit, Jin cursed to himself as he turned to face his brother, "And what would that be?" he asked with a minor edge to his voice, even if he already knew the answer.

"What's your problem with Noel?" his brother asked, "With how you looked at her, it was almost like you wanted her dead."

"You should know exactly what my problem with that...with her is," Jin growled out.

"Jin, watch it," Ragna warned, now having an edge to his voice as well, "Look, I get it. She looks and sounds exactly like Saya. I was shocked when I saw her too. But I could tell that she wasn't our little sister. She's her own person, and I made it a point to see her as such."

"Then what right does she have to go around wearing our sister's face?"

"You honestly think she chose to look like Saya!?" Ragna asked, confusion and anger etched across his face, "So what, if I had a look-a-like out there in the world, you'd hate them on principle just for looking like me? How is any of that her fault?"

"Something's wrong with her, brother. I just know it. You honestly can't expect me to believe you're blind to the fact that her resemblance to Saya is just too perfect to be merely happenstance?"

"Enough."

The finality in Ragna's tone silenced Jin as he saw the anger in his eyes. That was normally the kind of rage he kept focused on the bullies who picked on him and Saya growing up, but it shocked him to see that anger directed at him for once. He never thought he would be on its receiving end.

"Jin, let me make one thing clear," Ragna growled out as he walked up to him, "You can rant off all you want on this, but Noel is my friend, and I don't give a shit if she looked half like our sister or completely like her. If you got an issue with that, you keep it to yourself. I don't want to see you giving my teammate crap for something like that. Are we crystal fucking clear, Jin?"

One more, Jin found himself unable to speak, processing the threat his brother had given him. Ultimately, he glared back at his brother and growled, "Fine, but if she doesn't keep her distance, know that I won't hesitate to rid myself of her."

"And if you try anything, know that I'm gonna make you wish you stayed back up in Atlas," his brother threatened. All Jin could bring himself to do was scoff and turn away. Before he could head back inside, he was stopped by his brother's final question, "Jin...what happened to you?"

Jin clenched his eyes shut, feelings of sorrow and guilt overwhelming him. It wasn't just the question, but how...lost and heartrending his brother's tone was. He banished those feelings as quickly as they came and walked back inside, desperate to leave this encounter behind.

Penny yawned briefly as her eyes glazed over the map of Vale on her desk, having already circled the docks she'd fought the White Fang at originally. In the past few hours since dinner, she'd been spending her time trying to figure out potential hiding places for White Fang operations, which was easier said than done given there was hardly any information for her to work off of. But still, she'd managed a small fraction of progress, which was better than no progress at all.

"Penny, you alright in there?" the sound of knocking, coupled with her father's voice made her yelp in surprise as she quickly folded the map and hid it under her bed.

"Coming!" she exclaimed as she opened the door, smiling as she walked out and hugged her father, "Sorry about that. I was...putting things away." She said. It wasn't exactly a lie, all things considered.

"How've you been?" he asked, worry in his eyes, "I know things have been pretty hard since...well, you know. Just want to make sure you're alright."

"It's fine dad. I've been doing better. I think I just need to find ways to cope is all," Penny said as she pulled in for another hug, becoming downtrodden as thoughts of what happened to Tukson cropped into her head. Though that didn't stop the warmth in her heart as her father hugged back just as tightly, rubbing her back in reassurance.

"Well, so long as you're okay, then that's alright with me," he said, "But if you ever need me, I'm always here."

"Thanks dad," Penny replied as she pulled back, her father yawning in exhaustion, "Father, should I help you to bed?"

"No no, it's alright," he reassured her as he wheeled himself down the hallway, "I think I'll turn in for the day. Good night darling."

"Good night dad. Love you."

"Love you too."

Penny waved in response as her father waved good night back. As soon as he was out of eye sight, she went back into her room and took the map out, returning to what she was doing previously.

Let's see, those Bullheads they were using clearly arrived from somewhere in Vale, but the only places I know that could house them would have to be warehouses. So which warehouse district is closest to the docks? Penny mused over potential hideouts for where the White Fang was operating. Tukson's killers were among those in the organization, likely still being in Vale as well. She just couldn't sit right until she brought the White Fang to justice. As much as part of her screamed to just stay hidden and avoid detection, she just couldn't sit back and let them get away with it, not when she had the power to stop them.

Chapter Text

"I thought that class would never end," Blake said as she wrapped the black ribbons on her forearms. Classes had ended for today, and thankfully they were now able to get started on their self-appointed mission.

"Pretty weird to hear you say that about schoolwork, Blakey," Makoto snarked. Contrasting her usual attire, she was instead wearing an orange short-sleeved hooded sweater that was unzipped, revealing a loose black mesh shirt underneath as well as a pair of dark brown knee-length shorts.

"Well, compared to what we're doing now, schoolwork isn't important," Blake replied, resisting the urge to roll her eyes as she looked herself over, having changed from her usual outfit like her partner. She was now wearing a white cropped shirt with the sleeves rolled up, as well as skinny black pants and black heeled combat boots.

"Time to start our investigation!" Ruby declared as she admired her new appearance, which was a long-sleeved grey shirt with a crimson skirt bearing a black rose emblem, both of which were underneath a black pinafore dress that was designed to resemble a corset. As always, she wore her usual red hood and cape.

Ragna's scoff could be heard from the other side of Team BRNN's room as Blake turned to him. Aside from Ren, he was the only one who stuck with his usual attire. As for the rest, Nora was wearing a Demin jacket with rolled up sleeves over a dark pink shirt that exposed her stomach and a light pink combat skirt. Jaune's attire was mostly the same, but he decided to trade his black short-sleeved hoodie for an azure long-sleeved hoodless jacket. Noel, meanwhile, was wearing a long-sleeved, zipped up, dark blue overcoat on top of her usual clothes.

"Good to see you're taking this seriously," he said to Ruby in an annoyed tone that Blake found bothersome. She looked back to Ruby, who seemed sad, but understanding. What had happened to make Ragna more ornery than normal was something she didn't know about, but those in Team RNJR seemed to know. Hopefully they were helping him through it.

"Ehem," Nora coughed into her hand to get everyone else's attention. "Just to make sure, everyone knows their roles. Right?"

"Please tell me you didn't forget yours," Ragna facepalmed, his tone perfectly conveying that he was rolling his eyes as well.

"Hey, I remember!" Nora yelled before she wrapped an arm around Ren, "Ren and I head over to the club Yang recommended and we beat the crap out of the owner for information since his goons worked with Roman before. Easy peasy."

"We need to be civil first, Nora. If that doesn't work and they attack us, then you can get aggressive," Ren reminded.

While Blake had a feeling that Nora remembered perfectly fine since she wasn't as ditzy as her behavior gave off, part of her sighed in relief at the confirmation. "Right," she began, "As for me and Makoto, we'll head to a White Fang recruitment rally in the city. Hopefully we can learn something there."

"Jaune and I will head over to where I know the informants and snitches tend to hang out and wring any information we can out of them," Ragna interjected as he crossed his arms, "I know that a lot of them tend to gather closer to nightfall, so we'll head there then. The old 'good cop, bad cop' routine will do."

"Uh, actually," Jaune stammered as he asked, "If it's not too much trouble, can I give being bad cop a go?"

Blake couldn't help but look at him like he grew a second head. Apparently, most of the others also agreed, since Nora and Makoto started to snickered while Ragna just sighed, "No Jaune. I'm playing bad cop. Stick with what you're good at."

Jaune moaned in disappointment as Ruby chirped, "And Noel and I will head over to the CCT to look up what we can find on any more Dust robberies."

"Hopefully we can find something," Noel added.

"Then when all of us are done, we meet up with Ren and Nora at the club entrance and share what we've found," Blake finished, "Sound good?"

Everyone nodded or gave some form of affirmation, and with that, they went their separate ways and began their respective objectives.

Penny finished putting on her hoodie as she checked the clock. It was already just past 3:00 pm, meaning her father was now sound asleep.

Perfect, she thought as she quietly exited her room and slowly tip toed across the house to where her father's room was. Gently opening his door a crack, she saw that he was fast asleep, snoring pretty loudly, but she found that to be more endearing than most would think it to be. Just as quietly, she closed the door and tip toed to the kitchen to leave behind a note in case her father woke up too soon.

"Went out to find new job...it may help in moving on," she said as she wrote out her words on the note. As soon as she finished, she quietly said, "That should do it," and stuck the note to the fridge. Walking out, she put up her hood and entered a sprint as she exited the apartment building.

Time to start my mission, she thought as she remembered the details of Vale's map and headed straight for where she knew the warehouse districts closest to the docks were. She had a lot of searching to do.

"Hmmm," Terumi mused whimsically to himself as he looked around the front area of the CCT. Thus far, his scouting to search for the whereabouts of their wayward science project hadn't turned up any fruit. Granted, he'd only checked a few areas of the city at this point, but they all ended in no leads anyway. As a bonus, he got to mentally picture what this place would look like when everything would go to shit for Vale.

Let's see, some debris here. Impaled corpses here. Oh! Maybe a few screaming orphans and dead babies there. Wonder how all of old Ozzy's students would look bleeding out or torn open, he pictured as he looked about the place, The Vytal Festival just can't get here fast enough.

"Come on Noel! Let's go!" Unfortunately for him, his musings were undone by a shrill, irritating voice that sounded like sandpaper grinding on his brain. He glared in the direction of the voice and saw the silver-eyed bitch from the docks, running around with that oh so obnoxious and cheery grin plastered to her face. What he wouldn't give to see that face writhing in pure agony.

From the looks of things, she had company with her. Rather...familiar looking company.

"What?" Terumi muttered out loud as he watched the two head inside the CCT tower, No fucking way.

The head of long blonde locks. The Green eyes. The face. Even down to the soul structure. It was all just too recognizable to be coincidental. And to top it all off, the two guns she was carrying behind her were instantly recognizable to him as the Nox Nyctores, Bolverk!

Terumi felt his glare warp into a sadistic grin at his stroke of good luck. Sure, he was told that the best time would be to wait until Vale was going to Hell in a handbasket, but he was never one for giving a fuck about orders anyway...unless they benefited him of course. With this, he could make a quick retrieval and take a piece off the board at the same time.

Now it was all a matter of getting them somewhere more private. So he sat laid down on a nearby bench and covered his face with his fedora, feigning taking a nap.

Time to play the waiting game.

Well, that ended up being less fun than I thought it would be, Ruby lamented as she and Noel walked out of the elevator and into the CCT lobby. Their search for any information they could find regarding Dust robberies ended up amounting to little more than news articles and reports, with anything deeper being locked away or inaccessible to them for security reasons. Over two hours spend, and nothing to show for it.

"It's really bumming that we didn't find anything useful," Noel complained, sounding even more upset about it than how Ruby felt, "Guess we ended up drawing the short end of the stick with the investigation, didn't we?"

Ruby immediately jumped in front of her in an effort to cheer her up, "Don't worry Noel. It's only the first day of our investigation. Just because we didn't find anything useful on the White Fang today doesn't mean we won't find anything useful tomorrow. Or the next day. Or...you see where I'm going with this, right?"

"Well I certainly can."

The sudden voice made Ruby jump back and accidentally knock both her and Noel to the ground. After she shook her head, she looked up and saw a hand belonging to a well-dressed man in a fedora reaching out to help her up. For some reason she couldn't explain, the man just made her feel uneasy.

Regardless, she took his hand as he apologized, "I do apologize for the suddenness of my arrival, but I overheard and just became interested."

"Uh," Ruby looked back to Noel, who seemed almost scared of the man. Just in case, she moved to stand between herself and the green-haired person and asked, "Who are you exactly?"

He flashed a rather toothy grin and replied, "Name's Hazama Honoka. Consulting detective and head of my own start up agency here in Vale," he then pulled out his wallet and flipped it open to them, revealing an ID and business card that said 'Honoka Detective Agency' as well as a number at the bottom.

Taking the card and looking it over, Ruby asked, "So, when you say 'consulting detective', you mean like that one book character? Shamrock Hills?"

"BINGO! Looks like we got ourselves a real bookworm here!" Hazama exclaimed with a snap of his fingers as Ruby pocketed the card, "In any case, I've been investigating the White Fang's presence in the city and I overheard you two talking about an investigation of your own. Nice to see student Huntresses taking the initiative and all that jazz."

"I...we...thank you," Noel stammered.

"Though from the sound of it, you two seem to be having spot of trouble with your little search," Hazama scratched the top of his fedora before he clapped his hands together and declared, "I know! I've got contacts and tips on potential White Fang operations in Vale. How about we lend each other a hand in this regard?"

The question itself left Ruby befuddled as Noel stayed hidden behind her. "Why?" she asked.

"We have something of a mutual goal and something the other needs to do so," Hazama explained, "I have the information you're lacking while you two, judging by the weapons on your backs, have the fighting expertise that I'm lacking. So, what do you two think?"

Ruby looked back to Noel, seeing the fear in her eyes, and told the man, "Would you give us a minute?"

Ruby took Noel's hand and walked them back some feet from the detective and asked, "You okay Noel?"

"That man just gives me the creeps," Noel shook her head rapidly like she was trying to get something out of her hair, "I-I don't think we should trust this guy."

Nodding, Ruby looked back to Hazama, who just casually waved at them, then looked back to the scared blonde girl and said, "I don't trust him either, but at the same time, we're limited on information and could use all the help we can get," she then gave Noel a reassuring smile, "Plus, if it comes to the worst, we can just keep on our guard and kick his butt. Just stay close to me, okay?"

It took a few moments, but Ruby was able to put Noel at ease and the two of them turned back to Hazama. "So, after careful consideration with my friend, we've decided to take you up on your offer for an alliance of convenience, Detective Honoka." She said in the most business-like and mature tone she could muster.

"Perfect!" Hazama exclaimed as he motioned for them to follow, "Now let's get moving. We've got a terrorist organization to bring down!"

All too easy, Terumi laughed in his head as he lured the two dipshits to one of the warehouse districts the animals were using for storage purposes. Best way to spin your lies was to sprinkle just a nugget of the truth in them.

He opened one of the windows and jumped in, motioning for the silver-eyed bitch and Number 10 to follow suit. Once all three of them were inside, he pulled out a multi-setting flashlight and gave them some sight.

"You sure this is the place?" the silver whore questioned like she knew a damn thing, "It seems a little too empty."

"Y-yeah, and really spooky," Number 10 stuttered as the rounded behind a series of cargo boxes. For something that fought and kicked these animals to the curb before, it sure was a whiney coward.

"Believe me, this is the place," Terumi said, resisting the urge to insult them, "My intel states they've been using this place as a storage cache for weaponry. Main reason they aren't here at the moment is because there's some big recruitment rally going on tonight somewhere else in town."

The two remained silent. One that Terumi recognized as the 'we know something about that but won't say anything' type of silence. If this were any other time, he'd have beaten them within an inch of their worthless lives and made them spill their guts both figuratively and literally, but he had a cover to maintain, and a weapon to retrieve.

Terumi turned and flashed the light on multiple cardboard boxes, all neatly stacked up. He turned the front of the flashlight and switched the setting to UV light, shining it on the boxes and stopping just at one to their left, revealing a hidden WF logo.

"Well girls, what did I tell you?" he lightly snarked as he gave scythe brat the light, letting her step forward to get a closer look. She opened the box as Number 10 leaned in just behind her, both of them gasping at the revealed White Fang paraphernalia, complete with standard issue armor, masks, and weaponry.

Good, now let's remove a pair of silver eyes from the board, Terumi internally cackled as the idiots in front of him were distracted with their vapid discussion.

But just before he could pull his knives out to slit the kid's throat, the sound of a footsteps echoed from inside the warehouse, not belonging to any of them. It was then followed by the sound of cargo boxes being opened.

Are you fucking serious? Terumi was going to gut whichever of those animals decided to interrupt him. The two girls heard it as well and quickly turned off the light, letting the afternoon sun from the windows be the only light source. The three of them looked around the corner, and Terumi's jaw almost hit the floor.

Standing far away at the other end of the warehouse, looking through the various cargo boxes, was her. That same fucking girl in the green hoodie from the docks. He couldn't see her face, but he could see her soul, and it was all too recognizable.

Number 10! Terumi found his current situation to be nonsensical. If the girl over there was the missing unit, then who was the girl she was with? She had the exact same looks and soul structure, so there was no way she couldn't be what he was looking for. Unless...

No fucking way, Terumi now had a theory and resisted the urge to look at Noel with his usual glint, Looks like we have ourselves a little survivor.

"Wait," silver eyes whispered, "I know that girl. She was helping the others at the docks."

"What do you think she's doing here?" her partner asked, keeping just as quiet.

"Maybe she's trying to stop the White Fang too? Noel, let's go ask," she motioned for her partner to exit the hiding spot with her before turning to Terumi and saying, "You coming or what?"

"Maybe it would be best if I stay back," he whispered, "I don't know if I can trust this girl and I'm not exactly what you'd call a good fighter. I'll leave it to you."

She nodded and the two went off to confront her. As soon as they were gone, Terumi looked at the ceiling rafters and jumped up to them, looking down on what was about to happen.

So, let's see if you are who I now know you are, Number 12.

"Um, hi there."

The sudden voice made Penny freeze for a second before she took a fighting stance and faced the owner, but she eased up when she saw it was that same girl who showed up at the docks during Ragna's sudden rampage. Someone was hiding behind her, a blonde girl who was keeping her head down, but she couldn't make out any other features.

"Oh, it's you," she started, "You're name is Ruby, correct?"

"Yeah, that's me. Name's Ruby Rose, but you can just call me Ruby," the girl replied, "And you're name's Penny, right?"

Penny nodded before she pulled her hood back, revealing her hair and bow, and replying, "Correct. I am Penny Polendina, but you may call me Penny. What are you doing here?"

"Hopefully the same as you: trying to take down the White Fang," Ruby explained, "A detective told us about this place and we came here to investigate. Turns out this warehouse is a White Fang weapons cache."

"I had already noticed," Penny remarked as she pointed to one of the boxes she just opened, revealing the weaponry and armor inside, "I have been searching these warehouses for any details regarding the whereabouts of the White Fang. I cannot remain idle while they bring harm to others. Not while I have the power to combat them."

Her response actually made Ruby smile brightly as she said, "That's nice to hear. Y'know, you sound a lot like a Huntress."

"I...thank you, Ruby," Penny scratched her right cheek, face heating up from the praise. Hearing a light squeak come from the blonde girl behind Ruby, she asked, "Ruby, who's the girl behind you?"

"Oh! This is my teammate, Noel. Don't mind her, she's just super shy around new people," Ruby then gently brought Noel out from behind her and said, "Noel, it's okay. Penny's super friendly."

Penny waved at her, but found her entire body freezing when the girl looked up at her. The girl in question had blonde hair and green eyes, every detail of her face looking exactly like...

ALERT! ROGUE MURAKUMO UNIT DETECTED. TERMINATION PROTOCOLS INITIATED.

What! No! Stop it! Penny clutched her head in agony as she fought off her programming. The urge to kill the girl in front of her was overwhelming. Her grip on her own body eluded her as the words came out, "T-target...target...d-detected...unit designated...Kappa-10...must...must..."

"Penny! What's happe-"

"Target detected. New objective confirmed. Unit designated as Mu-12 must eliminate rogue unit."

Those were the last words Penny heard come out of Noel's mouth as she found herself blasted back by a barrage of gunfire. She was able to activate her Aura at the last possible second, absorbing most of the damage. As Penny got up, she saw Ruby look at the blonde girl in shock while Noel stared at her without a trace of emotion, gun barrels emitting smoke. For a moment, Penny thought the guns looked familiar, but she didn't have any time to process that.

TERMINATION PROTOCOLS INITIATED.

No! Through sheer force of will, Penny was able to snuff those instincts out until they were a loud buzzing in her brain. The urge to kill unit num-Noel was still present, but she needed to fight it off. She needed to get out of here, but couldn't do that if she was blown to bits.

Better partially activate, Penny focused as she manifested her blades just in time for Noel to unleash another barrage of bullets right at her. She deftly deflected every single one of them as Noel jumped onto the upper walkway and ran, combining the guns into an assault rifle and pelleting her with a rapid fire onslaught, which was just as easily deflected as her previous barrage. Throughout all of this, Ruby yelled at Noel to stop, following after her teammate and grabbing her in an hold.

Penny was just about to launch a blade at her, but suddenly...

TERMINATE TARGET. TERMINATE TARGET.

…she forced herself to stop as she shook her head in pain. Attacking even once made it feel like her programming would take over. She could not let that happen. She wouldn't let that happen! That meant she could only play the fight defensively and hope for the best.

As she opened her eyes, she noticed Noel had broken free of Ruby's grip and was standing directly in front of her, the assault rifle now taking the form of a rocket launcher. One that was aimed right for her chest, and she had nowhere to run.

Noel pulled the trigger, and Penny's entire world was in pain. The launched rocket barrage exploded right in front of her, blasting her through over a dozen crates and right out of the warehouse. Penny skidded across the concrete floor and was stopped by another building, the loud crack behind her indicating that she left a large indent in it. Her ears rung and her vision was blurry, but both of those ceased in moments as everything around her became clear.

She looked down and saw that her clothes were torn and tattered. She felt the top of her head and saw that her bow was gone, and to make matters worse, her Aura felt like it was about to give out with her legs too weak to move. But all of that paled in comparison to what was walking right for her.

Noel's moved right for her with an emotionless, almost zombie-like gait as her guns pointed down in her limp arms. Her face was completely obscured by her hair, with the only thing visible being a single, cold green eye that looked upon her with murderous intent. There was no way for her to run. There was no escape. Part of her wanted to fully activate Lux Sanctus, engage self-repair protocols and fight anew, but she'd risk giving in to her programming and kill Noel in the process. She couldn't bring herself to do that. Noel was just as much a victim of their creator's programming as she was.

But now it was her life or Noel's. There was no in-between.

"I...I don't want to..." Penny muttered as her vision misted and tears ran down her face. Noel now stood in front of her and pointed her weapon, leaving Penny to stare down the barrel of the gun.

I don't want to die, she clenched her eyes shut and covered her face with her arms in terror, I'm sorry father, but this is it.

"Noel! STOP!"

Penny's eyes snapped open as she looked up from her arms and saw Ruby standing between her and Noel, the pink ribbon that was her bow in Ruby's right hand.

"Noel, I don't know what's gotten into you, but I know this isn't the real you!" she yelled, trying to reason with her friend through the programming.

"Obstruction to objective detected," Noel monotoned, "In order to complete objective, obstruction must be terminated."

Ruby's body tensed up as the gun pointed at her. Penny saw her shake in fear for a few seconds before she went rigid and declared defiantly, "If you want to get to her, you'll have to go through me! But the Noel I know would never do that! I know you're in there somewhere Noel, and I know you don't want to do this. Whatever's controlling you right now, fight it! "

Everything went completely still for several seconds, Ruby not budging an inch, and Noel keeping the barrel pointed at her, but not pulling the trigger either. Suddenly, Penny noticed Noel's hand was trembling, her eyes had tears roll down despite their emotionless gaze.

"Noel, please. You have to come back," Ruby coaxed as Noel's face scrunched up. The scarlet tipped girl walked up to her friend and continued, "You're a lot stronger than you believe yourself to be Noel. I know that you can fight through this. Just follow my voice."

As she neared, Noel lowered her arms and dropped her guns before collapsing to her knees on the floor. Enough strength returned to Penny's legs as she stood up just as Ruby bent down and gave her friend a soothing hug, rubbing her back in an effort to calm her.

"I'm sorry..." Noel wept, "I sorry...I don't...I couldn't control..."

"Ssssh, it's okay Noel," Ruby reassured, "It's okay."

Penny walked up to the duo and saw Noel look up at her, a face of pure sadness and self-loathing looking back at her. At first, Penny wanted to run, worried that the programming would take over and they would be back to square one. In the back of her head, the termination protocol was screaming at her to end the girl's life right now, and part of her was sure that Noel's own protocol was doing the same.

But instead, she hugged her, gently whispering reassurances that it wasn't her fault as she followed Ruby's example. Noel hugged back just as tightly, muttering apologies and begging for forgiveness, which Penny was more than happy to give.

She didn't know how long they all remained in the position before the sound of police sirens could be heard in the distance, snapping them all out of their reverie.

"We need to get out of here," Ruby was the first to say. Penny and Noel nodded to her statement as the two quickly picked themselves up and followed after her, running down the nearest alleyway before climbing up a fire escape.

Terumi smirked at the results of the battle. Just as the two tools and the caped dipshit left, the cops arrived and started investigating the place, all while he now stood far off on the roof of a tall building and watched. Odds were they'd report the warehouse as a White Fang base and put the entire district under lockdown, making Terumi snicker now that the animals had lost a decent weapon source. Even if they were working toward the same goal, the animals were nothing more than a bunch of playthings, and watching their shit get blown to hell filled him with a sense of joy.

But now he had something even better than that. Not only had he found Number 10 and learned her identity, he now learned that a once thought dead unit wasn't as dead as they thought. And the newly discovered unit would be far more valuable in the long run than their original target.

With a flourish of his coat, he snapped his fingers and called Phantom forth. He'd need to meet up with Doctor Relius to let him know the good news.

"Okay, I think we're safe," Ruby said as she caught her breath, sweat rolling down her face and reflecting the afternoon sun. Clenching her hand, she realized that she was still holding Penny's bow. Looking to the orange-haired girl, she tapped her shoulder and handed her the bow. Penny gave her a look of gratitude as she took it and did it up as it was before.

"Yeah," Noel muttered as she sat on the floor the roof they were on, looking completely drained. After what happened, Ruby couldn't blame her. "W-what happened to me?" she asked, wrapping her arms around her knees, "I was...I was aware of everything going on, but I couldn't control myself. I just kept hearing this voice in my head saying 'terminate target' over and over again. And it sounded just like me, almost like I was really thinking it. But I know I wasn't. Just...what the hell!"

Ruby immediately knelt down again and hugged the hyperventilating Noel to put her at ease. She had no idea what had happened back there either. But one thing she remembered was that Penny almost sounded like she was saying something similar to Noel, albeit fighting against it. Looking up at her new companion, she gave her a hopeful look, wanting answers for her friend's sake.

Penny's gaze became worried as she sighed, drawing Noel's attention as she said, "Noel, I know what happened, but I'm afraid you will not like the answer. Are you sure you want to know?"

Ruby watched as Noel looked down in fear, but after a few moments, her gaze became resolute. The blonde looked to Penny, and nodded her head.

Chapter Text

"Noel, you and I are not human. At least, not in a traditional sense," Penny began to explain, much to Ruby's confusion, "This is the best way I can put it. We are artificial life forms, cloned from the same genetic progenitor with our biology having been heavily augmented. Our creators had many names for what we are: Dolls, weapons, tools, Boundary Interface Units was used quite often, but the most frequent thing they would call us is Murakumo."

"Murakumo?" Noel asked, sounding like she was testing the word.

Penny nodded and continued, "Correct. That's because our bodies were fused with a device called Lux Sanctus: Murakumo, with the blades you saw me using earlier being their partially activated form. It's because of its name that what we are was collectively called 'The Lux Sanctus Project'," Penny grew saddened the longer she spoke, "And...while it's complicated, the long-term reason for why we were created is the annihilation of all in this world; Cities. Kingdoms. Everything."

Ruby grew shocked after she heard that. Who would want to do something as vile as destroy the world? And why would they want to do that at all? Beside her, she saw that Noel was trembling again.

"From what I recollected of our confrontation, you described yourself as Mu-12. My former designation is Kappa-10. We are the 12th and 10th Murakumo Units respectively. I know you do not wish to hear this, and I'm sorry, but, well, I am afraid that is the truth."

As Penny finished, Ruby found herself at a loss for words. Her friend and the girl standing in front of them were weapons born to destroy the world? She didn't know what to say, or if she could say anything. She looked to Noel and saw that she wasn't trembling anymore. Instead, she looked almost catatonic, as if the world around her had faded out of existence.

"N-Noel," Ruby gave her friend a gentle shake, "Noel, please speak to me."

"I'm not a real person."

Noel's response was simple, but it left Ruby horrified as she watched her continued to repeat it with increasingly dull eyes, "I'm not a real person."

"Noel, don't say that!" Ruby hugged her as tightly as she dared, "You are a real person! None of this 'Murakumo' stuff changes any of that!"

"Ruby is correct," Penny knelt down and joined them, causing Noel to look her fellow Murakumo in the eye. For a moment, they both scrunched their eyes as if in pain, but they fought through it as Penny continued, "If there is one thing that I've learned since I was freed by my father, it's that we are our own people. We have our own thoughts, opinions, desires, and emotions. We don't have to allow ourselves to be defined by what we are, only who we are."

"Yeah! You're one of the nicest people I know. Not some murdery super weapon," Ruby encouraged as Noel looked her in the eye, "And I'll keep saying it a thousand times over until it sticks! And even after it sticks, I'll still keep saying it!"

"And I shall aid her in continuing to remind you as well," Penny added before she gave a warm smile, "Besides, in a literal sense, we are sisters, and aiding each other through conflicts both physical and emotional is what sisters do!"

Noel looked between the two of them then looked down at her trembling hands. In moments, she began sobbing, prompting Ruby to give her a reassuring hug and letting her know that it was okay. That she could cry for as long as she needed to. The rustling and the extra set of hands that wrapped around her and Noel indicated that Penny was doing the same.

After many minutes of this, Noel's crying stopped, with Ruby and Penny retracting from the hug, noticing that Noel's eyes were red and puffy. As she wiped them, she said, "T-thanks g-guys. I...I t-think I'll b-be okay for now."

Ruby smiled as she helped her friend up, "Glad to hear it. But if you need anything..."

"I know, a-and I will," Noel replied, "But...can we not tell the rest of the team about this? Please?"

"Noel I-"

"Ruby, I agree with Noel," Penny cut in, "So far, you, Noel, and my father are the only people who know of my origins. To keep our creators from finding us, it would be best to keep this a secret between ourselves. Please?"

Ruby wanted to argue, but seeing the pleading looks in her friends' eyes made convinced her otherwise. Sighing, she replied, "Okay, we'll keep it a secret from the others."

"Thank you," Noel and Penny said in unison before looking at each other and scrunching their faces again for a moment, both of them clutching their heads as if in pain.

"Why do you guys keep doing that with your faces every time you look at each other?" Ruby asked.

They both looked back to her and said, "Sorry," once again in unison before Noel spoke alone, "It's just...every time I look at Penny, I get that same 'terminate target' thing repeating in my head over and over again. Not to mention it feels like there's this...pressure of sorts in my skull and an overwhelming urge to...well, you know."

"To give a more in-depth answer," Penny began, "Murakumos are programmed in their earliest stages of development to terminate rogue units on sight. Both Noel and I are rogue units, so whenever we look at each other, our in-born programming acts up to force us to try and kill each other."

"Oh...are you two going to be alright?" Ruby asked, "No more of what happened earlier?"

"I...I'm not sure," Noel admitted as she looked down, "I hope we don't have to go through it again."

"I am sure we can fight it off," Penny said, though she didn't sound quite as confident as before. Still, Ruby hoped that they could fight it off, despite the difficulty. Just then, Ruby picked up on something that confused her.

"Heh, also, I know this is gonna sound kinda like a super weird question after all that but..." Ruby cleared her throat, "You said that you and Noel are technically sisters and have the same...whatever that word you said was."

"Progenitor."

"Yeah, that. But why do you two look and sound different?" Ruby asked, "I mean, I can see you guys have similar faces and eyes now that I can get a close up look, but Penny has different hair and sounds different too. Why is that?"

Penny cleared her throat, "Well, I've learned to disguise my voice in the time my father and I have been in hiding," she said, but what almost made Ruby's eyes bulge out of their skull was that she now sounded exactly like Noel.

"I...that's...wow..." Noel stammered, "We really do sound alike."

"And as for my hair, that is because I tend to use a lot of orange hair dye," Penny admitted, returning her voice to how it was previously as she ran a hand through her hair before pulling it up, "And from the looks of it, I may be due for a touch up soon," Ruby leaned in and got a closer look to see what Penny meant. Sure enough, blonde roots of an identical hue to Noel's hair were visible.

"So..." Noel said cautiously, looking as if she was still trying to process everything, "I guess we really are..."

Suddenly, a loud tune played, making Ruby look up and down for where it was coming from. Penny gained a look of surprise and pulled out her ringing scroll and answered, "Hello? Oh! Hi dad! I..."

Ruby saw that Penny's face became ashamed, "I'm sorry dad. Truth be told, I wasn't looking for a new job, I was..." she sighed, "I was trying to stop the White Fang."

A loud, concerned voice could be heard on the other end, even if Ruby couldn't make out what was being said. Penny winced and replied, "I know. I shouldn't have lied like that, but you are under enough stress as is. I worried that knowing what I was doing would just make things worse."

As the voice grew softer, Penny perked up, "Thank you. I will be home shortly," but before she hung up, she suddenly got a look of realization on her face and said, "Uh, actually father, something happened when I was out and...well, I think it would be best if I explain all the details to you when I get home. Is that alright?" Ruby could here what sounded like an 'Of course' and 'please come home soon' from the other end of the line before Penny smiled and finished, "Good. I'll see you soon dad."

And with that, she hung up and gave Ruby and Noel an apologetic look, "Sorry, but I must head home now. My dad is worried about me."

"Believe me, I know the feeling," Ruby snarked a bit before she looked back at Noel and saw a faint, distraught look in her eyes. Turning back to Penny, she said, "Actually, before you go, any chance we could exchange numbers? Y'know, so we can keep in touch?"

Penny's eyes lit up with happiness for a few seconds before she enveloped Ruby in a crushing hug, making her feel like her lungs were about to give out for a few seconds.

"Of course!" she replied exuberantly as she gave Ruby her number, with Ruby giving hers in turn, "I'd like to apologize to both of you for what happened earlier. I had no intention of-"

"It's fine," Noel interrupted, sounding to Ruby like she wanted to avoid that subject as much as possible, "I-It was my fault anyway."

"Guys, neither of you knew about each other and the whole thing was just a happy accident," Ruby interjected, drawing both of their attention, "Okay, maybe not 'happy', but really, you shouldn't blame yourselves for this. It isn't either of your faults."

Penny gave her a thankful look, but Noel looked away, concerning Ruby. For a second, she could have sworn that she heard Noel mutter, "But it feels like it is."

Ruby was about to comfort her friend, but thankfully, Penny had also picked up on Noel's mood and grabbed her shoulders. The blonde faced her newly found sibling, both of them scrunching their faces in pain for a moment before it subsided and Penny looked at her, face completely resolute.

"Noel, I understand what is going through your mind right now, and..." Penny gulped for a moment before continuing, "And I want you to know that I will help you with this no matter what it takes. I know that we just met and tried to kill each other, but that does not change anything to me. I have said it before, and I shall say it again: We are sisters, and regardless of the struggle, I will be there to help you."

And then Penny hugged Noel. It wasn't the strong hug that she gave Ruby previously, but a gentle hug not unlike the ones Yang gave her when she was feeling down. It took a bit, but Noel eventually hugged back with a lot more strength than normal. The two retracted and Penny turned to leave.

"I hope to see you two again soon," she said as she looked to Ruby, "I will make sure to keep in touch. Goodbye Ruby," she then looked to Noel, "Goodbye sister."

"See you soon Penny," Ruby replied, smiling brighter than before.

"Yeah," Noel said more timidly, "See you soon...s-sis."

If possible, Ruby could have sworn Penny's grin was even more cheerful as she jumped off the building and hopped from rooftop-to-rooftop before disappearing from sight. To her side, she noticed that as Noel stopped waving, her smile started fading again. Ruby felt her own smile fade as Noel looked on, a mix of sorrow, self-hatred, and confoundment exuding from her form.

"Noel, are you gonna be okay?" Ruby asked, though she could tell that Noel was not okay, the previous revelations eating away at her again.

"Y-yeah, I-I'll...I'll be fine," Noel lied, with Ruby responding by taking her hand.

"I think we need to stop and process all this," she said to the blonde, "Let's go find a bench somewhere and get some rest. Okay?"

Noel gave her a nod in trepidation, and the two of them jumped off the building to find a place to process everything that happened.

Nora felt a sense of unease as she and Ren walked up to the entrance of the club, having parked the motorbike they rented at the side of the curb. That feeling had permeated all throughout their trek through this part of town, seeing the run down industrial districts, the homeless people sleeping beside dumpsters, all of the sights were too familiar to her.

"Nora, you okay?" Ren asked. Not wanting her partner to worry, she put on her best smile.

"A-okay Renny. Now let's wring some intel out of this guy," she said, hoping her exuberance didn't come off as false. Thankfully, Ren simply nodded and the two of them walked into the club, bright spinning strobe lights that flashed between red and white and loud music greeting their eyes and ears respectively. As they walked down the stairs , Nora looked up and saw a DJ in a bear mask and tuxedo dancing to the music he made. Much to her surprise, there weren't any people present, save for the several men wearing tuxedos, fedoras and red sunglasses, all of whom matched Ruby's description of the goons that helped Roman in his robbery.

As the two of them took their seats at the long bar to the dance floor's left, a well dressed man with black hair, complete with beard and mustache, was cleaning a glass. After he finished, he looked at them and his face soured. Given what Yang said she did to this place, Nora could only guess he wasn't a fan of teenagers.

"So, who are you two supposed to be?" he asked in a rather rude tone. Right off the bat, Nora wanted to punch him in the face.

"We're just here to find some information. We hope that isn't too much trouble," Ren said in a civil tone.

The man grunted, "Lots of people come here for information of some kind. They usually always get thrown out for causing trouble, and I don't want no kids in my club, so scram."

"From what I heard, the last kid our age to come here wrecked your shit like it was an Ursa's face," Nora spoke up, casually admiring her fingernails to put on her best 'cool and unfazed' demeanor, "Besides, I don't think 'blondie' would be happy if she found out you left us with nothing, would she?"

As the man's eyes widened, she heard the sound of multiple guns being cocked over the music and turned to see the goons from earlier pointing their weapons at the backs of hers and Ren's heads. Nora reached behind her back to pull out Magnhild, but Ren raised an arm and stopped her, sighing and pinching the bridge of his nose.

"Look, I'd rather this not dissolve into a brawl if I may be honest," Ren said to the man behind the counter, "And I can tell that you don't either. So just tell us what we'd like to know and we'll be on our way."

Nora looked back at the man's face and saw he was terrified. In a few moments, he motioned for his men to put their guns away as he yelled, "Alright, everyone just go back to what you were doing. It's fine! I'll deal with them."

With that, the men put the guns away and walked off, "Fucking hell," the bar guy muttered, "What do you want to know?"

Nora looked to Ren, who looked at her with a light shrug of his shoulders before turning to the man and asking, "We need everything you know on Roman Torchwick and what he's planning in Vale."

Jaune couldn't help but feel completely nervous as he walked behind Ragna down a dark alleyway, various people of different kinds, man, woman, Faunus, human, all surrounding them from different angles, all glaring at them. It reminded him of those super hero shows he watched as a kid, where the hero would enter a room full of criminals and take them all out, but he most certainly wasn't a super hero. He was just weak old Jaune, not exactly someone who could stand up to hardened crooks. Making matters worse, as they walked, he turned back for a second and saw that a number of them were getting up and following them, blocking their exit.

"Uh, Ragna?" Jaune asked nervously, "Should we be worried?"

"For them maybe," he bluntly responded, clearly thinking nothing of the people surrounding them. Jaune couldn't tell if that made it better or worse.

The two eventually entered a small opening area surrounded by tall buildings. It gave way to three other alleyway exits, all blocked off by more crooks. As they got to the center, Jaune saw a tall, gaunt looking man with pasty white skin garbed in baggy clothes walk down the stairs of one of the building's entrances and approach them. As he got close, Jaune saw that he equaled Ragna in height and that he had a look of pure hate in his eyes.

"Well well, if it ain't good ol' Ragna," the man insulted before looking at Jaune, making him shirk back slightly, "And who are you supposed to be? His sidekick or some shit?"

"Uh...well, I'm actually the good cop," Jaune's reply was met with snickering, if not outright laughter from everyone around them.

"Hilarious! The dipshit thinks he's in a fuckin' tv show!" one of the female crooks mocked, making Jaune flush with embarrassment.

The main thug that was snarling at Ragna earlier was also laughing and now prowling around Jaune, "Well then 'good cop', care to tell me what you're doin' here so we can kick you dumbasses out?"

Before Jaune could answer, Ragna interrupted, "We're here for anything else you know about Roman and the White Fang. Game's changed. They're working together and whatever they're doing is bigger than a few robberies. So spill what you know before I beat all of you senseless again."

"Hey Woody," one of the gang members, a female Faunus with a yellow fox tail, said to the leader, "I don't like either the asshole's voice or Mr. Whiny Goody Goody. Can we kick 'em out now?"

"Tch, you're joking, right?" Ragna grunted, "Last I checked, I kicked all your asses before. So make it easy on yourselves and tell me what I want to know or else."

"Simple. We're prepared," the boss, Woody, snapped his finger and the sound of guns being armed came up all around them. Jaune almost reflexively reached for his sword and shifted his sheath into its shield form. As his eyes shifted between all their attackers, he picked up on something when he saw Ragna.

The first was that he hadn't drawn his weapon yet. The second was that he was actually smirking.

Before Jaune could question it further, Ragna immediately lunged forward and started fighting, knocking Woody into a wall with a loud crack before moving on to the rest. Jaune yelped in surprise when he heard a gun fire right behind him as he turned just in time to block the bullet with his shield. He the rushed forward and bashed the attacker, surprisingly knocking her and a couple others out with a shove. At that moment, Jaune realized that a lot of these guys didn't have their Auras unlocked, some even backing away in fear.

Maybe this will be easier than I thought, Jaune looked to his sword and put it back in its sheath, Better safe than sorry. If these guys don't have Auras, then I should probably avoid using anything lethal.

Jaune ran at another, blocking his machine gun fire with Crocea Mors' shield before knocking him out. A painful sting to his right arm drew his attention to another gang member, who frantically reloaded his weapon. That gave Jaune just enough time to run up and deliver a knockout punch to the chest.

Just then, the gunfire completely stopped. Jaune turned and saw that Ragna had already taken all of the other gangsters out, their groaning bodies all convulsing in pain. The few that still had any strength left were actively trying to get away. Woody was backed into a corner by Ragna, holding an assault rifle with trembling hands.

"S-stay back!" he shouted, "I'll shoot!"

"Yeah, like that'll work," in the blink of an eye, Ragna took the weapon and, rather than snap it in half like Jaune thought he would, inspected it, "Well what do we have here?"

"Uh, I'm pretty sure that's a gun, Ragna," Jaune pointed out, but a part of him got the feeling that Ragna was being rhetorical.

"No fucking shit, kid. But this is a pretty high quality fire arm for a gang of two-bit informants who didn't have this kind of shit last time we met," Ragna then grabbed Woody by the scuff of his shirt and gave him a withering glare that made the man shake in fear, "And considering I've seen the White Fang use these exact same weapons in a fight, I have a sneaking suspicion on who supplied you with them. So, care to talk?"

Makoto watched as Blake inspected three slash marks on the side of the building before the two of them looked around the corner, seeing two Faunus civilians being welcomed into the warehouse by an older, almost gentlemanly Faunus. Makoto and Blake looked at each other, the latter nodding in affirmation as she removed her bow and walked up to the man, Makoto following while putting her hood up. As the man welcomed them inside, he gave both of them White Fang masks, making Makoto's stomach churn in disgust as she walked in and rounded the corner with Blake.

Just as a White Fang troop guided the two previous entrants inside, Makoto spoke up in a hushed tone, "Man, just holding this thing is giving me the whillies."

"I know what you mean," Blake admitted, "But thankfully this is just temporary, so we'll just have to put up with it for a bit."

"Before we go in, you mind telling me something?" Makoto asked, with Blake nodding, "Why Grimm masks?"

Blake looked down at her given mask as she answered, "They were meant as a symbol. Humanity treated us as monsters, so we dawned the faces of monsters in turn."

"Yeesh, whoever came up with that idea is either an asshole or a total psychopath," Makoto said as she put the mask on, resisting the urge to take it off and set it on fire as she walked down the hall behind her partner, "Probably both."

"You have no idea," Blake whispered as she put her mask on. Part of Makoto wanted to ask her what she meant, but they didn't have the time right now. Turning to the left, they walked past the grunt and into the warehouse's storage area, which had been cleared out to make room for the stage and the many new recruits, all of whom were lined up in a large group. To the new recruits' left was an even larger group composed entirely of White Fang troops, all in rather uniform formation. What caught Makoto's attention the most was the enormous curtain on the stage.

"Thank you all for coming," the White Fang soldier on the stage introduced himself. Based off his different outfit compared to the standard troops, it was easy for Makoto to tell he was of a much higher rank. "Now, for those of you who are among our newest recruits, we would like to introduce you to a special benefactor of ours. Now, despite whatever misgivings you may have regarding him, I can assure you that he is the key for us to attain what we have been fighting for!"

At his words, the familiar bowler hat and orange hair of Roman Torchwick made his presence known from behind the curtain as he walked out on stage. Makoto saw Blake tense up beside her, as if resisting the urge to strike then and there. Makoto reached for her partner's hand and gave it a reassuring squeeze, trying her best to silently calm Blake down. Blake looked to her and gave her a thankful smile that made Makoto's face heat up a bit.

As the crowd jeered at a human's presence, Blake and Makoto shifted their focus back on their mission as Roman waxed on about humanity being the worst, all while lacing casual insults towards the crowd. He then wove a speech about how the people high in society, ranging from government officials to Huntsmen Academy staff, were the ones at fault for everyone's misery, and the crowd ate it all up. Makoto looked to Blake and the both of them shared a look. It was easy for them to see that Roman was spinning a web of bullshit to manipulate everyone here.

Just then, Roman snapped his fingers and the curtain fell. Makoto felt her jaw drop when she saw the large grey mecha.

"Holy shit!" Makoto whispered loudly. Of all the things she expected, a giant robo suit was not one of them.

"How the hell did he get that?" Blake whispered.

"Now, for those of you who don't know, this here is Atlas' newest little weapon against all the things that go bump in the night. Thanks to a few 'higher ups' of mine, we were able to snag a few of them before their official release date," Roman bragged, pretty much answering Blake's question for her, "Now, many of your fellow brothers and sisters have moved on to our newest operation in the southeast of this kingdom. If you want to stay in the city, then that's all fine and dandy. But, if you're all willing to truly fight against your human oppressors, then just know that you'll be fighting with the best arsenal you can imagine. Questions, anyone?"

The cheering of the entire crowd was drowned out in Makoto's mind as she looked to Blake, who looked back at her and nodded. They now had what they came here for. Now they just had to leave without drawing attention.

"All new recruits, step forward!" Makoto was shaken out of her thoughts by the voice of the White Fang soldier from earlier. She found herself internally panicking as the line they were in started moving forward, with her and Blake being forced to follow suit to keep up the façade.

"Shit! We're in too deep," she whispered into Blake's ear, "Please tell me you have an idea."

Blake looked around, "I need to think for a few minutes," she whispered back. Makoto just hoped that it would be a very short few minutes. They were running out of time, and fast.

"Wait, how do you not know what Roman's doing?" Nora asked, finding the man, Junior, hard to believe, "Didn't he tell you what he was doing or even drop a hint?"

"Look lady, the reason why I don't know is because I haven't talked to him since the night a lent him my men!" Junior explained in frustration, "And you can't just ask my men what Roman's doing because none of them ever came back!"

"Do you think Roman killed them?" Ren asked.

"Don't know, and to be frank, don't care. If he did kill them, can't say I blame him, given their incompetence!" Junior yelled the last part out loud enough for his men to hear. Nora looked and saw all of them grumble and walk away, making her angry at how little Junior thought of those in his employ.

Before she could pull out Magnhild and give him a piece of her mind, Ren put a hand to her shoulder and shook his head. He then looked back to Junior and said, "Thank you. That will be all."

Ren got up from his seat, with Nora following soon after, but not before leveling a glare at Junior and blowing a raspberry at him. "Well that was a bust," Nora said as she turned back to Ren, "What now?"

"Now, we wait and see if the others have had better luck than we have," he replied as they walked towards the exit.

"Tell me the rest or I drop you."

"I TOLD YOU I DON'T KNOW NOTHIN' ELSE."

"Okay guys, c-can we just calm down?" Jaune found the whole situation nerve wrecking as Ragna held Woody over the side of a tall building by his leg. Ragna actually sounded like he was genuinely going to drop the guy if he didn't say anything.

"Bullshit you don't," Ragna snarled, "Roman found out I got information from your gang and gave you those weapons to, in his own words, 'ward off unwanted guests'. You mean to tell me you couldn't gleam anything off the guy when he came knocking at your doorstep?"

"No! And even if I did, I still wouldn't talk!" Woody screamed, "Roman killed half my guys when he found out what we told you. If I spill again, odds are he'll off me. You think I got a fuckin' death wish or somethin'!?"

"Keep giving me nothing to work with and we'll find out," Ragna then loosened his grip just enough for Woody to fall a tad.

"Ragna, that's enough!" Jaune yelled, "Look, if he knew anything else, I'm sure he'd have talked already. So just...just calm down and get away from the edge!"

Jaune felt a brief second of terror as Ragna looked back and glared at him, his dark aura flashing in that moment. The red clad man looked between him and Woody before he calmed down considerably and wordlessly threw the gang leader back onto the roof. He looked at Ragna in terror before running into the building as fast as he could.

A sigh of frustration came from Ragna as Jaune turned to see his teammate sit on the edge of the building, staring out at the sky. Worried, Jaune walked up and sat next to him.

"You uh...you alright Ragna?" Jaune asked.

"Not really," he replied, sounding rather worn out, "Look, sorry about the whole shit show."

"No, I get it, you need to vent," Jaune said understandingly, "So...since I don't think we're gonna do anything else after that, want to talk about what happened between you and your brother that's eating away at you?"

Jaune was expecting Ragna to be confrontational or angry about it, but instead, he was met with complete silence that told Jaune his teammate wasn't in the mood. "Well, if you ever need to talk about it..." Jaune said before stopping, figuring that the rest didn't need to be said. The only response from Ragna was a wordless nod.

Come on Blake, we need a plan now! Blake panicked as they continued to move up in the line. Out of the corner of her eye, she saw Roman smoke his cigar while standing next to the same psychotic woman they fought at the docks before. Blake felt her panic rise as he looked in their direction with a frown.

"Blake, I think we've been spotted. Please tell me you have an idea!" Makoto whispered as Blake looked around for anything. Then she saw the warehouse's junction box and a plan, or at least 12% of one, formed in her head.

"When I shoot, get ready to follow me and run," she whispered to her partner as she whipped out Gambol Shroud in its pistol form and fired a single shot at the junction box, cutting out the lights and shrouding them in darkness. The panicked cries and frantic orders of the White Fang inside distracted them while she and Makoto made a break for the window.

Just as they jumped out and into the night, Blake swore she heard the sound of machinery whirring to life.

The sound of smashed concrete came from behind them, Blake turning to witness the mecha give chase, and she had a good idea of who was in the driver's seat. Noticing an empty car, she and Makoto used it as a platform to jump to the roof of the nearest building and proceeded to jump from rooftop-to-rooftop. The sound of mechanized legs drew her attention to her right as she saw the mecha chasing them through the streets. There was a tinge of fear that was quickly met with relief when she saw that the streets were completely empty, not a civilian in sight.

"Okay, so what do we do now?" Makoto yelled.

"Now? We call backup," Blake answered as they jumped to another rooftop, "I'll call Ren and Nora then Ragna and Jaune, you call Noel and Ruby."

Makoto nodded as she and Blake pulled their scrolls out. Thankfully, she didn't have to wait very long as Ren answered, "Blake, what happened?"

"We need back up! Roman's attacking us! You can track our location through our scrolls!" she yelled as she and Makoto ran out of rooftops and ran into the empty streets, the mecha right behind them. As soon as that call ended, she redialed and called up Ragna and quickly said, "Ragna! Jaune! We're being attacked by Roman! Track us through your scrolls and get here fast!"

As they ran into the worn down industrial district, a bright light came rushing towards them and a loud, familiar voice screamed "OUTTA THE WAY!"

Blake and Makoto moved aside just in time to see Ren and Nora rush past on their bike before jumping off and landing beside them, effectively slamming the bike right into the mech's front and knocking it back with a powerful explosion.

"HA! Eat it ya overgrown scrap heap!" Nora taunted.

"Nora, you do realize that we now have to pay for that bike, right?" Ren reminded as he drew his pistols. Nora gave a casual shrug in response before whipping out her hammer.

"Well Blakey, our team's here. Any ideas?" Makoto asked. Blake looked at the mecha as it stood upright, red laser sensors zeroing in on them.

"Right now, dodge!" she yelled as a barrage of gunfire blasts were sent their way, with each of them quickly dodging as the mech's attack tore through a few empty cars on the side of the road. Blake and Ren both ran and slid underneath the robot's legs, avoiding a powerful stomp in the process. She gave a look to Nora, who nodded as she and Ren went to work slashing saw at the back of the mech's legs with their respective blades. It turned around and swiped low with its arm, forcing the two of them to flip back.

The mech stumbled forward, Nora having taken to hammering away at the rear of the robot. Just as it span to swing her off, Makoto leaped in and grabbed onto the front of the cockpit, punching away at it with her right fist. Blake nodded to Ren as the two of them started firing away at its lower body, off-balancing the mecha as much as possible. Amidst their attacks, Makoto began to glow more as her fist punctured a whole in the cockpit, clearly startling Roman as the mech backed away, slamming into the side of a building and knocking Nora off. The mech then ran forward and slammed into another building's side, knocking Makoto off.

"Makoto!" Blake yelled as the mech was about to stomp on her friend. Thinking quickly, she pulled out her ribbon and threw it at the mech's arm, using it to pull forward at high speeds and grabbing Makoto just before the metal foot crushed her. Just as she retracted her ribbon, the mechanical whirring drew her attention back just in time to see the machine's gun pointed right at her.

But before it could fire, a familiar red rush surrounded by rose petals swooped in faster than she could keep track of. A loud shing preceded the mech's right arm being slashed off. Standing on the opposite side of the robot was Ruby, holding her scythe with a confidant smirk. Roman's mech turned to retaliate, but was interrupted by a barrage of gunfire from above. Blake looked up to the source and saw Noel firing upon it, her dual pistols now combined into a powerful assault rifle.

The mech quickly turned, reflecting its pilot's frustration, and launched a large barrage of missiles at Noel. Even from this distance, Blake could tell that the blonde girl was overwhelmed by the sheer amount even as she fired upon them, creating explosion after explosion.

"She's not gonna get them all," Makoto said, her voice filled with worry. Blake saw this and shifted Gambol Shroud to its pistol form to try and shoot down any missiles she could, Ren joining by her side to help. But before they could fire...

"NOEL!"

…They all saw Jaune flying through the air as if he'd been thrown or launched, his shield right in front of him as he faced the last of the missiles. The huge, deafening explosion blinded Blake for a moment before she saw Jaune fly out of it with Noel catching him, both of them falling back and out of her sight.

Shit! Hope Jaune's okay, Blake worried. A roar of anger snapped her attention back as she looked up and saw a red and black blur launch right at the mech's remaining arm. Unlike with Ruby, the arm wasn't simply sliced off, but completely reduced to scrap metal. The blur skidded right next to Ruby, revealing it to be Ragna, looking at the mecha with an angry glare.

Alright Blake, we need to end this now, she thought as she looked to the heavily damaged machine. The mecha still had some weapons on its front and back, so it wasn't defenseless just yet, but Ragna's last attack left it off balance, giving them an opportunity to end it now.

"Blake! Your ribbon!" she heard Ruby call out. Looking to the other team leader, she saw that Ruby had a plan forming in her eyes. As she briefly glanced at her ribbon, she realized what the plan was.

Nodding, she ran up to the mech as it stabilized itself, using its front mounted gun to fire upon her. Blake nimbly dodging each shot through use of her shadow clones as Ruby ran to the opposite leg just as quickly. Once Ruby was at the opposite leg, Blake threw one end of the ribbon to the scythe girl, who grabbed it and proceeded to run around the mechanical limb, tying the ribbon around it. Ruby then ran towards Blake in a burst of speed and grabbed her hand. Pushing herself to her limit, the two of them ran faster than the machine could keep up with as the ribbon tied the legs together.

Just a little more, Blake felt as if her legs were about to give out as Ruby continued to pull her along. As soon as the legs were unable to move, they let go of the ribbon and flew towards Ren, Makoto, and Nora, both of them landing on their feet and skidding to a halt. As the machine struggled to move with its upper body spinning around helplessly, the sound of footsteps could be heard behind them.

"Is that it?" Blake heard Noel ask. She turned back and saw her carrying Jaune over her shoulder, parts of his armor singed with him being out cold, but breathing. Just to their side, Ragna had joined in as well, likely having joined the full group amidst her and Ruby's tying up.

"Not yet," Blake answered as she looked to Nora, "Would you like to do the honors?"

"You got it fearless leader!" Nora chirped with a smile as she shifted Magnhild into its grenade launcher form and fired right at the mech's cockpit. The force of the explosion enough to knock the mecha to the ground with a resounding crash.

"Never thought I'd fight a giant robot," Ragna said, "What the hell happened anyway?"

"Roman was at the White Fang recruitment crap and spotted us," Makoto explained, "We had to make a break for it and he got into the robo suit to chase us through town."

"Good thing you guys called as soon as you did. I don't think any of us would want that thing rampaging through Vale," Ren added.

"Tch, if Roman's in there, then we can just take him now," Ragna grunted as he began walking towards the downed mech.

"Maybe this will be easier than we thought?" Noel asked. The second the question left her mouth, the cockpit's front was sent flying away as Roman got out and pointed his cane at them.

"Y'know something? You kids are starting to become a real pain in my ass," the crime lord snarled.

"Huh!? Whassat?" Jaune's voice suddenly chimed in, sounding like he just woke up.

"Noel. Never say stuff like that," Makoto chided as she got into a fighting stance.

"Not seeing the big deal," Nora smirked while aiming her grenade launcher, "It's eight on one. Not much of a fight."

She fired a shot at the crime lord, who just stood there completely nonplussed and put his cane down. Suddenly, a pink and brown blur appeared from above and got in front of him and took the explosion. When it subsided, the blur revealed herself to be the same psychotic woman from before, holding her opened umbrella at her shoulder.

"You!" Ragna snarled with pure rage. For a moment Blake saw his dark aura flare up around him. Blake looked back to the umbrella woman and grew surprised when, from her distance, it almost seemed like she was trembling slightly with a notable look of fear in her eyes.

Is she terrified of Ragna? Blake wondered. Then again, considering what happened last time, it wasn't too surprising. Before she could think about it any further, Ragna charged forward and brought his sword down on them. But just as he did, Roman and his partner shattered to pieces like glass, leaving all of them confused.

"What the-Where did he go!?" Jaune yelled, now fully conscious.

"Dammit. His partner must have used her Semblance," Blake surmised as she looked around. There were too many building and methods of escape. Finding them would take too long at this point, "We should probably head back to Beacon for now. Not much else we can do."

After receiving nods in agreement from everyone, Blake gathered her ribbon from the downed mech and the eight of them proceeded back to the academy. While she was frustrated that they couldn't apprehend Roman then and there, she and Makoto were able to get some good information on a White Fang operation in the southeast.

No matter how long it took, she was going to put a stop to him.

"Phew! Thought we weren't gonna get away for a second," Roman felt his adrenaline go down as he and Neo rested on a tall rooftop. Those irritating brats managed to completely pulverize the Paladin, wasting all the effort it took to steal it in the first place. Granted, their other operation still had plenty of those things, but it was the principle of the matter.

He was about to ask Neo what her thoughts were on the whole thing, but the words died on his tongue when he saw that she was actually trembling, looking down to the floor with a far away look in her eyes. Reazlizing what was up, he gently put his hands to her shoulders.

"Neo, calm down. We got away," Roman did his best to soothe her, but soothing wasn't exactly in his vocabulary, "That monster didn't go all out on us like last time, and he's far away from you now. You don't have to worry."

If nothing else, he seemed to have calmed her down a small amount as she gave him an easy going smile. Or at least the veneer of one. Either way, he gave her a lopsided smile in turn to lighten the mood.

"Just remember. We survived back then and we survived now. That's all that matters. That we do whatever it takes to survive, okay?"

Neo seemed to gain at least some cheer back as she nodded. Roman resting his hands behind his head as he spoke, "Good. Now let's head call in a ride and check in on the other operation. Don't want to leave it unattended."

It was getting late as Ruby yawned a bit, but none of those present were planning on sleeping just yet. All members of Team RNJR and BRNN had gathered in the latter's room to discuss what they'd found out. She and Noel were able to get theirs out of the way first, explaining the encounter with the detective and discovering the weapon's cache. Blake looked very apprehensive at the fact that what they were doing was now known to someone outside the group, but Ruby was able to ease her thoughts by bringing up that if it wasn't for him, they wouldn't have found the place to begin with.

Of course, there was a reason they went first. As soon as Ruby finished explaining, Noel got up and said she wanted to go to bed in a rather forced voice. Everyone could see that something was wrong with Noel, but Ruby was the only one who understood the issue, and thanks to her promise, she couldn't tell them. Even if she could, she had no clue where to begin.

"So," Nora's voice brought her back to reality, "Wanna hear what Ren and I found out?"

"We learned nothing," Ren casually stated, "The club owner didn't have any clues on what Roman was doing."

"Okay, fine, we didn't get anything, but..." Nora continued before she paused in thought, "No, actually that's it."

Blake facepalmed while Makoto sighed, "Well, you guys did your best. That's all we could really ask," she then turned to Ragna and Jaune, "What did you guys find-"

A loud chime was heard as Ruby then felt a buzzing in her pocket. Knowing what it was, she pulled out her scroll as all eyes turned to her and saw that she got a new message from...

"Uh, would you guys give me a minute?" Ruby asked, "I kinda sorta gotta take this."

She then ran out of the room fast before any could respond and walked a ways down the hall before leaning against a wall and opening the message from Penny.

"I was able to tell my father about you and Noel. He was extremely worried that someone found out my secret and that I encountered another like me, but I was able to ease his concerns." The message read.

Ruby smiled and typed back, "That's great! Sorry if we scared him."

After a few seconds, another message came in, "That is alright. He's grateful that you are willing to help maintain it. How is Noel doing?"

She felt her smile fade into a frown as she sent her message, "Not very good. She's still having a hard time with what she learned."

"I am sorry." Penny's next message read before another message came in right after, "I will do everything that I can to help her. And I will not let 'you know what' stop me."

Ruby's smile returned at Penny's kind offer. She typed, "Thanks, but I think we should give her some space for now. Plus, I don't think you two being in the same room so soon after...you know, that, is a good idea."

As she waited for Penny's next message, she internally winced reading what she just typed and hoped it didn't sound insensitive. Thankfully, Penny's next message read, "I understand. Though, and I hope I am not overstepping any boundaries, I would like for both of us to reconvene at some point. I believe hanging out with friends would help us take our minds off of troubling events. Would that be okay with you?"

Ruby thought about it for a minute. She didn't know Penny very well at this point, but it was clear as day that the girl had been through a lot, given what she was. What happened today probably didn't help. Ruby typed her message, knowing just what Penny needed: a friend.

"Sure. We can meet up this weekend on Saturday. Any idea where and when?"

After about thirty seconds, Penny's message came in and read out, "We can meet for lunch at 12:30 pm. I am uncertain as to where. I will let you decide that."

"Perfect." Ruby messaged as she typed up another, "I'll have a place where we can meet picked out by tomorrow. See you then!"

"See you. And please let my younger sister know that I wish her well. Good night Ruby."

"Good night Penny." With her final message sent, Ruby walked back to Team BRNN's room, but stopped herself just as she was about to open the door.

She looked back to her team's dorm room entrance and saw that it was slightly opened. Walking in, she noticed Noel on her bed, lying on her side fast asleep. Part of Ruby wanted to wake her up, ask her if she was okay and if she needed anything, but she didn't want to disturb her slumber. The blonde needed rest after everything that had happened. Instead, she pulled the blanket up and covered her teammate up to her head.

"Good night Noel," Ruby whispered, "We'll figure this out. I promise."

As she left and closed the door to return back to the group, she gave Noel one last look of concern before turning out the lights and letting her friend sleep.

Terumi tapped his foot and absentmindedly checked his watch ever now and then. If there was one thing he loathed almost as much as people like the damned cat and his pink-haired spawn, it was being left waiting. It had been hours and Relius still wasn't here, apparently being too busy with modifications to Subject-13 and dealing with more attempts at memory wiping. Thankfully, just before he could look for someone to shank, the automatic door of the lab opened and Relius walked in, looking as impassive as ever.

"Alright Terumi, I've finished with current memory erasure of Subject-13, for now at least," Relius said as his automaton wife floated in behind him, "What is it you wished to discuss?"

Terumi smirked, "Get this. So I'm wandering around Vale, scouting out the area, looking for our missing Murakumo, when I suddenly run into a whiny bitch with blonde hair, green eyes, and a really interesting soul structure."

"You've located Number 10?" Relius asked, though clearly in rhetoric.

"Here's the best part," Terumi was feeling pretty ecstatic as he spoke, "The girl wasn't Number 10. But when she and Ten met, they both followed the program we put in and started killing each other."

For once in a long time, Relius' face became completely shocked. "But that would mean..." when he couldn't finish, Terumi saw fit to do so for him.

"Yup. And the fight confirmed it. Number 12 survived Ibukido's destruction," he explained, "To top it off, she's a student at old Ozzy's shitty little school."

"Interesting indeed," Relius said, smiling as he did so, "In that case, it would seem we have a new priority target to collect once the plan for Vale is underway."

"I take it you don't want Number 10 anymore?" Terumi asked.

"I never said that," Relius stated, "But any improvements that can be made to the 10th unit would at this point be incremental. The 12th was assumed destroyed before it could be merged with Lux Sanctus," he turned away and walked to his labs, "In artistic terminology, Number 12 is a blank canvas that I can apply all the acquired mastery of the Lux Sanctus Project to. We will still try and retrieve Number 10 if possible, but Number 12 takes priority now."

As the door closed behind the scientist, Terumi stood alone and bellowed out a laugh. It was always fun when a change in plans didn't give them any setbacks. Much as he would have liked to have taken the two dolls back now, this was admittedly better.

After all, he wanted to see where things would lead when it all came crashing down for poor, pathetic Ozma.

Chapter Text

Ironwood mused to himself as he stood at the helm of his airship, looking out at the broken moon hanging above in the sky. Recent events and discoveries left him troubled, namely the Vale police discovering the remains of a prototype Atlesian Paladin. Thankfully, they were called in first and his men were able to retrieve what was left and word of its battle was suppressed, but it was damning that their enemies managed to get ahold of it in the first place. He made sure to order his men to look into if any other Paladin prototypes were stolen, and if any were, to keep that fact hidden while preventing further theft of them.

"General Ironwood, sir," one of his soldiers answered from his desk's comm, "The Vale Council is calling in now."

"Put them on," he replied, turning to face the incoming holo-screen. No sooner than a second later, a trio of seated figures covered in the shadows of their room appeared on the screen.

"You requested our presence, General Ironwood?" one of them whose name Ironwood could not recall asked in a tired tone of voice. If anything, he actually struggled to remember any of their names.

"Yes, and I'm grateful that you have answered my summons," Ironwood said as he stepped forward slightly, "I've come to you all with grave concerns regarding Vytal Festival security. I believe that the White Fang are planning an attack on Vale during the events of the tournament."

From the other end of the call, he could hear and see the whispers of the council members before one of them spoke, "This is a serious concern, but may we ask what evidence you have?"

"Recently, my men worked with the Vale police and found both a ruined warehouse district stocked with White Fang armaments and the aftermath of a skirmish in the city's industrial district, both of which occurred in the same day," he explained as he pressed a few keys on his scroll, uploading the findings to the council members, but making sure to leave out anything involving the stolen Paladin. If word spread about the missing prototype, then it would risk making his kingdom look weak. As one of the four pillars of the planet that the common people looked towards for protection, and the most powerful at that, appearing weak could not be accepted.

That, and the less of Watts' whining about how lowlifes were 'fooling around with his ingenious creations' he had to put up with, the better. "We were able to gain information from locals that there was a recent White Fang rally in roughly the same area as the skirmish. The stored weapons and the attempts to curry new recruits to their cause hint at potentially planning for an attack on a major event, and what other event is more major than the Vytal Festival?" he continued.

More whispers were heard, "This is rather concerning," another of the council, this one female, said, "We will make sure to alert Headmaster Ozpin about this at once."

"Actually," Ironwood interrupted, "That's part of where my concerns lie. I believe that Ozpin is ill fit to be providing security for the Vytal Festival this year."

"Hmm, and just why would you say that?" the councilwoman asked, "He has been very efficient in his duties since he gained his position."

"While that's true, I also made it a point to share my concerns with him, but he treated the whole affair rather casually," Ironwood claimed. While his words weren't exactly the truth, given that he warned Ozpin before the above mentioned incidents, the fact that said incidents happened at all showed that Beacon's Headmaster wasn't treating the threat their enemies posed with serious regard. "Furthermore," he continued, "he also wasn't satisfied with the added security I've brought for the festival."

"Ah yes, the...security," one of them started, "That is something we are concerned about."

"What do you mean?"

"Since your army's arrival, the public of Vale has been rather...shall we say, apprehensive of its presence," the councilman explained as the screen pulled up several collections of social media posts from citizens in Vale alongside various news reports, all covering his army's arrival, "Fearful even. And this fear is spreading rapidly. I don't think any of us need to be reminded what potential widespread panic could lead to."

Ironwood narrowed his eyes as he skimmed through the various reports from both official and unofficial sources, resisting the urge to clench his flesh and blood fist as he read through titles such as 'Atlesian Army: Staging an Invasion of Vale?' and posts that read 'Stay out of our kingdom!' on online forums and videos. It made his blood boil to think about how the common people didn't understand the actions he needed to take in order to maintain their protection, but he calmed himself and diverted his focus towards his discussion with the council.

"I doubt the people of Vale will be fearful for long. We've only been here for at most a few days, so they will learn in time that they have nothing to fear from my army," Ironwood assured the council members, "And while Vale has its own Huntsmen and Huntresses, Ozpin doesn't seem to be deploying any of them to investigate the threat within the kingdom's walls."

"You stated there was a skirmish. Who else could have been involved against the White Fang but Vale's own Huntsmen and Huntresses?" the councilwoman asked.

"Besides details regarding the recruitment rally, my men were also able to ask the locals of the industrial district. From what we have gathered, the people who were involved in combatting against the White Fang were approximately the same age as first year students in a Huntsman academy."

His response was met with silence, the council no doubt contemplating the current discussion. After a minute, one of them asked, "You believe that Ozpin may be allowing his students to handle the threat?"

"It is a possibility, and one that drives my concerns," Ironwood explained, "I don't believe Ozpin can be trusted with the people's safety if he's placing his trust in inexperienced first years over the veterans that he could be sending to handle the situation. What the people need is a force that will drive away any potential threats to their sanctity, including ones such as the White Fang. What they need is my army's power to let them know that they will be protected."

"And just what are you suggesting?" one of the council asked, sounding as if he knew the answer, but wanted Ironwood to say it.

"That for the good of this kingdom's citizens, I take Ozpin's place as head of security for the events of this year's Vytal Festival," Ironwood said, "With my forces, I can ensure that the tournament shall go along without any threat to neither the citizens or the combined academy students. You have my word."

More whispered discussion came about before the councilwoman answered, "We will consider your request, but we are still unsure, as Ozpin has no history of incompetence when it comes to his tasks. If we are to go through with such a suggestion, we ask that you provide us with sufficient evidence that Ozpin truly is unfit for his position. Only then will we allow you to oversee the event's security."

Ironwood gave a curt nod and replied, "Thank you, members of Vale's council. Given the late hour, I believe now would be a proper time for us to turn in. You shall have my next report soon enough."

Without another word shared between any of them, the holo-screen vanished as Ironwood took a seat at his desk and looked out at Remnant's broken moon and stars once again, admiring the heavens above as he contemplated his next course of action. He knew that neither Ozpin nor the rest of their allies would be happy with his choices. They rarely ever were. But they either didn't have the determination or simply refused to take the correct course of action, something he was willing to do.

"Ozpin, what I'm doing is necessary for the safety of all the kingdoms," Ironwood quietly said to himself, "One day, you will understand that."

Chapter Text

Holy shit that was close! Luna panicked as she slid under the Ursa Major's strike and sent it tumbling aside with a swipe from the Muchourin. Out of the corner of her eye, she saw Master Jubei dispatching the larger, more deadly Grimm with ease. Seeing the short old warrior take on the three large ape-like Grimm like it was a casual Friday was a sight to behold.

"Luna, focus," Trinity's voice called her attention as she was suddenly smacked into a nearby tree. Luna groaned as she got up just in time to dodge another slash from the Ursa, rolling behind it and aiming the Muchourin at its exposed back. Concentrating, she fired a large bubble-like orb at the Ursa, trapping it within. With that done, Luna concentrated and manifested a large stone slab right above the Ursa before bringing the staff down, slamming the object onto the Trapped Grimm.

"That was tougher than I thought it was gonna be," Sena said in a trembling voice as the Ursa's twitching arm faded away with the stone. Luna felt her legs give out as she fell back to the floor and breathed in and out, face covered in sweat.

"You kids alright?" Master Jubei entered her field of view, clearly finished killing off the Grimm he was fighting as he held his hand out and helped them up.

As they stood, Sena took over and said, "Y-yeah, we're fine Master Jubei. We just got caught off-guard."

"Hmm," Master Jubei hummed as he surveyed the area one more time, "Well, if it means anything, you're starting to get a decent grasp on using the Nox."

Sena looked at the Muchourin as Luna pondered on it. Even after weeks of training, she still didn't quite have a grasp on the Nox's abilities despite Master Jubei and Trin's respective training and explanations. She could materialize whatever non-living object she could think of with provided concentration, which would be more awesome if making cool shit didn't leave such a massive headache. As it stood, she could only really materialize relatively simple objects, with anything more complex requiring too much brainwork for them to properly make or drained them from the attempt. Still, they were getting better.

"So, is that all the Grimm in the area?" Sena asked, looking around nervously for any more of those monsters.

"Doubtful. Thing about Grimm is that there's always gonna be more nearby in areas like this. And 'sides, we'll be needing to stick close to the city till Oz calls in."

"Right," Luna took over again as she cracked her neck to get rid of the stiff feeling. Ever since the whole discussion with Ozpin, she, Sena, Trinity, and Master Jubei all remained situated outside of Vale's perimeter, wiping out whatever Grimm came their way. According to Ozpin, they were on standby for whatever Salem and Terumi were planning for Vale.

She didn't want to admit it, but the whole thing scared her. How there were threats out there more terrifying than Grimm and how Trinity bristled with anger whenever Terumi was mentioned. Ozpin made it clear that they didn't have to take part in it, but Luna and Sena still felt adamant about doing what they could to help, even if they were afraid.

"So..." Luna began, "If there aren't any Grimm in the area for the time being, can me and Sena go check out the city?"

"Please! We've never been to a city before. This is our chance to finally get to see one," Sena took over, adopting a pleading look.

At this point, both she and Sena were taking over her body in rapid succession, each of them putting on their best begging face they could. In the back of her head, she could hear Trinity snickering as Master Jubei looked like he was about to cave in.

"Okay you two, knock if off with the sad eyes. You can go," he answered. Luna took over her body at the last minute and let out a loud cheer as she pumped her fists into the air.

"However, make sure you kids stay safe, and keep the Muchourin hidden just in case," he then pointed to a large nearby hill, "I'll be setting up camp over there. When you two finish, meet me up there. And Trinity? Make sure they stay out of trouble."

"Believe me, I shall do just that," Trinity said.

"She said yes," Luna answered for her. Even with the three of them sharing her body, Trinity almost never came to the surface, opting to stay in the back of her head.

Master Jubei nodded, "Good. Now you two take care and go have some fun."

Luna gave her mentor a quick, but strong hug. "See you later Master Jubei!" she exclaimed before releasing him and heading in the direction of the city, eager to see what it had in store.

Whistling as she walked down the sidewalk, Luna took another bite from the fruit that she 'found' in a wooden crate in front of a store and conspicuously took without anyone noticing. The sights of Vale city turned out to all be miles ahead of the dingy, dusty villages she and Sena used to travel through. The buildings were sturdier, the stores more pristine, and some of them were so tall that they looked to touch the sky. Walking here, it was almost hard to believe she actually lived long enough to finally see a city. And while her brother was still with her, she couldn't help but wish he still had his body to enjoy it all on his own.

"Sis, don't you think we should stop stealing things?" Sena said within her head, shaking her from her musings, "We don't need to do that anymore."

"I have no idea what you're talking about," she innocently said quietly as she looked at her reflection in a nearby window, trying her best to avoid drawing attention to herself. Granted, that was a little hard since she was both wearing a long white cloak that almost covered her whole body and head, not to mention she had a large staff wrapped in cloth right behind her, but thankfully there were hardly any people around.

"Luna, we're being serious," Trinity spoke with all the disapproval of a parent who caught their kid sneaking a cookie out of the cookie jar, something she remembered her mother used to do with her when she did just that.

Luna groaned as she tossed the fruit into a nearby garbage bin, "I know, I know. It's just...old habits and all that shit."

"I understand that, but I do feel that you should make a stronger effort to avoid the habit," Trinity said, her voice understanding but still strict, "Especially in a city such as this, where such actions could have more dire consequences for you."

Luna could hear her brother hum curiously as she took to admiring the cloud formations above, hands behind her head. "So Miss Trinity, did you ever see any cities back in your time?" he asked, Luna turning a small bit of her attention to the internal conversation.

"Actually, there were a few cities," Trinity explained, "But given that it was the era of the Black Beast, they tended to not last very long. Often the large concentrations of mankind that lasted the longest were either located in hidden bunkers or high in facilities within mountain ranges, but that did not guarantee their safety."

"Yeesh, the time you came from really sucked, didn't it?" Luna rhetorically asked, "Glad that fucker's dead, even if all the Grimm it spawned ain't."

"Yeah..." Sena muttered in a terrified tone, "It sounds like it was super scary."

"Indeed it was. It was an era of great strife, constant bloodshed, and fear. But as evident around us, mankind was able to rise up and forge long lasting civilizations.

Luna hummed in agreement. Even though life for her and Sena was hard since the bandits invaded, she would readily admit that the 'Dark War', as Trinity called it, sounded like pure Hell on Remnant. All those people lost in the Beast's rampage, it was just too much to process.

Unfortunately, as she was attempting to processing it...

"OOF!"

"OW!"

Emerald grunted as she picked herself up and dusted herself off, looking down at the person who she bumped into and seeing a fourteen-year-old girl wearing a lot of teal underneath a white cloak and a cloth covered object strapped behind her. At the girl's hip she could also make out a small brown handbag. Helping the kid up, she discreetly made use of her Semblance to alter the girl's senses, keeping her from noticing as Emerald reached into her handbag and pulled out...a coin pouch? Huh, weird, thought she'd have a wallet instead. Oh well, Emerald mused as put it in her side pocket and finished pulling the kid up to her feet. Part of her didn't like robbing those younger than her, but money was money, and she learned early on that you couldn't be picky with who you were taking it from.

"Thanks miss!" the girl then gave her a quick hug that Emerald had trouble reacting to, "I guess I didn't see where I was going."

"Heh, it's fine kid," Emerald tried to brush it aside, trying to avoid feeling bad for taking the girl's money, "Just try to be more careful where you're going."

"I will, see ya!" the girl then walked past her with a rather quick pace and a mischievous glint in her eye. Emerald looked back for a second before she brushed it off and decided to continue with the errand she had to run for Cinder. As she walked, she noticed a sudden lack of weight in her back pocket. Confused, she reached behind her and gave into shock, realizing that her wallet was gone.

"What the-" Emerald then checked all her other pockets to make sure she hadn't misplaced it, only to be met with the same result, "Where's-"

"Ehem," the familiar voice of the girl chimed in behind her. She turned and saw the kid smugly holding her wallet between her fingers and leaning against the building's side, making Emerald puff with anger as the girl said, "Looking for this?"

"Give it back, now!" Emerald growled, unbelieving that she was just robbed by some kid.

"Sure, I'll give it back to you, but on one condition," the kid said as she stood up from the wall, "You give me my coin pouch back, and don't try using that Semblance on me again. I'll know."

Emerald resisted the urge to gasp. How did she know about my Semblance? she wondered. Figuring she could ask when she got her wallet back, she pulled out the coin pouch and asked, "How do I know you'll give it back?"

She shrugged and said, "I can say the same thing," she then gained a thoughtful look before she snapped her fingers, "How about this? We throw them to each other and catch them on the count of three. Got it?"

Emerald looked around, seeing a couple people walking down the sidewalk on the other side of the street and a few cars coming. Not seeing many options she could take without drawing too much attention to herself, she nodded along to the deal.

"On three?" Emerald asked, to which the girl nodded and began counting.

"One."

"Two."

"Three!"

And they both threw the stolen objects into the air, with Emerald easily catching her wallet while the girl caught the pouch and put it back into her bag. "Thanks. And I actually mean it this time."

"...You're welcome," Emerald replied, though internally, she was struggling not to be impressed. She didn't exactly like being robbed, even if she did it all the time, but the kid was pretty impressive about it. Hell, she probably could have rounded the corner and vanished for good with it had she not decided to make the deal.

"I'll admit, that was actually pretty impressive. How'd you do that anyway?" Emerald asked.

The girl gave perplexed look before giving way to a lopsided grin, "It was when I hugged you. Pretty easy to pickpocket people when you, say, give them a 'thank you' hug for helping them up."

"No, not that," Emerald interrupted, "Well, okay, sorta that, but I mean how did you know about my Semblance?"

"Oh..." the girl actually became a lot more nervous with her eyes darting all over the place, "Uh...lucky guess?"

"..." Emerald said nothing and could tell the kid was lying. Just roll with it Emerald, she decided not to push on the topic any further. Odds were the kid would just try to bullshit her way out or she'd run away, leaving her with even more questions. "Never mind. Where did you even learn how to pull that off?" she asked, having a feeling that she knew the answer, but wanting to know for sure. The girl didn't answer right away, instead looking up or to the side, murmuring to herself for reasons Emerald couldn't understand.

Confirming her suspicions and, surprisingly, her worries immediately was the girl sighing, rubbing her elbow, and avoiding eye contact, "It's...it's nothing, okay."

"You're like me, aren't you?" Emerald didn't mean to ask the question and almost clamped her mouth shut when it came out, hoping the girl didn't hear it. The girl's perplexed look told her that she did.

"...what?"

Shit! Guess I'm already too far in. Might as well keep going, Emerald cursed herself before clearing her throat and said, "I mean, you're not the only one who had to steal to get by," against her better judgement, Emerald took a seat on the side walk and motioned for the girl to sit next to her, "Do you want to talk about it?"

The girl looked apprehensive, not that Emerald could blame her for it, but she looked to steel herself and took a seat right next to her, adjusting the large object wrapped behind her back to make it easier. After she gave an awkward nod, Emerald realized something and said, "You know, I don't even know your name yet, so maybe we should introduce ourselves first?" she then held out her hand, "My name's Emerald."

The kid looked at the hand then back to her a few times before reaching out and shaking it, "Luna."

"Nice to meet you Luna," Emerald greeted with a smile as she pulled her hand back and asked, "So, what are you doing in Vale? Been here for a while or..."

Luna shook her head, "Just got here actually, and I'm gonna be staying till the Vytal Festival's over. Lived outside the kingdoms for most of my life," she then looked away and murmured something. Emerald couldn't make out exactly what it was, but it sounded like 'I know, I know'.

"Travelled a lot from place to place, huh," Emerald said, ignoring her growing question about the girl's murmuring, "I grew up in Vale on my own for most of mine. It was hard, having no home or comfort, taking what I could just to live to see another day. Sometimes I just felt like giving up."

"Huh, same here, but I kept pushing myself no matter how hard it got," Luna admitted, face marred by a sad expression, "I needed to be the one to keep Sena safe, but..."

"Who's Sena?"

Luna sighed and buried her face into her knees, "My younger twin brother," with the way the girl spoke about it, it was clear to Emerald what she meant. Sena wasn't around anymore.

"I'm..." Emerald wanted to say sorry, but the words were caught in her throat. How was she supposed to apologize for something like that? She didn't know what it was like to lose a brother since she never had one, but she still felt terrible for the poor girl, "I don't know what to say, but I'm at least glad you got to have someone in your life. Even if...you know."

"Yeah..." Luna mumbled as she lifted her face from her knees and went quiet, leaving the two to just sit there in solemn silence for a few minutes. Emerald didn't know if she should walk up and leave or try to give the girl a hug. She didn't know how exactly to continue after something like that.

"But I guess things aren't all bad," thankfully, Luna spoke up again, sounding a little bit better, "In a way, I guess you could say he's kinda still with me, and I met someone kind enough to take me in."

Sure sounds familiar, Emerald felt a genuine smile find its way onto her face when she heard that. Despite whatever hardships Luna went through, she still found a light at the end of the tunnel, just like Emerald. Sure, Cinder was...a lot of things that Emerald pushed aside, but she still gave her a home when no one else would give her the time of day, and she owed her for that no matter what.

"Me too," Emerald quietly said, though the look on Luna's face indicated that she heard her, "I guess we were both lucky to meet someone kind enough to look after us, huh?"

Luna wordlessly nodded, but gave her a genuine smile. Emerald returned the smile with her own, but before she could say anything else, a buzzing in her side pocket got her attention. Giving Luna an apologetic look, she pulled out her scroll and saw that she had a message from Mercury that read "Boss needs us back here. Need to talk about 'You know who' and their recent issues. Hurry with the errand and meet us at 'you know where'".

"Ah crap," Emerald cursed, already not looking forward to hearing any of Roman's whining. She gave another apologetic look to Luna and said, "Sorry, but I gotta go now. My team needs me and if I'm late, I'm not hearing the end of it."

Luna gave a lighthearted chuckle in response, "Well I wouldn't want to keep your friends waiting," she then stood up and said, "Thanks for, y'know, the talk and all that. It was nice."

"Yeah, same here," Emerald agreed, enjoying the time she spent with the young girl. It felt...nice, being able to open up like she did, "Say, you said you were gonna be in Vale for a while, so maybe we could meet up again if you want."

"Uh, I don't have a scroll, so..." Luna's statement was followed up by more muttering, this time quiet enough that Emerald couldn't make out what she was muttering about.

"It's fine, we can just meet up at the city square some time next week. Same day at 4:00?" Emerald suggested.

Luna looked away for a second, followed by more mumbling, much to Emerald's growing curiosity. She then looked back and gave a smile, "Sure," she said, "I'll see if I can."

"Great," Emerald said as she stood up and held out her hand, "See you then Luna."

Luna took her hand and stood up, immediately giving her a hug, "See you then," she said. Emerald smiled a tad and gave her a pat on the head as she retracted from the hug.

"Take care kid. And give my wallet back. That won't work a second time," Emerald held her hand out in expectance as Luna rolled her eyes, muttering something like 'spoilsport' as she handed the wallet back. She then gave her a happy wave goodbye as she walked away, Emerald waving back in kind. As soon as Luna was out of sight, Emerald started making her way towards where Cinder needed her to be for her errand. Luckily, it wasn't that far off from where Roman's current safehouse was. Unfortunately, that meant she'd have to put up with Roman being annoying sooner than she would have liked.

Better mentally prepare for whatever Roman's gonna complain about, Emerald internally groaned, already not looking forward to it.

"Luna, I'm still not quite certain about that girl," Trinity said, with Luna resisting the urge to roll her eyes even if she understood the concern, "Aside from the attempted theft and sensory alteration, something about her just seemed untrustworthy to me."

"How did you even know she was using her Semblance on us?" Sena voiced the question before Luna could as she entered the forests outside the city. She admittedly didn't think too hard on that since all she knew at the time was what Trinity told her; that her senses were being warped and that her coin pouch was being stolen. While the warning was appreciated and it even let her get some retaliation, she was curious how Trinity picked up on it at all.

"Let's just say that I have experience with attempts at altering my senses to leave me vulnerable," Trinity explained with a rather notable edge to her voice. Luna felt it best to not ask any further.

Luna sighed and said, "Look, Trin, I think I understand what you're getting at. Sure, I was kinda off put at first, but Emerald doesn't seem that bad. Hell, she even sorta gets where Sena and I came from," she weaved past a few loose branches and started climbing up the hill to where Master Jubei set up camp, "Look, we can meet her again in a week and you can keep an eye on her if you're still suspicious and all that. How does that sound?"

Trinity hummed for a bit before Sena gave his two Lien, "Uh, I don't know much about Emerald, but it sounds like she went through a lot of the same stuff we did. And she was pretty nice after we gave her the wallet back. Maybe we should give her a chance, Miss Trinity?"

"Alright, I suppose," Trinity said just as they got back to the camp, "But I will keep close watch on her. If she tries to hurt you two-"

"Eh, don't sweat it, I don't think she'll try anything," Luna said as she walked to the campfire and saw Master Jubei cooking something in a pot. From the smell of it, he was probably cooking stew.

"Who do you not think'll try anything?" he asked.

"Oh, just a new...I want to say friend, but I don't know her that well yet. I'd like for us to be friends though," Luna rambled for a second before she found her footing and shook her head, "Anyway. We met someone in Vale named Emerald. Turns out she's a lot like me and Sena."

"Huh, sounds pretty interesting," Master Jubei remarked, "So, what's your new friend like?"

"Well," Sena took over for a second, "I guess it kinda started when she robbed us."

"But we were able to rob her back with Trinity's help," Luna took over and chimed in.

Master Jubei gave them a concerned look, to which Luna sat down in front of him and she and Sena took turns explaining the entire meeting. How they bumped into her, how she used her Semblance to steal their coin pouch, how they stole her wallet in kind, and how they managed to sit down and talk, learning a lot about each other.

When they finished, Master Jubei still looked concerned, but he also looked equally amused, "From the sound of it, seems to me like you really did get to make a new friend."

"Maybe," Sena said before passing control back to Luna, who sighed as the elderly cat Faunus passed her a bowl of the stew he was cooking.

"Careful. It's still a little hot."

"Thanks," Luna said as she blew on the stew and ate a small spoon full. After eating a few more bites, she looked to her mentor and asked, "Hey, Master Jubei, do you think Emerald sounds trustworthy?" she then looked down at her stew, "I mean, I want us to be friends, but Trinity's kinda worried she could be trouble and I still don't know her well, so I'm wondering if..."

Jubei simply hummed and walked over, taking a seat next to her, "Can't say for myself, seeing as I never met her," he admitted, "But from the sound of it, you all seem to have found some common ground. If nothing else, I think that's a solid start."

Luna nodded as he continued, this time sounding more serious, "Just in case, I suggest going along with Trinity's concerns, if only to be safe. But I don't think it'll come to that," he then spoke in a more jovial tone, "Besides, I'd like to think I taught you kids enough to kick someone's ass if they try anything suspicious."

"PFFFT!" Luna struggled to contain her laughter and gave in to a myriad of chuckles. Within her mind, she heard Sena and Trinity doing the same, "Well, I don't think I know that much just yet."

"Well then in that case, we better get to work now!" Master Jubei declared with a hearty chuckle, "Finish up and we can get started on practice for the next couple hours."

"Aw man!" Luna groaned as she finished the rest of the stew. Now feeling nourished, she unwrapped the Muchourin and followed her mentor to the training area. Even if she'd rather just take a nap, she knew neither she nor Sena would get better if they didn't practice.

"Ready kids?" Master Jubei asked, getting into a fighting stance.

Luna smiled, feeling Sena and Trinity's own excitement as she held Muchourin in front of her. "We're ready," she replied.

At her word, the two charged at each other and began to practice, with Luna intent on meeting her mentor with everything she had.

Emerald stood next to Mercury and just behind Cinder as their leader laid down on a comfortable recliner seat that Roman had his men set up in the safehouse's private room. She made no effort to hide her groans of annoyance as the crime boss paced back and forth ranting on and on about 'the meddlesome kids' who screwed him over. Looking down, she saw that Cinder was absentmindedly checking her nails and giving Roman only the bare minimum of attention.

"Are you done yet?" Mercury said. Emerald didn't even need to look at him to know he was rolling his eyes as he snarked, "You sound like a whiny kid who lost his balloon."

"Why aren't you assholes taking this seriously!?" Roman yelled, "It'd be one thing if this happened once, but no. They've done this twice over! And what are you doing about it Cinder? Nothing!"

Emerald's face contorted with anger as she yelled, "Hey! Watch it you fu-" before she could continue, Cinder lifted a hand, making Emerald realize her mistake, "Sorry Cinder. I spoke out of turn."

"We're not doing anything because there's nothing to be done," Cinder spoke to Roman, not even glancing at Emerald, "Your job is to keep local law enforcement and Ozpin busy. Our job is to infiltrate Beacon Academy, which requires that we keep our hands clean for the time being," she then sat up and said with a casual smirk, "Besides, thus far, they haven't done anything that could put a dent in the plan for Vale. The Southeast operation is still under wraps and going smoothly, our undercover job has worked well, and Atlas' army guarantees quite a blow out when everything comes to fruition."

"Yeah, still don't get why more military goons looking for us are a good thing for us, but fine," Roman threw his hands in the air, being smart enough to not push his luck with Cinder any further.

"Just play your role Roman. That's all you need to do," Cinder ominously said as she stood up, "If that's all, we'll be heading back to the academy now. We'll tell Neo you're doing well for yourself."

Emerald walked behind Cinder, just barely noticing that Roman's face lightened up a tad at the mention of his partner in crime, as Mercury stood beside her. As they walked down the hall, a stray thought entered her mind from earlier today. About the girl she met, Luna, and her plan to meet up with her next week. A plan she had yet to tell Cinder about.

"Hey, Cinder," Emerald started before the glance Cinder sent reminded her that she was speaking out of turn, "I...sorry, I was just..."

"Just what? Emerald," Cinder turned to face her as Emerald resisted the urge to wince and cover her right cheek. However, Mercury stepped ahead of her looking rather pissed as he got between the two of them.

"I was just going to say that I made some plans for next week at 4:00 and I wanted to give you the heads up," Emerald said as quickly as possible before adding, "I-if that's okay with you of course ma'am."

Cinder just gave her an impassive stare, with Mercury looking like he was going to step forward with the glare he was levelling at their leader. Instead, Cinder just shrugged and said, "Nothing important is happening then, so I suppose there's no harm in it."

Emerald almost sighed in relief as Mercury stepped aside with a concerned look. Before she could react however, she felt a cold hand grasp her chin as she was forced to look Cinder in the eye. "But do remember not to do so without my knowing or permission a second time. Are we clear?" she said, the tone of voice being ice cold.

"Hey, she gets it, so just back away," Mercury said, sounding like he was growling. If looks could kill, the glare Cinder levelled at Mercury would have incinerated him outright. But instead of the expected, she let Emerald go and walked ahead, leaving the two of them behind for a moment, Emerald looking down to the floor.

As she heard Mercury walk ahead, Emerald saw fit to follow as quickly as she could to avoid Cinder's wrath. She owed her everything, and she couldn't risk doing something that would disappoint her.

It's fine Emerald, she thought to herself, Just don't plan things without her permission again. You already know to listen to her when she tells you to do something. Just do that, and things will be fine.

Chapter Text

Yang whistled to herself as she stuck some pictures onto her room's photo wall, admiring how much it had grown since her team started it. What was once a dozen and a half photos now encompassed almost the entire wall, with images ranging from her arm wrestling competition with Nora, Tsubaki accidentally getting pelted in the face with Yang's water balloon that was meant for Professor Port, Weiss scolding her immediately after the fact, and the one Yang was now adding; her and Pyrrha hanging out in Vale city park with the latter in her then latest "anti-fanatic" disguise.

Just as Yang absentmindedly gazed at the photograph, the bathroom door opened and Pyrrha's voice said, "Okay Yang, got the disguise on. Ready to go?"

Yang turned and saw Pyrrha's newest disguise for the day. While she didn't wear lensless glasses, she did put in a pair of contact lenses that made her eyes appear a vibrant blue instead of their usual shade of green. Her normal high ponytail was changed to a low braid, and she opted to avoid using the beauty mark like she did for the previous two times. Instead of her usual armor, she wore dark blue skinny jeans with biker boots going over them and a long-sleeved scarlet shirt with a spear design embroidered on the front.

As Yang took in Pyrrha's temporary new appearance, she had to admit that her partner looked really damn good.

"Uh, Yang," Pyrrha's voice snapped her out of her head. She blinked and saw that her partner was waving her hand in front of her face, "Are you okay? You kinda zoned out for a bit."

"Huh, oh! Yeah I'm good," Yang said as she rubbed the back of her head, "You, uh...you look great."

Pyrrha looked down and blushed a bit as she said, "Uh, thanks. You look great as well."

Yang looked down at her outfit. Rather than the tan jacked and yellow top she normally wore, she was instead wearing an orange blouse with a yellow flame design and beige pants that went down to her knees, keeping her knee high socks and brown leather boots. She was surprised that Pyrrha even considered it to look great, seeing as it was something she admittedly slapped together for what was originally going to be a casual day out with her sister and Pyrrha. However, Ruby had to cancel at the last minute, saying something about studying in a nervous voice, leaving it as just her and Pyrrha.

"So, let's go get some lunch to start," Yang suggested as they walked out of the room, "I heard about this good burger place called 'Goliath Grill' that we could check out."

Pyrrha nodded and the two walked side-by-side down the halls of the dorm and down the building elevator. As they went down, Pyrrha asked, "Hey, Yang, do you think Ruby's doing something related to you know what?" the last part was asked in a quiet tone of voice.

"Doubt it," Yang said as she thought back to Ruby's nervous demeanor and how odd it seemed at the time, "Ruby trusts us to help keep that hidden, so she wouldn't have any reason to lie about it to us."

"True, but what do you think she's really doing?"

Yang shrugged, "No idea, but I get the feeling she'll be fine," after all, she was fairly certain her little sister wasn't busting heads today, and even then she had confidence Ruby would be fine if that was the case. Really, so long as her little sister didn't do something like, Gods forbid, secretly go on a date with a total stranger without telling her, she was cool with it.

As the elevator door opened and they exited, Yang saw Blake Belladonna walking down the halls carrying several sheets of folded paper in her arms.

"Hey Blake!" Yang greeted.

"Hey," sadly, Blake's response was less than enthusiastic, instead giving a dull greeting and walking into the dormitory elevator, almost like her mind was somewhere else.

"She seems...distracted," Pyrrha mused with a concerned look, scratching the top of her head.

"I think she's been like that for a while now," Yang said as she heard the elevator move up, "For now I guess we should just focus on our day."

"I suppose so," Pyrrha replied as they walked out of the dorms and headed to where Yang parked Bumblebee, having no intention of letting a good Saturday go to waste.

"Huh, so this is Goliath Grill?" Pyrrha looked on at the outside of the fast food restaurant. It was a rather small place, being, for lack of a better term, sandwiched between what looked like a law firm and a bank respectively. There were a couple tables outside, and from what she could see in the window, there weren't too many people inside. Odd, seeing as it was already 12:20.

A growling noise to her left snapped her out of her musings as she turned to her partner, who was laughing slightly as she said, "Well, shall we?"

"Certainly," Pyrrha smiled as the two walked in and grabbed a couple menus, taking a seat at a booth relatively close to the entrance. After they both asked the table server for two sodas, they started sifting through the menu to see what they could order.

"I'm thinking of a Beowolf Burger with extra bacon," Yang commented, "How about you?"

"Hmm, you know, I think I'll indulge myself a little with this Death Stalker Steak they have," Pyrrha decided after reading through all the options.

Yang gave a whistle and said, "Sounds pretty tasty, mind if I try some?"

"Not at all, just try not to eat everything," Pyrrha replied with a touch of snark to her voice.

"I'm sorry, which of us has the ravenous appetite?" Yang snarked back, making Pyrrha's face heat up at the blonde's giggling, though there were other reasons for it as well.

Somewhere in the start of the new semester, Pyrrha started developing odd feelings whenever she was around the boisterous blonde. She didn't know how to describe them exactly, at least at first, but a few days back, she came to realize that they were similar to the feelings she had for Jaune when they first met. Whether through her understanding nature, her kindness, her infectious exuberance, or just plain treating her like she would anyone else, Yang managed to worm her way into Pyrrha's heart.

But how do I tell her how I feel? Pyrrha thought. Just thinking about her feelings for the blonde made Pyrrha nervous. Yang was, for all intents and purposes, the first genuine friendship she had in a long time. As much as she would like for it to be something more, it worried her that opening up about her feelings would run the risk of ruining that. Besides that, all attempts at past relationships were a failure as a result of who she was. She didn't want a relationship with Yang to go down the same route.

Just after the waiter came and they ordered their food, Pyrrha tried to psyche herself up, You're overthinking it Pyrrha. Just...just tell her. The worst she could do is say no. Right? the last thought made the attempt fail. Stomaching the worries that were bubbling up, she decided to go for it.

"H-hey, Yang?" Pyrrha opened up a blush crept across her face.

"Yeah Pyr?" Yang asked as she took a sip of the soda before facing her with an exuberant smile. Pyrrha began to feel her stomach bubble up with nervousness.

"I...I just..." she stammered, "I was hoping to...nevermind."

"Pyr, is something wrong?" Yang's tone quickly became worried as she reached over and gently placed a hand on the redhead's forehead as if checking for a fever, causing Pyrrha to blush even more, "Your face is really red right now."

"N-NOTHING!" Pyrrha loudly said as Yang backed away, causing her to regret the outburst, "It's...it's nothing."

Yang stared at her for a second, making the nervous pit grow even worse. "You sure? If something's wrong, you know you can tell me, right?"

"I know," Pyrrha said in response as she played with her hair, "Nothing's wrong. It's just that I..." she tried to avoid eye contact and darted her eyes all over the restaurant. As she did so, however, she noticed something in a far corner booth. A familiar head of black hair with scarlet tips.

"Wait a minute. Is that Ruby?" Pyrrha asked, drawing her partner's attention to where she was looking. Sure enough, Ruby was sitting in the far corner booth on the other end of the restaurant, dressed as she always was.

"Huh, you're right! But why is she here?" Yang questioned. While Pyrrha and Yang knew that her saying she was studying was an obvious lie, they still didn't know what she was actually doing. She was on her own and wouldn't lie to them about her investigation, so what was it?

From the looks of how she's sitting, it looks like she's waiting for someone, Pyrrha thought. Part of her wanted to walk up and ask so she could get a better understanding, but before she could, the waiter came back up with their food as the door opened and another person walked into the restaurant. After thanking the waiter, she went back to looking at Ruby and noticed that the new person was walking straight towards her booth. The most prominent aspects of the girl's appearance were the curled orange hair and the light pink bow on the back of her head. While Pyrrha could not make out what they were saying from this distance barring a loud declaration of 'Salutations!', Ruby greeted the orange-haired girl fondly as she sat down.

Seeing the two greet each other so casually made Pyrrha question who the girl was and how Ruby knew her. Not to mention she questioned why Ruby wanted to keep this a secret from them. As she pondered on these thoughts, an idea of what was going on came to mind.

"Is Ruby on a date with that girl?" Pyrrha immediately regretted asking her question out loud when she saw Yang's face contort from surprise to anger. The blonde glared daggers at the orange-haired girl before she turned back and ate her burger. Pyrrha did the same with her steak and hoped that Yang wouldn't enter what Ruby once called "Protective Big Sister Mode" here.

At the same time, she looked back to Ruby and the other girl as a waiter came up and took their order. Pyrrha couldn't help but wonder what those two were talking about.

"So, uh, looks like you got your hair dyed up again," Ruby said as the waiter left to bring them their order, cringing in her head at how awkward and forced it sounded. While they were trying to get their minds off the heavy stuff from the first night of the investigation, she didn't really know where to start.

"Yes, I was able to dye the blonde roots," thankfully, Penny didn't seem to notice and went along with the conversation like normal, "And the red dye you use is rather striking."

Wha? Ruby wondered before she realized what Penny was talking about, "Oh, this isn't hair dye," Ruby gestured to the tips of her hair, "This is actually how my hair normally is."

"Oh. Well I still think it looks very striking."

"Thanks. Yours looks great too," Ruby complimented back as the waiter brought their orders; a regular Beowolf Burger with everything on it for her and a Griffon Grilled Cheese for Penny. Feeling her mouth water at the sight of the warm patty, Ruby immediately started wolfing it down, taking two large bites and savoring the taste. After she took a drink from her soda, she looked to Penny, who looked to be savoring the sandwich with a happy expression.

"How's the sandwich?"

"It's delicious!" Penny exclaimed, "When my father and I first started travelling, he tended to make these. Or at least the non-grilled version."

"Sounds like fun," Ruby said, smiling at Penny's happiness. However, that smile faded as Penny began to look downtrodden.

"Yes. We didn't have much in terms of food or comfort in the early days of hiding, so my dad needed to cook rather basic meals for both of us," Penny explained as she looked out the restaurant's window in reminiscence, "I remember when he made me my first meal. I told him that I didn't require much sustenance and that he should take it all, but he insisted. He wanted to help me experience the freedoms that I never got to have before, and every new experience was incredible."

The two of them entered an uncomfortable silence before Penny flashed her an apologetic look and put her sandwich back on her plate, "I apologize. I...I didn't intend to bring my past problems into the conversation."

"I-it's fine Penny, I get it," Ruby said as she gave her friend's hand a reassuring tap, "You needed to get it off your chest. Happens to everyone."

"Thank you Ruby," Penny gave her a thankful, if slightly somber, smile before she continued, "But it wasn't completely terrible. I got to explore around the kingdoms and experience many joys as well."

"Like what?" Ruby asked, hoping to move the conversation to something more optimistic.

"Well, I recall when we were travelling through Mistral and we stumbled upon a large block party with music tracks being played by a DJ," Penny said as reminisced once again, this time sounding much happier, "While we didn't take part in it, the music the DJ was playing was incredible. When we left, I told dad I wanted a chance to play music like that. I still haven't but I hope to be able to."

Ruby smiled and said, "Well, maybe you'll get a chance to do it someday. You never know."

Penny nodded and took another savory bite of her food while Ruby did the same with her burger. As Penny finished the rest of her sandwich, she drank her water and asked, "Ruby, if you don't mind my asking, how's-"

"Am I interrupting anything?"

Ruby almost choked at the familiar voice, instead turning to see the face of her sister, eyes flashing red and looking straight at Penny with an annoyed expression.

Oh crap, she's in Protective Big Sister Mode, Ruby worried, though she didn't understand why her sister was directing her anger at Penny. If anything, she was expecting Yang to be angry at her for lying about studying.

"So, Ruby," Yang said in an even tone that betrayed nothing as she crossed her arms, "Who's this?"

"O-Oh! Yang, this is Penny," she introduced, "Penny. This is my older sister, Yang."

"Salutations!" Penny waved with her usual exuberance, oblivious to the danger she was in.

"Hi," Yang said dismissively before turning to Ruby. She still had the angry look, but her eyes shifted back to lilac, so she was a tad less angry. Just a tad. "I thought you said you were studying," she bluntly stated, making Ruby rub the back of her head in nervousness.

"I...I may have fibbed a little about that," she didn't want to lie to her sister, but the problem was that she promised to help in keeping Penny's secret, and having to explain 'Oh hey, I met this girl during the investigation who has badass floating swords and maybe probably got into a fight with Noel' would risk them learning about that. Granted, she probably could have come up with a better cover up or found a way to explain Penny to her friends without bringing up that part, so the whole thing was admittedly on her.

I really didn't think this through.

"Yang, you need to calm down," thankfully, another familiar voice cut in and Ruby saw the familiar face of Pyrrha. The eyes were different, but she could still tell who she was under the disguise. The redhead gave Yang a gentle, calming touch to the shoulder and said, "Look, I know you're just being, y'know, protective and all, but you should probably tone it down a little."

Yang looked at Pyrrha and seemed to calm down considerably, making Ruby sigh in relief. Unfortunately, the worry came back when Yang gave Penny an unreadable expression and extended a hand out, saying, "Nice to meet you, Penny."

Ruby tried to mouth to Penny not to take the hand, having an idea of what Yang was doing, having seen her do it to the one or two bullies that picked on her back at Signal. Penny didn't notice and took the hand, "It's nice to meet you as well, Yang."

It was subtle and Ruby was sure she was the only one to notice this, but Yang's hand clenched tightly around Penny's, squeezing it with all her strength. Ruby was just about to get up and stop her sister from hurting her friend, but stopped when she noticed that Penny wasn't reacting to it at all. It was like she didn't feel a thing.

Yang noticed this and squeezed even harder, causing Penny to notice, but she didn't seem hurt. Only confused. "Ruby. Your sister is shaking my hand with a lot of force," Penny pointed out, "Is this how she normally performs handshakes?"

"I...what?" Yang's grip lightened as her face twisted to confusion. Beside her, even Pyrrha seemed confused as to what was going on.

"Uh..." Ruby wasn't sure what to say. She didn't want to tell Penny that Yang was trying to intimidate her and get the two off on the wrong foot, so she just mustered up the best winning smile she could and said, "Yes. Yes it is."

Nailed it.

Sadly, she did not. Penny instead innocently said, "Oh! Then I shall meet her gesture equally," and proceeded to squeeze Yang's hand. Unlike what happened before, Yang immediately winced in pain slammed her other hand onto the table.

"Ow ow ow ow ow! Please let go please let go please le-!"

"Penny, stop! You're hurting my sister!"

Penny's eyes widened in horror as she immediately let go and backed away. Ruby stood up and checked on her sister with Pyrrha right behind her, both of them easing Yang as she clenched her fist to try and lessen the pain.

"Yang, I'm sorry!" Penny stood up and apologized, a guilt-ridden look in her eyes, "I didn't mean to do that. I was just-"

Yang cut her off, waving her hand and shaking her head, "No no, i-it's fine. I was being kind of a dick. Sorry."

Penny just looked at her with confusion. Yang sighed and continued, "Look, I got a little protective when I saw you with my sister, so I wanted to intimidate you to keep you from trying anything. But..."

"I see..."

"Ehem," the four of them turned to the sudden fifth voice and saw one of the waiters standing there, awkwardly looking at all of them, "Am I interrupting something?"

"Uh, NOPE! I think we'll all just pay for our meals now," Pyrrha said, with the rest of them nodding in agreement.

That could have gone better, Pyrrha sighed mentally as she and Ruby finished paying for their respective meals, with Yang and Penny agreeing to wait outside.

"I hope they don't hate each other for what just happened," Ruby said with worry as they started walking out. As they did, Pyrrha looked up and saw Yang and Penny sitting side-by-side on the sidewalk right next to where Bumblebee was parked. Surprisingly, they were having a rather pleasant conversation.

"I don't think you need to worry about that," Pyrrha felt a smirk find its way onto her face as she heard Yang bring up the bar fight she had before the start of the her time at Beacon.

"Hey guys," Ruby greeted as she ran up to meet them, with Penny and her sister getting up to meet her, "So, is everyone cool now?"

Yang gave a nod and said, "Yeah, we're cool," she then turned to Penny and said, "Sorry for the whole thing back there."

Penny gave the blonde a short bow before replying, "No, it was my fault for crushing your hand."

Pyrrha looked between the two as Yang scratched her head. "I guess we were both kinda being dumb back there, huh?"

"Okay, I think we all get it," Ruby interrupted before she rushed forward and enveloped Yang and Penny in each arm and pulled them in for a hug, "I'm just glad things worked out."

Feeling left out, Pyrrha tapped Ruby's shoulder. The caped girl turned back to her and moved a bit to let her into the large group hug, which she happily obliged to.

"Anyway," Yang said as she retracted from the hug, "Pyrrha and I should probably get out of your hair. We still got a Saturday to spend," she then looked to her partner as she got on her bike, "Right Pyr?"

Pyrrha smiled and nodded as she walked up and sat right behind Yang, both of them putting on their helmets before Pyrrha wrapped her arms around her partner. "And Penny," Yang said, "Just a friendly warning. If you do anything to hurt my sister..."

"I understand. And I promise that I will never cause harm to your sister in any way ever," Penny vowed as she placed a hand to her heart and wrapped her arm around Ruby, with the younger girl returning the gesture. Yang gave the two a smile as she revved Bumblebee up and drove off. While driving away, Pyrrha turned back to see the two waving goodbye as they shrank in the distance. When they turned a corner, Pyrrha faced forward and rested her head on Yang's shoulder.

"So, what happened between you two?" Pyrrha asked as loudly as she dared, talking over the rushing wind.

"Well, I guess I just stopped rushing to judge her and started talking to her," Yang explained, "We kinda just started apologizing a lot, then we got the ball rolling. Turns out, she's kind of a mega-dork."

"Remind you of someone?" Pyrrha giggled, remembering how much of a lovable goof Ruby tended to be.

"Yeah, plus I don't think there's a mean bone in her body now that I've gotten to know her a bit. Ruby will be just fine being with her."

"Sounds great!" Pyrrha said as they turned another corner and she felt her eyes flutter for a moment, enjoying the close contact with her partner.

"By the way Pyr, what did you want to tell me back at the restaurant?" Yang's question made Pyrrha's eyes go wide for a moment as her blush came back.

"I..." Pyrrha began once again before she took a deep breath, "It's nothing important. It can wait."

Yang gave a sound of affirmation as the two of them continued their drive to the next destination. While Pyrrha was disappointed that she couldn't bring herself to confess her feelings, she was still glad to spend time with Yang. She just hoped she'd find the courage to tell her partner how she really felt someday.

"Why do you think your sister reacted the way she did?"

Ruby gave Penny a shrug as they walked back to her home. She knew Yang was just being protective, and while the level of vitriol was nowhere near the level she gave the one or two bullies that picked on her back at Signal, it was still pretty jarring.

"Hmm, well she did tell me that she jumped to conclusions, but I'm uncertain what conclusions she came to," Penny mused as a street light turned red, letting them cross, "Though she was very nice when I talked to her. I think I may have made a new friend."

"Yeah, and sorry about the whole thing earlier," Ruby apologized, despite knowing that Penny and Yang already apologized to each other, "The one thing I know about big sisters is that they can get super protective."

"True, and we are here," Penny stopped in front of a large apartment complex that Ruby presumed was where she lived. The building was tall and well designed, if basic and rather old looking. "Speaking of elder siblings, there's something I would like to ask."

Ruby already had a feeling of what Penny's question was and answered, "Noel's been..." she sighed, "She's not doing very good. She's been hiding it pretty well, but everyone on our team can tell she's hurting. And it just..." Ruby crossed her arms as she looked to the floor, "It just sucks that I can't say anything to them about what's going on! She wants us to give her some space for now, but I don't think it'll work."

Ruby's hands slumped down as she worried over her friend's wellbeing. Her melancholy was broken when Penny gently took her hands and held them, causing Ruby to look into her green eyes.

"Ruby, I have promised to do anything that I can to help my sister," Penny said as she held her hands, "I know you want to respect her wishes, and I understand the concern of us being in the same place, but if you need me to help, you know where to find me."

Ruby looked into Penny's eyes and saw what she could only describe as a flicker of pure determination; the kind of drive that let Huntsmen and Huntresses plunge into hordes of Grimm to defend the innocent. It was a very familiar feeling, of course, seeing as she felt it every time Crescent Rose arched behind her, eager to cleave through those very same monsters she'd sworn to hunt, but seeing it in Penny's eyes...

It felt different, somehow. A good kind different.

Ruby let the warmth take over and enveloped Penny in a strong, but tender hug. "Thank you, Penny. And don't worry, I will," she said as the other girl wrapped her arms around her and hugged back. The two retracted and held hands again, Ruby holding her gaze to Penny's as she let go and walked the path back to Beacon. She waved goodbye to her friend, who waved back in turn with bright exuberance as she walked back into the building. This left Ruby to turn and continue on her trek to school, hands resting behind her as she hummed to herself.

All the way back, the warmth in her chest remained, as did the smile on her face.

Chapter Text

"Do you think we should try setting them up to go see a movie?"

"Sorry Mai, but I don't think ol' Jinny likes movies. Tried inviting him to see a rerun of 'The Exterminator' and he blew it off. Said something about it being a waste of time."

Ciel's eyebrow twitched at the intrusive conversation Kagura and Mai were having, sitting on the floor on the opposite end of the room. She was currently on her bed trying to make highlights and note cards in preparation for an exam in Professor Bartholomew Oobleck's class, yet her two team members were making it difficult. Not only that, but they both knew it was coming and refused to prepare for it, frustrating her even more.

"Who do you think he'd most likely end up with anyway?"

"Not sure Kagura," Mai responded, "Though I was able to figure out some of Tsubaki's likes and dislikes from a few of her friends on campus. The blonde girl, Noel I think, didn't say much and just avoided me, but a nice squirrel Faunus named Makoto told me some stuff we could use."

"Nice!" Kagura exclaimed, further breaking Ciel's concentration and her patience, "So, are either of her friend's singl-"

Ciel had enough and slammed her textbook shut, gathering their attention. "First and foremost. I am trying to prepare for an exam and I still have thirty more minutes of studying before I move on to exercising for the next hour," she seethed at how they were messing up her daily routine, "Second, what are you two even rambling on about?"

"Oh, just seeing how we can get Jin together with his friends," Mai admitted with a smile that admittedly made it hard for Ciel to stay mad at her.

"And who knows, maybe he can be something more with either of them," Kagura's smirk, on the other hand, irritated her.

Instead of telling them to cease with this foolishness, she rubbed her eyes and sighed, "Has it not occurred to both of you that perhaps the best thing that can be done is to simply leave it alone and let them develop a relationship of their own accord?"

They looked at each other in thought for a few seconds before turning back to her. "That's kind of the thing," Mai said as she got up and laid down on her bed and closed her eyes, "It might not go anywhere at all without at least a little nudging."

"Yeah, the problem here is that Jin's probably the coldest person we've ever met, and I mean that figuratively and literally," Kagura groused as he leaned back, "If he had his way, he'd just ignore everyone and everything."

"I don't see why you don't respect that desire," Ciel bluntly said, wincing internally as both of them gave her a rather unimpressed look.