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“I'm afraid this is where we part ways.” The ginger-haired man says, as he lifts his cane and aims at the red-cloaked girl before him. A sharp blast resounds and the bright light of the gunfire momentarily blinds her, but she doesn't let that stop her – Ruby swings her scythe to the ground and lets loose a quick shot to jet herself out of harm's way. She grins, blinking black spots from her vision, and looks to where he had been standing, only to find him gone. Silver eyes flick around before finally spotting him climbing a fire-escape ladder to a rooftop. Her scythe compacts – turning into a shorter, easier held, gun form – and she aims, lining her sights up with him.What type of bullet was last loaded into Crescent Rose? She remembers a second too late, as her finger reflexively squeezes the trigger and her gun recoils heavily. The tiny bullet laden with an explosive combination of Gravity and Burn dust ricochets off the back of his head, not particularly surprising her when it breaks his aura with a flash of orange. These types of bullets were renown for easily shredding through whatever stood in their way. A miniature explosion occurs off to the side when the bullet finally lands some distance away, but she ignores it, too focused on what is happening before her.Torchwick flinches and his hands reach for his head involuntarily, releasing his grip on the ladder. There's a moment of silence, as if time slows to a crawl, as he begins to fall back. Ruby gasps and dashes, pushing for her semblance, the rose petals sporadically fluttering behind her.
He's falling.
And from the height he's at, his lack of aura will kill him. His eyes connect with hers, green wide in terror and anger and disbelief, as he nears the ground. She's less than a metre from him when he lands headfirst on the hard concrete with a sickening splat. Blood, thick and hot, bursts from where he lands, splattering her front a disgusting shade of red.Ruby stands, frozen, before him, silver eyes wide in horror as she takes in what is at her feet.He's dead. He's actually dead.She killed him. She fucking killed him.Her thoughts spiral – the image of him hitting the ground replays in her mind; the memory of his head crashing into the ground; the mantra of 'I killed him, I killed him, I killed him', repeating constantly, looping in with every memory of his fall, of his blood. Tears fall from her eyes, mixing with the dark red on her face, running a horrifying shade of pinkish-red down her chin. Her whole body shakes and she drops her scythe-gun, the loud clang of the metal echoing impossibly loud throughout the darkened street. She feels the urge to fall to her knees and vomit, but a hand grabs her shoulder before she could. She turns, silver meeting green, and for a second she sees him standing there, but the image vanishes quickly. A blonde woman stands behind her, lips pursed and eyes swimming with some indefinable emotion as she stares at where he lay, immobile and broken.“I... I...” Ruby tries to speak, but her voice cracks and sobs heave from her chest. The woman's face softens with sympathy as she turns from the horrible scene to her,“Shh...” The woman says, gently tugging her away from the scene behind them, away from the gore, away from him. “It'll be okay.” The woman starts, clearly trying to distract Ruby, “My name is Glynda Goodwitch. What's your name?”“R-Ruby. Ruby R-Rose.”  “Miss Rose?” Ruby flinches at the sudden voice. Professor Goodwitch, as the woman had preferred to be called, had brought her to a nearby police station, leaving her in the care of a team of officers as she ducked out to make a call. A female officer provided her with fresh clothes – later helping her change when it became clear that she couldn't clean the blood still stained into her skin without sending her into a near panic attack.Despite being fairly clean for nearly an hour by this point, Ruby swears she could still feel the disgusting wetness – the vague stickiness and disgusting warmth – of the blood. Thinking of it made her sick to her stomach.God, his aura broke so easily. He hit the ground so quickly. Splattered against the concrete, his body fractured, ruined, head turned just the slightest bit to her. Green eyes wide, unseeing, clouded in the throes of death. His existence, the liquid within that brought with it the survival of his soul, spilled forth from where his bones broke his flesh, oozing along the ground in time with the final beats of his heart; his skin paling rapidly with each finality; his aura pulsing, trying and failing to heal the damage. His chest rose fleetingly, desperately, as his brain despaired for oxygen that would never come from ravaged lungs. His entire being destroyed beyond repair all because she stupidly shot that dust round-“Ruby!” A more familiar voice called, startling her from her spiral. She looks up from the grey table. Her father is there, standing just inside the door, blue eyes anguished and fists clenched tightly. Professor Goodwitch is there as well, staring at her with an unreadable expression. A man is beside her. He is tall, with tousled silver hair and inquisitive brown eyes hidden behind small glasses, dressed sharply in green. “Ruby?” Her father softly asks, stepping into the room. She simply stares at him, not trusting her voice, certain that the only sound to come would be sobs. Her father mumbles something under his breath as he turns to the silver-haired man. “Ozpin, please. Let me take her home. What she's been through-” The man cuts him off,“Is a tragedy, yes. I understand, Taiyang. These types of events are a horrible experience for any person, let alone a young woman such as she. But we have a procedure we must follow for these sorts of events.” He turns to her, lips drawn into a thin line. “Miss Rose, I am Professor Ozpin, from Beacon.” Ruby nods to him. “Miss Rose, can you tell me what happened earlier tonight?”“Ozpin!” Her father hisses angrily. Ruby looks between the three adults, eyes lingering on Ozpin for a fraction of a second longer than the others, before her gaze drops to the table once again. A small device now sits in the centre of the table, a blinking red light emanating from it. A recording device of some sort. Ruby wonders, briefly, when it had been placed there. Or has it always been there?“Miss Rose?” Ruby hunches into herself. Her thoughts slow to a sluggish crawl as she begins,“I... I just wanted t-to get some dust. A-And read Weapons Quarterly...” Her voice is tiny, weighted with emotions, ranging from fear to horror to pain. “A-And then ... th-then he walked in, a-and... and...” Her speech falters. It takes her nearly a minute of hitching, near sobbing, breaths before she continues, “He... he had these, uh, goons?” The word comes out with a questioning lilt. “Um... henchmen? I...” She shakes her head. “One of them tried to rob me. H-He had this red sword a-and he tried to hit me.” A soft growl of anger comes from her father. “I-I used Crescent Rose to-” A gasp chokes off her sentence and her head snaps up. “Crescent Rose!” She looks at Professor Goodwitch. “Where is she?! I-I dropped her wh-when...”“Your scythe, Miss Rose, is fine. I sent officers to retrieve it. Your sister currently has it with her in the reception area.” Goodwitch says, and Ruby ducks her head again, returning her gaze to the table.“R-Right... thank you... um... where was I...” She bites her lip. “I hit the guy with Crescent Rose and he went flying out the front window.” The thugs had been easy to beat. He had been easy to beat. “I... he sent the rest of his... goons at me a-and I beat them. Then...” She trails off, mind blanking in panic, breaths coming quickly, too quickly. Oh God, she can't breathe and he hit the ground so fast and if she'd been just a bit faster she could have saved him but she wasn't she was slow too slow far too slow slow slow slow slow slow-“Ruby!” A hand lands on her arm and she shrieks, leaping away, hands reflexively reaching for the empty space where Crescent Rose should be. The chair she'd been sitting on clatters loudly against the tiled floor. Her gaze shoots to her father, standing far closer than before, his arms raised peacefully. He forces a smile and takes a step towards her, softly repeating, “Ruby, hey, it's okay. Calm down, you're fine, you're safe.” Gently, he reaches for her, taking her by the shoulder. “You alright?”“I...” She swallows down the ball of emotion in her throat. “...sorry... I...” A flash of purple draws her attention, and she watches the chair right itself with a quiet clack. She looks to the professors, and notices Goodwitch's riding crop is in her hands. Was that the Professor's semblance? Her father guides her back to sitting, keeping a reassuring hand on her shoulder. “I just...” Ozpin sighs, shaking his head,“I understand, Miss Rose.” He glances at the recording device, “Please, if you can, continue. Take your time.” It takes her a moment for her to feel able to continue.“He... he shot at me. With his c-cane. A-A burn crystal round, it – it exploded the ground.” She sucks in a breath. “I-I dodged it a-and he disappeared. I-I saw him climbing a fire-escape. H-He was near the top and I... I...” He fell so fast, hit the ground, his blood it was on her, god she – her father squeezes her shoulder, stopping her from spiraling again. “I sh-shot at him. A-A Gravity Burn round. I-It broke his aura and then he fell and I – I was so slow and he – then h-he was dead and broken and the red was everywhere and I wasn't fast enough and I-”“Ruby.” Her father says, breaking her rambling. His hand tightens. “It's okay, petal. It's okay. Deep breaths. C'mon, in,” She inhales in deeply. “and out.” Exhale. “In, out.” They repeat the action several times before Ruby is calm enough to finish her tale.“He... he fell. And died. A-And then Professor Goodwitch came a-and then I got clean and n-now I'm here. That's... what happened...” Ozpin reaches and shuts the recording device off. It beeps quietly before powering down. For a brief period, the only noise in the room is the rustle of fabric, from where her father is lightly rubbing her shoulder. Ozpin brings a hand to his temple and draws in a heavy breath. He looks to her, brown meeting silver, emotions she's not quite sure she can name flood his gaze as he begins,“Miss Rose, I am... sorry,” His voice is hesitant, as if that is not quite the word he wanted to say, “that this happened to you. While it may have been by accident, you are young, far too young, to have experienced one of the true horrors of a hunter's duty.” He lays his hands flat against the table, leaning on them a tiny bit. “Very few huntsmen and huntresses go their entire lives without taking a life. It is an unfortunately common eventuality.” Ruby swallows back a distressed response. “At Beacon – or any other finishing academy – it is a lesson that isn't taught until the third year. Most swear to never take a life, yet few can uphold that promise.” He stares directly into her eyes, expression showing only the barest hint of pain. “I cannot say for certain that, should you continue to pursue a career in hunting, you will never take another life.” His eyes close. “The worst kind of monster are not those born of Grimm. The worst kind of monster hide in human skin. In faunus skin. And should you continue on your chosen path, you will encounter many monsters.” He looks at her again. “So tell me, Miss Rose, are you absolutely certain you want to be a huntress?”Ruby isn't sure how to answer. Her entire life's dream is to be a huntress; to save people; to slay monsters. And somewhere, deep in the recess of her mind, she's always known that not all monsters were Grimm; that not everyone lives; that even the tamest of fairy-tale has a death. This nightmare of a day has only proved that. For a passing moment, she wants to say no. No, she doesn't want to hunt. But she's trained her entire life for that – she's never known anything else. Her entire family were hunters. Her father, her uncle, her sister, even her mother. There is nothing else she can be. And so, she takes a deep breath and straightens in her seat and looks Ozpin dead in the eyes and declares,“I will be a huntress.”  Yang taps her foot impatiently, casting covert glances at the loudly ticking clock hanging on the wall. It's been nearly two hours since she and her father arrived at the police station; her father being taken to some other room in the building by an officer while she was told to wait in the reception. Her father hadn't told her exactly what happened on the ride over, only that Ruby had gotten into some sort of fight that ended in someone dying. But Yang has heard officers whisper to each other, about how her little sister ended up killing some infamous thief. Yang didn't want to believe it. Ruby was fifteen! There's no way she could even injure someone, let alone kill them! She looks to the chair beside her, seeing Ruby's folded-up scythe there. There's some sort of sticky dark liquid coating the very bottom of it. And Yang knows what it is, what it implies, despite her disbelief. There's human blood on her little sister's scythe. Her stomach churns, nausea roiling through her. God, what if it was true. What if her little sister had killed someone? Hands trembling, she snatches the scythe up, unfurling it to it's full form. Yang sighs in relief at the sight of the gleaming, clean, blade. She looks the weapon over, finding the blood coating a bit of the handle. Okay, that didn't mean anything. It probably just fell into some blood at the scene. She leans the scythe against the chairs, and makes her way to the receptionist, a young man with a set of floppy ears hanging from the top of his head.“Excuse me?” Yang starts, gaining the young man's attention. He looks up at her with a smile,“Can I help you?”“Yeah, uh, do you have like, a rag or something? It's just, my sister, her weapon's dirty, and, uh...” The man's eyes flick to the bright red scythe, eyebrows shooting up as recognition flares in his stare. He stands, typing something quickly on his computer.“One moment, please.” Yang nods. The man walks off to a back room, and Yang turns, moving to sit by the scythe, casting another covert glance at the clock. Nearly two-and-a-half hours now. Yang frowns, eyes drifting to the doorway her father disappeared down. What could be taking so long? “Ma'am?” She jumps at the man's sudden voice. Looking up, she sees him standing before her, a small bucket of soapy water and a rag in his hands. “I brought you these. Uh, if you need any help, please, just ask.” Yang dips her head, accepting the items, and the young man makes his way back behind the receptionist desk. Yang dunks the rag into the water, and begins slowly washing the blood off of her sister's weapon. It doesn't take very long, maybe ten minutes, for the scythe to be fairly clean. Yang drops the rag into the water and stands, gently shaking droplets off of the weapon. She gives it a quick look-over, before she collapses it, setting it back onto the chair. She looks at it for a moment, trying to blink past the burning in her eyes.“Y-Yang?” Yang's head snaps up. Ruby is standing there, just inside the reception area. But she's not looking at her. Ruby's eyes are downcast, looking everywhere but at Yang.“Ruby!” Yang bounds forward, scooping the younger girl into a hug. She notices, of course, when Ruby tries to flinch away from her. It makes her hug her tighter. “Oh my god, are you alright?!” Her sister's hands tentatively wrap around her.“Yang... I...” Yang brings a hand to Ruby's head, gently stroking her hair.“Shh... everything's gonna be fine now...” It's a lie, Yang knows. But it comforts the younger girl, as her grip tightens and tears begin to wet the blonde's top. God, how Yang wishes it was the truth.  “Look at you! You're famous now, little red. Famous for killing me.” Torchwick's voice echoes from where he stands beside the TV. And Ruby knows that he's just a figment of her imagination. He's just a hallucination. But still, he's there, taunting her, looking just like he had before he fell.Ruby hasn't slept yet. They'd gotten home at around six in the morning, as they had to wait for the ferries to start up, and now it was nearly three in the afternoon. But Ruby can't sleep, and as such decided to just watch TV until she collapses from exhaustion. “Geez, couldn't they have used a better photo? I look horrible in that one!”The TV is blaring a newscast. His picture, an old mugshot that depicts him with a smug grin, is in the top left corner, right next to a picture of her, red-cloak and all. “Well, they could have used a photo from the autopsy. Wouldn't that be nice? A picture of my dead body, all clean and cut open! Come on Red, look at me and tell me it wouldn't be cool.” Ruby shifts her eyes from the TV to him involuntarily. He smirks at her before his pristine image wavers, being replaced by his gore covered form from that night. His skull is flattened slightly, and several of his bones poke from his skin, ripping right through his white coat. Blood leaks from every wound, some even spilling down past his lips, and his smirk widens into a grin. “This is much better, you know?” Ruby flinches back, closing her eyes. “Can't get rid of me that easily, Red.” She can see him still. She'll never stop seeing him. She draws in a shaky breath and opens her eyes again, resolutely staring at the TV to avoid his gaze. “It's your fault I'm like this you know.” She grabs the remote and turns the volume up, hoping to drown out his voice. “That's not going to work, you know.” The newscast switches from the anchorwoman to an on-site report, and Ruby nearly screams as she recognizes the area. The remote drops from her shaking hands as the on-site reporter begins,“Here we see the spot where infamous criminal Roman Torchwick was killed, just last night. Early reports are saying that he and six unnamed hired thugs were in the process of robbing a nearby dust shop, when fifteen-year-old Ruby Rose, a student attending Signal Academy, put a stop to it. Rose apparently fought the thugs into submission, before attempting to stop Torchwick from escaping. Sometime during his escape attempt, Rose shot at him, causing him to fall nearly five stories to the ground. Early reports say he died on impact with the ground, and that it was, potentially, the bullet Rose shot which caused his aura to break.” Ruby looks away from the TV, stomach churning violently. They knew. Everyone knows now. Everyone knows she's a murderer now. She feels her Scroll vibrate near-constantly in her pocket. She doesn't want to answer it. She can hear the newscast switch back to the anchorwoman, but they still talked about it. She can hear the anchorwoman speculate about how she did it and why it was a good thing. How and why killing a man was a good thing. It wasn't her fault. She just wasn't fast enough – if she had been a bit faster – been a bit closer – she could have saved him but no he's dead broken ruined and it's her fault she caused it she shot him she made him fall and-“Ruby!” The door to the house slams open and her sister comes flying into the room, her hair flaming and her eyes bright red. She spots the TV first, still playing the newscast. She dives for the remote and turns it off before turning to the younger girl. “Ruby, did you see the-”“YES!” Ruby shouts, cutting her off. Yang winces. “I killed him and they're acting like it's a good thing but I killed him, I actually killed him-” Yang lunges forward, grabbing her sister by her arms.“Ruby, calm down! You didn't. You didn't kill him. It was an accident.” Ruby squirms in her sister's grip, head shaking violently.“I did! I shot him! If I hadn't he'd be alive! I broke his aura, I killed him!” She kicks out at Yang's legs, and her sister lets go to block the attack. “I killed him but he's still here and I can't stop seeing him and why is he still here why why why?!” Yang's eyes widen as they fade to their normal lilac.“Ruby, what-”“He's still here! Taunting me and telling me it's my fault but he doesn't have to I know it's my fault! I see him every time I think about it and I just want him to leave!” Ruby curls into a ball, sobbing heavily. “Why won't he leave?” Yang stares at her for a moment, mouth opening and closing like a fish, yet no words or sound escape her. Hesitantly, she brings her arms around her sister, letting the younger girl sob into her shoulder.For the second time in her life, Yang has no idea what to do.She doesn't know how to fix this.  
“Come now, little red. That hurt.” He lifts himself up, standing tall on broken legs, not even flinching at any pain he must be feeling. Ruby is frozen before him, scythe dropping from her shaking hands, clattering against the ground, the sound eerily loud. Torchwick bends down and picks up the weapon, holding tightly despite his arms flopping about wildly, the bones inside shattered. “Ooh, now this is a pretty little thing, now isn't it?” It shifts in his hands, folding into its rifle form. “Ah, and here's the weapon of the hour!” He cocks it, turning it over speculatively in his hands. “Why, its fairly strong. A sniper, right?” He looks to her and she gives a quick nod, the bones in her neck cracking with the motion. Torchwick lifts the gun up, peering down the sight. “Say, Red, how'd you get something like this?” She doesn't know what prompts her to actually respond – the answer spills from her lips like the blood spilling from his,

“I-I built it.” Green eyes light up.

“Really? Such talent you have.”

“T-Torchwick, jus-” She starts, but he cuts her off with,

“Ah, ah, ah, call me Roman, dear.” He grins widely, his cheeks splitting, blood gushing down past his lips, staining his teeth red. “After all, a killer should know their victim's names.” Ruby whimpers. He lifts the rifle up higher, turning it to face himself. She reaches for the gun. “Come now, Red. Finish the job.” Her finger curls around the trigger, and there's a flash-
  Cameras flash. “They better get my good side.” Ruby shudders at his voice, biting her lip as she tries not to look at him from where he stands at the edge of the stage, mocking a crowd that will never see him. Reporters call out over top each other, vying for attention, looking to get the big scoop on Torchwick's death.It has been three days. Three days of nightmares and screaming and crying and trying to get everything back together. Three measly days. And it's not enough. Three days is nowhere near enough time for her to do something like this. Her silver eyes scan the large crowd. She suppresses a flinch with every pair of eyes she meets; every awed stare and pointing finger. Ruby takes a half-step back, hiding slightly behind Professor Ozpin.“Are you doing alright, Miss Rose?” Ozpin asks quietly, brown eyes filling with concern. Ruby swallows the heaviness in her throat and nods. “Very well. There are a few questions you'll be asked to answer, but be assured that you do not have to answer any you are not comfortable with.” Ruby dips her head and steps out of Ozpin's shadow. “Just point to whichever reporter you want.” Ozpin whispers as she passes him to stand before the stand full of microphones, the hallucination Roman at her heels. Roman leans against the stand and grins at the reporters, gesturing to a perky brunette in the front row. “Ooh, pick that one. She's got a great rack.” Shakily, she raises a hand and points to a familiar looking reporter – a woman with lavender coloured hair and amber coloured eyes – standing next to the one he had wanted her to pick.“Miss Rose, Lisa Lavender from Vale News Network. Tell me, how old are you exactly?” Lisa holds up a pad and pen, ready to write.“F-Fifteen.” Ruby stutters out, not quite expecting the question. Her age had been widely circulated, as her basic Signal records were readily available to any who asked or did the slightest bit of research online. She can see Roman roll his eyes from her periphery.“Really? Why, you must be very skilled. One more question, it is said you subdued six hired thugs alongside Torchwick, and each had varying degrees of cuts and blunt-force trauma. What weapon did you use?” Ruby actually lets out a smile at the question, a hand reaching behind her to pat the folded version of her precious sniper-scythe, and immediately cameras begin to flash. She notices Roman disappear, and her smile widens a bit.“I used my sweetheart, Crescent Rose. She's a high-calibre sniper scythe that I built all by myself.” She looks back at Ozpin with questioning eyes and the silver-haired man nods with a smile. Stepping back from the microphones, she unsheathes Crescent Rose, spinning it out and unfolding it to its impressive scythe form. The crowd shouts and screams in excitement and the camera flashes increase in frequency, and for the first time since it happened, Ruby feels happy. She folds her scythe into its rifle form and cocks it, before sliding it back into its closed form and hooking it back into its sheath. She looks back out at the crown and smiles again, “So, anymore questions?”  He's falling, he's falling, he's falling! She reaches for her semblance, but it doesn't come.
She can't move.

He's falling.

She can't move.

He hits the ground with a sickening splat; his bones break through his flesh; his skull explodes with the impact , showering her in gore.

She can't move.

A guttural moan escapes his body. His neck cracks loudly as he turns to face her, green eyes blank and empty; dead. Agonizingly slow, he begins to move, rolling onto his stomach.

She can't move.

He crawls to her, fingers digging deep into the concrete, leaving thick trails of blood as he moves closer.

She can't move.

He latches onto her ankle, his fingers stiff and cold, and his neck snaps back impossibly far.

She can't move.

“...red...why...” He moans, his voice deathly quiet, near inaudible. Yet to her it's as if he is screaming. “...why didn't you catch me...” His hand tightens around her ankle, fingernails scraping against her skin.

She can't move.

“...you're so slow...” His hands begin to climb her body, fingers clawing deep into her flesh, surely drawing blood.She can't move.

“...so...slow...” His breath his hot against her neck.

She can't move.

“...too...slow...” His teeth rip into her throat. “...far...too..slow...”

She can't move.
  “Faster... faster...” Ruby mumbles to herself, pushing her semblance past its limits. The bright light of the shattered moon beats down on her, illuminating the clearing she is in. Her father had told her not to enter the woods on her own, especially at night, but she wasn't that far from her home. Currently, she's training in a fairly large clearing about a hundred metres across, within a stone's throw of her house, at just past three in the morning. Far enough away that no one will hear her or see her, yet close enough that the Grimm were unlikely to arrive. She can see Roman leaning against a tree, watching her with expressionless eyes. He'd been silent since the interview four days ago. Hopefully he's still quiet when she goes back to school in three days.Pushing for her semblance to give more, she tears around the clearing, rose petals scattering haphazardly around. As she rounds for another lap, she feels herself slow. “No!” She growls under her breath, forcing even more of her aura through her semblance. “No, no, faster, c'mon...” Ruby speeds through the clearing, just a bit faster than before. She gets through two more laps of the clearing before her aura breaks, sending her crashing, painfully, to the forest floor. Pressing herself up onto her hands and knees, she gasps for air, and slams a fist into the ground, over and over, frustration coursing through her. “Dammit! God dammit!” Rolling onto her back, she glares up at the shattered moon, chest heaving as she takes in as much air as she can. “Not fast enough yet.”She takes a moment to regain her breath before forcing herself back up to her feet. She wobbles slightly in place and sucks in a few ragged breaths. “Faster. Faster.” She crouches, pulling up as much of what little aura she had restored with her short rest as she could, and blasts across the clearing.She never notices her father watching her, blue eyes wreathed with guilt, hidden behind one of the many trees.  
“Come now, Red, that wasn't very nice. Why didn't you catch me?” He says, slowly pulling himself to his feet. He's broken, bones sticking out of his skin oddly and blood leaking from every place it could. Ruby is frozen, unable to move, as he begins to shuffle closer to her. “Didn't your mommy teach you not to hit others?” Her hands tighten on Crescent Rose, yet she still cannot lift it or back away, not even a bit. He sidles right up to her, barely an inch between them and grins, “Sure looks like you enjoyed it though. Look at you!” He brings a bloodied hand to her face and taps her cheek. “My, red surely is a lovely colour on you. Why don't you give me a smile?” Her lips curve upwards without her wanting them to. He laughs, patting the top of her head condescendingly, streaking blood through her hair. “Beautiful! Well, Red? You gonna finish the job?” He steps back, arms opening wide. She feels her arms lift, Crescent Rose fully extending in her grip, and he laughs, “A veritable Grim Reaper you are!” Crescent Rose rises above her head, and her smile widens, and she's screaming in her head, desperately trying to regain control of her body.

She can't.

Crescent Rose slashes down, and then to the side, and over and over and over it stabs into him, killing him, goring him, ruining him further; all while he laughs. Over and over and over and over, stab and slash and cut and stab, until all that remains is an indescribable lump of flesh, still laughing from vocal cords that don't even exist anymore.
Finally, she regains control, and Crescent Rose slips from her blood covered hands, and she screams-   A scream wakes him. Taiyang groans and looks at his alarm-clock, the bright green numbers 3:34 being displayed. His brow furrows as he lays back down, a hand running through his coarse blond hair. What had woken him? Ruby clearly hadn't gone out to 'train' yet, as Zwei would have woken him had she. And Yang never woke until she was forced to. He strains his ears. Faint whimpering can be heard from one of the upstairs rooms. Oh, one of his daughters must be sleep-talking. As he closes his eyes to fall back asleep, a hoarse cry echoes through the dark house. Blue eyes burst open wide. “Ruby!” He leaps to his feet and rushes from his room, speeding up the stairs. As he passes Yang's bedroom, the teen pokes her head out, groggily rubbing her eyes.“Dad? What's going on?” Taiyang spares his eldest a glance before pushing his way into Ruby's room. His first instinct is to head for the bed, but a quick look around for threats finds him staring into a darkened corner of the room, where his youngest is curled into herself, her entire body shaking as she sobs. Taiyang approaches slowly.“Ruby?” He hears her breath hitch. “Ruby, it's me, your dad.” He crouches in front of her, hands hesitantly held before him. Even a huntress in training is dangerous. A huntress with Ruby's level of skill is doubly so. Chances were she wouldn't recognize him because of the darkened room and that meant she was likely to attack. And god, he wanted nothing more than to hug her, to hold her, but he can't. Not yet.Taking in her shivering form, he spies a glint of silver as she shifts a little, just enough to look to him. Taiyang sees in the hazy, barely-there look in her eyes, and turns to look at his eldest child standing in the doorway. “Yang, the light. Turn it on, please.” With a vague nod of her blonde head, Yang flicks the light-switch, brightening the room. Ruby flinches at the sudden brightness, drawing Taiyang's attention. He reaches for her slowly, as if reaching for a cornered animal. “Ruby, little petal, it's alright. It's me, dad. And Yang, too.” He briefly touches her shoulder and she jerks away with wide eyes. “Hey, hey, it's okay. It was a dream. Ruby, you're at home. In your room.” He touches her shoulder again, and squeezes reassuringly. “You're safe.” It takes a moment for his youngest to become lucid.“...dad...?” Her voice is hoarse and she blinks rapidly, eyes flicking throughout the room. “I...” Taiyang leans forward, wrapping his arms around her. He gently sweeps his fingers through her hair. She returns the hug, holding onto him tightly. “...I'm sorry for waking you...” He forces out a chuckle.“Hey, it's alright. You can't help it when you have a nightmare.” He feels her flinch in his grasp. 'Oh.' He thinks, realizing just what dream she'd been having. He grimaces, silently thankful that neither of his daughters could see the cool rage dawning in his eyes, and tightens his hold on her. 'Most likely not a dream. A memory.'“...wasn't...” Ruby mumbles, sagging further into his grip as unconsciousness begins to take her. “...wasn't fast enough. Never fast enough...” Taiyang closes his eyes. “...so... slow...” Her mumbles taper off into soft snores. Taiyang waits a moment longer before he lifts her into his arms and carries her to the bed. He tucks her in and lets out a soft sigh as he runs his fingers through her hair. Heavy bags rest under his child's eyes, and Taiyang feels a horrid sadness tearing through his chest at the thought of the nightmares keeping her awake.“Dad?” He turns to look at Yang, meeting her scared lilac eyes. Her gaze moves to her sister. “Ruby...”“It will take a while, Yang, for Ruby to be even a little bit like normal.” He gives his sleeping daughter a kiss on her forehead and stands. “She'll keep having nightmares for... a long time.” Gods knew he sure did. After his first kill, it took nearly a year for the nightmares to end. But he'd been nineteen, nearly twenty, when that happened, and he'd already had the lesson on true monsters. He'd known that it was going to happen eventually, had accepted that reality wasn't liable to give him a pass on that painful lesson. “And tomorrow...” His eyes close. “...tomorrow, you and her will be at Beacon.” He knew that Ruby would leave for Beacon eventually. But he always figured it would be two years from now. Not at fifteen because she killed a man. Even if it had been an accident.It's not like the news nor the people believed it to be one. Taiyang lets out a soft snort. No, those fuckers thought she killed an infamous criminal on purpose, and had petitioned for Ruby to be let into one of the top four academies early. And since Signal essentially threw a graduation certificate at him for Ruby – with the excuse of 'she's already skilled enough to permanently stop a well-known criminal, she doesn't need any more training here' – there wasn't anywhere else she could go. She still needed schooling. He shakes his head and walks towards his eldest. “Yang, after tonight I won't be there for her.” Yang nods, and he can see the faint glimmer of tears in her eyes. Taiyang hugs her close, letting her cry softly against his shoulder. Her shaking lessens after a moment. “You alright?” He asks, drawing back to look at her. Yang shrugs, eyes downcast.“Yeah, I guess.” She takes a deep breath. Her tears vanish and her eyes light up. “I'll be there for her, Dad. You might not be able to be, but I will be.” Her eyes flash red and snap to his and Taiyang can see the determination, the absolute fury in her gaze. “No one will stop me.” Taiyang smiles,“Thank you, Yang.”  
you killed him, you killed him, you killed him, you killed him, you killed him, you killed him, you killed him-
  The airbus is crowded and loud, students milling about. A few glance in her direction, probably wondering who the short person in the red hood was. Oh, who was she kidding. They likely knew exactly who she was. Her choice of school was well known the minute Ozpin accepted her. Her name would, for sure, have appeared on Beacon's public list of promising applicants. Ruby leans into the window, silver eyes staring out at the passing landscape, unfocused, studiously ignoring the hallucination sitting beside her.Heavy bags rest beneath her eyes. Nightmares kept her up most nights. It had been nearly two weeks since... him, since she... Ruby sucks in a breath, eyes closing. No, no, don't think about it. Beacon! Think about Beacon. Her eyes open once again, heavy regret and a touch of anger present in them, and she glances at the figment of him .A reward. She got into Beacon Academy two years early as a fucking reward for killing a man. Sure, Roman Torchwick was as bad a man as man could get, his crimes ranging from thievery to assault to flat out murder, but to get into a prestigious school two years early – to become famous for something as heinous as killing a person? It made her sick.Professors Ozpin and Goodwitch had said that they didn't know who leaked her name and image to the press, but someone had – along with the fact that it was her who took down Torchwick and not Goodwitch, who had been primed to take the fall for the thief's death. Within a day of his death, it felt like everyone knew her name and face. She hadn't left her house on Patch since the interview, yet her fame still persisted. If anything, it got worse. Rumours flew about how skilled she was and about who she'd take out next. God, she feels sick just imagining people getting their hopes up for her to kill another person. A shuddering breath rakes through her.“Ruby?” She turns to face her sister. Yang stares at her with a mixture of pity, sympathy, and pride in her gaze, and gods, Ruby was sick of pity. Her father looked at her with it as well – it was predominant in his gaze the entire time she'd been stuck at home. “You okay?”“Yeah.” Ruby nods and Yang places a hand on the younger teen's arm.“You sure?” Ruby shrugs, turning back to the window. “Alright, well, if you ever need something, anything, I'm here, y'know? I love you sis.” Ruby looks back at her and smiles softly.“I love you too, Yang. It's just...” She trails off, eyes darting to him, and Yang leans closer. “Sometimes I still see... it. ” Yang winces, wrapping an arm around Ruby. “I'm fine, really. Just sometimes...” Ruby rests her head against her sister's shoulder.“Yeah. Yeah, I get it.” But you don't get it! Ruby wants to shout, You don't understand! “It takes time to get over that sort of thing. I know...” Yang's other arm comes up and around the younger, her hand running through crimson-tipped locks. “Remember, you're not alone. You can talk to me, y'know. Dad and Uncle Qrow too.” Ruby hums a soft agreement,“I know...”  Beacon is grand. The photo from the brochure had nothing on the actual thing. Ruby and Yang stare up at the tall bell tower, eyes wide with awe.“This is amazing.” Yang breathes, voice wispy and light. “Man, Dad's stories don't even hold a candle to the real thing!” Ruby nods. Yang looks down to her and grins. “So, you know where to go?”“No.”“Huh, neither do I.” Yang laughs, making Ruby roll her eyes. “Hey, I'll run ahead and find out if there's a directory or a map or something.” Ruby doesn't really want her to go, to leave her alone with the blasted hallucination, but a directory or map would be extremely helpful. Plus, he had been silent for a while now...“Alright. I'll be by the statue.” She points to said statue. The grey stone depicts a man and woman atop a large boulder; the man has his sword raised triumphantly before him, while the woman has a dual-bladed axe pointed at the ground. A fairly accurate carving of a Beowulf stands below them, seemingly howling out. Yang whistles appreciatively at the art, and tilts her head,“Right, well, see you in a few!” With that, Yang runs off, breezing past the statue and various students. Ruby watches her go before approaching the stonework. She stands before it, gazing up at the depicted hunters.“Che, what a bunch of chumps. Hunters, blegh.” Roman says, finally breaking his near week-long silence. Ruby doesn't acknowledge him. He scowls, pushing between her and the statue. “Come on Red, look at me!” She meets his eyes, and he grins. For a brief second, his broken and bloodied body appears in his place. It's gone quickly, and Ruby isn't sure if he had changed forms on purpose or if she was imagining it. “Why even bother being a huntress Red? I mean, you're already a murderer, and hey, assassins get paid three times as much. Use your passion for murder to get cash fast!” Ruby flinches away from him, eyes wide.“What?!” She nearly shrieks, drawing a bit of attention from passing students. Ignoring them, she glares at Roman, “How dare you even assume-” He interrupts her,“Hey, you know what they say! Assuming makes an ass of you and me!” He bends down, smirk alighting on his face. “And you didn't deny it!” He leans even closer, and Ruby, despite her best attempts, can't tear her gaze from his. “You liked killing me, didn't you? You enjoyed it. You liked being covered in my blood. You liked firing your gun at me. I bet you even knew it would break my aura! You killed me on purpose.” He grins, and presses his forehead against hers. “Admit it!”“No, no, no no no no no no no-” She's shaking, head violently moving in protest. He laughs and backs away.“Aw, come now little red. I can see it in your eyes! You really liked it, didn't you?” He gives her a wink before he disappears, not even allowing her time to respond. Her breaths come quickly, to the point where she is nearly hyperventilating. She rests her head in her hands and tries her hardest not to cry.  “Hey, aren't you that kid?” Ruby startles at the question, turning to face a girl dressed in white, with equally white hair and bright blue eyes. A cart sits behind her, laden with a large amount of suitcases. The girl's eyes widen as they meet Ruby's silver orbs. “You are! Ruby Rose, right? You took out Torchwick!” Ruby flinches at the mention of his name, reflexively looking around for the hallucination of him. But he hasn't returned yet. It was odd, usually he disappeared and returned within ten minutes, but it had been nearly twenty since their... conversation. She takes a deep breath to steady herself before replying,“Y-Yeah, I'm Ruby. Uh... who are you?” The girl stares at her for a moment, as if not comprehending what she asked.“Seriously?” She says, under her breath, before continuing with a louder, “My name is Weiss Schnee, heiress to the Schnee Dust Company.” Ruby tilts her head. Schnee? Dust? Oh, she must be a rich kid.“So, you're rich?” Weiss scoffs, but offers a sharp nod. “Oh, um... isn't the SDC based in Atlas though?” She asks, drudging up what little info she knew of the Schnee Dust Company. “Why'd you come here, to Beacon?” Weiss flicks a hand in a dismissive gesture.“I aim to be a huntress, to bring pride to the Schnee name. Beacon has the highest quality of education in hunter training. It's only logical I come here.” She cocks her head to the side. “What about you? Surely you received various offers from other academies.” Ruby dips her head, eyes falling to the ground.“Yeah. One from each of the top academies. Shade, Atlas, Haven, and Beacon. But...” She looks over her shoulder at the large academy behind her. True, she could have gone to any school she wanted. However... “My mother attended here. If anything, I just want to be closer to her memory.” Her voice fades into a murmur near the end. She hears a soft gasp from Weiss and forces a smile onto her face, turning quickly to face the heiress. “Also, my dad and uncle came here too! And my sister's starting this year as well!” And then, as if speaking of the devil, Yang comes running up from down the walkway.“RUBY!” She shouts, skidding to a stop beside her. “Hey! I found a directory and I even got a map downloaded to my scroll.” She points to a large building up ahead. “And an older student said we newbies gotta meet in that amphitheatre in about twenty minutes for the welcoming ceremony.” It is only then that Yang seems to realize that Weiss is there. “Oh, hello! Didn't see ya for a second. My name's Yang Xiao Long, Ruby's sister.” Yang holds out a hand and Weiss grabs it hesitantly to shake.“Weiss Schnee.” The white haired girl drops Yang's hand quickly. “I don't mean to be rude, but you two look nothing alike.” Yang booms out a boisterous laugh.“Yeah, we get that a lot. Different moms, same dad, y'know?” Weiss nods, clearly uncomfortable with the exuberant Yang.“Oh, I see.” She glances back at her luggage. “I apologize, but I must see to my equipment.” She curtsies neatly. “It was nice to meet you, Ruby, Yang.” The heiress grabs hold of her cart handle and begins dragging it towards the academy entrance. Yang smiles.“Man, nice to see you make something of a friend, Rubes.” Ruby shrugs.“I dunno, Yang. She only talked to me 'cause of... that.” Yang winces, bringing a hand to her sister's shoulder.“Oh. Well, she seemed nice-ish.”“I guess.”  “Ruby, Yang!” The sisters hear the moment they walk into the amphitheatre. Looking for the source, they see Weiss, giving a discreet wave to them, and they approach. The heiress gives them a polite nod. “You two are just in time, the headmaster is about to give his speech.” Ruby gazes around the large amphitheatre, and immediately notices the less-than-subtle glances she is receiving from the other students. Fighting back a wince, she shuffles a bit closer to her sister. A loud, sharp, noise echoes throughout the room, and Ruby turns to see Professor Ozpin standing on the stage. He glances around the room once and lets out a soft, near-unnoticeable sigh.“I'll... keep this brief.” He begins. “You have travelled here today in search of knowledge, to hone your craft and acquire new skills, and once you have finished, you plan to dedicate your life to the protection of the people, to slaying monsters.” Ruby shudders, knowing that Ozpin is looking directly at her as he spoke. “But I look among you and all I see is wasted energy, in need of purpose, direction.” Whispers break out among the students. “You assume knowledge will free you of this, but your time at this school will prove that knowledge can only take you so far.” He glances around the room once again, and, even though she can't see him doing so clearly, Ruby knows that he lingers his gaze on her for far longer. “It is up to you to take the first step.” With that, he steps away from the microphone, walking off. Professor Goodwitch strides onto the stage, stopping before the mic.“You are to gather in the ballroom tonight. Tomorrow, your initiation begins. Be ready. Dismissed.” Chatter quickly rises around them. Yang makes a soft noise in the back of her throat and Ruby looks at her questioningly. Yang gestures vaguely at the stage.“Ozpin... he seemed... off.” Ruby nods.“Yeah. It's like he wasn't even there.”  Beacon's ballroom is as grand as the rest of the school. It is large, easily holding all the applicants, with lots of space left over. Ruby looks around the ballroom, noting which people seemed to know who she was and which seemed to either not or just not care. Most seemed to just recognize the bright red cloak she's wearing over her pyjamas. She would have taken it off, but the cloak has become a sort-of safe haven for her – she feels infinitely more safe wearing it then not. She returns to looking around the room. A blond teen in blue footie pyjamas waves at her once he notices her staring. She huffs out a laugh and waves back.“Hey Rubes, who you waving at?” Yang asks, relaxing on the futon next to her. Ruby points at the oddly dressed blond.“Him.” Yang looks and sputters out a laugh.“W-What is he wearing?!” A new voice chimes in,“It seems to be a footie with Pumpkin Pete on it.” Both sisters turn to see a tall redhead, who had claimed the spot next to Yang. The redhead smiles softly. “Sadly, the cereal isn't very good for you.” Yang laughs at that.“True, true! But it's delicious!” Yang wipes a tear from her eye and grins at the redhead. “So, I'm Yang. Yang Xiao-Long. This,” She moves and points at Ruby. “is my sister, Ruby.” Ruby squeaks at the sudden attention and stutters,“H-Hi! I'm Ruby, Ruby Rose!” There's a brief, knowing glint in the redhead's eyes, and Ruby is sure the next thing to come from her mouth would be about Torchwick. Instead, what comes is,“Nice to meet you both!” The redhead says. “My name is Pyrrha. Pyrrha Nikos.” Ruby's relief is near palpable. There is no mention of Torchwick. Pyrrha seemed to not care about... Ruby pauses the thought. Where had she heard the redhead's name?“Pyrrha... Pyrrha...” She mumbles, eyes screwing shut trying to remember. The two older teens look at her in confusion, brows raising. “Oh yeah!” Ruby shouts, grinning widely. Pyrrha Nikos is the four-time champion of the Mistral Regional Tournaments! Ruby had spent many days watching the footage, simply for the weapons used. Miló and Akoúo̱ were a triple threat! It had three different forms! Ruby points a finger at Pyrrha, and exclaims, “Your weapons are so cool! They transform three different ways and there's a shield as well and you're able to call them back to you without even-” Her slew of words is cut off by both Yang's hand covering her mouth and Pyrrha laughing. Ruby glares at her sister and moves the blonde's hand away. “Yang that's gross! Who knows where your hands have been!” Yang makes a vaguely rude gesture, and Ruby gasps loudly. “I'm telling dad you did that!”“No you won't!” Yang shouts, throwing her pillow at her sister. The two break down in giggles. After a moment, Yang looks to Pyrrha with a wide grin. “Sorry, sorry, Rubes is a bit obsessed with weapons.” Ruby gasps again.“I am not!” Pyrrha laughs once more, waving her hands dismissively, before saying,“No, no, it's fine!” She smiles at Ruby. “I'd love to talk about weapons with you Ruby.” Ruby squeals happily, practically vibrating in her seat. She makes to say something, but Yang, once again, cuts her off with,“Some other day, sis! It's getting late. We should get some sleep!” Ruby pouts, but she can understand the logic. They had initiation tomorrow, and they needed to get up early to prepare. Ruby lays back on her sleeping roll and smiles up at the ceiling, in time to see the lights start to dim. She turns to look at Yang and Pyrrha and says,“Right! Goodnight, Yang, Pyrrha!” She hopes that there will be no nightmares that night. Even though she knows that hope is futile.  
He's on the ground, wheezing, blood pooling around him. Ruby steps up to him, head cocked to the side, Crescent Rose in its rifle form in her hands. He gurgles something out around the blood in his mouth, and she smiles down at him, raising her gun. He stares up at her with wide green eyes. She cocks her gun and aims right at his chest. His lips widen in a grin.

“Do... it...” He chokes out, spattering her boots with bloodied spittle. Her finger squeezes the trigger-
  Ruby gasps awake. She shivers, hands clenching her cloak tightly. Slowly, to avoid waking anyone, she stands. She makes her way down the aisle, and out into the darkened hallways.Eventually, she finds herself inside a training area. The space is large, sparsely decorated with various training implements. A row of benches sits against a far wall, just in front of an audience area. A flicker of orange and white alerts her to the return of the hallucination, and, when she turns to look, Roman is leaning against the far wall, hat pulled low over his eyes. Ruby, not acknowledging him past a small sigh, walks to the centre of the room and lets out a breath. Training will make her feel better. Training will help her sleep. She crouches, drawing up her aura, and dashes. She's gotten much faster since Torchwick's death. If she had been this fast back then, she could have saved him. Too little, too late. She slows to a stop. “Never again.” She whispers to herself. Looking around at the slowly dissipating rose petals, she repeats, “Never again.” She crouches once more, and begins to run.  Brown and green eyes watch the camera footage. Ozpin sighs, leaning back in his chair. Glynda tuts, eyes narrowing at the red blur on the screen.“She's going to end up killing herself.” She says, and Ozpin sighs once again.“I know. When Taiyang called and said she'd likely end up training late in the night, I didn't expect it to be at two in the morning on her first night here .” He looks back at the footage, wincing when the speedster crashes due to lack of aura. “This is insane. She's clearly improved her semblance exponentially, to the point where we can barely see her, yet she seems determined to go even faster.” He watches the red cloaked girl stand, clearly low on aura, and begin to use her semblance once more. “At this rate...” Glynda frowns, brows furrowing deeply.“She'll be dead from exhaustion before the end of the year. This... this is madness, Ozpin. She needs to be stopped. Or taught a new way to cope.” She turns away from the footage once the red speedster collapses, most likely unconscious from exhaustion. “Over training is dangerous, and I will be telling her so. For now, I'll go and bring her to the infirmary.” Ozpin nods, eyes closing.“Please...”

----- CHAPTER BREAK -----

Ruby stands on the very last platform, one of many embedded into the cliff-side overlooking a large forest, enjoying the feeling of the sun warming her skin. Roman's hallucination is nowhere in sight, much to her relief. She can feel her aura moving sluggishly beneath her skin, and having to deal with it as well as that smart-ass would probably make her snap. Perhaps she trained too much last night.

Ruby's lips purse. She had awoken in an infirmary earlier this morning. Apparently, Professor Goodwitch had found her and brought her in. The nurse actually told her not to participate in the initiation, fearing for her low aura. Then, she had been told to wait, as Professor Goodwitch wanted to speak to her. Ruby had been quick to make an escape once the nurse had turned her back. She knew what the professor would say.

You're killing yourself.

Just like what her father told her. She's apparently training

too much.

The very thought makes her want to scoff. How can you train too much? Training is good for you! And it makes her feel better!

Her eyes drift over to the professors standing near the cliff's edge. Goodwitch is glaring at her, lips drawn in a thin line and tablet clenched tightly in her hands. Ozpin, at first glance, appears to be indifferent, but Ruby can see what looks like worry in his eyes when he glances at her.

“Rubes?” Yang asks, and Ruby turns, looking at the older girl. Yang is studying her, eyes raking over the red-wearing girl's clear exhaustion. “Are you sure you can do this?” Ruby huffs and crosses her arms, diligently ignoring the twinge of pain the motion causes.“I'm fine, Yang. I just didn't sleep much last night.” Lilac eyes narrow at the obvious lie, but before Yang could comment, Ozpin begins speaking,“For years you all have trained to become warriors. Today, that training will be put to the test. Your abilities will be evaluated in the Emerald Forest.” Goodwitch steps forward at that and continues for him,

“I'm sure many of you had heard talk of teams being formed. Let me put and end to any confusion. You will be given teammates,

today.

” Ruby makes a soft noise of surprise as Ozpin picks up with,

“These teammates will be with you for the rest of your time here in Beacon. So it is in your best interest to pair with someone with whom you work well with.” Ozpin gestures to the forest behind him. “That being said, the first person you make eye-contact with will be your partner for the next

four

years.” Ruby squeaks in horror. “After you've gotten a partner, make your way to the northern end of the forest. You will meet opposition along the way. There are many Grimm in this forest, so it is in your best interest to destroy any you come across. Or you

will

die.” Someone down the line yells out a loud

what.

Ozpin merely smiles and continues, “You will be monitored and graded throughout the duration of your initiation, but be assured that our instructors will not intervene. There is an abandoned temple at the northernmost edge of the forest. In this temple, there will be several relics. Each pair must bring one of the relics back here to the top of this cliff. We will regard the relic you bring, as well as your standing, and grade you appropriately. Are there any questions?” Movement flickers in the corner of Ruby's vision, and she turns to see the blond boy from last night raising his hand from his position on the platform next to Yang.

“Yeah... uh... sir?” Ozpin ignores him and nods at the applicants,“Good! Take your positions.” The boy once again raises his hand,“Um, sir? Uh, how exactly are we entering the forest?”“You'll see.” One by one, applicants are catapulted off the cliff-side. The blond boy seems to not even notice.“So, um, are you, like, dropping us off?” Ozpin raises a brow, amusement clear in his tone,“In a way. You're expected to use your own landing strategy to make it to the ground.”“Uh, right, so, um, what's a landing strate-” The boy is launched before he could complete his sentence. Ruby can hear him screaming as he flies into the forest. Did... did he seriously not know what a landing strategy was? How the hell had he even made it to Beacon?! She sighs, and looks to Yang, who simply grins and flicks on a pair of sunglasses, just as she is launched. Ruby takes in a deep breath and prepares to be launched as well, only for nothing to happen. She winces and looks at the professors.“Miss Rose, are you sure you can compete today? Your aura is staggeringly low.” Ozpin says, Goodwitch nodding along with him. Ruby, now looking away from them, shrugs.“I'm fine, professors.” The two professors look at each other. After a moment, Goodwitch sighs, and Ruby hears an ominous click beneath her. A second later she is flying through the air.  Yang slows herself down a little, but doesn't let gravity bring her to the ground. She looks over her shoulder upon not hearing the next platform go off. It takes a bit, but eventually she sees a blur of red go flying from the cliff, heading straight for her. Yang lets out a breath, in equal parts relief and terror. Relief, as Ruby hadn't been banned from initiation, and terror, as she knew her sister was dangerously low on aura. She had seen the brief flickering of red that Ruby had tried to hide beneath her cloak.Yang watches Ruby fly, and punches the air twice, releasing a couple of large burn dust rounds, rocketing herself through the air towards her sister. Yang slams into the younger teen and grins as they begin to descend together. The blonde lets go as they reach the treetops, and the two execute their respective landing strategies, Ruby using her scythe and Yang slowing her momentum with her shotgun-gauntlets before landing in a roll. Climbing to her feet, she grins again, turning to look her clearly happy sister in the eyes.“Yo, Rubes! Looks like we're partners, huh?” Ruby dashes forward and hugs the blonde, letting out a loud whooping noise.“Yang! I can't believe it! We're partners!” Yang laughs, returning the hug gaily.“This is gonna be great!” The two separate. “So... which way is north?”

Weiss is

not

scared. She's

not.

Sure, she's surrounded by two humongous Ursai, and yes, Myrtenaster has not been particularly effective against them, but that doesn't mean she's scared! She's just... cautious. Cycling through her dust vials, she chooses burn dust, and slashes forward, igniting one of the Ursa. It roars in pain, but the damage doesn't appears to be mostly superficial. Weiss winces, mind whirring as she thinks about her next move.

The Ursa she burned rakes its claws towards her and she raises her sword to block it, parrying the claws and ducking away from the Grimm. Her instincts suddenly shout for her to dodge and she does, just in time for the second Ursa to slam its arms down. Mentally, she chastises herself. She had forgotten the second one.

Both Grimm leap for her, and she jumps away. The two Grimm ram into each other and Weiss takes the precious few seconds she just gained to switch to ice dust. She stabs her sword into the ground, and ice crackles to life before her, encasing the two Ursai up to their necks. They growl at her and try to move. Weiss can see the ice start to break and nearly groans in frustration. Lifting Myrtenaster, she shifts into one of her offensive stances, and, cycling back to burn, she launches forward, stabbing one of the Ursa as it is mid-roar. The Grimm's head burns brightly, and, with a final angered roar, it dies, body slowly vanishing in a curl of smoke. The remaining Ursa howls in fury, breaking through the ice encasing it. Weiss narrowly dodges the wide paw swipe, parrying quickly when it brings its other paw down at her.

Before she can attack back, the Ursa makes an odd grunting noise, and Weiss watches, confused, as it falls onto its side. As its body begins to dissolve, a dark-haired girl drops down from the trees, tugging a blade from the Ursa's neck via a ribbon as she does so. Gold-coloured eyes land on her bright blue. The girl sighs,

“I guess this is a thing now.” Weiss almost puffs up in indignation. But this girl had saved her, so she simply offers a curt nod instead.“I guess so.” She says, eyeing her new partner. “I am Weiss Schnee.” The girl smirks and sheathes her weapon,“Blake Belladonna.”  “So...” Yang starts, staring up at the blond haired boy pinned to the tree. He glares down at her and crosses his arms at her amused grin.“Don't laugh!” He snaps. Ruby, who had been silent since they landed, giggles lightly and points at the javelin keeping him impaled.“That's Pyrrha's weapon! She'll be here soon, no doubt!” As if summoned, Pyrrha crashes through the underbrush, slamming a Beowulf into the ground. The Grimm dies quickly and Pyrrha, straightening with a huff, waves once she spots them.“Hello again!” She says cheerfully, before turning to look up at the boy. “Sorry about that.” Pyrrha raises her arm and her javelin comes flying towards her. The boy shrieks as he falls, landing rather heavily on his rear. He moans in pain as he stands.“Ow...” He looks around at the three girls. “Um...” He coughs into his hands and forces a cocky grin onto his face. “The name's Jaune Arc! Short, sweet, ladies love it!” Yang guffaws loudly at that. Jaune glares at her again. “Hey! Stop laughing!” It takes a moment for Yang's laughs to fade into giggles. Wiping a tear from her eye, she grins at him,“Sorry, sorry, it's just-” She smothers another laugh. “-you sounded so ridiculous!” Jaune pouts and crosses his arms again. He looks to Pyrrha,“So, uh, are we partners then?” Pyrrha nods, stepping towards him.“Yes! My name's Pyrrha. Pyrrha Nikos.” The redhead shoots her new partner an odd look, expecting him to recognize her name, but all Jaune does is nod.“Cool. I'm Ja...” He trails off, reddening in embarrassment. “...right, already introduced myself.” He turns to the two sisters. “Um, you two are?” Yang grins widely and flexes an arm.

“Yang Xiao-Long. And unlike you, the ladies sure

do

love it!” She shoots Pyrrha a wink, chuckling when both Jaune and the redhead blush heavily. Ruby gives a short wave as she says,

“I'm Ruby! Ruby Rose!” Recognition flares in Jaune's eyes, but, upon seeing the glares directed at him from both Yang and Pyrrha, he wisely says nothing. Jaune smiles at them all.“Nice to meet you all!” A sudden tap on his cheek draws his attention. Confused, he turns to Pyrrha, who has her hand raised to his face, her head cocked to the side in question.“Jaune, why haven't you used your aura to heal this?” There's a brief flare of pain on his skin as he reaches up, feeling a small cut on his cheek. He blinks.“Aur-what now?” The three girls gape at him.“D-Do you not know what aura is?” Pyrrha asks, clearly incredulous. Jaune casts her a suspicious look and grumbles,

“Do

you

know what aura is?” Yang snorts, mumbling under her breath about how

that never works

. Jaune glares at her again. “Shut up! It does so!” Ruby, who had been watching the proceedings in silence, makes a confused noise, drawing attention to her.

“Jaune...” She begins, “If you don't even know what aura is, who unlocked yours?” The boy groans in defeat,“You have to unlock aura?! Man, that's gonna take forever!” Pyrrha sighs, shaking her head,“Aura,” She looks at Jaune. “is the manifestation of our souls. It bears our burdens and shields our hearts. With practice, aura can shield us from injury. Everyone has aura, even animals.” Jaune frowns.“So even monsters?” Pyrrha shakes her head again.

“No. The monsters we fight

–

the creatures of Grimm – they lack a soul. They are the manifestation of anonymity. They are the dark, and we are the light. Understanding the dark and the light helps us manifest our aura. Everyone has some of both within them.” She smiles at Jaune. “By bearing our souls outward, we can deflect harm. Our tools and equipment are conduits for our aura. You protect yourself and your soul when you fight.” Jaune's eyes brighten.

“It's like a force field!” That sends the two listening sisters into hysterics. Pyrrha blushes a bit and mutters,

“Yes, I suppose that's accurate enough.” She clears her throat and raises a hand to Jaune's cheek. “Now, close your eyes and concentrate inward.” She waits for him to do so before flaring her bright red aura.

For it is in passing that we achieve immortality.

Jaune slowly begins to glow with a white aura.

Through this, we become a paragon of virtue and glory to rise above all, infinite in distance and unbound by death.

Pyrrha raises her other hand to Jaune's chest.

I release your soul, and by my shoulder, I protect thee.

With a sharp gasp, Pyrrha lurches back, panting slightly. Jaune's eyes snap open,

“Pyrrha? Are you alright?” She nods, straightening.“I'm alright. I used my aura to unlock yours, but the energy that protects you now is your own.” She smiles as she watches the cut on Jaune's cheek heal. Jaune looks down at his hands as the white glow begins to fade. “You have quite a lot of aura.” Jaune grins at her and makes to respond, but he is cut off by Ruby tackling them in a hug with a shout of,“GUYS! That was awesome!”  Weiss and Blake approach the abandoned temple. Blake grabs one of the relics, a knight-piece akin to the ones used in a game of chess, and wags it in Weiss' direction.“The knight? That work for you?” Weiss gives a noncommittal shrug. Honestly, she didn't really care which relic they took, as long as they got one. “Great.” Blake tucks the relic into a hidden pocket, and the partners begin to walk out of the temple.

“Should we take a short rest and see who grabs the other knight?” Weiss asks, and she

swears

she sees Blake's bow twitch. Her partner hums in agreement and leans against one of the crumbling pillars. Weiss watches her for a moment longer before sighing and looking to the forest.

“Hey, Weiss.” Blake starts suddenly and the heiress turns to her. “Why'd you choose Beacon over Atlas?”“Beacon has the best reputation among-” Weiss begins, but Blake cuts her off,

“No, that's one part of the reason, sure, but it's not

why

.” Weiss eyes the dark-haired girl warily. Their gazes lock, and, surprising herself, Weiss is the first to look away.

“It's... personal.” She mumbles. “My father...” She shakes her head and scowls. “I don't have to give you my reasons! I'm here, and I'm your partner, and my reasons don't matter!” Blake cocks her head to the side, eyes narrowed with an intrigued light in them, and her

blasted

bow twitches again.

“Fine.” She says. Weiss casts her a suspicious glare.

“Why did

you

choose Beacon?” Blake shrugs.

“I want to become a huntress. I've seen a lot of inequality in the world, and I hope that as a huntress I can help put a stop to it. Beacon is an end to the means, in a way.” Weiss nods, teeth digging into her cheek. Suddenly, her reasons for being a huntress seem so... shallow. Silence falls between them. After a minute or so, Weiss breaks it with, “My father is... not a good man.” Blake perks up at that, and, once again, Weiss can see her bow twitch. “I came to Beacon to live up to my name. Schnee.” She looks directly into Blake's eyes. “My father wasn't the start of my name, and I refuse to let him be the end of it.” She scowls heavily. “I'm not stupid. I know what he's been doing to the company, what practices he's been employing. I hope...” She trails off, mind blanking for a moment. “...if I become a huntress... I can stop it. Stop him.” Weiss takes in a deep breath and turns to Blake. She needs to know the truth. She's seen Blake's bow twitch, far to often for it to be the wind. Most likely, Blake was actually a faunus in hiding. And Weiss needs to know if she's correct in her assumption. “Blake... are you...” Her sentence hangs, unfinished. She wants to ask, wants to know, but... why did it matter? If Blake was a faunus... did it really matter? To her father, maybe it would, but did it matter to Weiss? It's not like Blake was a member of the White Fang or anything! So...“Weiss?” Blake asks, eyes wide. Weiss smiles at her and shakes her head,“Never mind. It doesn't matter.”  “Do you think the relics are in there?” Jaune asks, gesturing to the large cave before them. The three girls share a look.“Uh, probably not?” Yang says, eyeing a sign with a crudely drawn scorpion on it. Her eyes flick to her sister, who was, for what felt like the hundredth time, looking over her shoulder at nothing. Yang frowns and suggests, “How about you and Pyrrha head in and see, and me and Rubes will wait out here.”“Um...” Jaune starts, looking to Pyrrha. “Okay?” As the two partners disappear into the cave, Yang turns to Ruby with narrowed eyes.“Alright missy, what's going on with you?” Ruby blinks.“Uh...” She cocks her head to the side. “What do you mean?” Yang taps her sister's nose, eliciting a squeak from the girl. “You've been really, really quiet and you keep looking over your shoulder at nothing! What's going on?” Ruby winces. How was she supposed to explain that the fucking hallucination had come back? She never told anyone that it was there in the first place! She glances over her shoulder at Roman, who is smoking a cigar while leaning against a tree. He smirks at her and makes to say something, when Yang cuts him off with, “Again! You did it again!” Ruby whirls around and raises her hands pleadingly,

“It's just – I keep hearing something! That's all!” Yang pauses, head moving to listen for whatever it was. After a moment, an odd, fluttering, sound reaches them. Ruby's eyebrows shoot up. She'd been lying about the noise, but now there actually

was

a noise! What luck! Yang's gauntlets activate, and she raises her fists.

“Who is there? Show yourself!” As if answering, a huge Nevermore swoops down at them, shrieking loudly. Its wings are humongous

,

easily stretching across the small forest clearing. Both sisters briefly wonder how long the Grimm had been following them. The Nevermore screeches and lunges at them. “Oh shit!” Yang shouts, rolling out of the way of a talon grab. Ruby, however, gets an absolutely

brilliant

idea with her exhaustion-addled mind, and begins to speed towards the large bird Grimm. “Ruby, what the hell are you doing?!” Ruby grins maniacally at her sister as she leaps up onto the Nevermore, grasping at its plumage.

“Hitching a ride!”  “Oh god we're going to die.” Yang deadpans as she grips tighter to the shrieking Nevermore. Currently, they're flying rather high in the sky, desperately holding onto the Grimm. Ruby giggles beside her,

“Don't worry, sis! We're gonna be fine!” She smiles widely at the blonde, a manic glint in her eyes. “Isn't this

awesome

though?!” Yang glares at her for a moment, before breaking out in a toothy grin,

“Hell yeah! This is the best!” She looks down at the quickly passing forest, and spots a large stone structure. “Oh! Look! The temple!” She shakes her head in the temple's direction, and Ruby whoops.“Yeah! Let's see if we can steer this thing!” Slowly, Ruby climbs the Nevermore's side, hopping over its wings to land on its back. She unsheathes Crescent Rose and slams the scythe down onto the Grimm's right wing. “Hold on tight!” She shouts, as the bird screams in pain, beginning to drift to the right. Ruby pulls her scythe from the Grimm's flesh, and, aiming for the left wing this time, slashes down. “Get ready to jump!” She hollers, as the Nevermore begins to pass over the temple.“You're crazy Ruby! I love it!” Yang booms, releasing her grip. Ruby laughs and, stabbing the Grimm one last time, sheathes Crescent Rose. She pushes as much of her aura as she could into her semblance, and launches off the Nevermore's back.  Blake's jaw drops slightly as she watches two of her fellow applicants jump off a fucking Nevermore. One that they had been riding. Weiss, standing next to her, is gaping openly.“D-Did they just...?” The heiress asks, turning to look at her partner. Blake nods dumbly. “I... okay, wow...” Weiss shakes her head. “They're insane.”“Probably.” Blake mumbles, as the two applicants land with a roll. The blond one is grinning widely, while the red-wearing, familiar looking, one is positively beaming. Weiss groans, burying her face into one of her hands.“Dear god, I know those two.” Blake raises a brow and Weiss gestures to the two vaguely. “They're sisters. I met them the moment I got off the airship. The blonde's Yang Xiao-Long and the other's Ruby Rose.” Blake's eyes widen and she does a double-take.“That's Ruby Rose?” She says, not quite believing what she just heard. The kid who killed Torchwick was here? At Beacon? “She...” Her jaw works about, but Blake isn't quite able to make a noise other than a confused whimper. Weiss heaves an understanding sigh and raises an arm.“Yang! Ruby!” She calls, drawing the two's attention. The sisters rush forward, still grinning. Yang reaches them first, hand raised in greeting.“Yo, Weissicle!” Weiss sputters,“D-Do not call me Weissicle!” Yang laughs loudly, turning to Blake.“Hello! I'm Yang, Yang Xiao-Long! Nice to meet you!” Blake gives her a slow nod.“Blake.” She then adds on, as an afterthought, “Belladonna. Blake Belladonna.” She internally winces at the awkward stilt of her words, but the sisters didn't seem to notice or care.“This is my little sister!” Yang slings an arm around the red-cloaked girl beside her. “Ruby!” Ruby waves shyly, before ducking out from under her sister's arm. She seems to melt into a blur of red, rushing into the temple, faster than anyone Blake has seen before. She's back less than a second later, a knight-piece held in her hands. She smiles at Yang,“I got the relic, Yang!” Yang flashes a thumbs-up.“Awesome! It's a cute little pony!” The blonde looks to Weiss. “Which one did you guys take?” Blake gets out their own knight-piece. “Ooh! Samsies!”Before anyone can respond, a loud crashing sound comes from the treeline. A large Ursa comes through the underbrush, paws swiping randomly. It falls over, dead, a moment later. A ginger-haired girl laughs loudly as she leaps off the Grimm. Yang's brows shoot up. “Did she just ride an Ursa here?” Weiss snorts,“Like you're any better. You two rode a Nevermore.” Yang shrugs and says,“It seemed like the quickest way here.” The ginger girl races past them into the temple, oohing and awing over the many relics. She finally picks one with a sing-song,“I'm queen of the castle, I'm queen of the castle!” As she dances, a dark-haired young man staggers from the brush, clearly winded.“Nora!” He shouts, and the girl stops, a cheeky grin on her face.“Coming Ren!” She runs back to him, and pounces on him.Another loud crash is heard, and this time, Pyrrha comes running out of the forest, a huge Deathstalker skittering after her. Hanging onto it's stinger is Jaune. The boy is screaming surprisingly loud and shrill. The Deathstalker slams a claw into Pyrrha, who brings her shield up just in time. The claw bounces off the shield, the force of which sends Pyrrha flying towards the four girls gathered by the temple. Ruby jumps forward, catching the redhead before she hits the ground. Pyrrha smiles at her saviour, standing and dusting herself off with an amused,“Thank you, Ruby.” She waves at Yang. “Hello again!”“Uh...” Yang fumbles, “...hey?” The blonde shakes her head. “You okay, Pyrrha?” Pyrrha dips her head.“I'm doing just fine, Yang. Although,” She looks at Jaune, still screaming and holding onto the Deathstalker. “I could use some help with this.” She then looks up, lips pursed. “Oh, and with that.” The group collectively look up, and see the large Nevermore circling them.“Of for the love of...” Yang growls under her breath. She rakes a hand aggressively through her hair. “Great, just great!” She looks over the group. “So, uh, how we gonna do this?” There is a flash of red, heading into the temple and then back out, and Ruby is now holding out a rook-piece to Pyrrha,“Here, Pyrrha. You should ask those two,” She points to Ren and Nora. “to help with the Deathstalker. Yang, Weiss, Blake, and I will deal with the Nevermore.” She looks over the group, getting a few nods. “Since we all have relics, we don't need to beat them. We just need to distract them enough to make a run for it. Of course, if you get a chance to, destroy them.” Pyrrha smiles, tucking the relic into a hidden pouch.“A sound plan, Ruby!” She looks over at Ren and Nora. “Excuse me!” She shouts, running for them. Ruby watches her talk quietly with the two for a moment longer, before turning to the three girls behind her.“Alright, first, we need to lure the Nevermore away from this temple.” She points off to the north-east. “I saw a set of large ruins that way while Yang and I were riding it. If we lure it there, we'll be able to hide. Hopefully, it flies off, away from the temple.” She tilts her head. “Unless you three want to try and kill it?” Blake responds,“If we get the chance, we should take it.”“Right. Let's go!”  “You know, Red, I knew you were crazy, but riding a Nevermore and then planning to kill it? Insane.” The hallucination Roman says, crouching next to the cloaked girl. Ruby growls lightly, glaring at him.“Shut up.” She can see the other girls look at her in confusion and she bites her lip. She hadn't meant to say that aloud. Roman raises his hands and backs away from the wall,“Hey, no need to be hostile. Just, ah, you might want to dodge.” Ruby blinks, turning to him, confused. She doesn't get a chance to question him. The Nevermore, which she had unfortunately forgotten about for a second, comes crashing into the ruins with a loud shriek before she could. Ruby swears under her breath and dashes through the crumbling ruins. She leaps up, running along a few falling rocks, sparsely using her semblance to speed herself up. She lands atop the ruins' tower, Crescent Rose coming unsheathed into her hands. She looks around for her teammates. She can see Yang standing on a pillar a few metres away, shooting at the circling Nevermore. Weiss hops up next to Ruby, panting slightly, her sword held tightly in a white-knuckled grip. There's a glint of a blade that draws Ruby's attention, and she sees Blake swing herself on top of the Grimm. The dark-haired girl hacks and slashes as she runs along the Nevermore's back. Ruby's eyes narrow. 'How do we kill this thing...' Her eyes flick around. Finally, she's drawn to Blake's ribbon, as the teen swings herself up next to her partner, and, after seeing Weiss use a glyph to blast a piece of stone at the Grimm, a plan forms.“Yang!” Ruby shouts, gaining the blonde's attention. “Distract it!”“Got it, sis!” Yang grins, launching herself at the Nevermore. She lands on its head, and begins pummelling it mercilessly. Ruby turns to Weiss and Blake,“Weiss, Blake, I have a plan.” The partners look at each other,“What is it?” Weiss asks, an eyebrow raised. As Ruby begins to explain the entirety of her plan, the gazes of the two girls beside her slowly grow more and more incredulous. Upon finishing, Weiss spits out, “You're kidding, right?” Ruby opens her mouth to explain once again, but she is cut off,“WATCH OUT!” Yang calls out, blasting out of the way of the Nevermore. The large Grimm rears back with a loud, screaming-like noise, and its wings lift. Ruby, knowing exactly what it is about to do, slams into Weiss, pushing her into Blake, leading to both of them tumbling off the tower. The Nevermore shrieks, the sound piercing through her eardrums, drilling into her brain. It hurt. “RUBY!” Yang screams, as feathers rain down, and Ruby begins to turn, trying and failing to bring up enough aura to place into her semblance. There's a gust of wind and something presses insistently, painfully, against her right shoulder, and Ruby pauses, silver eyes drifting down,“Oh.” The sound escapes her involuntarily. A large feather is embedded into her shoulder, running straight through. 'It hurts,' Ruby thinks, staring, incomprehensibly, at the blackness poking through her flesh, scythe dropping from her shaking hands. There is a surprising amount of blood leaking from the wound. Her aura is pulsing around the injury, trying to heal the impalement, but being unable to do so with the feather still inside. Ruby brings her left hand up. Gently, she touches the blood-stained end of the feather, sending a screaming twinge of pain through her entire body. Her hand shakes violently as she clutches the area above the injury. Ruby figures that she's probably in shock.“Ruby! Oh my god, oh my god!” Yang leaps next to her, lilac eyes wide in horror as she takes in the scope of her sister's injuries. “Oh fuck, I – Ruby are you – oh fuck what do I do?!” Weiss and Blake climb back up over the ledge, anger set in the their eyes, until they land on Ruby.“Oh god, Ruby?!” Weiss shouts, rushing forward, Blake at her heels. Ruby blinks dumbly at them, her head feeling light, her heart racing in her chest. “We have to do something!” The three older girls begin conversing, trying to decide what they should be doing, pooling their collective knowledge of first aid.“Red, just pull the feather out.” Ruby turns to the hallucination. Roman grins, taking a drag of his cigar. “Your aura's trying to heal it already. But it can't, because the feather's still in there.” He shrugs, “So remove it!” Vaguely, Ruby knows that doing so is a very bad idea, but her head is so light, and her fingers are beginning to feel so cold. She nods, her left hand moving from holding her shoulder to begin pushing the end of the feather back through. It doesn't budge. “Gotta hit it a bit harder than that, little red!” She tilts her head and, pulling her arm back, slams her fist into the feather tip, striking it with enough force to push it right back through. The feather falls to the ground with a wet thud, drawing her teammates attention.“What the fuck, Ruby?!” Yang nearly screams, her eyes widening further. “Why the hell would you do that?!” Ruby's head lolls back, and she mumbles,“Heal... trying to... aura...” Her aura flashes brightly, the dark red centralizing on the wound. It doesn't heal it completely, considering her aura is still staggeringly low, but it does slow the bleeding. “Hurts...”“Of course it hurts, you dolt!” Weiss sputters, “You shouldn't have done that!” The heiress strides forward, inspecting the now sluggishly bleeding wound. “We need to wrap this. Do either of you have any bandages?” She looks back at the rest of the team. They both shake their heads. “Damn...”“Wait, use this!” Yang shouts, pulling off her orange scarf. Weiss grabs the scarf, nodding her thanks to Yang. The heiress begins wrapping the fabric around Ruby's injury, desperately ignoring the feeling of blood on her fingers, but she runs into a problem fairly quickly. She tries to tie the make-shift bandage off, but it's too short. It'd probably be long enough if she only wound it around once, but winding it once wouldn't be tight enough.“I-It's too short, I can't tie it.” Yang scowls,“Try harder!”“I can't!”“Try harder, dammit!” Blake cuts them off,“H-Here.” The two turn to Blake, who is holding out a black length of fabric, a ribbon, and immediately their eyes are drawn to the pair of cat ears perched on her head. The ribbon had been hiding them; hiding her heritage. Both girl's jaws drop.“B-Blake, you're a-” Yang starts, but Blake once again cuts her off,“Just take it!” Weiss holds the ends of the scarf in one hand, and grabs the ribbon. She ties one end of the ribbon to the an end of the scarf, and winds it around once more before tying it off. Weiss backs off from Ruby, wiping her stained hands on her dress.“O-Okay, now what?” Weiss asks. Ruby coughs, and the three older girls look at her.“The plan... we do... it.” She hisses out between ragged breaths. Weiss and Blake exchange a look.“But...” Silver eyes glare at them, as if piercing their souls.“We're doing it.”  “Excuse me!” Ren and Nora look to the redhead calling at them. They exchange a glance.“Can we help you?” Ren asks, Stormflower unravelling in his hands, just in case. Nora's hands twitch as she debates grabbing her hammer.“Please!” The redhead points at the Deathstalker. “I'm Pyrrha. Can you help me save my partner, Jaune?” Nora grins, hands flying to her hammer,“Hell yeah! I'm Nora, this is Ren!” Ren gives a small wave. “Let's kick some ass!” With that, Nora launches at the Deathstalker, slamming her hammer into one of it's legs. Ren begins to pepper the scorpion Grimm with gunfire as Pyrrha races forward, spear in hand. The redhead blocks a grab from one of its claws and stabs her spear into its eyes. The scorpion hisses in pain and rage. Pyrrha tries to dislodge her weapon, but it is stubbornly refusing to move. The Deathstalker sweeps its other claw at her, and she is forced to dodge back, essentially weaponless. Sure, her shield could be used as a weapon, but it wasn't strong enough on its own. Green eyes trail over the Deathstalker, before settling on her partner still clinging to its tail. Perhaps if she...“Jaune!” She shouts, and Jaune looks to her, blue eyes wide. “Let go! Now!” Jaune sputters,“Are you crazy?!”“NOW!” Jaune groans, but lets go nonetheless. He's sent flying back, landing with a heavy thud and skidding a bit across the ground. His aura flares for a moment, white sizzling across his body. It wasn't broken, not yet, but Pyrrha knew that his aura was inexperienced and could break at any moment. Jaune rubs his chest a bit and sits up,“Ow...” He mumbles, staggering to his feet.“JAUNE!” Pyrrha's shout startles him, and he looks up to see the Deathstalker running at him. He squeaks and gets out his shield, ducking behind it, just as the scorpion brings its stinger down. The stinger bounces off his shield, raising to sit just above the scorpion's head. Jaune takes in the stinger's current position and a plan to beat it forms in his mind. He looks to Pyrrha a grins,“Pyrrha! The stinger! Separate it!” He hollers, leaping away from the enraged Grimm. Pyrrha takes less than a second to process the order, and throws her shield, using her semblance to rotate it faster. The disc spins viciously, tearing easily through the heavy chitin on the Grimm's tail. The stinger drops quickly, stabbing deep into its face-plate. The Deathstalker roars in agony as it scuttles back a few metres, claws raising in a futile attempt to pull its own stinger out. Jaune's eyes flick to the ginger girl standing beside Pyrrha and smirks, “Now, hammer-girl!” Nora grins and fires herself into the air, aiming at Pyrrha. Pyrrha recalls her shield, and with it, alongside her natural strength and a well-timed grenade, she launches Nora into the air. The ginger girl laughs as she soars through the air. There's a brief moment of silence before she comes barrelling down, hammer slamming into the stinger with the aid of another grenade. The Deathstalker screams and skitters back, dark ichor leaking from the wound on its face. The damage is fatal, however, as the Grimm falls down, its scream puttering out into a hiss as it dissolves. Jaune breathes heavily for a few seconds, before he grins widely, “We did it!” Pyrrha walks towards the dissolving Grimm and grabs her spear, heaving a soft sigh of relief. She turns and smiles at him,“We did it. All thanks to your plan, Jaune.”  “Holy shit, Red. Here I thought riding a Nevermore would be the height of your insanity.” Ruby ignores Roman's snark. She has to get this just right. If even the slightest thing is off, the Nevermore might survive.She's currently balanced rather precariously on her scythe, which is situated on Gambol Shroud's ribbon. They used the ribbon alongside some glyphs to set up a makeshift catapult. Weiss is using some sort of gravity glyph to prime the catapult, all while sending worried glances at Ruby's injured shoulder. The red-cloaked girl tightens her grip on her scythe, ignoring the pain, and turns to Weiss,“Weiss, think you can make the shot?” The heiress scoffs, drawing up bravado she surely isn't truly feeling,“Can I? Of course I can!” Ruby inclines her head, looking to the Nevermore. Yang had jumped back on it, to distract it once more. The blonde is firing her gauntlets at it, leading it to a specific area. Once the Nevermore is perfectly aligned with the large cliff-side, Ruby cocks her weapon and smirks.“YANG!” Ruby yells, and her sister back-flips off the Grimm. Ruby nods to Weiss. “Now!” The gravity glyph releases her, and Ruby fires a shot at just the right moment, sending her speeding towards the Grimm. She ignores the flash of near-blinding pain radiating from her shoulder as she nears the monster.“HAH!” She hears Weiss shout as Crescent Rose hooks around the Nevermore's neck. A series of white glyphs appear beneath Ruby's feet, leading up the large cliff-face. Pushing what is left of her aura away from her wound and into her semblance, Ruby runs up the cliff, dragging the Nevermore behind her. It takes maybe two seconds to reach the top, yet with the pain of her injuries it feels like forever. Ruby fires a burn crystal round, using the power behind it as well as the speed gained from her semblance to tear the Nevermore's head clean off. She spins flashily in the air before landing with a crack and a flash of dark red, signifying that her aura had broken. She leans on her hands and knees for a moment, grunting at a stabbing pain emanating from one of her ankles. A quick look determines that it is not broken, merely fractured if injured at all. She forces herself to her feet and staggers to the cliff-edge. She smiles down at her teammates, Crescent Rose held proudly beside her. They did it.  “Russell Thrush,” Ruby watches as a green-haired boy with a mohawk strides onto stage, a picture of him appearing on the large screen behind the headmaster. “Dove Bronzewing,” This time, a brown haired boy with neatly combed hair walks up. “Cardin Winchester,” An arrogant looking boy with burnt-orange hair that is slicked back swaggers onto the stage. “and Sky Lark.” The final boy takes his place, his long dark blue hair standing out oddly with his teammate's brighter colours. Ruby claps politely alongside the rest of the students. Her shoulder is now wrapped by actual bandages and hidden beneath a new set of clothes. Her ankle hadn't been very injured, merely a small fracture that her aura (what little had been restored) healed before they even made it to the infirmary.“I'm calling it,” Roman starts, “bullies, the lot of them.” Ruby sighs. The hallucination Roman had disappeared shortly before she slaughtered the Nevermore. And now he's back.“Go away...” She mutters under her breath. Roman smirks at her, giving her a wink as he vanishes. Ruby tunes back into Ozpin's short speech,“-you will work together as Team CRDL, led by Cardin Winchester!” The newly designated Team CRDL leave the stage among ovation. “Jaune Arc,” Jaune stumbles his way forward, earning a few snickers from the audience. “Nora Valkyrie,” Nora skips onto stage. “Lie Ren,” Ren strides confidently forward, coming to a stop next to Nora. “and Pyrrha Nikos.” Pyrrha smiles as she walks on, until she is standing next to Jaune. Altogether, the group of four hadn't been injured at all from the Deathstalker. “You four retrieved the white rook pieces. From this day forth, you will work together as Team JNPR, led by Jaune Arc!” Jaune blushes, blue eyes widening.“L-Led by?!” Ozpin gives him a smile.“Congratulations, young man.” Team JNPR leave the stage, Jaune still in awe about his new position. Ozpin clears his throat, and Ruby knows which team is next. After all, there's only four of them left from initiation. “And finally;” The crowd begins clapping preemptively, “Blake Belladonna,” Blake walks onto stage, gold eyes flicking around the room, her ears once again hidden by a bow. There is a small bandage on the faunus' wrist. “Weiss Schnee,” Weiss holds her head high as she saunters onto the stage. The heiress had changed into a set of more casual wear, as she ended up smearing blood on her combat outfit. “Yang Xiao-Long,” Yang grins, jogging forward to stand beside Blake. The blonde has a few bandages wrapped around her fingers, the digits being bruised from her assault on the Nevermore. Ruby sees her picture flicker into existence on the large screen behind the headmaster, and the room explodes into chatter. “and Ruby Rose.” Ruby takes a deep breath and strides onto the stage, looking far more confident than she truly felt. Her left hand twitches, and she wants to bring it to her injured shoulder, but she knows that it wouldn't help any. If anything, it might make her wound worse. “The four of you retrieved the white knight pieces.” The pictures on the screen rearrange themselves, and Ruby gets a sinking feeling in her gut when her photo is placed first in line. “From this day forth, you will work together as Team RWBY,” 'Oh god oh god oh god no no no no-' “led by Ruby Rose!” Yang booms a laugh, sweeping her sister into her arms, being mindful of her injury. Ruby's eyes are wide as she stares, disbelieving, at Ozpin's vaguely saddened face.“I'm so proud of you!” Yang shouts. Ruby feels like dying. What the hell is Ozpin thinking?!“I... I...” She tries to say, but nothing comes out. She looks to her two other teammates in terror. Blake is looking at her speculatively, while Weiss looks both shocked and incredulous. Ozpin lets out a forlorn sigh,“Looks like things are shaping up to be an... interesting year.”  Glynda Goodwitch is not feeling particularly happy. She stalks out of the elevator into Ozpin's office, eyes lowered into a harrowing glare. The silver-haired man of her ire sits behind his desk, sipping from his mug of cocoa.“Glynda, what brings you here?” Ozpin asks.“Ozpin, what the hell were you thinking?!” Glynda growls, “We agreed that Miss Rose is not mentally fit to lead a team right now!” Ozpin hums, taking another sip of his drink. “Ozpin!”“Glynda, calm down.” He starts, “I know we agreed on Miss Rose's current state. However,” He sighs, leaning deep into his chair. “there are circumstances beyond our control.”“What circumstances?”“The Vytal Festival, for one.” Glynda raises a brow. “The councils decided on Vale, on Beacon, to host this year.” Green eyes narrow, a vague feeling of horror flaring,“Is it because of-”“Yes.” Ozpin places his mug on the desk and clasps his hands together, resting his chin against them. “As you know, it was down to either us or Atlas to host the Vytal Festival this year. Lionheart dropped Haven out early on, and, as we know, Shade is currently embroiled in a series of Grimm infested sandstorms, and was subsequently disqualified from the running.” Glynda nods. “The decision was left to both the Vale council and the Atlas council. Truly, I figured Atlas would have won the right this year. However...”“Miss Rose.” Glynda says, her voice dropping into a whisper of realization. Ozpin dips his head,“When Miss Rose caused the accident that took the life of the infamous thief Roman Torchwick, the councils near unanimously declared the Kingdom of Vale, and as such, Beacon Academy, the host. But there was a condition.” Glynda's hands clench into fists. “Miss Rose is expected to take part in the singles round of the tournament. And as the team leader is the one who decides who enters the doubles rounds...” Glynda scowls,“If Miss Rose wasn't the team leader, there would be no way for her to participate past the team rounds.” Ozpin nods, eyes sliding closed.“If we had went with our original idea for either Miss Schnee or Miss Belladonna to lead the team, Miss Rose is near guaranteed to not be able to participate. Both girls have already seen Miss Rose's fragile mentality, with her stunt with the Nevermore and her sheer disregard for her own injuries. No leader would allow such a wildcard to fight for their team.” Glynda sighs heavily,“This is going to end badly, Ozpin.” Ozpin sighs, gaze shifting out the large windows,“I know.”  Yang lies on her bed, listening to the quiet breaths of her sleeping teammates. She can't sleep. Every time she closes her eyes, all she can see is the Nevermore's feather stabbing through her sister. She can see the blood gushing from the wound; can see dark red aura trying and failing to heal; can see her sister slowly dying. If the feather had been a inch to the left, it would have gone through her spine and she'd be... Yang scowls, shaking her head. No, no, don't think like that. Ruby is fine. She's alive. Yang throws an arm over her eyes, a soft groan escaping her. What had Ruby been thinking, when she forced the feather out of her shoulder? Didn't she know that that could have made things exponentially worse? Then again, with the blood loss... yeah she probably couldn't think very clearly. Yang lets out a quiet sigh, her eyes closing. Maybe this time she can actually fall asleep...“Ah!” Yang lowers her arm from her eyes, turning to look over at the sudden gasp. Ruby is sitting up in her bed, eyes screwed shut, shaking hands tightly gripping her cloak. Yang makes to call out to her, but the younger girl hops off her bed before she could. She watches Ruby pace quietly, muttering something too softly to hear, before leaving the dorm room.“What...?” Yang mumbles, shifting out of her bed to follow. What is her sister doing?  
“Little red, little red, come out come out, wherever you are~!” Ruby shivers, ducking further into the side of the dumpster in some dead-end alleyway. Loud, ragged, breaths leave her, no matter how much she tries to quiet them. “Little red? Where are you?” Unbidden, a soft whimper escapes her, clear and loud in the empty alley. “Oh?” Footsteps echo closer to her hiding spot and Ruby looks around, hoping to spot a way out. She slams her eyes shut as the footsteps stop next to her. “Found you!” A freezing cold hand grips the top of her head, dragging her from her hiding spot by her hair.

“Stop, stop!” She cries, desperately trying to pull his hand from her hair. He laughs,

“Can't do that, Red! We have unfinished business!” He continues to tug her along for a few minutes, until they come to a sudden stop. “Here we are!” Ruby cracks open her eyes and chokes as she recognizes where they are. A large bloodstain is soaked into the ground, from where he had landed minutes before.

“No, no, no, no-” His cane slams down onto her back.

“Shut up!” He sneers down at her. “I said we have unfinished business.” He kicks her in the side. “Stand up, little red!” Ruby stumbles to her feet, arm wrapped around her abdomen. He smirks. “Much better.” He twirls his cane. “Come on, get out your ridiculous weapon.” She shakes her head, and he scowls. “I said-” He brings his cane down, slamming it into the arm protecting her abdomen. “-get your ridiculous-” He smacks her on the back of the head, sending her to the ground. “-weapon out!” He brings his cane down, bashing it against her over and over. “NOW!” Ruby struggles to do as he demanded. Crescent Rose slips from its sheath, clattering across the ground. She reaches for it, but a booted foot stomps onto her outstretched hand. She cries out in pain as the bones in her hand break. Cold green eyes blaze in satisfaction, as he stomps down onto her hand once again. He slams his cane onto her head, and she screams. “God, I love hearing those screams!” He kicks her, rolling her onto her back. “Now, let's get to it.” He lifts his cane, the bottom popping up into a target sight. Ruby's eyes widen and she begins to scramble back. He brings a foot down on her abdomen, preventing her from moving any further away, and she clutches at his ankle. “Come now, Red! You've had plenty of fun. Now it's my turn.” He presses his cane to her right breast, digging it into her flesh. He grins. “This might hurt.” He squeezes the trigger-
  Ruby shakes the memory of the nightmare away as she tiptoes down the darkened hallways. Her first instinct is to head to one of the many training rooms, but she hasn't forgotten what happened last time. Chances were, if she went into one again, one of the professors would stop her. She looks out large windows beside her and nods. Some fresh air will help.She opens the large doors before her, and enters the courtyard. The cool air of the night tickles her skin, sending goosebumps up her arms. Perhaps she should have changed into something other than her pyjamas and cloak.“You know, Red,” She jumps at the sudden appearance of Roman. “if you wanted some alone time with me, all you had to do was ask.” Ruby glares at him, a frown breaking across her features.“Shut up.”“Still so hostile!” He presses a hand to his chest dramatically. “What ever did I do?” She scowls at him,“I said shut up Roman!” She swings her fist, and the hallucination shatters like glass once she hits it. Ruby breathes heavily, bringing her hands to her head. She grips her hair, giving a short tug. “I hate him. I hate him.” She crouches on the dew-covered grass and digs her fingernails into her scalp. “I hate him.” She hates him, she truly does. So why is it, when he disappears, she misses him? Her fingers dig deeper into her head, the stinging pain bringing tears to her eyes. “I fucking hate him!” She whispers hoarsely. “...Roman...” She mumbles, feeling a few tears slip loose.“Ruby?” Her head snaps up, and she sees Yang standing behind her. The blonde raises a hand. “Ruby, what are you doing out here?”“Nothing...” Yang's lips purse.“Did you have a nightmare?” Ruby flinches, and Yang takes a step closer. “Hey, Rubes, it's okay. It was just a dream!” Ruby scowls.“I know that, Yang!” She huffs, pushing herself to her feet. “Leave me alone.”“Look, Ruby-”“Just go, Yang!” Ruby glares at the ground. “I want to be alone.”“I...” There's a moment of silence between the sisters. “...alright. Just... don't stay out too late.” The grass crunches beneath Yang's boots as she begins to walk off. “I love you, sis.” Ruby shudders, left hand rising to her head while her right clenches into a tight fist. What is wrong with her? She's never been so flippant with Yang. She sucks in a few hitching breaths. She's just tired. That's all. She'll apologize to Yang tomorrow. Ruby lets out a heavy sigh as she drops back down to the ground. She kicks back, looking up at the shattered moon. She watches a few wispy clouds snake across the sky, eyelids feeling suddenly heavy. Tomorrow.  “Such a shame.” The dark-haired woman sneers, heels clacking against the floor of the warehouse. Glowing amber eyes roam around the warehouse, alighting on a map of Vale from where it hangs above a cluttered desk. Multi-coloured pins dictating the location of dust stores decorate the map's surface, alongside crossed off areas and various locations of importance, such as Beacon Academy. She runs a finger over the lid of an empty crate, scowling in disgust when it comes back dirty. “That man never cleaned this place, did he? Hmm, well, it's too late for that.” Footsteps echo through the darkness. A man steps from the shadows, donned in grey clothes and a mask reminiscent of a Grimm's. He's dragging a trolley behind him, a large crate situated on it. “Open it.” The woman commands, and he nods, pulling the trolley into the light and popping the lid of the crate with a crowbar. Gleaming dust crystals lay inside, nestled in soft fabrics. The woman lifts a heavy ice crystal out, eyeing it with well hidden malicious glee. She gently places the crystal back into the crate and smirks. “We're going to need more men.”

----- CHAPTER BREAK -----

Ruby reaches down and shakes Weiss's shoulder. The heiress mumbles something under her breath as her eyes open slowly."Ruby...?" Weiss mutters, sitting up."Time to wake up, Weiss." Ruby says, backing away from the bed. "We have an hour and a half until class starts, and we still need to decorate." Weiss bobs her head and shifts off the bed. "Yang and Blake are out getting something to eat, so you'll have the washroom all to yourself." The mention of Yang brings a memory of Ruby apologizing for how she acted last night. The blonde had merely smiled and hugged the younger girl. After it all, Yang acted like nothing happened, and Ruby was hugely grateful. With a soft smile, Ruby returns her attention to Weiss, who has now standing before her, yawning daintily,"Thank you for waking me." The heiress gathers her uniform and makes her way into the en-suite. Ruby stares after her for a moment, before looking around the dorm. The room is already fairly cluttered, with four beds and a grand wardrobe, a large desk, and all of their (still packed) belongings. Once they unpack everything, the room would be even more cluttered, possibly to the point where they couldn't walk around. Ruby eyes the beds speculatively."What to do with the beds?"True to her prediction, the room became near unlivable once all their belongings were unpacked. Ruby hums under her breath as she measures the beds. She doesn't have any measuring devices, so she is using her hands and eye-balling what she can. It's a crude and fairly unreliable method, but it works."Ruby, what are you doing?" Yang asks. Ruby glances over her shoulder at her."I'm measuring the beds. If I can get an accurate measurement, we can make these single beds into bunks." Blake nods,"Smart. It would mean more room.""Do we even have time for that?" Weiss asks, looking at the clock. "It's already almost seven-thirty, and our first class is at eight." Ruby's brow furrows as she crunches numbers in her head. After a moment, she sighs,"We won't have time for it. Even if we rush, we'd still be late to class by five minutes." She moves away from the beds, and looks at her teammates. "We should get going now." Ruby looks at the door, had tilting. "Do you guys think Pyrrha is awake? I wouldn't want her or her team to be late." Yang gives Ruby a sly smirk,"Oh? Does my little sister have a crush?" Ruby rolls her eyes, striding past her sister, face ducking to hide the blush rising on her cheeks."Yang, we're friends. I'm looking out for a friend." She opens the door and pokes her head out, glancing around the empty hallway. Straining her ears, she can pick up soft snores coming from the JNPR dorm. "They're still asleep." Yang gently pushes her forward with an amused,"So wake 'em." Ruby walks to the door opposite, and bangs heavily on it."Pyrrha? Jaune? It's almost time for classes!" She shouts, grinning briefly when she hears a few muffled thuds and curses inside the dorm. The door opens and Jaune pokes his head out, dressed in his blue footie, his hair an absolute mess."What was that Ruby?" He yawns."Classes. It's seven-thirty, and we have class at eight.""CLASS?!" Jaune shrieks, zipping back into his dormitory. Ruby looks back at her own team and shrugs,"Should we go?" Before anyone can respond, team JNPR spill from the dorm, straightening their uniforms. Pyrrha smiles,"Thank you for waking us, Ruby!" Their ginger teammate laughs loudly,"Yeah! We woulda slept right through class!" She holds a hand out to Ruby, slinging her other arm around a dark-haired boy. "Heya! I'm Nora, Nora Valkyrie. Ren here's my partner!" Ruby grabs Nora's hand and shakes it,"I'm Ruby Rose. Nice to meet you." Nora's eyes widen."Really? You're Ru-" Nora starts, only to be cut off by Pyrrha slamming an arm into her ribs with a glare. "-oof!""Nora," Pyrrha begins, a threatening tone in her voice. "we talked about this." Nora coughs, looking away,"Right! Uh..." She scratches the back of her head. "...so, classes?""Monsters! Demons! Prowlers of the night! Yes, the creatures known as Grimm have many names. But I merely refer to them as prey! Ha-ha!" Ruby nearly groans at the professor's lame joke. She'd always enjoyed Grimm Studies at Signal, but Professor Port is making it very difficult to pay attention, with his long winded monologues and lame stories about his youth. Ruby's hands move in quick strokes as she draws, occasionally looking up at one of the many posters decorating the walls. She pauses, staring down at the shrieking visage of a Nevermore. Her fingers trace over its wings, the scar on her shoulder twinging at the memory of its feathers. She sighs, tuning back into Port's lecture. "-teeming with creatures that would love to tear you to pieces! And that's where we come in. Huntsmen, huntresses..." The man sends Yang a vaguely flirtatious wink, and Ruby's pencil snaps in her hand at the way Yang recoils, looking uncomfortable. Rage the likes she's never felt before courses through her, and a soft growl emanates from her throat. Her fists clench tightly, nails digging into her palms, drawing blood. This man dared to make her sister feel uncomfortable? He's lucky she doesn't have Crescent Rose on her! She'll tear the flesh from his throat, rip his vocal cords out, strangle him with his own oesophagus-"Ruby!" She lurches back, breaths laboured, and turns to her sister. Yang is staring at her, worried. A quick glance around shows that nearly the whole class is looking at her. "Ruby?" She shudders, nausea roiling through her. Ohgod, she actually thought about killing a man. She enjoyed thinking of it. She stands, body violently shaking."I..." Her breath hitches. "I gotta-" There's a blur of red, and Ruby's gone."Ruby!"Ruby collapses at the edge of the clifftop, curling into herself, hands digging into her scalp painfully. What was that?! She trembles, eyes screwed tightly shut. She wanted to kill Port. Not just kill him, but brutalize him; gore him. If she had actually had Crescent Rose on her... a keening cry comes from her throat. Oh god, if she'd had her weapon-"Lovely outburst, Red." Ruby whimpers, curling further into herself,"Go away, go away, go away..." She hears Roman sigh,"Geez..." Ice cold fingers tug through her hair, and she flinches. He's touching her. "Come now, Red. What was that back there?" Ruby cracks open a silver eye, immediately meeting green. He's crouching next to her, hands sweeping through her hair, the motion oddly comforting. "So? What happened?" Why is she feeling more comforted by a fucking hallucination than her own friends and family? She shifts, pushing herself into a sitting position."I..." Her voice breaks; her throat dry. "I wanted to..." She sniffles, pressing the heel of her palms into her eyes."Wanted to what, Red?" Something in her cracks. She jerks back, silver eyes blazing,"Kill him!" A brief expression of shock dawns on Roman's face. "I wanted to stab him – cut his throat out – strangle him with his own innards!" Roman grins, wide and toothily."Really! Why, didn't know you had it in you, little red!" He pinches her cheek condescendingly and coos, "Such blood lust! Did it feel good?" He tilts her head up. "Imagining yourself murdering him? Covered in his blood?" Her throat tightens. It had felt good. She wanted to do it sobad that it hurt."N-No-""Ah, ah, ah, lying isn't very nice." Her head shakes, and he squeezes her chin to stop her."I-I shouldn't want-""You can't help what you want, Red." He leans closer. "You've only had a little taste! You want more." He purrs, fingers lightly stroking her skin. "It's like an addiction, like heroin. One little taste, and you can't get enough!""B-But..." He trails his fingers lower, tapping them along her throat to the beat of her racing heart."I do have to ask, though, why exactly do you want to be a huntress, Red?" The question startles her. Why did he want to know her reasons to want to be a huntress?"I... I want to be like the heroes from the books." Roman scoffs. "I want to save people and slay monsters.""And you'd do anything for that dream?" There's an odd glint in his eyes. "Even die?" There's something about the inflection in his voice, the harsh whisper turning into an almost excited purr. It sounds oddly dangerous and it sends a shiver down her spine and sets her nerves on edge, but she pushes past the feeling, stuttering out,"Y-Yes! If I die saving someone, then that makes it worth it!" Roman hums in agreement under his breath as he stands. Ruby blinks, turning to look up at him."Very well then." There's a sharp, stabbing pain in her side. Ruby looks down, eyes landing on a small, intricately carved dagger. A dagger that is embedded into her abdomen. For a brief moment, Ruby can't even comprehend what she's seeing. Her passive aura shielding did nothing about it. It cut through her aura as if it didn't even exist. She blinks rapidly, realization dawning on her,"W-What...?""This has been a lovely chat, Ruby." Her head snaps up at the mention of her name. Roman grins down at her. "Let's talk again, if you survive this.""Survive wha-" He kicks her. Ruby barely has a second to comprehend the pain, before she realizes that the ground is no longer underneath her. Her eyes meet his, silver wide in horror, green narrowed in malicious glee. She just barely catches the way his eyes switch from green to pink and brown as she falls.Ozpin sighs as he watches the footage on his scroll. There's no audio and the video quality is grainy, the camera too far away from the cliff to properly pick up on the figure sitting on it. The cameras near the edge of the Emerald Forest only activate upon movement, usually sending a small notification to his scroll. They are placed there to alert him of Grimm, but when he received this alarm, he knew almost immediately who it would be. Ruby Rose. The girl had run out of class mere minutes earlier. But what is she doing on the initiation cliff? Something catches his eye, and he rewinds the footage a bit. There. A glint of metal catches the sun's rays, and Ozpin frowns as the solitary figure moves a little. What is that? A blade of some sort, he knows. But where did it come from? He returns to the live footage. His eyes widen."No-" He chokes off his sentence, as he watches the red figure get thrown off the cliff by some unseen entity. He's on his feet within a second, fingers sailing across the scroll's screen, bringing Glynda's name up. She answers quickly,"What is it, Ozpin? I'm in the middle of class.""Glynda! Gather Teams RWBY and JNPR," The first year teams had been excused from morning classes, and as such were the only ones available at the time. He'd have preferred an older team – perhaps Team CFVY – due to the unknown dangers, but second year teams were currently readying for missions. "and head for the Emerald Forest!" She makes to say something, but he cuts her off, "Now! Miss Rose is in danger." He hangs up on her and grabs his cane, heading for the elevator. Something is seriously wrong in his school. His eyes narrow. And he will find out what."Ruby? Ruuuuby!" Yang shouts, as she and her classmates wander through the Emerald Forest. Weiss and Blake are quiet, both shifting their gazes through the underbrush. Nora and Ren had run off in the other direction with Jaune and Professor Ozpin, saying something about splitting up to cover more ground. Pyrrha had stayed with them, and currently she is trailing a few feet ahead with Professor Goodwitch, occasionally calling out for her friend. "Ruby!" Yang hollers, frustration growing with each unanswered repeat. Where is she? What happened? Ozpin had showed them the footage from the camera, but it only provided questions. What sent her sister over the edge? What was that shiny thing? Yang shakes her head. There will be time for answers later. First, they have to find Ruby."I see something!" Pyrrha calls, racing ahead. Yang speeds up, finally spotting what Pyrrha did – a flash of red in the distance. Pyrrha comes to a sudden stop with a gasp. Yang pushes past her, and nearly screams. Ruby is lying against the base of a tree, left leg bent at an odd angle, the bone literally poking through her flesh. There's some sort of dagger stabbed deep into her abdomen and blood is pooling at an incredible rate, staining her red cloak a much darker shade. For a moment, Yang can't even comprehend that this is her sister. She can hear Professor Goodwitch shouting into her scroll behind her, but the noise is muffled. Everything is muffled. Yang stumbles forward, landing harshly on her knees, and reaches for the younger teen."R-Ruby?" She grabs her sister's shoulder, and gently shakes her. "Ruby...?" She shakes harder. "Hey, come on, get up." Her eyes are burning from the tears welling up in them. "C-Come on, this isn't funny. Wake up." Ruby doesn't answer. Yang's breaths are ragged, and she can feel tears running down her cheeks. "C-Come on..." There's no answer.Ozpin feels the cumulative years of his lives weighing on him as he stands in the small private infirmary, early the next morning. There are many questions battering their way through his head, and none have answers. What happened? A simple question, yet one that doesn't have even a fraction of an answer. He's reviewed the footage from the camera many times, but there is nothing, aside from the blade that seems to come from nowhere. The blade itself had been made to cut clean through any passive aura shielding. The only explanation he can think of is that someone tried to kill Miss Rose. Someone with a semblance perfectly made to hide. But who would do so? And why? He's gone over all registered semblances in the school, but no one in this batch of students had one good for this level of stealth. Next, he will be going over as many registered semblances for the Kingdom of Vale as he can. He sighs, eyes sliding to the only bed, alighting on the pale figure clinging to life there. Miss Rose, Ruby, lies near perfectly still, chest barely rising to indicate that she was alive. Truly, one might think her dead if not for the slow beeps of the heart monitor. Her broken leg is wrapped in a tight cast and is expected to be fully healed within days due to the unique nature of her aura and semblance. The stab wound on her abdomen was a bit trickier to heal, but now it lay stitched closed, with pulses of dark red aura slowly healing it. Even so, the young girl had lost a tremendous amount of blood and she isn't expected to wake for days still. Ozpin's eyes close. He's quite frankly exhausted, having been pouring over files and records for hours on end. This is the first break he's had since yesterday morning."...pro...fess...or...?" His eyes snap open to meet silver. Ruby's eyes are just barely open, hazily watching him. He can see the effect the pain medication she's being treated with, her eyes focusing briefly on him for seconds at a time before drifting away from him."Miss Rose, you are awake." Ozpin lets a smile grace his face. "How are you feeling?" She makes a snort-like sound, the noise wet in her throat."...terrible..." She mumbles, eyes fluttering as she tries to keep them open. Ozpin chuckles,"To be expected." He takes a step closer, placing a hand on the mattress. "Miss Rose, what happened on the cliff?""...aagh..." She groans, eyes closing, "...kicked me... fell...""Who kicked you?" A vaguely confused expression crosses her face,"...pink...? ...not green...""Miss Rose?" She doesn't respond. Ozpin sighs, realizing that she probably fell back into unconsciousness. He moves his hand, briefly touching her arm, feeling her freezing cold skin. "Someone kicked her off the cliff? Who would do that?" He mutters to himself, looking out the window at the slowly rising sun, hand drifting back to his side. What is happening in his school?Weiss is angry. And worried. But mostly, she is terrified. She's been on Team RWBY for less than a week, and she's already seen one of her teammates nearly die twice. One time because Ruby is a self-sacrificing dumbass, and the other because someone tried to assassinate her leader. True, she didn't really see Ruby as team leader, but Ozpin had declared her such, and the headmaster's words were law in Beacon. Weiss had wanted to rebel, to shout and scream about how she should be leader of the team, but that was quickly nipped upon seeing Ruby freak out in their first class. The rage in those silver eyes was haunting, promising fates worse than death. It scaredher. Those weren't Ruby's eyes. She's known the girl mere days, but even so, she knew that such rage was abnormal. Is this what happens when you became famous for causing a death, accidental or otherwise? Heaps and heaps of expectations, whispers following you, stress piling on top of stress? Weiss looks down at her hands, blinking rapidly to vanish the tears that have welled up in her eyes. What would she have done, if she was in Ruby's shoes? Yang had told her and Blake about the nightmares; about how they might be woken by Ruby screaming; about how they might be attacked for trying to help. She told them about the pressure Ruby faces simply walking down the hall; about the terrified glances and awed stares; about the rumours flying about her prowess, about her kills. Weiss knows she's expected to take a life eventually – but she's never considered the consequences, never considered how she will react. Will she have nightmares, like Ruby does? Will she break under the pressure? Or... will she enjoy it? She's read tales of hunters who went mad from blood thirst; read tales of those who enjoyed the act of taking a life so much that it became the only thing they could enjoy anymore. Is that what is happening to Ruby? Ruby is so young. She's a child, hell, Weiss herself is stilla child. Two years younger than Weiss, and Ruby's taken a life and experienced horrors no one should, all caused by her own mind. Will that happen to her?"Miss Schnee? Are you alright?" Weiss jumps at the headmaster's sudden voice, and she turns to find him standing behind her. His silver hair is messy, and there are heavy bags beneath his eyes, as if he hasn't slept in days. And he probably hasn't, considering they found Ruby, a student, bleeding out in the forest a few days ago."Headmaster, I was just... thinking." He hums low in his throat, eyebrow cocking."I see. Care to share?" Weiss looks away from him, gaze lowering to the floor."Sir... did you... make a mistake?" Realizing that that is a bit vague, she clarifies, "When you made Ruby team leader." The man heaves a heavy sigh, regret near tangible."Miss Schnee, I have made many mistakes, more than any man, woman, or child on this planet." Weiss's brow furrows at his sorrowful tone, and she looks up at him. His head is bowed and his eyes are closed as he continues, "Miss Rose should never have been made team leader." Weiss eyes widen,"B-But then why-" Ozpin shakes his head,"There are many circumstances beyond our control, and they all convene on that horrible incident in July and on Miss Rose herself." His eyes open and Weiss nearly flinches at the solid regret inside. "Do I, personally, believe that Miss Rose's appointment to team leader is a mistake? I am unsure. It has been mere days. At this moment, however, I consider that, yes, the role of leader should have gone to someone else. Miss Rose has enough on her plate, much in the likes of Miss Nikos, and being the leader of a team is a daunting responsibility." His eyes lock on hers. "Had I been able to, I would have made either you or Miss Belladonna leader.""M-Me?" Weiss is elated, but the feeling doesn't last. Being a leader... could she be one? She's trained her whole life to take over the SDC, yet when it came to actual leadership roles, she tended to defer to someone else. If she had been team leader, would things be different?"Indeed." He tears his gaze from hers and looks out the window at the courtyard, watching the many students mill about. "Do you know what the Vytal Festival is, Miss Schnee?" Weiss nods,"Yes, sir. The Vytal Festival is a tournament-style round of fights, where the best teams of each year of the top four academies come together to prove who gains the honour of the win." Ozpin flashes a small smile."An excellent answer. The Vytal Festival is also a boon on the economy of the hosting kingdom. Vale was chosen this year." Weiss swallows thickly, realizing what is being said between the lines."B-Because Ruby...?" Ozpin nods, leaning heavily on his cane,"Tell me, Miss Schnee, if you were leader of Team RWBY, would you allow Miss Rose into the doubles and singles rounds?" Weiss shakes her head,"I... no, sir. She is far too... reckless." Weiss's arms come up around her abdomen as she remembers the way Ruby disregarded her own injuries to slay a single Grimm. "They... the people, they want Ruby to fight in the singles, don't they?""Unfortunately. And for that to even have a marginal chance of happening, Miss Rose had to be leader. The Vytal Festival is important, far too important, to the hosting kingdom. The people want a spectacular fight, and what better fight is there, than Pyrrha Nikos, Mistral Champion, against Ruby Rose, Torchwick's Killer?" Weiss doesn't know how to respond. The reason she wasn't made leader boiled down to politics. Because people want to see two extremely strong teenagers beat each other senseless. She wants to be angry, she wants to shout about the unfairness, but what would that achieve? All that will do is make her look like a spoiled little brat. Her breath hitches,"S-Sir..." Ozpin sighs,"We... I took away a great chance for you, Miss Schnee. And for that, I apologize. But where one door closes, another opens. You may not be the leader of your team, but does that mean you can't do your best?" Weiss shakes her head. "No, it does not. You may not be at the helm, but that should not stop you from reaching your full potential. Be the best you can, with what chances you make." Weiss gives a shaky smile. Yes, she may not be leader. She may never be the leader, but she can be the best teammate. She'll support her team as she is."Thank you, headmaster."Ruby tries to focus on the papers spread out across the infirmary bed. All homework for classes she hasn't even attended yet. The rather dim lighting in the infirmary is making it difficult to read, but she only has to put up with it for a few more days. Her broken leg is healed almost completely, so she is just waiting for the stab wound to heal. It shouldn't take much longer, maybe a few more days. With a muffled yawn, she picks up her Grimm Studies textbook and frowns, blearily scanning the paragraphs."Creep... Creep..." She mumbles, flipping the page. "Ah, there it is." A fairly accurate sketch of a Creep is on the page, the monster mid-lunge. "Let's see... no forearms." That's gotta be weird. Ruby can't imagine not having arms. "Hind-limbs only, with inverted knees and two large claws on their paws. And they've got tails? Huh, must be how they keep balanced..." She trails off as she begins writing the information down, answering a question on one of her sheets. "Next one... Boarbatusk? That's the pig one, right...?" She flips through the book. She pauses mid-page when the door opens, and Weiss steps in, a steaming mug in her hands. "Uh... hey, Weiss." Weiss steps closer and holds the cup out,"It's hot chocolate. Yang said you didn't like coffee, so..." Ruby blinks dumbly at the cup, before accepting it, downing half in one gulp, relishing in the sweet taste."Thanks, Weiss.""You're welcome, Ruby." A comforting silence descends on them. It's broken by Weiss, "Ruby, I... for a while, I thought that maybe Professor Ozpin made a mistake, when he made you leader." Ruby hunches into herself, sorrow clawing its way through her almost painfully. She herself thought so, but to hear her own teammate say it out loud? It hurt. "But... I was wrong." Ruby's jaw drops, and her gaze snaps to the heiress. Weiss cracks a smile, "You have what it takes to be a great leader. And I'll be the best teammate you'll have." Their eyes meet. "If... if you need anything, I can help. Professor Ozpin said being a leader is a daunting responsibility. But with me and Blake and Yang at your side, I know you can do it." Ruby smiles."Thanks, Weiss." Weiss turns to leave, but pauses by the door."Oh, yeah. We got the bunk beds all set up. They're much sturdier than they look." She opens the door. "I always wanted bunk beds as a kid, you know?" And then she is gone, and Ruby is left staring at the slowly closing door. Ruby looks down at the cup of chocolate and grins,"Me too...""Man, Jaune's getting destroyed out there." Yang says, and Ruby can't help but agree. It's been nearly two weeks since she was in the infirmary, and her injuries had healed nicely. Apparently, her aura sped up the rate at which she healed, probably some secondary factor of her semblance, the nurse said. Her aura pools have also deepened significantly over the past months. Apparently trauma and constant aura deprivation can increase how much aura you have! And the best part? She hasn't had a nightmare since that day in the forest! And Roman hasn't returned since! She winces, thinking of how she just tempted fate by acknowledging her lack of nighttime horrors. Truth be told, though, she misses him. She misses the flashes of orange and white in the corner of her gaze, misses his snark and near-constant derogatory remarks, misses simply having someone to talk to. Even if he had tried to kill her, she wanted him back, wanted him to appear and – a loud buzzer interrupts her thoughts. She looks back down at the arena, and sees Jaune on his knees, panting, while Cardin calmly puts his mace away. Professor Goodwitch strides forward from the shadows, tablet in hand,"As we can see, Mr Arc's aura has dropped to the red zone." A quick glance at the statistics screen shows this as the truth. "In a tournament-style duel, this would mean that Mr Arc is no longer fit for battle, and that the official can call the match." Ruby can see Pyrrha shaking her head sadly before her as Jaune takes out his scroll to check his aura levels. "Mr Arc, it has been nearly three weeks. Please gain the habit of checking your aura levels during combat." The professor sighs, marking something off on her tablet, "Gauging your aura will help you determine whether you should attack, or move into a more defensive strategy. We wouldn't want you to be gobbled up by a Beowolf, now would we?" Ruby hears Cardin mutter under his breath, 'speak for yourself', and feels anger surge in her. Jaune is her friend. Cardin has no right to- she cuts her thoughts off, taking in a deep breath to steady herself. She can't get angry like that. Last time... she shudders. No, there will be no repeat of last time. She returns her attention to Goodwitch, just as she wraps up her lecture on Cardin and Jaune's fight with, "-remember, everyone, that the Vytal Festival is being held here at Beacon in a few months. It won't be long before students from other kingdoms begin to arrive in Vale, so keep up with your practising. Those who are competing in the combat tournament will be representing the Kingdom of Vale, so it is in your interest to do the best you can.""So, there we were, in the middle of the night," Nora starts, turquoise eyes darting between the group of eight, most of whom are not paying the slightest bit of attention. Ren sighs, interrupting her,"It was day." Nora ignores him, and continues,"We were surrounded by Ursai,""They were Beowolves.""Dozens of them!" Nora leaps to her feet, startling students sitting at the table behind them. Ruby, who had been listening politely, flicks her gaze to the sullen Jaune. She and Pyrrha meet eyes, both of them conveying worry for the blond."Two of them.""Anyway, they were no match for us! In the end, Ren and I made a butt-load of lien selling Ursa-skin rugs!" Ren sighs, shaking his head,"She's been having this recurring dream for ages now." The group lapse into silence, the only noise being the chatter of students around them. Pyrrha clears her throat, turning to her leader,"Jaune? Are you okay?" Jaune looks to her,"Huh? Oh, yeah. I'm fine, really!" He laughs, the sound clearly forced. "Look, I'm fine, really!" He gives them a thumbs up, about to say something else, but his attention is drawn by the members of Team CRDL, who are mocking a rabbit faunus. Ruby feels the anger welling, but it is tempered, less hateful. She doesn't know that faunus, but something about the way CRDL are mocking the poor thing is making the rage come. She shakes her head, turning back to Jaune. "-one time Cardin bullied me!" Pyrrha almost immediately spits,"That time he opened your shield in a doorway, and you got stuck? How about when he knocked your books from your hands, making you lose several pages of homework? Or," Her eyes narrow angrily. "how about that time he shoved you into a rocket locker and then set it off?" Jaune looks more and more vulnerable with each item listed off."I-I didn't land that far from the school!" Pyrrha sighs,"Jaune, you know, if you need any help, you can just ask." Nora grins savagely,"Yeah! I know, we can break his legs!" Jaune waves his hands dismissively,"Guys! It's fine, it's not like he's only a jerk to me! He's a jerk to everyone!" A pained shriek interrupts any response,"Ow! Stop it! That hurts!" Ruby's head snaps to CRDL. Cardin is laughing loudly, tugging harshly on the rabbit faunus' ears."Man, I told you guys it was real!" The rage returns with a vengeance. If Cardin could do that to a faunus who did nothing to him, one he didn't even know, what would he do to Blake? Blake, who taunted him in history class; Blake, who sneered at him in the hallways; Blake, who was a faunus. Sure, she hid her heritage, but a bow is a flimsy disguise, one that can easily be removed. Would Cardin tug on her ears, like he is doing to the rabbit faunus? The very thought made her tremble in hatred. "What a freak!" Ruby snaps.Yang blinks at the sudden whoosh of air beside her. She turns, only to see dissipating rose petals. Then she hears it. The scream. Her eyes widen, and her gaze swings to where CRDL is. Cardin is screaming, his hand pinned to the table by a knife. A knife that Ruby is holding. Yang feels her thoughts stutter to a stop."What the hell?!" Cardin growls, the pain of his wound turning him to anger. He glares at Ruby. "What the fuck you fucking psycho?!" Ruby merely cocks her head and pulls the knife from Cardin's hand, sending the young man stumbling back into his teammates. "You bitch!""...I missed." Ruby mumbles, looking at the bloodied knife."What the hell!?" CRDL back away as Ruby turns to look at them. Silver eyes glint maliciously, the sheer fury raging through her seemingly making her eyes glow."Next time I see you something like this," She starts, voice quiet, yet surely everyone heard. "I will not miss." She slams the knife hilt-deep into the table, a vaguely deranged grin on her face. "Leave." CRDL is quick to scramble from the thunderously silent room. Yang stands, shakily making her way to her now trembling sister."R-Ruby?" Ruby sucks in a few harsh breaths, her hold on the knife tightening. After a moment, her trembles fade, and she releases the weapon. Yang takes this as a positive sign, and gently grabs the younger girl's shoulder. "Hey, sis, you okay?" Ruby shakes her head, a muffled whimper escaping her. Yang looks around the room, wincing at the many stares being lodged at them. She lets out a soft breath, and begins pulling her sister from the room. "Come on, let's go back to the dorm. Are you tired? Do you want to take a nap?" Ruby nods jerkily. "Alright, let's go. I'll tell Professor Port that you can't make it in today."
"Little red, little red." Roman clicks his tongue, a disapproving frown on his face. His cane twirls in his hands as he circles her, his eyes drawn to the empty sheath on her back. "No oversized gardening tool this time?"
" Don't call her that. " Ruby hisses, glare alighting on her features. He smirks.
"Why, what should I call it? That's all it's good for, aside from murder." Ruby's fists clench.

"I didn't kill you!" He back hands her, making her stumble back with a gasp.

"Yes you did! You killed me, Red."

"It was an accident!" His cane slams into her gut, and she falls to her knees. He leans over her, pressing on her head, forcing her further to the ground.
"That's a lie and you know it! You killed me, Red, just admit it!" She shakes her head violently, body trembling beneath him. He sneers viciously before he bashes her head against the ground. She keens loudly, her nose snapping horribly as it breaks. He lifts her by her hair, green eyes wide in malevolent glee as he meets in her fearful gaze. His drops his cane and brings his now free hand to her face, trailing his fingers over her bloodied lips. "Have to say, red really suits you." He lowers, bringing his face close to hers. "Say it."
"I..." His grip tightens.
" Say it. "
"I killed you..." He pats her cheek condescendingly and coos,

"Good girl."
"Miss Rose." Ruby ignores the headmaster as he calls after her, instead rounding for another lap of the training room. She's a blur of red as she runs, scattering trails of rose petals as she goes. "Miss Rose." Ignore him, ignore him, he'll leave soon. It's one in the morning, he shouldn't even be awake right now. She shouldn't be awake either, but one cannot help when a nightmare occurs. Her aura flares brightly as she forces even more into her semblance, near doubling her already blinding speed. There is no warning when her aura breaks, sending her crashing to the ground in pain. She lies still for a moment before pushing to her feet to begin again. "Miss Rose, stop this now!" She growls softly under her breath as she begins to dig for her aura. She hears him sigh, "Glynda, can you...?" There's a flash of purple and Ruby's limbs lock in place. Her body turns without her control and she is forced to confront the professors. Ozpin is frowning heavily, as is Goodwitch. "Miss Rose, we need to talk." Ruby scowls,"So talk.""If Glynda releases you, do you promise not to run?" Ozpin asks, and Ruby nods, albeit reluctantly. The pressure on her limbs fades, and she slumps in place, exhaustion and aura deprivation catching up to her. "Miss Rose, we..." Ozpin starts, trailing off to look at Goodwitch. "...we believe you need help." Ruby's brow furrows,"Help...?""Help of a... professional nature." It takes a moment for Ruby to realize what Ozpin is alluding to. Anger begins to well in her. She doesn't need help! She's fine! She doesn't need therapy."I don't need therapy." She hisses out through clenched teeth. Ozpin shakes his head,"It is not your decision to make, Miss Rose. Your father was the one to propose the idea, and, quite frankly, I agree with his reasoning." He leans on his cane. "Miss Rose, your recent behaviour has been... startling, to say the least. And with the incident with Mr Winchester in the cafeteria..." He trails off meaningfully, and Ruby flinches. She'd promised herself to never let the rage consume her like it did with Port, and yet, she couldn't stop it, and someone, albeit an absolutely horrible person, got hurt. "Mr Winchester will make a full recovery within the week, perhaps sooner. In lieu of detention, I have decided you will attend one meeting with Dr. Tallow." Ruby swallows roughly, pros and cons weighing in her mind. Eventually, she gives a jerky nod, turning her head to look away from the professors."J-Just one?" Ozpin smiles,"Just one."The office of Dr. Tallow is located in a building attached to the City of Vale Hospital and ER. This surprises Ruby a bit. Whenever she thought of a therapist's office, she pictured some building deep in the commercial district, with high windows and bland interior. This building is in such contrast to her vision, with its rustic orange brick exterior and large windows with pictures seemingly drawn by children in them. Delicately pruned shrubs decorated the walkway, bright spots of colour, flowers, poking through them. There is a preschool across the road, and children screamed happily as they played. A small walkway comes off from the side of the building, leading to a small vine-covered gazebo."Miss Rose?" Ruby turns from her examination of the building, facing professor Goodwitch. The usually stern professor is gazing at her in concern. "Are you ready to head in?""Y-Yeah..."They stand before a door made of rich mahogany. Ruby's stomach flutters, nervousness running through her, crashing in waves."Do not worry, Miss Rose. Dr. Tallow is a very professional woman. You need not have fear." Goodwitch says, before knocking loudly on the door. The door opens soon after. A short, white-haired woman stands just inside the room, red eyes hidden behind shapely glasses. The woman smiles warmly,"Hello! You must be Miss Rose." She holds out her hand. "I am Dr. Meredith Tallow. Just call me Mer, alright?" Ruby grips the doctor's hand."N-Nice to meet you." Mer smiles coyly at Goodwitch,"Glynda, always a pleasure." Goodwitch rolls her eyes,"Dr. Tallow." She says blandly, before turning to Ruby. "Miss Rose, I will be back in two hours." Mer snickers as Goodwitch walks off,"She's just shy." Ruby cracks a smile. "Well, come on in." Mer steps further back into the room, and Ruby shuffles inside, closing the door behind her. The office is a painted with a nice, pale blue colour. Comfy looking black chairs rest before a low table that has stacks of colourful magazines on it. Small, childish drawings are pinned to a cork-board hanging on the back wall, and intricate paintings of landscapes hang on the other walls, alongside a framed degree from some university. All in all, the room has a homey feel to it, and Ruby relaxes, slowly lowering herself into one of the chairs. Mer adjusts her glasses and sits opposite, notepad in hand. "So, Ruby, can I call you that?" Ruby nods. "Alright. Ruby, how has your day been so far?" Ruby shifts in her seat."I... I was excused from classes so... I guess it's been fine? I mean, so far the day's been fine." Mer bobs her head with a small smile."Sounds awesome! Classes sure are boring, huh?" Ruby shrugs, and they lapse into a soft silence, the only sound being the occasional ding of a nearby elevator. Ruby tugs at her sleeves."Um... w-what... what do I do here?" Mer shrugs,"Whatever you want. This session is for you." She taps her pen to her notepad. "If you want to talk, feel free. If you want to sit in silence for the next two hours, then that's fine. If you want to get up and dance your brains out, well, go for it!" She grins. "I cannot force you to do something, especially if you don't want to. I am here to help, but it's up to you whether you want that help or not." A ball of emotion chokes Ruby."I... I can just... talk? About anything?" Mer nods,"Whatever you want. I'm under oath to never repeat anything said in this office. Unless, of course, it indicates suicidal or criminal behaviour." It's like a weight in Ruby's chest releases. She doesn't haveto talk about it. There's no need to mention Roman, or his death, or any of the many incidents surrounding her. But she wants to. There's something about this office, about Mer, that makes her want to tell the tale."Okay..." A breath escapes her. "It... all began in July..." The sound of her story fills the office, interspersed with the scratching of Mer's pen. It's freeing in a way she never imagined she could feel again, even if she avoids talking of the hallucination, of how Roman haunted her well after his death. It makes her feel like everything is going to be okay.Ruby leaves the office with tears in her eyes, an unimaginable weight lifted from her shoulders, and another appointment booked two weeks from then. Everything is going to be okay.Ruby pauses midway down the hallway, a few days later. She'd gone down to the cafeteria for a quick snack. Her head cocks to the side as she watches Jaune hesitate in front of his dorm. The blond's head is hanging low, his eyes screwed shut as if he is fighting tears."Jaune?" He jumps at her voice, whirling to look at her. Ruby frowns at him. "Are you okay? Are you locked out or something?" He forces out a laugh as he brings his scroll up,"N-No! I've got it." He bites his lip and looks away. "And I'm fine, really.""Mmhmm..." Ruby hums, eyes narrowing. "And where have you been lately? I never see you around anymore." Jaune winces, pressing his back against the door."I... uh..." He sighs heavily. "I messed up bad, Ruby. I did something I really shouldn't have, and now Cardin has me on a leash and Pyrrha won't talk to me a-and..." He takes a deep breath, leaning harder against the door. "I'm beginning to think that coming to Beacon was a mistake." He slides down the door, landing with a muted thump, and hangs his head. "I'm such a failure...""Shut up." Jaune's head jerks back, and he stares at her incredulously."W-What?" Ruby huffs, arms crossing,"I said shut up." Jaune goes to say something, but Ruby cuts him off, "You're a leader now, Jaune. You're not allowed to be a failure.""B-But-""Jaune, you might've been a failure when you were young, hell, you were a failure when we first met!" He flinches. "But you're not allowed to be one anymore. You know why?""Why?""Because it's no longer about just you." Ruby gestures to the dorms. "You and me? We both have teams now. If we fail, we're not just hurting ourselves, we're hurting our teams. We can't just think about ourselves anymore. You have to put yourself second, and your teammates first." She looks down at him. "Our teams deserve leaders who are great – who can lead them through anything." Her gaze shifts away from him, sorrow filling them. "And yeah, that may not be us. It may never be us. But you know what?" She kneels before him and locks eyes with him. "I'm not going to let that stop me. Ozpin chose us for a reason, and no matter what, I'm going to do my best to live up to his choice." Her silver eyes blaze in determination. "And heaven help those who try to stop me." Jaune gapes up at her."R-Ruby, that..." She stands, brushing imaginary dirt off her knees,"I don't know, or care, what Cardin has on you, Jaune. But if Cardin can find out what your great secret is, then don't you think that Ozpin already knows?" She turns to her dorm. "Your team deserves a great leader, Jaune. And honestly? I think you can be one of the best." She smiles back at him over her shoulder as she opens her door, "Goodnight, Jaune."Forever Fall is one of the most beautiful forests in all of Remnant. The tree leaves are constantly tinged with the colours of autumn, leading to it's name. The trees are tall, branches thick and bountiful, reaching as if for the sky. Nearly every tree is teeming with a delicious, honey-like, red sap, a delicacy known only in Vale. Ruby trails her fingers through a low-hanging branch's leaves, eyes wide in awe of the nature. Professor Goodwitch clears her throat, drawing the attention of the first years,"Yes, students, the forest of Forever Fall is indeed beautiful. And while I'm sure you all want to sight-see a bit more, we have a mission to complete." She lifts two empty jars up, one with a red-lined tip and one with green, "Professor Peach has asked for us to collect samples from the trees deep inside this forest, and I am here to make sure none of you die while doing so." Ruby nods to herself, getting pulling her own jar from her side pouch, a shiny red line wrapping around the mouth of it. "Those of you with the red-lined jars are tasked with collecting red sap. Those with the green-lined jars are to collect soil from the base of sap-giving trees." Goodwitch looks between the many students, eyeing a select few with a harsh glare. "Does everyone understand the assignment?" The crowd roars in agreement. "Very well. This forest is filled with Grimm, so it is in your best interest to stay with your teams. We shall rendezvous here at 4 o'clock." An arm comes around Ruby's shoulders, and she suppresses a flinch. Turning her head a bit, she sees her sister grinning at her,"Yo, Rubes! Looks like you and Weissicle got sap duty, eh?" The blonde wags her green-lined jar. "Me and Blakey are on soil.""Ugh, I think I'm allergic to this stuff." Jaune moans, gently placing six jars of red sap on the ground next to a furiously hissing box."Oh, shut up Jauney-boy." Cardin says, arms crossing across his chest. Jaune's brow furrows as he counts the jars once again,"Why'd you need six jars anyway?" Cardin smirks, eyes darting to a red-cloaked figure standing at the bottom of the hill,"Time for some payback." Jaune looks down the hill, his eyes widening when they alight on Ruby."R-Ruby? What are you-" Cardin cuts him off by shoving the extra jar of sap into his arms."Well, Jauney-boy," He bends down and picks up the hissing box. "these Rapier Wasps I had you gather last night? They just love sweets." He shakes the box, eliciting even more furious hisses, and laughs, "I think it's time we teach that red-wearing bitch a lesson." He shifts the box under his arms and flexes his hand, "I still haven't forgotten what she did to my hand!" He sneers at Jaune, "And you're gonna do it." Jaune swallows roughly."D-Do what?" Cardin rolls his eyes,"Throw the jar at her, dumbass!" He smirks, "Or I'll tell Goodwitch about that, and you'll be on the first airship out of Beacon!" Jaune looks down at the jar in his hands. He looks up at the laughing Team CRDL, and then over his shoulder at the oblivious Ruby. Could he do this? Could he purposefully cause harm to one of his friends? His grip on the jar tightens."No." CRDL's laughs die off, and Cardin growls,"What was that?" Jaune glares at him."I said no!" His hands move involuntarily, and the jar speeds towards Cardin, breaking upon impacting with his breastplate. Cardin stumbles back a step and scowls,"Oh, now you've done it." Russel and Dove grab Jaune by his arms. Cardin stalks forward, fists clenched tightly. "You're gonna regret this, you bastard!" A fist buries itself into Jaune's gut, and the blond heaves. Another slams into his face, and then another, and another. "You gonna apologize or-" Cardin is cut off by a deep growl coming from the bushes behind them. A large Ursa crashes through the underbrush. It is huge, much larger than any Ursa Jaune has seen before, with long bone spikes protruding from its back. It roars angrily, glowing red eyes zeroing in on Cardin. Cardin's teammates scream and run off, leaving the two leaders to face it alone. The Ursa swipes its claws at Cardin, sending him flying. Jaune cowers before the monster, but it simply sniffs at him in disinterest before turning to Cardin. The sap. It's attracted to the sap on Cardin's breastplate!"Hey, Pyrrha?" Ruby asks, as she finishes up drawing sap from the tree. Her team and three members of JNPR had decided to collect their samples together. She looks to the solemn redhead, "What's going on with Jaune?" A scowl crosses Pyrrha's face,"He's been hanging around with that bully, Cardin." Ruby's grip on her jar tightens as a flash of rage courses through her. Her friend was hanging around with that asshole?! She takes a deep breath to calm herself."What's he-" She's cut off by an angry roar resounding from the top of the hill next to them. The two girls turn, and see three of the members of Team CRDL running towards them, fright clear on their faces."Ursa!" One of the boys shout as he nears, "There's an Ursa attacking Cardin and Jaune!" Ruby's thoughts whirl and rush. She turns to her team."Yang, Blake! Take Nora and Ren and alert Professor Goodwitch of the danger! Weiss, come with me and Pyrrha!" Her team is quick to take to their roles, with Yang and Blake rushing off, Nora and Ren at their heels, and Weiss jogging up to her leader. Ruby turns back to the boys of CRDL. "How big is this Ursa?" One of the boys makes a wide gesture with his hands,"It's huge! Probably an Ursa Major!" Ruby nods,"Right." She turns to Pyrrha and Weiss. "Let's go. We need to help."The three girls arrive to the scene, just in time to see Cardin get thrown to the ground by what is clearly an Ursa Major. The boy's mace goes flying, leaving him defenceless as the Ursa readies to slash down at him with its claws. Cardin raises his arms to block his face. The Ursa slams its paws down, only to encounter Jaune's shield. The blond stands before Cardin, shield raised and sword held tightly in his hands. Weiss lifts her rapier, but Pyrrha stops her before she can intervene,"Wait." Pyrrha says, watching the fight with calculating eyes. The Ursa leaps back from Jaune's defence, growling angrily. Jaune quickly checks his scroll and scowls, lifting his head bravely. He raises his sword and shield, and dashes at the Ursa. The Ursa roars and begins to run at the boy. Pyrrha's eyes narrow, as she spots a huge hole in Jaune's defence, and she lifts a hand. His shield bashes against the Ursa's paw, and his sword raises quickly, flashing briefly with a dark aura, and slices through the Ursa's unguarded neck with surprising ease. Ruby, who had been watching in a mixture of confusion and awe, turns to Pyrrha,"What did you do?" Pyrrha smiles and flexes her hand,"Well, Weiss has her glyphs, and you have speed. I have polarity." Weiss's eyes widen,"No wonder you're so good! You control the metal in your opponent's weapons!" Ruby grins, turning from the clearing before them."Pyrrha, you're so cool!" Pyrrha's cheeks dust with pink, and she smiles bashfully. Weiss looks back at the two boys conversing quietly in the clearing,"We should tell them what happened." She says, and the two other girls turn to her with mild frowns. Pyrrha shakes her head,"No, let's keep this our little secret, alright?" Weiss glances back to the boys, at Jaune standing with a confidence he never had before, and nods. Ruby yawns, stretching her arms above her head,"Man, I'm getting kinda tired. Wanna go see what's taking the professor so long?"Jaune stands on the dormitory roof, staring out into the encroaching darkness. A throat clears behind him, and he turns, spotting Pyrrha walking towards him with a soft smile,"No Cardin tonight?" She asks, "I thought you two were best buds?" Jaune shrugs,"No, no Cardin." He sighs. "Pyrrha, I... I'm sorry." He looks into her eyes with his own sorrow filled ones. "I was such a jerk. You were only trying to be nice, and I had all this stupid macho stuff in my head, and-" Pyrrha laughs, cutting him off,"Jaune, it's fine!" She nods her head in the direction of the door. "Come back down. The team really misses you, you know!" She turns to walk off. "Ren made pancakes! Nora says they're very delicious!""Pyrrha, wait!" She pauses, looking over her shoulder at him. Jaune takes a deep breath. "Um, look... I know I don't deserve it, but... would still be willing to help me be a better fighter?" Pyrrha smiles, turning and walking up to her leader. She gives him a rough shove, sending him to the ground. "Hey!" Her hands fall to her hips and she grins down at him,"Your stance is all wrong! You need to be wider and lower to the ground." She holds a hand out to him, and he takes it graciously, a small smile winding onto his face. "Let's try that again."

----- CHAPTER BREAK -----

The City of Vale, located in the Kingdom of Vale on the continent of Sanus, is the second largest city in all of Remnant, hosting nearly nine and a half million people, human and faunus alike. It falls nearly two million short of Atlas, although Vale has the higher standard of living when you include the living arrangements of faunus. While Atlas is known for both its under-city and its floating over-city, leading to a unique infrastructure, Vale is considered to be far more stunning, with its high-rise buildings, diverse culture, and many parks and recreation spots, as well as bordering the beautiful forest of Forever Fall. Situated on the western coast of the kingdom, Vale is a hub of transport by water, with a large port for international ships to dock – though there are many small ports along the river that runs right through the city, on the commercial and industrial sides, allowing for local transport ships to dock freely. The river diverges into two midway through the city, separating the city naturally into its four main districts: Industrial, Commercial, Agricultural, and Residential.The Agricultural district houses many greenhouses, where a lot of local food is produced and sold. There are a few homes inside the area, mainly by the river bordering the residential district.The Residential district is where most of the city's inhabitants live; tall brown-brick lain homes and apartments nestled together with the occasional park strewn in, the roads made of varying materials from asphalt to cobblestone, with a few stores dotting the area as well.The Commercial district is where the city's main source of income comes from, as well as being home to the city's largest hospital, known locally as Vale Central. Food stalls like "The Simple Wok", various stores like "Tukson's Booktrade", and dust shops like "From Dust til Dawn" line the streets, the occasional apartment building thrown in as well. A few ports line the river's edge, a source of transport and tourism. Deep into the commercial district lay clubs and casinos and bars, like the popular Crow Bar. The closer to the industrial district one gets, the more illicit the vices, like the infamous club known as Junior's.The Industrial district, as its name suggests, is where most of the city's factories and other such industry lay. While the district is mostly used by companies and its workers, the area is also known for its many criminal hideaways, as warehouses there are abandoned on the dime, simply left to rot unused. Criminals lurk within all the districts, however the Industrial district is the easiest to hide within, as the police rarely traffic the area and most residents that live there are faunus who, through no fault of their own, are too poor to move into the better neighbourhoods, and who may turn to crime themselves.Team RWBY are strolling through the downtown commercial district, taking in the breathtaking decorations set up for the Vytal Festival. Streamers and balloons of many colours – though mainly red, green, and yellow, the colours of the kingdom – are tied expertly to any and all surfaces possible. The team pass by a large dust shop, where an elderly shopkeep is setting up a banner proudly welcoming tourists and other newcomers to Vale. Weiss comes to a stop just past the shop and raises her arms, gesturing to the many decorations."The Vytal Festival!" She exclaims, grinning widely. "Oh, this is absolutely wonderful!" Ruby steps up behind her, soft smile in place,"I don't think I've ever seen you smile this much, Weiss!" Yang snorts,"Yeah, it's getting kinda creepy there, princess." Weiss huffs, turning to face the team, hands resting on her hips,"How can you not smile? This is a festival dedicated to the cultures of the world! There will be dances, parades, and the tournament!" She sighs blissfully as they begin to walk again. "Oh, the amount of planning and organization that goes into this event is simply breathtaking!" Yang rolls her eyes, her arms crossing across her chest."Geez, you sure know how to make a fun thing sound so boring." Weiss glares at her,"Quiet you!"A foghorn goes off, echoing loudly around the dockyard. Yang scrunches her nose up as she looks around, glaring lightly at the many docked vessels,"Remind me again why we're spending our Friday off at the stupid docks?" Ruby nods, bringing a hand up to cover her nose,"Yeah, it smells like fish." Weiss harrumphs loudly,"The students from Vacuo will be arriving by ship today!" She eyes her team, "As a representative of Vale, I feel it is my solemn responsibility to welcome them to this fine kingdom." She turns to begin walking again, but pauses when she hears Blake snort, the faunus' eyes rolling,"She just wants to spy on the competition to try and get the upper hand in the tournament." Weiss scowls, whirling on the spot to point dramatically at Blake,"You can't prove that!" Ruby laughs, gaze drifting around the dockyard."Whoa..." She breathes, eyes alighting on a dust shop covered in yellow police tape, various officers talking and investigating the area. The shop's windows are blown out, strewing glass shards everywhere. The front door is knocked near clean off its hinges, and a man in a hazmat suit is dusting the wood for prints. An elderly woman is off to the side, shoulders shaking as she tells a pair of officers something. Ruby figures she must be the owner of the store. The red-cloaked girl wanders over to one of the officers, a stocky man with a dark beard, that looks the least busy and asks, "Officer? What happened here?" The officer turns to her, notepad crinkling in his grip, and gestures to the building,"Another robbery. Took all the dust, but left the cash." He shakes his head. "Second one this week. This city's turning into a damned jungle." Ruby frowns, the crime sounding familiar to her. She hears her team come up behind her, whispering to each other about the crime."They just left the money?" Isn't that what Torchwick did? Before she fought him, he'd demanded the dust, but not the lien. Ruby eyes the store warily, eyebrows furrowing in thought. Torchwick's dead, however. Someone is either copying him or he had been working for someone. And wasn't that a scary thought? Roman Torchwick, an infamous thief in his own right, working for someone else, someone with more power? Torchwick lead the police on goose-chases; lead them by the nose up until his last breath. Ruby shakes her head, looking back at the officer, "That's... odd.""Yeah, it's a bit weird, when you think about it. Kinda reminds me of that Torchwick guy's MO." The officer says, jotting something down on his notepad. "But he's dead. Been thinking it's a copycat myself." Another officer, a tall brunette man, walks over,"You talking about the case?" He asks, looking down at the group of teens. At their nods, he turns to the stocky officer, "It just doesn't make a lick of sense. Who'd need that much dust, anyway?" The stocky officer dips his head,"Right? What, are they supplying an army or something?" The tall officer snorts, eyes glimmering in mischief,"Heh, maybe it's the White Fang." The stocky officer rolls his eyes,"Maybe I don't get paid enough for this shit." The officers bid them a pleasant afternoon and walk off, leaving Team RWBY alone. Ruby takes in the crime scene once again, silver eyes roving over the empty dust containers inside, thoughts swirling. It's definitely similar to Torchwick's MO, but before her fight with him, the thief never made such a mess of the scene. She turns to her team as Weiss huffs, drawing the girls' attention, and crosses her arms,"The White Fang! What a bunch of degenerates!" Blake glares at her and retorts,"What's your problem?" Weiss turns to her partner and scowls,"My problem? I simply don't care for the criminally insane.""The White Fang are hardly a bunch of psychopaths!" Blake hisses, hands clenching at her sides. "They're a collection of misguided faunus." Weiss reels back as if struck,"Misguided?!" Blue eyes narrow at her partner. "They want to wipe humanity off the face of the planet!" Blake's arms cross across her chest and she glares at the heiress."Then they're very misguided!" She shakes her head. "Either way, it doesn't explain why they'd rob a dust shop in the middle of downtown." Ruby nods, piping up with,"Blake's right, you know! They've never done something like this before." Weiss huffs,"That doesn't mean anything! It doesn't change the fact that the White Fang are a bunch of scum." She sneers, "The only thing faunus know how to do is lie, cheat, and steal!" Blake's eyes widen and she takes a step back, her bow twitching atop her head. Weiss seems to realize just what she said and to whom, and with shame evident on her face, says, "Sorry, Blake, I just... I didn't mean that! I didn't mean all faunus, it just... came out." Yang, who had been silent so far, shakes her head,"You still said it, Weiss." The blonde frowns heavily. "You can't just say stuff like that. That's racist and wrong, especially with Blake as your partner. Faunus are just regular people, y'know.""I know! I just..." Weiss trails off, biting her lower lip. Before anyone can say anything, a loud shout comes from the dockyard,"HEY! STOP THAT FAUNUS! YOU NO-GOOD STOWAWAY!" The team turns and spots a monkey-tailed faunus boy running at them, laughing loudly as he taunts his pursuers,"A no-good stowaway would've been caught! I'm a great stowaway!" One of his pursuers throws what appears to be a piece of brick at the faunus with a shout of,"GET BACK HERE FREAK!" The faunus boy passes them by with a quick wink, disappearing down the road into the crowd."Well..." Yang starts, raising a hand and gesturing down the road, "...you wanted to see the competition, Weiss, and there he goes." Weiss, her earlier argument with Blake forgotten for an instant, gasps,"Quick! We have to follow him!" Weiss begins to run off, only to bump into someone, knocking them both to the ground. "Ouch!" She scowls in the direction the faunus boy ran off, and, not seeing him nor his pursuers, grumbles, "He got away!""Uh, Weiss?" The heiress looks up at Yang, who points at the person she'd run into. She looks down into green eyes and leaps to her feet with a less-than-sincere apology, scowl still set on her face. The person, a girl with bright orange hair and green eyes, merely smiles up at them, not even attempting to stand. After a tense moment, the girl raises a hand,"Salutations!" Ruby is the only one to return the wave with a mumbled,"Hello..." They stand in silence for a few seconds longer, before Yang deliberately clears her throat,"So, uh, you okay?" The girl smiles wider and nods,"I'm wonderful! Thank you for asking!" Yang shares a bewildered look with her teammates before asking,"Do you... wanna get up?" The girl cocks her head to the side before she flips onto her feet with a surprising amount of grace. She brushes her grey and green dress off and grins widely, once again raising a hand in greeting,"Hello! My name's Penny! It's a pleasure to meet you.""Uh... did you hit your head or something?" Yang mutters, and Blake smacks her in the ribs. Yang hisses, "Ow!" She grabs her ribs and coughs lightly, "Uh, I'm Yang." Blake rolls her eyes and introduces herself,"Blake." Weiss continues with the round of introductions,"Weiss." The group collectively turn to Ruby, whose cheeks tint pink. The red-cloaked girl shifts uneasily and tucks her chin into her chest, muttering,"Um, I'm Ruby." Penny steps closer to Ruby, eyes scanning the cloak-wearing girl's face. After a second or so, she seems to find something, as her eyes light up with interest and she exclaims,"You're Ruby Rose, aren't you?" Ruby nods hesitantly, bracing herself for an onslaught of questions about Torchwick's death. Penny smiles widely. "I've never met someone famous before. It's a pleasure to meet you!" Ruby glances at her teammates, who had begun to inch away. Her hands grip onto her skirt and she mumbles,"You've already said that..." Penny frowns, leaning away,"So I have." Ruby looks back at her teammates once again. Yang gestures for her to follow them and Ruby fumbles for an escape from the conversation,"Um, so, I... uh... have to go now Penny!" She backs away quickly, raising a hand in goodbye. "Take care, friend!" The farewell seems to startle Penny, and Ruby capitalizes on the moment to speed off with her team. Yang looks back over her shoulder at the frozen girl and raises a brow,"Wow, she was weird, or what?" Weiss makes to say something, when Penny suddenly appears before her, exclaiming,"What did you call me?" Yang squeaks and backs away, hands raising in peace,"Sorry! I didn't think you heard me!" Penny shakes her head, pushing through the team to stand before Ruby,"Not you!" She looks to Ruby, green eyes narrowing, "You!" Ruby flinches,"M-Me? I-I, uh, um..." Penny leans forward, bringing her head close to Ruby's."You called me friend! Are we really friends?" Ruby hesitates, looking over Penny's shoulders at her team, who are making various gestures of denial."Um... s-sure...?" She looks back at Penny, whose eyes widen. Something about the way the girl's green eyes sparkle with excitement and anxiety resonates with Ruby, and she nods vigorously, "Y-Yeah! We can be friends!" Penny grins widely, joyfully throwing her hands into the air with a loud,"Sen-sational!" She grabs Ruby's hands, "I've never had a friend before! We can try on clothes and paint our nails and talk about cute boys!""Uh..." Ruby takes a step back from the overjoyed girl, tugging her hands free as she goes. "W-What are you doing here in Vale, Penny?" Penny tilts her head and smiles,"I'm here for the tournament!" Weiss perks up at that and she eyes Penny incredulously,"You're going to fight in the tournament?" Penny nods,"I'm combat ready!" She strikes an odd pose, her legs spread and her hands raised offensively. Weiss raises a brow,"Right." The heiress walks up to Penny and frowns, leaning closer to the girl, "If you're here for the tournament, does that mean you know that monkey-tailed rapscallion?" Penny blinks, confused."Who?" Weiss scowls, pointing in the direction the faunus boy ran off in,"That filthy faunus from the boat!" Blake makes an angered noise, and Weiss turns to her, meeting her partner's glare."Stop saying that!" Blake shouts, fists clenched at her sides. Weiss raises a brow,"Huh?""Stop calling him a rapscallion!" Blake stomps forward, glaring at the heiress. "Stop calling him a degenerate! He's a person!" Weiss scoffs,"Oh, I'm sorry!" She drawls sarcastically, gesturing to a nearby trashcan, "Would you like me to stop referring to the trashcan as a trashcan?" She flicks a thumb towards a lamppost. "Or that lamppost as a lamppost?""Stop it!""Stop what?" Weiss hisses, "He broke the law! Just wait, he'll probably join up with all those other psychos in the White Fang.""You ignorant little brat!" Blake growls, turning on her heel and marching off. Weiss follows her with an offended sounding,"You can't speak to me like that! I am your partner!" Blake scowls, glaring venomously at her,"You're a judgmental little girl!" Weiss scowls heavily, eyes narrowing,"How dare you! What in the world makes you say something like that?!" Blake growls low in her throat, the sound dangerous and clearly meant as a threat,"The mere fact that you'd sort that faunus boy in with a bunch of terrorists based solely on his species makes you just as much a scoundrel as him!""So you admit it! The White Fang are terrorists!""That's not what I meant and you know it!""I don't understand why this is causing such a problem." Weiss says, pacing the dormitory angrily, striding from one end of the room to the other, arms crossed. While the two partners had been silent on the way back to Beacon, understanding that such a private argument was best held behind closed doors, the second the team entered the dorm the argument started up again with twice as much furor."That is the problem!" Blake hisses from her bed, golden eyes seemingly glowing in the shadows. Weiss scowls at her, pausing in her pacing,"You do know you're defending an actual terrorist organization, right?" The heiress steps towards Blake, finger pointing at the faunus' chest. "They hate humanity! The faunus of the White Fang are pure evil!" Blake jumps to her feet with a glare,"There's no such thing as pure evil!" She balls her fists, baring her teeth angrily, "Why do you think they hate humanity so much, huh! It's because of people like Cardin, people like you, that force them to take such drastic action!" Weiss jerks back, surprised, and sputters,"People like me?!""You're discriminatory!""I'm a victim!" Weiss leans in close to Blake, leering as she speaks, "You want to know why I hate the White Fang? Why I don't trust the faunus?" She backs away, walking towards the window. She presses a hand against the cool glass, eyes narrowing at the reflections in the pane. "They've been at war with my family for generations! War, as in actual bloodshed. Ever since my grandfather created his company, there's been a target on its and my family's back. For as long as I can remember, my family's been targeted and killed by the faunus of the White Fang! Ever since I was a child, I've seen friends and family members disappear and turn up dead or worse; had board members, people not even related to me, get executed simply for working with my father; heard of entire trains or boats filled with dust and cargo having been stolen, the workers on board killed without hesitation! Every single day my father would come home furious!" Weiss takes in a deep breath, fingers shaking a bit from the memories. "It made for a very difficult childhood." She turns, glaring hatefully at Blake, "You want to know why I despise the White Fang so much?! It's because they're a bunch of liars, thieves, and murderers!""Well maybe we were tired of being pushed around!" Silence drops in the room, the sudden hush so quiet one could hear a pin drop. Blake's eyes widen as she realizes what she'd just blurted out. Weiss backs away from the faunus, fear leaking into her eyes. Blake was part of the White Fang. She was a member, is a member? Was she even at Beacon for the reasons she gave Weiss? Did she really want to fight inequality like she said during initiation? Or was she here as a false-flag, to assassinate the Schnee heiress, or to do worse, like sabotage Beacon's students? "I..." Blake looks around at her teammates, before looking at the door. "I..." She bolts, heading for the door. She just manages to open it when she's tackled to the ground by a blur of red, Ruby, sending them both crashing against the hallway floor. "Let me go!" Blake struggles beneath Ruby, who sits upon the faunus' back, holding her down to prevent her from running off."Shut up!" Ruby shouts, pressing down harder, gripping the faunus' arms tightly. "Blake, calm down, right now!""Let her go, Ruby!" Weiss hisses, standing in the doorway sneering down at the struggling faunus, "You heard what she said! She is a member of the White Fang! She is a bloody terrorist!" Ruby glares back at Weiss, who reels back in shock at the rage in those silver eyes. The silver glows faintly in the dim light, haunting in its entirety of rage."You shut up too, Schnee!" The cloaked girl growls, "We are not done here!" She looks down at Blake, who had stopped struggling, instead resting her face against the hall carpet, side-eyeing the team. "You do not get to just run off after that bombshell. You're going to stay here and explain!" Blake shakes her head, struggles beginning anew,"No, Ruby, just-" Ruby slams the faunus' arms against the ground, hands gripping tight enough to leave a bruise."You will! Or I will have you removed from my team!" Weiss interjects, voice cold and cruel,"You should! She's a terrorist. Who knows what else she'll do, what she's already done?" Ruby turns to Weiss, eyes blaring their rage brightly,"If you do not stop, Schnee, I will have you removed.""You can't-" Weiss starts, but she's cut off by Ruby,"I can and will!" Ruby yells. She takes in a few deep breaths, calming the rage swirling through her, before continuing, "We will have a calm conversation about what the fuck just happened. Do you hear me?" Weiss glares, nose turning up in haughtiness,"Why should I?! She admitted to being in the White Fang! We should be calling the cops on her." Ruby lets out a hissing breath, eyes narrowing dangerously,"Pack." Weiss blinks, an incredulous look spreading across her face,"What?""I. Said. Pack." Ruby snaps, releasing her grip on the no longer struggling Blake. "Pack your fucking things, Schnee, because I am done!" Ruby lifts herself off of her teammate, pushing herself into Weiss' personal space. "I told you to stop, and as your leader, you should have done so." She sneers, "But you didn't. So pack your things, because I am going to Ozpin to have you removed from my team!" Weiss gapes openly, shock coursing through her,"B-But-""You better be packing when I get back." Ruby whirls on the spot and, stepping over the frozen Blake, exits the dorm. Yang, who had watching the proceedings in worried silence thus far, mumbles,"Well... fuck.""S-She can't!" Weiss sputters, eyes wide, looking at the blonde. Yang shakes her head,"She just did." Weiss slumps down onto her bed, head in her hands, intoning a muffled,"But..." Blake presses herself up off the ground, glancing out the door at the retreating back of her leader. Her knees bend and she readies to run off, but Yang cuts her off, eyebrows raised,"Don't even think of running off, Blake. We're gonna wait for Ruby to return, and then we'll have a nice talk about all this bullshit." Blake steals a look at Weiss, who is sitting on her bed, hands shaking as she mumbles about her father finding out about being expelled from her team. The faunus bites her lip,"B-But-""Blake." Yang growls in warning, glaring slightly, "If we end up having to chase you around campus all night, I am gonna get pissed, and believe me, that'd be way worse than whatever Ruby would do to you." Blake bites her lip harder and glances at the door once again. Yang hisses, "Blake.""F-Fine." The faunus shuffles across the dorm room and collapses onto her bed, hands clenched on her lap. She looks to the heiress, "Weiss, look, I... I haven't been a member of the Fang for a while." Weiss nods mutely, lowering her hands, but resolutely keeping her gaze away from Blake. The faunus takes this as a positive sign and continues, "I left when they got violent. B-But, I... I practically grew up in the Fang." That catches Weiss' attention, and the heiress' gaze snaps to Blake's gold."What?!" Blake shrugs, eyes lowering,"My parents were... rather high up, back when the protests were more peaceful. Like I said, I basically grew up in the Fang, and for the longest time, I thought we were really making a difference. Things are not good for the faunus, even with the anti-discriminatory laws passed after the Great War. Faunus are still refused many basic means to survive. We're thrown out of places simply for being what we are. People... humans, they say things. About how we're more animal than person; about how we should be rounded up and killed, before we get 'ideas above our station'." She shakes her head. "I... had a mentor, when I was in the Fang. His name was... Adam." Blake shudders upon saying the name, which doesn't escape the notice of the two listening girls. They want to ask, but Blake is bearing her soul to them, telling her past, and they don't want to interrupt. "He... he was different before, you know?" Her hand flicks in a vague gesture to denote the past. "He had these all these ideas for the faunus and he had the drive to do something for us. But... he changed. I don't know how I missed it at first, but he got colder, more cruel, more violent. I... a year or so ago, him and I were given a task to rob a train full of dust and make it explode." Weiss' head cocks to the side,"But there were no trains reported missing last year. Just a single cart with barely anything on it." Blake nods, briefly meeting the heiress' gaze before dropping it,"That's because... I couldn't do it." Weiss makes a soft noise of surprise. "I was all set to do it, but..." Blake frowns, eyes narrowing into a glare. "...when I asked Adam what we were going to do about the crew... he said, 'Who cares about a bunch of humans?'." Blake's fists clench. "Twenty people! He was just going to let them die!" She sucks in a deep breath, pushing down the anger building in her. "I... I took some of the explosives, and we made our way to the back of the train, to begin laying them. We were attacked by this... spider droid thing, and Adam began fighting it. He told me to start setting the explosives up and handed me his set. But I... I couldn't." Yang sits on the bed next to her, a hand coming to rest on the faunus' arm,"What happened?" The blonde asks quietly. Blake closes her eyes,"I detached the cart he was on from the rest of the train. Just as he finished with the droid." Blake's arms cross protectively across her chest. "He... he was so angry. He screamed after me so hatefully." She shivers in remembrance, but eventually cracks a soft smile. "And now those people are still alive. He failed the mission, so he was most likely punished severely by the High Leader." Silence descends over the room, more comfortable than before. Weiss stands after a few minutes and makes her way over to Blake, gaze lowered,"Blake I..." She takes a fortifying breath. "I'm sorry for what I said. I... I didn't mean it, any of it. It's just... I was scared when you said you were part of the White Fang. They've done such bad things to my family and... and I lashed out at you before you could explain." She sits on Blake's unoccupied side, staring down at her hands. "I forget, sometimes, just how hard it is to be a faunus, and how good the White Fang might look when you're desperate. And I... I was raised to have specific ideals and notions about the faunus. It's... going to be hard, breaking from that." Weiss pauses, turning to look Blake in the eye. "But... I'll try." Blake swallows roughly, emotion brimming in her, and she nods,"T-Thanks, Weiss. That's... more than enough for me." Yang, who had been largely forgotten about by the two quarrelling girls, booms a laughing,"Guys! This is great!" She pulls the both into a hug, ignoring their squawks of protest. "Just wait 'til Ruby gets back and hears this!"Ruby stalks out of the building into the courtyard, heading towards the surrounding forest, her anger slowly ebbing away into guilt and shame. Was she too harsh? She didn't really want Weiss to leave. But the things the heiress said about the faunus, about Blake... it made her feel such rage. Not as much as when she thought about killing Port or when she stabbed Cardin, but she still was so mad. She snakes a hand into her hair and tugs lightly, the small stinging pain distracting her. She'll have to apologize once she's completely calm. She takes a deep breath. Yes, she'll apologize, and then they'll all talk things through, and no one will get hurt. Everything will be fine."Well, well, well." Ruby stiffens, eyes widening at the familiar drawl. She turns quickly and spots him, standing mere inches behind her, dressed impeccably in his white coat with his bowler hat perching precariously over top his ginger hair. Roman. His green eyes are narrowed and a mocking grin is on his face. "I see you survived. Good thing too, would've had a lot of bad things happen if you'd died." Ruby stumbles back a few steps, watching him with a terrified gaze. "What, no hello? And I came all this way just to see you!""Who..." Ruby starts, swallowing thickly. "Who are you?" This wasn't Roman Torchwick, hasn't been Roman Torchwick. The hallucination wasn't real. Hallucinations don't shatter like glass when you hit them. This person before her merely wore Roman's face, used his voice, disguised themselves as him to torture her. It wasn't him. The person cocks his head to the side and raises a brow."Did you forget me already, little red?" He takes a step forward, leaning down to look her in the eye. "Sure didn't take you long.""Y-You're not him!" She stammers, backing away from him, cursing the fact that she doesn't have Crescent Rose on her. Her scythe is tucked away for the day, and her scroll is sitting on her bed in the dorm, so she can't even call for it. She glares at him, "He's dead, a-and I know you're not just a hallucination because hallucinations don't shatter!" Her fists ball. "So who the hell are you?!" The person straightens, lips tilting into a smirk.
"Goodness, you're a clever little runt, aren't you?"
"S-Stop toying with me!" He begins to advance on her. With each step forward, she takes one back. He pauses, smirk widening, and he suddenly disappears. Ruby flinches back,eyes darting around, but she couldn't see him. Did he leave? An arm snakes around her waist and she freezes, heart stuttering in her chest, as she's turned against her will. She's pressed flush against her tormentor – a short woman with tri-colour hair, pink and brown eyes glinting maliciously as they meet her silver."Nice to finally meet you." It's still Roman's voice, seemingly coming from nowhere, whispering right into her ears. The woman's lips didn't even move, though Ruby can see the way her throat muscles spasm. "Took you long enough.""I..." Ruby's fingers twitch for her missing scythe. "W-Who are you?" The woman smirks and leans in. Ruby gasps as she nibbles on her ear for a brief moment before her lips descend to her neck. "S-Stop that!" The woman pulls back, grinning,"Neo." Ruby blinks, looking down into mismatched eyes,"N-Neo? I-Is that... your name?" Neo winks,"Well, it's Neopolitan, actually, but call me Neo." Ruby gulps, eyes scanning the shorter woman's face as she asks,"I-I... why are you doing this?" Neo's head cocks to the side. "T-Taunting me, chasing me as R-Roman?""You're stronger now, aren't you?" Ruby nods hesitantly,"I... am faster now...""Well, there you go." Neo releases her and takes a step back. "As you were? You were nothing." Ruby flinches. It was true, before all this she wasn't the greatest. Hell, her best attack back before all this was running in a straight line towards an enemy with her scythe primed. "Now? At least you'll pack a bit of a challenge." The shorter woman looks Ruby up and down. "For a bit. You'd be quite hard to catch, but once your semblance quits on you, you're toast.""I-" A gloved finger presses against her lips."Shush. You've gotten stronger." Neo tilts her head. "But it's not enough, is it?" Ruby shakes her head and Neo raises a brow, "Very well. You survived my... attempt." Ruby winces, a hand resting over the hidden scar on her abdomen, from where this woman stabbed her with an aura-piercing blade. "Do you want to get even stronger?""I... yes. But-""So be it." A fist lodges itself in Ruby's gut, making her stumble."Ow, wha-" Something smacks harshly against the side of her head, sending her to the ground. Ruby blinks away the stars in her vision and looks up at Neo, who stands before her, a familiar cane in her hands. Ruby's heart thuds powerfully in her chest at the sight of the cane, memories of that July night flooding into her head – he raises the cane and the end pops out, and he aims at her, "I'm afraid this is where we part ways." He squeezes the trigger – the tri-colour woman twirls the cane flashily, the metal of the cane glinting in the shattered moonlight, breaking Ruby from her reverie."Do you know how hard it was to steal this from the police?" Neo smirks. "Not at all difficult. Stand up." Ruby hesitates before shifting to her feet, hands raising defensively before her. "Now, let's try this again." Ruby barely has time to blink before Neo rushes forward, cane swinging for her abdomen. She blocks it, aura flaring to knock the hit off course. Neo cocks her head to the side and disappears, winking out of existence with ease. Ruby's head swivels as she looks for the shorter woman. Metal bashes against the back of her head and she gasps, stumbling forward a few steps. She whirls, but Neo has already disappeared again. There's a whooshing sound, and the cane embeds into her abdomen, lifting her off the ground a bit, knocking the breath from her lungs as she's sent flying, before she lands with a skidded stop. She retches as she rolls onto her side, chest heaving as pain radiated from her stomach. "Get up." Ruby looks up at Neo, tears glimmering in her eyes,"P-Please-"
"Get. Up."
It's hours later, well past midnight, when Ruby finally staggers back to the dorm, bruises and cuts from her recent 'training' already fading due to her aura. She stands in front of the door, leaning heavily on it, exhaustion clawing through her. Her eyelids flutter, each one feeling like it has a tiny weight dragging them down. God, she's so tired. Should she be this tired after training? Usually she just crashes unconscious from severe aura exhaustion, which happens suddenly, with next to no warning. Sure, she's sometimes tired from when she trains her semblance, but never to this extent. Her arms feel like dead weight; numb from use. Her legs feel like they can barely support her; knees wobbling. Her face throbs painfully from a fairly large bruise curling along the edge of her right cheek. Tremors rack her body as her aura nears exhaustion, trying to heal the numerous bruises and cuts. She feels like death. Is this normal? Neo hadn't said anything when they finished, simply vanishing when Ruby was next to collapse. To be frank, Neo had stopped 'talking' mid-way through their session, instead using vague gestures and what seemed like sign-language, though Ruby had no idea what the shorter woman was saying. With a groan, Ruby lifts her hand to the scroll lock, typing in the emergency code, and it beeps, unlocking from the inside. One of her teammates must still be awake then, or awake enough to confirm the code on their scroll. The door swings open and she stumbles in, nearly collapsing on the floor. She bends at the waist with a pained moan as her stomach roils. God, she wants to hurl."Ruby?" Her sister calls from somewhere in the darkness. There's a click off to the side and the room brightens, blinding the cloaked girl for a moment. Ruby looks over and sees Yang standing by the light switch, watching her with concerned eyes. Weiss mumbles something as she sits up in her bed, Blake (Ruby is glad she didn't run off after she herself did) doing the same. "Ruby, what happened? It's one in the morning, where were you?""...training." Ruby mumbles, sluggishly moving towards the bathroom, ready to get out of her torn and dirtied combat dress-wear. She's going to have to spend several hours sewing her outfit back to somewhat pristine condition. Does she have enough supplies in her sewing kit? She might need to take a trip to Vale. Ruby shakes her head and grabs the bathroom doorknob."Ruby." Yang states, anger curling the word. "Who did this to you?" Ruby shrugs, looking over her shoulder at Yang,"Myself, Yang. I was training by myself." The lie is heavy on her tongue. No one would believe the truth, anyway. Neo was able to appear and disappear at will – she was even able to hide from cameras. Who would believe that she spent hours on end getting the ever living shit kicked out of her by a short woman with an umbrella? Not that she used said umbrella. Neo only ever used Roman's cane on her, whacking her without mercy if she faltered in her defence even a little."...right." Yang mutters, eyes narrowing as she scans over her sister. "Are you sure?" Ruby scowls,"Yes. Yang, I was training by myself. No one else was there. Not even a single Grimm!" She turns on her heel and glares across the room at her sister, "Now, if you're done interrogating me, I need a shower!"
"Hello Red!" Roman calls, broken glass crunching beneath his boots as he walks out from the dust shop. "Long time no see." Ruby's hands clench tighter to Crescent Rose as he makes his way closer to her. He stops mere inches before her, silence falling between them as she stares, terrified, up at him. "Lovely bruise. Really suits you!" He reaches forward, cupping a hand around her right cheek, pressing his palm roughly on the bruise there, sending jolts of pain through her. His other hand wraps around her throat, his fingers gently caressing along her skin, tapping to the beat of her pulse. The hand on her cheek snakes into her hair, running easily through her tresses. "It definitely adds to your beauty..." He murmurs as he bends down, twisting her head to the side as he does so. He presses his face close to hers, tongue slinking out to drag lazily across the bruise. Ruby shivers at the sensation, Crescent Rose shaking in her hands, bits of metal clanking impossibly loud. "Truly a marvel, little red..." He whispers into her ear before twisting her face to his, his teeth nipping at the corner of her mouth. He leans closer and his lips touch hers-
Ruby shoots awake with a shriek, semblance activating as she flings herself away from her bed, rose petals fluttering down to the ground almost serenely. She backs into a corner, curling into herself, body shaking. Her hands grip tightly onto her hair and she tugs harshly, trying to distract herself from the nightmare with pain."Ruby?" Someone calls from the darkness. A muted thud sounds, as if someone had leapt from one of the top bunks to the ground. A dark, human-like silhouette begins to walk towards her. "Ruby, are you okay?" The person comes closer, and Ruby whimpers, trying to back further into the corner with each step they take. It knows her name. How does the dark know her name? Cloth rustles in the dark and a new voice asks,"Yang? What's going on?" Two more shapeless dark people come near. "Ruby?" No, no, no, the dark isn't supposed to know her name, the dark isn't supposed to be people, it should be formless, silent. It knows her name and that frightens her and she tries to back further away but she cant and one of them is reaching for her – she snaps her teeth down on the dark's hand, biting hard. "OW!" The dark retracts its hand with a hiss, "You dolt! What was that for?!" The original dark growls,"I told you about this, Weiss! You can't just touch her when she like this!" The original dark moves away, the two others following it, and Ruby is relieved. The dark has retreated and now it will leave her alone and she can forget about the nightmare and – the room brightens suddenly with a click, and Ruby nearly screams, burying herself into her arms. "Ruby? Hey, it's me, Yang. Your sister." Yang. Yes, that is her sister's name. But one of the darks called the original that. The dark knows her sister's name, knows her teammates names, knows her name. Is it even her sister before her? Or is the dark trying to trick her? "C'mon, look at me, please?" Ruby shifts slightly, silver eyes glinting with an almost feral light, to look upon the dark's true form. But it is not the dark. Her sister kneels before her, watching her, waiting for some sign of coherence. Ruby blinks a few times, brain finally catching up to her eyes, and she lowers her arms, quietly asking,"Yang...?" Silver eyes flick around the room, alighting on her other two teammates. Blake is staring at her, eyes wary yet alert, while Weiss cradles her hand to her chest, frowning heavily. "I..." Yang shushes her sister, leaning forward to latch onto her with a hug."Shh, shh. It's alright, Ruby. It was a dream." Yang's hand trails gently through Ruby's hair. "You're safe." Stiffly, Ruby circles her arms around her sister, forehead coming to rest on the elder's shoulder. "You scared us, Ruby. It's been weeks since your last nightmare.""Sorry..." Yang shakes her head, tickling Ruby's face with her long hair,"No, don't apologize. You can't help it." The blonde chuckles suddenly, "Though, Weiss sure ain't gonna forget this one." Ruby pulls away, eyes darting to Weiss. The heiress is massaging her fingers, white aura flashing periodically as she does."D-Did I...?""Bite Weiss? Yep." Yang stands, dragging Ruby to her feet as well. "I told Ice Queen not to touch you while you're experiencing an... episode. She didn't listen." Ruby's hands clench onto her pyjama top."W-Weiss, I..." Weiss huffs, eyes rolling,"Don't bother. I know you're sorry." Her eyes soften. "It was mostly my fault anyway. I shouldn't have tried to touch you. I should have waited for Blake to turn on the light." Yang's eyebrows shoot up,"Did Ice Queen just admit that something was her fault? It's a miracle!" Weiss glares at the blonde,"Shut it, you!" Ruby can't stop the giggles that escape her, sounding louder and louder, until it's full-blown laughter; laughter that slowly fades into sobs. Yang embraces her once again, holding tightly, gently rubbing her back."It's alright, Rubes. Everything's gonna be alright."Ozpin drums his fingers on his desk, brown eyes narrowed behind thin glasses, as he reads through a short report on another dust robbery. The robberies were gaining in frequency, which is worrying for a multitude of reasons, chief being: what are the robbers doing with all the dust? They've so far stolen enough dust to fuel a military the size of Atlas', yet there was seemingly nothing being done with it. There wasn't a surge of black-market dust, no thieves with dust infused clothes or weapons, there wasn't even a mention of the dust once it's taken from the stores. This is leading to something big, and all the pieces are right in front of him, but for all his lifetimes of knowledge, he can't figure out what. His scroll rings loudly, drawing him from his contemplation, and he plugs it into his computer, answering the video call as he goes. A man with greying blond hair pops up on the screen, decked in a smart suit, colourful badges pinned to his breast. This man is the commissioner of Vale's police force."Commissioner, how can I help you?" Ozpin inquires, eyebrow raising. The commissioner frowns heavily,
"Headmaster Ozpin, sir, there's been an incident."
"Another robbery?" The commissioner hesitates for a moment before nodding,"Of some sort." He reaches down and picks up a few pieces of paper, holding them up before the camera as he pins them to a board behind him. Ozpin immediately recognizes the scenes detailed on the pages as photographs of the international dock. Each photo depicts empty freighting containers, the SDC logo stamped to the sides. "Dust robbery, but this time the robbers targeted a freighter that just sailed in to dock this morning. They'd only just finished unloading its cargo when the robbers struck. The bastards slaughtered nearly every employee on the dock. Twelve dead, three in critical condition, and one civilian witness, which is the only reason we even made it in time to save those three." Ozpin lets out a hiss as the commissioner lifts up a photo of twelve men in bright orange vests piled onto one end of the dock. Most were riddled with bullet holes, though some appeared to have been cut right in two. Ozpin's fists clench, anger coursing through him for a moment, before he lets out a soft breath."You say some survived?" The commissioner nods,"Yes, two workers and a student from Haven Academy in Mistral." Ozpin straightens in his seat."A student was there?""Yes, says here it's a faunus lad, named Sun Wukong. He was rushed to Vale Central with various deep wounds made by some type of sword. Mister Wukong was still conscious when paramedics arrived, and was saying that he was attacked by a red-haired demon when he tried to stop the robbery. He's expected to recover fully within two weeks." Ozpin lets out relieved sigh. The student was fine. He despised when students got injured, especially when they had no need to be in danger. "That's not all, Headmaster." The commissioner shakes his head. "Mister Wukong said it was the White Fang." Ozpin intakes sharply, mind reeling. This sort of crime was way off base for the White Fang. They usually stuck to riots and the occasional peaceful-turned-violent protest. They've never stolen or committed murder on this scale before. What are they up to? The commissioner says a few pleasantries before he hangs up, leaving Ozpin to stew silence."The White Fang..." Ozpin mutters, eyes narrowing. Why was the Fang doing this? Why now? The Vytal Festival was almost upon them. Why drudge up all this attention so close to such an important event for faunus and human alike? His spine straightens. Of course. That's exactly why they're doing it! Something is going to happen at the Vytal Festival, and the White Fang is definitely involved. He just needs to figure out what. His scroll vibrates and he glances at it. A message from Qrow rolls across the screen,[QUEEN HAS PAWNS]. The message deletes itself shortly after, and Ozpin frowns, hands clasping together. He rest his chin on his interlocked fingers as his gaze swings out the window. First the White Fang, and now this? She has pawns, probably stationed somewhere in Vale, most likely ready to attack at any moment. With the Vytal Festival right around the corner... The light of the shattered full moon brightens his office, reflecting off his glasses eerily. Something big is going to happen during the festival. And Ozpin has no idea what it could be, what her role in it is. He needs to find out, and he knows the one man who can find out almost anything. He snatches up his scroll and types out a quick message to Qrow,
[COME BACK TO BEACON IMMEDIATELY]
A tall red-haired man stands in a darkened warehouse, the only light being from the shattered full moon entering the windows behind him. His hand rests on his blade, ready to draw it in a fraction of a second should the need come. A door creaks open from somewhere near the front of the warehouse."Excellent work, Adam." A woman's voice calls, heels clicking against the stone floor as she approaches, glowing amber eyes roving over the many containers full of stolen dust."Cinder Fall." The man says, turning to face her, moonlight bouncing creepily off the Grimm-like mask adorning his face. "I've told you not to call me that." Amber eyes roll as she steps from the darkness. Long dark hair spills over her pale shoulder as she tilts her head, red dress clinging sensually to her curves as moves towards him."Oh, Adam, Adam, Adam." She brings a hand up, mockingly patting his chest. Adam doesn't react to the touch bar a slight twitch. "Are your men ready to begin preparing phase two?" Adam jerks his head in a nod, and Cinder grins, stepping away from him as two teenagers enter the warehouse. She chuckles, lifting a hand. With a dramatic snap, a ball of flame dances along her fingers, a clear show of power intending to intimidate the faunus man. The two teens step from the shadows. One is a boy with grey hair and dark eyes, a cocky smirk tugging at his lips, dressed in a grey and black outfit. The other is a girl with green hair and bright red eyes, tanned skin displayed broadly with her white and brown outfit, two large green-coloured weapons holstered to her back. Cinder cocks a brow and smiles, "We have big plans, Taurus. All we ask is for a bit of..." The flame winks out, bathing the warehouse in darkness. "...cooperation."

----- CHAPTER BREAK -----

“ 'scuse me, sorry.” Emerald says, red eyes narrowing slightly as she helps the old shopkeep to his feet. Sure, she had been the one to knock him off his ladder, but he shouldn't have had that fat wallet just dangling out his pocket. Plus, she can get directions to her mission and hopefully beat Mercury there, so really it's a win-win for her. The elderly man smiles gratefully as he wobbles on his heels, still a bit unsteady from his fall. He turns to her and thanks her with a nod, and Emerald flashes a vaguely annoyed grin, “I'm not really from around here. Can you tell me where this address is?” She holds out an old receipt she's had since who-knows-when, using her semblance to project the address she was given on it. The old man reads the address and cocks his head, pointing just down the road. Emerald smirks, “Thanks.” She gives him a wave and walks off. As she passes a darkened alleyway, a voice calls out,“Ha, I knew it,” A grey haired teen exits the alley, a cocky smile on his face. “you're lost!” Emerald scowls,“Mercury, I'll seriously pay you to shut up.” She wags a couple of colourful lien cards in his face. “Five hundred lien.” Mercury snorts,“That's not your money.” Emerald grins, shrugging,“But it can be yours for a five minutes of silence.” Mercury tilts his head as if contemplating the offer,“Hmm...” He shakes his head. “No deal.” Emerald rolls her eyes and turns on her heel, walking off down the road. Mercury snickers, “Heh, she so wants me.”  “Kinda boring looking place.” Mercury mutters, dark eyes roving over the sign proudly displaying the words: 'Tukson's Book Trade – Home to Every Book Under the Sun!' “What a crap catchphrase.”“Just shut up already.” Emerald huffs, pulling open the door. A loud bell rings through the store, and a man shouts from the back room,“Be right with you!” The two teens enter the store, glancing around at the shelves and boxes stacked high with books of all shape and size. Muffled swearing comes from the back room as a man staggers out, carrying a tall stack of books in his hands. “Welcome to Tukson's Book Trade! Home to every book under the sun! I'm Tukson.” The man sets the stack of books on the counter, turning with a smile to greet the teens, “How may I...” He trails off, hazel eyes widening in recognition as his gaze lands on them. He swallows thickly, his voice coming a bit strained, “How may I help you?” Mercury gestures vaguely with his hands and picks up a random book from one of the boxes. Emerald shoots him a glare before turning to Tukson with a soft smile,“I was wondering, do you have The Thief and the Butcher?” Tukson nods,“We do...” He looks between the teens, “Would you... like a copy?” Emerald shakes her head,“No, no, just wondering. Say, how about Violet's Garden? In paperback?” Mercury calls from near the front of the store,“He's got it! Hardback too.” Emerald whistles appreciatively,“Nice, options are good.” Tukson looks between them once again and licks his lips,“You...” Emerald cuts him off with,“How about,” She smirks menacingly, “The Third Crusade?” Tukson jerks back, eyes widening,“N-No, unfortunately. We don't have... that one.” Mercury slams the book he'd been perusing shut, the loud crack echoing in the silent store.“Oh?” He says, dropping the book. “Say, what's the name of this place again?” He asks, taking a few steps towards the windows. Tukson narrows his eyes,“Tukson's Book Trade.” Mercury hums lightly, lowering the shades, darkening the room. As he does so for the other windows, he asks,“And, uh, you're Tukson, right?” The faunus man nods. “Huh, see, that catchphrase of yours, what was it again?” The faunus man scowls lightly,“Home to every book under the sun.” Mercury smirks,“Except The Third Crusade.” Tukson takes a step back,“It's just a catchphrase!” Mercury frowns,“It's false advertising!” Emerald nods, smirk tugging at her lips,“Now, now, you shouldn't make promises you can't keep, Tukson.” She steps away from the counter. “I heard you were planning on leaving, heading to Vacuo.” She taps her lips with a finger. “See, I'm sure your brothers in the White Fang wouldn't like that.” She smirks at him, red eyes seeming to glow in the dim light. “We sure don't. You know who we are, don't you?” Tukson dips his head,“Yes.”“And you know why we're here?” A growl comes from him,“Yes.” Emerald raises a brow,“And you're gonna fight back, aren't you?” Tukson snarls, leaping onto the counter, fingernails extending into large claws,“YES!” He leaps at Emerald and slashes down. The green-haired teen doesn't move, merely smirking at the faunus. His claws rake right through her, shredding her image into smoke-like vapour. His eyes widen and he turns, just in time to see Mercury slam his boot into his face, activating the shotgun inside. Tukson's head explodes, showering the counter and countless books with gore. His headless corpse falls to the ground with a loud thud, blood gushing from his exposed tissues, drenching the floor with his fluids. Mercury grins down at the corpse, sidestepping the rapidly growing pool of blood. Emerald hums, staring down at the headless man,“Well, that was way too easy.” She turns and walks to the door, Mercury on her heels. “God, couldn't Roman have taken care of this guy before he kicked the bucket?” Mercury laughs,“Em, that guy was taken out by a little girl. I don't think he could've handled this dude.” Emerald raises a brow,“Yeah, true, but he had what's-her-face working for him, didn't he? Neo or whatever.” Mercury shrugs,“Eh, ice-cream chick could've taken him out easily. Torchwick was a fucking puss though. Only good for stealing dust – and he didn't even do that well enough!” Emerald smirks,“True. Let's head back. Cinder's waiting.”  “Ruby?” Said girl jumps back at the sudden question, having been absorbed in patching up her combat outfit at her dormitory desk. She tilts her head, silver gaze landing on Pyrrha. The redhead is crouching next to Ruby, green eyes filled with mirth.“P-Pyrrha!” Ruby exclaims, eyes darting to her dorm door. She could have sworn she had locked it, a habit she gained upon meeting Neo for real. Not that a locked door will stop the shorter woman, but one can hope. “How... how'd you get in here?” Pyrrha smiles, sitting down on Weiss' bed,“Yang let me in. She said something about...” The champion trails off, tongue darting out to wet her lips, eyes shifting to the door for a moment. “Yang said you and Weiss had a bit of a... falling out last night.” Ruby winces, looking away from Pyrrha. Yes, the events of last night are still fresh in her mind – from Blake's backstory reveal to her fight with Weiss to getting beat senseless by Neo to biting Weiss. Ruby wanted to apologize for her remarks and for causing the heiress injury, but Weiss and Blake were both gone when she was woken by Yang that morning. She'd waited for hours for either of them to come back, but they still haven't, and none of her teammates, including her sister, were answering her texts. Even so, if she saw Weiss, could she apologize? Just thinking about it earlier had sent her into a near panic attack. There's no knowing how the heiress will react. Will she be Nice Weiss and accept her apology, even offer one of her own for her derogatory remarks? Or would Angry Weiss come out? Will Weiss rage much like she had last night? Will Weiss shout at Ruby? And if she does, how will Ruby react? Most likely, she'll just get so angry again, and their argument might escalate and she'll say something she doesn't mean once again and then she'll storm out again and then Neo might come again and then they'll fight and-“No!” Ruby snarls aloud, eyes screwing closed. Her hands clench into fists. No, that will not happen. Ruby can control her anger. She can control herself.“Ruby?” Silver eyes crack open at Pyrrha's soft, worried, voice. Ruby looks to the redhead, locking gazes with concerned green.“S-Sorry.” She mumbles, glancing away. Pyrrha hums quietly,“No, no.” The redhead stands, approaching Ruby. “I... understand, somewhat.” Ruby cocks her head to the side in question, and Pyrrha smiles softly. “My father often has similar... episodes.” She reveals, leaning against the desk. “He describes it as 'thinking too much' and 'getting so angry over little things' and whatnot. He's been a hunter for a long, long, time. Most of his life, actually. His episodes usually happen after a mission goes... wrong.” She emphasizes the word, and Ruby understands almost immediately what she's implying. “Sometimes he has nightmares. Sometimes he wakes the entire house with them. He never shares the contents of those dreams with me, but he often hugs me a bit tighter afterwards.” Ruby swallows thickly,“I... I have nightmares.” She chokes out, “Often.” Nightmares come nearly every night. There were those blissful weeks of dreamless sleep, but that ended too quickly for her tastes. Her nightmares always centre around that horrible incident; around Torchwick's death. Even the mere inkling of a thought of him brings terrified tears to her eyes; makes her eyes burn until the tears are shed. “I just... just keep seeing it.” Pyrrha rests a comforting hand on Ruby's back, rubbing in small circles as silence descends on them, broken only by the brief noise of rustling fabric. Ruby takes in a deep, steadying, breath, bringing a hand up to wipe any stray tears away. “T-Thanks, Pyrrha. For sharing.” Pyrrha smiles once again,“Oh, it was nothing, Ruby.” She scratches her cheek. “Although, we've run aloft of my original intentions for being here.” Ruby blinks, turning to the redhead. “I didn't come here to speak on my father. Yang actually asked me to speak to you about what happened with you and Weiss.” Ruby bites the inside of her cheek.“D-Did she...?” Pyrrha shakes her head,“No. Yang didn't really tell me anything about what happened.” Her nose scrunches. “I'm not entirely sure why she assumes I should talk to you about this. I'm sure Yang could have handled this.” Ruby shrugs,“I'm not so sure about that.” Truthfully, Yang, despite essentially raising Ruby for most of the younger girl's formative years, was never good with the emotional side of things. Yang, much like their father and uncle, tended to bury her more negative emotions until they explode out. Yang often ran from any conversation that got too emotional for her, and if she couldn't run, then she'd get angry and derail it by starting a fight. After all, that's how their father and uncle did things, though they also had a third option – drinking their emotions away. Their father had gotten better in recent years, but he did slip a few times, drifting back into drinking himself unconscious in his depression. And their uncle always had a drink in hand. Ruby honestly didn't have a good handle on herself or her emotions. She didn't know how to handle the negative ones, but that was hardly her fault. Who could she learn it from? Her father who buried all his feelings? Her uncle who drank his away? Her sister who ran from hers? Her dead mo-“-there? Ruby? Are you listening?” Ruby jerks out of her contemplating, turning to look at Pyrrha. The redhead sighs quietly once she meets Ruby's silver. “Thank the brothers. I thought you might have gone back into another episode.”“Oh...” Ruby mumbles, “...sorry.” Pyrrha smiles,“It's quite alright. So,” She leans a bit closer, “what happened last night?”“Um...” Ruby hesitates for a moment before saying, “Me and Weiss fought and I was so angry and I said that s-she... that she...” She bites her lip. “I said I'd strike her from the team.” Pyrrha's eyes widen,“Oh! That...” The redhead frowns. “...that's very serious.”“I didn't mean it!” Ruby exclaims, leaping from her seat. “I wanted to apologize this morning but Weiss was gone when I woke up! A-And she's been gone all day and she's not answering her scroll...” Pyrrha nods,“I see. It was a heat of the moment thing, huh?” Ruby nods vigorously. “And you do want to apologize?”“More than anything! I didn't mean to say it. I was just so...”“Angry.” Pyrrha finishes, an understanding look dawning on her face. “Oh, it is all a bit of a misunderstanding then.” The redhead suddenly pulls out her own scroll and dials a number.“P-Pyrrha?” Pyrrha brings a finger to her lips,“Shh.” She lifts her scroll. “Hello, Weiss! Lovely day, isn't it?” Ruby can't quite hear what Weiss says back, but it makes Pyrrha smile widely, “Oh, I'm here with Ruby. Hmm?” Pyrrha cocks her head to the side. “Yes, I understand. Ah, please, come back to your dorm. Ruby is quite worried. Are Blake and Yang with you? Yes? Well, bring them as well.” Pyrrha nods, “You'll be here soon? Splendid! Yes, see you then!” She hangs up, sliding her scroll back into her pocket.“Pyrrha? You-” Pyrrha cuts her off,“Sorry for interrupting, but your teammates will be here soon. I should leave.” She glances at the door. After a moment, she stands, making her way for it. “This sort of conversation is meant to be private.” Ruby nods,“Right...” Pyrrha opens the door and steps out. “Pyrrha, thank you.” The redhead looks over her shoulder and smiles,“You're welcome, Ruby.”  Sun hisses sharply as a nurse begins to draw a bit of blood from his arm. His tail swishes in irritation, which only sends flares of pain through him. God, he hates hospitals. His nose has always been a bit more sensitive than any other faunus he knows, and the scent of antiseptics and death that flooded hospitals burned his nostrils. His yellow aura ripples across his skin as she pulls the now full needle out of his arm, healing the small hole and bruise. The nurse smiles at him and bids him a pleasant farewell. He doesn't quite understand what they're drawing his blood for. He'd lost a lot of blood last night, so shouldn't they be giving him blood? The thought of the last night makes his eyes narrow into a glare. If that red-haired bull faunus, that demon, never showed up, Sun could've saved more than two of the dock workers. Hell, Sun probably could've taken out all those White Fang assholes had that demon never showed! He would've been the hero! He might've even made it onto the news, like that girl who killed that Torchwick guy! Sun sighs, flopping onto his back, groaning as the motion brings pain from his wounds. What asshole god gave that demon such an overpowered semblance? Seriously, the guy only got stronger with each hit he blocked with his sword!“Mister Wukong?” Sun yelps at the sudden voice, startling into a sitting position. He looks to the now open door to his hospital room. A tall silver-haired man stands there, leaning minutely on an engraved cane. Sun's blue eyes widen in recognition,“H-Headmaster Ozpin, sir!” Sun would offer the man a salute, but the last time he'd lifted his arms any higher than a few inches he'd torn the stitches to one of his cuts and got quite the tongue-lashing from one of the doctors. The headmaster strides into the room, coming to a stop next to the bed.“Mister Wukong, I see you are recovering well.” The man smiles at the monkey faunus.“Y-Yes, sir! I'm feelin' great, really!” Sun makes to stand, but Ozpin stops him.“Be that as it may, I must insist that you remain seated, for your health.” Sun nods, settling back into a more comfortable position. The headmaster reaches into a pocket and brings forth a small recording device. “Now, I know this isn't the most ideal place for this sort of thing, but I require a statement of the events of last night from you.” Ozpin flicks a switch on the device, and it powers on with a quiet beep. “Please, begin when you are ready.”“Uh... sure.” Sun shifts a bit, eyeing the device with a bit of wariness. “Where... uh, where should I begin?” Ozpin hums under his breath,“Well, perhaps with why you are in Vale so early. Teams from Haven are not arriving until this afternoon.”“Um, well... I, uh, caught an earlier ship.” Sun coughs into his hand, shrugging a bit. “You know.”“Oh, indeed I do.” Ozpin gives him a knowing look, causing Sun to force a laugh.“O-Oh? Cool! Then, um, well, uh...” He rubs his arm, eyebrows furrowing as he thinks back. “Um, how about I skip right to the good part then? I'm sure you don't need to know everything I did yesterday.” Ozpin nods,“That sounds agreeable. Very well, Mister Wukong, what happened on the International Dock last night?”“Well, see, I was looking for my hotel, y'know? I got lost and was walking near the docks when I heard all this screaming and then there were gunshots!” Sun's eyes light up. “I thought, 'someone's in trouble!' and I went runnin' for the dock. When I got there, those White Fang guys were robbing the place! I had to stop them, after all, that's what a huntsman does!” He smiles. “So I got out Ruyi Bang and Jingu Bang, my shotgun-nunchaku, and I started beating the tar out of the guys.” He frowns, eyebrows furrowing deeply. “But then this... this demon came outta nowhere.”“Demon?” Ozpin asks, leaning forward. Sun nods,“Yeah, this bull faunus. He has these horns,” He lifts his hands as high as he can and makes a horn gesture, wincing at the pulling of his stitches. “and was wearing this real creepy mask, like a Grimm's! Anyway, he came outta nowhere and started killin' all the dock workers, and I couldn't let him just do that, you know!” He waves his hands vaguely, as if denoting it. “I jumped at him and stopped him from killin' the last two workers – told them to run and they did!” Sun frowns again. “The faunus guy, he was, kinda... angry? I think it was anger.” His lips purse and he nods, “Yeah, he was angry that I was helping the human workers. He kept spouting stuff on how humans are the worst and that a faunus like me should be helping his own kind. I told him that my kind is all kind. Human or faunus, I don't care. I'm becoming a huntsman to help all people.” Sun looks down at his bandage-covered chest. “He didn't like that answer. He got real mad and then we started fighting. But that guy...” Sun trails off, fingers running over his bandages. “He's so strong. It was like every time he blocked one of my attacks he got even stronger. A-And then he... he did this thing-” He makes a slashing motion in the air. “-sent this red aura-like slash at me a-and then next thing I know the paramedics were there and then... then I woke up here.” He gestures to the room. “That's what happened, sir.” Ozpin dips his head, reaching and turning the recording device off.“I see. Thank you, Mister Wukong. What you did was very brave.” Sun shrugs,“It was kinda stupid, too. If I had called the cops before I jumped into the fray, then I might not have ended up here, you know?” Ozpin smiles briefly,“Yes, that may be true, but dwelling on past mistakes will only lead you to make more in the future.” Sun returns the smile. “In any case, Mister Wukong, in a few days you will be moved to Beacon's Infirmary for the remainder of your care.” Sun nods, tail flicking in interest. “Very well. Then I shall leave you to heal.” Ozpin bows his head in farewell, turning to leave. Sun grins,“Can't wait until I get to Beacon, sir!”  Emerald and Mercury stride confidently into the seemingly abandoned warehouse. Members of the White Fang mill about, loading carts full of dust onto a discreet airship. Emerald's gaze flicks around, eventually settling onto a figure several heads shorter than everyone else. A slim green eyebrow raises,“Neo?” The shorter woman turns, eyes blinking between white and pink. Neo gives them a somewhat sarcastic wave of her hand.“Hey,” Mercury starts, nudging Emerald in the side with his elbow, “why's ice-cream chick here?” Neo glares at him, venom clearly pronounced in her gaze. “Uh-”“Mercury.” Emerald hisses, stomping down onto his boot. Mercury gasps quietly, faking a wounded pout,“That hurt, Em. Really.” Emerald rolls her eyes, turning back to Neo,“So, Neo, why are you here?”“I called her here, of course.” A alluring voice resounds from the catwalk above them. Emerald smiles,“Cinder!” Said woman activates the lift she is standing on, slowly descending in a fairly dramatic way to the ground floor. Cinder saunters forward, a soft smile on her lips,“Emerald, Mercury. Is the job finished?” Emerald nods,“Yes ma'am. All loose-ends have been tied.” Cinder smirks,“Excellent.” She looks to Neo, calling the shorter woman forward with a wave, “Neo, find Taurus at the Glenn. I'm sure he can use some... help.” Mercury snickers at that, earning him a glare from his boss. “Mercury, be quiet.”“Yeah, yeah.” Cinder eyes him in distaste for a moment longer before turning back to Neo.“Ozpin has surely called in for support by now. Taurus is admittedly rather loud when it comes to things I ask him to be subtle for.” Cinder still hasn't forgotten the incident at the docks. Taurus was supposed to be in and out, no nonsense and no deaths. Yet the bull faunus ended up killing several people and, even worse, left witnesses alive. Witnesses that identified him. “Neo, keep an eye on him.” Neo makes a few affirmative gestures with her hands before she disappears. Emerald frowns at the woman's quick escape and looks to Cinder,“Cinder, what are we to do now?” Cinder gives a sinister smile,“Why, we move into Phase 3.”  Above their heads, a red-eyed crow cocks its head, eyeing the three below it with surprising intelligence. As quiet as possible it unravels its wings and takes off into the sky.  Ruby hisses as she pricks her finger on her needle. She quickly shoves her finger into her mouth, pouting down at her nearly completed patch job. The door clicks open behind her and she stiffens at the sound. She discreetly crosses her unoccupied fingers and thinks, 'Please don't be Weiss, please don't be Weiss, please don't be-'“Ruby?” Weiss calls softly as she enters the room. 'Dammit.' Pulling her injured finger form her mouth, Ruby turns, spying the heiress standing in the doorway. Weiss raises a brow, “What are you doing?” A soft blush crosses Ruby's cheeks, as she realizes that Weiss had just caught her sucking on her fingers like a child.“...patchin' my combat skirt.”“Oh.” The two lapse into a vaguely uncomfortable silence. Ruby fiddles with her needle, mind racing through what to say. Should she just come straight out and apologize? Or maybe say a few compliments and then apologize? Or- “Ruby,” Weiss cuts off her stream of thought, “look, I... I'm sorry.” Ruby twitches. “For what I said and did. I... you were right. I should have just listened to you and let Blake explain herself. I didn't because... some part of me still doesn't like that you are the leader, and with what Blake revealed, it just came to a head. So... I'm sorry.” Weiss looks down, rubbing her arm. “If... if you still think I should be re-”“NO!” Ruby exclaims, leaping to her feet to cut Weiss off. “No, no, Weiss, I... I'm sorry, too. I shouldn't have threatened you like that. I...” Ruby swallows thickly, hands gripping her shirt. “I was just so mad, at all that was happening, and I shouldn't have taken it out on you. I would never want to remove you or anyone else form the team. I just...” She bites her lip, “...yeah.”“Oh...” Weiss dips her head, silence once again falling over them. Weiss breaks it with, “W-Well, that was all I wanted to say and...” She trails off and fidgets a bit, clearly becoming uncomfortable with the awkward air.“Y-Yeah! Um, I was just-” Ruby's eyes dart around before landing on her scroll, which was laying on the desk beside her sewing kit. She snatches it up quickly, “-just gonna head to Vale for a few, y'know, g-get some things! For my sewing kit a-and maybe some other stuff... um...” 'Be courteous Ruby! It's courteous to invite her along! Do it!'“O-Oh! Well, uh...” Weiss glances around, “Um...”“Y-You wanna come with? I-I'm fine on my own though!” Ruby rubs her neck, “I-I just, y'know, wanted to ask, in case... well, y'know.” She licks her lips. “Y-You don't have to come!” Weiss deflates in relief, and honestly Ruby felt like doing the same. This conversation was awkward enough as it is. If they went out to Vale together? They'd probably never speak out of sheer awkwardness. Ruby coughs lightly, “I-I can pick you up something?” Weiss shakes her head,“Um, no, thank you.” The awkwardness permeates the air between the two. Ruby flicks her gaze to the door before spouting,“R-Right. Uh, see you later!” Ruby rushes past the heiress, just about ready to blast down the hall with her semblance, but pauses in the doorway. “C-Could you tell Yang where I went?” Weiss nods,“Sure.”  Ruby frowns at the weapon parts displayed in the window, numbers crunching in her head as she read the price tags. She only got about 150 lien every two weeks for her allowance, and she recently spent most of her savings on replacement parts for Crescent Rose. She gets out her wallet and pops it open, nose scrunching as she reads over the cards inside.“Four hundred.... eighty.” Her gaze returns to the window. The cheapest part was about 200 lien. The part she wanted was about 600. Maybe she could haggle for a lower price? Most weapons shops allow haggling, but sometimes they don't. She's never been to this shop before, so she doesn't know if they allow it or not. Well, there's no harm in asking, right?“Friend Ruby!” A pair of arms suddenly wrap around her shoulders and Ruby freezes, eyes widening as panic courses through her. 'Oh god oh god who's touching me oh god what if it's-' She sucks in a few deep breaths and turns her head.“P-Penny?” The orange-haired girl grins widely,“Salutations, Ruby!” Her head cocks, “Oh, did I scare you? My apologies.” Penny releases her grip and steps back.“O-Oh, it's fine, Penny.” Ruby flexes her fingers, eyes darting around. “Um, why are you here, Penny?” Penny smiles,“I wanted to see more of Vale. My father said I could, if I make it back to the hotel by ten!” Penny turns to look at the weapons shop, eyebrows raising briefly. “What are you doing, Ruby?”“I was just, ah, window shopping!” Penny tilts her head,“What's that?”“Uh... well, it's... um...” Ruby blinks, confused. “Uh, well, you look at the items in the store windows.” She points at the weapon parts. “And, uh, you think about buying them.” Penny nods sagely,“I see. Very well! May I join you in participating in this 'window shopping'?”“S-Sure...?” Ruby glances through the store windows at a clock. “Oh is that the time? I was about to head to a dust store.” She looks at Penny. “It's on the next street. We can window shop as we go!” Penny grins,“Sensational!”  Ruby stares, dumbly, at Penny's outstretched hands. The girl had just saved her from being run over by an out-of-control truck. Saved her by stopping the truck with her bare hands. At first, Ruby thought it was Penny's semblance, some sort of strength enhancement. But then Penny had dragged her down a few alleyways, all while babbling about some big secret and asking if they truly were still friends, which is an absurd question! Of course they're still friends – if anything, they're even better friends now! And then Penny showed Ruby her hands. Her sparking, wire-filled, metallic, hands.“I'm... not a real girl.” Penny mumbles, eyes downcast. Ruby is sure that, if Penny could, she'd be crying.“B-But... you...” Ruby sputters, glancing between Penny's hands and her eyes. “Penny, I don't understand.” The robot's hands clench into fists,“See, most girls are born. But I was made. I am the world's first synthetic person capable of generating an aura.” Penny turns her head away, finishing sadly, “I'm not real...” Ruby's heart lurches at the sadness in Penny's tone, and she snatches the robotic girl's hands up, gently holding them, drawing her attention.“Penny, you think that just because you have nuts and bolts inside instead of squishy guts like me, that makes you any less real?” Penny looks down at their connected hands,“I... you...” Ruby lets go of one of Penny's hands, reaching forward and poking her gently in the chest, right where the heart of a human or faunus would be.“You have a heart.” Ruby carefully uncurls Penny's clenched fists. “You're not like those Atlesian Robot Soldiers. You can think and feel – that's what makes you real! Not if you have organs or blood, but if you have a soul. And I know you have one, Penny. I can feel it.” Penny smiles brightly, sweeping Ruby up into her arms.“Oh, Ruby! You're the best friend anyone can have!” Ruby releases a muffled groan, and Penny puts her back on the ground, a sheepish look in her eye. “Sorry. I forgot how strong I was! I was just so... happy.” Ruby smiles,“Me too, Penny.” Ruby gains a thoughtful expression, “But, if you're so strong, why are you here, in Vale?” Penny cocks her head to the side.“My father allowed me to participate in the Vytal Festival this year, and Mr Ironwood said that this tournament will be good practice for when the time comes.” The way Penny phrased that makes Ruby furrow her brows, slightly befuddled,“The time?” Penny nods,“One day, it'll be my job to save the world. But I still have a lot to learn, so that's why my father let me come to the Vytal Festival. I want to see what it's like in the rest of the world and test myself in the tournament.”“But...” Ruby frowns, “Penny, the world is as safe as it can be right now. What would you be saving it from? We're in a time of peace.” Penny shakes her head, confusion evident in the movement,“That's not what Mr Ironwood said. Mr Ironwood said that this peace is a farce.” Ruby rears back,“B-But, what... what does that mean?!” Penny shrugs, clearly beginning to become bewildered as she is questioned, the answers unknown to her,“I don't know. Mr Ironwood said that it's only a matter of time.”“Until what?”“I don't know that either.”  Ruby wanders down the halls of Beacon, the ominous end of her and Penny's conversation replaying constantly in her head. Why does this Ironwood guy think that this time of peace is ready to end? And to think so strongly enough to essentially commission a sentient combat-ready robot be made? This era of peace has been at hand for decades – nearly eight of them. Sure, the White Fang has been steadily getting more and more violent. But that doesn't mean that another faunus war will break out! The White Fang is only really violent in Vale. Mistral and Atlas only deal with mildly violent riots and protests that are unlikely to end in serious injury or death. And in Menagerie the White Fang is completely peaceful! Ruby frowns, hand raising to massage her temple. Who is this Ironwood guy, anyway? He must be fairly high up, either politically or militarily. Could he be some sort of bad guy? Is he thinking of breaking the peace himself? No, no. Penny wouldn't praise him so justly if he was clearly evil in some way. Perhaps he's just a realist who is too real. The Grimm are an ever increasing threat and when you add violent groups like the White Fang and other organized crime, then it isn't that far of a leap that something bad will eventually happen. Yes, that's the likely-“Watch it!”Someone shouts, and Ruby scrambles back, realizing that she nearly ran into two people. The person who shouted was a boy with grey hair and dark eyes, currently glaring at her. His... friend? Partner? The green-haired girl next to him was scowling at him, red eyes narrowed.“S-Sorry.” Ruby stammers out, backing away further. “I wasn't paying attention.” The boy's eyes rove over her before lighting up in recognition,“Hey, Em, isn't this...?” He gestures vaguely to her. The girl (Em? Was that short for something?) looks at Ruby, eyes widening minutely.“Yeah.” She takes a step towards Ruby. “Hey, you're that Rose kid, right?” Ruby nods, internally wincing upon being recognized, and stutters,“Y-Yes, I'm Ruby. Ruby Rose.” The boy smirks,“Cool.” The girl scowls at him, whacking him on the arm, before looking back at Ruby,“My name's Emerald. This asshole,” She glares at the boy, “is Mercury.”“N-Nice to meet you two.” Mercury grins,“Hey, you killed that Torchwick guy, right?” Ruby rears back as if struck,“I-I...” Mercury nods, as if she had agreed with him,“Nice, was there a lot of blood?” Ruby's eyes widen as she desperately tries to force memories of that night away. “I heard that there was. Saw it on the news.” Mercury smirks as Ruby's breaths begin to speed up, “Say, what was like to kil-”“Mercury.” A new voice cuts in, malice curling the name. Mercury winces, turning to look at the newcomer. A taller woman stands behind them, amber eyes seeming to glow in anger. The woman's gaze flicks to Emerald, who flinches and stammers,“C-Cinder! Y-You're early!”“Indeed I am.” The woman, Cinder's, eyes narrow, “And what do I find?” She hisses, voice dripping with poisonous honey, “You two standing in a hallway,harassing the one girl I specifically said to avoid.” She turns to the green-haired girl, “Emerald, I thought I didn't have to tell you not do something like this, but it seems I was wrong.” Emerald flinches once again, eyes lowering to the floor. Cinder continues to glare at her for a moment longer before commanding, “Mercury, Emerald, leave. Now.”“Y-Yes, ma'am.” Emerald grabs hold of Mercury's sleeve and drags him down the hall towards the visitor's dormitories. Ruby shivers, raising a hand to her chest, eyes screwed shut as she breaths, trying her hardest to remember what Mer had told her to do when memories began to surface. 'Think of Crescent Rose. Of how she swings through the air. Think of Ember Celica. Of how they fire. Myrtenaster, the way her dust storage circulates. Gambol Shroud, how its ribbon flows in the wind. Crescent Ro-'“I apologize for those two.” Cinder says, interrupting Ruby's thoughts, gesturing vaguely in the direction Emerald and Mercury had disappeared. “They're... not particularly bright.” Ruby bites her tongue, giving the older woman a curt nod. “If either of them bother you again, do tell me. I'll sort them out.”“R-Right. I'll, uh... I'll do that.” Ruby mumbles, slowly backing away. “I, uh...” She vibrates in place for a few moments, eyes darting down the hall. “Bye!” She shouts, speeding past Cinder, rose petals trailing in her wake. Cinder watches the petals flutter to the ground and dissolve, a smirk tugging at her lips,“Interesting...”  A quiet caw alerts Ozpin to the presence outside his tower's windows. His gaze flicks to the open window, landing on the red-eyed crow perching there. A brief smile crosses his face,“Ah, you've made it.” The crow leaps forward, feathered skin shifting and stretching, until before Ozpin stands a tall man with greying black hair and bright red eyes. “Qrow, it has been a while.” The man, Qrow, shrugs as he draws forth a flask from his pocket,“Yeah, it has.” Qrow sips from his flask, red eyes dancing around the room before finally settling on the large stacks of paper on Ozpin's desk. He raises an eyebrow, “Did ya skip out on paperwork or something, Oz?” Ozpin sighs, hand raising to massage his temples,“No, these files are not for anything relating to the academy.” He gestures to the papers. “These are about something that... happened to your niece.” Qrow blinks, eyes narrowing,“Yang? What happened to her?” Ozpin shakes his head,“Miss Xiao-Long is perfectly fine. Miss Rose, on the other hand...” Qrow scowls heavily,“What happened to Ruby?” Ozpin sighs once more and leans into his chair, the weight of his many lives seeming to overcome him.“I assume you haven't been keeping up with the news, then?” Qrow shakes his head,“Never had a good enough connection.”“I see.” Ozpin shifts in his seat, “Then you haven't heard of what Miss Rose did.” Qrow makes to say something, but Ozpin cuts him off with a raised hand. “Qrow, this isn't a pleasant tale. Would you prefer to hear it from me, or from Miss Rose herself?” Qrow grunts, gesturing vaguely in Ozpin's direction,“Just tell me already.” Ozpin takes in deep breath before beginning,“Very well. It all began one night in July...” From the wizard falls Ruby's tale, from Torchwick's unfortunate death to her sudden fame to the constant over-training to the incident at the cliffs to the injuring of the Winchester boy in the cafeteria. The tale is brief and to the point, and Ozpin spares no detail, knowing that Qrow would rather hear these things from him than from a second-hand source or the girl in question.Qrow is quiet for a long while once Ozpin finishes, the only sound in the room being the clicking of the large gears of the tower and the ticking of a clock. Several long minutes pass before Qrow moves, downing the rest of his drink in a single draw. Red eyes seem to glow as Qrow sets his angered gaze on Ozpin,“Who the fuck tried to kill my niece?!” Ozpin shakes his head sadly, hands moving to indicate the many papers surrounding him,“That's what I've been trying to figure out for weeks now.” Qrow slumps in place, a defeated aura radiating from his being as he runs a hand through his hair.“Fucking hell...” He sighs, gently shaking his flask as if it would help refill it. “Shit. And the tapes had nothing on them?” Ozpin nods,“I've reviewed the security footage multiple times. Whoever tried to assassinate your niece appears to have a semblance that allows them to hide from Beacon's many security features.” Qrow scowls, tsking quietly to himself. Ozpin leans forward, hands reaching for one of the files on his desk, “While the news regarding Miss Rose was one of the main reasons I called you back, there is also another thing I wish from you.” Qrow snorts,“Yeah, I know.” Ozpin raises a brow,“You do?”“Yeah, her minions are hanging about and scheming.” Qrow makes to take a sip from his flask before remembering that it is empty. “Dammit.” He murmurs, before returning his attention to Ozpin, “Caught a few of 'em plotting some big thing going down in Mountain Glenn in a warehouse down by the docks. I couldn't really see them too well but I've got a feeling these are the guys who took out Fall. Bad news though – they're working with the White Fang for some reason.” Ozpin's face falls into grim realization.“Of course.” He whispers, eyes widening. That's what's happening. Her minions are going to cause trouble at the Vytal festival, using the White Fang as a cover. Pieces fall into place for Ozpin as his mind whirs through many different scenarios, the opposing queen's plan coming together for him. Her pawns are likely going to –“Uh, Oz? Care to share?” Qrow says, interrupting Ozpin's revelations. Ozpin takes his glasses off, brown eyes meeting red,“They know we have Fall here.” Qrow rears back, realization dawning in his eyes,“Fuck.”  Ruby is jerked from a rather fitful sleep by something crawling atop her. Silver eyes blearily open, immediately meeting a pair of mischievous pink-and-brown ones. A soft gasp escapes her before she's across the room to the door, semblance having activated without her knowledge, leaving a wake of rose petals to float serenely to the ground. Her gaze returns to her bed – but no one is there. Chest heaving, Ruby looks around the room, ears straining for any sound whatsoever.“Neo...?” She whispers, doing one last scan of the room before sighing to herself, “No one. Must have been a-” The door behind her opens and she stiffens when a hand grabs the back of her pyjama top, dragging her into the hallway. She's thrown to the ground, landing with a muted thud as her head impacts with the door leading to JNPR's dorm. Her eyes snap to her tormentor, the short woman smirking down at her, cane resting on her shoulders. Neo's hands move and Ruby catches a few of the words being signed to her (surprising considering she'd only started trying to learn the language a few hours ago),Training. Now. Ruby swallows the ball of emotions rising in her and mumbles,“I... uh, c-can I get my scroll?” It's a vain hope, she knows, but if Neo says so then Ruby can head back into her dorm and 'accidentally' wake one of her teammates, hopefully scaring the short woman away for the night. Neo raises a brow and digs through her pockets, drawing forth from one Ruby's scroll. She throws it at the teen, who scrambles to catch it before it hits the ground.Call. Scythe. Outside. Neo signs, and Ruby bites her tongue and nods, bringing up the program to call her weapon to her on a moment's notice.“This is gonna suck...” She mutters, pushing herself to stand and follow after her tormentor.  Metal clangs loudly as scythe meets cane. The sound echoes quietly through their silent momentary stalemate, before both fighters draw back their weapons and leap away. Ruby pants heavily as she glares across the hushed forest clearing, watching as Neo arrogantly twirls the cane in her hands. The shorter woman beckons Ruby with a finger. Ruby crouches, priming her scythe slightly behind her, readying for a semblance-enhanced slashing manoeuvre. Before she can, both fighters freeze, the sound of breaking twigs and crunching leaves meeting their ears. Ruby pulls herself from her position, looking towards the route they came from. Neo frowns, shaking her head, and disappears without a sound. Ruby folds her scythe into its compact gun form and turns around fully, scowling at the sounds coming closer.“Who's there.” She barks, lifting her weapon.“Hey, whoa, kiddo, it's me.” Ruby's jaw drops as a familiar form enters the clearing, hands raised slightly.“U-Uncle Qrow?!” Questions race through Ruby's mind, how, why, is it really? Qrow smirks, waving at the stunned teen,“Yo.” A bright grin breaks out on her face, and she drops her scythe-gun before speeding forward and enveloping her uncle in a tight hug, nearly sending them both to the ground with the force. “Oof!”“I've missed you so much!” Qrow chuckles, patting her head,“Yeah, I've missed you too, kiddo.” Ruby pulls from the hug, smiling up at her uncle,“I thought your mission lasted until October?” Qrow shrugs,“Yeah, well, extenuating circumstances and all that nonsense.” He cocks an eyebrow, “Anyway, I heard someone has been having some... troubles, lately?” Ruby flinches, hands pawing at her hidden scars.“Y-You heard about it?” Qrow watches her for a moment before smirking,“Yeah, heard your sister went and blew up a nightclub after beating up a bunch of mooks.” Ruby blinks,“O-Oh, yeah, she did.” Qrow sighs, shaking his head in mock-exasperation,“Yeesh, what a firecracker.” Ruby fidgets a bit, looking away from her uncle,“And... and did you hear about... other things?” Qrow's eyes narrow,“I... did.” Ruby's fists clench and she nods,“Oh...”“ 'course,” Qrow starts, drawing his niece's attention, “nothing that needs to be talked about right now.” Carefully, he slowly extends a hand and gently tussles her hair with a grin, “When you're ready, kiddo. Not a second sooner.”“Thanks, uncle.” Qrow dips his head and looks around the clearing, eyeing the gouges in the ground with a critical eye. His gaze narrows as he spots a second set of footprints alongside his niece's. After a moment he returns his attention to Ruby,“So, doing some late-night training?” Ruby shrugs,“Yeah.”“Uh-huh...” Qrow's eyes follow the second set of footprints, to where they lead out of the forest and away from Beacon.“Uncle?” He looks over at Ruby, “What are you doing out here so late?” She questions. He smirks,“Why, looking for you of course.” He taps her nose, “It's way past your bedtime, kid. C'mon, let's get you back to your dorm.” He turns to leave the clearing, Ruby on his heels. “So, were you training on your own?” Ruby flinches at the sudden question, but nods, eyes steadfastly staring ahead of her. “Hmm.” Qrow hums under his breath, brow cocking at the way she avoids answering. 'She wasn't alone – there were two sets of footprints. She's clearly been training with someone else.' He thinks, red gaze never leaving his niece. 'So why lie?' He doesn't know why Ruby would lie, to him of all people. He'd understand lying to Taiyang, every kid lies to their parents, but Ruby has never lied to him. He'll have to watch her over the next few weeks. Discreetly of course. He'll find out who she's training with; who's dragging her out of Beacon at three in the morning. But for now... He smirks to himself, “So, Ruby,”“Yeah, uncle?”“You excited for the dance coming up?” Ruby stumbles, head turning so quickly that Qrow is surprised she didn't hurt herself. She exclaims, loudly,“The WHAT?!”