RWBY 1. Chapter 1

**Title to be decided when we actually bother to decide on a storyline**

**Disclaimer: We own nothing! All characters and places described in our story belong solely to the wonderful and talented Monty Oum and the rest of the Rooster Teeth Productions Company.**

The Beowolf snarled and clawed for Ruby's throat. She easily chopped it's hand off and sent Crescent Rose in an arc to take off it's head. The others growled at her for slaughtering their brother and moved to attack. The one on the far left was immediately downed when it took a grenade to the face. The shock sent two close Beowolves off their feet where they were swiftly dealt with by sword and spear. The remaining two kept their course and bared their fangs at the red-hooded figure. A gun on a rope swung around and nailed one in the head, and the last one was frozen into a block of ice and then shattered into multiple pieces.

Weiss wiped the frost off of Myrtenaster and slid it back into its holster on her belt. Ruby collapsed Crescent Rose and secured it on her belt, stepping around the smoking Grimm carcass and joining her teammates. Pyyrha had to help Jaune pull his sword out of the Beowolf, his face red the entire time.

"That's the last of them. Maybe we could eat before we left? It's barely noon and we have been out here two days." Yang brushed her fingers through her long golden hair to ensure there was nothing caught in it.

"Nonsense, we have to get back as soon as possible. We were only meaning to be out here a few hours. We'll be lucky if they aren't already angry."

"I agree with Weiss. We should head back now so we can explain why we've been gone. We don't want to seem like we were intentionally delaying anything. Goodwitch will be upset as it is." Ruby motioned her team to get out of the clearing which was littered with Beowolf corpses. Their smoke created a black haze in the hair and Ruby was anxious to get out of it.

Both teams began to trudge back to the school, having to walk in a straight line in some of the thicker foliage. The Emerald Forest was not famous for being easily maneuverable. Keeping their eyes peeled for any Grimm that lingered in the bushes, they tripped over many roots and unseen holes in the forest floor. Ruby was about to take a particularly nasty spill into some thorns when Jaune caught her arm and righted her on her feet. She smiled her thanks and he shyly returned it, motioning for her to continue in front of him.

Jaune and Ruby were lying on a grassy knoll in the courtyard in front of Beacon Academy, soaking up the afternoon sun.

"So, has the Snow Bitch stopped complaining about breaking a nail on the trip?" Jaune inquired, tuning his heard towards Ruby.

"Don't call her that!" Ruby squeaked, trying to suppress a snicker. Jaune had adopted that nickname for Ruby's partner after the horrible failure that was his attempt to flirt with her. As much as Ruby liked Weiss, she couldn't deny the "snow bitch" quality she had when she was annoyed, which happened to be very often when Ruby was around.

"I'm sorry, but Snow Bitch is all I can think of to classify her!" Jaune replied, propping himself up on his elbow to shoot a smirk at Ruby, knowing how annoyed she was by his nick naming skills.

Ruby mock-gasped. "How dare you insult my partner? You are a cruel bastard, Jaune Ark!" she giggled, turning to face him as well.

"Yeah, but you love me anyway's." he replied jokingly.

Ruby gasped for real, eyes widening in horror. How could he know? Was she really being so obvious about her feelings? She swore she wouldn't make a move on him when she saw him ogling Pyyrha. "I…I'm sorry, I didn't mean… I mean, I know you like Pyyrha, but I just couldn't help… please don't hate me!" she stammered giving him a pleading look. Jaune stared at Ruby for a moment, confused. Suddenly it clicked in his head.

"You… you love me?" He breathed staring at her with disbelief and wonder. Could the girl he'd had a secret crush on since the first day at the academy truly return his feelings? He had refused to make a move on her in the past in fear of ruining their close friendship, but if she really did love him back…

Ruby blushed as red as her cape and gave a tiny nod, eyes downcast. 'Any moment now, he's going to run away, or yell at me in disgust, or' "Oomph!" A pair of warm and slightly chapped lips collided with her own. Jaune broke the kiss and stared deeply into her silver eyes.

"I love you too, Ruby. I have for a very long time now." Hope flooded Ruby's eyes as she launched herself as Jaune, practically tackling him in her happiness. He laughed and reached up to run his fingers through her soft hair. "Snow-bitch is all I can think of to classify Weiss, and perfect is all I can think of to classify you."

"Jaune, that was really bad. You really don't know how to flirt, do you?" She giggled at his hopelessness and planted a quick kiss on his cheek.

"Hey! They only teach you how to fight here, not how to seduce cute girls. It's not my fault I'm so hopeless." He rolled his eyes, trying to ignore the blush that was rising to his cheeks. "Is it working anyway?" he inquired, staring up into her molten silver eyes.

"Hmmmm," Ruby tapped her chin, pretending to think about it for a minute. "You could use a little practice but I wouldn't say you're too bad. I'm pretty sure I still love you anyway."

Now it was Jaune's turn to be mock-offended. "Well then, if you're only pretty sure, I guess I'll have to convince you," he stated, rolling them over so he could push Ruby into the grass.

"Convince me, then," she challenged. That was all the invitation Jaune needed. Their lips reconnected and a fire ignited between them. Ruby's hands came up to tangle in Jaune's blond locks and she pulled lightly, causing him to release a breathy moan. As the kiss quickly grew more intense, Jaune ran his tongue along her bottom lip, begging for entrance. She granted his request with a happy sigh, and their tongues met and danced as emotions began to rise. One of Jaune's hands snaked around her and began tracing light patterns up and down her back, and the other reached up to gently grabbed Ruby's chest. Ruby gave a small cry of panic and glanced around the clearing.

"Jaune, what if they see us?"

"Ruby, we are a good few hundred yards from the school, and these bushes are too thick to see through. It's fine." He kissed her softly and smiled into her silver eyes.

"Fine, but we go back in a few minutes, okay?"

"Okay Ruby." He gave her a loving look before he kissed her firmly and she melted under his touch. As his lips wandered to her neck she bit her lip and tried to stifle her groan, losing control of her discipline slightly. He found her pulse point and started nibbling and sucking on it, wanting to mark the beautiful creature beneath him as his own. Ruby moaned in response, kicking her boots off and wrapping her legs around Jaune's waist. He slid the hand that was on her back under her combat skirt and gently trailed up and down her inner thigh, driving her insane by getting closer and closer to where she wanted him to be but never touching.

Jaune smiled when she wriggled under him to show her impatience. Intent on granting her silent plea for more, he moved back to her lips and kissed her lovingly as he took his hand from her chest and attempted to undo her corset. He fumbled awkwardly with the laces and she laughed, her love for him growing even deeper with his awkwardness. He finally wrestled the corset off her and gave her a bashful look, mouth opened to mumble an explanation but Ruby's kissed away his excuse. He smiled and attacked her lips with added gusto, sitting up and pulling her onto his lap. She undid the armor from around his shoulders and chest and slid his sweatshirt slowly over his head, moving down to place kisses on every new inch of skin that was reviled. She stroked his chest, admiring the light tone of his fighter's body. She moved her lips back up to his and began kissing him fervently, slowly rocking her hips. Sitting straddle across his lap, Ruby could feel his hardness growing between her legs and that excited her more than she thought it would. She could feel herself getting wet when Jaune began pushing his hips upwards to meet her thrusts.

They would have stayed trapped in their kiss forever, but unfortunately oxygen quickly became a necessity. Jaune broke the kiss and they both panted heavily. He took in Ruby's disheveled hair, red, kiss-swollen lips, and dilated pupils, and knew that he needed her, now. He leaned forward and nibbled on her earlobe, whispering "perhaps we should move this somewhere more private" Ruby blushed when she realized they were still in the courtyard and nodded.

They were just about to get up and head to the nearest empty classroom when a voice pierced the bubble they were in. "Jaune, Ruby? We need to get to Professor Goodwitch! She will mark us down if our report is late!" Pyyrha's words brought them back to reality and they both blushed heavily before bursting out laughing.

"We'll be there in a minute, Pyyrha!" Jaune called, scrambling to get his sweatshirt and armor back on. "Come on Ruby, we'd better go. We have teams to get to." he sighed sadly, kissing the tip of her nose and offering a hand to help her up.

Ruby expertly laced her corset around her waist, slid her boots on, and took the proffered hand, getting up and strapping Crescent Rose back onto her belt. "Now you decide to be a proficient leader," she joked, reaching up to give him a soft kiss. Unusually for both of them, in that moment there was no trace of awkwardness. There existed only a deep and unbreakable love between them.

Pyyrha smiled at their joint hands when they came out the bushes. "Jaune finally got the courage to ask you out, then? I was wondering how long it would take for you two to get together." The two teens blushed and smiled sheepishly at her. Pyyrha simply nodded her approval before turning to walk towards Goodwitch's office, knowing they would follow. The three of them joined up with the rest of teams RWBY and JNPR and they all hustled up the stairs to Goodwitch's office. They entered and she glared at them over her glasses.

"Sit and write your reports over there." She pointed to some chairs at the side of her office. "And you'd better explain in clear detail exactly why the mission took so long. Not everyone will be as… _understanding_ as Professor Ozpin was without probable cause."

They all immediately sat down, opened their scrolls, and began writing furiously. Within a few minutes everyone was absorbed in their reports, and Jaune looked up at Ruby. He thought her scowl at the scroll was cute and he nudged her foot with his own. She jumped lightly, earning a dirty glance from Weiss. Ruby scrunched her nose at Jaune and lightly kicked his foot. He hooked his foot around her chair leg and pulled her closer. In retaliation, Ruby shoved her chair way from him but accidentally rammed her chair leg into Weiss's foot. Weiss scowled at them both and she hissed at them to cut it out, nodding towards Goodwitch's desk. Jaune rolled his eyes but complied and bent over his report. Naturally, Weiss was the first to stand and submit her report to the professor. Ruby was among the last to finish, followed only by Jaune who had purposefully waited for her. They walked out of the office and were immediately stopped by Weiss who was angrily pacing the hallway.

"Listen you two," she snapped, seeing them walking out giggling and holding hands, "I'm glad you're are all buddy-buddy now or whatever, but I will not have my grade on this mission jeopardized because you decided to act like children." She huffed off, heading for the practice range. She loaded Myrtenaster with dust vials and took aim at a practice dummy shaped like a Beowolf. 'Those two are team leaders and instead of leading they were dancing around each other like a pair of love-sick puppies!' she thought incredulously. Lunging at the dummy with her frustration fueling her, she quickly froze the entire thing before stabbing it in the heart and shooting out a blast of fire at the same time, exploding the dummy into a combination of ice shards and flaming stuffing. She knew Ruby and Jaune both had the potential to be amazing team leaders, but instead of working to develop their skills, they spent their time goofing off and ruining her dream of graduating Beacon Academy as the first student to receive all perfect grades. 'If Pyyrha and I were leaders, I'm sure both teams would be lead properly and not be hindered by such a silly thing as romance.' She sighed and immediately regretted her harshness towards Ruby for simply being happy. 'No, I mustn't think that way. I can't waste my time wishing for things I don't and can't have.'

She took aim at another dummy and was about to fire when a green blur zipping around on the other side of the range caught her eye. Lie Ren was taking out an entire squad of Ursa dummies armed with nothing but a hunting knife and his crazy fighting skills. Weiss marveled at the way he could function so well without his usual weapons and not feel vulnerable.

Shaking her head to clear it, she refocused and took aim at a dummy a few yards from where she was standing. Rushing at it, she leapt, sliced it in half as she flipped over it with one stroke of her rapier. Despite the perfection with which she took out her enemy, she landed just slightly wobbly on her feet. Cursing herself for messing up a practiced maneuver, she turned to another dummy and took her stance, intent upon getting it right this time.

"If you hold your head back more you'll land solidly." Ren was wiping his face with a towel and taking a sip of water from his lotus-stamped canteen.

Surprised by his presence, she looked over to where he had been practicing; she was shocked to find the stuffed Ursa army in shreds around the field. Realizing that he had just insulted her competence, however, she simply snuffed at him. "I think I can hand a simple aerial walkover, thank you." she raised her nose in the air and took aim at a pair of dummies to her left. Hitting the first one three times in quick succession and shredding it to pieces, she pivoted to face the second pulled another aerial, slicing it cleanly as before but making sure to keep her head back this time. Landing solidly on her feet, she quickly flourished her rapier before sheathing it, hoping to cover up her use of his advice.

Ren looked on with a bored air, arms crossed over his chest and leaning back on one foot. "Told you so," he murmured, just loud enough to for her hear, and then moved back to his practicing. Weiss growled in annoyance at his flippancy, whipping around and tearing another figure apart with a perfect aerial walkover. Unable to ignore the usefulness of his advice, she gave small smile toward the retreating back.

She left the range after only a few hours, not wanting to wear herself down in case one of the professors required a practical exercise in class the next day. When Ren noticed she was leaving, he too decided to retire and silently fell in step beside her. He took another swig from his canteen before offering it silently to Weiss. She gave him a haughty look but, realizing that she had left her own canteen in her locker, took a drink and handed it back. They didn't say a word before they reached their dorms, where Ren simply nodded to her before he unlocked his door and joined his team. Weiss looked inquisitively at the door for a moment before joining her own team. Everyone made a general grumbly noise in greeting before returning to their studying. Deciding to join them, she leaned Myrtenaster against the wall next to her bed and picked up one of her notebooks. After spending an hour or so reviewing her notes for her monster studies class, she fell asleep with her face stuck to the page on the Evermore, smudging the tail feathers on her illustration.

Weiss woke the next morning to Blake shaking her. Annoyed, she shielded her eyes from the light and whined that she'd get up in five minutes. When Yang came over and mentioned the time, however, Weiss shot up in alarm and rushed to the bathroom to get ready. She was barely able to get a shower, dress in her uniform, and rush down to the dining hall in time for breakfast. Team JNPR was just finishing off their pancakes when she sat down with a simple fruit and granola yogurt mix.

"I hope Port doesn't make us give demonstrations in class." Jaune complained. "I am not in the mood to make a fool of myself this early in the day."

"Come on Jaune, I'm sure you will do great." Pyyrha smiled at him from across the table.

"You just need some confidence." Ruby added. "You're a great fighter Jaune. I know you can do it; you just have to believe in yourself as much as I do." She blushed slightly and quickly drained the rest of her milk, licking off her milk moustache as she stood and gathered her things. "We better go ahead and head to class. We don't want to be late again."

"Speak for yourself; I am never late to class." Weiss spat, still in a foul mood from waking up late. She stood up and led the group across the campus to their monster studies class. Greeting professor Port, she sat in her usual seat in the front row and flipped open her monogrammed notebook. Surprisingly, it was not Ruby but Ren who timidly sat to her left today. She glanced back to see the red leader sitting next to Jaune, giggling as he whispered something in her ear. She rolled her eyes at them and turned back to the front. Ren nodded his greeting to her, rolling his eyes in much the same way she had and motioning towards the antics of the two behind them. Smiling slightly, she returned his nod and titled her notes with the date.

"Good morning students, glad to see you are all here on time." He gave pointed look towards Ruby and Yang who were suddenly very interested in their notebooks. "Today we will learn about the hunting techniques of a Beowolf. Everyone make sure you write all this down, as it may save your life one day. Now, our lesson begins with a handsome young man who chose the noble profession of putting his life at risk to kill monsters of Grimm to protect the world. I stood in a foreign forest, knowing I was surrounded by Beowolves but intent upon slaying them all in order to nobly save the nearby town..."

Weiss scribbled intently, filling page after page with useful information from Port's story. Ruby was doodling in her journal behind her while Ren was only writing key points in his. Glancing over at his notes to see if he had caught anything that she had missed, she saw that he had drawn a detailed and labeled illustration of a Beowolf that clearly demonstrated his artistic ability. She reviewed his mastery in awe until Ren noticed her staring at his drawing and raised an eyebrow. She snapped out of her thoughts and blushed slightly before remembering herself and continuing to scribble in her notes. The icy girl didn't see the faint smile that spread across the boy's face; nor did she see him flip to a new page and start drawing a girl with sparkling eyes and an off-center ponytail.

Class ended leaving Weiss with a slightly aching hand and a wealth of Beowolf knowledge. She put her things away and followed her teammates out into the grassy courtyard just in front of the building. They joined team JNPR to relax during their free period of the day. Everyone sat down in the warm grass except Blake, who went off a little to sit against a tree trunk and read one of her books. Yang sprawled out in the middle of the group and pulled her scroll out to message some of her friends. Weiss immediately opened her aura studies textbook to a chapter about semblances and began outlining her essay on the subject. Ren, instead, pulled his journal out and continued his drawing from class. Yang noticed and gasped, but artfully turned it into a sneeze when she saw the look Ren gave her. She watched his progress every few minutes, noticing he kept glancing up at Weiss to get her features just right. The heiress did not notice, seemingly because she was wrapped up in her work. He finished his drawing and then turned the page, beginning on another Beowolf sketch.

Yang quickly lost interest in this but did notice when the two sat next to each other during lunch and walked side by side on the way to battle class. Oddly, neither of them seemed to say a word. Sometimes their eyes would meet and their gazes would hold for a few seconds before Weiss blushed and look down at her boots like he had just complimented her. After battle class the two hung back, once again walking side by side. Weiss wiped the last of the dust residue off of Myrtenaster and slid it back into its place on her belt. She glanced at Ren's magenta eyes and he returned the contact. She blushed slightly and he gave her a small and adorably crooked smile before returning his eyes in front of him. When they reached their dorms and Ren silently signaled her to stay behind. Once their teams had closed the doors he spoke in his usual soft voice.

"Could I borrow your notes from Professor Port's class? I think I miss a few towards the end."

"Of course." She fished the journal out of her bag and handed it to him. He took it with a smile and tucked the ice-blue book under his arm. He nodded his goodbye and disappeared into his room. Weiss slipped into her own and gathered her clothes and shower supplies, walking down the hallway towards the showers. Stepping under the nearly scalding water, she allowed her muscles to relax and she soaked in the delicious heat the water lent her. She stepped out, standing in front of the mirror that was hanging above the sink. She quickly dried off and brushed out the knots in her white hair, slipping into her nightgown before heading back to her team. As she was replacing her toiletries in their proper drawers, Yang waltzed over smirking at her and tossed Weiss's journal down on the bed.

"Ren dropped this off just a minute ago. He said thanks and that he got everything he needed." She winked but Weiss ignored it and set the book back into her bag. She laid down, slipping under the covers and calling goodnight to the rest of her team. Blake, the last one out of bed, soon found a stopping point in her book and flicked the lamp off, enveloping team RWBY in a blissful slumber.

Weiss was the first one up in the morning as usual, and sang through her morning routine. She slipped on the school uniform and brushed her hair into its signature ponytail. She took a little extra care this morning. She made sure not a strand was out of place and that her nails were perfectly manicured after that horrible incident after their last mission where she had had her thumbnail ripped off by a Beowolf's tooth. She smoothed her skirt down for what seemed like the hundredth time that morning, studying herself in the mirror. Unbeknownst to her, a certain hunter-in-training just down the hall was also fretting about appearances.

"Ren, you've brushed off your coat almost a dozen times, there is nothing on it." Pyyrha said from her bed where she was slipping on her school shoes.

"I just keep thinking I see something." Ren checked himself in the mirror that was on the side of their wardrobe for around the fourth time. His uniform was neat and orderly, and his hair was a little more tamed today. He met his own eyes and he and his reflection shared a moment of nervousness.

'What is wrong with me lately?' He wondered, not understanding how a girl he hardly knew could have such a profound effect on him. 'I hope she didn't see my actions over the last few days as too forward.' He decided to leave early for breakfast to make sure he didn't run into her in the hallway. As much as he wanted to see the white haired girl, he wanted to make sure it didn't seem like he was always creepily hanging around. He knew there was very little chance that she would ever even notice him, so he decided to give her the chance to avoid him if she so chose.

He quickly left their room and made his way to the mess hall, picking something light and healthy instead his usual syrupy mess. He shook his head at himself when he realized just how much she had unintentionally influenced his choices. Members of both teams trickled in gradually; Weiss was the first of team RWBY to show up (as usual). She got her food and sat next to him, giving him a small smile before she began on her yogurt. Inwardly he breathed a sigh of relief. She hadn't thought his drawing was too much. Now that his fear was gone, however, he was sorely tempted to ask her if she had liked it. He'd tried extremely hard to capture her likeness and thought he had done a decent job, even by his standards. He had just opened his mouth to speak when Nora popped up out of nowhere shouting her usual greeting and sat down on his other side, immediately beginning to jabber about her latest dream. He knew there was no chance being heard over his pumpkin-haired partner so he simply turned back to his breakfast and resolved to ask her later.

Aura studies passed quickly for both teams, but before they could enjoy their free period, a notification popped up on their scrolls summoning the eight of them to Professor Goodwitch's office.

"It seems the pack of Beowolves you thought you eliminated was even larger than you discovered, even more than we originally thought even after you all submitted your secondary reports. The den mother is in the very heart of the Emerald Forest, and seems to be thriving off of the environment. You only took out about half the pack and the other half have all been called back to her and we assume she seeks to take revenge for her slaughtered pups. We need you to go back into the forest and wipe out this den mother before she attacks the school."

"Yes m'am." They all bowed and turned to leave.

"I am not finished, students."

They reluctantly turned back, not expecting anything good from her additional information.

"You must not only kill the den mother but also every single one of her pups or one of her daughters will simply take her place and continue making the pack grow. If you attack the den the day after tomorrow they should all have had time to gather but not fully form a fighting group. Just make sure you are careful. Drawing them away in small groups may not work this time, so make sure you have a few plans in place to defeat them. Remember, you are always to have other options."

The students nodded and waited a moment to makes sure she was done, then turned and left the room. They agreed they would convene in team Ruby's room in an hour to discuss their plans. Everyone scrambled to shower, change, and read up on Beowolves before then and in exactly one hour's time everyone was draped across a bed, chair, or piece of floor in the girls' room.

"I suppose we could surround them and just full-out attack." Ruby offered

"But it would be nearly impossible to cover each other, and if even one of us falls then they could break through and flank the rest of us." Weiss contradicted.

"What if we tried the, small-groups-at-a-time strategy again, to see if it works?" Jaune tried to sooth Ruby's ego by taking and lightly squeezing her hand.

"I think it is at least worth a try." Pyyrha looked worriedly from on top of Yang's bunk.

"Alright but what if that fails? We need to have at least a few plans in place."

"Well," Blake slowly answered Weiss. "If we caused a sort of... diversion that would lead them away from their den we could kill the den mother first to cause confusion, and then take out the rest of them while they try to figure out what has happened."

"Oh, and while they are running to whatever we set as a distraction, we could knock them out. We know they will go from their den to whatever we set up so we can wait on the path and get a good amount of them from the trees." Nora jumped on Ruby's bunk excitedly.

"That seems a little dangerous. It is one thing to slay a den mother and a few pups but different to take nearly her entire group. I am not sure if we could take so many at once without someone getting seriously injured or killed." The skepticism was clear in Ren's voice, and he cast a thoughtful look from in front of Weiss' bed where he was sitting. "But if we purposefully chose a path where they would have to bottle-neck, we could simply take them with gunfire. Say if we cut a trail through a really dense part of forest and control where they go. We would at least be able to wipe a lot of them out before it came to close combat."

"That seems like a good second option." Yang sighed, bored from listening to strategy. "I say if that doesn't work we just set fire in their den and take them out as they are running."

"That wouldn't work at all. First we could set the forest on fire, and second they would run in all directions. We would have no way of killing them all without splitting completely up which is dangerous. I say that would be an absolutely last resort, and only after we fashioned a way to either control where they run or block their way out of their den somehow."

"Alright, we have our plans. Let's get some rest." Jaune stood up and motioned his team out of the door. Team Juniper left and the girls quickly packed, Weiss bringing her monster journal and her book on Beowolves as a reference if they needed it. They all packed extra ammo, dust, and supplies for a few days and went to bed early, waking before the sun rose. Professor Goodwitch was there to see them off but as soon as they walked through the gates she turned and went back into the building. The group yawned their way to the forest and set up a sort of base camp a good enough distance upwind and away from the wolves' den for safety but close enough to get to rather quickly. They set to put their first plan into action, assigning Blake and Pyyrha to act as scouts to find out exactly where the wolves would go to hunt and spend time out of the den. The rest of them worked on the campsite gathering wood and water, all except for Weiss who was buried in her Beowolf book to try and see if anything in there would help them. Everyone had just come back to base and was resting when the two scouts came back with something to report. The wolves seemed to know something was wrong and were very anxious, but that also meant they were rarely in their den. They seemed to be sticking closer to home but they both assumed a group would be going hunting soon. Jaune, rather out of character, picked up his sword and stood up.

"Well if they are going hunting so are we. We should set an ambush and wait for them. If we go downwind it might attract them thinking it's a lost hunter."

"If they smell all of us, they will send a large party and we could be overwhelmed." Blake calmly pointed out to which Ren nodded his agreement.

"Fine, we pick a spot that they are most likely to go and wait there." Ruby joined Jaune on her feet and strapped Crescent Rose to her belt. They all picked up their weapons and followed their leaders to a small clearing a little ways from the den. They each climbed a tree and dangled in wait for the wolves to show. As the minutes turned into hours, Nora grew fidgety and Ruby started up a conversation with Yang who was in the tree next to her. Weiss was freezing some of the leaves on her tree as target practice with Myrtenaster. When the sun went down and a slight chill set in the air, Ruby considered calling the mission off. Her thought was put into action when Nora grew impatient and began to run around the clearing calling for the wolves. Jaune told Ren to get Nora and for everyone to head back to camp to regroup. Weiss launched herself out of her tree and stomped off to camp. When the rest of them got there, see was pacing a dent in the ground.

"I can't believe we just wasted valuable daylight on a whim! This is what happens when we don't plan enough! Ruby, you race into everything without thinking, and while that may work for your fighting style, you can't do that when it comes to a time-based mission like this!" she had taken a deep breath to continue her rant but met Ren's calm eyes who asked her to take a break.

Her face twisted with a stubborn rage but she huffed off and stormed a little ways from the camp and sat daintily on a stump. Ren gave her a little time alone before going to her and sitting on the ground in front of her, not saying a word. They sat in silence before Ren spoke softly. "Ruby is only trying her best, Weiss."

"If her best isn't enough then she should have the good sense to hand the reins to someone else." She replied tartly before catching herself and grudgingly softening her tone. "I don't mean to sound like I am always hounding on Ruby but so far nearly every team decision she has made hasn't worked out. The only one that has is the one that got her the position. I don't see why Professor Ozpin would just assign a leader at a whim like that."

"I am sure he had his reasons."

They sat in a few more minutes of silence until Ren thought she was calmed down enough. He stood up and offered his hand to Weiss, her placed her small white hand in his. She stood and he squeezed her hand lightly before releasing it and heading to where the other members were. Weiss didn't say a word for the rest of the night, although she thought about it several times and each time Ren's calm look would stop her and she would hold her tongue. It was decided that they would use Ren's idea of causing a diversion but controlling where the wolves would go. They picked a section of forest that was unusually thick that led into a clearing. Ruby, Yang, and Nora were elected to go to the den after the main group had left and wipe out the young, old, and the den mother. Everyone else was to be in the tree along the path the wolves would travel and shoot to kill as many as they could and then go to the field to fight as a group to offer maximum coverage of each other but also make sure to keep the wolves away from the den mother to give the girls time to kill her.

"The only question now is how do we get the wolves out of the den?" Ruby asked

"Someone has to be bait." Weiss rolled her eyes and checked the dust in Myrtenaster. "Obviously it has to be me."

Ruby shouted her protest. "Weiss, what if you get hurt?"

Weiss was touched by Ruby's concern but she kept it hidden from her face, instead conveying an exasperated expression and degrading tone. "I'm the only one here who can get off the ground long enough for them not to be able to get me. Beowolves are fast but they can't fly. I'll be untouchable to them. I lead them down our trap and here and you three will be able to kill the mother." Ren was about to oppose her plan before he realized there was no alternate option.

Weiss waited a moment to see if anyone would challenge her, and when no one did she continued with her plan. "Now i will have to go upwind for them to get my scent, which means I'll have to pass over their den on my way back. That will lure every available Beowolf out when they learn what I am so the way should be paved for you three to kill her quickly and then help us with clean up. You all should also consider barricading the edge of this clearing so no wolves can run off. Now, we should go." She stared at Ruby, Yang, and Nora expectedly.

Ren walked over and held Weiss' gaze for nearly three minutes. They seemed to be having a conversation in their own special language, and Weiss' eyes stung with tears. Ruby was the only one besides Ren who noticed the small line of doubt that edged itself between her eyebrows. Weiss may be haughty, but she didn't have near the same confidence in battle as the rest of them did. Ren reached out and took her hand, bending over it and kissing her knuckles lightly. This seemed to end their silent conversation and Weiss blushed, covering her embarrassment by snipping at the others to hurry up. The four girls left on their special mission as the rest of them began fortifying the clearing. Ren looked back and saw his hyperactive partner dancing around the, no, his ice princess.

**YOU'RE A DREAM MACHINE**


	2. Chapter 2

**Hey guys! So this update is really recent but I got bored this weekend. Hope you like it and please review the good or the bad (or even the ugly).**

**As a side note, I am in the market for a good editor to check my work and maybe bounce ideas off of. Just wondering **

**Chapter Two-**

Weiss stood upwind of the den and took a deep breathe, trying to calm her frazzled nerves. Despite her confidence towards the others, she was extremely worried her plan wouldn't work. Too far to turn back, she shot a fire spell in the air to ensure the Beowolves would know exactly where to find her. She heard howling and a horrible heaviness grew in her stomache. She could hear their bodies crashing through the forest and practically feel them salivating at the thought of her flesh. She waited until the forerunners had cleared the treeline before she waved her hand at her feet, activing her aura rune. She was launched into the air and flipped backwards to see the Beowolves confused. She lingered in the air to give them a chance to gather themselves and then started heading for their trap.

The Beowolves followed her on the ground, jumping to try and get her out of the air. She had to stay low enough for them to follow her but high enough where they couldn't jump off a tree and get her. Passing over their den, she saw more of the creatures flood out as their brother's called their attention.

She hovered there for a few moments, trying to see if she could spot her teammates. She saw a speck of yellow a few hundred yards off, soon followed by a red and pink one. "Go now!" she shouted and then zoomed forward, jumping off another of her runes.

The wind rushed in her face as she built speed, trying to find a decent place to land. She touched the ground on their makeshift runway and ran for her life, putting all her muscles to work toward the clearing. She heard gunfire as her teammates took out Beowolves as they chased her, and she risked a glance backward to see the Beowolves confused on who to charge. An idea sparked in her mind and she turned around, firing a volley of small icicles at the wolves they focused on her. She ran, dragging her rapier behind her and coating the ground in an inch of ice. The Beowolves slipped around until they used their claws to gain traction on the smooth surface and turning her plan against her. She activated her aura again and leapt forward from its momentum. A Beowolf slashed out and clipped her heel, sending her into a nose dive. She slammed into the ground and pulled a somersault, landing on her feet. She was forced to immediately go onto the offensive to fend off a group of Beowolves that had surrounded her. Pyyrha and Ren jumped from the trees and offered quick support. Nora swung her hammer furiously, using the gunfire to quicken her movements. Ren went flipping in and out of the pack, shooting them from all sides. Weiss herself was exhausted, her aura weakened to where she wasn't even sure if she could use it to protect herself. She glanced around the clearing and saw the rest of her team struggling to overcome the onslaught of Grimm. She lunged at a few Beowolves, slashing and slicing them apart. She sent a wave of fire dust at a cluster of them and they ran around the clearing howling until they fell dead.

Jaune slashed as much as he could, but his body was giving out. His arms ached from swinging his sword and defending against the vicious attacks from these beasts. Sweat ran into his eyes and made them sting and his armor was scratched in multiple places.

Blake calmly swung Gambol Shroud and its sheath around her in close combat, slashing through the black beasts. One swiped and she was forced to flip out of the way. She landed heavily on her feet, nearly falling backward as another monster slammed into her. She slashed its throat and it fell with a gurgled cry. The scratch on her arm burned viciously but she tried to shrug the pain off. She raised the cleaver part of her weapon on hacked through another Grimm, jumping over its carcass and trying to distract herself from the other injuries she was accumulating.

Pyyrha was calmly assessing the situation tactically and what she saw did not look good. Everyone seemed to be losing, including herself. She was shooting, stabbing, and bashing as hard as she could but Beowolves just seemed to be coming from everywhere. She didn't see how they could overtake this large of a group when they had three of their members off fighting someone else. As soon as she thought this the three girls came charging through the tree line with their guns blazing. But their confidence only lasted a second. Ruby was dealt a swipe that came very close to her head and Jaune attempted to work his way through the hoard to defend her.

Even Nora was inwardly unoptimistic about this encounter. Ren seemed to have lost a little of his cool as she noticed he wasn't as energetic with his flips and lunges. She bashed a Beowolf on the head, blasting it back to two of its family members. One aimed its snout for her throat as Magnhild was embedded in the other Beowolf's skull. She squeezed her eyes shut before hearing a quiet *shink* of a knife going through flesh. Cracking open one of her eyes, she saw an orange and green blur soar past her, followed by what seemed to be a dozen swords. They blasted through the legions of Beowolves and hacked them to pieces feverishly. The blur turned out to be an orange-haired girl who was somehow controlling all of the swords simultaneously without touching them. She took down the entire pack in less than a minute, sending the swords into a backpack.

"Sal-u-tations." She smiled and waved at Ruby

"Penny, what are you doing here?" Ruby was out of breath, trying to avoid stepping on a Grimm body that was quickly turning into black smoke.

"That is a long story. But I am glad to be with friends now." Penny picked Ruby up in a hug.

"Good to see you too, Penny." Ruby choked out before Yang separated the two.

"Well, I guess we can head back now, we killed the den mother and all of the Beowolves in the den."

"Yay!" Penny clapped and started dancing with Nora.

"We don't have all day, let's go." Weiss turned and began to pick her way out of the clearing while the others starting chatting with Penny behind her.

Ren pulled up next her and lightly covered her hand with his for the briefest moment, then letting her reclaim it to manage the forest. It took the rest of the day to reach the castle. When the building loomed into view Penny faltered.

"I shouldn't go there. My Father doesn't want me going to the school."

"Don't be silly, Penny. Ozpin won't mind."

"It's alright Ruby, I'll be fine." And with a quick hug to everyone except Weiss, she walked into the forest. Everyone stood awkwardly, wondering if they should do something.

Weiss finally broke the tension. "Look, she's a big girl. She can handle herself. We should get up to the Academy before dark. We don't want to spend another night out here."

The teams nodded their agreement, and with nervous glances to where Penny had disappeared, set off on the final leg of their trek home. They walked up to the castle to be greeted by Glynda Goodwitch, who was standing at the door. "Glad to see your teams made it back safely. Team Leaders, please follow me to my office for debriefing. Your members are free to retire to their rooms."

We all nodded and walked up to our dorms. Ren held me back in the hallway. "You should apologize to Ruby."

"I know, I will as soon as she gets back."

"You know she is trying her hardest Weiss."

"I know, I just get frustrated. I'll talk to her."

"Thank you." He smiled and then turned to his room. I went into my own and set my bag on my bed. Pulling out my journal and my book, I moved to set them in my desk. A slip of paper fluttered to the ground and I stooped to pick it up, hoping my journal hadn't been shedding pages for long. But when I picked it up it wasn't a page of carefully written notes, it was something far more beautiful. It was me, in a likeness I was surprised at. I looked almost like…an angel. The drawing was only in pencil but my eyes shimmered and a small smile played across my mouth. My ponytail swayed behind me as it seemed I was twirling. I blushed and quickly hid the picture from Yang's quick eyes.

But there were a pair of eyes in the RWBY dorm that were slightly faster than Yang's and noticed with ease the small tribute. Blake smiled behind her book, ears twitching unnoticed under her bow. She read some more while Weiss and Yang unpacked, cleaned their weapons, and eventually settled down for the night. When Blake finished her chapter she reached over and shut off her lamp, settling down into the covers. Ruby slipped in, with some mysteriously tousled hair, fairly late. Weiss had been waiting up and stopped a pajama-clad Ruby before she vaulted up to her bunk.

"Ruby, I was hoping to talk to you before you went to sleep."

"Sure Weiss, what's up?" Ruby sat next to the heiress

"I wanted to…apologize for my behavior in the forest. You're a great leader and I was being a poor teammate and partner."

"It's okay Weiss, we were all a little stressed." She smiled and stood up.

"Alright." Weiss pulled the covers over herself as Ruby climbed up to her bunk. A quiet and exhausted silence filled the room as each girl drifted off to their own dreams.


	3. Chapter 3

**So I tried to ix a few things that I got some critiques on and I spell checked about 4 times. Hope you enjoy and sorry it isn't longer!**

**Chapter 3-**

Adam stood on a train, his red hair swaying around his horns. Even without the mask she could see the pain and anger in his eyes.

"I'm sorry." My voice cracked as I drew my weapon.

"Blake you don't have to do this."

"But I do." Instead of severing the connection between the cars I lunged at Adam, creating a black haze around him as I sliced with a fury I rarely contained. I finally managed his weapon away from him but he grabbed my cleaver weapon and threw me down to the floor.

"Blake, don't make me do this."

"I'm sorry." A tear escaped my eye as the cleaver filled my vision.

I gasped as I shot up in bed, wiping the tears from my eyes.

"You okay Blake?" Yang had gotten up and her towel was tucked under her arm.

"Fine, just a bad dream."

"It'll be okay. I'll be back in a few alright?" she beamed as she left the room.

I slid down from my bunk and changed, strapping Gambol Shroud to her back and adjusting her bow round her ears with a quick look to her sleeping teammates. Yang came back showered and clean in full battle gear.

"Why don't we let them sleep and go get some breakfast?" the blonde smiled as she scribbled a note to Ruby and left it on the desk.

We went to the canteen and picked up breakfast. I ate quietly as I read my book and Yang chatted to Nora and Juane about yesterday's mission. Ruby and Weiss joined the table soon and I noticed Ren twitched a little in his seat. When we were done with breakfast we all decided to go into town to go check out the festival decorations. We were walking by the docks when a boy with a monkey tail and a guy with blue hair walked up to us.

"Hi. We were wondering if you could point us to Beacon Academy? We're looking for our dorms."

"Cool! You guys are going to compete in the tournament!" Ruby started whizzing around the two boys. "What weapons do you carry? Where are you from?"

"Easy little sis." Yang grabbed the back of Ruby's hood and pulled her away from the Faunus.

"I'm Sun and this is Neptune. We're from Vacuo."

"And the weapons thing will be revealed as soon as we kick some butt in the tournament."

"We're from Beacon." I smiled at the Faunus boy. "It's just up there, you can take a shuttle from the station."

"Alright, thanks." He smiled

Before I could stop myself my hand shot out and grabbed his arm. "Or you could spend the day with us. We could give you a tour or whatever. We'll be going back to Beacon tonight and could point you towards your dorms and everything."

His eyes assessed me for a minute. "Sure, sounds like fun."

We walked around for a while, going to the market square where streamers were hung between the lampposts and stores hung balloons in their windows. Sun and Neptune calmly answered Ruby's questions about their weapons and told us about the two other members of their team, Scarlet and Sage, who had left a day before them and were in Vale somewhere.

"It's nice to see another Faunus around here." Sun whispered in my ear.

I shot him a glare.

"Don't worry I won't tell anyone. I bet you look better without the bow though."

"Thank you." I muttered before immediately regretting my decision to have them with us. But when Sun looked ahead I gave a sideway glance at him. His features were chiseled but that's not what I was eyeing, I was watching his manner. How open he was despite how obvious his Faunus heritage was showing. He shoulders were relaxed and he walked with his hands laced on the top of his head, the picture of relaxation.

"Can we stop and get something to eat?" Yang asked. "I'm starving."

"There is a great noodle house just around the corner." Ren offered from beside Weiss.

"I could swing some noodles." Sun smiled

We went to the noodle house, taking up every stool at the counter, and ate some delicious King Wok. Ruby and Yang kept Sun and Neptune in deep conversation while Weiss and Ren were doing their conversation-without-words thing. Nora was on her fourth bowl of noodles and Juane was just staring at Ruby with a weird expression on his face.

"So where could we go to see some action?" Sun asked me, pushing his empty noodle bowl away.

"Beacon offers a battle class as well as use of the arena on weekends and after school." Weiss offered

"Aw, alright I guess we'll have to wait." Sun moodily poked at his noodle.

An explosion shook the ground and before you could blink we were all standing with our weapons in our hands. I looked at Ruby and I saw a worry lined traced along her face.

"Come on guys, we should figure out what that was." She led the way to where a great plume of smoke was stretching to the side. The source of the explosion turned out to be a dust shop that was in the process of being robbed but not by your usual gang of thieves. A Schnee company armored dust transport truck stood outside the shop but the guards were laying in pools of their own blood in the street. A man in a bowler hat was directing a group of White Fang members who were loading up a getaway truck.

"Hurry up, you animals, aren't you guys supposed to be fast?" The man sneered at the workers while twirling a cane.

Ruby motioned us forward and in an instant we were on top of the robbers. Ruby herself took the man in the bowler hat while the rest of us worked on subduing the workers. The man fired a projectile from his cane, blasting Ruby back. Juane rushed to her side while Neptune and Sun changed targets to the leader. I swung Gambol Shroud out on its ribbon and slashed through a few of the enemies to cover them. White Fang members were still loading up the truck despite our attempts and the man yelled at them as he fought the two Hunters.

"Take what we've got and go! Neo, where are you?!"

A girl with two different colored eyes stepped out of the truck almost lazily. Ruby and Juane joined the two Vacuo transfers in fighting her but their hits just glanced off her impenetrable umbrella. Then with a twirl, she dived into the truck and the enemies got away, their truck withstanding all the firepower of the fighters.

I panted as I but my sword away, joining the rest of my team. Ruby looked bothered and Yang's eyes were red. A pair of cops showed up and immediately came up to us.

"Hey you kids, did you guys see anything?"

"Yeah, some crazy redhead guy with a bowler hat was leading a crew of White Fang on robbing this truck and the store and then some hick with an umbrella showed up and then they drove away." Ruby reported at a rapid-fire pace.

"Man, we're been trying to catch Torchwick for months now. This is the third robbery this month alone."

"Torchwick?" I asked

"Yeah, he's been running around for a while now with White Fang members. We don't know what they need all this dust for but it can't be good." The cop turned to the store and began interviewing the owner as paramedics arrived an draped sheets over the truck guards.

We left the grisly scene and solemnly went back to the castle. On the air ship Ruby leaned up to Yang, Weiss, and I.

"We need to do something about this. Meet in our room at 11 tonight."

"We'll be in our room at 11 anyways Ruby." Weiss huffed

"Shh Weiss, it's a secret meeting." Ruby glanced around shiftily before sitting back next to Juane.

I cast a glance with the other girls and they shrugged. I looked forward and let my thoughts wonder. It couldn't be good the White Fang gathering all this fire power. They rarely showed so much organization. Usually they just attacked trains and liberated Faunus from unfair working conditions. Something of this caliber took serious organization and planning. And the fact that Torchwick guy was involved didn't help matters. If the White Fang was binging in 'consultants' that were human that means they were forced to. No White Fang member would take orders from a human unless they had a very good reason.

The air ship docked at Beacon and we got off, and after showing Sun and Neptune where their dorms were, we headed to the first year dorms to turn in for the night. Everyone acted completely normal as we got ready for bed and cleaned our weapons.


	4. Chapter 4

**Sorry this took so long. I know you guys don't want to hear excuses, you want to read! So here it is. Sorry it's short (again). I'll try to make the next one longer.**

**Chapter 4-**

At 10:50 we got a knock simultaneously on our window and our door. Opening the window we saw Sun and Neptune in dark hoods. They climbed in as Ruby opened the door to team Juniper. They all wore dark hoods, Nora in a full black robe.

"What are you guys doing here?" I asked

"We came for the meeting." Nora said solemnly.

"You're kidding me." Weiss sneered but I stood aside and let them in as Ruby allowed Neptune and Sun to climb in the window.

Ruby bowed her head at the guests. "Thank you for joining us, brothers and sisters. We have been expecting you."

"With pleasure, sister." Nora bowed back. Ruby lit candles around the room and forced us, and Weiss, to sit in a circle.

"And now the conspiracy begins."

"You're joking. There is no conspiracy here."

"Weiss, you're harshing the mellow." Sun laughed and winked at me. I looked away.

"The perp's name was Roman Torchwick, we looked him up. He's been robbing dust stores for a while now and also has a load of other crimes under his belt. He's been in Vale for at least the past year according to his rap sheet and only seems to be growing bolder."

I took the explanation over from there. "The White Fang have never been this organized. This must be something huge if they are willing to let a human help them. Someone high up must be threatening them or otherwise the White Fang would just kill him"

"How would you know so much about the White Fang?" Sun asked

I shot him a glare while Weiss stepped in "While we want to stop these criminals from doing wrong things, my company also would like to stop being robbed."

"The Schnee's?" Neptune asked

"Yes, the Schnee's." she huffed

"Regardless, the main objective is to stop him." I interjected

"But how?"

"It's simple. We camp out a store and wait for them to show up. There are only a handful of stores left in the city to rob. We have the numbers to split up and wait."

"We're gonna camp out some dust stores?"

"It's a legitimate strategy." Ruby squeaked "We should do it tomorrow night. They'll need dust since they couldn't get all they wanted tonight."

"Alright, where are the shops?"

Weiss pulled out her scroll and set it in the idle of the circle. A map of Vale popped up with twelve glowing red dots scattered throughout the city. "There are the eight locations that, by police reports, haven't been robbed yet." A quick hand movement and a dozen other blue dots showed up. "Here are the stores they have already robbed so it should be safe to assume they'll try to stay away from these. So taking out any unrobed stores located near ones that _have _been robbed" another hand movement and four yellow dots appeared "these are the stores we should watch."

"Won't the cops be watching these stores too?" Sun asked

I cleared my throat "With the festival coming up, they're stretched pretty thin with the preparations and security of the new students and stuff. They'll know about this but they won't be able to have the men to watch these places."

"Cool so tomorrow night we split up and knock out some bad guys. Meeting adjourned?"

"Meet adjourned." Ruby nodded and got up, followed by the rest of us. Team Juniper left out the door while Sun and Neptune opted for the window again. We all settled into our beds and I closed my eyes, willing the dreams to leave me alone tonight.

The next morning at breakfast, both teams quickly ate and rushed off to class with Professor Oobleck. Weiss was the only one who paid any attention and even she was glancing at the clock every few minutes. Ruby and Yang were plotting the division of the teams in the third row and Ren and Nora were playing hangman in Nora's journal. Juane was sketching in his journal. The sketches best resembled the drawing of a drunk four year old but it was the only things to keep his mind off tonight's mission.

I glanced over at Ruby, as was my new habit. Her hair bobbed every time she bent over the list her and Yang were compiling. I love the way her silver eyes sparkle with excitement about our clandestine mission. Regardless of her obvious skill with Crescent Rose, I was really worried about tonight. Roman had gotten a shot in on Ruby, what if he did that again? I scratched out my doodle of a boat that looked like a disfigured trashcan right as the bell rang.

Everyone got up and went to settle in their spot on the courtyard for their morning study period. I was more than happy to sit next to Ruby and let her lean on my legs as she ripped stalks of grass out of the ground. Sun and Neptune walked up to us and sat down.

"So we forgot one thing last night." Neptune stretched out on the ground and winked at Yang. "There are four stores and ten of us. How are we dividing our man power?"

"And woman power." Weiss commented from beside Ren

"We are a step ahead of you. Ruby and I made this list in Oobleck class." Yang threw the folded sheet of paper right between Neptune's eyes.

He quickly scanned it. "I'm with Yang?"

"Yeah, because Sun is going with Blake and Pyrrha."

"What was your logic for this list?"

"Because one of the stores is downtown, I know that area like the back of my hand." Yang flipped her hair.

"Alright, whatever." He shrugged and tossed the list back to Yang.

"So Blake's team is taking the store down by the docks, my team is going to the store downtown, Ren's team is going to the store on the North end, and Ruby's team is going to the East end. Anyone got any objections?" Yang looked around with a challenge gleaming in her eyes.

"Sounds good." Sun stretched, his tail swishing behind him. "Your beds here aren't very comfortable."

"Don't blame us. We aren't on the bed brigade." Ruby took my hand and traced around my knuckles.

The bell rang across the grounds "No way, our free period doesn't end for another fifteen minutes." Weiss checked her Scroll.

The loudspeaker crackled after the bell's echo had faded and was filled with Ms. Goodwitch's voice. "All students please report to the dining hall. This includes students from Mistral, Vacuo, and Atlas." She repeated the message another time before shutting the speaker off.

"What could that be about?" Yang stood up and brushed herself off

"Well, come on." Ruby picked herself up and waited for me follow her. She intertwined her fingers in mine and gave my hand a small squeeze. As usual, I couldn't stop myself from smiling at being close to her. Weiss led the group, heels clicking, to the dining hall where everyone was filing in and cramming onto tables. Professor Goodwitch and Professor Ozpin stood at the head of the hall, heads bent over their scrolls in deep discussion. As soon as mostly everyone was in Ozpin cleared his throat. Despite the large hall smothering the noise, Goodwitche's glare ensured everyone quickly shut their mouths.

"Good afternoon students. I know this meeting is… unscheduled but the Vytal Festival officials have just sent out the times for your qualification rounds. Students not from Beacon will be going first. You will be fighting against combat robots to qualify. It should be noted the droids have been programmed at an above-average fighting skill. Qualifying might not be as easy as you think. Times are posted here. Naturally, students are excused from any classes to attend their qualifying match. Professor Goodwitch has notified me that the training arena is now open 24/7 in preparation for the tournament." He took a sip of his coffee as he gestured to the screens at the front of the room filled with names, dates, and times. "I trust all of you have read the Vytal rules of combat and will all fight with the honor your nations have instilled in you. That is all."

"Who was that aimed at?" I asked Weiss

"Probably the students from Atlas, their known to take drastic measures to win."

We stood up and waited in line to see our times. We were all scheduled for about 2 weeks from now. Sun and Neptune went in a week along with the rest of their team. They left to go tell their other members, Sun giving Blake a look before they departed, and we all headed for our next class: Battle Training with Goodwitch. The room was even more crowded than usual. We sat down as Goodwitch qued us all in. Ruby was up first against a fox Faunus. She looked so cute getting ready with her red little skirt and her gigantic scythe-sniper rifle combo. Just adorable.

She faced off with the girl and they bowed their heads to each other. The fox girl lashed out with what looked like a whip. Ruby fired Crescent Rose and used the force to jump away. She then immediately fired forward and swung directly at the girl's head. The girl flipped out of the way and swung her lasso in midair, the cord bursting out flames. Ruby shot around the arena, getting a few hits on the girl and taking out some of her aura. The girl retaliated by getting the lasso around Ruby's leg and yanking her to the ground in a sickening thud. I clenched my fist as Ruby stumbled up and the girl zipped forward to kick her in the ribs. Finally, Ruby activated her semblance. She shot out of the girl's reach and zoomed around, hitting the girl with every pass at lightning speed. Finally the girl's aura dipped into the red and Goodwitch called the match. Ruby came back to us beaming, cheeks flushed as bright as her name from the exercise. She kissed me before sitting down and getting a run-down of her fight from Weiss. I was next, fighting a guy from Atlas.

I could immediately see the resemblance of Weiss' fighting style and the kids from Atlas. They all were structured, meticulous, and very vulnerable without their weapons. The guy was kinda beefy and swung a sword twice as big as mine. He twirled it impressively as I unsheathed my own sword and opened my shield. He gave me a nod before charging straight at my head with a no-holds-barred assault. His first strike slid of my shield but his second one brushed against my leg, chipping at my aura. I lashed out with a flurry of strikes and dealt some damage before backing away. He gripped his sword with both hands and lunged at me again, turned the sword to stone as he swung for my head. I ducked and jumped up, stabbing at his collar bone and slamming my shield into his face. He reached up and grabbed me by the neck, throwing me away from him. I hit the ground hard and next thing I knew I was being hoisted into the air and slammed into the ground repeatedly. The boy did this until my aura dipped into the red despite my attempts to get free. He bowed to me before going back to his seat.

I slumped up to Ruby and slouched into my seat. Ruby slipped a small hand around my arm and rested her head on my shoulder. I sighed but let her stay there. Weiss and Pyrrha fought, winning of course although Weiss' match was a lot closer than Pyrrha's. Her aura dipped into the yellow before she took out the brawny girl she was fighting. We left the classroom with Ruby skipping next to me. I smiled at her cheerfulness and felt my funk leaving me a little. Sun asked if they could go to lunch with us and we agreed, headed once again back to the dining room. Everyone was talking animatedly about the tournament and pulling up next week's schedules to try and attend the Sun and Neptune's qualifiers.

"Juane, you have nothing to be down about. Lots of people lost their fights today." Ruby smiled

"She's right, Juane. Take this as a learning lesson." Pyrrha took a bite of salad from across me.

"Easy for you guys to say, you guys never lose."

"That's not even remotely true." Weiss cut in. "We just don't let it bother us."

I wondered if that was how Weiss had gotten her scar. "Still, you guys are great fighters. I don't even classify as good."

Ruby studied me for a second. "You know guys, Juane and I will catch u with you in a bit." She took my hand and led me out of the dining hall.


	5. Chapter 5

"Juane you need to quit being so hard on yourself." Ruby sat him down on one of the benches on the grounds and sat next to him, gently taking his hand.

"I'm sorry Ruby. It's just so hard being around all you guys who are, like, crazy talented. I mean just look at you, you're two years younger than all of us and better than half our class."

"Jaune, you deserve to be here just like the rest of us." She nuzzled his neck with her head

"Ruby." He sighed and hugged her close to him "I will never deserve you."

"Of course you do. You might not want to believe it, but you're amazing Jaune." She looked up at him and her silver eyes sparkled like pixie dust. He leaned down and kissed her deeply, pulling her onto his lap as smoothly as he could.

"Get a room!" a student walking by with his friends shouted and they all laughed. Ruby blushed deeply and Jaune cleared his throat so it sounded deep and mysterious and hopefully a little alluring.

"Why don't we do that?" he whispered into her ear. Her small sigh when he kissed her ear lobe was all the answer he needed.

Weiss, Ren, Sun, and Neptune were hard at work in the training arena getting ready for their battles. Weiss and Yang were fighting in tandem at Ruby's request so they could get better acquainted with each other's fighting styles.

Weiss soared gracefully over their target and with a flick of her hand it was covered in splintering ice crystals. Yang then burst in and pounded it into the ground, effectively demolishing it.

"Well, that wasn't very graceful." Weiss pouted

"It doesn't need to be graceful if it works." Yang shrugged her shoulders and left to get another dummy.

The same pattern followed. Weiss would disable the opponent with one of her glyphs and then Yang would just beat the crap out of it until it was considered dead. After three hours of being frustrated with each other, they finally called a quits. Neptune told them to go ahead, that he wanted to get some more practice in, but Ren agreed to walk with them back to their dorms. Yang walked somewhat ahead of the two and Ren raised an eyebrow in Yang's direction for Weiss. She shook her head, telling him they would talk about it later. Ren studied her for a moment and then nodded. He tentively took her hand and she accepted it. He relished the feel of her small, cold hand in his and an almost invisible smile played across his lips. Once at their dorms they parted ways and Ren was so reluctant to let her leave him he almost suggested a walk across the grounds. But he silently let her leave, as always, and he watched as the white ponytail disappeared behind the door. In his own room Pyrrha was trying to explain to Jaune the benefits of an advanced weapon over his simple sword but Jaune wasn't having it.

"Pyrrha, I know your all warrior princess and all, but I like my sword. It's an Arc heirloom, it fought in the Great War!"

"And Ruby said she likes it." Nora smirked upside-down from her position on the top of the bookcase.

"Regardless." Jaune stated.

"Fine, I can see you're not going to budge in the matter." Pyrrha deflated a bit before catching sight of Ren entering the room. "Ren! How did practice go?"

He nodded to tell her it was well and moved to his trunk to get hi shower supplies.

"I know Ruby has wanted Yang and Weiss to practice together more. Those two just don't get along very well."

"They get along fine; it's just their fighting styles that don't mix." Pyrrha corrected Weiss tends to have a more delicate approach than Yang does. Both styles have their merits and deficiencies.

"I'm hungry." Nora bounced over to Ren "Could you make pancakes?"

"Nora, you just had pancakes this morning."

"But that was so long ago." She whizzed around his head chanting 'pancakes' until he agreed. She skipped along with him to the dorm common room. The little kitchenette wasn't much, but it was sufficient enough for pancakes. Putting on his chef's hat, he got out their secret stash of flour, eggs, butter, baking powder, and syrup. He mixed them up quickly and was just putting the first few on the griddle (having to threaten Nora with the whisk so she didn't consume the syrup) when team CRDL walked in. They splayed themselves across the couches and flipped on the television. They eventually noticed the smelled the pancakes and looked over just as Ren was serving the first one to Nora. Cardin smiled at his team and they moved over to the pair.

"Hey guys, I didn't notice you'd make pancakes for us. How thoughtful." Cardin laughed as they made the biggest mistake of their lives; they tried to steal Nora's pancakes.

"Pancakes!" Maghnild appeared in her left hand as her right clutched her plate. With one swing she sent the whole of team CRDL into the opposite wall of the room.

Russel recovered the quickest, followed by Cardin and they snarled at Nora. Russel charged her, aiming for the plate but she kicked him in the stomach. Ren calmly flipped two more pancakes onto her plate, putting more batter on as she slammed Maghnild into Cardin's back.

"Pancakes!" She poured syrup over the stack as she held Dove's face away with her foot.

Cardin made a dive for the plate but she stepped on him and used him for leverage to jump on top of the fridge. Ren flipped up another pancake and she dug in with gusto. Sky boosted Russel up to fridge level but Nora kicked him away. Cardin was soon followed and caught her leg as she tried to dispatch him. He yanked her off the fridge but Nora expertly balanced her plate as she flipped over him and slammed her feet into Dove's face. Ren added the last of the batter to the griddle and the boys doubled their efforts. Nora barely had time to eat the top five pancakes as she punched and kicked the boys away from her plate. Just as Ren added the last pancake to her plate and she topped it with syrup Cardin came so close to her plate with his fork she thought he just might get a bite.

Grabbing his throat she whispered "Don't. Touch. My. Pancakes." She threw him back so hard that when he hit the couch he broke it cleanly into two. The rest of his team fled the room and she sat primly on the countertop.

"Pancakes." She said happily as he finished the syrupy mess.

Weiss and Yang entered the dorm room to find Blake and Ruby very intensely studying a textbook.

"What's going on?" Yang asked as she sat on Blake's bed.

"We have a test in Aura Studies tomorrow. One of the third-year students just told us. Apparently it's really hard too. Goodwitch thinks we've been slacking lately." Blake said

"Jaune won't like it." Ruby gave a small sigh "So how did practice go?"

"Fine, but I don't think our fighting styles mix very well." Yang flipped her hair over her shoulder

"You have to work it out. When we fight as a team, you guys have to be able to pull your weight. You two are such great fighters, I'd like to see you two in action together." She held up her hands in karate-chop motion.

"We've tried, Ruby. I like the Ice Queen as much as you guys do, but we just can't fight together very well."

"We'll work on it more the next team practice we have." Ruby sighed and pushed the textbook towards Blake. "I can't take any more of this. If I fail, I fail."

"Ruby, you know it will never do for our team leader to fail. Here let me help you." Weiss pulled out her Aura Studies flash cards and began to quiz Ruby.

"How did it really go?" Blake asked Yang in a whisper.

"She's a good fighter, but fire and ice just don't mix."

"How did Neptune do?" Blake asked with the hint of a smile

Yang rolled her eyes "I wish you would top with that."

"Stop what?" she asked innocently

"You want us to get together."

"All I'm saying is-" A series of loud crashes echoed through the hallway and someone shouted 'Pancakes!' but after a few minutes the ruckus died down and they all returned to their tasks. "All I'm saying is you two would be cute together."

"And all I'm saying is no."

"What, do you have someone else in mind?"

"Not really, just not him."

"Why not?"

"Why are you so pushy about this? Let it go Blake." Yang climbed up to her bunk and stretched "Yo, are we going to bed soon or what?"

"We have to study, Yang." Weiss scoffed and set another flash card in the growing pile Yang assumed was the Ruby-doesn't-know pile.

"Fine, wake me up tomorrow." Yang rolled over and buried her face in the pillow.

Weiss and Ruby studied well into the night. Blake was already asleep by the time they changed and laid down.

The next morning was a busy one, because at breakfast team JNPR insisted on studying until the last possible minute. Weiss's hands were in a flurry dividing the cards into different stacks based on what each of them knew and didn't. But when that dreaded first period came they all felt fairly confident they could at least scrape a passing grade. As usual, Weiss proved to posses the highest score in the class, keeping her record intact. The next period was blissfully free and they all rested their tired brains on the front lawn of the grounds.

"Who asks those kind of things?!" Ruby asked

"It wasn't that bad. If you hadn't waited to study until the last minute then you might have done better." Weiss was running her fingers through Ren's hair while he rested his head in her lap.

"Study harder, waa." Ruby mimicked Weiss tone and the whole group laughed. Weiss opened her mouth to retort but one look from Ren and she resolved to just keeping silent.

"So, do we know when the next first-year missions are handed out?" Pyrrha asked

"Probably not until after the festival. A lot of students have their qualifying rounds coming up soon and we can't miss those." Blake was behind one of her books, as usual, but she wasn't as engrossed as she usually was.

"Aw, I was hoping to get a little more action before we competed." Ruby sighed slightly before leaning onto Jaune's shoulder

"It's probably for the best. It gives us plenty of time to train and prepare for the tournament. Ozpin probably wants to do better than all the other schools." Yang stood up and brushed herself off. "I'm going to go hit some things before Monster Studies. I'll be in the training room."

"I'll come with you." Blake said and they both walked off across the grounds.

"I just hope the next few weeks won't be _too_ boring." Nora bounced around the group.

"I don't think there's the slightest chance of that." Ren grinned while Weiss continued to stroke his hair.


End file.
