R.O.S.E

Chapters

Chapter 1: Into The Forest
Chapter 2: Emerald Forest: Part 1: Team W.A.V.E
Chapter 3: Emerald Forest: part 2 Team B.L.I.T
Chapter 4: Emerald Forest: Part 3 Team Y.E.L.O
Chapter 5: Emerald Forest: Part 4: Team R.O.S.E
Chapter 6: The first step’s
Chapter 7: on a different path
Chapter 8: Top Brass
Chapter 10: Round 1 FIGHT!
Chapter 12: Investigation
Chapter 13: Did you hear? Pt1
Prolong: Welcome to beacon rewrite
Chapter 9: Story’s of our weapon’s
Chapter 11: repairs

Chapter 1: Into The Forest

It was a beautiful morning at Beacon, and the students were in the Dining Hall. There was talking and laughter among friends. Sunset was sitting by herself, eating cereal. Just then, a girl wearing a cowgirl hat walked up to her. “Pardon, is this seat taken?” She asked with a Southern accent.

“Nope, it’s free,” Replied Sunset. The girl sat down next to her. Sunset looked up at her. She had green eyes and blond hair which was tied up in a ponytail. “Wait, Applejack?” She asked in surprise.

“Sunset Shimmer? Applejack asked, just as surprised. Well, I’ll be. I haven’t seen you since…” The girl pauses for a moment. “So what have you been up to since then?” The two girls then continued their conversation while eating their breakfast.

Across the Hall, Cardin saw Applejack sitting with Sunset. He looked around at his goons with an arrogant smirk. “Watch this, boys,” He said in a boastful, smarmy voice. “I’m about to get a gal.” He stands up and walks over to Applejack and Sunset’s table.

“Oh no,” Sunset said, putting her hand on her forehead as she saw Cardin heading toward them.

“What’s wrong?” Asked Applejack.

“Hey, there,” Cardin said, leaning in close to Applejack and putting on what he thought was his most suave smile. “What’s a girl like you sitting next to an animal like that?” He asked, thinking he was God's gift to the world. He put his hand on her shoulder.

“I’m giving you the count of 3 to take your hand off my shoulder before I break your arm in 3 different places,” She said in a threatening tone.

“Oh, come on. A girl like you, and a guy like me? We’ll be unstoppable,” He went on.

“1”.

“Think about it, a girl like you needs a man like me in your life.”

“2.”

“Look, let's face it, anything you got, I can handle it,” He said with a grin.

Applejack gave him an overly sweet smile. “Listen, big boy, a gal like me,” she said, “You can’t handle it. 3.” She grabbed his hand, squeezing hard, and a clicking sound could be heard, as Cardin's face scrunched up in pain. “Now, run along back to your little boy band,” she said in a cold voice. She let go of his hand, and he retreated to his goons, clutching his aching hand.

“That was fun to watch,” said Sunset with a satisfied smile.

“Yep, it was fun, but now my hand smells like a pretentious jerk,” Applejack replied jokingly. The two girls laughed heartily.

Meanwhile, Onyx was in the middle of his morning ritual. At that moment, Weiss walked up to him. “We need to talk,” she said in a no-nonsense tone.

“What about?” He asked nonchalantly.

“About this whole team system. I don’t know how it works. But if we end up on the same team, we need to designate who will be the leader,” Weiss explained.

“Weiss, we'll cross that bridge if we come to it,” Onyx replied.

“You might be right. But as you know, the Schnee family and the Shinra family never work together,” She said, before turning, about to leave.

“Regardless of whoever’s on your team, your attitude won’t make you a team leader,” He said to his cousin.

Weiss was insulted by what Onyx said. She turned on her heel to face him again, scowling angrily. “Where do you get the audacity to talk to me like that?!” She snapped. “Oh wait, I forgot. Shinra pride is so hard to control isn’t it?” She finished mockingly.

Onix was not intimidated. “You know, sometimes I pity you, being a Schnee, considering it’s your arrogance that makes you think the world revolves around you. But guess what. It doesn't. And without a word of a lie, if your Dust Company went under tomorrow, the only ones shedding a tear over it will be you Shenee’s. Crying pathetically over the loss of all your precious wealth, which you conned, stole and cheated out of the hands of good people,” He said with a determined look.

Weiss gasped before she twisted into a furious scowl. “How dare you!” She yelled, using every one of her wills to restrain herself from slapping him across the face. “We Schnee’s built our company on pride and honour!”

“You know, it’s ironic you chose a snowflake as your company’s emblem,” Onyx went on, unfazed by Weiss’s outburst, “considering you’re all full of nothing but hot air.” He and Weiss were now standing within arms reach of each other, and leaning forward so their faces were mere inches apart, as they glared into each other's eyes. But then, the two of them, in unison, straightened themselves up.

“Stay out of my way,” Weiss said simply.

“Will do,” Onyx said with a nod, “Just don’t go breaking a nail.”

Weiss then turned and walked away, muttering under her breath as she did so. “Moron.”

As he watched her leave, Onyx also muttered under his breath. “Bitch.”

Meanwhile, Eclipse had just finished reading a comic. “Hmm, now I just need the next volume,” he said to himself.

Blake then looked over at Eclipse. “Do you have a plan?” She asked.

“I’m just going to wing it,” Eclipse replied with a shrug.

“I think that might be the best idea,” Blake agreed. “Considering we don't know how the process goes.”

Just then, there was an announcement over the school's PA system. “Attention all first-year students. The Initiation Test will begin in 1 hour. Can all candidates please proceed to the locker room?”

Everyone in the dining hall made their way to the locker room. Once there, Onyx saw Ruby and Yang, who were talking about teams. He also saw Weiss, who was attempting to recruit a girl with long red hair who looked familiar to him. He equipped himself with his hunter outfit. It consisted of black shoes, black pants, a black jacket with red lining, and a single shoulder pad on his right shoulder. On both hands, he wore a pair of dark red gauntlets, with thick grey cuffs, which had slots for small chambers filled with Dust. His weapon was a curved bayonet, which was in his holster. On the back of his jacket was his emblem, which looked like a half-white, half-black face, with the white half smiling, and the black half giving a jagged smile.

Sunset finished getting changed into her huntress outfit; it was based on a Chinese female fighting style outfit, with a red and yellow finish. The top was mostly red with gold lining, with her shoulders and arms exposed, except for red sweatbands on her wrists. She also wore black pants, and black and gold boots that shows her toes and heels. She then tied a golden sash around her waist. She had tied her hair into a Chinese-style hairball. Then she placed her weapon on her back, behind her right shoulder, which was in travel mode.

Eclipse was in his hunter outfit. He was already dressed in his fighting gear, which consisted of padded white boots, violet baggy pants, an indigo tank top, and a white hood over his head, with his tiger ears sticking out of the top. On his right shoulder was a tattoo of his emblem, which looked like a red circle, with the two halves of his scizor blades overlapping, with another line between them, forming the shape of a capital A, standing for Anarchy, which was covered by a long, jagged scar. He wore the two halves of his scissor blades at his sides.

Ruby then looks up and sees Onyx in his outfit. “You're looking sharp,” She said with a smile.

“Thanks, I've been working on this for a very long time,” Onyx replied.

At that moment, there was another announcement. “Can all new candidates make their way to BeaconCliffs,” The announcement then ended

“Show time,” he said with a small smirk. He started to make his way out when he bumped into someone. “Sorry, I wasn’t looking where I was going,” He explained apologetically.

“No, it’s fine, I…” said a girl's voice, before pausing, and then continuing in a surprised tone as she stared up at him. “Onyx?”

Onyx also looked down at the girl with wide eyes as he recognised her. She had short lime green hair, tanned skin, and deep red eyes. She wore brown boots, brown leggings over white pants, and a green halter top, with a white tank top over it which crisscrossed over her shoulders. “Emerald?!” He exclaimed.

The two of them just stared at each other, before the girl stuttered, “I...I gotta go.” She quickly walked away.

“Do you know her?” Asked Ruby.

“I did, a long time ago,” Onyx replied simply.

Ruby could tell that this subject was a sensitive one for Onix to talk about, so she didn’t press any further. He would tell her in his own time. “Let’s go, they’re not going to wait for us,” She said.

Onyx and Ruby then made their way out of the locker room and toward the cliffs.

The new students all stood in a row along the cliff which overlooked the vast forest. They stood on square panels, which were all marked with the emblem of the Kingdom of Vale.

Professor Salem and Professor Goodwitch stood in front of them all, as Professor Salem gave a speech to the new students.

“For years, you have all trained for this day. Behind me is the Emerald Forest. To the northern side of the Forest are Ruins. Inside those ruins are relics. All you need to do is retrieve one relic each, and you must bring the relic back to Beacon before the day’s end. Failure to do so will result in the end of your studentship here at Beacon. Now, I know there is confusion about the teaming. Allow me to put an end to it. Your teams will be decided by chance the moment you make eye contact with anyone in the Forest. They will be with you for the duration of your stay here at Beacon.”

The students all looked at each other in apprehension.

“Now, ready yourselves. You will now be launched into the Emerald Forest,” Said Professor Goodwitch.

The students nodded and got into their positions.

“Umm, sorry, did you say launched into the Emerald Forest?” Asked Jaune with a worried tone.

“Yes, Mr Arc,” Replied Professor Salem.

“I don’t have a parachute,” Said Jaune.

“We didn’t give out any parachutes,” Replied Salem.

“How are we supposed to land?” Asked Jaune, sounding even more scared.

“You will use a landing strategy,” Explained Salem, with an edge of impatience in her voice.

“What’s a landing strategy?” He asked again.

Onyx rolled his eyes at the blond boy’s antics.

As Jaune continued to ask questions, one by one, the students were being catapulted into the Forest.

“Here, Jaune, use this before you hit the ground,” Onyx said, giving him a small cylindrical object.

“What’s this?” Jaune asked.

“It’s an anti-grav grande, just push the button and throw it at the ground, and it will slow you down,” Explained Onyx.

“Good luck,” Ruby said before she too was catapulted.

“Anything else I need to know?” Asked Jaune again.

“Put your head between your legs,” said Onyx, before he was also catapulted.

“Wait, whaaaaaaa?!” Screamed Jaune in terror as he was also catapulted.

“Now, we will see where they land,” Said Professor Goodwitch, as she and Professor Salem looked out over the great forest that lay out before them.

“Yes, we shall now observe, and let fate be decided,” Agreed Professor Salem.

To Be Continued...

Author's Note

Hi guy’s sorry for the long wait just been busy with my other story’s.
The next chapter will come out tomorrow same time.
Thank you for your patience and support.

Chapter 2: Emerald Forest: Part 1: Team W.A.V.E

Author's Note

Hi guy’s here chapter 2 focusing on Weiss and her team named W.A.V.E.
Please enjoy the chapter.
The third chapter is out tomorrow same time.
Have a great day.

Chapter 2: Emerald Forest: Part 1: Team W.A.V.E

Flying through the air, Weiss cast her gravity glyphs to slow her down, and then brought herself to the ground, landing gracefully. “Right, now I just need to find Ms Nikos,” She said to herself and started her search for the ruins.

At this point, Applejack was getting close to the ground. She reached out her hand and grabbed a tree top, which caused it to bend down until her feet touched the ground. She let go, and the tree sprang upwards again. She was wearing brown boots with laces and tassels, daisy dukes with a belt and belt buckle with three apples on it, an orange top that showed off her belly, a brown waistcoat with tassels, and brown fingerless gloves. She carried her weapon on her back. She then took out a compass and followed it North.

Zooming through the air, a bat Faunus named Vinyl Scratch held out a huge boombox; she pointed it toward the ground and shot powerful sonic blasts to help her land. She wore black boots, black pants, a white T-shirt with blue stripes on the sleeves, blue cuffs, dark pink/purple arm warmers on her lower arms, and purple shades with black frames over her eyes. When she landed, she began her journey to find the ruins.

Emerald was approaching the ground when she pulled out her revolvers. She used her chain scythe to grab a tree to help her land. Once she landed, she started to search to find the ruins.

Weiss was trying to navigate through the Forest. She stopped and drew her weapon when a group of Beowolves surrounded her.

“Beowolves. There sure are a lot of them. I just need to remember what my sister showed me,” She said to herself, taking a stance she had practised countless times.

One of the Beowulfs roared and charged at her. She dodged the attack and thrust her sword through the Grimm's head, killing it. Then all the Beowolves begin to attack her. Weiss fights back, using everything at her disposal. She managed to kill six or more of them before she had to pause. “They just keep coming,'' she said with a huff.

At that moment, one of the Beowolves jumped at her, Weiss didn’t react in time to counter the attack, but before the Grimm could land a hit...

The Beowolf was shot by someone, causing it to crumble into dust. A cowgirl, holding a lever action shotgun, stepped from the bushes. “Howdy,” She said to the young heiress, tilting her hat politely.

Just then, one of the Beowolfs turned to the cowgirl and ran at her, roaring furiously. She turned to face it, transforming her weapon from gun mode to sword mode. With a strong swing, she cut its arm off. It howled from the pain, and then she transformed her weapon again, aimed the gun, and blew its head off before it disintegrated!

“Alright, who's next?” She asked with a smirk.

Once again, The Grimm begin their attack. Working together, Applejack and Weiss work together to fight off the Grimm. After some time the Beowolf alpha appears. Applejack pulls out an apple. She pulled out the stork and threw the apple at its mouth, and the Grimm swallowed it.
After a few seconds, it exploded from the inside.

With they're alpha destroyed, the other Beowolfs retreated. Applejack then started to laugh. “How do y’all like them Apples?” She said with pride as she turned to look at Weiss.

“What was up with that apple you fed it?” Weiss asked with raised eyebrows.

“Nothing special,” Applejack said with a casual smile. “Just an Apple Grenade.”

“A what?” Weiss asked slowly.

“It’s what we members of the Smith Family use as our trademark weapon,” Applejack said with a wide, proud smile. “A grenade that looks like an apple. The name’s pretty self-explanatory. So, I guess we’re partners now,” She stated, holding out her hand in greeting.

Weiss just looked at her with deadpan eyes. “No, we’re not,” She said with her nose in the air, before turning and starting to walk away from the cowgirl.

Applejack frowned, before putting her hand on Weiss's shoulder to stop her. “Didn’t you hear what Miss Salem said? The first person we see becomes our partner,” she reminded her.

“True, but we can pretend we didn’t see each other,” Weiss replied dismissively, trying to brush Applejack’s hand off her shoulder.

“I can’t believe you! I saved your hide from that Grimm, and this is the thanks I get?!” She said in disbelief.

Weiss paused and thought about what the cowgirl said. “I suppose you have a point,” She said with a sigh.

Before anything else could happen, music could be heard, causing the two girls to look around in confusion. Then, out of nowhere, an Ursa came flying from the trees.

“What in tarnation!” Applejack exclaimed as she and Weiss moved out of the way of the flying Grimm.

At that moment, a girl with lightning-blue hair stepped out of the bushes. “Oh yeah, you can’t handle this girl!” She cheered, grinning with excitement. Weiss and Applejack both stared at the girl. “Yo, what’s up?” She asked, waving at the other two girls.

“Howdy, the name’s Applejack,” Applejack introduced herself, holding out her hand for the new girl to shake.

“Name’s Vinyl Scratch,” She replied with a friendly smirk, shaking the cowgirl's hand.

“And I suppose I should introduce myself too. I am Weiss Schnee,” Weiss said with her nose in the air once more. “Oh well, I guess I’m stuck with these two,” She thought to herself.

“A Schnee, huh,” Vinyl said, “Well nice to meet ya.” She then paused, before looking up at one of the trees. “I can hear you breathing up there,” She said, “So why don’t you just come down and show yourself.”

Just then, another girl then dropped down from the tree, which turned out to be Emerald. “You could hear me up there?” She asked Vinyl.

“You betcha, I can hear anything and everything, thanks to my semblance,” Vinyl replied with a huge smile.

“How long were you up there?” asked Weiss with narrowed eyes.

“Not long,” Answered the mint-haired girl with a nonchalant shrug, “what, you thought I was doing something up there?”

“Maybe,” Weiss replied with her nose in the air.

“Well, before we start getting into a ruckus here,” Applejack said placatingly, “I wager you know our names, so what’s yours?”

“It’s Emerald,” She answered, “Remember it.”

Weiss sighed, before saying, “Well, now, if you girls don’t mind, I’m heading north.” She turned and started to walk from the other girls and towards the trees.

“Hold on there,” Applejack said, “you do know you're going the wrong way, right?”

“WHAT?!” Shouted Weiss, as she turned to look at the cowgirl with a look of annoyance.

“North is that way,” Applejack said, pointing in the opposite direction.

“And how do you know that?” Weiss asked, looking down at Applejack.

Applejack answered by showing her compass to Weiss.

Weiss saw the compass. “Oh, I see you brought a compass.” She said

“Of course, that is Navigation 101 for any Combat school,” Applejack said, she then turned to the other two girls. “You two have a Compass as well right?” She asked

Emerald was silent and Vinyl gave a nervous smile.

“Wait a minute. Am I the only one who brought a compass?” Applejack asked

“Okay, how about we just get going before more Grimm shows up,” Emerald suggested

“Oh right, yes, let’s head North,” Weiss said, her brow covered in a cold sweat.

“Right sure.” Said Applejack, rolling her eyes.

With that said, the group of girls headed off into the woods, as they navigated their way north, led by Weiss.

In a short time, they find a cave. “The relic must be in this cave.” Said Weiss, as she stepped toward the entrance of the cave.

“I’m not sure about that,” Said Applejack with a cautious look.

“Well, regardless, we’re going in,” Weiss said before she entered the cave alone.

“I think we better follow her,” Said Emerald, “Who knows what kind of trouble she could get herself into?

The other two girls nodded before they headed into the darkness of the cave. “I can’t see a thing in here,” Commented Emerald.

“Just keep going,” Called Weiss from ahead of them.

“How are you doing, Vinyl?” Asked Applejack.

“I’m good,” Vinyl replied with a shrug.

Not long after entering the cave, they find a glowing object floating above them. “There it is, the relic,” Said Weiss with a smile.

“Y'all sure that’s a relic?” Asked Applejack, eyeing the object warily.

“Of course it is,” Weiss snapped impatiently. She reached up and tried to grab the relic, but it moved away from her. “Hey, stop moving!” She shouted in frustration as she kept trying to grab it.

“I don’t think that’s a relic,” Said a now nervous-sounding Emerald.

“I think you're right,” Agreed Vinyl.

“I think we oughta get outta here,” Applejack said warningly.

But Weiss didn’t listen, as she finally jumped up and grabbed hold of the relic with both hands. “I got it!” She said in excitement... before she and the other girl's eyes shank into pinpricks, as they all saw six red eyes glowing in the dark. “Eep.” Whimpered Weiss.

The girls came running out of the cave, being chased by a Deathstalker, with Weiss letting out a high-pitched scream.

They quickly turned to face the massive Grimm, as Applejack pulled out an apple grenade, pulled the pin from it, and tossed it at the Deathstalker. The grenade hit its skull-like head and exploded, but all that seemed to do was make it eveangrier. It then raises its tail and strikes at them with its deadly stinger.

Emerald then draws out her revolvers and starts to shoot at the Deathstalker.

The Deathstalker then swings and snaps at the girls with its claws, trying to cut them to pieces.

Applejack then ran at the Deathstalker with her sword. But the Deathstalker was ready for her, as it grabbed her with its claw. She kicked and punched hard at the tight pincer, and try to cut herself out with her sword.

“It’s got Applejack!” Yelled Vinyl.

Weiss then ran at the Deathstalker and stabbed it in the eye. It screamed from the pain and let go of Applejack.

Vinyl then transforms her boombox into a huge hammer. “Time to drop the beat!” She shouted with a smirk. The Deathstalker strikes at her with its stinger And Vinyl counters with an upper swing. The force of the blow forced the stinger backwards, and it was then stuck into the ground.

“Quick, let’s blind it,” Emerald told Applejack. Applejack nodded, and the two girls ran at the Deathstalker. Emerald then extends her Sickles and shoots out the chains. She jumped into the air, and swung down, stabbing its top eyes. Then Applejack used her sword to stab the other eye. Vinyl transformed her weapon from hammer mode to assault rifle made. Then she shoots at the last two eyes The Deathstalker screamed and entered a panic-like state.

Weiss now saw her opportunity, as she turned her dust revolver to the earth element. With her glyphs, she coursed a landslide, Applejack, Vinyl and Emerald ran away from the landslide which finally killed the Deathstalker. The girls all take a moment to catch their breaths.

“Is it dead?” Asked Emerald.

“Yeah, it’s dead,” Replied Vinyl. “I can’t hear it breathing.”

“Well, then, I think we’re done here,” Said Applejack.

“Let’s just find that ruin,” Suggested Weiss. The other girls nodded, and they headed off in the northern direction.

On the way, Applejack and Weiss walked alongside each other. “Hey, I guess we’re even now,” Applejack said to Weiss.

“Excuse me?” Weiss asked.

“You saved me from that Deathstalker, and when we first met, I saved you from that Beowolf,” Applejack explained.

“Hmm, I guess you're right,” Said Weiss with a little smile.

Emerald and Vinyl were walking next to each other too. “What are they talking about?” Asked Emerald.

“They’re saying something about being even,” Vinyl said.

Emerald raised an eyebrow. “Even?” she asked.

“Don’t ask me, I dunno,” Vinyl said with a shrug.

The 4 girls continue walking, and eventually, they find the ruins.

“This must be it,” Said Applejack.

The girls approached the ruins and came to an open area with a row of stone pedestals. On top of each pedestal were different objects.

“So, are these the relics?” Asked Emerald.

“Some of them are missing. So they must be,” Said Applejack.

Weiss looked at the relics in front of her, thinking carefully. “Let's take the Staff,” She said to Applejack.

“Go ahead, I don’t mind,” Applejack replied.

Weiss walked up to the pedestals and picked up the Staff.

“Why don’t we do the same?” Asked Vinyl.

“Sure why not,” Replied Emerald, before taking the other Staff.

With their Relics in hand, the girls left the ruins and made their way back to Beacon.

Meanwhile, Ms Salem was watching Weiss and the others on her Scroll.

“Hmm, Ms Schnee might be a fine leader for this team,” She thought to herself.

With one set of Team members decided, she continued to watch the rest of the students to see whose fates would be decided next.

To Be Continued...

Chapter 3: Emerald Forest: part 2 Team B.L.I.T

Flying through the air, Blake looked straight ahead at the trees as she pulled out her weapon. She then threw her Kusarigama Pistol to perform her landing. She quickly landed in the top branches of a tree, before she looked around to find her way north.

Back in the air, Lemon Zest glided towards the ground. She wore dark purple high-heeled boots, sparkling dark purple leggings, a lilac-coloured skirt with a yellow overskirt, a sparkly light pink top, and purple wristbands. She also had a first aid pouch on her hip. As she descended, she looked up and saw a bird flying in her direction. “Aww, a cute little bird,” She said with a smile. As it got closer, the bird got bigger and bigger, much bigger than a normal bird. “OK, not so cute and not a real bird.” She repositioned herself, and a blade shot out from her sleeve. Once the Grimm got close enough, with a quick swing, she cut its wing clean off. She then grabbed the wing, before putting her weapon away and using the Grimm’s wing like a parachute. Once her feet touched the ground, she let the wing go. “Alright, yeah, nailed it! Now, time to find me some relics!” She said excitedly, before heading off into the forest.

Up in the air, Indigo Zap looked around for a landing spot. “Hmm, there’s one,” She said as she saw a lake of water. She performed her landing by crashing into the water. She then swam to the edge and pulled herself out of the lake. She wore a purple two-piece divers outfit and goggles. With a rifle on her back and several pockets on her legs, and also a belt with magazines in pouches. On her feet was a pair of custom boots for land and sea. On her back was a purple cloud with blue lighting shooting out of the bottom. After she got out of the water, and back onto dry ground, she started to make her way north.

Also flying through the air, Twilight Sparkle was scanning the Forest with her computer glasses. Her computer calculated the best odds for her landing. She found the perfect landing zone and teleported to the ground. She wore dark blue boots, navy blue leggings, and a maroon top with a skirt, and left her arms bared, which had six-pointed stars around the skirt. She then scanned the area to see if there were Grimm or anyone else nearby. “Hmm, good, nothing else here. Now all I have to do is head north,” She said as she set off for the ruins.

Blake, staying hidden, made her way through the trees, using them to her advantage. She kept her distance from the Grimm, and some of the other students. Salem’s instructions were clear, the first person she makes eye contact with will be her partner for the semester. She continued moving along the trees, on the constant lookout for her friend. “Eclipse, where are you?” She asked herself. She had to find her friend fast. Just before she could resume her search for Eclipse, the tree she was in violently shakes. Blake looked down and saw 3 Boarbatusk crashing into the tree. “Did they see me?” She pulled out her weapons and jumped down to face the Boarbatusk.

The 3 Boarbatusk turned to face Blake, growling viciously. She was not intimidated though, as she readied herself for battle. From out of nowhere, a fourth Boarbatusk rolled out of the bushes and crashed into Blake in her back. Blake was tossed to the ground, as the other 3 Boarbatusk charged at her.

At that moment, a girl with lime and lemon-coloured hair came jumping from the trees. She extended her arm, and using two machine guns, started shooting at the Boarbatusks. Her bullets bounced off their armor and one of them rolled up into a ball and charged at the girl at high speed. She pulled back her leg, and once the Boarbatusk got close, she kicked it with incredible force, sending the Boarbatusk high into the air.

Once she recovered, Blake got back on her feet, raised her weapons and she started to shoot at the Boarbatusk. And together, the two of them worked to kill the Boarbatusk.

“Alright, that was awesome!” The other girl said with hype.

“Yeah, thanks for saving me back there,” Blake said, straightening her back.

“How’s your back? That Boarbatusk hit you hard there,” She said as she walked up to Blake.

“Yeah, I’ll be fine,” Blake replied dismissively.

“Well, I guess from this point we’ll be partners. The name’s Lemon Zest! And you are?” Lemon asked with a grin.

“Blake Belladonna,” she replied simply.

“Nice to meet ya. Now, which way is north?” Asked Lemon.

“This way,” Blake replied, pointing in the direction and starting to walk.

“H-hey, wait for me!” Lemon called as she caught up with Blake.

As Indigo walks through the forest, she keeps a sharp look out for the ruins. Just then, she can hear the sound of running water. “That might be it,” she said to herself. She ran up to where the sound came from and found a beautiful river. She crouched down by the edge of the river to take a closer look at the glistening water. “Well, I could use a drink,” She said, as she scooped up some of the water with her hands and carefully drank it. “Wow, sure tastes better than salt water,” She said with a smile before she stood up and dived into the water before she began to swim down the river.

Twilight, using her glasses to find the ruins, soon found the river and scanned it. “Hmm, good, it’s clean,” She said, before kneeling to have a drink herself.

Hidden in the bushes, an Insect Grimm approached Twilight slowly and quietly. However, Before it could attack, Indigo rose from the river and shot the Grimm 3 times with her rifle, killing the Grimm and saving Twilight. Indigo, still in the water, looked at Twilight and waved. “Hi, how’s it going?” She asked.

“Fine,” Twilight replied bluntly.

Indigo climbed out of the water and walked up to Twilight. “So, I guess this means you now owe me,” She said with a cheeky grin. “So what’s your name?” She asked.

Instead of answering her, Twilight suddenly pointed her arm at Indigo, and it unfolded into an automatic crossbow. Indigo ducked as she shot several arrows at her, all missing her.

“What the hell!?” Indigo screamed in annoyance. At that moment, another insect Grimm fell from the trees behind her.

“Deathstingers always hunt in pairs. And the name is Twilight,” Twilight said as her arm went back to normal.

Indigo moved away from the dead Grimm. “I’m Indigo. I’m gonna be your partner for the year,” she said.

“Then let's keep moving,” Said Twilight. The two girls then resumed their search for the ruins.

Meanwhile, Blake and Lemon continued their search for the ruins. “Are you sure we’re heading the right way?” Asked Lemon.

“Yes, I have a good sense of direction,” Replied Blake.

Lemon looked over at Blake and noticed she was not walking straight. “How’s your back?” She asked, concerned about her companion.

“Yes, I’m fine,” Blakereplied, trying to make it look like she was ok.

They come to a revenue. “Okay, I’ll go first,” Lemon insisted.

Blake just let her go first, as she then jumped down into the revenue. Blake then jumped down to join Lemon, but when she landed, Blake suddenly yelped in pain.

“Oh gods, I knew your back was bad,” Lemon said, quickly looking for her first aid kit. She pulled out a small red pouch, then she got a syringe with the Shinra logo on it.

“What’s that?” asked Blake, eyeing the syringe warily.

“Painkiller shot, it'll help you with your back,” Lemon explained before she crouched down next to Blake. “Brace yourself, this will sting,” She warned Blake before she carefully stabbed her with the needle in her back.

“Ahh, that hurts!” Blake yelped.

“You'll be fine in a second,” Lemon reassured Blake.

“How long will it take?” Blake asked through gritted teeth.

“Not long,” Lemon said as she put the syringe away. “So, tell me about yourself,” she said conversationally.

“What?” Blake said in confusion, “Why would you ask me that?”

“Well, you know, just to talk to each other and take your mind off the pain,” Lemon said casually. “So, come on, let’s hear it.”

“Look,” Blake said, giving the green-haired girl an odd look, “It’s nothing personal, but I’ve only just met you.”

“OK, sure, I can respect that,” Lemon said with a shrug. “Anyway, where to begin?” She continued, “Well, I was born in Atlas, believe it or not.”

“Oh no,” Blake thought to herself with an internal grimace, “An Atlas elitist.”

“And, when I was 3, my parents died,” Lemon went on, making Blake look up at her in shock.

“Wow, she’s just putting that straight out there, isn't she?” She thought with wide eyes.

“Not long after that, I was put in an orphanage in Vacuo of all places,” Lemon continued, oblivious to the look on Blake’s face. “Don’t know why I wasn’t put in an Orphanage in Atlas, but I didn’t care at the time. You know, due to the fact I was grieving over the loss of my parents and all.”

“Er, OK,” Blake said with an uneasy nod.

“And then, when I was 5,” Lemon continued, “I was adopted by a Faunus family.” At this, Blake looked up at her in shock, before she concluded her story by saying,“So, they raised me as their own kid, and when I was older, I decided to become a Huntress, and that’s what led to me coming here. So, that’s pretty much my back story, or summary of it.”

“Uhh,” Blake said, staring at Lemon strangely, “Why are you telling me all this? You only just met me today. Why are you being so open with a complete stranger?”

“Well, you're not a complete stranger,” Lemon said with an easy going smile, “I do know your name, which is Blake, and since we made eye contact, we’re partners. So, we may as well get to know each other now, so we don’t have any problems with each other later.”

This brings a little smile to Blake's face. It actually slightly warmed her heart that this girl who was raised by Faunus and that she would be so open about it. By now, Blake can feel her back getting better. “Wow, you know what, that injection did help, thanks,” she said as she got back to her feet.

“You're welcome,” Lemon said with a smile, “but take it easy, OK. Just because you can’t feel the pain, doesn’t mean you can’t still do some damage to your back,” she explained.

“I will, thank you again,” Blake said gratefully. Just then, she realised this is one of the few times that she actually thanked a human. With all that said and done, the girls then headed off to continue their search for the ruins.

Meanwhile, Indigo and Twilight continued walking through the Forest. “Hey, are you sure we’re heading north?” Asked Indigo.

“Yes, I am quite certain. My glasses have built in computers that can scan the surrounding environment, help with navigation, and also have a Night Vision mode, infrared, et cetera,” Twilight explained.

“Wow, where did you get that?” Indigo asked with an intrigued look on her face.

“I made them myself,” Replied Twilight, sounding quite proud of her invention.

“Can you play music on them?” Indigo asked.

“Yes,” Twilight said.

“Can they stream movies and satellite tv?” Indigo asked again with great interest.

“Yes,” Twilight said again.

“I want a pair,” Indigo said with envy.

“Even if I did give you a pair, which I can’t, you wouldn’t be able to use them anyway,” Twilight responded.

“Aw, why not?,” Indigo complained.

“They are not waterproof,” Twilight stated.

“Touche,” Indigo said with a nod, as she placed her hand under her chin. “Well, anyway, which kingdom are you from?” She asked.

“Atlas. Why are you asking so many questions?” Twilight asked.

“Just curious,” Indigo replied with a shrug, “I’m from Mistral, by the way.”

“Just to let you know,” Twilight went on, “that we should be close to the ruins soon.”

“Oh great,” Indigo said with a grin, before she continued to bombard Twilight with questions as they made their way toward the ruins.

Eventually, the four girls finally found the ruins.

“Lucky us we got here without running into anymore Grimm, huh?” Lemon said to Blake with a Smirk.

“Yeah, lucky. But just to be safe, keep your guard up,” Blake suggested.

Just then, Indigo noticed Blake and Lemon. “Hey, did your glasses see these two as we approached?” she asked Twilight.

Twilight looked at the two girls and scanned them with her high tech glasses. The results showed Lemon was human, and Blake was a Cat Faunus. This made her hum in suspicion.

“Is everything okay?” Asked Indigo.

“Oh yeah, just scanning for Grimm,” Twilight replied, keeping her suspicions to herself for now.

After that, the four girls headed into the Ruins, seeing the objects on the pedestals.

“What are those?” Asked Lemon with a raised eyebrow.

“Maybe The Relics,” Stated Twilight.

“Hey, shouldn’t we introduce ourselves to each other?” Said Indigo.

“Yeah, I think she's right,” Agreed Blake,“I’m Blake Belladonna.” This got Twilight’s attention.

“The name’s Lemon Zest,” Lemon said with a smile.

“Indigo Zap’s the name,” Indigo said with a smile of her own.

“And I’m Twilight Sparkle,” Twilight said, finishing off the introductions.

They then all looked at the relics. “So, we just need one relic piece per pair?” asked Lemon.

“Yep, that’s what Salem told us,” Indigo replied as she threw the selection.“Let's take... this one,” she said slowly, before picking up the Lamp.

“You want the Lamp?” Asked Twilight.

“Yeah Lamps are cool.” Indigo answered, with a smile.

Lemon then stepped forward and took the other Lamp.

“So you chose the Lamp too,” asked Blake.

“Well, yeah,” Lemon said with smirk, “like Indigo said, Lamps are cool.”

“That’s your only excuse, isn't it?” Blake asked with a deadpan look.

“Pretty much,” Lemon replied with another smirk.

“Of course,” Blake sighed, rolling her eyes. She then suddenly grimaced, before she collapsed forward and grabbed the pedestal to support herself.

“Whoa, you ok?” Asked Lemon in a worried tone.

“I think that pain killer you gave me wore off just this second,” Blake said with a slight hiss.

“Hold on, I’ll give you a top up,” Lemon said as she pulled out the first aid pouch, opened it, and pulled out another syringe. “Same as before, brace yourself for the sting,” she said. Blake squinted with one eye, as she kept the other on Lemon, as the green haired put the needle in her back. Job done, she then put the used needle back in the pouch. “There, that should hold for a little while,” she finished reassuringly.

“Thanks,” Blake said gratefully and with a relieved smile as she felt the pain begin to slowly ebb away again.

As this was happening, Twilight then scanned Blake with her glasses again, seeing the damage done to her back, and she figured out what was causing her the most pain. “We need to get her back to Beacon as quickly as possible,” She said to the others.

“Why?” Asked Lemon.

“I’m afraid that there is a fracture in her spinal cord,” Twilight explained seriously, “If we don’t get her some proper medical attention soon, she could run the risk of permanent paralysis.”

“Wait, what?!” Lemon said in shock.

“Oh my gods! You serious?!” Indigo exclaimed, just as shocked as Lemon.

Blake just turned to look at Twilight, and locked her eyes with her own. “How long do I have?” She asked calmly.

“I would estimate that you only have two hours at the most,” Twilight said just as calmly.

“Well, what are we waiting for?” Lemon said with determination. “We’ve already got what we came for, so let’s just concentrate on getting Blake back to Beacon. Don’t stop for anything.” She then walked up to Blake and took her arm, placing it over her shoulders. “Can’t put strain on that injury, so you better lean on me on the way back.”

“Thanks,” Blake said with a small smile. “Look at this,” she thought, “this human girl, who was raised by Faunus, is going out of her way to help me, even willingly carry me to safety. How would Adam react if he ever met her? Would she be able to change his feelings towards humans? Probably not, but she does give me hope, and maybe that's all that matters.”

With those thoughts, the girls headed away from the ruins to make their way back to Beacon, with Twilight and Indigo taking point, so they could keep an out for any Grimm, and fight them off if necessary.

What they didn’t know was that hidden from sight was a King Taijitu, watching them intently, and slithering towards them.

As the girls walked on, Twilight was constantly scanning for any sign of a threat. Just then, she received an alert, and through the trees, she spotted the first head of the giant serpent. She instantly knew what it was, and knew what was about to happen. Just as the serpent pulled back its black head in order to strike, she quickly used her semblance, teleporting over to Lemon and Blake, grabbing them by the arms and teleporting them away, disappearing just a split second before the snakes jaws snapped shut on the spot they were standing a moment before.

The three girls reappeared next to Indigo, with her and the other two girls very startled. “Hey, what’s the deal,” Lemon asked.

“Look!” Twilight shouted, drawing their attention to the giant twin headed snake. “That’s a King Taijitu! It always attacks the weakest member of a group first, and that’s you!” She finished, pointing at Blake.

“Whoa, are you saying we almost became that thing’s lunch?!” Lemon shouted wide eyes.

“Don’t these things have two heads?” asked Indigo. “Where’s the second head?”

As if on cue, the white head of the King Taijitu rose up right behind Twilight, Lemon and Blake, eyeing them as it hissed angrily at the one that had stolen away its next meal.

Just as it was about to attack the three girls, Indigo, seeing what was about to happen, ran forward and lept up toward it, changing her weapon into its Trident mode, and shoving the three prongs into its skull, as it screamed in pain and fury. She then activated her semblance, sending a jolt of electricity into its head, causing it to hit the ground with a great thud.

“Twilight, take care of the first head!” Blake ordered. “Lemon, you're with me! Indigo, keep doing what you’re doing!”

“As if I have a choice!” Indigo yelled back, as the second head began to shake, trying to shake her off as she continued to give it an electric shock right into its skull.

As this was happening, Twilight teleported over to the first head, transformed her claws into crossbow mode, and began firing a barrage of arrows at it. As she shot arrow after arrow, she would teleport after every shot, keeping the giant serpent disoriented so it couldn’t strike back at her.

“Ok, so, what's the plan?” Lemon asked.

Blake then pulled her Gambol Shroud from her back and gave a fiercely determined look. “We’re going to kill that Grimm,” she said seriously… before she suddenly let out a yell of pain, as her body went limp. Her aura had finally been depleted, and the pain from her injury had returned tenfold.

Lemon quickly caught her before she could hit the ground. “If you keep this up your’re gonna kill yourself,” she said warningly.

“I will not just stand by and watch as others fight my battles,” Blake stated firmly in determination. “As long as I can hold a sword, I will fight.”

Seeing that Blake would not be convinced, Lemon decided that she would have to make a desperate decision. “Alright, looks I have no choice,” she said with a heavy sigh, before racing into her first aid pouch once more, and pulling out another syringe. “I’m gonna have to give you this.”

“Another pain killer?” Blake asked.

“No,” Lemon said seriously, “This is no pain killer. This is what’s known as an Aura Booster, recently created by the Shinra Company. It will temporarily increase your Aura tenfold. But, fair warning, they are dangerous.”

“How dangerous?” Blake asked warily.

“Well…” Lemon said slowly, “The last time I had heard of a guy using one of these… he suffered and died from major organ failure.”

“What?!” Blake shouted in shock.

“Look, no kidding here,” Lemon said seriously again, “This is the only way, you’re gonna be able to fight that Grimm. Still want to go through with it?”

At that moment, Indigo was thrown off the serpent's head. Seeing this, Blake looked up at Lemon and nodded. “Do it,” she said simply.

“Alright,” Lemon said as she got behind her. “Ready for the sting?”

“Just get on with it,” Blake said, before feeling the now familiar prick of the needle in her back. She felt the effect immediately, as she felt her strength return. She now felt like she could take on 10 King Tijitu’s single handed. “Whoa, I feel amazing,” she said with awe as she straightened up.

“Yeah, Shinra usually brings out the best stuff,” Lemon said with a smirk, “Better than those clowns from Atlas Medical.”

Blake smirked back. “Then, let's do this,” she said. With that, the two girls dashed into battle. “I got a plan!” Blake shouted to the other girls, “Lemon, help Twilight, and I’ll go and help Indigo!”

“Alright, you have 10 minutes. Make them count,” Lemon said, before she ran off to help Twilight, multiplying herself into three copies as she went.

Blake then separated her weapon and tied her ribbon around the cleaver’s handle. She then ran towards the white head, before she jumped on its body. The serpent saw her, and lunged itself at her. Blake then created a shadow clone, and then dodged the attack by jumping over it. She then threw her cleaver into the head of the Grimm in the same place that Indigo impaled it with her trident.

The snake hissed from both pain and anger, as Blake flew past the head, and ran around the body to tie it up in the ribbon. “MOVE AWAY FROM THE HEAD!” She yelled to her teammates. Hearing this, Lemon and Twilight moved out of the way.

Blake then shoots at the Black head to get its attention. The snake hissed and charged at her. Once again, Blake used a Shadow clone to avoid the attack, and the black snake bit into the neck of the white snake.

The white snake screamed in pain and anger, before biting the head of the black snake in revenge. Blake then wrapped both heads together with her ribbon, before throwing her pistol to Indigo.

“SHOCK HIM!” Blake yelled to Indigo.

Catching the pistol, and grabbing some lightning dust crystals from her pocket, Indigo threw them into her mouth, and bites down, unleashing a power load of electricity throughout her body. She sends the electrictricity through the ribbon, towards the King Taijitu, creating an electrical loop, which shocks the serpent’s entire body from end to end. After Indigo depleted her electricity, the King Taijitu was now completely stunned.

“Come on, let's finish him off!” Lemon said to Twilight.

Twilight nodded, and the two of them quickly ran forwards towards the heads of the King Taijitu. Lemon extended both of her swords, and made a clone to throw herself forwards towards it faster. With an almighty swing of her blades, Lemon cut off the giant serpents Black head.

Twilight then teleports over to the White head, and, using her claws, she cut off the second head.

After both heads were cut off, the Grimm disintegrated into dust.

With the grimm finally defeated, the girls took a moment to catch their breaths, before they celebrated their victory over the King Taijitu.

“HELL YEAH!” Yelled Indigo in triumph, and with a mouth full of broken teeth.

The other three girls stopped and stared at Indigo's mouth in concern.

“What?” Indigo asked them in confusion.

“Are you okay?” Asked Blake with a raised eyebrow.

“Fear not,” Twilight then answered, walking over to stand next to Indigo, “Indigo is a Shark Faunus, related to the Great White, I believe.” She explained.

“Yeah,” this kinda thing happens all the time. Besides, I needed a new set anyway,” Indigo said with a casula shrug, before reaching into her mouth and pulling out the broken set of teeth like they were denchers, and immediately growing a new set of teeth. “Ahh, that’s better,” She said, licking her new teeth.

“Okay,” Lemon said, processing what she just saw.

“How did you know she was a Faunus?” Blake asked Twilight with a slight tone of suspicion.

“My glasses scanned her and informed me on her biology,” Twilight explained.

Blake's eyes widened from Twilight’s answer, knowing that Twilight would certainly know she was a Faunus as well. Unfortunately, before she could say or do anything about the matter, the pain from her back suddenly returned with a vengeance. “AHH!” She yelped, as she completely lost the strength in her legs.

“Oh no, Blake!” Lemon cried, catching Blake from hitting the ground.

Twilight then gave another scan. “It’s spread. At the present rate of deterioration, she won’t make it back in time,” She explained grimmly, choosing not to sugarcoat the situation.

However, they all looked up, as they heard the whining of engines, and saw a Bullhead flying over them, before hovering down next to them. A woman with pink hair and in a nurse’s uniform opened the door.

“Bring her here!” She called urgently.

Not wanting to waste time, Twilight took Blake from Lemon and teleported the two straight into the Bullhead. Lemon and Indigo then ran over and jumped onto the Bullhead as well. They quickly got seated and the Bullhead took to the sky again, speeding towards Beacon.

Inside the craft, the nurse looked over Blake carefully. “Don’t worry, you're in good hands,” she said reassuringly.

As the Bullhead flew back to Beacon, Salam was watching everything on her scroll.

“I’m glad that she made it in time. It would be such a shame if this team of knights lost their leader,” she said to herself with a smile.

To Be Continued...

Chapter 4: Emerald Forest: Part 3 Team Y.E.L.O

Flying through the air, Yang, the thrill seeker that she was, was using her Gauntlets to increase speed.

“Woohoo!” She screamed in joy. Up ahead, she then saw the top of a tall tree. With a smirk, she then thrust her gauntlets forward to slow herself down, before she crashed into the branches of the tree and then jumped down. Once she was on the ground, she brushed the leaves out of her hair and then gave a celebratory whoop. “Nailed it!” She then looked all around her, not seeing anyone else. “Well, I better go find Ruby. No telling what trouble my little sis has got herself into without me.”

Ember was soaring through the air her wings unfurled, before she saw a clearing to land in. She easily glides down to the ground. She was dressed in deep blue leather boots, jeans, a white tank top which showed her stomach, and a deep blue leather scale-mail jacket, with shoulder pad armour and knee pad armour on her arms and legs. After she touched down, she looked all around, seeing no one. She sighed. “Well, looks like I’m alone at least, that’s just great,” She said, before heading off north.

Lyra glides through the sky before she finds an ideal area to land. She then used her semblance to form two Aura Arms, which she wrapped around herself and absorbed the impact as she hit the ground, helping her to land safely. She was dressed in black shoes with bandages wrapped tightly around her legs, lime green fighting pants with an emblem of a Lyre on each of the legs, a tight black sports bra that showed off most of her stomach and six-pack, and there also bandages around her arms.

Taking a quick look around, she saw no Grimm or the other Students around. “Okay now to North.” She walked heading North

Octavia, soaring gracefully through the air, saw a place to land. She was dressed in red shoulder pads with gold lining, a white shirt with a pink bow around her neck, a silver corset with gold clasps, a black belt with a gold ornate belt, a short grey skirt, pitch black leggings with armoured knee pads and shin-guards, and black high heeled boots. Moments from the ground she pulled out an Anti-Grav Pad, and threw it to the ground. It creates a dome of anti-gravity to catch her. After she landed on the ground, gave the area a quick look around, before then setting off, heading north.

“Hello?” Yang called out as she headed through the forest. “Is anybody out there? Hello? Getting bored here.” She turned as she heard a rustle in the bushes behind her. “Someone there?” She turned and pulled back the bushes. “Ruby, is that you?” She looked up and she heard a low growl. “Nope.” She leapt to one side as Ursa lunged at her before she rolled back to her feet and readied her gauntlets. A second Ursa jumped out alongside the first. The first Ursa lunged at Yang again, only to be flung back as Yang threw a punch at her, firing an explosive round, giving her punch more impact. The second Ursa came forward, Yang lamed it with an explosive uppecut, before sending it rolling away with a strong kick. “You guys wouldn't happen to have seen a girl in a red hood, would you?” The Ursas just roared at her. “You could just say no,” Yang said cheekily, “before somersaulting away as one of the Ursas tried to swiper her with its claws. “Ha ha!” Yang chuckled. “Geez, you two couldn’t hit the broadside of a…” She trailed off as she saw a single strand of her blond hair float slowly past her face, and down to the ground. “You…” She said with an angry tone, as her eyes suddenly turned bright red. “YOU MONSTER!!” She yelled in rage, as her body lit up like it was on fire, before charging at the first Ursa and unleashing a melee of rapid punches, and sending it flying. She then turns to face the second Ursa as it lumbers toward her. “What?! You want some too?!”

Just as Ursa came charging at her, a girl dropped down in front of Yang, who then folded away a pair of dragon wings. She had blue spiky hair with white highlights. She then raised a Tommy Gun and unleashed a volley of gunfire on the Ursa. This went on until the entire magazine was used up. For a moment, everything was still, before the Ursa dropped dead. “That was fun,” She said with a wide smirk.

“Well, that was kinda overkill, don’t you think?” Yang asked.

“Says the girl who went berserk and burned down the whole forest over losing a single strand of her hair,” The dragon girl shot back.

Yang folded her arms and scowled. “You win this round,” She said in a low voice, just as a burning tree fell to the ground behind her. “So, I guess this means we’re partners now.” She then held out a hand to shake. “Im Yang Xiao Long. And you are?”

“I don’t do handshakes,” the other girl said with narrowed eyes, “I do clasps.” She then held up her hand.

“Oh, I like this reptile,” Yang thought with a smirk, before clasping the dragon girl's hand with hers.

“And by the way,” The other girl said as they pulled their hands apart, “the name’s Ember. Ember Bloodstone.”

“Well, I think this is the start of a beautiful partnership,” Yang thought with intrigue, as the two of them headed off north together.

Meanwhile, Octavia was working through the forest, a peaceful look on her face. “Ah, now this is proper tranquillity,” She said in a relaxed tone. “And the only way to make this day perfect is if Vinyl shows up out of nowhere and ruins it with her music.” She then paused as she heard the distinct sound of gunshots in the distance. “That’s not the same calibre as Vinyl,” she said thoughtfully. She headed off toward the sound of the gunshots.

She then saw a girl with lime green hair fighting with a huge insect-like Grimm. The girl was using a pair of Tonfas. She recognised the Grimm as a Lancer Queen, the larger and more deadly leader of a Lancer swarm. The girl was doing her best but was struggling against the dangerous Grimm. Getting down on one knee, Octavia then transformed her weapon into an anti-tank mode, set it down on the ground, looked into the sniper scope, and then activated her semblance, as in her eye, two red lines criscrossed, like the crosshairs on a gun. Using her newly enhanced sight, she was able to pinpoint the Lancer’s weak point, and taking precise aim, she pulled the trigger. The shot echoed everywhere, before the Grimm fell to the ground, and then disintegrated.

The other girl then looked toward Octavia as she stood up and transformed her weapon again. “Thanks for the help,” she said gratefully, “that Lancer Queen just came at me out of nowhere.”

“Did you kill any other Lancers?” Octavia asked.

“Yeah, I actually fought against a small group of them,” The girl replied.

“Then that’s where that Queen came from,” Stated Octavia.

“Well again, thanks,” said the girl before introducing herself, “My name’s Lyra, by the way. Lyra Heartstrings.”

Octavia gave Lyra a small bow in return. “Pleasure to meet you,” she said with a smile, “I’m Octavia Melody.”

“Well, I guess this means we’re partners from now on,” said Lyra.

“Indeed,” replied Octavia, “We should continue making our way north now.”

“OK, let’s go,” Lyra agreed, as they both headed off together.

Yang and Ember continued walking north.

“So, your name is Ember and you're from Vacuo?” Yang asked.

“Yeah I came here to become a huntress,” Explained Ember.

“That's cool. Hey, what’s your semblance?” Asked Yang with interest.

“Mine’s called Fabricator. I can use it to create just about anything as long as I have the right materials. One time, I was able to turn a piece of silver into pure gold,” Explained Ember proudly.

“Okay, yeah, that is awesome,” said a very impressed Yang.

“Yeah, back at home, I was the most popular girl in town,” Said Ember with a smile.

“Yeah, I bet, I mean, turning silver into gold? Are you a super rich girl or something?” Asked Yang.

“Yeah, we used to be,” Replied Ember with a huff.

“Used to be? What happened?” Yang asked curiously.

“The IRS happened!” Ember said in annoyance.

“Ohhh,” Yang said with a wince, “that sucks.”

“Hey, look, I think we’re getting close to the ruins,” said Ember quickly.

“Yeah, yeah, sure we are,” Yang said with a nod, glad of the change of subject.

Meanwhile, Lyra and Octavia were walking through the Forest.

“Are you sure we’re heading north?” Asked Lyra.

“I assure you we are headed in the right direction,” Replied Octavia. “I am following our fellow student's footprints.”

“Footprints?” Lyra asked as she looked at the ground in front of them. “What footprints? I don't see anything.”

“My eyes are capable of seeing the unseeable,” Octavia explained, “It’s part of my semblance.”

Lyra whistled. “Well, I bet that comes in handy,” She said, impressed with Octavia.

“Yes, it’s very useful for fighting against the Grimm, as well as for finding hidden objects,” Octavia said proudly.

Not long after, Lyra and Octavia arrived at a huge clearing and saw some ancient ruins.

“Those must be the ruins we’re looking for,” said Lyra.

“I can see someone coming, two females,” Said Octavia, pointing in the right direction. Lyra looked where Octavia was pointing, and saw Yang and Ember enter the clearing.

“Looks like we’re not the only ones who found this place,” said Ember.

“Well, this place wasn't exactly hard to find,” said Yang.

After brief introductions, the four of them headed into the ruins. When they reached it, they saw a row of pedestals, some had objects on them, some didn’t.

“Looks like we’re not the first ones here,” Stated Octavia.

“Well, regardless, let’s grab our relics and head back,” said Yang.

They stepped toward the pedestals, and looked between the remaining Relics. “ how a about this?” Asked Ember.

“The Shield?” Asked Yang.

“Yeah, my Dad used a Shield before he retired,” Ember said

“Okay, I won’t argue,” Yang said, understanding Ember’s choice.

Ember smiled and grabbed the Shield.

Lyra then picked up the same Relic. “Alright, we have what we came for. Let’s head back,” She said.

They were about to start heading back to Beacon when suddenly, the ground began to shake. Before they could ready themselves, the ground beneath their feet split open, and a giant worm-like Grimm shot up out of the ground.

“THAT’S AN ARMOURED TUNNELLING TERRA!” Yelled Ember.

“WE GOT TO MOVE!” Yelled Yang.

The girls quickly turned and ran from the huge Grimm. It reared up, and then dived into the ground, burying through the ground like it was water as it chased them, the girls trying to outrun it. “We can’t outrun it! Climb the tree!” Shouted Octavia.

Ember opened her wings and lifted off the ground before she picked up Yang by the arms.

“Thanks for the ride,” Yang said with a smile.

Following her lead, the other two girls quickly climbed the nearest tree.

When they got to the top, the Grimm resurfaced, trying to find them, as it jerked its armed head in all directions.

“What’s it doing?” Asked Yang.

“Tunneling Terra’s are blind. It can’t find us up here because we’re not on the ground so it can’t sense our vibrations,” Explained Octavia.

“So now what, we stay up here until it loses interest?” Asked Ember.

“No, they're smart. It will figure out we’re up here, sooner or later,” Replied Octavia.

“I thought these Grimm were only found in Vacuo,” Stated Lyra.

“Who cares! We got a deadline and this guy to deal with. We need a plan here,” Said Yang with determination.

“My semblance is named Target, I can find a weak spot, and kill it,” Explained Octavia. “But, unfortunately, I do not have any armour-piercing rounds.”

“Quick, give me one of your Magazines,” Ember said reaching her hand out.

“Why?” Asked Octavia.

“My semblance is called fabricator. I can use it to turn your bullets into armour-piercing rounds,” Replied Ember.

Octavia grabbed one of her magazines and tossed it to Ember.
“Give me a minute and I’ll give you a full magazine.” Said Ember, transforming Octavia’s bullets into armour-piercing rounds

“What about you?” Yang asked Lyra.

“My semblance is called Astral Projection. I can use my aura to create ghost arms. I can use them to pull the Terra from the ground, and hold him down long enough for you to kill it,” she explained.

“Alright, that’s good. My semblance is called Burn. I take damage and I can give it right back,” said Yang.

“Ok, done, you have five rounds,” Ember said as she tossed the newly altered bullets back to Octavia.

At that moment, the huge Grimm crashed into the base of a tree, knocking it over with a crash.

“I think it knows we’re in a tree,” Said Lyra.

“Alright, here’s the plan. Octavia, get to a vantage point. The rest of us will keep it busy,” Yang explained.

Octavia nodded, as she then loaded the armour-piercing rounds into her rifle, before popping out the bullet that was in the chamber. In alarm, she tried to catch it, but it slipped through her fingers and fell to the ground.

They all saw the bullet fall, and they held their breaths as they waited for the impact.

When the bullet hit the ground, the Terra instantly noticed the vibration, as it turned towards it, and charged it from beneath the ground.

“Now or never!” Yang called. She and Ember then jumped down from the tree and ran to give Terra something to chase.

As Yang and Ember were being chased, Octavia looked through her scop to find a weak spot. “Come on where are you!” She said, trying desperately to find a weak point. “Oh no! I can’t find one!” She said with a panicked tone.

“Then I’ll make one!” Lyra called out as she jumped down from the tree, and she pointed her weapons at the Grimm and opened fire at it. “Come on big boy! Come and get some!” She called out to it.

Hearing this, Yang and Ember ran over to back up Lyra. The Terra was getting angry, as it opened its mouth wide and shot its razor-sharp fangs at the three girls.

“It can do that?!” Yang yelled in annoyance as she and the others dodged the projectiles.

“Yes, I forgot to mention that part! My apologies!” Octavia Replied.

The Terra kept shooting its fangs at the girls until Octavia shot at it with her high-calibre rifle.

She quickly shoots again at the same spot, causing a large crack to form in the under armour of the Grimm.

“There! Concentrate on that spot!” Shouted Yang to the others.

Everyone opened fire on the spot where Octavia was shootin, while Lyra used her semblance to create four aura arms. She ran toward the Grimm and climbed towards the crack. She pulled out her Tonfas, combined them onto a bladed bow staff, thrust her blade into the crack, and pried it open, then with her new arms, she tore off the armoured plate.

The Terra screamed in pain and rage, as Octavia transformed the rifle into a huge arm blade. Ember then flew down and picked up Octavia, and flew towards the Grimm. Once they got close enough, Ember dropped Octavia towards Terra, as She thrust her blade into the now-exposed flesh. However, as she tried to pull it out, she found that the blade had become stuck fast. “I’m stuck!” She yelled.

Yang saw she was in trouble. “Quick!” She shouted. “Lyra, throw me!” She ran towards Lyra, and Lyra then made two big arms, which she used to grab Yang. Lyra then uses the arms to throw Yang towards the Terra, as Octavia jumped back from her weapon, and Yang punched it with full force.

The blade was punched straight through the Grimm.

The Terra then fell and disintegrated into dust.

“Is everyone okay?” Asked Yang as she and the others regained their breaths.

“Still breathing,” huffed Ember in relief.

“Still in one piece,” Replied Lyra with a smile.

Octavia retrieved her weapon and checked it for any damage. “My weapon is a little damaged, but both it and will live,” She also said with relief.

“Well, in that case, let’s get out of here before we attract any more unwanted attention,” Suggested Yang.

The other girls all agreed, and with that, they made their way back to Beacon.

Meanwhile, Salem had been watching the entire event on her scroll. “Hmm, Miss Xiao Long, the older sister to Miss Rose. She has the potential to become a great leader,” She said with a proud smile.

To Be Continued...

Chapter 5: Emerald Forest: Part 4: Team R.O.S.E

Something has gone wrong. We don't seem to have an archived copy of that chapter.

Chapter 6: The first step’s

Author's Note

Hey guys I’m back, and sorry for the long wait. The next chapter will be out tomorrow same time.
I hope you all enjoy this chapter.

Chapter 6: The first step’s

Within Team R.O.S.E dorm room, Ruby Rose, Onyx Shinra, Sunset Shimmer, and Eclipse Khan were sleeping in their bunk beds having blissful dreams. The early morning sun crept in through the windows, and the moment the light hovered over Ruby’s face, she slowly opened her eyes.

“Hmm, morning already?” She mumbled with a tired tone, turning her head away from the morning light. “5 more minutes.” It took a second for Ruby to remember where she was, and her eyes snapped open in alarm, as she sat up with a start. “IT'S MORNING!” Ruby yelled at the top of her lungs, instantly waking the rest of her team from their slumber, before she zoomed out of bed, and whooshed around the room, stopping at each bed for a split second before moving on to the next. “Come on, up, up, up, it’s the first day!” She yelled ecstatically at her half-asleep teammates.

“Ruby, calm down, volume control,” Onyx said, rubbing his tired eyes.

“Ironically, I get told that,” Eclipse mumbled to himself.

“Why are you yelling so much?” Sunset asked Ruby as she sat up and rubbed her own eyes.

“It’s our first day at Beacon!” Ruby answered in excitement, as she grabbed Sunset by the shoulders and shook her like a rag doll.

“Okay, okay, stop shaking me!” Sunset told Ruby in annoyance.

“Yeah, Sorry, I’m just super excited!” Ruby said like a giddy schoolgirl.

“Come to think of it, we do need to get ready,” Onyx said, getting out of bed.

“He’s got a point, we still need to unpack,” Eclipse said as he used his telekinesis to float down from his bed.

“Okay, sure,” Sunset said, rolling out of bed.

“Alright, Team ROSE, let’s get ready!” Ruby said, jumping with more excitement. Ruby and her team got changed into their new school uniforms. After they got changed, the team unpacked their cases, placing their clothes into the closet and dressers.

Onyx took the case Garnet gave him and slid it under his bed. Ruby saw him doing this. “What’s that, Onyx?” She asked curiously.

“Just something I brought from Midgar,” Onyx replied as he stood up. “Well, looks like we finished unpacking. So what’s next?”

“Now…” Ruby, sitting on her bed. “Classes,” She said with a sad tone. “First at 9 is-”

“Wait! Did you say 9?!” Eclipse interrupted.

“Umm, yeah…” Ruby said slowly.

“You guys know it's 8:55 right?” He asked his teammates.

The others just stared at him for a brief moment. “What!?” The three of them yelled.

“Come on, we’re going to be late on our first day!” Sunset yelled as she dashed out the door.

“Go, go, go!” Ruby shouted as she ran behind Sunset, with Onyx and Eclipse running right behind them.

As they ran to their first classes, Salem and Glynda were walking through the school halls. They paused as they saw Ruby’s Team sprinting to their classes. “Hmm, they are cutting it close,” Said Glynda disapprovingly as she pushed her glasses up her nose with her index finger.

“It is their first day, Glynda,” Salem said with a lighthearted smile, before taking a sip of her cup of tea.

Ruby’s team just managed to make it to their first class by a hair. After that, most of their first day was mostly uneventful.

It was now the last class of the day. The teacher in charge of the lecture is Professor Port. His classroom looked like a generic classroom with some posters of sketches of Grimm and trophies of Grimm heads, and tusks. Professor Port was a robust man with grey hair and a very thick grey moustache. He stood in front of his desk and took a deep breath. “Demons, monsters, Grimm. Those are some names we use to call our natural enemies, but I just call them prey, and soon you too will see them as prey,” he said in his grand voice to start his class.

As the class continued, and Professor Port continued his lecture, Onyx, Sunset and Eclipse were taking notes. Ruby, however, was having trouble staying awake. Onyx noticed this and nudged her arm to get her attention. “Stay awake,” He whispered to her. Ruby nodded with a bored expression and tried to stay awake.

“Now, to tell you all a story about my younger days,” Professor Port rambled on, as he got sidetracked by telling his story rather than the subject he was supposed to be teaching. Ruby quickly grew even more bored and began to draw a picture of Professor Port as an old fat guy that smelled. She gave a childish smile as she showed it to Onyx, who smiled back, as Eclipse tried to hold in a laugh. Sunset, who was trying hard to concentrate on her work, looked up and saw her teammates' antics, and she gritted her teeth in annoyance and disgust. Then, Professor Port cleared his throat to get their attention. “So in conclusion, a Huntsman must have honour, respect, and above all else, must carry themselves with pride!” He finally finished his speech.

Sunset looked over at Ruby with revulsion as the younger girl continued her childish shenanigans. As far as she was concerned, she couldn't see those qualities in her “leader” at all. “Why did Professor Salem make her our leader? Stupid privileged little child!” She thought in frustration as she clutched her hand into a tight fist.

“Now, who among you thinks they have all of these qualities?” Professor Port asked his class.

Sunset immediately raised her hand. “I DO, PROFESSOR!” She declared to the whole room.

“AND SO DO I!” Everyone looked and saw Weiss Schnee, also with her hand up.

Sunset ground her teeth and glared at Weiss. “HEY! DON’T JUMP ON MY BANDWAGON PRINCESS!” She yelled at the young heiress.

“I did no such thing!” Weiss shot back defensively.

“Well now, two young Huntresses eager to show their vigour. However, unfortunately, I have only one Grimm, so who will fight this beast?” Port said to Weiss and Sunset.

“I will!” The two girls declared in unison. The two of them turned to stare daggers at each other.

“Hmm, well now this might be a problem,” Professor Port said.

“I have a way to sort this out,” Said Twilight with her team.

“Ohh, Ms Sparkle, what solution do you have to offer?” Professor Port asked.

“A simple solution, a coin toss,” Twilight replied.

“Ahh, a simple yet effective solution. What say you, ladies?” He asked the two girls.

“I am fine with this solution,” Said Weiss with a nod.

“Same here,” Sunset agreed, if reluctantly.

The two girls now stood facing each other on either side of Professor Port. He tossed the coin into the air. The coin came down and the Professor caught it. “Now ladies call it,” he said.

“Heads!” Weiss announced.

“Then I’ll have Tails then,” Sunset agreed, still staring daggers at Weiss. Professor Port removed his hand to reveal the Tails face of the coin. “Ha! In your face, Ice Queen!” Sunset yelled at Weiss in triumph.

Weiss simply raised an eyebrow. “There’s always next time,” She said with her nose in the air. She turned on her heel and walked back to her teammates.

Sunset quickly changed into her Huntress outfit. She then faced the cage with the captured Grimm, taking her fighting stance with Sunburn, which was in its Pudao mode. She spun the Spear from her left to her right and back again, before pointing the blade at the caged Grimm.

“Ready?” Professor Port asked, ready to open the cage.

“Ready!”

“Alright!” Professor Port raised his axe. “BEGIN!” He called, swinging his axe down to cut the lock of the cage, and Boarbatusk charged towards Sunset, as she swung her weapon upwards to get under the Boarbatusk. But she failed and was rammed out of the way of the rampaging Grimm.

“SUNSET AIM FOR ITS UNDERBELLY! THERE’S NO ARMOUR THERE!” Ruby called out.

“SHUT YOUR MOUTH!” Sunset snapped back at her. Needless to say, everyone was shocked that Sunset would show such disrespect to her team leader. Ruby, of course, was more shocked by this than anyone else, and more than a little hurt.

Onyx saw how sad this made Ruby, so he put his arm around her shoulders to comfort her. “Thanks, Onyx,” She whispered with a small smile.

The fight between Sunset and the Boarbatusk continued, as the Boarbatusk rolled toward Sunset with full force, and knocked her off her feet. She tried to get up, but the Grimm crashed into her yet again, and Sunset lost her weapon. “Oh ho, now what will you do without your weapon?” Professor Port asked.

“I’ll show you!” Sunset answered with determination, igniting the fire Dust in her sweatbands, creating two fireballs in both hands. “Time to burn, little piggy!” Sunset shoots a jet of flames at the frightened Grimm. The Boarbatusk ran from Sunset’s flames.

As this went on, Sunset was setting everything on fire. Weiss and Onyx quickly reacted and used their Glyphs to protect their classmates from Sunset’s flames. The frightened Boarbatusk ran from Sunset’s fire and got itself cornered. “Game over” She was abruptly interrupted as the Grimm was gunned down by Professor Port’s rifle. Sunset looked at him with anger. “WHAT THE HELL!?” She yelled at him, her flames getting stronger in the process.

Before the Professor could answer, the sprinklers came on, raining water down to put out Sunset’s flames. “Look around you Ms Shimmer, this is not the way of a Hunter,” Professor Port said sternly as the fire died out. Sunset looked around and saw the scorch marks she made as well as Onyx’s and Weiss’s Glyphs in front of the rest of the class. “Class dismissed!” Professor Port told the rest of the students. “And no homework either,” He added as the now wet and grumbling students left the room. “Not you, Ms Shimmer.” Sunset looked over at Professor Port. “A word please,” He said in a voice that left no room for argument.

Ruby, Onyx, and Eclipse were waiting for Sunset in the hallway. Eclipse was pacing backwards and forwards. Ruby was sitting on a chair with her hands on her knees, looking quite downtrodden, and Onyx was sitting next to her, as he bounced his knee up and down impatiently. Weiss then came walking down the hallway, stopping in front of the rest of team ROSE.

Onyx looked up at her as she approached. “Weiss? Why are you here?” He asked.

“I was summoned by Professor Salem,” Weiss replied.

Just then, Sunset came out of the classroom. She didn’t look happy. “Sunset, are you ok?” Ruby asked, but Sunset didn’t answer, she just kept walking down the hallway, completely ignoring her leader.

Professor Goodwitch then walked out of the classroom. “Ms Schnee, and Mr Shinra, Professor Salem would like to see you both.” She told Weiss and Onyx, and the two of them entered the classroom where Professor Salem and Professor Port were waiting for them. Once they had gone, Ruby and Eclipse chased after Sunset.

Ruby and Eclipse were still chasing after Sunset. “Sunset wait!” Ruby called after her.

Sunset stopped in her tracks, turned on her heel, and glared at Ruby with hatred and anger. “What do you want?!” She hissed at her.

Ruby was shocked by Sunset’s glare and words. “Sunset, why are you so angry with me?” She asked the angry Fox.

“You want to know why I’m angry? Ooh, I’ll tell you why I’m angry! I came to Beacon to become a Huntress, and it’s bad enough I’m here with a Schnee, and I’m on a team with a Shinra, but on top of all that, this joke of a team is led by an underaged, over-privileged brat like you!” Sunset raged on at Ruby. “Why don’t you just go home, you dumb little princess?! YOU DON’T BELONG HERE!” Tears started to form in Ruby’s eyes, and Sunset saw this. She smirked mockingly as she added, “What!? Are you going to cry? Why don't you run home to Mommy and Daddy?! I’m sure they-”

“YOU DON’T KNOW ANYTHING ABOUT ME!” Ruby screamed at the top of her lungs, with tears falling from her eyes, before she turned and ran, leaving a trail of rose petals behind.

“Ruby, wait!” Eclipse called to the fleeing girl. He turned to look at Sunset, aghast at what had just happened. “What the hell is your problem?” He asked in disbelief.

“What do you think my problem is? That little underaged rich girl bribed her way in, and she’s put in charge of us two Faunus’. Professor Salem should have made one of us team leaders.” She told Eclipse with conviction.

“WHAT!?” Eclipse yelled in shock. “That’s what this is all about, you’re stupid pride?!”

“No, it’s about what’s right! That spilt redhead has no place leading us!” Sunset shot back.

Eclipse just shook his head in disgust. “You have absolutely no idea what you're talking about!” He said irritably, before running off down the hallway to find Ruby.

(Meanwhile inside the damaged classroom.)

Onyx and Weiss approached Professor Salem. She was looking over the damages that Sunset had caused. “Professor Salem, Ms Schnee, and Mr Shinra are here to see you,” Professor Goodwitch informed her.

Salem turned to face Weiss and Onyx. “Ahh yes, Mr Shinra and Ms Schnee. I believe a thank you is in order,” She said to the two of them.

“Why are we being thanked?” Asked Onyx in confusion.

“For answering the call of Duty,” Professor Port answered with a proud tone.

“Indeed, when Ms Shimmer went out of control with her flames. The two of you protected your fellow Students with your Glyphs,” Professor Salem explained.

Weiss looked proud of herself, while Onyx just waited for what Salem had to say next.

“Yes, so thank you for saving your fellow students from the fire,” Salem said to the two of them with a smile. “Ms Schnee, you may leave, but Mr Shinra, can you stay for a moment?” She added.

“Yes, Professor Salem,” Onyx replied.

“Thank you, Professors,” Weiss said with a polite nod, before she turned around, and left the classroom.

Onyx was left alone with the three Professors. He stood like a statue, waiting for what they were going to say. “Mr Shinra, has Ms Shimmer acted out of character at any point before today?” Asked Salem.

“No, Professor Salem, this is the first time she has done this,” Onyx replied.

“I see. Mr Shinra, who taught you how to use your Glyphs?” She asked again.

“I was self-taught, Professor,” Onyx answered. “Why do you ask?” He asked in return.

“From the footage of the incident, we can see you were having trouble holding your Glyph,” Salem replied with a hint of concern.

“I’ve always had trouble with the big ones,” Onyx explained simply.

“Did you not ask for training from your Mother?” Asked Professor Goodwitch.

“My Mother was killed when I was 8, Professor Goodwitch,” Onyx replied a bit more sharply than he intended, causing Glynda to bite her bottom lip.

“I see, and what about your cousin, Winter?” Salem asked.

“She had no time to train me,” Onyx replied with a shrug.

“Hmm, well since you have little training in regards to your Glyphs, I believe you will need some additional training, and Professor Goodwitch does use Glyphs herself. Glynda, would you please train Mr Shinra?” She asked Glynda.

“Yes, I will give Mr Shinra additional training with his Glyphs,” Glynda replied with a nod.

“Well, now that’s sorted, is there anything you need to ask of us?” Salem asked Onyx.

“Yes, Professor, what is going to happen to Sunset?” Onyx asked.

“She will have detention, and have to repaint the classroom,” Professor Port answered.

“Ok thank you for not kicking her out of Beacon,” Onyx said with relief.

Salem raised an eyebrow. “So tell me Mr Shinra, what are your views on Faunus’?” She asked.

“I believe Humans and Faunus can stand as equals. If only those in power would give them a chance, but unfortunately they hold on to outdated ways of thinking,” Onyx replied, making it clear how he saw the world.

“Hmm, so you would give Sunset a chance?” Salem asked again.

“Yes, I would.”

“And what of those who were a part of the White Fang?” Salem asked once more.

“Everyone deserves a chance. The White Fang was created because Humanity kept suppressing them, and I truly believe they do have their kind’s best interests at heart. If the day came that I ever met their leaders I would listen to every word they have to say, and hopefully, I can help them make this world a better place for all of us,” Onyx carefully answered the difficult question.

“Well, that was a very interesting answer, Mr Shinra. It’s rare to see someone at your age who thinks the way you do,” She said, seeing Onyx not as a student, but as a man who might be able to help rebuild this broken world. “That will be all Mr Shinra. You're dismissed.”

Onyx nodded and turned to leave. “One last thing Mr Shinra,” Professor Goodwitch said to him. Onyx turned back to look at the teachers again. “On your form, you put down you had a personal teacher. But there is no given name, why is that?” Professor Goodwitch asked.

“My teacher didn’t want their name placed on my forms,” Onyx replied. Glynda scowled at Onyx.

“Well if that’s the case you can leave now Mr Shinra,” Salem said, ending Glynda’s interrogation. Onyx nodded and left the room.

“So we’re not pursuing this any further?” Asked Glynda in annoyance at being cut off.

“No, everyone is entitled to their secrets,” Salem replied mysteriously. After all, she had more secrets than anyone else in the world.

Meanwhile, Eclipse was looking everywhere for Ruby. It seemed the trail of rose petals disappeared after some time. Eclipse couldn’t stop thinking about what happened in class, it was ironic that for the first time, he was on the receiving end of a rampaging Faunus attacking with fire. How many times did he use fire against humans, and how many times did just watch as the flames he caused destroyed homes, shops, and workplaces with people still inside? “Why am I thinking of this now, at this time? I need to find Ruby,” He thought to himself with determination and worry for his teammate.

As Eclipse searched for Ruby, he suddenly bumped into Yang, who was with her team, just as they were leaving the library. “Ohh, sorry, I wasn’t watching where I was going,” Yang apologised to Eclipse.

“It’s fine,” Eclipse replied with an aggravated look.

“Is everything okay?” Asked Ember.

“I’m trying to find Ruby,” Eclipse said.

“Hmm?” This catches Yang's attention. “Why are you looking for Ruby?” She asked.

“Sunset yelled at her, and she ran away. I think I saw her crying,” Eclipse explained to Yang.

“What!?” Yang yelled, her eyes turning bright red. “Where is she?!” She asked Eclipse angrily.

“I don’t know where Ruby is,” Eclipse replied.

“No! Where’s Sunset Shimmer?!” She asked, gritting her teeth.

“I don’t know! I went after Ruby after she ran,” Eclipse replied. “Wait, why does this bother you so much?” He asked.

“Because Ruby’s my little sister, that’s why!” Yang growled, before she pushed Eclipse aside, and began her search for Sunset Shimmer.

“Yang, wait!” Called Lyra, as the rest of team YELO chased after their leader.

Onyx was walking back to Team ROSE's room when his Scroll buzzed. “Hmm?” He pulled out his Scroll and saw he had a message from Eclipse. He tapped on the message, and it opened. The message read, “I can’t find Ruby, and Yang’s hunting for Sunset. What should we do?” Onyx finished reading the message.

“I’m not sure, we’ll try to find Sunset and Ruby. Where are you?” He typed back to Eclipse.

“I’m by the Library,” Eclipse replied.

“Okay stay there, and I’ll make my way to you. Then we’ll look for Sunset and Ruby,” Onyx typed back to Eclipse. He ran towards the Library where Eclipse was waiting for him.

Sunset walked through the school grounds, thinking about what Salem and the other professors told her. “Ms Shimmer, this kind of vandalism will not be tolerated in this academy young lady!” Professor Goodwitch told her with a stern voice.

“Yes I agree with Professor Goodwitch. The walls will need repainting,” Professor Port said.

“Ms Shimmer, you will have detention with Professor Port for the next two weeks, and you will also repaint this classroom,” Salem told her.

“As well, I suggest you learn some self-control in the future Ms Shimmer. We don’t want any more wildfires,” Professor Goodwitch told her.

Sunset’s anger starts to rise from remembering what Professor Goodwitch said. “WHAT DOES SHE KNOW!?” She shouted, kicking over a trash can. “Stupid Blond!”

Yang heard Sunset yelling. “There she is,” Yang said, power-walking towards Sunset, her eyes red with anger. “HEY!”

Sunset turned and saw Yang walking towards her. “What do you want?” She hissed at Yang.

“What’s your deal with my sister?” Yang said bluntly.

Sunset raised an eyebrow. “What? Who’s your sister?” She asked back cluelessly.

“Ruby! Ruby Rose!” Yang yelled in indignation. “Eclipse told me you yelled at Ruby, and you made her cry!”

“Ohh, so that little spoiled brat’s your sister?” Sunset said with a snarky tone.

“WHAT DID YOU SAY!?” Yang exploded with rage towards Sunset, her blonde hair on fire.
Just then, the rest of team YELO found Yang as she confronted Sunset. “Call her that again, I dare you!” Yang growled fiercely at Sunset.

Seeing the enraged state of her team leader, Ember quickly ran to Yang's side. “Yang, come on, you have to calm down, or you could get in serious trouble,” she tried to reason.

“Stay out of this!” Yang snapped, as she clenched her hands into fists. “I'm going to give this little BITCH the beat down of a lifetime!”

“Oh, you think you can take me, Blondy?” Sunset huffed as she ignited her fire Dust. “Bring it on!” She challenged Yang.

“Ohh, you're going to regret screwing with my sister,” Yang threatened, getting closer to Sunset, ready to give her the beating of a lifetime.

Octavia ran forward and stood between the two fire starters. “Yang, stop! This isn’t worth it!” She pleaded.

“Move it, Octavia! This will be so worth it!” Yang told Octavia, shoving her aside.

Lyra then stands in Yang's way, using her Semblance to create 6 arms, and using them to stop Yang and Sunset from getting closer to each other. “Come on guys, can’t we all just get along?” She asked, trying to calm the girls down.

“Really? Another of your girlfriends is getting in the way?!” Sunset yelled.

“Out of my way, Lyra! She’s asking for it!” Yang ordered Lyra.

Ember then grabbed Yang from behind. “Come on, Yang it’s not worth it, you don’t want to do this!” She said, trying to pall Yang back.

“Oh, it’s going to be worth it, after I’m finished with her!” Yang replied, trying to force Ember off her.

“Are we doing this or not?” Sunset asked impatiently. “I’m ready to go here!”

Yang pushed Ember and Lyra off her, and she sprinted towards Sunset.

Sunset and Yang were about to fight when a stern voice shouted, “Stop right there you two!” Everyone looked and saw Professor Salem walking across the courtyard towards them. “Ms Xiao Long, your team is right, this isn’t worth getting kicked out of Beacon over,” She told Yang in a voice that left no room for argument.

“But Professor, she made my sister-”

“Ms Xiao Long, I know you love your sister very much, but there will be times when Ms Rose will have to fight her own battles without you,” Salem told Yang firmly but wisely. It was hard for Yang to accept the truth, but deep down she knew that one day Ruby would no longer need her. She also knew Ruby would have to fight her own battles. She took a deep breath, and her eyes changed back from red to lilac. “I think you and your team have homework to do,” Salem said, placing her hand on Yang’s shoulder.

Yang took another deep breath. “She’s right, come on guys, let’s go,” She said, walking away, and her team followed her.

Sunset just huffed in annoyance, turned her fire off, and turned to walk away.

“Hold on, Ms Shimmer, I believe we need to have another chat,” Salem said before she could leave.

“What now?” Sunset said in a snarky tone.

Salem raised an eyebrow at Sunset’s attitude. “Ms Shimmer, why are you so angry with Ruby Rose?” She asked, wanting to know what was wrong with her student.

“I don’t think that Ruby Rose is leader material of any kind, and I know for a fact you made the wrong choice,” Sunset told Salem firmly.

Salem looked at Sunset with judging eyes. “Hmm, I suppose you may have a point Ms Shimmer. Perhaps Mr Shinra might be a suitable leader. Or maybe Mr Khan could make a good leader,” She told the Fox girl.

“What? What about me?” Sunset protested.

“What about you, Ms Shimmer? What have you done to prove to me you are worthy of leadership?” Salem asked Sunset.

Sunset had no answer to the question. “Well…” she said hesitantly.

“Exactly, Ms Shimmer, you have done nothing to prove your worth as a leader,” Salem said, “Do you know what Mr Shinra and Mr Khan are doing right now?” She asked.

“Umm, not really,” Sunset replied.

“They are both looking for you and Ms Rose,” Salem told Sunset.

“Wait, they are?” Sunset said in surprise.

“Yes they are, and Ms Rose has disappeared,” Salem went on.

“Wait, Ruby’s gone?” Sunset asked in sudden concern for the missing younger girl.

“Why do you sound so concerned?” Salem asked Sunset.

“I didn't mean to scare her away. I just got so angry and…”

“And you took out your anger on Ms Rose. Ms Shimmer, I know you have not been in a School in a long time, and I also know you were bullied at your last school. I am wagering that you subconsciously enter a form of a defence mechanism, and instead of confronting it, you allow it to take control. As a result, you almost ruined your team, and your studentship here,” Salem told Sunset.

Sunset knew Salem was right. She was in the wrong, and she needed to make things right with Ruby. “I…I need to find Ruby,” She said to Salem with regret in her voice.

“Well, may I suggest you look in a high place,” Salem said.

“Yes, thank you, Professor Salem,” Sunset said, and ran to find Ruby and apologise to her.

“Now let's see what this first step will lead to,” Salem thought to herself, walking back the way she came.

Sunset ran to the rooftop of her team’s dorm. She looked over the edge to try to find any sign of Ruby. “Come on! How can a red hooded girl be this hard to…” her train of thought stopped when she heard what sounded like someone sniffing. “Ruby?” Sunset approached where the noise was coming from, and she saw Ruby, down on her knees, and looking at a picture on her Scroll. The picture was of a group of girls from Signal Academy holding a sign saying “Good luck at Beacon!”

“Coming here was a mistake,” Ruby whimpered, continuing to cry. She didn’t notice Sunset was behind her.

“Ruby?” Sunset said softly as she got closer.

Ruby looked up at Sunset with bloodshot eyes. “Go away, Sunset,” She said miserably.

The guilt, along with the broken tone of Ruby’s voice stung Sunset like a knife as she sat down next to Ruby. “Are those your friends from Signal Academy?” She asked.

“Why do you care?!” Ruby snapped without looking at her.

“I…I don’t know what to say, Ruby,” Sunset said, trying as hard as she could to find the right words.

“You're right, I don’t belong here. I’m going to see Professor Salem and tell her I’m leaving Beacon,” Ruby said, wiping more tears from her eyes.

“No Ruby I… I was wrong. I let my anger get the best of me, and I had no right to yell at you the way I did,” Sunset said in a guilty voice.

“It doesn't matter, Sunset, I’m leaving Beacon,” Ruby said, looking away from Sunset again.

“Ruby… the truth is I was bullied a lot in my old school, and I’ve not been in an Academy in a long time. Without knowing, I did to you what they did to me, and I said some hurtful things to you. I’m sorry Ruby, I truly am,” Sunset explained, trying to make amends with the stricken girl.

Ruby didn't say anything to Sunset for a moment, before staging firmly, “I made up my mind Sunset.” She then made to stand up.

Sunset took a deep breath. “OK, I can see what I need to do here,” She said, before inching closer to Ruby, moving her long bushy tail in front of her, and then flopping it across Ruby’s lap.

“Huh?” Ruby said in confusion. “Your tail?”

“I’ve noticed you’ve been staring at it all day. You like it. So, go ahead, cuddle it,” She said as she blushed a little.

Ruby stared at Sunset in stunned silence for a moment, before she looked down at the very soft and fluffy-looking appendage in her lap. She gently took hold of it with both hands, feeling how warm and soft Sunset’s tail was. She lifted the tip to her face and nuzzled it with her cheek as she started to cuddle it. “Wow, your tail is so soft,” She said with a sweet smile, rubbing her face in the soft tail.

“Yeah I take really good care of it,” Sunset said with a bit of pride in her voice, before saying warningly, “But this is a one-off deal, and if you tell anyone I did this I’m roasting you.” Instead of answering, Ruby just continued to hug and snuggle Sunset’s tail. “Feeling any better?” Sunset asked.

“Yeah, much better, thanks,” Ruby said with a smile, and then the two girls stood up, and the two of them hugged each other.

“I am sorry, Ruby,” Sunset apologised once more.

“I forgive you, Sunset,” Ruby said, smiling happily.

“Come on, we have homework to do, and we should tell the boys they don’t need to keep looking for you and that we’ve made up,” Sunset said.

Ruby and Sunset made their way back to their Dorm room, where Ruby called Onyx and Eclipse and told them that everything was now OK between her and Sunset.

At the end of the next day, Sunset went down to Professor Port’s classroom to carry out her punishment of repainting the walls. She was now ready to get started repainting the walls. “Well, better get started,” She said to herself.

“Yeah we better get started,” Ruby said as she walked up to her with Onyx and Eclipse. Each of them was holding paintbrushes.

“Why are you guys here?” Sunset asked.

“Ruby suggested that we should help you with repainting the classroom,” Eclipse said.

“And the four of us can get this done a lot faster than you doing this on your own,” Onyx added.

“So shall we get started?” Ruby asked.

“Well, I was told to get this done, but they didn’t say you guys couldn't help,” Sunset said, rubbing the back of her head.

Then Team ROSE started to repaint the classroom together as a team. Salem, who was standing outside the classroom, smiled upon seeing her students working together. “Looks like this was a well-placed step,” She thought to herself, before walking back to her office.

Hidden within the Kingdom of Mistral, The White Fang’s high leader, Sienna Khan, a Tiger Faunus, was sitting on her throne. She gripped the arms of the throne tightly and had a frustrated, angry look on her face. A woman then ran inside the throne room and kneeled in Sienna Khan’s presence. She wore the uniform of a White Fang Grunt. On the top of her head was a small set of antlers, showing that she was a Deer Faunus. “High leader, I have news on the search for Eclipse,” The female grunt reported.

“And?”

“We haven’t found him yet. We searched most of Mistral, and we can’t find him anywhere.” The Deer Faunas explained.

Sienna Khan shot to her feet, her face scrunched up in fury. “Double your efforts! I want my son found! NOW!” She ordered, and the Deer Faunus sprang to her feet in fright and ran out of the Throne Room as fast as she could. Once the Deer Faunus was gone, Sienna Khan slouched back down onto her Throne, took a deep breath to calm herself, before she reached into her coat, and pulled out a picture of her son. “Eclipse, where are you?” She asked herself, looking longingly at her son in his childhood. “Come home, Eclipse, come back to me,” She whispered to herself sadly, a single tear running down her cheek. Sienna’s face then changed from sadness to anger. “This is her doing,” She hissed in a venomous tone. “Once she left, you disappeared along with her. She’s the one who led you astray. Blake Belladonna! I will have your head on a silver platter for stealing my son from me!” She shouted in hatred. “COTTON!” she yelled.

A female Bunny Faunus with a cottontail entered the Throne Room. She approached the throne and knelt at Sienna Khan’s feet. “Yes High Leader?” The bunny woman asked.

“Find Blake Belladonna and bring her to me,” Sienna Khan ordered Cotton.

“It will be done, High Leader,” Cotton said before leaving the room.

“I swear, I will make you suffer for what you have done, Blake Belladonna.” Sienna hissed with even more hatred, her eyes narrowed dangerously, and gripped the arms of the throne even tighter, making grooves in them with her claws.

To Be Continued…

Chapter 7: on a different path

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Chapter 8: Top Brass

It was another bright sunny day at Beacon Academy. Team Rose and some of the other teams were sitting in Professor Peach’s Dust Class.

“Dust is everyone's best friend. It serves as a power source for our cities, ships, and our airships. It is also used as ammunition to fight the creatures of Grimm.” A tall and slender young woman wearing a white lab coat which hugged the curves of her body nicely, long black gloves, and thigh-high high-heeled boots was standing at the front of the class. Her hair was peach-coloured and was tied into a bun on the top of her head. She finished writing her lecture on the blackboard and turned to look at her class. She had peach-coloured eyes, and she wore a pair of scientist’s goggles. “Now who knows the difference between natural Dust and synthetic Dust?” The Scientist asked her class. Onyx, and Weiss both raised their hands. “Ah, Mr Shinra, and Ms Schnee, I wouldn’t expect anything less from the two of you,” Professor Peach said with a pleased smile, putting her hands together. “Ms Schnee, would you kindly answer my question?” She asked Weiss.

“Gladly,” Weiss said with pride as she stood from her seat. “Natural Dust grows in certain locations and must be mined, and synthetic Dust is created by fusing natural elements into man-made crystals, but the Dust will take a liquid form first, and after some time it will crystallise,” she answered.

“Correct, Ms Schnee, the crystals used to create synthetic Dust can be glass crystals and Zirconias,” Professor Peach told her class. “And now a question for you Mr Shinra.” The Professor turned to look at Onyx. “Tell me Mr Shinra, how does one make a fusion Dust Crystal?” She asked.

Onyx stood from his seat to answer the question. “To create a fusion Dust crystal, you must collect either grounded Dust or liquid Dust then you would need to place the selected Dust into a sympathiser to combine the Dust,” He explained.

“Hmm, yes, well done Mr Shinra. There are a great number of combinations of fusing Dust, and for today each team will have the opportunity to create their fusion Dust crystal,” Professor Peach told her class. The students looked at each other with excitement. “Now before we get…” She was interrupted by the bell ringing to end the period. “Oh no, I have lost track of time. Well then you can all use the extra time to think of your fusion Dust crystals for our next class,” She said as they were getting ready to leave.

As she got up from her desk, Ruby looked at Onyx. “So, any ideas for our Dust crystal?” She asked her partner.

“Hmm, none yet, but I can get us the Dust with ease,” Onyx said as he put his stuff in his bag.

“To be honest, Onyx, you can get anything with ease,” Eclipse said with a childish smirk.

“Huh, you would think that wouldn't you?” Onyx replied rhetorically.

“Well in any case, does anyone know why we’re only having a half a day?” Sunset asked, changing the topic.

“No idea, they’re being very cryptic about it,” Eclipse said with a shrug.

“If I had to guess, it’s probably about the Vinyl Fevst,” Onyx declared.

“Well in any case we should get going,” Ruby said to her team. Then Team Rose left Professor Peach’s classroom and walked towards the courtyard.

Within the courtyard, the students were chatting and mingling with one another. As Team Rose walked through the courtyard, they heard the students talking to each other.

Ruby looked over at Sunset. “Sunset, do you still have detention with Professor Port?” She asked the Fox Faunus.

“Nope, and thank God. I’ll never break any more rules here ever again,” Sunset replied with a smile.

“How bad was it?” Eclipse asked.

“It was a nightmare, first he would go on and on about his Huntsman days. Then he would make me rewrite his memoirs, by hand,” Sunset groaned.

Onyx looked at the droopy-eared Fox Girl. “When you say rewrite his memoirs by hand, you don’t mean…?” He asked before trailing off.

“I mean I had to rewrite them by hand with pen and paper!” Sunset replied, hanging her head in misery, and rubbing her wrist. “So much writer's cramp,” she muttered under her breath.

“There, there Shim Shim,” Ruby said, reaching up and patting Sunset’s head between her cute Fox ears.

Then a sound of slapping blades could be heard, overtaking everyone’s conversations. “Hmm?” Onyx said, looking at the sky to see what was making the noise. A Cyan Helicopter with wings stretching out, each mounted with missile launchers and machine guns, came flying overhead towards the Airdock. “That’s a Shinra SDF Dragonfly! What’s one of those doing so far from Midgar?” Onyx said to himself in shock, pointing up at the Helicopter.

Ruby started to get excited upon seeing the Helicopter. “Come on, let’s go and find out!” She said gleefully to her team, before zipping away towards the Airdock.

“Well, can’t argue with her enthusiasm,” Eclipse said, chasing after his young leader, with Onyx and Sunset right behind him.

At the Airdock, the Shinra SDF Dragonfly was gently landing on a platform. The blades slowed down after landing. A large number of students had gathered to see who was inside the Helicopter. Team Rose pushed to the front of the crowd to see what was going on. The four top rotor blades folded back as a side door slid open, and a fully armoured man about the same height as Jaune stepped out. His armour covered his whole body with a loose cloth hanging from his belt like a loincloth. On his right shoulder was his emblem.

Onyx instantly recognized the emblem, and he began to approach the armoured man.

“Where’s he going?” Asked Eclipse, watching as Onyx approached the Dragonfly.

“Don’t know, let's follow him,” Ruby replied, heading after Onyx, with Sunset and Eclipse right behind her.

At the Dragonfly, the armoured man was accompanied by two girls. One of the girls was a cat Faunus with light blue hair dark blue streaks done up in a ponytail and dark pink eyes. She wore a dark pink top with light blue ties on the front, a pink skirt, and pink and white armoured boots. She also wore dark pink bands with light blue studs around her waist, an ammonium belt also around her waist, and a cute silver bell around her neck. Over the right breast pocket of her top was the image of a blue musical note. On her lower back were two Katana swords placed in a cross.

The second girl was a teenage girl with dark purple hair with pale green streaks, with the right side of her head shaved, and dark purple eyes. She wore a dark green jean top with the shoulders ripped off and dark green shoulder pads over a cream-coloured tube top with dark purple lining, dark pink pants with armoured knee pads, sparkling studs over each of the pockets, two dark purple belts around her waist that had several pouches with magazines and dust cylinders, with a silver star on the buckle, and dark armoured purple boots. She also wore a red gem around her neck. On her back was a red rectangular object.

The Catgirl saw Onyx approaching with his teammates. “Hey Aria, who are they?” She asked.

The girl named Aria turned and looked in the same direction. “Not a clue, Sonata,” She replied. “Hey, Bruinen, do you know any of them?” Aria asked the full-armoured man.

The armoured man turned to look at the approaching team. “No way! I can’t believe he’s here,” He said, walking towards team Rose. “ONYX SHINRA!” He called out.

“BRUINEN SCHORS!” Onyx called back in greeting to the armoured man as they both reached out and clasped each other's hands firmly. “It’s been forever and a half since we last saw each other. How have you been?”

“Huh, well that’s a story for a full franchise,” Bruinen Replied, taking off his helmet to reveal his face. He was a wolf Faunus with pale skin, burgundy eyes and hair.

Ruby and the others than caught up with Onyx. “Do you know this guy, Onyx?” Ruby asked.

“Oh sorry,” Onyx said as he moved aside to show the man behind him. “This is my cousin, Bruinen Schors.”

“Sup,” Bruinen said casually as he waved to Onyx’s teammates. Needless to say, Team Rose was surprised to find out the armoured man was Onyx's cousin, and a Wolf Faunus. Sunset and Eclipse were the most surprised of all by this discovery.

“Onyx, you never told us your cousin was a Faunus,” Sunset said, looking at the armoured wolf boy with interest.

“Why didn’t you tell us?” Eclipse asked.

“You guys never asked,” Onyx replied matter of factly.

Bruinen nudged Onyx’s arm. “Are you going to introduce me to your team?” he asked.

“Oh sorry,” Onyx said, rubbing the back of his head. “Well, this is my team.”

“Hi, I’m Sunset Shimmer,” Sunset said as she held out her hand.

“Hi, nice to meet you,” Bruinen said, shaking Sunset's hand.

“Hey, I’m Eclipse Khan,” Eclipse said next.

“Hi nice to meet you too,” Bruinen said, also shaking hands with Eclipse.

“And I’m Ruby Rose, Onyx’s partner,” Ruby said cheerfully as she zoomed towards Bruinen, leaving some rose petals behind her.

“Oh sooo…” Bruinen trailed off as he looked closely at Ruby’s face and noticed the colour of her eyes. “Hmm, that’s interesting, you’ve got Silver eyes just like Onyx,” He stated.

“Yep, I and Onyx are Silver Eyes buddies,” Ruby said with a big smile, zipping over to stand next to Onyx. “And together we’re Team Rose!” She shouted at the top of her lungs as she jumped with excitement.

“Well, I guess it’s our turn,” Bruinen said, standing aside to show them Sonata and Aria. “This is Aria Blaze.” He pointed to Aria. “And this is Sonata Dusk.” He then pointed to Sonata.

“Hi,” Sonata said with a wave and a cute friendly smile.

“Sup,” Aria said as she leaned casually against the Dragonfly.

“And now for my partner,” Bruinen went on, and just then, the cockpit of the Dragonfly opened, and a girl jumped out, wearing a pilot’s outfit. On the left upper arm was her emblem, a cloud with a Rainbow lighting bolt coming from it. “Right on cue, Rainbow Dash,” Bruinen said, as Rainbow Dash removed her helmet to reveal her face. She was a young tomboy with short Rainbow coloured hair which was done in a messy style. “This is my partner, Rainbow Dash.”

“Hey nice to meet you guys,” Rainbow Dash said with a smile.

“This is my cousin’s team, Ruby, Onyx, Sunset, and Eclipse,” Bruinen said, gesturing to each member of Team Rose with his hand.

“Ruby?” Rainbow Dash asked, looking closer at Ruby. “Your Yang's little sister?”

“Wait, you know my sister?” Ruby asked back.

“Yeah, I and Yang went to Signal together,” Rainbow Dash explained with a wide smile.

Ever since Rainbow had stepped off the Dragonfly and removed her helmet, Sunset had taken a step back from the group, keeping to herself, and trying not to be noticed. Rainbow Dash then saw Sunset standing by herself and smiled. “Hey Sunset, it's been a while.”

Sunset reluctantly looked at Rainbow. “Hey, it’s been a while,” She said, looking at the ground, not meeting the tomboy’s eyes.

“Hey, maybe we should catch up sometime,” Rainbow Dash suggested.

“Uh, yeah, maybe we should,” Sunset agreed, still looking uncomfortable.

But before the two teams could resume their mingling, a huge, muscular man stepped out of the Dragonfly. “Alright, that’s enough Team Brass!” He barked at Bruinen's team. The man was tanned skinned and looked like a tank of a man with red crystal-like hair that stuck out like spikes. He was also a Dragon Faunus, with one dark grey wing, and one cybernetic wing. His height was about 8 feet tall, and he wore armour that covered most of his body, except his head. His eyes were bright yellow. “Socialise on your own time, not mine,” He growled.

“Sorry, Professor Bloodstone,” Bruinen said respectfully to the teacher.

“I understand that you haven’t seen your cousin, and your friends in a long time but we have a schedule to keep. NOW GET MOVING!” Professor Torch ordered his students.

“Yes sir!” Bruinen said with a salute, before turning back to Team Rose. “We’ll catch up later, OK,” He said to Onyx. “Alright, girls, let's move,” He told his teammates.

“Yeah, just give me a call and we’ll meet up,” Onyx said to his Cousin as he left the Airdock with his team.

Once they were gone, Eclipse turned to Sunset. “So, you know that Rainbow-haired girl?” he asked the Fox girl.

“It was a long time ago,” Sunset replied to her partner with a frown.

At that moment, another airship flew overhead towards another landing pad. “Hey, look there’s another ship,” Ruby said, pointing at the other Airship.

“That’s a Mistralian Airship,” Eclipse declared.

“It must be from Haven,” Onyx stated, following the movement of the Mistralian Airship.

Then the school loudspeakers made a bell sound to get the attention of the students. “All Students please gather at the Great Hall,” Professor Goodwitch said over the loudspeaker.

“Well, we better get to the Great Hall,” Onyx said after hearing the announcement.

“He’s right, let's go,” Ruby said, and she led her team towards the Great Hall.

Within the Great Hall of Beacon Academy, all the students had gathered to hear the announcement from Headmistress Salem.

As the students were waiting, they were talking to one another about what was happening. “What do you think is going on?” Applejack asked Weiss.

“We will find out soon enough,” Weiss answered seriously.

Vinyl placed her headphones over her ears to block out the noise. “Are you okay?” Emerald asked her partner.

“It’s just a little too noisy here for me to handle,” Vinyl replied with a shrug.

Team Blight stood at the entrance of the Great Hall. “Hey, Blake, any ideas what the announcement is going to be about?” Indigo asked.

“I’m not sure, any ideas, Twilight?” Blake asked the Tech head member of the team.

“I wager it’s about the Shinra Dragonfly,” Twilight replied.

“Hmm, she's probably right,” Lemon said, looking around the hall.

Team Yellow stood to the far side of the Great Hall. “Hey girls, did you guys see that Chopper that flew over the courtyard?” Ember asked her teammates.

“Yeah I heard it,” Lyra replied.

“I did see it but something about the colour of that Helicopter did look familiar,” Yang said, rubbing her chin as she thought about the Helicopter's colour.

Around this time, Team Rose entered the Great Hall. “Yang, your sister and her teammates have just arrived,” Octavia declared, but Yang didn’t hear her because she was still thinking about the Helicopter.

“I don’t think she heard you,” Ember stated, as she looked at her team leader.

“Phew, made it,” Sunset said, quickly catching her breath.

“Wow, Sunset, you need to start jogging more,” Ruby said to Sunset, who scowled back at her.

“Okay, okay, enough joking around. Let’s find somewhere to stand for the announcement,” put in Eclipse.

“He’s right, we don’t want to stand in the way of the entrance,” Onyx said, standing between Sunset and Ruby. “Oh, there’s a spot.” He pointed to an opening, and Team Rose moved towards the open area to hear the announcement.

Within a few moments, Professor Salem stepped out on the stage. “May I have your attention please?” Everyone looked to the stage and the hall fell silent. “Now, I know a good number of you have seen the arrival of several airships, and I will now explain the reason for their presence. This year, the Vinyl Festival is being hosted by Vale.”

The students were surprised by the sudden announcement. “Wow, the Vinyl Festival is being held here in Vale!” Ruby said with a giddy smile.

“Yeah, the last Vinyl Festival was held by Vacuo,” Stated Onyx.

“Alright, calm down,” Salem said to all the students. “As is tradition, Vale will not only host the upcoming Festival, we will also have teachers coming from the other four Kingdoms to teach you, and the first of our new teachers is Professor Bloodstone from Shade Academy.” Salem stood aside to let the new Professor say a few words to the students.

“I am Professor Bloodstone, your new Combat teacher. My job is to show you how to fight like real Huntsman and Huntress’.” He then stood aside to let Salem resume the assembly.

“Soon, more students and teachers will be arriving from the other kingdoms. So please make them feel welcome to our academy?” Salem said to her students as the assembly continued.

As the students left the Great Hall after the assembly, Ruby was walking with her team. “Wow, the Vinyl festival, this is going to be my first EVER!” She said exuberantly, jumping in the air with excitement.

“That goes for all of us,” Onyx stated to his partner.

“Yeah, I know. but still, I JUST CAN’T WAIT!” Ruby shouted at the top of her lungs.

“Yep, you're still a kid,” Sunset said jokingly.

“Hey!” Ruby said indignantly.

“So, what are we going to do now?” Asked Eclipse.

“Well, I’ve got some studying to do,” Ruby replied.

“Same here, do you want to study together?” Sunset offered to Ruby.

“Sure, study party!” Ruby smiled, accepting Sunset’s offer. “What about you, Onyx?”

“Well, I still have to bake those cookies for Ruby,” Onyx replied. Ruby’s face lit up as she gave the biggest smile she’s ever given in her whole life. “What about you, Eclipse?”

“I’m going to do some research on Dust Fusions,” Eclipse replied.

“Well, if you need any Dust, just let me know,” Onyx said. “Alright, catch you guys later.” Onyx left the group to bake Ruby’s cookies.

“I can’t wait for those cookies,” Ruby said with drool dripping from her mouth.

“Hey, don’t forget, we’ve got studying to do,” Sunset told Ruby, poking her in the head.

Ruby snapped out of her drooling state. “Oh yeah, sorry Sunset,” she said sheepishly.

“Well I’m off, see you two girls back at the dorm room,” Eclipse said as he also headed off.

“Alright, Sunset, let’s get studying. I want to feel like I’ve earned those cookies,” Ruby said with a grin.

Sunset smiled and rolled her eyes at Ruby’s silly antics. “Lead the way, oh fearless leader,” Sunset said cheekily as she gave a lazy salute.

Bruinen was wandering through the student dormitory, looking for Team Rose's room. As he searched, he could hear Ruby and Sunset talking to each other. “I know those voices,” He said to himself. He walked towards the two girls and he followed their voices.

“OK, Sunset, the second we enter the room, we’re going to study nonstop,” Ruby told Sunset with a determined tone.

“Wow, if only you showed this much devotion to your school work, you would be at the top of the class,” Sunset said to Ruby with a smirk. As the two girls walked, Bruinen came around the corner. “Hey, isn’t that Onyx’s cousin?” Sunset asked.

Bruinen heard Sunset’s question. “Yes, yes I am,” He answered her with a smile.

“What are you doing here?” Ruby asked the transfer student.

“I was looking for your team's room. I was hoping to do some catching up with Onyx,” Bruinen explained to the 2 girls. He then looked around, and couldn’t see his cousin. “Hey, where is Onyx?” He asked.

“He’s in the kitchen making cookies for Ruby,” Sunset answered.

“He’s making cookies?” Bruinen asked in surprise.

“Come on Sunset! Onyx can come back at any second with those cookies, and I want to feel like I’ve earned them!” Ruby whined to Sunset like an impatient child.

“OK OK let’s go,” Sunset said to her impatient leader.

“Hey, mind if I tag along? Just so I know where your room is for future reference?” Bruinen asked.

“Sure I’m ok with that,” Ruby said.

“If it’s fine with Ruby, it's cool with me,” Sunset said.

Ruby and Sunset lead Bruinen to team Rose’s room. “Are any of you two partners with Onyx?” Bruinen asked the two girls.

“Meee!” Ruby replied with her cute and hyper voice.

“Ohh, so tell me how things are going with Onyx?” He asked Ruby.

“Everything’s okay with Onyx. He’s super cool, and he’s a great teammate,” Ruby replied with a big smile.

“Onyx pulled his weight when we fought against the Nevermore,” Sunset added.

“Ohh that’s good to hear,” Bruinen said.

“Ohh, in fact, in the Emerald Forest, Onyx pointed his gun at my nose, at first I thought he was going to shoot me but then he pulled me close to his chest,” Ruby told Bruinen.

“Wait, he pulled you into his chest?” Bruinen asked with a raised eyebrow.

“Yep, it turned out there was a Cloaker behind me,” Ruby explained.

“Wow, what else happened?” Bruinen asked again.

“Well, when I first saw Onyx, I was laying on the ground saying to myself, “Welcome to Beacon.” Then Onyx stood over me, and then he said, “Where everyone wants you dead,” Ruby told Bruinen with a giggle.

“Wow, from what you're telling me, it sounds like he’s a completely different person now,” Bruinen said, thinking about how different his Cousin is now. “Is there anything else you guys can tell me about my cousin?” He asked Ruby.

“Well, during the battle against the Nevermore, he did call out, “Frozen Blade Beam,” Sunset told Bruinen with an amused smile.

“He said that?” Bruinen said in disbelief.

“Oh yeah, and then he said he thought everyone does that,” Ruby laughed.

“Oh I wish I was there to see that,” said Bruinen with a smirk.

Soon enough, the group of three had reached Team Rose’s room. “Well, this is our room,” Ruby said to Bruinen, opening the door to Team Rose’s dorm room. “Do you want to come in?”

“No thank you, I just wanted to catch up with Onyx. So it wouldn’t feel right if he wasn’t here,” Bruinen said, declining Ruby’s offer. “I’ll try to find him in the kitchen,” He said, about to leave to find Onyx.

“The kitchen is on the ground floor,” Sunset told Bruinen, giving him directions to the Kitchen.

“Thank you,” Bruinen said as he left with a wave.

“Alright, Sunset, let’s get studying,” Ruby said, yanking Sunset through the dorm room by her arm.

“Whoa OK OK don’t yank my arm off!” Sunset protested as she was pulled into the room.

Meanwhile, Eclipse was heading to the library to do some research on fusion Dust crystals. As he entered the library, he saw the Cat Faunus called Sonata reading a book on fusion Dust crystals, the same research subject he wanted to work on. As he walked towards the blue-haired cat Faunus, Cardin Winchester, along with his goons, surrounded her.

Cardin Dropped his book on the table right in front of Sonata with a thud. “Hey freak, you're sitting at our table,” He told Sonata with a sneer, but the cat girl just continued to read her book.

“I think she’s ignoring us, Cardin,” The dark blue-haired goon named Sky said.

“Well, let’s see if she’ll ignore this,” The goon with a green Mohawk named Russel said as he reached to grab her ear, but his hand was stopped by an invisible wall. “What the?”

“Can I help you, boys?” Aria asked Cardin and his Goons as she strode up to them.

Cardin looked down at Aria and gave a devilish smile as he stepped towards her. “Well you might help us with this thing over here,” He said, pointing at Sonata.

“That thing is my Partner,” Aria told the racist Huntsman with an angry scowl. She then shoved her middle and wedding fingers up Cardin’s nose and yanked him down to her level. “If I ever see you near my partner again…” she said in a low voice before her finger started to heat up inside Cardin’s nose.

“Ahhhhh!” Cardin screamed in pain.

“I’ll burn something you need,” Aria threatened Cardin and yanked her fingers from his nose. “Now, get lost, NOW!”

“You’ll regret this!” Cardin said angrily, holding his nose as both he and his goons ran out of the library.

Once Cardin and his goons were gone, Aria looked down at her hand with a grimace. “Eww, I need to wash my hands,” She said in disgust, before turning to Sonata. “Are you going to be okay for a moment?” She asked.

“Can I come with you instead? Those guys might come back?” Sonata asked.

“Hey, can I sit with you for a few moments?” Eclipse offered as he approached.

Aria and Sonata looked up at Eclipse. “Hey, I remember you,” Sonata said.

“Yeah, you're with Team ROSE,” Aria said, before looking back at Sonata. “You don't mind waiting for me with him?” She asked.

“We should be fine, just don’t take too long,” Sonata replied.

“Sure, I won’t be long,” Aria said, petting Sanata’s head with her clean hand. After she was done, she left the library to wash Cardin off her hands.

Eclipse watched Aria leave and sat down next to Sonata. “So, are you guys taking Professor Peach's class?” Eclipse asked, making conversation.

“Umm, no, why?” Sonata asked back.

“Well, it’s just you reading a book on fusion Dust crystals, and that’s what Professor Peach was teaching us in her class today,” Eclipse explained.

“Ohh, so you're learning about fusion crystals?” Sonata asked Eclipse with intrigue.

“Yeah, we are, and I came here to do some research on the subject,” Eclipse explained to the catgirl.

“Well, if you're learning about fusion Dust crystals, I’ve got a few on hand,” Sonata said as she pulled out a rolled-up pouch and unrolled it out onto the table. Within the pouch were several fusion Dust crystals. “Here’s a few I’ve made from Shades Academy,” She said, showing Eclipse her Dust crystals.

“Whoa,” Eclipse said, as he looked at Sonata’s crystals with an impressed look. The Dust Crystals looked similar to Damascus steel, with the different colours intertwined and overlapping each other. “So what Dust combination are they?” He asked Sonata.

“Well this is Fire, Ice, and Earth,” Sonata told Eclipse, holding a Blue, Red, and Brown Damascus crystal. “And this one is Plant, Wind, and Water.” She held up a Green, white, and light blue Damascus crystal. “And this other one is Fire, Earth, and Wind.” She showed Eclipse a Red, Brown, and White Damascus crystal. “And that's just a few I have to show you,” Sonata said as she finished showing her crystals to Eclipse.

“I see, so are you into Dust or something?” Eclipse asked again.

“Yeah Dust crystals are cool,” Sonata said with a smile. “Say, do you want to borrow my little booklet on Dust Fusion?” She asked.

“Sure, if you don’t mind,” Eclipse said, taking Sonata’s offer.

Sonata went through her bag, looking for her notebook. It was then that Aria returned from washing her hands. “Sorry for taking so long Sonata,” She said to her partner.

“It’s okay, me and Eclipse were just talking about Dust,” Sonata said, giving her notebook to Eclipse.

“Thanks, Sonata, I’ll give this back to you as soon as I’m done with it,” Eclipse said, taking the notebook from Sonata.

“Ohh, well you two seem to be getting along quite well,” Aria stated.

“Yep, we spent the time just talking about Fusion Dust Crystals, and I’ve shown some of them to Eclipse,” Sonata said to Aria.

“Oh really?” Aria added.

“Yes, I’ve learned a lot from Sonata,” Eclipse said.

“Hmm, well nice to see Sonata making a friend here in Beacon,” Aria declared.

“Yeah, I think Sonata is a great person to talk to about Dust,” Eclipse smiled.

“Aww, that’s nice. Hey, do you see this gem Around my neck?” Aria asked Eclipse, pointing at her necklace.

“Yeah I’ve noticed it, what about it?” Eclipse asked Aria.

“It’s made of Fire Dust,” She told Eclipse.

“Really? I couldn’t tell,” Eclipse said in surprise.

“Yep, Sonata has talent when it comes to Dust,” Aria said, looking at Sonata with a proud smile.

“Aria, stop it,” Sonata said timidly, as she blushed a little.

“I’m just telling the truth, Sonata,” Aria said with a teasing smirk at her now-blushing partner.

“I agree with Aria,” Eclipse said to Sonata. “You do have talent, Sonata, and if becoming a Huntress doesn't work out, maybe you should be a Dust-Smith,” Eclipse said with an encouraging smile.

“Really?” Sonata asked him with hopeful eyes.

“Yeah, I’m sure any Dust shop would love to have you working for them with your skills,” Eclipse declared.

“He’s right, Sonata, I think you could be at the top of the Dust industry,” Aria said in agreement, and Sonata smiled and blushed a little more.

“So, Sonata, what other fusion crystals do you have?” Eclipse asked.

“Well, I do have a few more I can show you,” Sonata said happily, and she continued to both show and tell Eclipse all about the collection of her homemade fusion Dust Crystals, with Aria watching on with a smile as her partner enjoyed herself as she talked about her favourite hobby.

Yang and her teammates were in the Garage, with the other 3 mostly just sitting around while she worked on her motorbike, Bumblebee.

“So, this is your bike?” Asked Ember.

“Yep, I and my Uncle built her from scratch,” Yang replied with pride in her voice as she checked the spark plugs.

“So Yang, why are we all here?” Asked Octavia.

“Yeah, that’s a good question, why are we all here?” Lyra added.

Yang looked up from her Bumblebee to look at her teammates. “OK, the reason why we’re here is, I think when we finally start missions, I’ll be riding on Bumblebee here, but I can only take one more person. So I think we’ll need a second bike,” She explained to her team. “So, what do you girls think?”

“I think you should scrap that junk pile you call a bike!” Called out a fifth girl’s voice.

“WHAT DID YOU CALL MY BIKE?!” Yang yelled with rage as her Lilac eyes turned scarlet. She turned to see who called her bike a pile of junk, only for her eyes to widen in shock and instantly change back to Lilac when she saw Rainbow Dash standing at the entrance, with her Cyan Sports bike named Rainboom.

“Long time no see Sunshine, how have you been?” Rainbow Dash asked with a playful grin.

Yang gave a wide smile and walked over to the Rainbow-haired Tomboy. “Hey, Crash, long time no see. You're looking different, did you do something to your hair?” She asked, raising her hand for a high five.

Rainbow Dash happily gave Yang a high five. “Yeah, I had to cut it short when some snot-nosed kid threw his gum in my hair,” she explained.

“Eww,” Ember and the other two girls said in unison, all grimacing in disgust.

“Well, that’s unfortunate, I don’t know what I would do if some kid threw his gum in my hair,” Yang said.

“Probably end his entire Bloodline,” Rainbow Dash said, and both tomboys laughed.

“Does anyone have any idea who she is?” Asked Lyra.

“Nope,” Ember said.

“I do not know, either,” Octavia added.

“Hey, Yang! Who’s this girl?” Lyra asked her leader.

“Oh, sorry,” Yang said and hooked her arm around Rainbow Dash’s shoulders. “Girls, this is my friend from Combat School, Rainbow Dash, me and her used to be sparring partners,” She told her team with a smile.

“Yeah, I and Yang were as thick as thieves back at Signal,” Rainbow Dash said, still laughing with her old friend.

“Hmm, OK, wait, were you on that helicopter?” Ember asked.

“Nope, I was piloting it, and needless to say it was a smooth ride thanks to my mad skills,” Rainbow Dash said, stroking her ego.

“Ahh, I knew that Helicopter colour looked familiar to me. When did you get a pilot’s licence?” Yang asked, very pleased for her old friend.

“My Huntress in training licence does cover and acts as a Pilot licence as well as other types of licences, provided you know how to operate whatever vehicle you’re driving,” Rainbow Dash told Yang and her team.

“Wait, are you saying that with our Huntress in training licences, we can use them to drive vehicles?” Lyra asked.

“Well yeah,” Rainbow Dash replied, as the girls looked back at her with incredulous faces. “You guys didn’t know that, did you?” She asked with a raised eyebrow.

Upon hearing this, Yang crouched down in the corner. “I spent 6 long mind-numbingly boring hours in the DMV for my driver's licence, and now I found this out,” She muttered to herself in despair.

Octavia walked over to Yang and patted her gently on the head. “There, there, it’s alright, no one is sending you back to the DMV,” She said soothingly as she kept patting her head.

“OK, moving on, so Rainbow Dash, which academy are you from?” Ember asked the Rainbow-haired girl.

“I and my team are from Shade Academy,” Rainbow Dash replied.

“Ohh cool,” Ember said, now knowing it was Rainbow Dash and her team who flew her father to Vale.

Rainbow Dash noticed Ember’s eye colour was the same as Professor Bloodstone's. “Wait, are you Professor Bloodstone’s daughter?” Rainbow Dash asked the Dragon girl.

“Yeah he’s my Dad,” Ember replied, rubbing the back of her head.

This gets the other three girls’ attention. “What? Ember you didn’t tell us your Dad’s a teacher,” Yang said.

“I thought it was kinda obvious because we both have the same last name,” Ember said with a shrug. Yang, Lyra, and Octavia just gave her a blank stare. “None of you three figured it out?” Ember asked with a deadpan look.

“Well,” Octavia cleared her throat. “Before we move back to the original topic, I don’t believe that Rainbow Dash knows our names,” She stated to the group.

“Oh yeah we never introduced ourselves to Yang’s old friend,” Lyra said, realising that Octavia was right. “I’m Lyra Heartstrings,” She introduced herself to Rainbow Dash.

“Nice to meet you.”

“I’m Ember Bloodstone, but you already knew the last part,” Ember spoke next.

“Yeah, but still nice to meet you.”

“And I am Octavia Melody,” Octavia finished the introductions. “Now back to the original topic. I agree with Yang that a second vehicle would be more efficient with our team, and if we have a mission that requires us to have our transport, I believe one of us should have a second vehicle,” She said.

“OK, so who knows how to drive?” Yang asked.

“I do,” Ember said.

“Me as well,” Lyra added.

“Sadly, I do not,” Octavia admitted.

“OK, who owns a bike?” Yang asked again.

“I don’t, sorry,” Lyra replied as she shook her head.

“I do but it’s back in Vacuo,” Ember told Yang.

“OK, so we’ll need to go to Vacuo to get it,” Yang stated.

“Well, if you girls need a lift I can take you guys aboard our Dragonfly,” Rainbow Dash offered.

“Thanks, Crash,” Yang said with a smile, giving her friend a brofist.

“Hey, Yang, what’s with that nickname?” Asked Lyra.

Yang giggled at the memory of how Rainbow Dash got her nickname. “Oh man, now that's a story,” she said, wiping a tear from her eye. “Alright, so back at Signal, Crash was showing off her Semblance, so she was running on the track, but she went too fast and crashed right into a brick wall!” Yang clutched her stomach as she laughed hard. “She completely shattered her nose, there was so much blood!”

“Yeah, yeah, laugh it up,” Rainbow Dash said sarcastically, rolling her eyes.

“Ever since that day, everyone at signal has called her Crash,” Yang finished her tale.

The girls were stunned from hearing the story. “So, was it just the nose, or did her whole face get smashed?” Ember asked with a slight grimace.

“Surprisingly, despite how hard I hit the wall, it was just my nose that broke. Thank god they managed to fix it, and I had a lot of trouble breathing and smelling with it for a while,” Rainbow Dash explained to the girls.

After Rainbow Dash’s reply, the sound of someone’s stomach growling filled the air. “OK, who was that?” Yang asked her teammates with a smirk.

“That was me,” Rainbow Dash admitted. “I haven't eaten much today.”

Yang laughed at Rainbow Dash once more and then stopped as her stomach growled. “Looks like our leader’s got the munchies,” Ember said with a smirk.

“Alright, how about we get some dinner then we’ll talk more about Ember’s bike later?” Yang said to her team.

“Sounds like a plan,” agreed Lyra.

“Yes I agree,” added Octavia.

“Yeah, let's get something to eat,” Ember said.

“Alright, you coming with us, Crash?” Yang asked Rainbow Dash.

“Only if you're paying,” Rainbow Dash replied with her signature smirk.

“Alright, Crash, my treat, just leave your bike here next to mine for now,” Yang said.

“Thanks,” Rainbow Dash said as she placed her bike next to Yang’s bike, and the five girls then headed off towards the mess hull to get some Dinner.

Bruinen found his way to the Kitchen, where Onyx was baking the Cookies he’d promised his partner Ruby.

Onyx had just pulled the batch of Cookies out of the oven. “They're ready,” He said, placing the Cookies aside for them to cool down.

Bruinen then entered the kitchen. “Hey, Onyx,” He greeted.

“Oh hey, Bruinen,” Onyx replied.

Bruinen sniffed the air. “Wow, something smells good, did you just finish the Cookies?” He asked.

“Yeah, they're just cooling down before I bring them to Ruby,” Onyx replied. “So how’s the Sandy Kingdom of Vacuo?” He asked his friend.

“Hot, Sandy, and freezing at night. A little slice of heaven,” Bruinen joked with his cousin. “How about you?”

“Things here started OK, then got a little rough on the first day, but I think everything is going to be fine now,” Onyx told Bruinen with a good-natured smile.

“Do your team know about… the Gloves thing?” He asked cautiously, lowering his voice.

“No, and I don’t ever want them to know,” Onyx said firmly and sighed heavily. “But that might be a challenge since Emerald is here.”

“Emerald, you don’t mean that Emerald?” Bruinen asked, sounding a little shocked.

“Yeah, that Emerald’s here in Beacon, and she’s on Weiss’s team,” Onyx explained.

“WHAT!? Weiss Schnee is here too?!” Bruinen asked in shock at hearing the Schnee heiress was in Vale instead of Atlas.

“Yep, I’ve been avoiding Emerald as much as I can. But I’m afraid that she may reveal my secret, and my team will reject me,” Onyx confessed, his old fears showing clearly in his eyes.

“I don’t know what to say, Onyx,” Bruinen said, fully understanding Onyx’s fears.

“How about a change of topic?” Onyx said.

“Yeah, let’s,” Bruinen agreed.

“So let’s talk about that Dragonfly you and your teammates flew in. When did you get one of those?” Onyx asked.

“After the initiation, and when I was made team leader, I told my parents and my Dad sent the Dragonfly as a congratulations gift. They sounded so proud of me,” Bruinen said with a grin. Onyx just smiled at Bruinen’s story. “Ohh, sorry Onyx, I forgot about your Dad. Have you heard anything from him?”

“Bruinen, I haven’t seen my father in 8 years. Ever since my Mother was murdered, he completely cut me out of his life,” Onyx told Bruinen with a frown. “You know how I feel if I didn’t need him when I was 9, I don’t need him now,” He declared.

“Hmm, yeah, to be honest, Onyx, you’re a lot stronger than me. If I was in your position, I don’t know what I would do,” Bruinen said, looking at the floor.

“It’s cool Bruinen, I asked you a question and you answered honestly. I’m just doing the same about my father,” Onyx said in understanding and checked the cookies. “Say, I should get these to Ruby, how about we catch up at a cafe or something?” He said.

“Yeah, that sounds like a plan,” Bruinen agreed. “Well, I better go find my team, see you Onyx,” he said as he left the Kitchen.

“See you around,” Onyx said, waving goodbye to Bruinen as he left, and taking the cookies to give to Ruby.

Back in Team Rose’s room, Ruby and Sunset were doing some studying in silence.

“Ahhhh, brai-melting, can’t go on!” Ruby complained in a melodramatic fashion.

“Come on, Ruby, you barely covered one subject,” Sunset said with a frown.

“It’s too much for me, Shim Shim,” Ruby said childishly.

“Ohh, at this rate, you’ll never earn Onyx’s Cookies,” Sunset said as she facepalmed.

“But Sunset…” Ruby whined, before she suddenly perked up, and her nose twitched. She could detect the sweet aroma of cookies in the air. “He’s coming,” she said slowly.

The sunset was confused by Ruby's sudden reaction and statement. “Who’s coming?” She asked, but just then the door opened and Onyx entered the room with his homemade Cookies for Ruby. “Oh never mind,” Sunset said in realisation.

“Hi girls, how’s the studying going?” Onyx asked with a cherry tone.

“Could be going better,” Sunset replied with a sigh.

“Ohh that bah!” Onyx exclaimed as Ruby zoomed past Sunset and grabbed the tray of Cookies from his hands. “Ruby!”

Ruby took the cookies Onyx just made to her desk to examine them. “I must examine these Cookies before I consume them,” She stated.

“Um, what?” Sunset said, tilting her head to the side.

“First, the look of the cookies,” Ruby said as she looked closely at the cookies. “Next the smell.” She sniffed the Cookies. “Mmmmmm.” Her eyes rolled back in pleasure from the smell. “And now the taste.” Ruby picked up a Cookie, took a bite out of it and slowly chewed. “Mmmmmmmmmmm! So goooooooood!” She exclaimed in pure happiness, placing a hand on her cheek as she emitted a glow of cuteness.

“Glad you're enjoying them,” Onyx said with a smile.

“These are sooooo good!” Ruby said again, grabbing another cookie and eating it. “Where did you get the recipe from?” She asked.

“My Mom,” Onyx said.

“You used your mother’s recipe?” Sunset asked.

“Yeah, I know that recipe by heart,” Onyx said with a small but proud smile.

“Your Mom knows what she was doing when she taught you this recipe,” Ruby declared happily, eating three-quarters of the plate very fast.

“Hey, let me try one,” Sunset said, about to take a cookie from the plate.

Ruby, like a wild cat, covered the Cookies protectively with her arms and hissed at Sunset, “MINE!”

Sunset quickly backed away with her hands in the air. “OK, OK, I’m backing away,” She said slowly as she stepped away from the feral girl.

“Don’t worry, Sunset, I’ve made extras just in” Onyx started to say, before Ruby pounced at Onyx, leaving a trail of roses behind her.

“GIVE ME THOSE COOKIES ONYX!” She demanded.

“NO! YOU HAD YOURS, THESE ARE FOR THE REST OF US!,” Onyx yelled back.

Sunset just stood there, staring at Ruby and Onyx fighting over Cookies. “You guys can’t be serious?” she muttered under her breath.

Then the door opened and Eclipse entered the room. “Hey, guys I’ve just…” He stopped as he saw Ruby as she tackled Onyx. “What did I just walk into?” He asked.

“Something silly,” Sunset said with a frown.

“GIMME!”

“NO!”

Eclipse just looked at Sunset with a deadpan look. “Hey, Sunset, do you…?”

“Yep,” Sunset answered simply.

“Oh OK,” Eclipse said before he and Sunset left Onyx and Ruby in their childish fight.

“I’LL BITE YOU!” Ruby threatened loudly.

“You wouldn’t!” Onyx shot back, before Ruby, very suddenly, did bite his arm.“Ahhh! You bit me!”

“I told you I would,” Ruby said with a scowl.

The door opened yet again and Yang entered the room. “Hey Ruby, you didn’t tell me…” she stopped and stared as she saw Ruby attacking Onyx.

“Yang, help!” Onyx pleaded. “Get your crazy sister off me!”

“Why is she attacking you?” Yang asked.

“He got more cookies and he wouldn’t surrender them to me!” Ruby said rapidly as she tried to take the cookies from Onyx.

“Ohhhh, yeah I should've warned you about Ruby’s cookie craziness,” Yang said with a smirk.

“Well, are you going to help me out here?!” Onyx asked as he frantically tried to hold Ruby off.

Yang pulled out her Scroll and started to record the fight. “Yeah I’ll help you when I’ve got enough video,” She said with a bigger smirk.

Onyx stared at Yang with her Scroll in her hand in shock, his eyes wide in alarm. “Don’t post that!” He protested, but Yang continued to record the fight until Onyx got an idea to end the fight and stop Yang’s recording. “Hey, Ruby, fetch!” He shouted and threw the cookies at Yang, who caught the cookies with her free hand.

“Uh oh,” she muttered, her face going pale.

“GIVE ME MY COOKIES!” Ruby roared like an animal as she charged at Yang at full force, knocking her down on her back.

“I deserved that,” Yang said with a wince, as Ruby claimed her prize.

“Yes, yes you did,” Onyx stated.

Ruby happily ate another Cookie. “Why are these cookies so good?” She said with a look of glee on her face.

“Wow, good job, Onyx. Ruby has always had weird standards when it comes to Cookies,” Yang said, smiling at her little sister’s antics. “Hey, Ruby, let me try one.” Ruby turned her head to look at Yang, her cheeks puffed up like a chipmunk and cookie crumbs over her lips. “You ate them all?”

Ruby swallowed and gave an innocent smile. “They were too good to share,” She said, still smiling.

Yang and Onyx just gave a deadpan look at Ruby. “Well, I’d better get going,” Yang said, standing up from the floor. “Hey, Onyx, next time, hide some of those cookies for me. I would like to try them next time,” she said, offering her hand to help Onyx off the ground.

Onyx took Yang's hand and she pulled him up. “Do you think I can hide Cookies from this bloodhound you call your sister?” He asked jokingly.

“Probably not,” Yang replied with a giggle. “I’ll see you later Ruby, take care Onyx.” She left team Rose’s room, leaving Onyx and Ruby alone.

“Well I’m tired, I’m getting ready for bed,” Onyx said as he walked towards the bathroom.

“Onyx,” Ruby said, getting her partner’s attention. “Sorry about the Cookies, they were amazing,” She said in compliment to Onyx’s baking skills.

Onyx smiled. “Thanks, Ruby, I’m glad you enjoyed them,” He said as he entered the bathroom to change into his nightwear. He locked the bathroom door behind him before he walked to the sink and turned on the hot tap. As the water ran, Onyx removed his glove to reveal his hands. Both of them were covered with scars, and all of them were self-inflicted. He turned off the tap and wiped the steam off the mirror to look at his face. “Everything's fine, they’ll never find out your secret,” He said to himself in a low voice, before washing his face. Once he finished his wash, Onyx put on his sleeping gloves and left the bathroom to rejoin Ruby.

Within a train station, the rabbit Faunus named Cotton was using a pay phone to contact Sienna Khan. “According to my recent information, both Eclipse and Blake are in Vale… Yes, Eclipse is with Blake… I’ll make contact with our brothers and sisters in Vale.”

“Attention, the train leaving for Vale will be departing soon, can all passengers please board the train,” said an announcement.

Cotton looked up as she heard the announcement. “My train is about to leave, I’ll contact you once I’m in Vale.” She hung up the phone and ran to catch her train, leaving her change in the pay phone. Cotton stepped aboard the train heading towards Vale to find Blake and Eclipse.

“You can’t hide forever kids,” Cotton thought to herself as she rode towards Vale.

To Be Continued…

Author's Note

Hey guy’s this chapter featured team Brass, owned by Cyrus Colter.
At some point in the future I’ll be asking for OC’s and teams for the upcoming Vinyl Fest.

Chapter 10: Round 1 FIGHT!

Something has gone wrong. We don't seem to have an archived copy of that chapter.

Chapter 12: Investigation

Jaune was sitting In Salem’s office, his hands and eyes looking down. Salem sat behind her desk, with Professor Goodwitch and Professor Bloodstone standing beside her.

Jaune can feel the anger emanating from Professor Bloodstone, like the heat from a dragon before he breathes his flames, and then there’s disappointment from Professor Goodwitch.

The only sounds that could be heard were the gears ticking.

“Mr Arc,” Professor Salem spoke softly. “Do you know why we summoned you?”

“I-I think I do.” Jaune answered, choking on his words, knowing why he was sitting there.

“You think?” Professor Goodwitch questioned Jaune, with anger in her voice. “What you did NOT only harms Beacon's reputation, but your actions put your teammate’s education at risk!” She lectured Jaune, getting more angry by every word.

Salem looked at Glynda. “Calm yourself Glynda.” Maintaining her composure. “I understand your frustration, but getting angry will not help.”

“Yes Headmistress.” Glynda said, calming down, pushing up her glasses.

“Can you blame her?” Torch asked, looking at Jaune’s transcripts. “He used the name of a Huntress who graduated from this academy.”

“I do not.” Salem said, turning to Torch. “But in order to understand why Mr Arc lied on his transcript, we need calmer minds.”

Tourtch nods, “Your right Headmistress.”

Salem looked at Jaune. “Now Mr Arc, tell us why you lie on your transcripts?” She asked with her gentle voice.

Jaune swelled his throat feeling like it’s full of rocks, he took a deep breath. “I just wanted to be like the hero’s in the old stories.” He confessed, “I thought, I could keep up with the others,” Jaune sighed in shame. “But being here I realised I don’t belong here.”

“That’s an understatement.” Torch growls,

“Hmmmm,” Salem hums, “Tell us how did you- Her scroll rings and She looked to see who was calling her. She sighed seeing the council on her screen. “I’m afraid we most placed this on hold for now.” Mr Arc you are dismissed for now.” Salem said, “Professor’s please escort Mr Arc back to his dorm room.”

“Of course.” Glynda nods, walking towards Jaune.

Torch walked to Jaune, “Come on.” He growls,

“Y-Yes.” Jaune stutters quickly, rising to his feet like a soldier.

Salem watches Jaune leave with Gyanda and Touch, once alone she prepares herself for the woes of the Council.
“Let’s see what they want today.” She mumbles answering their call.

Three Hologram monitors over Salem’s desk, the two on her left were men, a Fox Faunus with ginger hair and amber eyes, wearing an autumn suit, and a human showing his age, with gray greenish hair, and green eyes. Wearing a black suit, on Salem’s Right was a human woman with bright scarlett hair covering the left side of her face, only showing her right side of her face, traditionally there are meant to be four Council members, but unfortunately chairman Leon died, and there is now an open chair.

From her right, the Fox Faunus man named Sol Alexander, he has been a huge supporter of Salem, and the first Faunus on the Vale council, he been fighting the Faunus equal rights in Vale, but his efforts beard no fruit. The man next to him was general Beryl, who currently served as Vale’s head of defence, he been in service for close to 50 years, Salem has worked well during his career, it will be a sad to see him retire.

Next to the General was Chairwoman Scarlett, the fifth Scarlett who took the seat on the cancel, Salem has always had issues with the Scarlett family. Mostly with them attempting to remove her from her position as headmistress, Salem brace herself for the worst.

Salem clears her throat. “Councilors,” she spoke. “How are you today?”

“Greetings Headmistress.” Said General Beryl. “I’m doing well, my retirement is coming soon, and-

“General, we are here on important business.” Scarlett cut in, “We heard about this Jaune Arc lying on his transcripts.”

Salem took a sharp breath, she didn’t want the Council to know about Jaune’s transcripts, not until after she had a chance to take care of it herself. “I see, so how did you come across this knowledge?”

“So it’s true.” Scarlett said, hiding her smirk began her hair. “How could you let this Headmistress?”

“We do not know yet,” Salem replied, “I was in the process of questioning him before you called.”

“I see.” Said General Beryl, “What do you know so far?”

“Only his reason why he lied on his transcripts.” Salem answered.

“What excuse did he offer?” Scarlett questions Salem, looking for any evidence to have Salme removed from her position as Headmistress.

Salem knew Scarlett was eagerly looking for an opportunity to remove her from her position, but she couldn’t hide anything from this woman for long. Salem saw Scarlett like a dog, a dog who would never give up its pursuit of a juicy bone.
“He wanted to become a hero, like the ones from the old stories.”

“A HERO!” Scarlett snapped, “WHAT FAIRYTALES NONSENSE!”

“Chairwoman Scarlett please remain calm.” General Beryl said, “Screaming doesn’t solve anything.”

“The General is right.” Spoke sol, siding with the general. “But I can understand Chairwoman Scarlett's plight,” Sol looked at Salem. “What actions have you taken against this Arc?”

“Currently we are still in the investigation process.” Salme answered,

Sol raised his eyebrow, “and after your investigation, what will you do with him?” he asked, with a stern look.

Salem ordinally considered just sending Jaune home, but the way Sol was looking at her told her, he doesn’t want Jaune to go home, but she would need to answer Sol’s question. “Originally I planned to send him home.”

Sol scaled at Salem with disgust and anger. “I can only presume he’s going home, because he’s Human?” Sol hissed, like a snake. “I wager if he was a Faunus he’ll be facing criminal charges and sent to a courthouse or the SDC mines?” Sol asked playing the race card.

Salem took a sharp breath, she was not racist, the curse of punishment she originally chosen for less media attention, sending Jaune to prison will bring unwanted attention to Beacon and Vale.

“My decision would have been the same for any Human or Faunus.” Salem answered, “I live long enough to discriminate against my students.”

“You live enough.” Repeated Scarlett, “I believe we left you in charge of Beacon for far too long.”

“Chairwoman Scarlett.” General Beryl spoke, “You're out of line.”

“No!” Scarlett snapped, “Salem has run Beacon for who she knows how long, and now she let this Jaune Arc infiltrate Beacon, It’s time for new leadership for the Hunters academy, and time for Salem to leave the educational system permanently!” Scarlett declared, stating her opinion.

“I agree.” Declared Chairman Sol,

“Chairman Sol!” General Beryl looked at the Fox Faunus. “How could you say that!? After Salem’s support during your campaign.”

“This isn’t about my campaign.” Sol replied, “This is about the reputation Beacon, if Headmistress Salem could supply us with a more suitable punishment for Jaune Arc, rather send him home.” Sol explained,

Scarlett smirked, “Hmm what do you have in maid?” She asked, turning her smirk into a veneramus smile.

“How about we aloud the Headmistress tell us.” Sol replied, waiting for Salem’s answer.

Salem hated being placed in situations like this, she hated being forced to answer to pollutions who hid behind their desks,
but she no longer possessed the power to dyne the council, she remembers the first councillors they were worriers, farmers, working class men and woman from all the four kingdoms, but now the council comprises of the rich and powerful, upper class cowards, perhaps she gave the council members too much authority over her and Remnant.

“Councilors,” Salem softly said, “I am exhausted from this decision, and I have a school to run.” She took a deep, “Please give me some time to finish my investigations of Jaune Arc, and I shall contact you immediately after.” Salem rose from her chair, “Do not forget, unlike Atlas, Beacon, Haven, and Shade, are independent from the government.”

“That may be true,” Scarlett began looking very annoyed with Salem’s statement. “But I believe we should follow the Atlesian example.” Scarlett turned to the General. “Perhaps General Beryl could have his son take Salem’s position.”

“No.” Beryl declared, “We can’t remove Salem without the other councillors from the other three kingdoms, and the headmasters.”

“Even so.” Scarlett said, “I believe we need to replace Salem for the good of Vale.”

“True,” Sol agreed, “But replacing Salem with another hu-

“Councilors!” Salem interrupted, having her fill of them for one day. “I have a school to run, and I'm sure you all have more important work to conduct.” Salem grabs her scroll, “Forgive my rudeness, but this meeting is over.”

Salem hung up on the council and sat back down, and sighed she knew this would hunt her but she needed a moment to think.

“I need a drink.” Salem stood from her desk and walked to her drinks station, she reached for her tea pot, but then she decided on some stronger. Salem pulled out a secret compartment that hid a bottle of whiskey.

“I shouldn't have this on school grounds, but desperate times call for desperate measures.” Salem opened the whiskey and poured herself a full glass.

Salem remembered James giving this station to her, he gave it to her after he succeeded his father becoming the headmaster of Atlas. As for the whiskey it was from Qrow for letting both Ruby and Yang enter Beacon.

She looked at the glass, and drank it. “Hmmm, this is strong.” She said putting the glass down. She poured herself another glass, and drank it quickly and placed the bottle back in its compartment.

Salem returned to her desk, looking over Jaune’s transcript. “Ok, what do I do now?” She wondered, looking for something to satisfy the Council’s desire.

She leaned back in her chair thinking, first she'd need to know how Jaune made his fake transcripts, then figure out what to do with the remaining teammates of Juniper.

The council would never let Pyrrha Nikos go, losing the Invisible Girl will put Vale at a disadvantage during the Vinyl Festival,

in fact Scarlett would use Pyrrha leaving Beacon as another example to remove her from her position.

Her scroll buzzed, Salem checked who it was. “Glynda?” Salem answered the call. “Hello?”

Glynda appears on a halo screen. “I wager you just spoke with the council.”

Salem sighed, releasing a deep breath deflecting like a balloon. “Indeed I was in a meeting with them.”

“I thought so.” Glynda said, pushing her glasses up, “I tooken the liberty to continue the interrogation of Jaune Arc.” Glynda sent over some new information to Salem’s scroll.

Salem looked at the information, “So what have you learned?” Salem asked, looking at her scroll.

Approximately 30 minutes ago.

Jaune was escorted back to team Junipers dorm room, for the moment he was alone with Professor Goodwitch, Professor Touch was standing outside.

The silence was overwhelming him. There had to be something he could do to break this awkward atmosphere, but what could he say or do?

“Mr Arc.” Glynda spoke, breaking the silence.

“Y-Yes!” Jaune replied, stumbling his words.

“I'm going to resume the investigation.” Glynda told Jaune as she grabbed a chair from the desk and placed it in front of Jaune. “Now tell us how you fake your transcripts.”

“Ummmm.” Jaune played with his fingers nervously, he wasn’t sure if he could answer without Salem’s presence.

“Problem?”

“N-no.” Jaune answered, still stumbling with his words, “But can we resume this without Professor Salem?” He asked, still playing with his figures.

Glynda pushed up her glasses and gave Jaune a narrow glance. “Yes, we can.” She answered, “Now please answer my question.”

Jaune took a deep breath, and looked at Glynda. “I went to the hunters tryouts, and I immediately failed.” He bagan. “On my was way back to the station, I was approached by a man.”

“A man?” Glynda asked, “What kind of man?”

“Ummm,” Jaune thinks remembering the man description. “He wear a white coat with a black baller hat, and his hair orange.”

Glynda typed on her scroll and shown Jaune a picture of Roman Torchwick. “Is this the man?”

“Yeah that’s him.” Jaune answered.

“I wager you’re not a news water.” Glynda said with a groan.

“Not really,” Jaune admitted. “But I have hear of him.”

“You’re familiar with him?” Glynda asked, writing down Jaune words.

“I heard about him, not long after coming here.” Jaune replied.

“I see.” Glynda hums, from her point of view, Jaune clearly didn’t think any this through, “Continue please.”

“he said could help me get into Beacon.” Jaune explains, “But he said I would have to do something for him.”

Glynda wrote it down, “And what did he ask in return?”

“He wanted me to pick up some crates of Dust.” Jaune answered,

“Dust?” Glynda asked, “From where?”

“He gave me a list of Dust shops.” Jaune answered,

“Hmmm,” Glynda wrote that down. “Was it for a delivery company?”

“Yes, it was called, shifter's delivery service.” Jaune answered,

“I see….” Glynda wrote it down, she recalls hearing that company went bankrupt a month before the semester started. “Did you wear a uniform?”

“Yes,” Jaune answered,

“Do you remember where you took the crates?” Glynda asked, looking over her notes.

“We took them to a where house.” Jaune answered once more.

“Hmmm, so after you finish your deliveries, they gave you your fake transcripts?” Glynda asked,

“Yes,” Jaune answered,

“The only thing I don’t understand is how?” Glynda placed her scroll down. “How did your transcripts fall under the radar?”

Jaune took a deep breath and released it through his nose. “They told me not to worry about it.” Jaune replied, rubbing his hands.

“I see.” Glynda wrote on her scroll, she had a rough idea which warehouse, she stood from the chair. “I think that’s all I could ask for now.”

Jaune watched Professor Goodwitch walk towards the door, reaching for the door knob. “Ummm could I ask something?” He asked, squeezing his hands.

“Yes?” Glynda asked, looking at Jaune, while her hand held the door knob.

“Can I ask about my teammates?” Jaune asked.

“They’ll no longer your concern Mr Arc.” Glynda replies coldly, opening the door and leaving Jaune Arc alone.

“That’s all I have obtained from Jaune Arc.” Glynda reported over the feed.

“Hmmmm,” Salem looks over Glynda’s notes, “I was hoping this would just be a Beacon meter.” She placed her scroll down. “But this make this a Vale meter.” Salem rubs her head, from the stress. “We'll have to report this to authorities.”

“What about the council?” Glynda Asked, sighing she was not a fund lover of the council.

“Before reporting to them, we’ll continue our Investigation.”Salem replied, “I want to know who’s on this gangsters payroll.”

Glynda nods, “What about Mr Arc?”

“We’ll have to separate him from the other members of Juniper.” Salem sighed leaning forward linking her fingers, and resting her elbows on her desk. “Move him to an isolated room for the time being.”

“Understood Headmistress,” Glynda replied, “I shall inform Torch, but what do we tell the rest of Juniper?”

“The truth.” Salem replied, “They need to know.”

“Shall I send them to you?” Glynda asked.

“No,” Salme replied, “Not today.” She leaned back in her chair. “We have enough deal with for now.”

“I understand Headmistress.” Glynda nods, “I shall relocate Mr Arc, and I will continue my investigation.”

“Thank you Glynda.” Salem said with a smile, “Let me know if you uncover anything else.”

“I will.” Glynda and Salem ended the call.

Salem stood from her chair and steps towards the window, she looked down at her school, she remembered when times were simple, when the council relied on her wisdom, she took a deep breath.

“I’m too old for this.” She mumbled, “But this is the precision I chose for myself.” She slighted her back, and attire. “Time to resume work.” Salem sat back at her desk and opened multiple halo screens, and resumed her investigation.

Glynda returned to team Juniper's Dorm room where Torch still stood guard.

Torch looked at Glynda, “What’s happening?” He asked.

“We’re going to move him to another room.” Glynda replied, “Salem also wants us to resume our investigations.”

“Understood,” Torch hums, he turns to the opening door.

Glynda immediately saw Jaune laying on the floor face down.. “JAUNE!” She ran to him and flipped him to his side, she saw his nose bleeding. “Call an ambulance!”

Torch grabbed his scroll and called the emergency services.

Jaune was taken to hospital, Salem stood on the platform watching the medical Bullhead take him away.

She turned to Torch, “What happened?”

“I don’t know,” Torch answered. “I heard nothing, and I didn’t leave my post.”

“Right.” Salem sighed, she turned to Glynda, “Did you see anything like powder or pills?”

“No,” Glynda answered, “There weren't any empty bottles.”

“Ok, hopefully the hospital will tell us what happened.” Salem said, rubbing her chin. “For no return to your duties.”

“Right.” Torch and Glynda nod, before leaving the platform.

Salem looked at the transport once more, “What a day.” She sighed, “What else could go wrong?” Salem walked away from the platform beck to her school.

To be continued……

Chapter 13: Did you hear? Pt1

Something has gone wrong. We don't seem to have an archived copy of that chapter.

Prolong: Welcome to beacon rewrite

Remnant. A world inhabited by three lifeforms. The first are humans, simple and basic. Second, are the Faunus, human-like, but with the features and abilities of animals. And finally, the Grimm. Mindless, savage beast, created from the darkness in the hearts of both humans and Faunuslike. From the beginning, the human and Faunus were at each other’s throats, and an endless war raged on between the humans and Faunus. The creatures of Grimm seek only death of all life on Remnant. And from the conflict, four kingdoms rose from the ashes. To the north is the kingdom of Atlas, a human-controlled kingdom where the rich and powerful live with their armies and machines. In the south, the kingdom of Vale is a peaceful place where humans and Faunus live in harmony with one another. Vacuo, the Kingdom of the West, is a wasteland-like place in which survival is possible but challenging. Mistral, the kingdom of the east, with mountains to protect the people. Most come here to lead a life of peace. All the kingdoms have armies and huntsmen, to hold back the Grimm, and to protect the world from the darkness.

(Echoes Of The Past)

In a huge study, with many bookshelves, filled with many, many books, is a small table, with a young-looking woman with blond hair and wearing a white dress, and a tall man with grey skin and white hair and wearing a black suit, sitting in armchairs as they face each other. On the table is a Chess Board, already set up for a game. The woman was using white pieces, while the man used black pieces.

“Let's be honest here,” said the man in a cold voice, as he made his first move of the game. “This Godless world is doomed. It is only a matter of time. And when the darkness swallows this world whole, You know I’ll hate to say I told you so.”

The woman simply kept her gaze locked on him as she gave a sweet smile. “You may think the world might be swallowed by the darkness,” She said, as she made her first move. “But I believe where there is darkness, there will also be light,”

There was silence between them as the game continued. As the game neared its end, the man held up one of his remaining pieces.

“Well, then. We’ll just let time be the judge for us, shall we,” He said, as he placed the piece on the board.

“Very well then. We shall see who will prevail, the Light, or the Dark,” The woman agreed, as she also placed one of her last pieces on the board. It was her White Queen, which now faced the man’s Black King.

Both this conversation and this game will be lost to the march of time as the world enters a new era.

(Present Day)

Flying towards the gleaming tower that was Beacon Academy, an airship full of new students, on their way to become Huntsmen and Huntresses. On this ship are four individuals, Ruby Rose, Onyx Shinra, Sunset Shimmer and Eclipse Khan.

Sitting in an isolated area, Onyx is on his scroll. He was dressed in a traditional tuxedo and black shades.“Yes, I'm en route to Beacon… Don’t worry… I threw a dart at the map. I've told you all of this, there is nothing you can say to change my mind… ok I love you too… goodbye.” He put his scroll in his pocket, looking out the wind, seeing the reflection of someone. He then turns to look at the person. “Weiss Schnee. There’s a face I never thought I’d see outside of Atlas.”

Standing before him was a young girl with white hair tied back in a ponytail and blue eyes, with a scar over her left eye from her brow to her cheek. She wore a white dress, with a matching jacket with red lining, a silver belt around her waist, and white high-heeled boots which also had red lining. On her belt, she had a rapier. She looked down at Onyx, in more ways than one. “Onyx Shinra,” she said in an icy tone. “What in the whole wide world of Remnant are you doing here?”

“Well, that's a fine ‘how do you do’,” Onyx said.

“That doesn’t answer my question,” said Weiss.

“I think it’s pretty obvious what I’m doing here,” Onyx replied. “I’m here to become a Huntsman. What are you doing here?”

“Simple,” Weiss said smugly. “I’m here to become a world-class Huntress.”

“Well, good luck with that,” Onyx said, rolling his eyes.

“Now, listen here, Onyx,” Weiss said. “You and I may be cousins but were from completely different families. A Schnee and a Shinra simply can not work together.”

“I couldn’t agree with you more,” Onyx said. “So, why don’t I go to Beacon, and you go back to Atlas.”

“Excuse Me!” Weiss snapped. “What gives you the right to tell me where I should go to receive my education?!”

“Ok, I overstepped my bounds,” Onyx said placatingly. “Look, here’s the deal. We are both going to Beacon, but you stay out of my way and I’ll stay out of yours. Deal?”

“Alright, fine,” Weiss said with a huff. “You know, sometimes I have to wonder how in the world you and I are cousins.”

“We’re cousins on my mother's side,” Said onyx. “But then again, you probably wouldn’t have known that, see as she was kicked out of your family.”

“Hmmph,” Weiss huffed dismissively, as she turned on her heel and marched away.

Onyx sighed. “I don’t know why, but she always brings out the worst in me.”

In the lower area, a young girl with red and yellow hair, fox ears and a large bushy fox tail was watching a news report that was being aired over the airship's broadcast system. “The White Fang is just making things worse for the rest of us,” She muttered with a frown, as she continued to watch the news feed.

At the front of the airship, sat a young Faunus with stripes like a tiger. Next to him was a young, dark-haired girl wearing a black bow on her head. The girl was reading a book, and the boy was reading a comic. He suddenly laughed out loud. “Ha, Ha, Ha! Stupid Coyote. He’s never gonna catch that Bird.”

“Eh-hem!” The girl said, nudging him with her elbow.

“Sorry, Blake,” He said. “But this is just too dang funny.”

“Look, Eclipse,” said Blake. “I don’t mind you chuckling, but volume control.” Before Eclipse could answer, at that moment, a woman with blond hair and a witch-like outfit appeared on the holo feed.

“Hello, and welcome to Beacon. My name is Glynda Goodwitch. You are among a privileged few who have received the honour of being selected to attend this prestigious academy. Here at Beacon Academy, we will teach you the skills to fight the good fight and protect Remnant from the creatures of Grimm, and maintain the long-standing peace which our world now enjoys, and we hope you have a most prosperous time during your stay here at Beacon. Welcome to the first day of your new lives.” The feed then ends.

When the airship landed, the recruits disembarked to see their new home from home. A young man with blond hair ran out of the ship to the first trash can to vomit.

“If he pukes from motion sickness, it makes you wonder why he’s even bothering to become a Huntsman,” said a tall, blond-haired girl, as she walked past with a younger, dark-haired girl with dark red highlights, and wearing a red hood.

As the fox girl stepped off the airship, she was just in time to see the blond girl dash away from the red-hooded girl with a bunch of other people, practically abandoning her. “Survival of the fittest,” She said under her breath. Taking in the sights of the school campus, the fox girl’s breath was taken away. “Wow! It’s Beautiful!” She gasps. She then heard a loud bang. Turning around to look, she saw a girl dressed in white, yelling at the poor red hooded girl, who looked like a kicked puppy right now and immediately recognised her as a member of the Schnee family. “Oh, great! A Schnee! That’s all this school needs! A pampered little princess!” She said with a groan and a scowl. She then muttered and turned to walk away again. “Whatever, I’ll deal with her later.” Then, without warning, someone stepped on her tail. “Ahhh, what the hell! That hurts!” She screamed. She spun around to confront the person, coming face to face with a tall, brown-haired boy, with a huge smirk on his face.

“Oops, sorry, not my fault you didn’t have that thing cut off!” He said cruelly and started to laugh along with his flunkies.

“WHAT DID YOU SAY!?” The fox yelled furiously, her tail bristling.

“What, are those ears for decoration?” He continued snidely. “I said you should have that thing cut off!” He threw back his head and laughed mockingly, his gang of goons following suit.

The fox girl's ears folded back, as her eyes narrowed dangerously. “Oh, you’re just asking for a fight, aren’t you, tough guy?!” She snapped.

“Oh, this is gonna be fun,” Smirked the big guy, as he and his goons cracked their knuckles. But before anything else could happen, the thug spontaneously began to lift off the ground and float in mid-air. “W-whoa, what’s going on!” He shouted in shock.

“Whoa, boss, you never told us you could fly,” said one of his goons dumbly.

“That’s because I can’t you idiot!” The bully shouted angrily. “Don’t just stand there, do something! Get me down, now!” At that moment, he was suddenly flung through the air, and landed, head first, in a trash can.

“Aw, man that was like a pure cartoon/anime group right there,” laughed a new voice. Just then, Eclipse the tiger Faunus stepped up in front of them, smirking.

The thugs turned to glare at the newcomer. “Did you do this to our boss?!” One of them snapped threateningly.

“Would you prefer the truth or the lie?” Eclipse said, still smirking.

“You little freak!” Yelled one of the other thugs, pulling out his weapon, his cohorts following suit.

Eclipse then raised his weapon, which looked like a giant pair of scissors “Oh, you wanna fight?” He said confidently. “I’ll give you a fight! I’ve got nine lives and I’m willing to waste them all here on you guys! Come on! Come on!”

At the sight of the giant scissors, the cowardly bullies lost their nerve. “W-we’ll get you next time you freak!” One of them stuttered, before they turned and ran, one of them knocking over the trash can their humiliated leader was still stuck in.

“Well,” Said Eclipse, “That was disappointing?” He sheathed his weapon and turned to the fox girl. “So, you ok, there-” He was cut off when she gave him a hard left hook to his cheek, knocking him to the ground.

“You should have kept out of it!” The fox girl snapped. “I was just about to give that meathead just what was coming to him! I didn’t need your help!”

“Then what was the punch for?” Eclipse asked, holding his cheek.

“I just felt like it,” She replied with a dismissive wave.

Eclipse’s eyes went wide. “Wait! Don’t tell you're a Tsundere?!”

“A what?” The fox girl raised an eyebrow.

“Tsundere,” said Eclipse as he got back to his feet. “You know-”

“You know what, I don’t care!” She interrupted rudely. “Here's what’s going to happen, cat boy! You stay out of my way, and I stay far away from you!”

“For the record, I’m a tiger,” Eclipse said.

“Don’t care! I’m out!” With that, she turned and marched away.

“Geez, can’t a brother help out a sister,” Eclipse muttered to himself, just as Blake walked up beside him.

“Did I miss something?” She asked.

“You missed a lot!”

(5 minutes earlier…)

At the landing platform, a tall, dark-skinned woman, with a huge, square Athro, wearing a sharp black suit and large black shades, stood in front of Onix, presenting him with a large rectangular metal case. “You will require this,” she said calmly.

Onyx took the case. “Thanks for coming with me Garnet,” He said.

“No problem sir.” Garnet then noticed the airship was preparing to leave. “I must be leaving you now, sir.” After saying their goodbyes, She then reboarded the airship, and Onyx made his way toward the school. He didn’t get very far when he suddenly heard a loud BOOM! He looks up to see Weiss walking away from the red-hooded girl, as well as Blake walking away in another direction. He heads toward the red-hooded girl, hearing her mutter under her breath.

“Welcome to Beacon.”

“Where everyone wants you dead,” He said jokingly.

The girl's eyes went wide. “What? Really?!”

“No,” said Onyx with a smile. “Just kidding. But I so had you going there, didn’t I?”

The girl leapt back to her feet, pouting in annoyance. “That wasn’t funny!”

“Yeah, it was.” Onyx then looked at the girl curiously. “Wait. Aren’t you a little young to be attending Beacon?”

The girl rolled her eyes. “Yeah, yeah, I know,” She said in frustration. “This isn’t your typical combat school, we're here to fight monsters.”

“Let me guess,” Said Onyx. “That girl in white told you all that?”

“Yeah, she did,” The girl grumbled. “Little Miss Know-It-All Princess.”

“Yeah, she’s a handful,” Said Onyx wistfully. “Well, allow me to apologize on behalf of my cold-hearted cousin.”

“Wait, what? That girl is your cousin?”

“Yeah, we’re cousins. Oh, by the way…” He paused, looking closely at her. “Wait a minute…” He suddenly zoomed in close to her, his face just inches away from the girls. “You have silver eyes.”

The girl flinched nervously. “Uh, thank you, I think?” She said awkwardly.

“Sorry, it’s just,” He paused, reaching up to remove his shades, revealing... “I have silver eyes, too.”

“You have silver eyes, just like me?” The girl asked. “But, wait, why is that such a big deal?”

“Well, think about it,” Onyx said. “Out of every single person you know and love, how many of them have silver eyes?”

Ruby thought hard before she gasped in realisation. “Oh, my gosh, Your right! None of them!”

“And you know what that means?”

“It means…” Her face lit up in glee. “That we’re silver eye buddies!”

“That’s right,” Onyx chuckled. “Now, I think it’s about time we properly introduced ourselves. I’m Onyx Shinra.”

“I’m Ruby Rose!” She then stopped and stared at him. “Wait? Onyx Shinra? Are you part of the Shinra Family?”

“Well, I don’t mean to toot my own horn,” Onyx said casually. “But I’m the fourth in line to the Shinra Legacy. So, tell me, Ruby. What are doing here at Beacon? Aren’t you a little young to be here? What, are you on a field trip or something?”

Ruby scowled indignantly. “Do I look like I’m twelve?” She said, placing her hands on her hips.

“Whoa, sorry. I was just curious, that’s all,” Onyx said placatingly.

“I was allowed to skip two years,” Ruby said sheepishly. “Miss Salem said, based on my abilities, I was eligible to attend Beacon.”

“Ohh, you must be the bee's knees,” Onyx said with a chuckle.

“No no no no, I’m not, I’m just a normal girl, with normal knees,” Ruby replied in a panicky voice.

At that moment, they heard the sound of a bell. “Oh, no!” Ruby panicked, “The ceremony! How could we forget that?!” The two of them dashed away toward the great hall at a run.

Ruby and Onyx ran as fast as they could to reach the great hall where the students were instructed to go. They finally arrived just as the ceremony was about to begin.

“We made it just in time,” Said Ruby, gasping for breath.

“Yeah, just in time” agreed Onyx

“Now where’s Yang?” Ruby said before looking through the crowd and spotting her sister. “Oh, my sister! Well, I’ll be seeing you.” Ruby then walked away, waving goodbye.

“Yeah, see you around,” Onyx said as he waved back.

“Hi Yang,” Said Ruby.

“Hey Ruby,” said Yang. “So, how was your first day of school, little sis?”

“Since you ditched me and I exploded?” Ruby huffed.

“Yikes, meltdown, already?” Yang said.

“No, I exploded a hole in front of the school,” Ruby went on. “And there was some fire, and think some ice?”

“Are you being sarcastic?” Yang smirked.

“Huh, I wish!” Ruby scoffed. “I tripped over some crabby girl's luggage, and then she yelled at me, and then I sneezed, and then I exploded, and she yelled again, and I felt bad, and I just wanted her to stop yelling at me.”

“You!” Said an annoyed-sounding Weiss from behind her.

“Oh, god It’s happening again!” Ruby whimpered as she lept into her bewildered sister's arms.

“Your lucky we weren’t blown off the side of the cliff,” Weiss, unported

“Oh, my god, you exploded,” Yang said in astonishment.

“It was an accident! It was an accident!” Ruby insisted as she was put back on her feet, only for Weiss to shove a pamphlet labelled Dust For Dummies in her face. “What’s this?”

Before Weiss could reply, the pamphlet was yanked from her hand and tossed away. “For goodness sake, Weiss, leave the poor girl alone,” Said a voice. They all turned to look. It was Onyx.

Weiss scowled in annoyance. “What do you think you're doing, Onyx?” She scolded him. “I was just about to tell this upstart-”

“You mean ‘Prodigy’, not ‘Upstart,” Onyx interrupted.

“What? There is no way that this little kid,” She said, pointing at Ruby, “Is a prodigy at anything except being a total klutz!”

“Regardless, I would prefer if you left her alone, now,” Onyx said, staring Weiss down.

“Why should I do anything you tell me to do?” Weiss shot back. “Besides, why are you so interested in her?”

“That’s because,” He paused, looking over at Ruby. “She and I are silver eye buddies.”

“Yeah,” Ruby smirked, stepping up beside Onyx, who held out his hand for a low five, which she gladly returned with a resounding slap.

Weiss was confused by this. “What, I don’t understand…” Then she looked closer between them. They both had the same silver eyes.

“Well, in any case, she said she was sorry, so leave her alone,” Onyx commanded.

Weiss deflated under Onyx’s gaze. “You know what, I don’t care anymore,” She pouted.

“Hopefully that will end this whole thing between the two of you,” Onyx said to Ruby.

“Thanks, Onyx,” Said a grateful Ruby

“Ooh, is he your new boyfriend?” Teased Yang.

“Eww, no!” Ruby shouted, her face scrunched up in disgust. Onyx just laughed at this, while Eclipse looked on from across the hall.

“Hmm, looks like they're having fun,” He said to Blake.

“Yeah, looks like they are,” Replied Blake.

“Can I have your attention please?” Everyone turned their eyes to the stage. Standing on the stage was Glynda Goodwitch. “Welcome to Beacon Academy. And now I would like to introduce you to your Headmistress.” Miss Goodwitch stands aside and a woman dressed in black steps forward. Her hair is blonde and her eyes are blue.

“Greetings, students. My name is Salem, and I am the Headmistress of Beacon Academy. It is my task to turn you from children to Huntsmen and Huntresses. I will do my best to do so and I can only ask the same from all of you. Tomorrow, you will be divided into teams, but for now, all you need to do is rest and mingle with your peers.” After she finished her speech she walked out of the light and back into the shadows, and Ms Goodwitch continued the assembly.

It was now nighttime, and all the students were gathered in the same room, getting ready for bed. The fox girl was looking for a place to sleep, when, suddenly, she crashed into Onyx.

“Oh sorry, I wasn’t watching where I was going,” Onyx apologised.

“It’s fine,” she said, looking up at Onyx, only to scowl at him with anger and hatred. “Wait, you're a Shinra!” She yelled.

“Umm, yes, is there a problem?” Onyx asked in confusion.

“Yes, there is! I’ve got a spoiled princess from the Schnee family and now an overly rich daddy’s boy from the Shinra family!” The fox girl ranted.

“Well that’s uncalled for,” He said, trying to calm her down.

“Look at my face, does it look like I care?!” She exclaimed, pointing at her face. “Stay away from me Shinra!” She turned and stormed away from a stunned Onyx.

The fox girl stopped as Eclipse walked up to her. “You know, that was a little uncalled for,” He said to her.

“And why do you care so much?” She asked, rolling her eyes.

“I just think that you’re not gonna make any friends with that attitude,” He replied.

“Let me make this clear. I don’t do the whole friend thing. Never have and never will,” She said in an ice-cold voice, before heading off once more.

“Wow, it just got chilly around here,” Eclipse stated.

Ruby and Yang naturally have their sleeping bags next to each other. Ruby was sitting up, writing a letter. “What are you writing there Ruby?” Asked Yang

“Writing to my friends at Signal. Telling them all about Beacon,” Explained Ruby.

“Aww, cute!” Cooed Yang teasingly.

“Yang, get a life!” Ruby said with a huff, rolling her eyes.

“No way, you make it way too easy,” said Yang, her voice full of amusement.

“Hey, Ruby. Hey Yang.” The girls looked up and saw Onyx standing above them.

“Hey Onyx,” Said Ruby.

“What can we do for you?” Asked Yang.

“I was hoping that you would let me crash with you two tonight,” He explained.

“It's fine with me,” said Yang.

“Just set yourself up,” Said Ruby.

Onyx rolled out his sleeping bag. “Thanks a lot, everywhere else is taken,” He said gratefully. He settled himself down and pulled out a small silver box.

“What’s that?” Asked Yang.

“Just a midnight snack.” He opened the box and showed the girls. The box was filled with cookies. “Can I tempt you?” He asked.

Ruby's mouth was drooling. “Well, maybe I'll just have 1 2 3 4 5 6!” She said excitedly, quickly snatching a handful of cookies from the box.

“Hey, save some for the rest of us!” Onyx shouted, but amused.

“I was just counting down the seconds,” Chuckled Yang at her sister’s antics.

“I have no sin,” Said Ruby firmly.

“Yeah, none at all,” said Onyx with an amused smirk, before eating a cookie from the box.

In another corner of the makeshift dormitory, sat Blake, reading a book, as Eclipse sat down next to her.

“Hey, Blake,” said the striped-skinned boy. “I’ve been thinking about this whole being split into teams business. Do you think that we should be on the same team?”

“I can’t guarantee that we’ll be on the same team, Eclipse. But in case we are split, I think you should try and start making some friends,” said Blake.

“Your right, Blake,” Said Eclipse with a sigh. “I’ll try tomorrow. Goodnight.”

“Yeah, goodnight, Eclipse,” said Blake. She placed a bookmark and put her book away, before then laying down.

Then silence filled the room as the students fell asleep one by one.

Meanwhile...

In a large warehouse, dozens of White Fang members were going through crates of stolen goods, Dust, weapons, etcetera. The crates were either stamped with the emblem of the Shinra or Shnee companies. One White Fang member opened a crate with the Shinra Emblem, marveling at the weapons inside. “You know, I gotta say, credit where credit’s due. The Shinra copcorporation knows how to make quality stuff,” he said.

“Yeah, I know,” said one of his colleagues. “I can’t wait to try out these beauties.”

Overseeing the whole operation was a well-dressed man with a cane, and wearing a bowler hat. He smirked as he puffed on a cigar. At that moment, a White Fang Lieutenant walked up to him.

“Everything is proceeding on schedule, Mr Torchwick,” He reported.

“Yes, yes, that’s all well and good,” The man known as Torchwick said. “But I’ve just received orders from up top. We need to double our efforts.” He then walked over to a wall, pointing to a world map. “Which means,” He continued, “We are expanding our operations from Vale to the remaining three kingdoms. So from here on out, we’re going to be busy.” He finished by taking a big drag on his cigar and blowing out a big plume of smoke.

To Be Continued...

Author's Note

Hi guy we did a rewrite of the prologue.
We still working on new stuff.
Thank you for your patience.

Chapter 9: Story’s of our weapon’s

Author's Note

Hey guys, this chapter is all about the Weapons of our beloved teams.
I hope you guys enjoyed this chapter.

Don’t forget to leave comment.

Chapter 9: Story’s of our weapon’s

It was midday at Beacon, and Team Rose was at the shooting gallery, with Team Wave, Team Yellow, Team Blight, and Team Juniper. Ruby, with her Crescent Rose, was shooting at the holo Grimm. She fired her last shot at the last holo Grimm. After her last shot, the scoreboard showed her results were 85%.

“WHAT!? ONLY 85!” Ruby shouted in a disappointed tone.

“Looks like you need more practice, Ruby,” Yang said to her younger sister.

“Hey, didn’t she score higher than you?” Ember asked Yang.

“Ok, so maybe my score was only 33. But in my defence, I’m the up close and personal type,” Yang replied with a confident smirk.

“Alright, before this goes any further, who’s next?” Octavia asked. The randomizer chose Pyrrha.

“Oh, it’s my turn,” Pyrrha said, stepping towards the shooting gallery, with her Miló in its rifle mode. As Pyrrha approached the gallery, Ruby returned to her teammates.

Once she was in position, Pyrrha began to shoot at the holo Grimm. Ruby sat next to Onyx. “Hey Ruby, are you okay?” He asked.

“Yeah I’m fine, just a little bitter about my score,” Ruby said with an annoyed frown.

“Forget about it Ruby, those scores are just numbers,” Eclipse said. “At the end of the day it’s combat experience that counts.”

“He’s right Ruby. Plus 85% isn’t anything to be ashamed of,” Sunset said encouragingly. After Sunset’s statement, Pyrrha shot the last holo, Grimm. Everyone looked up at the scoreboard, which said 92%.

Ember whistled, “92%, impressive,” She said.

“Well, I’d say that’s the highlight score of the day,” Declared Vinyl.

“Wait a go, Pyrrha!” Nora cheered, while Pyrrha smiled humbly as she rubbed the back of her head.

The randomizer selected the next student, which was Onyx. “Looks like it's the Shinra's turn,” Indigo said.

Onyx then stood up. “Wish me luck,” He said to his teammates.

“Good luck Onyx,” Ruby said as he walked to the gallery.

Pyrrha returned to her teammates. “You did great out there Pyrrha!” Nora said with a big smile.

“Yes, you performed wonderfully at the gallery.” Ren agreed.

Jaune looked at the scoreboard with his team’s scores. Nora’s score was 56, Ren’s score was 67, and now Pyrrha’s score was 92, the highest score of the whole class. But this was at a shooting range. Unfortunately, his score was at zero, because his weapon was a sword and shield, so his score would be the lowest out of the whole class.

“Are you okay Jaune?” Pyrrha asked her partner, snapping him out of his thoughts.

“Oh, I’m fine Pyrrha,” Jaune replied to his partner with a shrug. “Looks like Onyx is getting ready.”

Onyx stood in the same spot that Pyrrha was standing a moment ago. “Let’s see how good the Shinra boy is,” Lyra said, watching Onyx closely. Before he started his turn, Onyx grabbed 4 magazines in between the fingers of his left hand.

“Hmm, that’s interesting,” Octavia said, very interested in Onyx’s method of holding his extra magazines.

Onyx pushed the start button, and the gallery started to project the holo, Grimm. As they appeared, Onyx opened fire at the fake Grimm. As he let out shot after shot, Onyx mentally kept count of each bullet in his magazine. When he knew the last bullet was in the chamber, he quickly switched magazines. After the fourth magazine was loaded into his gun, Onyx switched hands, and with his right hand, he grabbed another four magazines just like before he started.

“Wow look at him go,” Said Lemon Zest in awe.

“Are we sure he’s human?” Indigo asked with wide eyes.

“He’s human,” Twilight stated, “I’ve scanned his physiology once before, and I must say, he’s very well trained.”

Onyx shot the last holo Grimm, ending his turn, and all eyes were on the scoreboard, as they waited to see his results. After a moment, the board showed Onyx’s results, 96%.

“YAY, ONYX!” Ruby cheered as she clapped her hands excitedly.

“Wow, that's some fancy shooting!” Applejack declared.

“Yang, isn’t that your sister’s partner?” Asked Octavia.

“Yeah, I think he is,” Yang replied absentmindedly as she was still looking at the scoreboard.

“Hmm,” Blake said as she looked at Onyx. “He’s good with his handgun.”

“Oh yeah, that Shinra boy’s outdone the Invincible Girl,” Stated Indigo.

Everyone was talking about Onyx beating Pyrrha’s score. “Wow, Pyrrha, looks like you have some competition,” Nora said, tapping Pyrrha with her elbow.

“Hmm, well I welcome the challenge,” Pyrrha said with a smile.

Onyx returned to his teammates. “Hey, Onyx, who taught you to shoot like that?” Eclipse asked.

“One of my sisters, she’s a complete gun nut,” Onyx replied casually.

“Really?” Ruby asked with stars in her eyes.

“Oh yeah, the walls of her room have different types of guns hanging on them, and the floor was always covered with bullets,” Onyx said again. “Whenever I had free time, she would cram much training as much as possible, showing me everything she knew about guns,” He smiled as he thought about his gun-ho sister.

“I say your training paid off well,” Sunset stated. “Just seeing your score is proof enough.”

“HE CHEATED!” Called out the obnoxious voice of Cardin Winchester. Everyone looked in his direction as the large boy stood up from his seat. “Let’s be honest with ourselves here. The only way he could have gotten the highest score and beaten Pyrrha Nikos is by cheating,” He declared snidely to the whole room.

“And what evidence do you have to support your claim?” Ren calmly asked the irate student.

Cardin smirked and pointed to the scoreboard. “My evidence is right there,” He answered. “So Shinra, how did you cheat? Did you upload a program to the system? Or did you pay the Invincible Girl to dive you?” He asked Onyx accusingly.

“None of the above,” Onyx said simply. “But to quote what Eclipse just said not long ago, the score are just numbers, it's combat experience that counts,” He stated.

“So what exactly are you saying?” Cardin asked again.

“I'm saying you're attention-seeking, because your score is zero like Jaune Arc’s,” Onyx said, turning to Jaune. “No offence Jaune,” He said apologetically.

“None was taken,” Jaune said with a shrug.

Cardin glared as he walked menacingly towards Onyx. “So I’m just seeking attention huh?” He asked with a growl.

“I’d say so, considering your weapon is just a stick with a couple of spikes,” Onyx said with a smirk.

“Do you want to fight, little man?” Cardin threatened Onyx as the rest of his team appeared from behind him. Onyx and Cardin stared challengingly at each other, but then, the bell rang to tell the Students to go to their next classes. “Huh, saved by the bell, Shinra,” Cardin said with a scowl.

“Yeah, you were,” Onyx said with a smile. Cardin clenched his fist and stalked off for his next class with his team.

“What’s his problem?” Ruby asked.

“He’s just a meathead, Ruby, and all meatheads are stupid as hell,” Sunset said with her arms crossed.

“Well, anyway, come on guys, we gotta get to class,” Eclipse said to his teammates.

“He’s right, let's get going,” Onyx agreed, and Team Rose left the gallery and made their way towards their next class.

The next class was with Professor Port, inside a workshop with tools of all kinds sitting at the ready for use, and he was teaching the importance of weapons maintenance. The lecture began with a story from Professor Port’s past.

“Back in my early days as a young Huntsman, I was hunting an Ursa Major that was terrorising a small village. After several days of tracking down the beast, I fought the Grimm with my trusty weapon, but during the battle, my Weapon was destroyed by the Grimm, but thankfully I always carry a second weapon, and with my second choice I managed to slay the Grimm and put an end to its threat to the village. Since that day, I learned one valuable lesson, always take care of your equipment, or you’ll regret it. Today, you are going to have your first sparring match, so you are all going to do some maintenance on your weapons. Everything you'll need will be provided, so time to get started on your maintenance,” Professor Port instructed his class.

The students organised themselves to perform their maintenance on their weapons. Ruby started her maintenance on Crescent Rose, disassembling the scythe. Onyx did the same with his Echo’s Shadow.

“Hey, Onyx, where did you get the idea for your weapon?” Ruby asked her Partner curiously.

“Hmm, well, I had two teachers, my sisters and…” Onyx paused for a second as he concentrated on separating the gun from his Falx.

“Well? Don’t leave me hanging,” Ruby said eagerly, causing Onyx to chuckle at her love of weapons.

“Oh sorry,” Onyx apologised. “The Gun was my Sister’s favourite, it’s a Shinra AG 454 Casull Auto, and the sword came from a story I was told by my teacher about my mother. She said my mother used a sword called a Falx, she also said no one was safe from her blade. So I combined the two weapons, and Echo’s Shadow was created,” Onyx finished proudly. “What about your weapon?” He then asked.

“I copied my Uncle’s weapon, but his scythe was a shotgun, and mine is a 50 Cal sniper rifle,” Ruby replied. “Hey, who was your teacher?” she asked again.

“Oh no one you would know, hey what’s your Uncle's name?” Onyx asked, changing the subject.

“Qrow,” Ruby replied.

“Qrow? You don’t mean Qrow Branwen do you?” Onyx asked.

“You know my Uncle?” Ruby asked in surprise.

“No, not personally, but I’m familiar with his work,” Onyx said as he continued to work on his weapon.

Meanwhile, Sunset was sharpening the blade of her Sunburn. She saw Eclipse taking his weapons apart. She noticed that there were scratches on both of his scissor blades, with both sets of scratches in the same area on each blade. “Hey Eclipse, what’s with those scratches?” She asked.

“Oh, just wear and tear,” Eclipse replied nonchalantly as he continued to take his weapon apart.

“So what’s your weapon's name?” Sunset asked again.

“Excuse me?” Eclipse said as he looked at her curiously.

“Your weapon's name? Like mine is called Sunburn, and Onyx is called Echo’s Shadow, and Ruby’s is called Crescent Rose,” Sunset explained as she moved to clean the barrel of her rifle. “So, what is your weapon’s name?” She asked once more.

Eclipse took a moment to think of an answer. “Their names are Forgiveness and Redemption,” He answered mysteriously.

“Forgiveness and Redemption? What’s the meaning behind that?” Sunset asked.

“I made a lot of mistakes in my past, and I seek Forgiveness and Redemption,” Eclipse explained with a slightly remorseful and solemn tone in his voice.

“Wow, that sounds insane,” Sunset said sympathetically.

“Yeah it was,” Eclipse said with that same remorseful tone.

As he continued working on his scissors blades, a memory from his time with the White Fang moved to the front of his mind.

A younger Eclipse was in a room filled with tools of all kinds. He was just finishing engraving the names of his weapons, Vengeance and Vendetta. After giving them the finishing touches, he took a moment to admire his work.

“You made yourself a huge pair of scissors?” Asked a male voice.

Eclipse turned and saw Adam Taurus, the Bull Faunus. “Hey Adam, when did you get here?” he asked.

“Just now, I needed to sharpen my sword,” Adam said, grabbing a whetstone to sharpen his sword. “So why did you design your weapon like a pair of scissors?” He asked Eclipse again as he sharpened his sword. “Are you planning on being a barber?”

“No, I designed my Weapon to be a pair of scissors to cut the chain that humanity has used to suppress us,” Eclipse explained with pride and determination in his voice.

“So, you're going to cut away the chains of suppression?” Adam asked again.

“Of course, my scissors will cut the city of Atlas itself right out of the sky!” Eclipse declared with enthusiasm. He then frowned as Adam laughed at Eclipse’s statement. “What’s so funny?”

“You're still such a kid, Eclipse,” Adam said. “You know when your mom takes over the White Fang, we’ll have our work cut out for us.” He then looked at his reflection in his red blade. “Do you think your scissors will be sharp enough to cut the chain of suppression?” He asked Eclipse seriously.

“What do you mean when my mom takes over?” Eclipse asked in confusion.

“You haven’t heard? Chieftain Ghira Belladonna is stepping down, and our brothers and sisters want your mother to be in charge,” Adam explained.

“What? If Chieftain Ghira steps down, what about Blake?” Eclipse asked in concern and slight worry.

“I’m staying,” Blake said firmly as she entered the room. “My parents are cowards, and I won’t follow in their footsteps. I’m staying with the White Fang, and I’m going to help save our kind from Humanity,” she declared.

“Well I say that answered your question,” Adam said as he finished sharpening his sword. “I’ll see you later, Eclipse,” he said, leaving Eclipse alone with Blake.

Black stepped closer to Eclipse who was still working on his weapon. “I heard what you said,” she said. “Saying your scissors will cut the chains that suppress us and that you're going to cut Atlas out of the sky.” She gave a warm smile.

Eclipse couldn't help but blush a little in embarrassment. “You heard all of that?” He asked bashfully.

“Yes I did, and I think you can do it with your scissors. Cutting us free and bringing Atlas back to the surface,” Blake said encouragingly.

“You think so?” Eclipse asked hopefully.

“Yes, I do Eclipse. I do,” Blake said happily as Eclipse finished reminiscing about the day he created his scissors.

Back in the present day, as he continued working on his scissor blades, Eclipse looked curiously at Sunset’s weapon. “Hey, Sunset, what’s the story about your weapon?” He asked the Fox girl.

“I had this teacher, and she gave me this weapon to train with. After I finished my training I asked if I could keep it. She said yes, and I modified it to be a hunting rifle that shoots fireballs as well as bullets,” Sunset explained, checking her weapon for any damages.

“So you could say it’s a keepsake?” Eclipse said.

“Yeah, a very close keepsake,” Sunset said in a soft, nostalgic tone as she resumed work on her weapon.

Weiss was sharpening the blade of her Myrtenaster. She didn't create this weapon, it was made for her. But credit for its design was all hers though. The Rapier half was inspired by her Grandfather Nicholas Schnee who wielded a greatsword. He trained her with the Rapier, and she loved spending so much time with him. Unfortunately, however, the happy times did not last, when he was killed by a Grimm that looked like a Yeti. Poor young Weiss cried so much that day, and her father took over the Manor.

Weiss then moved on to the Revolver half of her weapon, and this part of her weapon was from her second Grandfather, Vergil Frost. She remembered when she first saw him. Entering the Schnee manor, he was a Huntsman and came to see his son. She also remembered the warmth that came with him. The day he taught her how to use a revolver, she showed a flaw of hers, one of which her father despised with a passion. Weiss remembered how hard her father slapped her cheek, leaving a visible bruise on her face. When Vergil saw her face, he was enraged, and she remembered with a chill what happened next. Vergil screamed at her father for hitting her, then she remembered when Vergil stormed up to her father and pointed his gun inside his own son’s mouth. Weiss also remembered what he said to her father.

“If you EVER touch her like that again I’ll blow your worthless head clean off!” He’d bellowed furiously. Weiss then remembered with a chuckle the image of her father’s pants turning from white to yellowish green.

Then, soon after, Vergil had trained her to use a revolver. Unfortunately, she then remembered that he died of an illness, and on his deathbed, he gave her his gun, and she was told to hide it from her father. Before he passed away, she’d promised she’d take extra special care of it. But somehow, the revolver went missing soon after the funeral. To this day, despite searching many times, she’d never found her beloved grandfather’s revolver. A small tear fell from her eye from the sad memories.

Applejack, who was working next to her, noticed this. “You OK, Sugarcube?” She asked her leader gently.

“Hmm?” Weiss said as she looked up at Applejack.

“You’ve got a tear in your eye,” Applejack said, holding out her handkerchief to Weiss.

“Oh, I didn’t even notice,” Weiss said, taking the handkerchief from Applejack, and using it to wipe away her tears. “Thank you,” She said, giving back Applejack's handkerchief.

“So what was that about?” Applejack asked in concern.

“I was remembering something about my Weapon,” Weiss replied.

“Want to talk about it?” Applejack said, offering a sympathetic ear.

“No, thank you, I’ll be fine,” Weiss replied, resuming work on her weapon.

“If you say so, sugar cube,” Applejack said as she continued to work on her Boomstick.

Weiss then looked across at Applejack’s weapon. From her point of view, it looked very basic. “Applejack?”

“Yep.”

“What is your family Heritage?” Weiss asked.

“Pardon?”

“Your Heritage, I’m just curious about your family,” Weiss replied.

“Ohhh,” Applejack said, understanding what Weiss meant. “I come from a long line of Farmers,” she said proudly.

Hearing this, something didn’t add up for Weiss. “Wait, where did those grenades come from?” She asked in confusion.

“Oh, those are from the Great War. Most of my family is Mistralian, and during the Great War, my family would provide Apples for the masses. But some of the warehouses we had were being raided by thieves from the other Kingdoms. So my Great Great Grandfather came up with an idea to put an end to the thieving. He injected Nitroglycerin into some of the Apples, and they were set to explode when someone bit into them, blowing them all to bits,” Applejack explained.

Weiss’s eyes widened in shock at what she’d just heard. “I have a feeling I should be careful with what I say to you in future,” she said with a hint of fear in her voice.

“I would too, Sugarcube,” Applejack said slyly with a wicked grin, making Weiss shiver as a sudden chill went up her spine.

“Wait, wasn’t there anyone from your family history that was a Huntsman or that served?” Weiss then asked again.

“Nope,” Applejack said simply.

“Are you telling me you're the first person out of your whole family history who’s training to become a Huntress?” Weiss asked Applejack once more.

“Yep, one day, my little sister Applebloom was playing in her treehouse with her friends. They started to argue about something silly. A Grimm sensed them arguing, which drew it right to them. I was collecting Apples, and I heard their screams. I grabbed the nearest weapon, which was an axe, and I ran towards the treehouse. The Grimm was an Ursa Minor. I fought it as best as I could, and I wasn’t doing very well considering it was the first Grimm I’ve ever seen. I took a claw to the gut and was sent flying towards a tree, but then, just as the Ursa was about to come at me for the kill, someone else shot at it, killing it almost instantly,” Applejack explained.

“Who killed the Grimm?” Weiss asked with interest.

“It was Professor Port, and after he saved me and my Sister and her friends, he said I had the potential to become one of the best Hunters that Remnant had ever seen, and that’s why I’m here, to keep little girls and boys safe so they can play in their treehouses without fear,” Applejack finished explaining with great pride and conviction in her voice for her cause.

“Wow, that’s amazing, Applejack,” Weiss said, very impressed.

“Yep, everyone has a story. What’s yours?” Applejack asked curiously.

“Ohh, umm, that’s…” Weiss said hesitantly.

“It’s alright. You can tell another time, when you feel more comfortable, Sugarcube,” Applejack said with an understanding smile as she resumed work on her weapon.

“Yeah, I might tell you someday,” Weiss said softly, resuming work on her weapon.

At one of the other tables, Vinyl took her boombox apart to give her weapon a full overhaul. As she worked, Emerald, who was sitting next to her, was cleaning the barrel of her revolvers.

Emerald looked up from her work and looked curiously at the inner workings of Vinyl’s musical weapon. “Wow, that looks complicated,” She said.

“Yeah, when I first came up with this weapon I went somewhat all out, you know?” Vinyl said with a shrug as she looked closely at the circuit board of her Noisy Boy. “What about you, where did your weapon come from?” She asked Emerald.

“Oh, my guns are a pair of 454 ACP Revolvers. I got them from my mom…after she died,” Emerald said with a sad tone.

“Oh man, I’m sorry. What was she like?” Vinyl asked with a sympathetic look.

“Hmm?” Emerald said as she looked at Vinyl in surprise.

“Your mother, what was she like?” Vinyl asked again.

“She was an amazing woman, she worked in security for the Shinra Corporation. Then one day she got a promotion and we moved to Mistral. We were happy living there, then one day, a riot happened. She tried to help anyone who was trying to hide from the fighting.” Tears started to form in her eyes as she went on sadly. “Then she was killed by the Athenians, and they never took any responsibility for what happened that day. She was a faceless woman who got killed by the protectors of Remnant,” Emerald finished with a mournful sigh.

“Oh geez, I’m sorry to hear that about your mother,” Vinyl said with a sad frown.

“It’s OK, it happened a very long time ago,” Emerald said reassuringly as she continued her work on her revolvers.

“But isn't it hard to be on a team with Weiss, because she’s from Atlas?” Vinyl asked with concern.

Emerald takes a moment to think about Vinyl’s question. “I don’t know yet. I haven’t been with her long enough to judge her, so I’m going to give it a while longer before I make up my mind,” she replied thoughtfully.

“That’s probably for the best,” Vinyl said as she fused some circuits.

“So what about your weapon?” Emerald asked, moving the subject to Vinyl’s weapon.

“Long story short, I love rave parties, and I’m crazy about Techno Music. When I was a little girl, I had a boombox that I would carry on my shoulder and play loud music from it. The assault rifle came from this arcade game I used to play, which I had the highest score on it by the way, and as for the hammer, it came from another game called Whack A Grimm,” Vinyl explained with a smirk.

Emerald scoffed after hearing this story. It was a little ridiculous to her. “Sorry, keep going,” she said.

“I went to combat school with Octavia and the rest is obvious,” Vinyl Scratch said with a shrug. “Nothing else to tell.”

After hearing Vinyl’s story about her BoomBox, Emerald began to feel a bit better. “OK, hearing your story about your weapon did cheer me up a little,” She said with a cheery tone in her voice.

“Yeah, I know the story behind my Noisy Boy is kinda silly but it’s 100% true,” Vinyl said, checking for anywhere else that needed fusing inside her BoomBox.

Emerald smiled. “So how do you think sparring matches will go?” She asked.

“Not sure, but I’m sure it’s going to be a lot of fun,” Vinyl said with a smile as she moved on to the next part of her weapon.

“Yeah, maybe,” Emerald said, moving on to the next part of her weapon.

Yang was using a screwdriver to remove the outer shell of her Ember Celica. She then used a magnifying glass to have a closer look at her Gauntlets. “Hmm, I need to replace that Firing Pin, and I’ll need to clean the loader and the barrel. But besides that everything else looks fine,” she said to herself as she studied each part of her Ember Celica closely.

“Hey Yang, can I have the screwdriver?” Ember asked as she held out her hand.

“Sure,” Yang said as she passed the screwdriver to Ember. “Here you go.”

“Thanks,” Ember said, taking the Screwdriver and starting to remove the panels of her Flare Blitz.

“Hey Ember,” Yang piped up.

“Yeah?” Ember said without looking up.

“What’s the story behind your weapon?” Yang asked.

“Oh well, the gun came from a movie I watched with my parents. There was this woman who was in love with this guy, and he was wanted by the Law. At the climax of the film, he stood tall and laughed as he yelled, (YOU’LL NEVER TAKE ME ALIVE!) and that’s where the gun half came from,” Ember explained.

“And what about that Axe?” Yang asked again.

“Well, to be honest, the blades drum of my gun can be fitted for different types of blades, like Axes, Scythes and Spears, just to name a few examples,” Ember said, as she continued looking over the inner workings of her Flare Blitz.

“Wow, talk about having a multi-tool,” Yang said, impressed by how multi-optional her partner’s weapon was. “So you know how to use a scythe-like Ruby?”

“Nah, I was only trained in Axe fighting,” Ember replied.

“Ohh, I thought you were because you listed the different types of blades,” Yang said with a raised eyebrow.

“Yeah, I know you would think I was trained in different fighting styles, but my dad only knew one, and that was with a Battle Axe,” Ember explained as she rolled her eyes a little. “So what about your weapon?”

“Well my dad was a Huntsman and he trained in hand-to-hand combat. I did try using a weapon but for some reason, I get an adrenaline rush whenever I give anything a beat down, I still needed a type of firearm so I did a lot of looking around, and I found this glove with a device on the backhand, but it was only a one-shot weapon. So I used that as a base for my Ember Celica,” Yang explained.

“Oh, so you're an adrenaline junkie,” Ember said with a grin.

“That’s one way of putting it,” Yang said with a smirk as she continued to work on her weapon.

Octavia was repairing her Final Encore from the damages that Yang caused when she killed the Tunnelling Terra. The damage was bad, to say the least. “Hmmmmm,” She hummed in concentration as she removed some of the outer platings to see how much damage there was. “Yes, just as I thought, Yang almost destroyed my weapon,” She said to herself in a resentful tone as she closely examined the damages.

Lyra couldn’t help herself but hear Octavia's statement about her weapon. “Hey, Octavia, do you think you can fix it?” she asked.

“I hope I can, I ordered some new parts to replace the damaged ones,” Octavia replied with concern, pulling out a package with her name on it and opening it. Inside were enough parts to build at least three weapons.

As Octavia began taking the parts out of the package, Lyra noticed that it was marked with the Shinra Corporation logo. “Oh you use Shinra parts for your weapon,” she said.

“Yes, they traditionally have the best parts on the market,” Octavia said as she began to take apart her rifle.

“Yeah, I agree with you. Most of my Tonfa are made using Shinra parts,” Lyra said, removing the outer panels of her Tonfas. “So Octavia, why did you become a Huntress?” she asked curiously.

“A long time ago I was attacked by a Grimm, and I was saved by a Huntress. I remember how beautiful and elegant she was, and I knew that I wanted to be just like her. So I enrolled into a combat school, and now I’m here,” Octavia said with a smile. “What about you?”

Lyra took a moment to think about her answer to Octavia’s question. “When I was a little girl, I and my friend Bon Bon used to read stories about Huntsman slaying Grimm and saving lives,” she began.

“One day after Combat School, I and she were doing some practice in the local Forest, and we were attacked by a Grimm. One I’ve never seen before. It looked human but it was missing its head, and it was wearing Armour that belongs to one of the local Huntsman, it even had their weapon. We took off and ran back towards our village, it chased us, but then in our rush, we got separated. I hid under a tree and I was found after hours of hiding. When I got home, my mother held me in her arms as she cried. Not long after, I was told the worst news I’d ever heard in my life.” She paused as her lip quivered at the terrible memory before she took a breath and continued.

“They told me Bon Bon was killed by the Grimm, and they never found her body. They only found her weapon.” Her sad look then fell into an angry, determined frown as she finished her story. “I made a vow that day that I would continue to become a Huntress for the both of us, so I could fight in her honour, and one day find that monster who took my best friend away from me.”

“I see, so you’re seeking revenge,” Octavia said evenly.

“No justice,” Lyra declared with determination.

“What was her weapon?” Octavia asked once more.

“It was her Tonfa, we both had one each. Mine was the left one and she had the right one. I kept it to remind myself why I continued to be a Huntress,” Lyra explained further.

“Hmm, then let’s hope you’ll have the revenge you desire, both for yourself and for your friend,” Octavia said solemnly, resuming her work on her weapon.

“Yeah, let’s hope,” Lyra said, resuming her work on her Tonfas.

Blake separated her Gambol Shroud. The cleaver just needed sharpening, but the Gun Katana needed a little more work. She was about to start, when Lemon Zest, who was next to her, looked over curiously at Blake and wanted to ask something.

“Hey, Blake?”

Blake looked up at Lemon. “Yes?”

“Where did you get the idea for your Weapon?” Lemon asked.

Blake sighed as she thought about her answer. “My mom, she started to train me when I was younger. But one day, I abandoned her and trained with Eclipse and his mother,” Blake told Lemon in a regretful tone.

“Ohh, so what happened between you and your Mother?” Lemon asked again.

“I haven’t seen her in almost 5 years,” Blake said sadly.

“5 years, why haven’t you contacted her, or gone to see her?” Lemon asked.

“I…I don’t deserve to see her, not after what I called her,” Blake said with deep regret in her voice.

“I’m sorry, Blake, I shouldn't have asked,” Lemon said with a hint of guilt in her voice.

“It’s OK, it’s just a sensitive topic for me,” Blake said softly. “How about you tell me about your weapons?” Blake asked, wanting to change the subject.

“These? Well, there’s no special story behind them, I was good with SMGs and close combat. So I did some research and before you knew it, I created my Sucker Punch,” Lemon said with a shrug.

“I see, that's pretty straighforward,” Blake said, nodding her head. “Why did you name your weapon Sucker Punch?” she asked.

“No particular reason, it started as a joke and the name just stuck around,” Lemon said with a hint of amusement.

“Hmm, another straightforward story,” Blake said as she sharpened her cleaver.

“Yeah, I know the stories behind my weapons aren't that exciting, but it’s the truth,” Lemon Zest said, taking apart her weapons. Blake nodded as she and Lemon continued to work on their weapons.

Indigo was checking her weapon for any wear and tear, as Twilight placed a case on the work table. She opened it and inside were two robotic arms. Indigo couldn’t help but notice the synthetic arms.

“Whoa, those are hig-tech, what are those for?” she asked.

“These are my combat arms,” Twilight said.

“Combat arms? Wait, you're not saying ...” Indigo said before trailing off as her eyes went wide.

“I lost my original arms a long time ago and I’ve been using synthetic arms for most of my life,” Twilight answered casually, without hearing Indigo’s question.

“Ohh, wow, how did you lose your arms? Was it a Grimm?” Indigo asked with much intrigue in her voice.

“No, it was the White Fang,” Twilight replied again.

Indigo was shocked to hear how Twilight lost her arms. “Umm, is it hard having me as your partner?” She asked Twilight hesitantly, fearing her answer.

“No, it’s not, there are good and bad Faunus’. It's the same for Humans. You haven’t given me any reason to hate or distrust you,” Twilight said truthfully.

Indigo smiled in relief. “I’m glad,” she said, glad to hear that Twilight didn’t hate her.

“What about your weapon?” Twilight asked.

“There’s a story about an undersea Huntsman who used a trident, so I copied that weapon, and my brother was a marksman, and he showed me how to shoot, and that’s everything about my weapon,” Indigo explained.

“Was it a good story?” Twilight asked.

“It was my favourite story, I would read it every night before bed,” Indigo smiled nostalgically.

“Hmm, stories can shape us and inspire us to become something more,” Twilight said with a smile.

“Who did you just quote?” Indigo asked.

“My old teacher, Celestia. She would read many stories to me when I was little,” Twilight smiled fondly at the memory of her old mentor.

“She sounds more like a sister than a teacher,” Indigo observed.

“Yes, She was, both to me… and to her,” Twilight said as she gazed over at Sunset for a moment.

“To who?” Indigo asked.

“No one important,” Twilight said dismissively as she resumed work on her cybernetic arms.

“Well if you say so,” Indigo said as she resumed work on her weapon.

Throughout the class, the students repaired and sharpened their weapons in preparation for Professor Bloodstone’s sparring matches.

“Now, students, I know you all had sparring matches back at all your combat schools. When you enter Professor Bloodstone’s arena it will be no different than from your younger days,” Professor Port announced. Just then, the bell rang. “Well, it’s time, good luck Students,” He said as his students began to leave to join Professor Bloodstone for the sparring matches.

On their way, Ruby was excited for her first match. “I haven’t sparred with anyone since Signal!” She said with a skip in a step.

“Same, the last person I’d sparred with was my teacher,” Sunset said, agreeing with Ruby.

“Yeah, the last time I sparred with someone was with Blake,” Eclipse stated.

“To be honest, this would be my first sparring match against anyone,” Onyx said to his teammates.

“Didn’t you spar with your teacher?” Asked Sunset.

“Not really, she trained me in real-life combat. She would find some people for me to fight if we were in the wild, but at Midgar, we would use the training room,” Onyx explained.

“She trained you in real-life combat?” Sunset asked with a raised eyebrow.

“Yes, she told me to practice and training only goes so far. She also said it’s not just Grimm that Huntsmen fight, it’s Humans and Faunus also,” Onyx replied.

“What did she mean by Humans And Faunus’?” Eclipse asked.

“I don’t know, I never asked her. She didn’t like me asking too many questions,” Onyx replied.

“What kind of relationship did you have with your teacher?” Ruby asked.

“The need to know the kind,” Onyx answered mysteriously.

Ruby couldn’t understand why Onyx’s teacher was so strict and secretive. Her uncle would answer most of her questions. But come to think of it, there have been questions she asked that he would never answer, like his missions and why he drinks a lot. Maybe Onyx’s teacher, whoever she was, must have her reason for leaving Onyx’s training on a need-to-know basis.

As they walked, they were getting close to the locker room. “Hey guys, we're almost at the locker room,” Eclipse said.

Ruby snapped out of her thoughts. “Oh, yeah, thanks Eclipse,” she said.

“You OK, Ruby?” Onyx asked his younger partner.

“Yeah I’m fine,” Ruby replied.

Everyone entered the locker room to change into their combat outfits. After they finished changing, Onyx encountered his cousin Bruinen with his team.

“Hey, Bruinen, how did combat practice go?” he asked.

“It was great, me and my teammates dominated the matches!” Bruinen said with a victorious smile. “Are you ready?” He asked.

“My sword is sharp and my gun is cleaned and my Dust Gloves are refilled. I’d say I’m ready,” Onyx said as he changed his gloves.

As he did, Bruinen looked down at Onyx’s hands. “Has anyone seen-”

“No! Nobody has seen them, and they never will!” Onyx stated firmly, cutting Bruinen off in mi-sentence.

“Got ya, good luck Onyx,” Bruinen said with a smile.

“Thanks, I’ll catch you later,” Onyx said gratefully as his cousin left to rejoin his teammates.

Ruby was changing with Yang. “Hey Ruby, are you ready for the matches?” Yang asked.

“Yep, I’m ready!” Ruby replied with a cheery smile.

“Good to hear it, sis,” Yang smiled as she equipped her Ember Celica. “Say, have you called home yet?” she asked.

“No, not yet,” Ruby replied as she tied her boots.

“You should, Dad wants to hear how you’ve been doing,” Yang suggested.

“Yeah you’re right, I’ll call home after combat practice,” Ruby promised as she closed her locker.

Eclipse had now finished changing into his combat outfit along with Blake.

“Ready?” She asked.

“Yeah, I’m ready,” Eclipse smiled.

Sunset had just finished changing into her combat outfit, but when she closed the door to her locker, Twilight was standing right behind the opened door. “Twilight!” she exclaimed in shock at seeing Twilight after all this time.

“I need to talk to you, I’ll contact you tomorrow for a time and place,” Twilight said in a no-nonsense tone, before leaving immediately after.

“She wants to talk to me?” Sunset knew exactly what Twilight wanted to talk about, and knew it was going to play on her mind until they did talk. “Damn it!”

At that moment, an announcement was made by Professor Bloodstone over the sound system.

“Attention all students! Report to the combat arena for sparring matches immediately, and DO NOT BE LATE!” he shouted in his deep, growling voice.

After hearing that, the students left the locker room and entered the arena where Professor Torch was waiting for them.

To Be Continued…

Chapter 11: repairs

Author's Note

Hey guys been while since, I last worked on ROSE.
and I’m glad I finished this chapter before Halloween, just in time for Ruby’s birthday.
I hope I can continue to upload more chapters in the future.

If you guys see any errors or mistakes or let me know and I’ll fix it ASAP.
I’ll be working on the next chapter soon, and spilor alert Penny will be featured.

Till next time Happy Halloween!

Also Happy birthday RUBY!

Chapter 11: repairs

It has been almost a week since Onyx and Weiss had their first spaing match.
During the battle both their blades shattered, in order to fix their weapons Onyx and Weiss ordered new parts to repair their weapons.

Since their spar ended, neither of them had spoken to each other. In fact they purposely avoided one another.

But fate is a mysterious thing, and it liked making paths cross with each other, even if they really didn't want to.

Onyx was walking to team Rose’s dorm room carrying a box.

“It finally came.” He said, eager to open his box.

On his way, Onyx saw Ruby and Sunset also heading back to the dorm room carrying books for their studies.

“Sunset, do we need all these books?” Ruby asked, in a depressed tone. She hated studying.

“Yes,” Sunset replied, “We got a big test coming, and we need to cover our bases.” She explains to her leader. “Without sounding mean, you and Eclipse need all the help you can get.”

Ruby sighed and groaned but Sunset was right, physical exams she’ll ace them no sweat, but written exams she’s hopeless.

“Say speaking of Eclipse, where is he?” Ruby asked, wondering where Eclipse was.

Sunset thinks. “I recall he said he was going to study with Blake.”

“Oh, Eclipse seems to like hanging out with Blake.” Ruby said,

“Yeah, he does.” Sunset agreed. “But if it helps him get ready for the exam, I won’t stop him.”

“Yeah same.” Ruby nods, they reach the door.

“Here Ruby.” Sunset said, “I’ll hold the books, and you can open the door.”

“Thank you Sunset.” Ruby gives her books to Sunset and opens the door.
After she opened the door, Ruby saw Onyx, walking towards them with a box

“Hey Onyx.” She waves to her partner, “Is that your order?” She asked, in her cheering voice.

“Yep!” Onyx smiled, “With this I can finally repair my Echo Shadow.” He declared eager to repair his beloved weapon.

Sunset puts down her books. “So what did you get?” She asked,

Onyx entered the room, placing the box on the desk. “Metal, Dust, and a repair kit.” He listed his order to Sunset.

Ruby eyes lit up, she wanted to see Onyx repair his weapon, being a weapons nut.

“Say Onyx, you let me watch you fix your baby, right?” Ruby said, fluttering her eyes.

“Nope!” Sunset said, grabbing Ruby’s hood. “You and I have studies to do.” She told her young leader.

Ruby tried to escape from Sunset’s grasp. “B-But I Want to see Onyx fix his weapon.” She whined, her weapon nut nature taking over.

Onyx smiled, “Maybe next time Ruby.” He giggled, in amusement.

Onyx opened his package, and saw SCD on the smaller boxes inside.

“Huh?” Onyx said in confusion. “I didn’t order anything from Scnhee Dust company.” He began to unload the box seeing nothing he ordered.

“What’s wrong Onyx?” Ruby asked,

“I think the postal service mixed up my order with someone else’s.” Onyx explained.

“Really?” Ruby said, “But then again I remember me and Yang ordered some X- Ray glasses from a comic book, and We’re still waiting.” She sighed.

“Ruby, you know they’ll scams to fool children to waste their money?” Sunset asked, imagining a little Ruby, waiting for her fake X-ray glasses in the mail. “So how long ago was that?” Sunset asked,

“A week ago.” Ruby sighed, Sunset and Onyx deadpanned at Ruby’s response. “What?” Ruby asked, seeing her teammates deadpanning at her.

“Nothing…” They replied, still deadpanning.

Onyx shrugged and returned to his package. “Welp, I'm returning this.” He announced repacking the box.

“So what are you gonna do?” Sunset asked, “we’ll be starting missions soon, and you can’t remain weaponless.”

“She’e right Onyx.” Ruby chimed in. “Do you have something else to use?”

Onyx closed the box and picked it up. “Sadly I do not, I’ll see if I can lend a weapon from the armoury, hopefully I’ll sort this out before we start missions.” He said, walking to the door, Sunset opens the door for him. “Thank you Sunset.”

“Anytime.” Sunset replied, holding the door.

“I'll catch you guys later.” Onyx said as he left the dorm room.

“See ya Onyx.” Ruby said smiling.

“Hope you’ll get this sorted.” Sunset said, also smiling.

“Okay, Ruby.” Sunset said, closing the door. “Let’s get studying.”

“Okay.” Ruby sighed, “Let’s just get this over with.”

“The soon we start the sooner it’s done.” Sunset said, grabbing some books.

“I know.” Ruby said, sitting down. “I’m just not the studying type.”

“Yeah me too.” Sunset said sitting next to Ruby. “But we do what we must.” She opens the book. “Okay let’s start.”

“Okay Sunset let’s start.” Ruby looks at the book.

Sunset and Ruby study for the upcoming exam, while Onyx was dealing with his package issue.

Onyx was walking back to the postal office in Beacon, when a thought came to mind

“Wait, Weiss uses Dust, and her blade was destroyed. Could this package be hers?” He wondered, “Thinking about it, If I have her package, could she have mine?”
Onyx turned and walked to Team Waves room instead of the post office. “Best go check.

Onyx walked towards team Waves room, he was mentally planing the encounter with Weiss.

How should he handle her? How will she handle him, if a fight breaks out?
All these thoughts were swirling in his head and before he knew it, he arrived at the door. He hesitated for a moment, “Okay, let’s pull the pin on this grenade.” He mumbles.

Onyx knocks on the door, and to his surprise Applejack answers. "Onyx? What're y'all doin' here?" She asked,

“Hi Applejack,” Onyx said smiling. “I think mine and Weiss’s orders were mixed up.”

“Oh?” Applejack said in surprise seeing Onyx come to their room, “Sorry but Weiss isn’t here right now.”

"Really? Onyx asked. “Do you know where she is?"

“Guessing she went to the workshop to fix her sword.” Applejack shrugged, “Weiss said she wanted to fix it ASAP.”

"I see.” Onyx nods, “I'll go look there, thank you Applejack.”

“Anytime Onyx.” Applejack smiled,

Onyx waved and left for the workshop.

After some time Onyx entered the workshop, he was still a little nervous seeing Weiss.

Inside the workshop Onyx saw students working on their weapons for the Vinyl festival.
“Full house today.” He said, trying to find Weiss.

“Oh ho, Mr Shinra.”

Onyx turned, and saw Professor Port. “Professor Port? Am I interrupting a lecture?”

“Oh ho no.” Professor said, with a chuckle. “I’m here to do some work on my Blowhard.” He replied holding his blunderbuss battle axe. “I still remember the first day I made her.”

Onyx looked at Professor’s ports weapon, seeing the rust and chip damage. “Wow, your Blowhard looks like she needs some TLC.”

“Indeed,” Professor Port nods. “Being an educator is rewarding passing my wisdom to you youngsters, but I rarely have time to maintain my Blowhard.”

Onyx can see Professor Port’s sad look, he could tell he misses being a Huntsman. “Do you miss being a Hunter Professor?”

Professor Port smiled under his bushy mustache. “Of course I do, but it’s only natural to miss the old days.” He replied, sounding rambunctious. “When you reach my age, you tend to lose yourself in nostalgic memories.”

“I understand sir.” Onyx said, smiling, understanding Professor Port’s storytelling obsession.

Professor Port noticed Onyx holding a parcel. “Ho oh planning to repair your weapon?” He asked, Onyx.

“More or less.” Onyx answered holding the wrong order. “Have you by chance seen Weiss?

“Miss Schnee?” Professor Port wondered why Onyx wanted to see his cousin, ironically Professor Port saw Weiss walking to a workbench. “There she goes.” He pointed.

Onyx saw Weiss. “Thank you Professor.” Onyx quickly rushed to catch Weiss.

Weiss walked to a workbench, and placed her percal with her damaged weapon on the bench. She noticed Onyx was following her. She turned to face him. “Can I help you?” She asked, sounding annoyed with him.

Onyx took a deep breath, and readied himself for the worst. “Okay, I think I have your parcels, and you might have mine.” Onyx explains.

Weiss glared at him, and raised her eyebrow. “And how did you come to this conclusion?” She asked, tapping her foot.

Onyx placed the parcel he was carrying. “Look in this box.” He said, “I'm wagering it’s what you ordered.”

Weiss rolled her eyes. “Fine, but this is some childish nonsense.” She opened the box and began to search through its contents. “Wait…” She began to place the contents on the bench. “This is everything I requested.” She looked at her parcel. “So what’s in this box?”

“Mind if I check?” Onyx asked,

“I have no objections.” Weiss said, “I’m guessing it’s yours.”

“Thank you.” Onyx said, opening the box, seeing the Shinra Lego, on the contents. “Yep, this is mine.”

“I see.” Weiss sighed, “How silly..”

“Yep, but looking on the bright side.” Onyx said, “At least we have what we originally ordered.”

“Yes indeed.” Weiss agreed, “So are you going to fix your weapon?”

“Yes.” Onyx said, picking up his parcell. “Sooner the better.”

Onyx was about to leave, “Wait.” Weiss said.

“Hmm?” Onyx looked at her.

“Since you returned my parcel.” Weiss said, before clearing her throat. “You can share my workbench.”

Onyx was surprised by Weiss’s offer, considering their relationship. “Are you sure?”

“Yes,” Weiss replied, preparing her station. “You returned my parcel, so it seems fair to let you share this workbench.”

“Thank you Weiss.” Onyx smiled, placing the box on the bench. “I’ll go grab my weapon.” He said, before leaving Weiss.

Weiss saw Onyx and began work on her Myrtenaster, not long Onyx would join her to work on his Echo’s Shadow.

The two worked on their weapons for the upcoming exams, and vinyl festival.

To be continued….