Chapter 1: Ambush

It was the day after the battle for Haven, Team RWBY along with Qrow and Oscar had been walking for hours on the long journey back to Vale. They were exhausted from the walk and from how hard they had fought during the battle. They were walking in complete silence so they could hear if there were any Grimm approaching, all that could be heard was the sound of their footsteps and the noises of the forest.

Out of nowhere, four people appeared in front of them in a cloud of black smoke. The people were dressed completely in black and they wore masks similar to the white fang. One of them reached behind his back and drew a large hammer, another pulled a crossbow off of their back, the third one drew two knives from around their waist and the final one extended blades from gauntlets on each arm.

Team RWBY drew their weapons in response, and Qrow did the same. Ozpin took control of Oscar and started twirling his cane. The masked man with the Hammer sighed and said "I'm sorry about this, it's nothing personal".

Qrow ran forward at full speed read to attack, but as he reached his target one of them grabbed hold of him and they both vanished in a cloud of smoke, before reappearing in the air above everyone else. Before, Qrow could get his bearings he hit the ground hard slipping into unconsciousness.

"You really shouldn't have done that" Ozpin said as Oscar flew at the attackers with his cane twirling in his hand. He reached them but the one with the hammer grabbed him by the throat and slammed him into the ground. Oscar and Qrow now both lay unmoving on the ground, so the girls joined the fight.

Ruby used her semblance to run at the one with the knives, she caught him in the stomach with the blade of Crescent Rose and dragged him along with her. His head hung down, so Ruby came to a stop allowing his lifeless body to hit the ground. She turned to get back to her teammates, but her legs were swept out from under her and she landed on her back. She tried to roll away but the man with the knives climbed on top of her, pinning her down and holding his blades to her throat. He smiled at her and quietly said "Stop fighting, I don't want to hurt you."

Meanwhile, Yang was throwing punches at the man with the hammer, only for her hits to be deflected by the weapon. But using her prosthetic arm she managed to hit hard enough to send him flying backwards when he tried to block the hit. With him out of the way, she was able to see that Ruby was in danger. Her eyes went red and she exploded into a fiery rage, slamming her fists into the ground she launched herself at Ruby's attacker.

Yang slammed into him fists first and sent him flying, there was a loud crack as his rib-cage shattered from the impact. Not letting up she launched herself at him again, only for him to stand straight up and sidestep the flying ball of rage. She managed to correct herself upon landing, and turned to find him standing right behind her. He laughed and said "Impressive, but you can't win. Just give u-". He didn't get to finish his sentence as he was being pummeled by Yang, each blow caused catastrophic damage to the man's body. But every time a punch landed, the wound immediately healed. As Yang continued, she was getting increasingly angry at her inability to win the fight. Eventually, Ember Celica started making a clicking noise as she had expended all of her ammo in the fight. She kept hitting him for a while longer but she was completely exhausted and was on the verge of collapse. She just couldn't beat him.

"How...are…you...not...dead?" Yang asked while breathing heavily. He didn't answer her question but he rolled her over and pinned her down with the twin blades pressed against her throat. He could have killed her but he just sat there on top of her, with a smile on his face.

At that point, Blake and the teleporting attacker were locked in a fight. Neither of the could land a hit, every time they got close they met a cloud of smoke or a shadow clone. The attacker would appear behind Blake only for Blake to flip over them, but they were gone again before Blake had time to strike. The two of them were constantly shrouded in black smoke from all the teleporting, and Blake had to rely on her other senses as she couldn't see. It went on for so long that Blake was almost completely drained and she was starting to make mistakes. She lost her grip on Gambol Shroud at one point, and in that split second her attacker grabbed it and teleported away. Unarmed and too tired to fight she dropped to her knees and accepted her fate. She felt one gauntlet-ed arm lock around her neck and a blade poking into the side of her head.

Tears rolled down her face as she accepted the fact that she had failed her team once again. She waited for the killing blow but it never came, what came was a whisper in her ear. A female voice whispered so quietly that only Blakes sensitive cat ears could pick it up. "Today, is not your day to die. I have no desire to kill you and I wasn't paid to kill you. There is no honor in killing a brave warrior, like an animal."

While Yang and Blake had been defeated, Weiss was still fighting. Or at least she was trying to, she couldn't fight what she couldn't see. Her opponent was completely invisible and occasional crossbow bolts were the only indication that they were even there. Weiss had surrounded herself in glyphs to stop these bolts but that was all she was able to do. She could see her friends failing and she knew that she needed to deal with this quickly and help them. So she formulated a plan for finding and defeating her invisible enemy.

"Why are you doing this?" she asked hoping that a response would help her find her attacker. Shockingly, this plan actually worked as a voice came from behind her, he said "We were paid to". Weiss now knew exactly where he was so, she spun round pointing Myrtenaster at him and allowing the glyphs around her to disappear. She was about to trap him in ice, when her weapon was yanked out of her hand and she was shoved to the floor.

Weiss' attacker appeared again with Myrtenaster in one hand and a loaded crossbow in the other hand. He pointed both weapons at her head and said "Smart move, but you played right into my hand. Literally, you handed me your weapon and let your defenses down."

Weiss could have fought back from there, if she hadn't given everything she could muster during the engagement. She tried to use her semblance but couldn't even get a glyph to appear, she had burned herself out just lay there breathing heavily waiting for either a crossbow bolt or her own sword to end her life.

At this point, Ruby was the only one left standing. So far, her speed had allowed her to stay out of harm's way. She saw Weiss fall to the floor and ran over to help, she watched in horror as she saw what was now pointed at Weiss' head. "Noooo!" she yelled as she charged towards the man with the crossbow. She was so focused on saving Weiss that she didn't notice the strong hand reaching out to grab her. The force of being grabbed by the throat at the speed she was traveling almost killed Ruby but her Aura managed to save her.

Dangling off the ground, she finally had a chance to take in what was going on around her. Her Uncle Qrow and her new friend Oscar were still lying unconscious. Weiss had Myrtenaster and a crossbow aimed at her head, Blake was in a headlock with a blade pointed at her head, and worst of all Yang was lying flat out with a man pressing two knives against her throat.

All of this was too much for her to take and she summoned her Maiden Powers, but before she could use them a powerful punch from the man holding her knocked her out and stopped her. Not even the power of a Maiden could save them now.