"For one hundred and twenty years, the four Kingdoms: Mistral, Vale, Vacuo and Atlas, have stood as pillars against the tide of darkness. And now we gather for the Vytal festival to celebrate that peace, won by sacrifice and determination alone. But we never forget the sacrifice our brethren paid for this peace, and when celebrating life, may we also remember the deaths that made ours possible."

General James Ironwood stood at the podium talking to hundreds of Hunters that had gathered from the four kingdoms for the Vytal festival. His straight back cast a long silhouette in the morning sun, along with the other three headmasters. To his left stood Ozpin, grey hair brushing the lids of thin spectacles that reflected the ruddy light of the sun. To Ozpin's left stood Aurum Vingthor, headmaster of Spire Academy. The lion Faunus' bushy beard was golden color of well baked bread, and his huge frame didn't hide the the even more massive hammer strapped to his back. To Ironwood's right stood Hilda Cyprium, headmaster of Haven. Her grey armor covered every inch of her body, save her head, and her blue eyes stared stonily at the gathered Hunter, as if she thought the Hunters were about to assault the podium.

Ironwood continued talking, but Ruby was bored. "He's been talking for fifteen minutes already." She resisted the urge to pull her red hood over her head as she slouched. "I thought we got to fight in the Vytal festival."

"Show a little respect." Weiss hissed, "The Vytal festival has gone on for decades, starting after the Harbour Academy Uprising, and-"

"Blah, blah, blah, I'm Weiss, the fountain of knowledge!" Ruby mimicked, "I know all about history because I'm a Schnee, and we Schnee's-"

But Ruby fell silent as Glynda's purple eyes found her own. She fidgeted for a bit, secretly hoping Yang would pay attention to her. Unfortunately, her sister's attention was focused on everything else. "Hey, Ruby! Did you see that? I think that was a tiger Faunus from Vacuo!"

"You get a lot of different varieties down there." Weiss said, "What with Headmaster Vingthor relaxing Faunus restriction laws in the past few years."

Ruby looked to Blake, the unofficial authority on Faunus, but the cat Faunus had her amber eyes trained on Ironwood like a sniper. She frowned, accentuating the bags under her eyes.

"Hey, Blake, lighten up." Yang said, "You act like Ironwood's telling us his plans for world domination or something."

"I just hate how he's taken over for Ozpin." Blake muttered, "It gives me a bad feeling."

"That's what you said about Zwei." Ruby said.

"I had to wrestle it for my bow!" Blake said.

"Zwei's a he." Ruby said, "And-"

"Whatever Zwei is," Blake cut off Ruby, obviously thinking of many unpleasant words to describe their dog Zwei, "Ironwood's acting like we're soldiers."

""People are scared," Weiss said, "Maybe Ironwood's what we need-"

"Don't get me started on that again." Blake said, "Ever since Ironwood took over a month ago-"

"Yeah, yeah, we've all heard it." Ruby sighed, "And sure, maybe the curfews and random checkpoints are inconvenient, but it's going to make it harder for people like Torchwick to get past."

"People like Torchwick aren't going to be stopped by curfews!" Blake's voice rose and instinct led her hand to finger the grip of Gambol Shroud

The four fell silent as Glynda glared at them once again, mostly because they had already argued this exact point several times in the month between the breach in Vale and the Vytal festival.

Luckily, Ironwood's speech about vigilance and solidarity in the face of the unknown had come to a close. Unfortunately, it was followed by a few hours for visiting Hunters to socialize. In her element, Weiss went off to make polite small talk with students from Mistral. Yang had caught up with Sun and Neptune, and were already laughing with different Faunus from Vacuo like they were best friends. Judging by the way Sun had his arm around another monkey Faunus, they probably were.

Ruby started to feel claustrophobic as she was jostled this way and that. Stalls had been set up by merchants, who had prepared themselves for the big inflow of foreign Hunters. Ruby winced as hawkers yelled in her ear to buy whatever trinkets they were selling. Even Blake was nowhere to be seen. Lately, she had taken to disappearing for hours at a time before slinking back to her room.

"I just have a bad feeling." Blake had said. Her instincts were usually good, although after the fire extinguisher incident with Zwei, Team RWBY's faith in Blake's animal instincts had diminished slightly.

Someone from behind pushed Rwby into a Hunter from Atlas, judging by his austere shirt that looked like a soldier's uniform. He smiled down at Ruby and said, "This is a nice place. You from around here?"

Ruby nodded, wishing Yang were here.

"This is actually my first time to Vale." The student laughed. He linked his arm around Ruby, who wriggled out of his grip.

"Look, um, sorry to bail, but I'm actually supposed to be meeting my friends." Ruby waved vaguely in the direction behind her and shuffled through the crowd. She might not be able to use her Semblance to dash away from the weird student in the crowd, but she could use her small frame to slip past the Hunters.

She stumbled inside the grounds of Beacon with a sigh of relief. She didn't know how Yang could always be so happy around strangers. Still trying to shake off the after effects of the crowd, Ruby slipped past the main entrance doors, only to find Emerald and Mercury lounging inside. Mercury's eyes narrowed as he stood up and made his way over to Ruby. "What are you doing out here? Shouldn't you be outside?"

"Yeah, well, parties aren't my thing." Ruby sighed. She and her team hadn't gotten to know Emerald, Mercury and Ember well. The three students would attend classes but left the instant they ended, and were only seen again in the dining hall. Ember was particularly reclusive, despite several Hunters being enamored with her graceful figure.

"Well, hang out here," Mercury said, "We wanted to get away from old Ironhead's talking." He was leaning against one of the pillars that held up the huge hall, and stared at one of the entrances to the hall as he spoke. "I feel bad that I barely know your name after a month."

"It's okay," Ruby said, "I might just go to my room. But thanks. Hope you guys enjoy the festival."

"Uh, you can't." Emerald quickly stepped beside Ruby, "Oobleck went in a few minutes ago, he might catch you wandering around."

"I saw Oobleck outside just now." Ruby's hand drifted to Crescent Rose. "Is something wrong? Where's Ember?" The third member of their team was nowhere to be seen. Ruby normally wouldn't complain. The woman would sometimes stare at her as if she was contemplating grisly torture. But something in the back of the mind was urging her to find out what was amiss.

"Oh, she's outside." Mercury said, metal boots clanking as he strolled towards Ruby. "Most people are."

"But you guys aren't." Ruby was well aware of the way Emerald and Mercury flanked her on both sides, and was also aware of their rapid flow of Aura. She walked quicker, and luckily, Emerald and Mercury didn't try to keep up.

"Well, parties aren't our thing either." Mercury called out. He had his hand gripping Emerald's arm, who seemed to be glaring at Ruby. The two retreated to their original posts and they took out their scrolls. Not stopping to see why they were acting so aggressive, Ruby continued walking to her room.

She couldn't wait to play with Zwei by herself a little. Not that she felt like begrudging the rest of her team the pleasure, but when Tai Yang had first gotten Zwei, it had been Ruby who had fed and spoiled him. It would be just the thing she needed after all the stress of, well, people.

That was when Ruby was rendered immobile by a deafening alarm that sent vibrations resonating through her body and made her stumble back into the ornate corridors.

"An alarm rarely sounds in Beacon, because there is usually not too much that can surprise us." Ozpin had once said with a small smile. He had been addressing the new students on safety procedures in Beacon. "We expect you Hunters to be decisive and solve problems yourself while in Beacon. However, if you ever do hear an alarm, it means there has been a breach in our deepest vaults, and if this is the case, you are all to make your way to the grounds outside as quickly as possible and gather in teams. Is that clear?"

A breach in the vaults. Ruby dashed towards them immediately in a whirlwind of rose petals. All the while the alarm that shot through her head made her stumble and crash into walls as she ran towards the breach in security.

She skidded to a halt as she saw a black figure dash past her. She whirled around, firing Crescent Rose at the figure, but by the time she had time to aim, the shadow was gone. Ruby's crouched low, then felt Aura channel through her body as she emitted her Semblance. In seconds, she emerged back into the main hall breathless, but no one, including Mercury and Emerald, were to be seen.

"Halt!" A strident voice that could be heard even over the alarm stopped Ruby in her tracks.

"Uh oh." Ruby muttered. She shrank back as a platoon of Atlasian robots trained their guns on her. More marched past them, and the rapid clanging of their footsteps slowly faded along with the alarm.

"What do you think you are doing, girl!" Hilda roared. She and her elite team of warriors, team VALKYRIE, were close behind her. Ruby looked around and saw Aurum with his handpicked warriors that comprised of the Vacuo Zodiacs.

"I… I was just trying to go to my room when the alarm sounded." Ruby squeaked. The floor seemed to tremble as Hilda strode over to Ruby. She walked with such vehemence that Ruby wouldn't be surprised if each step dented the floor. Ruby backed away into a wall of Atlasian guards and Hilda gripped Ruby's shirt and lifted her a foot off the ground.

"Put her down, Hilda." Ozpin's quiet voice made Hilda whip her head around. Her shoulder length blond hair didn't cover her blue eyes that seemed to drill holes through Ozpin.

"You know what's at stake, Ozpin." Hilda hissed, "You of all people-"

"Are you trying to lecture me about what's at stake?" Ozpin asked, "I taught all of you what was at stake."

Ruby looked around desperately for friends, but the horde of curious Hunters had been forestalled by a barricade formed by the Atlasian airships and troops. Ironwood stood at the front, telling all Hunters to keep calm and remember their training.

"You taught us, yet we see your fortress being breached?" The restrained rage behind Hilda's voice made Glynda's reprimands sound tame. The plate armor around her back held the sheaths to nine gladiuses. Two of them slid out by themselves and hovered beside Hilda's gauntlet, which was still clutching Ruby's skirt.

"Look, I swear I didn't do anything." Ruby said, "I was running towards the vaults when-"

"You WHAT? Hilda yelled.

"Let her go." Ozpin's cane rested lightly on Hilda's gauntlet, but the woman let Ruby go instantly. Ruby crashed to the ground, and Ozpin knelt in front of her. He took off his spectacles and stared intently at Ruby. "Were you aware that standard protocol when hearing an alarm like this is to rush outside?"

Ruby nodded, staring at the ground. She listened as Ozpin continued. "I suppose when you realized there had been a breach in security you ran to stop the intruder."

Ruby nodded again.

"Look at me, Ruby." Ozpin's gentle voice coaxed Ruby to look at her headmaster. "I will believe you this time." As he spoke, Ruby felt her heart squirm in her chest. His Aura was far more subtle than Hilda and Aurum's, but it felt as vast and inexorable as the sky. "But if I find you are responsible, knowingly or unknowingly, for another transgression of this magnitude, repercussions will be swift and severe."

Ruby gulped and nodded meekly. The pressure Ozpin exerted on her lifted, and she was able to breath normally again. As Ozpin walked away from her, he left her with one last parting message. "Forces greater than you can imagine are at work here, Ruby, and if you treat us like you treated Torchwick, you and your team will find yourselves in places far worse than the prison Torchwick is in now."

Ruby stayed seated on the ground while Hilda and Aurum left, talking vehemently with Ozpin. "You are letting the girl go?" Hilda was asking, "Ironwood told me that you had grown soft, but-"

"Hah! Trust in our leader, Hilda!" Aurum bellowed, clapping Hilda on the armored shoulder, "Ironwood always did worry too much!"

"But this is not some trivial matter like the White Fang," Hilda called after him, "More than a century of civilization…" Hilda's voice trailed off as the three headmasters walked into Beacon's courtyard. Hesitantly, Ruby got to her feet, and when Atlasian guards didn't train their guns on her, she slowly crept away from them and out the main hall.

Hunters from Atlas patrolled the grounds and courtyard, but no one from Vale were to be seen. Taking a deep breath, Ruby sidled up to a girl wearing the grey uniform of Atlas and asked, "Hey, I don't mean to bother you, but where are the Hunters from Vale?"

"Securing a perimeter around Vale." Came the terse response.

"Right, okay, did you see-" Ruby started to say, but the girl from Atlas had already walked past her.

She sighed and ran her fingers along the grooves and rivets of Crescent Rose. Weapons were so much easier to deal with than people, and nowhere near as scary. She shivered as she remembered the intense pressure Ozpin had exerted on her. Suddenly his calm and almost passive exterior seemed like the assuredness of success. Who needed to panic or exert strength when victory was inevitable?

She took a deep breath and tried to banish thoughts of how tense the headmasters had been. She ran towards the wall and, channeling her own Aura, dashed to the top, leaving her usual handful of rose petals that scattered over the grounds of Beacon, now teeming with Atlasian soldiers and Hunters. She jumped and ran over the roofs of buildings, trying to find anyone she recognized.

It didn't take long.

"Ruby!" Ruby was able to gather enough Aura into her body to brace herself before she was tackled to the ground by Yang, who was clutching her so tight Ruby's vision was blurring. It was only after she vigorously tapped Yang's shoulder several times that Yang let go of her. "Where have you been? What happened? Why did you just-"

"Yang, don't freak out." Ruby made placating gestures with her hands. "But, uh, well, I was sort of in Beacon when the alarm went off, and I had to explain myself to Ozpin."

Forces greater than you can imagine are at work here.

"But everything was sorted out." Ruby continued. "So everything's okay." She gave a tentative smile as Yang put her hands on her hips and regarded her in the same way as she had when Ruby had insisted that the kids teasing her at Signal Academy 'didn't mean it'.

"I promise that's all that happened." Ruby held Yang's hand and rested her head on Yang's shoulder. "I swear, okay?"

"Well, okay." Yang patted Ruby's head. "Just don't keep stuff from me, okay?"

If you treat us like you treated Torchwick, you and your team will find yourselves in places far worse than the prison Torchwick is in now.

"Yeah, of course not." Ruby lied. "Everything's fine."

Wow, it's been a while since I've posted anything here. Anyways, I really hope you enjoyed it! And if you didn't, then please tell me what you didn't like about it. And if you did like it, then any sort of feedback would be much appreciated as well.

Thanks!